Desperado 5

Music played from the tavern next door, as I eyed the approaching wagon with his entourage of guards. It was a favorite meeting place for local scoundrels and criminals to waste their coin on food, drink and company after toiling in the dry, desert sun. Some feared that when the Coven moved in that they'd put an end to such frivolities, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Followers of the Night King, themselves often coming from similarly humble backgrounds, often enjoyed the same kinds of vices and activities that nonbelievers did, and didn't find them as detestable or sinful. Unlike some mystics or false preachers who believed that long-forgotten Spirits would condemn you for eating certain foods or mating with a dragon of the same gender, the Coven idolized an immortal, omnipotent (and very much real) dragon who judged you based how you served your friends and community, and bringing order and equality to all.

I also picked this tavern as the meeting spot because I liked to listen to their singer inside. Terra the Sandwing was a beautiful singer with a talent for songwriting, and tonight the song she sang was particularly catchy:

"Robin has swift claws,

He hunts at night, but it gives him no pause

He wears a funny hat,

It covers his head, he's a crossbow-drak'

He found Princess Burn's chest

And a bunch of things lost when the Royals left

I think he's up to no good,

He's comin' for you, yeah he's comin' for you

All you dragonets, with your gem-studded necks

Better go, better go, outfly my bow

All you dragonets, with your gem-studded necks

Better go, better go, faster than my arrow"

I waved at the wagon merchant, signaling for them to stop by the alley. The merchant pulled down their hood, revealing a young Sandwing female hardly twenty summers old. She eyed me warily, even as I approached with my trademark smile.

"Good evening, Patch," I greeted her, "Did you bring the goods?"

"Yes, Mayor Desperado." She said, pulling the sheet off her wagon, revealing several bags filled with small, red cacti. "All the Dragonflame Cacti I could find in the Jade Mountains, just like I promised."

"Oh, aye," I nodded, giving them a once-over, "Why don't you help the boys and I unload and count what you found. Wouldn't want to underpay you for all your hard work, right?"

Patch nodded hesitantly, and the guards holstered their spears and crossbows as they all got onto the back of the wagon, checking each and every bag. I was about to join them, when I spotted something moving in the front part. It was a dragonet, hardly a year old, looking at the lights of the tavern. Its tail and wings swayed to the music, hardly even noticing the much larger adults moving behind her.

Following a whim, I gave a small whistle, drawing the child's attention. In my much deeper voice, I sang gently along:

"Momma works all day,

She comes home late, yeah she comes home late

I think she brought us a gift,

Stew is in the pot, but it tastes of grit

I've waited for so very long,

Now my eyes are quick, and my tail is strong

Now I reason with my crooked hat,

And say "You're a sneaky, stinky scavenger-rat," yeah

All you dragonets, with your gem-studded necks

Better go, better go, outfly my bow

All you dragonets, with your gem-studded necks

Better go, better go, faster than my arrow"

The dragonet smiled and giggled, liking the cheery tune. I smiled back, though as I sang along I realized the song was… actually kinda dark. Some bandit hunting children for their jewelry? A family driven to desperation? A deceptively morbid tune for dark times, hidden in a cheery melody, how perfect.

"That's it, Brother," One of my guards said, "two-hundred sixty-five Dragonflame Cacti." I looked back. The guards had finished counting (damn were they fast!) and were taking the bags. Patch was watching me warily, uncertain of my intentions with her child.

"Ah, very good." I reached into my bag of coins and fishes around. "That's two gold, six silver and five copper for Ms. Patch." I dropped them in the Sandwing's hand. Again a whim went over me, and again I start fishing in my bag. "What's your dragonet's name, ma'am?"

"...Thorn," She answered, stepping closer to the wagon, "Her name is Thorn, sir."

"Well, here's a copper piece for lil' Thorn." I handed the coin to the young dragon, who promptly grabbed it and started biting it. "Be sure to get her something nice."

"I-I will, sir. Thank you." She took her reward and her child, got back on the wagon, and began walking away.

"Cute kid." I said, as the wagon left their sight. "I have a good feeling about those two. Now, let's get these back to camp. We've got a raid to plan out…"

With the Royal Family dead and Tanwen MIA, Hallowglide was the sole figure left unifying the Coalition against Nightshade and us. If we got rid of him and his minions in Hawkstone, the foreign Queens would have no one to replace Nightshade with, leaving our Queen as the sole legitimate leader in the Kingdom. We had to move quickly, however: Glacier, Scarlet and Moorhen were gathering their forces, and the Nightwings had gone awfully quiet those last couple weeks. Our window before the second invasion was getting smaller day by day, and nothing short of the Night King Himself returning would help us beat the hundreds and hundreds of dragons heading our way.

