Deathbringer couldn't help but stare as his queen sat regally outside her throne room while conversing with Queen Snowfall. Silver rested on Glory's back, burbling and snuggling into her neck drowsily. The IceWing queen had a desperately hopeful look on her face, like she couldn't believe there was another existing queen who wasn't utterly deranged. A scrawny IceWing stepped out from behind their queen and placed a small, glowing ball of light between Glory's claws. Deathbringer watched as they exchanged a few more words before Queen Snowfall vaulted swiftly into the summer air with her two personal guards following closely behind. The RainWing queen watched the three dragons soar into the distance with her head held high, but Glory's downturned snout gave away her fatigue.
She exhaled and slowly twisted around to look at him. The backdrop of the rising sun behind a copse of palm trees made her almost seem ethereal. Deathbringer had the fleeting, desperate hope that Glory would smile and embrace him like she did in all his wildest dreams, but as he expected, she merely shook her head and began pacing.
"I don't know what you're thinking, Deathbringer, but I have no time for your childish antics. I have to visit an injured NightWing in the infirmary, then I have to deliver scrolls to the library, then I have to attend a meeting regarding Jade Mountain Academy renovations, and then—"
Before Deathbringer could interrupt, Silver cut Glory off by chittering angrily in her ear. She stopped pacing for a moment and gently lowered Silver to the ground until the spirited little animal scampered outside. Glory scowled at Deathbringer as if her death-stare would convince him to leave as well.
"Stop glaring, sweet cheeks. I know you love me." A lofty grin spread across his face, causing Glory to scoff derisively and resume her pacing. Deathbringer chuckled and continued speaking.
"All the things you just listed can be easily done by someone else, and if they can't, you can simply postpone them."
"And why would I do that?"
He sighed at her stubbornness. "Because you're clearly exhausted, and— hey, don't give me that look. We both know you'll make better decisions if you enjoy a full eight hours of suntime like every other RainWing."
Instead of rolling her eyes like he expected, she tilted her head and gave him a rueful look that said 'I wish I could.' Deathbringer considered it for a moment before moseying in front of her until they were snout-to-snout. Glory's emerald eyes narrowed into defensive slits. Swallowing, Deathbringer tamped down the urge to take one more step and close the distance between them.
Then Glory pulled a half-eaten pomegranate out of nowhere and raucously took a bite.
Deathbringer growled softly. "Oh, come on, we were having a moment."
"And I'm having a pomegranate," she drawled.
He rolled his eyes. "Stop pushing yourself. You need to rest."
"And you need to fix that hideous sail of yours, but we don't talk about that, do we?" Glory said with a faux smile.
Deathbringer held his claws over his heart and acted offended. "Sunshine, how could you say such things about me? After all we've been through?"
"I envy the dragons who've never met you." Glory replied, walking over to her desk and grabbing her empty scrolls and quill. As she began writing, Deathbringer sat patiently and waited for her to break. The uncomfortable silence continued for several minutes before she couldn't take it anymore.
"Alright, why are you still here? You know I won't change my mind."
"Maybe I will. Do you ever wonder where Silver is running off to every day?"
"Whatever that corybantic critter does in her free time is none of my concern." Although she tried to hide it, curiosity seeped into her tone.
"If you follow me now, I swear on my mother's rotting grave that I'll leave you alone after," Deathbringer said with exaggerated solemnity.
Glory stopped writing for a moment to weigh her options. Eventually, she grumbled a few obscenities and shoved the scrolls aside.
"Lead the way."
Glory and Deathbringer had been promenading through the dense rainforest for what felt like hours. Every few minutes, Deathbringer had been finding creative measures to convince Glory not to turn around and fly back home. He assumed that Jambu being left in charge was what made her the most antsy, but it would all be worth it in the end.
"Deathbringer, if something exciting or even remotely interesting doesn't happen in the next five seconds, the entire forest will feel my wrath."
"I know, I know. We're almost there, dearest."
Finally, the trees opened up to a wide clearing. Unfortunately, they had to plan this event somewhere far away so Glory would never see it coming. The forest grew eerily quiet, and the RainWing queen eyed the empty land suspiciously.
