Deathbringer

Everything was on fire inside Deathbringer, but he tried to ignore the searing pain. The NightWing assassin had decided to take a trip back to the old NightWing kingdom, as he was bored and was desperate for something to do. Deathbringer was starting to regret ever stepping back into the old kingdom, as his scales felt on the verge of melting. He kept on, though, for no particular reason other than how driven he was to foray the ramshackle hellhole that had once made his home. He was too optimistic about his good fortune of even making it this far, and found it pointless to turn around now.

"Look at the volcano!" Deathbringer gasped, as he saw the black mountain towering forebodingly in the distance. Copious streams of glowing lava still poured from the summit, illuminating the rocky, rough slope orange, and the volcano had created a giant, black smoke ring around itself. It had stained the sky red, like a background of SkyWing scales. It was quite a sight to see, and it made Deathbringer shiver a bit with excitement. This place was more amazing than before, although he was sure no one else would agree.

Deathbringer couldn't shake the feeling that he was alone here, and that was fine with him sometimes. But as he surveyed the odd beauty the old place provided, he wanted someone to be here with, someone to explore with, someone to talk with. He had spent a lot of time with Starflight lately doing guy stuff, but sharing this isolation with someone didn't seem to be a thing to do with another male dragon, but a dragoness, and a particular one at that.

Deathbringer missed Glory fiercely. Scarely did he ever see her, as he was only a lowly assassin, and she was a queen. There were few times where they could talk at all, and the sessions were short-lived and rushed. Deathbringer longed to be alone with Glory here, and to embrace her and tell her how much he loved her quietly in her ear.

Casting one last, mournful look at the grand volcano, Deathbringer turned around toward the portal to the RainWing kingdom. He was going to talk to Glory and convince her to spend some time here with him. Eagerness welled up inside Deathbringer at the thought of being with his love, and he swiftly flied towards the portal to abscond the ravaged land of fire for the lush land of rain.


As Deathbringer approached Glory's hut, the faint dregs of sunlight seeped behind the thick, leafy canopy and all sounds made by dragons seemed to peter out, leaving the only sounds as those made by the wildlife.

When he landed in front of her door, he rapped on it with a paw a few times, and all was silent until the sound of someone getting up and walking over to get the door resounded through Deathbringer's ears. The creak of a wooden door could be heard, and out stepped Glory, who smiled sarcastically upon spotting Deathbringer.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't set fire to my door this time," she stated, smirking. "Come in, I have something to tell you, Deathbringer."

"You do?" Deathbringer muttered. "Oh. You do." He hated to sound unconfident around Glory, as he knew well females were attracted to males who were sure of themselves. Although, even the thought of Glory telling him something made him intimidated as he felt around scavengers.

Deathbringer stepped uncomfortably into Glory's hut, remembering the last time he'd been over, when he had snuck in. The encounter still was with him, and he really didn't like to think about it.

Glory led him to a table, where wooden utensils and plates were laying there, unwashed.

"Sorry for the mess," Glory said meekly. She shoved all the clutter to the edge of the table, and Glory motioned for Deathbringer to sit down. As he pulled out a chair, he could feel Glory's gaze on him, waiting expectantly for him to sit down.

When he was seated, Glory said, "Deathbringer, I'm glad you came. I needed someone to help me, and I couldn't have anyone better here."

"What help do you need, Glory?" Deathbringer asked.

A giggle came from the hallway and Deathbringer and Glory looked on to see a small dragonet tearing down it at full speed. The tiny RainWing's scales were flaring with different colors wildly.

"Aunt Gwowy?" he said. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Deathbringer, Guava," Glory explained. "Now run along, we're talking," she urged.

When Guava had left, Deathbringer leaned over and asked, "Glory? Why did he call you his aunt?" Deathbringer had never heard of that dragonet before, and he wondered why he'd suddenly seemed to spring into existence.

"Didn't you hear of Jambu's dragonet before?" Glory said, appalled. "I can't believe you, Deathbringer. I told you about him when we made that door together!"

