Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 31

Training RainWing to fight wasn't very easy.

"Orchid, you have to put at least some power into your blows," Starchaser said impatiently, lashing her tail as a few RainWings tried to practice battle moves. "And Jambu, stop laughing, it's not funny." Glory's brother clapped his talons over his mouth and continued to try and hold in his laughter. 

It was difficult. First of all, Starchaser, Granduer and Glory were the only dragons that really knew anything about combat. And they were already super busy, so it was hard for them to find time to train the RainWings. Second of all, the RainWings weren't the fastest learners, often being distracted by sloths or fruit. And third of all, they kind of were too gentle to even think about hurting anything.

Coconut, Kinkajou's 'friend' was among the slowest learners of all, being lazy and often falling asleep in the middle of training sessions. Orchid wasn't nearly as lazy, but she was hesitant to attack another dragon, especially with her venom, which would hurt. And Jambu treated it as though it were a joke. A bunch of the adult dragons around his age also weren't taking it seriously enough, although many were hesitating for the same reason Orchid was.

However, Mangrove had shown some improvement, and Glory was surprised to find that Dazzling, formerly a queen, was actually pretty good at fighting. As well as those two, the four dragons who had seen their friend, Guava, die at the talons of the NightWings, were eager to learn to defend themselves, and soon a small group of around twenty RainWings were consistently showing up to training sessions. 

But that did not distract Glory from Deathbringer. He was still 'loyal' to Fierceteeth. Even if he was magically loyal against his will, he was still loyal. And that meant that Glory still had to find Fierceteeth and rip her apart. 

Orchid hesitantly swiped at Jambu. He dodged a bit too late and she struck him lightly on the shoulder. "Good job, Orchid," Starchaser commented. "Jambu, pay attention to your opponent, alright?"

"Okay!" Jambu said. Right next to them, two of Guava's friends, who Glory found out were Banana and Papaya, were panting as they jumped around, swiping and kicking at each other as hard as they could without injuring the other. 

Later, Glory went to check on the Royal Hatchery. It was perfect, shaped like an egg, with a hole in the wooden ceiling to let in light, but with leaves that kept out rain. Inside, it was full of small vines and firefly jars, and warm, fluffy moss to keep the three eggs warm. Outside stood one guard, Liana, who had been warned against any suspicious-looking NightWings.

A single, silent tear slid down Glory's cheek when she wondered if Deathbringer would even remember his own dragonets. Clearly, he did not even remember that he was married to Glory. Glory gently curled her tail around her eggs. Potential names danced through her mind. Her dragonets would be so perfect, but they may never even meet their father. And Fierceteeth would be the one to blame.