Glorybringer ... But Different

Chapter 2 ~ Glory ~

Glory thought as she flew. She was being battered by huge clumps of snow. 

"You can come back tomorrow. It's a bit boring out here and I don't have much to do."

Should she? He was a NightWing, and she didn't know why he was here and what he was up to. NightWings were generally shady and vague, and often felt that they were way superior to the other tribes. 

But Starflight is decent. He's not like the other NightWings. Maybe this NightWing is a decent dragon, too, she thought, as she shook off some snow. And, plus, maybe I can find out what he's doing if I meet him tomorrow. Perhaps I shouldn't overthink it. 

Up ahead, she could spot the clump of boulders where her friends were. Probably very cold, like her. With a smirk of amusement, she decided to scare them a little. Glory touched up the shading on her spine, making her look even more like an IceWing, and then dove down. 

"Aagh! An IceWing!" Starflight yelled, stumbling backwards and then falling. Glory laughed, becoming her usual emerald colour. Tsunami and Sunny laughed, too. Starflight stood back up with an offended expression and asked, "Glory! Why would you do that?"

"Because it's hilarious," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. He made an even more offended expression. "Anyways, I think I found Blaze's fortress. It's north of this place, and I think I can sneak in to search the place."

"Alone?" Sunny asked. "Can you take at least one of us with you? It's too dangerous, what if they give you to Queen Glacier?"

"Fine, then," Glory said, annoyed. They may be her friends, but she still didn't like how protective they were. She could handle it, she was sure. "Who here can sneak around easily?"

They glanced around at each other, unsure. Then, Jambu yawned, giving her a bored look. 

"And be helpful," She added firmly. 

Jambu for once looked serious. "I can be helpful," he stated. "I bet I'm a lot better at spotting camouflaged RainWings than you are. We play hide and seek in the rainforest, and I'm pretty good at searching."

"Really?" She asked. 

"Yeah," he replied with a shrug. "Can I go with you?"

Glory thought for a minute, and then finally answered, "Fine. But listen to me carefully and don't even think about sneezing or coughing or giving yourself away."

"Okay," her idiot brother said with an excited little nod. 

"Then let's go," Glory said as she turned and flew towards Blaze's fortress. Jambu chattered on ceaselessly as they approached the snowy area. Oh, dear. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him along. 

"Snow!" He exclaimed, doing a little flip in the air. "I've never seen snow up-close before. It seems fluffy." 

A while later, as they were flying through the cold flakes, he was muttering to himself, "Not fluffy. NOT fluffy! I repeat, this snow is NOT at ALL fluffy." Jambu shook his wings, making the snow piled on top of them fall to the ground below them. "Brrrrr, this is cold!"

"Shh!" Glory said urgently. She could see the fortress. A hulking, depressing box of stone bricks with teeny-tiny windows and flickering torchlight. "We're getting near. Someone could hear us. Also, can you camouflage yourself?" Jambu grunted and went invisible. "Good. Come on, let's check it out." She swooped down and landed on a small protruding ledge. 

The windows were too small for her. Too small even for Sunny or Starflight, probably. Glory could hardly fit her head through the openings. Stupid tiny windows, she thought. 

"Ugh," Glory said in annoyance. "Fine. We'll have to pretend to be soldiers and go in that way. Jambu, can you make yourself look like an IceWing?"

Jambu, who was staring at a polar bear in the distance, quickly turned to her. "Hm? Make myself look like an IceWing?" He asked cluelessly. She sighed. 

Glory made herself look like Fjord, the IceWing she had to kill in Scarlet's arena. "Can you make yourself look like me, then?" She asked. Jambu slowly changed his scales to a whitish blue colour. "Nice. Maybe make your horns different from me or something." Pale blue appeared on his horns, snout and wings. "Better. Okay, let's hope this works. Pretend to be a soldier."

Jambu nodded doubtfully but listened. Hopefully he wouldn't completely mess up. They marched up to the only door they saw and knocked. 

"Who's there?" A gruff voice said. The door creaked open to reveal a battle-scarred SandWing with a sharp tail barb gleaming with venom. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hm? Who are you?"

Glory cleared her throat and nudged Jambu, forcing him to act more solder-like. "Ahem. We were sent here by Queen Glacier to inform Queen Blaze about something."

"Inform Queen Blaze about what?" He questioned in a bored manner.

Glory felt a chill run down her spine. The SandWing wasn't particularly threatening, but she still felt scared. But she didn't let it show. After a moment of bewildered silence, she answered in a forceful, soldierly voice, "We came to inform Queen Blaze only. We have no orders to tell you any information." The SandWing seemed taken aback, and Jambu seemed startled by how hostile she sounded. 

"Well, I'll take to Queen Blaze," The SandWing agreed with a shrug. Glory and Jambu walked into the satisfyingly warm fortress, although it was way colder than the rainforest. They walked down several corridors before they emerged into a huge room. It was lined with beautiful colorful tapestries, and scarlet camel-hair pillows, as well as warm blankets. There was a fireplace in one corner, where a huge, elegant SandWing was sitting, admiring herself in a small mirror. 

Blaze.