Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 40

(Help I just murdered Grandeur :o)

Deathbringer woke up. He registered that it was early dawn. The RainWings who were keeping watch glanced in his direction, and then looked away, realizing that it was just him. He tried not to wake Glory, Amber, Firefly and Fern, who were all sleeping soundly, as he sat up. 

All of the RainWings were still asleep, and they stayed that way until after an hour or so. Glory was awake, as were the dragonets, but hardly any RainWings were awake. Finally, when it was mid-morning, the RainWings started to wake and Glory gathered them all beneath the big boulder. 

"RainWings and NightWings," Glory began calmly. "Later, we'll go and try to gather some food, but first I have an announcement." A ripple of gray-blue passed through her emerald scales, and Deathbringer could guess why. Oh, she's about to tell them about Grandeur. "Grandeur is dead."

Cries of shock and dismay escaped the RainWings below. They had known Grandeur all their lives —she had been so old— and a lot of them were rather close to her, despite her crankiness. She was like a grandmother to some of them. 

"She died while trying to escape the NightWings," she continued grimly. "We will all mourn her, but for now, we have to focus on the big issue of Fierceteeth and her soldiers. I will try and contact the other queens for —"

Suddenly, three RainWings burst out of the rainforest, carrying baskets of fruit. They were all yellow with excitement. Deathbringer realized that one of them was Jambu, and another was Liana. Glory turned around to face them, while Deathbringer restrained their dragonets from running at the food. 

"We snuck into the rainforest!" Jambu announced proudly, setting down her basket. "We were camouflaged!"

"What did you do?" Glory questioned curiously. She didn't seem angry. 

"A few hours ago, while everyone was still sleeping," a bright pink and yellow one said. "We decided to get some food for everyone.So we went back into the rainforest to secretly gather some fruit."

"No NightWings saw us," Jambu added, smiling. Amber, Firefly and Fern gazed up at them admiringly. Jambu gave them a wink. 

Glory turned away from them, thinking. Then, she decided, "Maybe we can get food this way, then. This isn't enough to feed the entirety of the tribe, so maybe we'll send another few dragons in to gather more fruit." 

"I'll go!" Amber piped up bravely. A few dragons, including Deathbringer himself, chuckled. Courageous little genius, he thought as he gazed down at his daughter lovingly. 

"No, Amber, you're too young, and it's too dangerous," He explained patiently, curling his tail around her. She looked disappointed, but stayed quiet. 

"I can go," Pineapple offered with a shrug. 

"I can go in again. I'm not really tired," Jambu volunteered, grinning. The tense, anxious mood from last night had faded, and everyone was chattering with their friends, so that was a plus. 

"Me too!" Liana said. "I want to go again. It's pretty fun, actually."

Glory nodded approvingly, in her usual, royal way. "Okay, then. Empty these baskets, and then go into the rainforest when you're ready, alright?" The three of them nodded their agreement, emptied the baskets, and then carried them back into the rainforest to gather more food to feed the tribe. 

Glory turned around, her gaze sweeping over the tribe. 

"Everyone," she announced. "We're going to take some fruit one at a time. Dragonets and elderly dragons can take some fruit first." Deathbringer smiled. That sure was a good way to share around the fruit. The adult dragons stepped back as the younger dragonets and the oldest among them took around two pieces each.