"Twenty minutes, max," Deathbringer said, Clay's heart racing a little. Only twenty minutes until he'd be at the Nightwing castle. Only twenty minutes until everything, hopefully, would make sense. Only twenty minutes until he'd see his siblings again. "And that's if you're slow. Keep up this pace, and it'll be fifteen. Push yourselves a little more, and it'll be ten. And if you're really desperate, we could take a few shortcuts and be there in five."

Deathbringer was still leading through the rainforest, although now Beetle had taken up the rear. The two experienced dragons were obviously nervous, although nothing seemed to ever come the dragons' way, other than trees and bushes and plants and more plants and even more plants. Eventually, Clay had stopped worrying and just focused on the rainforest in front of him: the muddy ground that squished under his feet, the way leaves looked as light poured from the canopy above, the sound of insects, of birds, of branches rustling above him.

Only twenty more minutes - Clay looked a bit ahead, and thought that he saw what looked a clearing slightly ahead. The trees seemed to be less tightly packed together there, and it looked like more light was pouring down. Was that the dragons' destination?

"Hey, Clay, Reed? You see that group of bushes over there?" Deathbringer suddenly asked, relatively emotionlessly.

Clay looked, a bit surprised by Deathbringer's sudden words. There was indeed a group of bushes where Deathbringer had gestured, growing purple berries of some sort on it. Clay had no idea why Deathbringer had pointed it out, but the Mudwing figured Deathbringer would explain. Deathbringer did. In the most uproarious and undeviating way possible.

"Run towards it. RUN TOWARDS IT NOW!" At his words and with no more warning, Deathbringer reached into his bag and threw one of the weapons he had revealed earlier out of it, all in the span of about a second. The weapon flew towards the bushes, and then stopped suddenly, a splash of red revealing itself as a Rainwing, turning bright yellow in shock, lost its camouflage and clutched its pierced, bleeding throat in terror, before falling over, dying.

Clay didn't think, he just followed orders; the Sandwing War had made him good at that. He made it past the bleeding Rainwing and near the bushes before the forest started hissing. And he, Deathbringer, Beetle, and Reed slammed through the bushes before the world behind them exploded.

There was a huge bang of sound, sounding like five bolts of lightning striking down in the same place and then releasing its noise all at once. Dirt flew into the air, and the force of the explosion was large enough to reach the now sprinting group of dragons. Clay was almost knocked off his feet by the blast, although other than that he seemed to have avoided the burst. Beetle pushed Clay back up, forcing the Mudwing to keep running, before she hopped over to Reed, stabilizing Clay's brother as well. Past his ringing ears, Clay could hear a voice behind them shouting, "Kill Deathbringer and Beetle, but catch those Mudwings, if possible! They're valuable!"

There was a wicked crack, and one of the huge jungle trees started falling, although thankfully not towards Clay. There was a crash as the huge tree broke past other trees and a boom as it hit the ground, and around this time Clay could start hearing smaller things: the sound of the forest burning behind them, the sound of more orders from the authoritative voice who apparently wanted the Mudwings alive and yet was willing to throw bombs down at them, the sound of four terrified dragons running and crashing through the forest, and the sound of more dragons behind them, tree gliding. Clay glanced back, and saw Rainwings, not able to completely keep their camouflage with their speed, rushing after him, Reed, and the others, quickly, militaristically, and deadly.

The Tears of the Rain.

Even from his quick glance, Clay could tell these weren't the kind of Rainwings that lazed around in the sun all day, the friendly and joyful ones from the stories he had heard about the rainforest. These dragons were obviously trained in warfare, and were coming towards the fleeing dragons with a clear, terrifying ruthlessness in their movements; they wouldn't hesitate to use venom, Clay almost knew. A couple of the pursuing Rainwings even had straps on, likely holding weapons, although what weapons a Rainwing would need other than its fatal venom, Clay couldn't imagine.

Deathbringer was shouting orders: "Run right! It'll take us past a couple of the Tears, but it'll be more clear from foliage! Once we get out of the forest, we're heading for the wall! And don't fly, they'll have venom spitters up near the canopy!" Deathbringer turned, and then Clay followed, pushing past another couple plants, almost feeling the Rainwings in the trees above gaining on him and his party, and then Clay ran straight into the remains of a war zone.

This was what that clearing had been, Clay realized as he ran from the shaded parted of the forest into this new, half-destroyed area. The place had likely been a village at one point, but now it was a mess of toppled trees, burnt trees, collapsed structures, burnt structures, barely-standing structures, obliterated structures, cinders, craters, destruction, remains of dragons, horrors, and death. There was a fairly straight path through the remains of the village, leading to somewhere Clay couldn't see - hopefully the wall Deathbringer had mentioned - and now Clay, Reed, and Beetle were running down it next to each other, Beetle in the middle of the three, Deathbringer having fallen back and now following close behind.