Fortunately, I already had a plan for breaking into the Baron's stronghold. During my many travels across the continent, I discovered a unique little plant called the Dragonflame Cactus. These lovely little balls of needles and anger only release their seeds when they catch fire - but when they do, the result is very explosive, and very painful. I used my new connections within the Den to start buying up as much of the dangerous little buggers as I could, enough to hopefully fill a wagon-full or two. While Hallowglide and the Coalition were busy trying to find Nightshade and the Nightwing Army, I would deliver the killing blow by taking out the "Lord Protector" in his home.

What I hadn't counted on was the Nightwing warlord finally taking an interest in me. Hallowglide had managed to pinpoint where the Coven originated from, and (believing that we still operated out of Crossroads) sent a number of spies to obtain information on us. Of course, sending a bunch of purebred dragons into our home, unannounced and asking all kinds of nosy questions, made our citizens all kinds of suspicious about them, and they were promptly captured, interrogated and killed. Out of the five spies they sent, only one - a Sandwing with a Mudwing's blunt snout - was spared, as we allowed him to spread our message and warning back to the Coalition. Don't come knocking 'round the Crossroads.

The Coalition wasn't sitting around on their tails, however. Queens Scarlet and Glacier had already gathered a force of nearly a thousand soldiers, gathering to the north. Granted, they were going to be focused on the Nightwings still holding onto the Palace, but if they fell, we wouldn't stand a chance. Worse, the Nightwing Army AND Queen Nightshade left for like a week when the Spirits-damned RAINWINGS invaded their homeland, killed Battlewinner and made them their bitch.

By the 20th, we couldn't afford to wait anymore. We needed to act, and act BIG. That day, we sent a small caravan (loaded up with dragonflame cacti, disguised as humble merchants) to Hawkstone, some of our troops "harassing" them to provide a cover. The guards at Hawkstone bought it, and after a brief skirmish between us, they let our wagons in. From a sand dune not too far away, I gathered our militia and we waited.

After twenty or thirty minutes, there was a loud explosion within the city, and a massive plume of smoke and fire rising to the heavens. I smiled - That was our signal. We took to the skies once more, reaching into our travel bags, pulling out familiar prickly plants. The guards, too busy trying to extinguish the flames from the depot my agents blew up, didn't see us coming until we were right on top of them. Emerging from the tower of smoke like vengeful Spirits from Hell, we started tossing our makeshift grenades down upon them to devastating effect. Buildings catch fire, dragons roar and scream as they get covered in little thorns or burn themselves. Any kind of resistance was scattered, disorganized, and promptly overwhelmed by us.

That wasn't to say the battle was a complete slam-dunk for us, far from it. While most of the town's defenses were fresh recruits or civilians with spears and crossbows, Hallowglide kept the professionals and mercenaries close to his mansion, a place well-known for being a deathtrap for invaders. As such, I made the decision to set the building aflame, and flush them out. Most dragons were smart and quickly surrendered, but some put up quite the fight as they tried to escape. Those that we didn't kill on the spot, we bound and tied with rope and chains.

As day turned to night, I took assessment of our victory. Our moment of glory had not been cheap: Even as we took out the entirety of Hallowglide's forces, dozens and dozens of Coven followers fell to their arrows, blades and claws. We had taken the town of Hawkstone, even as many buildings had burned down (including the Baron's Mansion), and many dozens of dragons had fled during the battle, no doubt heading either to the Coalition camp or the distant Jade Mountains. Looking among our many, we were fortunate enough to have the "Lord Protector" himself, his wing broken and tail covered in arrows. We had taken quite a few losses, to be sure, but the capture of a second settlement and a would-be regent more than made up for everything.

The Sand Kingdom was ours now.

Within a week of the attack, we had the trials going. The term "Coven Court" - that is, a trial that's just for show, a veneer of legitimacy before a sentencing or execution - was something I had a paw in making. We fully intended to kill off Hallowglide and most of his inner circle, but since Nightshade was trying to be the friendly, legitimate Queen, so we had to at least pretend to follow the rule of law, as loose and arbitrary as it was. Dusk also insisted that, if any of them provided any key information about the Coalition or swore to serve Nightshade or the Night King, they'd be spared.

I wasn't exactly known for having a lot of patience for pomp and circumstance, so a lot of these trials were pretty quick affairs. We already determined whether or not the prisoners were guilty before we began, so most of the trials were really just throwing accusations at them, having the "defendants" try to plead their case, then the judge (either Dusk or myself) would either release them or sentence them to death. Most of the trials didn't last longer than an hour, some being resolved within ten to fifteen minutes.

Hallowglide's trial was a notable exception.

A large crowd had gathered that day, as dragons from Scorpion's Den and Hawkstone and all across the Kingdom came to see. It's not every day that you got to see a civil war come to an end, after all. Our "Courthouse" was the ruins of the main hall of the Nightwing's old mansion, the staircase now becoming the judge's seat. From here, we all had a direct line-of-sight to the town square, where the traitors and collaborators were hanging from poles, the heads mounted on spikes, as a warning to all those who'd challenge the reign of Nightshade, The Darkstalker, or me.

