Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 9

Glory flew through the rainforest until she reached the Royal Pavilion. It was bathed in sunlight, but it was not yet suntime. So she sat on the raised dais while Deathbringer stood guard. He didn't look as awake as usual, but she ignored it. It was probably some mild aftereffects from the SandWing venom. 

"You know, after visiting the Night village, I planned to check on you in the healers' hut, but now I suppose I don't have anything to do," Glory said. 

"Oh, you don't need to say it, Glory, I know you love my company," he retorted, smugly grinning. 

Glory snorted, mildly amused, but she could feel the pink on her ruff. She should have expected that. Basically every time she said anything, Deathbringer would make some flirtatious comment which made her both embarrassed and annoyed. By the moons, what am I supposed to do with him? She thought with a hint of both exasperation and amusement. 

"Oh, shush," Glory said, trying to hide her smile. Deathbringer smiled at her smugly again but stayed quiet. 

However, half an hour passed and not much happened, so Glory was trying to ward of boredom by going back and forth with Deathbringer, who apparently never runs out of annoying/amusing things to say. But, as the neverending conversation went on, Glory began to notice that Deathbringer seemed a bit tired. Wait. Not tired. Sick. Has he really recovered from the venom?

"Are you feeling OK?" She asked, eyeing him with concern. 

"Well ..." Deathbringer trailed off. He was unwilling to leave her alone again, she bet. "Not really. I'm kind of dizzy — but it's alright. I can still guard you, don't worry."

"Like I need an extra guard on top of my seven invisible ones," Glory snorted, but she was dismayed to find hints of pink on the edges of her wings. She shifted her attention to the branches overhead. "Hello? Come, on, I know there's dragons up there guarding me."

Slowly, the camouflaged RainWings changed into their usual, bright colors. 

"I may or may not have arranged a few extra," Deathbringer added. "You know, after the attack."

Oh, of course he did, she thought. 

"Alright, how many of you are there exactly?" Glory shouted to the branches. A few camouflaged RainWings gingerly revealed themselves. There were only three. She frowned. "Come on, I know there's more of you!" Gradually, eight more guards shifted into their normal colors. Glory looked at Deathbringer with a mix of confusion and exasperation. "Eleven extra guards? Seriously?"

"You can never have enough guards," he declared proudly. "Hey, maybe a few of you should stand to the sides a bit more." The RainWing guards nodded obediently and a few detached from the rest of the group to flank Glory. 

"Hey, since when was anyone listening to you?" Glory asked, confused. 

"Oh, I guess they were just obeying their future king," he muttered smugly. She rolled her eyes in mock disbelief. 

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Glory responded sarcastically, checking carefully to see if the any of the eleven guards heard. RainWings were known for being gossips, and she didn't need any more gossip about her and Deathbringer. That annoying goofball, she thought affectionately. "You're lucky I haven't eaten your tail by now." Deathbringer smiled at her, satisfied with himself, and remained silent. 

As the boring hours went on, it became clear that Deathbringer was really sick. Like, really. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" Glory asked. "Maybe you should go to the healers' hut."

"...Okay," he finally agreed, his forehead creased in a frown. He must've been feeling extremely sick since he had agreed. 

"Come on," Glory said. He needs to take better care of himself. "To the healers' hut."

They flew through the rainforest until they spotted the bright red berries on the outside of the tranquil little hut. It was pretty empty now that Deathbringer and the injured, burned NightWings weren't there. The only patients were a RainWing with a jaguar bite on her tail and a NightWing with a fever.

"Your Majesty?" Mango the healer asked when she noticed Glory, Deathbringer, and the eleven guards approaching. "Why are you here all of a sudden?"

"He says he doesn't feel well," Glory answered, gesturing at Deathbringer. 

"It could be the SandWing venom," Mango said. "He might not have completely recovered. Come in, Deathbringer." She led Deathbringer into the healers hut and told him to sit down on one of the beds. The healer then proceeded to check his temperature and so on. She turned to face both Glory and Deathbringer. "Deathbringer," Mango said. "It seems like you have a fever, but it's not very dangerous, unless it gets worse. This could just be because the SandWing venom weakened you. But, Your Majesty, I think you make him spend some more time in the healer's hut, in case he hasn't fully recovered and still needs our help."

"Excellent idea," Glory said, casting an exasperated glance at Deathbringer. "Now, you stay in the healer's hut."

"But—" Deathbringer started to protest.

"Oh, shush," she replied in an amused/annoyed way. "I've got my eleven other guards, remember?"

"Fine," he grumbled, but obediently settled down on the bed. 

Glory considered leaving now, but she didn't have anything to do for now, and staying with Deathbringer for a few minutes wouldn't cause any harm. I guess I'll just stick around the healer's hut ... Glory thought as she sat down near the centre of the healers' hut.

"Your Majesty," a voice sounded behind her. Glory almost jumped because the dragon had been so quiet. She didn't even notice the dragon until they spoke. Slowly, Glory turned around to find a NightWing. He was around five years old, but acted exceptionally dignified and was accessorized with spectacles. 

"Oh, hello," Glory said, trying to hide how startled she was. "Who are you?"

"I'm Midnight, one of the NightWing healers. Starchaser recently told us that we were allowed to come to the RainWing healers' hut," he answered. He looked around. "Can I talk to you?"

She nodded. "Of course"

"Well ..." he trailed off, looking grim and serious. "We suspect that Deathbringer's illness isn't natural."

"Isn't natural? Do you mean when he got stabbed by the SandWing?" Glory asked, confused. That's not natural, right? Because it's venom that was injected into him as an attack. By the SandWing. 

Midnight shook his head. "No. This morning he was almost completely better, so we let him return to his normal activities," the NightWing explained. "But he's really sick again. We don't think this is the SandWing venom rebounding. Some of the healers in the NightWing village think he was poisoned."

Glory froze, a frown on her face, shocked. It didn't show, of course, but she was really surprised. And worried. Poisoned? How was he poisoned? And when? And by who? She thought frantically. Then, it occurred to her that the poison might have been very strong. Fatal, in fact. Oh, no, Deathbringer ... is he going to die?

"How could he be poisoned?" she asked, masking her emotions. "Do you know who did it?"

"No one knows. We'll have to ask him," Midnight said. "But we suspect it was someone working with Fierceteeth and her gang."

"Her gang is locked up now. And so is she. They haven't escaped, have they?"

"No," he replied. "They are being heavily guarded. But perhaps someone else who she made an alliance with earlier on."

"I'll launch an investigation later," Glory said with a sigh. "But for now, I'll go ask him to see if he might know."