"Bank away!" Beetle yelled, as she slammed Reed away from another one of the Tears' hissing explosives, falling from the treetops above. Clay flung himself right, away from Beetle and his brother and away from the bomb - some smoking, tan ball, different than a dragonflame cactus or any explosive Clay had seen during the war - and not but four seconds after he did this there was another explosion behind him. The noise was deafening, and the ground rumbled underneath him as if an earthquake had shot through the forest, but Clay was able to keep his balance, especially when Deathbringer pulled up next to him and helped the Mudwing stabilize. The Nightwing Commander didn't say anything, but managed to direct Clay closer to this mystical "wall," both dragons only vaguely aware of three Rainwings closing quickly through the treetops.

Clay and Deathbringer ran past another burnt down building and came across Reed, who was bolting for his life away from two more Rainwings, the tropical dragons following him on the ground with impressive speed. Clay wanted to ask where Beetle was, but he was sprinting and didn't have the breath. Another explosion rocked the rainforest floor, and another huge tree slowly started falling with a series of cracks. This time, however, the huge chunk of wood came towards them.

"Move it!" Deathbringer yelled, although Clay was already running as fast as he could. Clay glanced up and saw the tree falling, closer to him; it was going to crush him, falling on top of him from his left. The Mudwing concentrated and managed to run even faster. The falling tree was right on top of him, it would kill him, no, it would catch his tail, no, it slammed down behind him, barely missing Clay, but blocking some of the Rainwings' path, although Clay knew it was a temporary blockade, at best.

Deathbringer suddenly put on another burst of speed, pushing past the two Mudwings, and flung another weapon towards what must have been an invisible Rainwing. This time, though, the Rainwing was ready, and dodged the throwing claw, losing its camouflage and revealing a dragon with bright red scales. The dragon reared up - almost like the snakes Clay had occasionally seen in the swamp - and spat acid at Deathbringer, complete hate in the Rainwing's eyes, no remorse or hesitation present. Deathbringer turned without slowing down and let the acid hit his armor, preventing it from doing anything, and then slammed into the Rainwing, pummeling him in a battle that seemed completely unfair. "Go!" the Nightwing ordered as he wrestled the Rainwing to the ground, although whether Deathbringer wanted the dragon subdued or dead, Clay couldn't tell. "I can handle myself!"

Clay and Reed left Deathbringer, hardly having slowed down during the ordeal, and ran up another hill, past a building that looked like it had fallen from somewhere, and then Clay saw it: the wall. There was no doubt; there was a large, stone wall surrounding what looked like a small village, as well as a bigger building in the center - the castle, maybe? Even from where Clay was, the Mudwing could see dragons on top of the wall, likely guards or soldiers or other dragons that could save his life or his freedom or whatever these dragons wanted to take away from him. But as Clay ran, he heard thrashing in the trees above, and knew that more Rainwings were coming, so Clay tried to look past his burning lungs and run, and run, and run…

"Clay! Reed! Left!" came Beetle's voice, suddenly, and as Clay did as he was told he saw a Rainwing, camouflage fading as she attacked, coming towards him. Then Beetle came flying down from above - she had been tree gliding, Clay realized - and slammed herself straight into the Rainwing.

Clay had to admit, after seeing that Beetle wasn't some merciless killer, he had allowed a couple thoughts that she wasn't as good at fighting as others said enter into his mind. But Beetle quickly proved those thoughts wrong. She grabbed the Rainwing as she fell on her from above, then jerked her own wings and flipped the Rainwing over so that Beetle had positioned herself underneath. Then, with incredible power that Clay couldn't believe had come from such a small dragon, Beetle kicked the Rainwing off of her and into a nearby tree, knocking the tropical dragon unconscious with the force of the impact alone. Beetle recovered extremely quickly, and soon was at Clay and Reed's side again, breathing from the effort, the three racing ever closer to the wall, where they had been spotted by a couple dragons. Clay could see a few dragons jump from the wall into the trees, making their way towards him, and realized that he was almost there, he was almost safe.

Then a dragon fell on Clay from above.

She slammed Clay to the ground, shooting acid at Beetle at the exact same time. Beetle jerked herself away, avoiding the venom, and the Rainwing took the time of Beetle's absence to swing herself at Reed, kicking Clay's brother in the chest, winding him. Beetle started running towards Clay, and Reed recovered and tried to swing himself at the Rainwing, but more Rainwings jumped down in front of them, blocking their path. Clay struggled and tried to use his strength to push the Rainwing off, but this Rainwing was deceptively strong, and then he heard the hiss, and Clay knew, somehow, what was coming before it did.

But he couldn't have imagined the pain the Rainwing's acid caused.

It felt like his scales had caught fire, like they were melting off, and all his scales did was hurt more and more as more of them melted, and the acid spread farther and farther over his back, where the Rainwing had shot him, likely just wanting to disable him, not kill him, because if Clay could remember anything through this pain, it was that Rainwing acid was only fatal if it got into the blood. That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

It felt like knives repeatedly stabbing into him, twisting, and then jerking out, only to come back in. It felt like having each and every one of his scales being ripped off with the feeling of a claw strike down to the bone with each one. For once in his life, Clay felt like he was on fire. It was horrible. It was unbearable. Clay wanted it to stop, and it wouldn't, and he was screaming, and it hurt, and it wouldn't stop, it wouldn't, it wouldn't, it wouldn't ever, it would just keep hurting, and he was screaming in pain and horror and absolute pain...