Hallowglide was led to the accused's podium, where everyone could see him. His wings were bound, even the one still broken from the battle weeks ago. His tail was discolored and bloated, stinking from an untreated infection. His face was drawn and weary, both from lack of sleep and early starvation. Even so, he stared back at me with dark, hateful eyes. I merely smiled smugly back. I loved making cocky little shits like him squirm.

"Baron Hallowglide," I began, the noble title a terrible joke on my tongue, "You stand before the Night King and the Sand Kingdom for a great many crimes, not the least of which are Treason to the Sand Kingdom, and Blasphemy to the Night King. How do you plead?"

"What does it matter?" He growled, holding himself tall and defiantly. "You've already made your decision, haven't you?"

"I've done no such thing," I lied, "For I am not the one who makes the ultimate decision. Your verdict is handed down to Lady Dusk from The Night King himself, as all of our decisions are. And you should know by now that our god is a merciful one. Should you confess whatever sins you've committed, and swear yourself to his glory, you can still be saved and set free to fight for the right side."

"Yes," He scoffed, "All I have to do is agree to all your accusations, and bow down to an imaginary devil, and maybe you'll let me live as one of your minions. Thanks, but I' think I'd rather die with my honor and dignity intact."

"Why do you choose to be so defiant?" I asked, being extra cavalier to irritate him, "You've already lost. We have your city, Queen Nightshade has returned with the Eye of Onyx, and your precious Coalition of foreign occupiers has no one to represent their old, outdated ways."

"That's where you're wrong!" He snapped, wincing in pain as he struggled against his chains. "Because before you bastards attacked my town, I found a worthy Queen! I found someone better than that freak Nightshade, that'll put your pathetic 'Night King' to shame!"

I laughed dismissively at him. "Oh really?" I jeered. "Is that so? And just who is this Queen supposed to be, hmm? Blaze? One of the Princes' bastards? Another of Char's bastards?"

"No," The Nightwing said, smiling knowingly, "This dragoness has no connection with the Royal Family. In fact, she predates them by many, many years."

Behind me, Dusk shifted uneasily in her seat. "And just who is this 'special' Queen?" She demanded.

"Her name is Jerboa the Third," He answered proudly, "And she is the Sandwing Animus."

A surprised, nervous murmur went through the crowd. Dusk gasped, her tail twitching nervously between us. I squinted at him, trying to determine if he was lying. He wasn't, and that bothered me more than I cared to admit. "What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Before you and your cretins set fire to my town," He explained, "I did my research. Sandwings had Animus dragons of our own, back in the day. In fact, in the days of the Darkstalker, there was a dragoness named Jerboa, who served the old Queens. She even made the Eye of Onyx, in fact. But as the old Queens demanded more and more of her and her power, she disappeared. Queen Glacier was kind enough to inform me that her kingdom had knowledge of an immortal Sandwing dragoness that had been living near their Ice Wall for untold centuries, hiding out in a little hut. I went up there, and I found that the legends were indeed true. The dragoness I found was her daughter, also named Jerboa, granted immortality and animus powers by her mother before she passed. Together with Glacier, we told her of the horrific fate that has befallen this fair kingdom, and she agreed to become our new Queen. While you and your henchmen were preparing to burn us all, Jerboa and I were providing food and safety to all the Sandwings who remained caught between the Coalition and you! Unlike your Pretend Queen and your false god, we actually care about our people!"

"Even if that were true," I countered, "And this supposed 'Animus' wasn't just a figurehead for you and the Coalition, that doesn't change the fact the Nightshade has returned to the Palace with the Eye of Onyx. Nor does it change that she'd but a glorified puppet of foreign occupiers, while we represent the people of here and now."

"Then we have that in common," He quipped, "Because your Coven is as much Sandwing as I am. At least I'm honest about my intentions."

"We have nothing in common." I growled. "You are a power-hungry tyrant who only cares about yourself and holding onto power. You can spread all the lies you want, but the truth is you entered this world with nothing, and you will leave it with nothing. Hallowglide, I hereby sentence you to death for the crimes of Treason and Blasphemy. Let your punishment be a warning to all those who stand to oppress the Sandwings and stand against the Return of the Night King! Guards, take him away!"

"Long Live The Queen!" He roared, as guards pulled him away by his chains. They muzzled him and struck his head as he continued to struggle, but the seed had been planted. Dragons eyed each other nervously, whispering in hushed tones over our little exchange. Was Hallowglide telling the truth? Did the Sandwings really have an Animus Queen? If Jerboa was real, was Darkstalker real, too?

Suddenly, my life became much, much more complicated...

A/N: The song is inspired by the bardcore version of "Pumped Up Kicks", performed by youtuber Hildegard von Blingin', covering the original song done by Foster The People.