Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 33

Glory whipped around to see Fierceteeth, pinned to the ground by Deathbringer. She ran over, ready to drown her in venom, but before she could, Fierceteeth inhaled, ready to let out a blast of fire. Deathbringer noticed before she did, though, and pushed her out of the way while dodging it himself. Luckily, the flames didn't make anything catch on fire. 

Fierceteeth snarled and stood back up. She glanced at the two of them, realized that Deathbringer was no longer under a spell, and growled. Finally, she decided to take on Glory. Fierceteeth jumped onto the RainWing queen and clamped her mouth shut. But she was outnumbered. A moment later, Deathbringer hauled her away from Glory. 

Fierceteeth glared at them, panting. Just then, a terrified-looking NightWing ran up to her. 

"Jewelhunter and Sharpstrike are dead!" The NightWing screeched, panicking as her tail lashed. Fierceteeth went pale with surprise and fear, and her eyes became wide. "What do we do??"

"Retreat!" She barked at her NightWings. "Retreat!" In a huge wave, all the NightWings flooded towards their village, covered in scratches, venom scars, blood. They were shouting for their friends or family, hoping that no one had died. 

Glory hissed as the NightWings ran away. Some of the inky-black dragons whipped around to glare at them, but most fled immediately. That's right. Run, you gullible idiots. 

"Is everyone alright?" Glory asked, noting that Dazzling had a bad scratch on her arm and Jambu had a bit of a burn on his tail. Most RainWings were mainly unharmed. There were no serious injuries, thankfully. She sighed in relief, as Deathbringer put a wing around her. Glory tried not to turn pink. 

"We're fine," Mangrove said, inspecting a scratch on Orchid's wing. She looked traumatized by the battle. Maybe it would be best not to make her engage in combat again. 

"Everyone, we're heading back to the village. Go to the healers' hut if you have any injuries," Glory ordered, as the RainWings nodded and flew away in the direction of the village, leaving Glory and Deathbringer alone. 

"Come on, let's go," Deathbringer said, as he twined his tail around hers. "What did I miss?" He asked as they flew through the trees. The moonlight makes his dark scales glow. She really missed him. It had been at least two whole months since that awful day when Fierceteeth enchanted Deathbringer somehow. 

"Well..." Glory replied, thinking. What had happened? All that could come to mind was worry and apprehension that he wouldn't return to her. Finally, she remembered something. "The Royal Hatchery. It got completed." Deathbringer's eyes lit up, as though he had completely forgotten about their dragonets. 

"How long till they hatch?" He asked excitedly, trying to contain his smile. 

"Six months," She replied, grinning at him. Glory hissed in pain as she accidentally brushed the wounds on her arm, which were still trickling scarlet blood onto the ground below them. Deathbringer gave her a concerned, guilty look.

"Are your scratches alright?" He mumbled, gazing down in shame. 

Glory nudged him playfully, trying to act fine so he wouldn't have a heart attack or whatever. "They're fine. Stop feeling bad about it," she assured him, and he gave her a weak smile. Soon, they reached the village and Deathbringer pestered her to visit the healer's hut, so she did. 

It was more crowded than ever. The whole place was packed with patients, some with little scratches, some with burns, some with gashes. The healers were running around, snatching bandages and cream to soothe burns. The only NightWing healer who had decided to stay loyal to Glory, Midnight, had more experience dealing with injuries and was the busiest. 

Almost five minutes after Glory arrived, a healer finally came over to treat her injuries. The healer was Mango, who looked thoroughly flustered with the amount of patients she was receiving. 

"Your Majesty!" She greeted. "Come inside." Glory and Deathbringer stepped into the stifling room. Mango snatched up a roll of bandages, gently rinsed off the dried blood in a tub of water, and put a poultice on her wounds to ward off infection. Finally, she clumsily bandaged up the scratches and had to usher them out quickly. "Sorry, we have way too many patient right now, but if it shows signs of infection come to me!" Then, Mango bolted away to treat someone else. 

Glory and Deathbringer flew back to the audience room. It was dark, and everything was quiet since a lot of dragons were in the healer's hut. Glory climbed into her hammock, drained, and fell asleep almost instantly.