The Rainwing who had attacked Clay was just watching him as he thrashed uncontrollably, trying to rub the acid off on the grass or something or anything, the female dragon probably waiting for the pain to overtake Clay so she could drag him away, using him for whatever value the Tears of the Rain had hinted at before. Then Clay, despite the mind-blowing pain he was currently in, subconsciously heard a snap. Clay's eyes were watering from complete agony, but he could vaguely see the Rainwing fighting Beetle pitch with a shriek and hit the ground, and Beetle flinging herself at the Rainwing by Clay. There were other snaps, and Clay saw Reed's Rainwing fall over, an arrow in the dragon's shoulder, and the Rainwing next to Clay jerked out of the way as an arrow flew past where her heart had been a few seconds ago. Clay was only vaguely aware of Beetle rushing over him, and then Reed, and then more dragons following, and then talons pulling him over, and then he heard the sound of a Rainwing spitting acid again, and he panicked, because there was more pain coming, but how could there be more pain than this, and there was nothing he could do, and he felt Rainwing acid on his back, in the same place, and Clay was waiting for even more pain to come in the exact same place, and then… relief?

Clay blinked, trying to clear his eyes from tears that had managed their way into them. His back had stopped burning, and a blurry Rainwing was standing over him, his scales a mix of worried blue, anxious orange, and enraged red. Once Clay stopped screaming and thrashing, the Rainwing seemed to ignore him, focusing on the other Rainwing that had attacked Clay in the first place. Clay managed to turn, the only pain caused by his half-melted flesh, and saw Reed, Beetle, and two more Rainwings between him and the aggressive Rainwing, and Clay also saw Deathbringer, a ways away, but still Deathbringer, to this Rainwing's left, enough hate in his posture that Clay could see it from his half-dead state, a unfamiliar bag of sorts in one of the Nightwing's claws. But the attacking Rainwing seemed to only have eyes for the Rainwing standing over Clay, growling only one word: "Traitor."

"I'm the traitor!?" the Rainwing above Clay yelled, the one sentence holding so much more subtext of anger and betrayal and hurt, but Clay just couldn't catch the specifics; his head was pounding, and he felt sick.

Things were getting blurry again. Clay felt like he was about to pass out from his injuries, and the numbing pain, but Clay forced his eyes open, trying to listen, to understand what was going on. The attacking Rainwing had backed up a bit, apparently feeling outpowered. She shot one more glare at the Rainwing above Clay, before she said, not bothering to turn towards her addressed, "One day, Deathbringer. You won't be lucky forever."

"I don't know," Deathbringer responded, a very strong sense of hate in his voice despite the confident wording of the sentence. "I like to think I'm a very lucky dragon. Plus, I don't bother to rely on luck."

"Oh, of course, Your Majesty, we all know you're absolutely perfect," the Rainwing said, although Clay suddenly had doubts if she was being sarcastic or not. No, it was just his burned out mind playing tricks on him, Clay told himself; Deathbringer wasn't the king, he couldn't be the king, he was the Commander of the Nightwing Armies, it was just an insult. The Rainwing turned towards Deathbringer, although Clay could still manage to see her glancing behind where he lay - crossbows, there had to be crossbows behind Clay. "I suppose we'll meet again."

"Yes, and one day, you won't be so lucky," Deathbringer snarled, stepping towards the attacking Rainwing.

The Rainwing smirked, and then she dropped something from her talons, and there was a flash, and when it was over, she had gone. Now Clay was really having trouble focusing, the darkness was slowly creeping in, and he could barely hear a dragon behind him say, "Deathbringer, sir, should we send out searches?"

"No," Deathbringer said, moving towards Clay, the Rainwing above Clay moving away at the same time. "We need to get this Mudwing to safety. Take that Rainwing, too; he'll survive." Deathbringer was at Clay's side, now. "Plus, you all know that coward will run back to her Tears of the Rain for protection, where we can't attack them head on," Deathbringer was saying, looking at Clay's half-melted mess of a back, Clay almost gone, almost letting the blackness overtake him. All he could hear was one more hate-filled sentence, uttered by Deathbringer under the Nightwing's breath as he stared at Clay's injuries, more to the Nightwing's self than to anyone in the vicinity.

"But one day, Glory, you're going to pay."


[Insert comment stating how amused I was at Jayfeattheris Awesome's review last chapter (remember, most of this is at least partially written out)] By the way, Glory is still named Glory for one and only one reason: because it would more confusing if she wasn't. I played around with her having a different name, but in the end it was simply easier and more dramatic for Glory to have the same name in this AU as the, uh, what is it called? SU (Standard Universe)? NU (Normal Universe)? Canon? Whatever, you get the gist. Bye!