Before she could speak, a group of RainWings materialized from thin air, and a swarm of NightWings flew down from the trees. They landed on the ground with a thud, and even though it was anticipated, Deathbringer still flinched back. Everyone gathered in front of the queen and shouted at the same time.
"Surprise!"
Glory's head snapped to Deathbringer, glowering as a broad smile spread across his snout. The crowd rushed forward with their gifts, fighting to be within a five-foot radius of their queen. Some even threw their presents at her, which caused Deathbringer to have to dart around and catch them all.
A hammock of local delicacies was lowered into the middle of the glade, with a gargantuan three-tier cake in the center. Waterfalls of coruscating leaves began raining down around them. Kinkajou bounded around handing out snacks, causing even the most stoic NightWings to break out in grins.
"But... why?" Glory surveyed her subjects, awestruck by their sheer devotion.
Deathbringer snorted as if it was the dumbest question ever. Well, in my opinion, it is.
"Your people, especially the NightWings, wanted to show you how much they appreciate what you've done for them. I'm sure I've made it clear by dedicating my entire existence to you, but just so you know, you're the best queen Pyrrhia has ever seen."
Glory managed to keep eye contact with him for ten seconds before she tore her gaze away, flustered by the intensity of his words. Deathbringer slowly looked her up and down before chuckling.
"See? I knew you liked parties," he said with a smirk.
To her chagrin, Glory looked down to see bright pink washing over her scales. Her cheeks brightened to match the color.
"Wait, are you... blushing?"
"Excuse me?"
"Glory, the most cold-hearted, stand-offish, and closed-off dragon ever, is blushing?"
"No, it's just my scales," she sputtered, waving vaguely towards herself.
"Really? It's your scales? And not because I just proved that you love parties and maybe you're not as emotionless as you think you are?"
"Of course not!"
"Aw, you're blushing even harder," Deathbringer teased, beaming gleefully.
"I despise you."
"Relax, beloved, you haven't even seen the best part yet."
Confused, Glory narrowed her eyes at him before focusing her attention in front of her, where the multitude of enthusiastic dragons was slowly parting the way. As the last one moved out of the way, the familiar gray of Silver's hide became visible. An unknown sloth sat beside her, staring fondly at Silver as she tucked a little ball of fur to her chest. She scurried forward and lifted up her claws so Glory could get a closer look. The RainWing queen gasped as she recognized the tiny creature.
A baby sloth.
Stunned, Glory took the newborn and looked up, watching as the male sloth nuzzled Silver affectionately. She swallowed and allowed a small smile onto her face, cradling the baby in her talons and rocking it back and forth. The newborn sneezed softly, nuzzling her tiny head against Glory's claws. A chorus of 'awwws' rang out from the crowd.
Deathbringer's breath hitched. Seeing Glory holding a baby so lovingly made his brain go haywire as it explored fantasies of... other things. When she glanced up and noticed the way he was looking at her, she quickly handed the baby back to Silver and reverted her scales to their default colors. Glory glanced behind her, likely pondering whether flying off into the sunset would be more enjoyable than this.
"Come on, darling, you just got here. Don't stay for me, but for them. Your people planned all of this for you. Can't you entertain them? Just for a little while?" Deathbringer gave her his best puppy eyes, although they never seemed to work.
Glory scrutinized the crowd once more before huffing and turning to him. "Fine. But only for a little while."
Four hours later, Glory was still at the party, and it didn't seem like she had any intention of leaving.
After the first hour, Deathbringer had to fulfill his role as Glory's bodyguard more than he'd predicted. He had to scare off many dragons who'd been getting too handsy with their expressions of admiration. Deathbringer had been seconds away from throttling a RainWing for trying to caress Glory's tail.
By the second hour, a tipsy Kinkajou had convinced Glory to have a drink. Then another. And another. They'd ended up dancing together in the middle of the clearing— well, if you could consider aggressively swaying back-and-forth to be dancing. If Deathbringer didn't worship the ground Glory walked on, he probably would've gotten the ick.
In the third hour, Deathbringer had been too preoccupied with stopping fights and standing menacingly at the edge of the glade to keep a close eye on his queen, so he hadn't kept track of how much she'd drunk. By the time he'd fished a sleeping sloth out of an empty punch bowl and prevented two NightWings from literally mating in the middle of the clearing, he prayed to the moons that Kinkajou had been watching over Glory while he was busy.
