Glorybringer ... But Different

Chapter 1 ~ Deathbringer ~

Cold. It was so, so, so, so cold in the Ice Kingdom. He beat his wings and rubbed his talons together, trying to warm himself up. Right now, the only thing he wanted was a nice blanket, or maybe a fire. 

"Not fires. Never fires. The smoke would give away your location."  That was what his mother, Quickstrike, had told him, years and years and years ago. She had berated him on the dangers of lighting a fire on the mainland, how it may attract attention and lead to capture, and all these years, he had never lit a fire before on a mission. After all, he was rarely sent to the Ice Kingdom, since most high-ranking IceWing generals lived inside the IceWing Palace, which was protected by a cliff that shot spears at dragons who weren't IceWings. 

But right now, he was so cold and uncomfortable that he just had to light a fire anyways. He rubbed his talons together again as he stood next to the fire, gradually becoming warmer. Hopefully any other dragons in the area would think one of Blaze's SandWings had lit this fire. 

Deathbringer took out the mission scroll and unrolled it again. 

Primary Target: Glory. Female RainWing, traveling with the dragonets of destiny. Green and orange. 

Secondary Target: Tsunami. Female SeaWing, part of the dragonets of destiny. Royal SeaWing patterns. Aggressive. 

The messenger had told him that they were headed for Blaze, to meet her and decide who should be queen. So they were either on their way right now or hidden somewhere. 

The sound of claws landing on the snowy stone behind him made him jump up gracefully and turn around, wings spread. 

"Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in our territory?" The white dragon said. 

It was an IceWing. Or, rather, she seemed like an IceWing. She didn't have the right claws or snout, and she didn't have spiky icicle-like horns. And her tail didn't have spikes either. She was no IceWing. So what was she? A RainWing? 

Deathbringer narrowed his eyes slightly in amusement. Was this dragon his target?

(Sorry if I get the dialogue wrong)

"Great moons, where did you come from?" He said in a smooth voice. 

The dragon narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm the one asking the questions here. What are you doing in the Ice Kingdom?"

Deathbringer allowed himself to look amused. It was the first conversation he'd had in a while. "Technically," he explained. "This isn't the Ice Kingdom yet. Or didn't you know that?"

The mystery maybe-IceWing seemed surprised for a moment, but she tried to hide it. She glared at him and demanded, "You're close enough. Explain yourself."

"Of course, it will be Ice Kingdom territory one day. If Blaze wins the war. She's promised Queen Glacier all the land from here to the horizon." Deathbringer said. The dragon seemed to be annoyed by his casual, conversational tone. "Isn't that interesting? It's a lot of land, but not exactly useful land. Why does Glacier want it? Hidden treasure? A secret diamond mine? What do you think?" The dragon stared at him with a questioning look, as though alarmed. 

The dragon frowned. "Answer my question, NightWing, or I'll take you to Queen Glacier." 

He doubted it. There was no way that dragon was an IceWing. But he played along. 

He smiled a bit, as though not taking her seriously. "That wouldn't be a good idea. You really don't want my tribe to come looking for me," Deathbringer said. 

The dragon added, "And you really don't want to freeze to death in an ice dungeon while you wait. So, talk, and I'll let you go. Win-win." Deathbringer laughed a little. 

"All right," Deathbringer replied. "I'm waiting for someone. Well, a few someones." The dragonets of destiny. 

"Who?" The mystery dragon asked. 

He spread his wings apologetically. "I can't tell you that. NightWing business, I'm afraid." 

The mystery dragon snorted. "NightWings have 'business?'" She said sarcastically. "I thought you just skulked around, congratulating yourselves on knowing everything and doing nothing." Deathbringer laughed again. This dragon was amusing. She seemed like decent company. At least, compared to the couple of messengers he'd encountered over the years.

"Nobody talks to us like that!" He exclaimed. "Where's your sense of awe? Your terror of our powers?"

"If your powers were that impressive, you'd stop this war," she retorted in an unimpressed manner. 

Deathbringer answered, "Maybe we haven't picked a side yet — like the dragonets of destiny."

She still looked unimpressed. "Destiny, as if. I don't believe in prophecies. And what really is the point, if they're so vague and cryptic? Why not just tell us, 'By the way, Blaze is going to win, so don't even bother fighting and leave a bunch of poor dragonets out of it'."

Deahbringer laughed. "Interesting. Quite a lot of dragons I've met feel bad for the dragonets. Honestly, I kind of do, too."

"Hm," she said, stamping her talons. "Well, I'd better get going now." The fascinating mystery dragon turned to fly away. She beat her wings and rose into the air. Deathbringer suddenly felt a twinge of desperation. This dragon was amusing. And she was so mysterious that he felt strangely interested in her. 

"Wait! You can come back tomorrow. It's a bit boring out here and I don't have much to do," he said. "What's your name?" He called. 

"Sorry, can't tell you. IceWing business, I'm afraid," she said with a hint of a smile. He laughed and then smirked in amusement. 

"Alright, see you!" He said as she flew away. Then, he added. "My name is Deathbringer!"

He then watched as her pale figure flew away, slightly surprised with himself. It had been years since he'd willingly his name to a stranger. But he didn't mind. She was interesting, and it had been fun to talk with her. It was a shame that he didn't get her name. But hopefully she would come back the next day. 

Deathbringer exhaled out a cloud of steam and turned back towards the flickering fire.