Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 7

Glory lay awake in her hammock, thinking. 

About her reign. About her kingdom. About her friends. And, most of all, thinking about Deathbringer. 

When she'd been flying back with the cure, she'd been struck with a gripping fear that he may have been dead. That she would never see his mischievous, smug grin ever again. And she realized how important he was to her. He was not just a bodyguard. 

Alright, she couldn't exactly say that she was in love with him. That would be ... unacceptable. Was it? Anyways, she'd realized that she cared about him. At least in a way. 

Maybe I shouldn't've been so cold to him, Glory thought. He saved my life on multiple occasions. And it was true. He bragged about it all the time to annoy her. But if acting less cold towards him meant everyone thinking ... everything thinking that ...

But, for the time being, everything was peaceful, and there was no need to worry about anything. Glory banished those thoughts from her mind, and allowed herself to fall asleep. 

The next day, she decided she would check on the NightWing village and then visit Deathbringer, but her plans were disrupted by something she had almost forgotten about. 

"Your Majesty," the deep purple RainWing said. It was the first official business she'd had to address in a while.  "Yesterday, we captured a SandWing on the edge of the rainforest."

"Really?" Glory said. "Where is she now?" It must be the SandWing that stung Deathbringer! She can give us more information about Fierceteeth and her gang.

"She's being held by some RainWing and NightWing guards near the makeshift prison that we made last night. The other three that are alive are also being held there," reported the RainWing. "I can take you to them."

"Alright," Glory agreed. "You lead the way."

The RainWing then led Glory through a section of the rainforest, until their arrived at the shabby hut of a prison. But, despite the poorly built prison, there was a whole circle of at least ten guards there. And, to her surprise, Deathbringer was among them. 

"Deathbringer?" Glory said, confused. Wasn't he still confined to the healer's hut?

"Good morning, my queen," he replied, grinning smugly as though nothing had ever happened. 

"Aren't you supposed to be recovering in the healer's hut?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. 

"Oh, you mean that you can live without me?" He retorted mischievously, his eyes glittering with amusement. "Anyways, I'm healthy enough to be back on the job."

Glory snorted, but said no more. Well, that's one heck of a stubborn dragon, she thought. 

Finally, her eyes landed on the SandWing prisoner. The prisoner's dark eyes were ringed with tiredness and she was caked with mud and bits of leaves. There was dried blood smeared around her wounds, and the stuff also coated her tail barb. But muddy, dirty, and cowering under the glares of her guards, the SandWing looked anything but dangerous. 

"What should we do with the prisoner?" a NightWing guard asked, looking at Glory. She remembered that the NightWing's name was Galaxy. 

"Well ..." she trailed off, thinking. "Put this SandWing into the prison for now, and Galaxy, you can organize a guard schedule. Later, I'll interrogate her myself and work from there." Deathbringer and everyone else nodded. 

"Got it," Deathbringer said as the guards herded the SandWing prisoner into the prison and locked the door. 

"Does anyone here volunteer to guard the prisoner until a schedule is organized?" She asked. A few NightWings and RainWings raised their talons and Glory chose two RainWings and one large, muscular NightWing to keep an eye on the prisoner. Now, she turned to one of the other NightWings an Deathbringer

"Do you have any information about her?" Glory asked curiously. She was really trying to find out more about Fierceteeth's plans.

"Only that her name is Acacia," he replied. "She was hiding in a tree when a search patrol spotted her at around dawn. She was sleeping-darted and woke up an hour ago."

"And the other prisoners?"

"Fierceteeth was trying to convince them to not say anything, but they did anyways. The SandWings were mainly guards from Queen Thorn's palace," Deathbringer told her. "One of them was named Saguaro, and he admitted to recruiting the two other SandWings." He looked at the prisoners with a mildly furious expression. "That's most of what they told us. There's some more details, but not very important."

"Thank you," Glory said. "Well, I think I'll visit the NightWing village now. I'll come back to interrogate them at noon." As she turned to take flight, she noticed Deathbringer already hovering in the air slightly behind her. Oh, guess he's bodyguarding again. 

Soon, they arrived at the NightWing village. The NightWings who were working on constructing more hut, hunting or gathering fruit stopped and looked at them as they arrived. A few bowed, while several others just stared at Glory warily. Not everyone was satisfied with her reign. 

Quickly, Glory flew over to Secretkeeper, Moonwatcher's mother, and another NightWing, Starchaser, who was a dependable female NightWing in her forties, and predominantly ran the NightWing village. Good. I'll need to get my information through them. 

"Starchaser," she said, dipping her head in acknowledgement. "Secretkeeper."

"Hello, Your Majesty," Starchaser replied. "You were away for almost three days. Grandeur was running the kingdom."

"Yes, I know," Glory answered. I thought they knew the reason I was gone. "I've just come to check on the progress of the Night village."

"The village is doing well," Secretkeeper said in her quiet, worried way.

Starchaser nodded. "Some RainWings have been helping us waterproof the huts more. And the NightWing healers have been working hard to learn some rainforest medicines."

"Good," Glory said, satisfied. "I'd just like to look at the progress myself."

"Of course," Starchaser said with a smile. "But someone else might need me, so I'll get Cunning to show you around." The older NightWing turned around and barked, "Hey! Cunning!"

A younger male NightWing, slightly older than Glory but younger than Deathbringer or Starchaser, came bounding over. He had dark purple eyes and several pouches were tied onto his lower neck. Already, Deathbringer was viewing the dragon with concern. Overprotective goofball.

"What, Starchaser?" Cunning said. His voice was quiet and intelligent. 

"Can you show Queen Glory around the village, please? She would like to check out the progress," Starchaser instructed. 

"Of course," the NightWing agreed. He then addressed Glory. "Come with me, Your Majesty."

Glory — and Deathbringer — then followed Cunning as he introduced them to the new huts and buildings. 

"We're starting a fruit orchard here," Cunning explained as he showed them an area which was fenced off. There were rows and rows of fruit trees, and many were already filled with fruit. "It makes obtaining fruit a lot easier." The NightWing paused and reached into a nearby basket, which was brimming with mangos and apples. He picked out two small apples and handed one each to Glory and Deathbringer. They both gratefully ate the fruit. 

I guess some NightWing like me after all, Glory thought. But most NightWings were still a bit hesitant. Never mind that. They'll get used to it eventually. 

At about noon, Glory told him that they had to go to the prison to interrogate some prisoners, and they left and flew to where the four prisoners were being held.