Glorybringer (Glory x Deathbringer)

Glory's scales turned from light blue to pink. "What in the world?" she muttered. For some reason, she felt as pink as her bubbly, ridiculous brother, Jambu. She tried to change back, only to find her scales red and orange with frustration, and that infernal color surfacing through it all. She vigorously shook herself, and then Deathbringer landed in front of her. The other colors vanished, and she turned a vibrant, bright sort of pink. "Deathbringer, I can't control my scales." she said in frustration.

"You know why?" he said cheekily.

"OBVIOUSLY NOT, DEATHBRINGER, SO TELL OR SO HELP ME I WILL RIP YOUR EYES FROM YOUR SKULL." Glory exploded.

"You might not like the answer…" he said innocently.

"JUST SAY IT."

"Ok. It-it is the m-mating season for Rainwings… and- well… Nightwings too." he explained quickly.

"Oh." said Glory, deflating.

"Aaaaand I came to ask you something else." said Deathbringer.

"Yes?" said Glory.

"Do you love me?" he burst out. "Because I love you, and I am going to explode with frustration if I don't know if you love me back, and even if you don't then I will never love any other dragon as much as I love you, and even though I spent all my days trying to protect you, you still got captured, and it's my fault for not stopping you-"

"Oh, Deathbringer, of course I love you. How could you keep all that inside you and still be around me?" said Glory, shocked. "And there was nothing you could do about me being captured. It is not your fault. And, I would love to be open about all this, even if you don't want to… er… be m...mates. Because I want to. And I think I was in love with you since the first word you ever said to me, but I wouldn't admit it to myself. I do love you, Deathbringer. And if you don't believe me, you're an idiot."

"I do want to be mates, Glory." Deathbringer said, happiness glowing from his every scale. "Nothing can stop me from loving you." He stepped forwards and kissed her, and the way he melted into her gave the impression that Glory wasn't something he wanted, she was something that he needed. He held her closer, and her scales seemed to glow with joy. Deathbringer pulled her against him, gazing at Glory, in awe and joy at her beauty. She smiled at him, and didn't try to fight back the colors spiraling through her scales. Pink and gold in all shades rippled through her as she kissed him. Deathbringer stroked her back, then her wings. As Deathbringer fell into a rhythm, Glory opened her eyes and studied him, sighing happily at the love she saw shimmering there. Glory opened her eyes and made her way into a sitting position, smiling at Deathbringer. "I don't know why I waited so long to tell you that I love you, seeing as you are the most beautiful female in Pyrrhia, my love." said Deathbringer.

"Why thank you, Deathbringer." said Glory, flicking her tail with amusement. "I think that we can both agree that if we have dragonets, they will be the handsomest, most beautiful, most perfect dragonets in Pyrrhia, as well." she said.

"We can." Deathbringer agreed.

"I love you." said Glory.

"I love you too." replied Deathbringer.

one year later

"Get me Deathbringer." gasped Glory to a small Rainwing next to her. He nodded hastily and flew off. She shook, feeling the eggs inside her wanting to get out. She pushed, and then one slid out, light rainbows swirling through the shell. Deathbringer skidded to a stop in front of her, looking panicked. "Is it the eggs?" he yelped. "What can I do?"

"Keep everyone out." she panted. He nodded, then ran out. Males. Glory thought, rolling her eyes. Then she squeezed them shut and shoved again.

Some time later, she called weakly, "Deathbringer! Come here!" He raced in, then relaxed when she smiled at him. "Come look at them." she said. He lay down beside he, and gazed proudly at the four shining eggs in between them. One was a regular Rainwing egg, one was black as a moonless night, but the other two were different. One looked like it was made of fog, swirling under the shell. The other had rainbow and black lines spiraling around the shell. "They will be beautiful." Deathbringer whispered, tears shining in his eyes. "But… what will Grandeur and the rest of the tribe think… that their queen had eggs with a… a foul Nightwing assassin like me?"

"Oh, shut up. You aren't foul. And if they have a problem with you, they can take it up with me." Glory said, fierce protectiveness glowing in her voice. Deathbringer leaned across the eggs and kissed her gently, winding his tail around hers. Glory sighed and kissed him back. "You are the most handsome dragon in Pyrrhia." she breathed.

"And you are the most beautiful." he said with certainty.

"These dragonets will be lucky to have you as their father." said Glory, moving back.

"I will protect them with my life." promised Deathbringer. "I would like to tell you why I take my job of protection so seriously." he said.

"You may." said Glory. And Deathbringer told her the story of Quickstrike from beginning to end.

"And when they killed her, I promised myself that if I ever found another dragon to care for, I would never let them get hurt." he finished. He looked up and saw Glory crying.

"You are the most perfect protector I could ever wish for." she told him. "Thank you." he said. Then Glory got up and wrapped her wings around him a he broke down. He cried into her wings as she held him.

"I couldn't save her." he said, his voice cracking. "No matter how much I wanted to. It was my fault that those Sandwings found her, and now she's dead because of me." he sobbed, and Glory leaned back against the wall, folding the devastated assassin into her wings as he cried.

"Your mother would be so proud of you." she told him, looking at his bent head with sorrow. "Blister should die a thousand times for what she's done to you." Anger and sadness rippled through her wings in shades of grey and red.

"Sometimes I feel like you're my protector, instead of the other way around." Deathbringer said with a croaky laugh. He had stopped crying, and was now just leaning into Glory, all the energy gone from him.

"Thank you for telling me." she whispered.

"I- I just thought that you should know." he said.