And after four tiring hours, Deathbringer had been tasked with forcing every partygoer to begin wrapping things up. No one had listened to him until he'd begun shrieking at the top of his lungs like a pig on its last legs.
The last few dragons were exiting the clearing now, leaving Deathbringer and Glory alone. Since she was curled up under a tree doing nothing, he presumed it would be fine to start cleaning up the huge mess that no one bothered to clean up. Gee golly, all this work just for me! Hooray!
As he began scooping the leftovers of half-eaten guavas and cake crumbs into the hammock, he heard strange noises coming from Glory. His speed was faster than the flash of lightning that fatally injured his mother as he sprinted over to her. She groaned and rolled over to face him, gawking at him through muddled eyes.
"Ugh, Deathbringer... Deathbringy... can I call you Bringy?" she paused, giggling, "Sounds like dingus. I'm gonna call you dingus."
Deathbringer stopped and stared. Three-humped camels, how many pineapple cocktails did she have? His gaze slid next to her to find seven empty mugs scattered across the grass. Oh, for crying out loud.
"Deathbringer and dingus sound nothing alike. Now, come on, Jambu will find a way to burn down the rainforest if we don't get back soon." Deathbringer attempted to pull her up, but she felt as heavy as an anchor. "Goodness, I expected this to be easier 'cause you're so small."
"Thas whashe said," Glory slurred, tittering and wobbling to all fours. She frowned after finding her footing, bringing her talons to her face and revealing a small, misshapen banana. She leaned in close, whispering into her claws.
"Protect me, m'love. This creepy dingus keeps trying t'seduce me," Glory cradled the fruit to her chest, like she was trying to protect it from him. Deathbringer squinted, wondering which label was referring to him. When he took a step closer, Glory immediately whipped the fruit toward him, wielding it like a weapon. Deathbringer sighed.
"Put the banana down, sweetness." The amused NightWing tried to grab the banana, but she yanked it out of his reach and stumbled backward. Then her eyes went unfocused as they strayed to something over Deathbringer's shoulder. Bemused, he glanced backward and returned his gaze to Glory. Her face had transformed into one of a dragonet seeing snow for the first time.
"Wowzers, I think I saw one of those cats that go 'moo' just now!"
Deathbringer stared at her incredulously, processing the words.
"Do you mean... a cow?"
She blinked twice. "Oh, yeah, that thingy."
Deciding to use the distraction to his advantage, Deathbringer tried to snatch the banana from her claws again. She squeaked like a mouse in a dragon's jaws and fell backward in her futile attempts to get away.
"Stopuh, don'take Patricia away f'rm me!" Deathbringer ducked out of the way when Glory tried to thwack him in the head with her wing. She kicked at Deathbringer like a dragonet would do when play-fighting with their sibling. I wouldn't be surprised if the banana has already been squished during her temper tantrum.
Then she resorted to flapping her wings wildly like a horny male peacock. "No means nohr, dingus!"
He grabbed her wings as gently as possible to stop their fluttering and pulled her upright. Glory wavered on her legs, blinking repeatedly. He plucked the banana out of her talons with ease.
Then Deathbringer crushed the banana between his claws, and Glory burst into tears.
"Naurrr, m'beloved!" She wailed, dropping to her knees dramatically. He panicked at her blubbering and tried to impede her flow of tears.
"Don't worry, doll. There's definitely, uh, bigger fruit in the forest!" Deathbringer stuttered, hating the sound of his queen weeping. He tugged Glory to her feet again and lifted a single claw to gently wipe her blurred eyes.
"How'll I ev'r replace herrr?" she moaned, diving her head forward into Deathbringer's chest.
And then she proceeded to go limp and lean her entire body weight into him.
Oh, for all the flying dragons above.
The grass stabbed into Deathbringer's spine as he fell back with a thud. Glory followed suit not long after, sprawling over his underbelly with her snout tucked under his. She slowly lifted her head up and blinked dazedly at him. Then she blinked again. And again. Is she trying to wink at me, or is she having a seizure?