Deathbringer was taken aback. He couldn't get enough of Glory in general, but he wasn't too fond of her sporadic anger outbursts. They made him want to just leave, but Deathbringer knew that would be rude and might also damage their relationship severely.

"Glory?" the NightWing intoned, trying to break the anger. "I'm sorry. That was months ago, and I don't really have the best memory. And this isn't really something to fight over, so can't we please just quit?"

Glory's gaze softened, and she started to retreat a little, backing up a bit and hunching up her shoulders. Just as Deathbringer was beginning to think he'd came off as harsh, Glory's head tilted back up and she slowly began to speak. "You're right Deathbringer, this isn't really something to fight over."

"See?" Deathbringer said. "It's not hard to walk away from your anger. If you only did this more often, you'd be a lot more lovable."

"All right, all right, enough with the preaching. I have something important to tell you, and I don't think you'll like it." Glory sighed. "I was wondering if you could help me look after Guava for a few hours, because Jambu and Toucan are out on a date, and they dumped the brat here."

"Oh, okay..." Deathbringer mumbled disappointedly. He'd hoped he could bring Glory to the NightWing kingdom tonight, but those hopes were shot; he might as well accept it.

"Thanks, Deathbringer, you're the best." Glory smiled at him, and it was so sincere Deathbringer didn't even find the slightest bit of sarcasm. The gratitude filled Deathbringer with five gallons of blissful happiness.

"So, what do we have to do?" Deathbringer asked. "I've never dragonetsitted before."

"Well, Jambu left me with a couple things for Guava," Glory said, getting up from her chair and retreating towards another room. "I'll be a second, Deathbringer, hold up."

Deathbringer could hear Glory rummaging for something, and he was just about to go ask her if she needed help when Glory emerged from the room, a scroll of parchment in one front talon and some toys in the other. She set them all down on the floor, but retrieved the scroll and settled it on the table.

"Toucan wrote me this handy guide on how to deal with Guava," Glory said, unfurling the ink-soaked parchment.

"I take it Guava's a talonful."

"You'd better believe it."

"So what's on that list?" Deathbringer inquired. He squinted at the parchment in Glory's talon, and it seemed to him there was a lot to consider when handling Guava; he was beginning to not look forward to this at all, but a bit of confidence still stirred inside.

"Oh, ways to keep him entertained, when he needs to sleep, what he'll eat, what I should do when he misbehaves, aaaaaannndddd..." Glory's eyes scanned down the list, and upon stopping, she finished, "Oh, and what Toucan and Jambu allow him to do, just in case he tries to take advantage of us."

"That was very thoughtful of Toucan," Deathbringer began, "but are you sure we'll need all that help? It couldn't be too tough, now that I think of it."

"Deathbringer, you've got to be kidding," Glory scoffed. "Guava is an absolute terror."

"Alright, let's get to work, then," Deathbringer said. "Where's Guava?"

"I don't know," Glory thought aloud. "Guava!" she called. "Where are you?"

No reply. "Guava!" Deathbringer tried.

"He usually answers when I call, at least," Glory muttered, worried. "Don't tell me he ran away; Jambu will disown me!"

"Deathbringer." Glory tugged on Deathbringer's arm. "You've got to help me! I need to find him!" Glory was getting frantic, and Deathbringer could hear her start hyperventilating.

"C'mon, Glory," Deathbringer soothed. "We'll find him. Why don't we check the room he's staying in? Perhaps he's asleep."

"Didn't think of that," Glory pondered. Her face lit up a bit and she started to go for the hall. "It's down here, Deathbringer."

The NightWing followed the RainWing queen, hoping Guava was in fact in his room. He barely knew the dragonet, yet he felt every urge in his lithe body calling for him to protect Guava, merely because of his relation to Glory. He knew it was selfish, but Deathbringer was mainly focused on finding Guava because Glory would praise him for it.

