Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 23

Glory smiled warmly as Deathbringer approached.  She was starving for dragon interaction. 

"Hi," he said, landing in front of her, the white speckles on his wings shimmering. 

"Hey," she replied. "Why are you here all of a sudden?"

"Granduer and Starchaser sent me to ask you if you want to help overthrow Fierceteeth," he said. Glory sat up straighter. Finally! "We have this whole plan, it's quite genius. Of course, I was the one to suggest it." Deathbringer gave her a wide, smug grin, and she swatted him with her tail. 

"Okay, what is the plan?" Glory asked, rolling her eyes at him. She wanted that despicable NightWing off her throne immediately. She poked him, as she wrapped her tail around the eggs. "Tell me."

"Well, the plan is to eliminate her allies first. All of them are NightWings, and a NightWing called Brightclaws told us who were on her side," he reported proudly, his eyes sparkling with delight. "I'm going to kidnap them and keep them somewhere secret, and then when all of them have been contained, we can reveal that you're alive and overthrow Fierceteeth." 

Glory thought it was a genius plan, but she hid it. "Hmmm," she said. "Alright, fine. I'll help you." Deathbringer grinned. 

"Nice," he said. "Let's go kidnap the first dragon."

Glory was surprised. "Now?" She exclaimed, wrapping her tail around her talons. 

"Now," Deathbringer answered. He flashed her a smug grin and flew off. Glory smiled and chased after him. He was quite agile, dodging past the trees easily. And then she realized that he was going to be great at this. He was an assassin, and an expert at sneaking around. We'll make a good team, she thought. 

"So, who exactly are we going to kidnap?" Glory called as they flew through the forest. 

"Cunning," he answered immediately. "He's one of the dragons closest to Fierceteeth."

"He was the one who threatened me," Glory said, remembering the NightWing's cold-blooded threats. 

Deathbringer growled. "Yeah, he's going to pay for that," he grumbled, clearly angry that someone had threatened her. Still an overprotective goofball, then. A vine caught her in the face and she swiped it away. She realized that they were already at the edge of the NightWing village. 

"He'll be here somewhere," Deathbringer murmured, slowing down and then sinking to the earth, his talons not making a single sound. He expertly folded his wings in to conceal the white specks, and melted into the shadows. Glory simply camouflaged herself. His assassin experience is going to help a lot. 

She glanced at the village. A bunch of RainWings and NightWings were working on some construction in the middle of the village. It looked a lot like the Royal Pavilion. Except it was in the dead middle of the NightWing village, not in between the two villages. And she noted that the NightWings were snapping orders at the RainWings. She forced herself not to leap out of the undergrowth and drown them in venom. 

Suddenly, she noticed someone. Cunning! He was near the edge of the construction, studying it carefully, and pacing around. 

"There," she whispered to Deathbringer, who locked his eyes on his target immediately. 

"Wait till he's alone," he muttered back. 

After a few minutes, Cunning finally left the construction area. He wandered along for a small path for a while, while Glory and Deathbringer quietly followed him. Finally, there were no other dragons in sight. 

"Now!" Deathbringer whisper-shouted, and they both leapt out of hiding. Cunning turned around, mouth wide open and about to call for help, but Deathbringer landed elegantly next to him and forced his jaws shut. He used his back legs to pin Cunning to the ground, while Glory opened her mouth and bared her fangs threateningly. 

"Grab his talons!" Deathbringer instructed. Glory clasped Cunning's wrists tightly, not allowing him to move them. Got you now, you traitor. She stared at him with hatred blazing in her eyes. "Let's go!"

They swiftly dragged him into the cover of the undergrowth. 

"Where are we taking him?" Glory asked. 

"I know a place," Deathbringer said. They kept on dragging him along until they arrived at a small place that looked like a prison. There was a set of keys hanging from a branch. Deathbringer took the keys, shoved Cunning into one of the two tiny cells, and locked the door. 

"Since when was this thing here?" Glory said, confused. I never ordered the construction of a prison. 

"Well, I built this secretly, in case you had to lock someone up one day," he answered with a shrug. She gave him an exasperated smile. 

"Good thing you did, I guess," Glory said. She stared at Cunning smugly. He stared back, looking bitter. Finally, he was no longer able to threaten her. And it was just a matter of time before his whole plan would fall apart and Fierceteeth would be brought to jsutice.