Glory plopped her head back in the crook of his neck, twining her tail around his. A few minutes passed before she started snoring louder than the thunder he'd heard while his mother had been taking her last breath.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay here for a night. Deathbringer swung his wings up to drape around Glory and exhaled, feeling a rare sense of calm sweeping over him.
"I think I'm in love with you." he whispered.
"Hrghfmph?" Glory mumbled against his throat. By the moons, she wasn't supposed to hear that!
"Hush, I said I'm selling you to a zoo. Now go to sleep."
Then finally, Deathbringer allowed the hum of the slumbering rainforest to sing him to sleep.
Deathbringer's Glory-might-be-in-danger-or-something senses were tingling.
It was midnight, and the sky was pitch black, only illuminated by the fireflies buzzing through the air. Deathbringer was a heavy sleeper, so it wouldn't make sense for him to randomly wake up unless something was wrong.
Then he heard it.
Rustling.
Deathbringer slipped out from under Glory and sprang to all fours, shielding her unconscious body with his wings as he scouted the glade. The rustling grew louder, approaching from all directions.
"Naurr, Patricia, I thought we had something special," Glory murmured. Deathbringer shook her frantically until her eyes gradually flitted open.
"We're in danger. Get up." She must've heard the consternation in his voice, because she jumped up without hesitation, all traces of intoxication leaving her eyes.
"What's going on?" Glory hissed with a lilt of fatigue (and probably the beginnings of a hangover) in her tone. As he opened his mouth to answer, a SandWing stepped out of the thicket in front of them. Then two more came into view from their left and right. SandWings emerged from all the copses surrounding them until there was no way out but the night sky.
"Oh, vipers and boas, this is bad."
Glory gave him a look of fake astonishment. "Really? How can you tell?"
To cope with his rising panic, Deathbringer gestured around aggressively while throwing a wing over hers. "See all these dragons slowly surrounding us? They're all armed with two or three spears. Oh, and that one over there is holding a chakra. In fact, I think this one over here has a dagger in his—"
"Alright, alright, I get it! Shut your mouth and let me think."
The dragon before them stepped closer until they were just ten feet away. The moonlight flickered through the treetops and landed on the SandWing, bouncing off a single gold earring and accentuating their haunting black eyes. Even with the emphasis on their face, Deathbringer's gaze was immediately drawn to the jagged scar across their snout.
Qibli.
"Don't take another step closer," the NightWing snarled, stepping protectively in front of his queen.
Qibli gave him one disinterested glance before focusing on the dragon behind him. Deathbringer could feel Glory shiver through their overlapped wings.
"You have information I need, and you're gonna give it to me," the SandWing stated coolly.
"If you touch her— if you even breathe in her direction—"
"My mother Cobra was last seen in the rainforest—your throne room, to be exact— so I know you've seen her. Tell me where she's headed, or I'll resort to bloodier methods to get the details I want."
Deathbringer felt Glory tense behind him, and he whirled around to look at her. A few of her scales were turning white, and she looked absolutely petrified. Well, that's not the look of someone being wrongly accused.
"Love, what have you gotten us into?" he murmured. Glory said nothing, standing stock-still save for the shaking in her legs. Deathbringer took a deep breath and turned to face the SandWing once more.
"I won't let you do anything to her," the NightWing stated with finality. Qibli did nothing for a moment, as if he was giving him a chance to rethink his answer. Then he sighed, keeping eye contact with Deathbringer while plucking a strand of grass from the ground and lifting it in front of him. Glory swallowed as the SandWing casually twiddled it between his claws.
"When this blade of grass hits the ground..." Qibli paused, slowly sliding his gaze back to the queen. "Deathbringer's scales will rip themselves off his bones and attack him."
How on Pyrrhia did this measly SandWing get his talons on animus magic? He heard Glory gasp behind him, but Deathbringer couldn't help but feel relieved. Whatever. I don't care. If I'm getting hurt, then she isn't. That's all that matters. Besides, she wouldn't care too much if I was gone, right? I mean, she'd probably take a month or two to mourn the loss of my rugged charms, but she'll get over it.