Deathbringer turned into Guava's room, Glory slightly behind him. He glanced quickly around the room, which contained a wooden bed, a short scrollshelf, a couple toys, and other assorted trinkets of no importance. The one thing that was not present in the room, though, was little Guava. Deathbringer heard a sharp gasp behind him; Glory.

"He isn't here!" she screamed. "Jambu will kill me!"

Deathbringer felt a cold wind sweep over him, and he looked around in confusion.

"Glory, did the room suddenly get... colder?" Deathbringer asked.

"The window's open," Glory observed. She went to shut it, but stopped herself.

"Deathbringer?" Glory said. "I think I know where to find Guava."


"Glory, he's not here." Deathbringer shivered, and shook his head frustratedly. "We've been at it for hours."

"No, he's here." Glory stared ahead, her gaze transfixed on the ground. "He couldn't have gone far."

Deathbringer was starting to doubt they'd ever find Guava at this rate. The moon was high in the sky and the stars and constellations were all out, but they kept trudging on, Glory holding on to a false hope and Deathbringer longing to just turn around. He was cold, tired, and hungry, and he couldn't fix any of his problems, not unless he wanted to lose Glory's friendship. They were deep in the rainforest, and all was quiet, making Deathbringer all the more scared a dragon would jump them. He was used to the life of an assassin, and he knew well a forest at night was a great place to hunt your victims.

"Deathbringer, there's a place to rest up ahead. I know you're tired, so why don't we take it easy for a second before we keep searching?" Glory offered. There were rings under her eyes, and she looked more worried and disheveled than Deathbringer had ever seen her. Deathbringer had an overpowering urge to embrace her and never let go; to comfort her of this endless grieving.

"It would be a pleasure, Glory." Deathbringer smiled, and he could tell Glory had too, and he was content, knowing that Glory was at least a little cheered up. Deathbringer could tell nothing was more important to the queen right now than to find her little nephew, and Deathbringer felt a strong conviction that Guava would be found.

When Deathbringer and Glory reached the clearing, Deathbringer laid down, and finally noticed how much his legs felt like tree trunks right now. All four of them were stiff and sore, and Deathbringer was so glad to rest temporarily.

"Hey, Deathbringer, I recognize this clearing." Deathbringer glanced over to a stargazing Glory. "It's the one with the entrance to the NightWing kingdom, I'm pretty sure."

"That's a relief," Deathbringer said. "At least we have an idea of where we are."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments, and both dragons just gazed lazily up at the stars, forgetting the hardships of searching.

"This pwace is awesome!" A dragonet's voice alerted the pair of dragons. Glory and Deathbringer sat bolt upright, unsure of the voice's source.

"That voice was familiar," Glory remarked. "I just can't put a talon on it..." Glory fell silent.

"That vowcano is so big!" shrieked the same voice from before. The sound seemed to come from a tree several meters away, the one Deathbringer remembered was a portal to the NightWing kingdom.

"Three moons!" Glory exclaimed. "That's Guava!"

She got up, and called Guava's name. "GUAVA! GUAVA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Glory, he's on the other side of the portal." Deathbringer led her towards the tree. "C'mon Glory, let's get him before he escapes again, and quickly."

"Are you sure that's where he is, Deathbringer?" Glory clung to him fretfully, her face contorted in a look of grief-stricken panic.

"I'm sure I'm sure," Deathbringer soothed. "For the last time, Glory, we need to get to him before he falls in lava."

Glory glanced uneasily at the tree portal, as if to measure it. "All right, let's go." Glory stepped into the portal, and Deathbringer crammed himself in with her.

As they traversed the short distance to the searing hot NightWing kingdom, Deathbringer cracked a bit of a grin; he couldn't believe he was here with Glory. The circumstances weren't the most positive, but he would manage. Deathbringer played the scene out in his head, with he and Glory finding Guava, bringing him back home, and returning to the NightWing kingdom, just the two of them. As the firey heat began to envelop him and the lush landscape transformed into a lava-ridden wasteland, Deathbringer reassured himself that everything would turn out okay.

"GUAVA, YOU GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW," Glory commanded to the ravaged kingdom. Guava had apparently took off again into the depths of the NightWing kingdom, and Deathbringer let out a frustrated breath at the thought of finding the little rascal again, especially after they were so close to getting him.

"Aunt Gwowy, I don't wanna weave!" Guava's voice screamed. Deathbringer spotted him dashing along the side of a large pool of lava, running recklessly. His scales flashed at complete random into different colors, and he was obviously having fun.

"Deathbringer, go get him," Glory said. "Please do it before he passes out."

"Right on it." Deathbringer didn't falter at all as he soared like a hawk towards Guava, who looked as if he would never quit running. Dwathbringer had to go quickly to keep up, and he thought his lungs woukd burst as he landed beside the young dragonet.

Guava stopped in his tracks at the sight of Deathbringer. "AHHHHH! Aunt Gwowy, it's a NightWing!" Guava probably didn't remember Deathbringer's face, which he understood, since Guava was so young.

"It's alright, Guava, I won't bite." Deathbringer reached out to pick up Guava to return him to Glory, but the dragonet began to bolt away in fear.

"Come back, Guava!" Deathbringer yelled, getting off the ground and on to his feet. He charged after Guava, who began to stray towards the lava. A rock appeared in front of Guava, and for a quick, horrible moment, the RainWing's talon hot caught on the rock, sending him sprawling towards the lava.

Deathbringer swooped in at the last second and grabbed Guava by the paw, saving him. Deathbringer's tail was on fire, but he had no time to stop and peter the flame out with a foot or a wing. His body felt like it would explode from the pain, and Deathbringer was aware of every single hurting scale. He couldn't hear his own cries of agony, and the last thing Deathbringer saw before he blacked out was Glory's shocked and relieved expression and Guava's fluorescent, always-changing RainWing scales.


"Huh?" Deathbringer's senses returned to him, jolting him into immeasurable pain. His tail hurt more than anything else, but it was no longer on fire.

Soft footsteps made themselves clear to the NightWing, and Deathbringer squinted up to see Glory. The pale green fear flushed from her scales upon seeing him and morphed into raspberry pink optimism.

"I brought Guava back, and he fell right asleep," she said. "We don't need to worry about him for a while, alright?"

"Okay." Glory pulled Deathbringer to his feet, and he noticed, in a moment of pure glee, that they were in the NightWing kingdom.

"Should we... go back?" Glory asked. Deathbringer shook his head, and his face started to get warm.

"Glory, I was striving all day to have some alone time with you. I never see you anymore, and I wanted to find Guava so I could please you." Glory's scales turned into crimson and pink love, and Deathbringer continued, smiling. "I can't express to you in words how much I love you, and how much I love to be with you.

You brighten up my day whenever I see you, and I just need to get this out of the way." Deathbringer got down on one knee, and Glory gasped.

"Glory, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you... will you marry me?" Deathbringer smiled at Glory, and she seemed to double over in shock.

Glory went up to him, her scales as pink as the sunrise, and she simply embraced him.

"Of course I'll marry you, stupid. Now come here." Before Deathbringer could react, Glory fitted her lips to his and pushed him to the ground. The world seemed to spin, and it was a moment before she pulled away, and smiled sarcastically at him.

"Let's not tell anyone, all right? I want to keep it a secret for a while," Glory said. "I love you."

"Not as much as I love you." Deathbringer pecked her quickly, and he embraced her. The two dragons collapsed on the ground and smiled at each other for a few moments, before Glory and Deathbringer both kissed each other at the same time in a long, ardent kiss.

I love you, Glory, Deathbringer thought. I'll never love anyone as much as you.

The world seemed to contain nothing more than Glory and Deathbringer, and he was completely content at the thought of that. Their love would last forever, and Deathbringer knew it was true more than anything else he had ever known.