"Get out of here, Glory," the devoted NightWing snarled, although he couldn't stop his voice from quivering. He stood his ground, even as tremors slinked up his spine. But as he sat there waiting for his impending doom, squeezing his eyes shut, ready to finally see his mother again, he realized one unfortunate thing.
I don't wanna die.
"Now!"
Before Qibli could drop the grass, his snout was blanketed in a spray of ebony liquid.
And he screamed.
A familiar pink dragon took shape in front of him, licking the remaining venom off her teeth. Kinkajou spun around to look at Deathbringer.
"Find Turtle!" she shouted before returning her concentration to the screeching animus dragon in front of her. Glory suddenly darted forward and reached for the SandWing's shuddering talons before her loyal NightWing yanked her back.
"Glory, come on, we have to get out of here!" Deathbringer said, taking flight and pulling her alongside him. The RainWing queen gave Qibli one last glance before vaulting into the air. The other SandWings moved forward with eerie synchronization to subdue the airborne pair. More groups of RainWings revealed themselves as they ambushed the armed dragons, giving Deathbringer and Glory a head start as they flew toward the RainWing village.
"There!" Glory shouted over the wind, diving toward Kinkajou's hut. Suddenly, she let out a pained yelp and missed a wingbeat.
Deathbringer swiveled around to find a SandWing flying toward them with a chakra between her claws. The NightWing stopped and hovered midair while listening to the sound of his queen continuing to fly to safety. He couldn't help but let an amused smirk crawl onto his snout. Aw, is she gonna try to kill me with my signature weapon? Cute.
The SandWing drew her arm back and hurled the disc at Deathbringer's head. Before it could close the distance between them and slice his head off, he reached forward and caught the chakra mid-flight. Stunned, the SandWing growled and recovered quickly, brandishing her spear instead.
She flew at him with outstretched arms, pumping her wings harder to increase speed. Deathbringer calculated the distance and launched the disc at her, watching it whizz through the air and slice perfectly into her shoulder. She roared in pain, plummeting to the ground and landing with a thud.
Deathbringer would've killed the SandWing for trying to murder his queen if he didn't notice the dull look in her eyes. I know what animus magic can do. I have no idea what Qibli did to her, but she definitely wasn't in her right mind.
Deathbringer pivoted and dove after Glory's fading tail. She slowed so he could catch up with her, and they both landed in the tree at the same time. Their arrival caused a gust of wind to sweep through the hut and overturn a hammock, flinging a sleeping Turtle to the floor.
"Turtle, get up!" Deathbringer barked, "We need a protection spell!"
"Wha— huh? Why?" He mumbled, pulling himself up and shaking the haze of sleep from his eyes.
"Enchant me, you, Glory, and Kinkajou so that we're completely invisible to the SandWings. Make us insignificant— like the spell you used to hide from Darkstalker!"
"But—"
"Now!"
"Okay, okay, um, I enchant Deathbringer, Glory, me, and Kinkajou to become completely invisible and insignificant to all the SandWings— as if we never even existed— until I say otherwise."
As soon as the words left Turtle's mouth, the other two dragons let out twin exhales of relief.
"Thank you, Turtle. We're sorry for making you use your animus magic on the spur of the moment," Glory said, smiling apologetically.
"No problem, I'm just gonna go..." he trailed off, waving in the general direction of his upended bed, "...um, yeah."
Sighing, Deathbringer redirected his gaze to Glory as Turtle returned to his (well, Kinkajou's) hammock. Making a slow perusal of her body, his eyes landed on a large gash in her front leg.
"Three moons, you're bleeding!"
"Oh, really? I didn't notice that half my blood was pouring out of a gaping wound in my arm— thanks for the heads up!"
Deathbringer cursed inaudibly and grabbed the nearest fabric, wrapping it around the injury as a temporary gauze. I'll get her a proper one in the morning. In his peripheral vision, he saw Glory's other arm quaking while he finished tying the knot. She was digging her claws into her palm, like she was afraid of what would happen if she opened her fist. Why is she shaking so much? Is she injured anywhere else? Glory lifted the arm in question, quivering with every breath.
With unsteady arms, Glory unfurled her talons to expose a minuscule blade of grass between them.
"Oh. Oh. Is that the—" Deathbringer was cut off when Glory suddenly pummeled into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and burying her snout in his neck. Since Glory was known for her avoidance of scale-to-scale contact, Deathbringer had no idea how to react. He stood awkwardly for a few moments until she released a tiny muffled whimper against his throat.
"I thought... I thought he was gonna... I thought you were—"
"Shh, shh, sweetness, it's okay. I'm here. I'm safe," Deathbringer breathed, still not believing his own words, enveloping Glory in his wings to ground himself. They stood in silence for what felt like hours, simply basking in each other's presence. Then, in a voice so soft he wasn't sure she said anything at all, Glory spoke.
"I don't wanna lose you."
Her voice was watery and dry all at once, like she'd been crying for days. Deathbringer would rather swim in a river of RainWing venom than hear Glory's super-sad voice ever again.
"You won't."
"No, you have to understand, Deathbringer. If you want to protect me and my well-being, you need to protect what I treasure most," she paused, leaning back to make eye contact with him, "you."
Before he could respond, Kinkajou dashed into her hut with dirt, grass, and a little blood that definitely wasn't hers covering her body. For a moment, Deathbringer worried the tree wouldn't hold the four dragons' weight, especially including the jumpy RainWing.
"Did you guys see that? I totally just defeated an animus dragon with my magical death spit!" she exclaimed, but quickly tamped down her excitement when Glory glared daggers at her.
"I mean, um, you know what? I think I have a spare hammock around here somewhere." Kinkajou bolted away before Glory could yell at her. The RainWing queen's gaze flicked to Deathbringer, scanning him from snout to tail. Wait, is she inspecting me for injuries too? Does she really care about me? Nah, she's probably checking me out because I'm just that irresistible.
"I miss Patricia." Glory sighed longingly, snapping the smug NightWing out of his thoughts.
Deathbringer stifled a laugh, taken aback. Honestly, I thought she'd say drunk-Glory is embarrassing and to never speak of her again, but she seems to be embracing that side of herself.
"Wait, did she say hammock? Like one singular hammock?" Glory asked, eyes widening. Deathbringer noticed a pile of them behind Turtle, but he chose not to point it out.
As he began to respond, Kinkajou burst back in and threw two folded hammocks at their feet and ran back out before his queen could even open her mouth. Glory growled vulgarities under her breath, muttering something about her hatred for the words 'magical death spit.'
Deathbringer snickered and began setting up the hammock, shushing Glory when she tried to help. The RainWing queen slumped to the floor haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest. When he finished, he climbed in the newly-hanging bed and rested his head on his arms. His tail swished under the hammock, motioning to Glory in a 'come hither' motion. She rolled her eyes, sidling up to him. She hesitated for a moment, then casually slipped on top of him as if this was an everyday occurrence.
Glory's serpentine figure was splayed over his in a position almost identical to the one they were in previously. She shimmied around for a second, releasing a throaty hum of satisfaction when she found just the right spot. At a snail's pace, Deathbringer began twisting his tail with hers, twining them completely when she didn't make a move to stop him. He could feel his queen's heartbeat skyrocket as he coiled his arms around her, making soothing circular motions on her back with his claws. Even in the dimly-lit hut, he noticed her scales return to the bright-pink shade they were earlier.
Externally, Deathbringer simply sighed and relaxed every limb in his body, pretending like he expected this outcome all along.
Internally, on the other talon...
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod I wasn't actually expecting her to do it but she actually did it? Help? OhmygodIcan'tbreatheohmygodifIdienowI'lldiehappy.
Trying to deflect his growing anxiety, he asked a question that had been weighing on his mind for a while.
"Do you, um... Do you remember everything that happened when you were drunk?"
Glory smirked against his chin. "Oh, yes, I remember every little thing."
Deathbringer groaned, throwing his head back against the hammock. "Oh, orchids and okapis. Can you just pretend you never heard that? I would've preferred the confession of my undying love for you to be more... disgustingly romantic."
"Don't worry," she hummed, nuzzling his neck, "I think it was perfect."
Deathbringer felt the claws of sleep sink into his scales and drag him under. He fought to keep his eyes open, but he eventually began losing the battle. Before everything went dark, he heard Glory utter five last words.
"I love you, too, dingus."