Hello all. Welcome back to my story. Boy, this is the longest one yet, not counting my authors notes at the beginning. I definitely am hoping this came out alright, and I home that the portrayals of the characters are accurate, but it's fanfiction. It's okay to be a little OOC, As you will see with Glory in this chapter. One of my least favorite tropes is a character who just has absolutely no flaws, so I'm trying to integrate that into each character here. Not much Wither in this one, but it is leading up to something very important for where my off the rails is going. Anyway, Enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of fire.

"Normal speech"

"Thoughts"

"?"

The desert air was scorching on their scales as they flew low over large dunes of sand. Glory panted lightly from the heat, before remembering what Wither had said about the cacti, swooping to a nearby stock of the plant and pulling off some of the flowers, scraping off the needles like she had seen him do, before rejoining her friends and brother, handing out the fruit to them. "Eat some of this. Wither said they're really refreshing in the hot desert sun." Sunny took one, eying the purple fruit curiously, not noticing Tsunami's grimace, and popped the whole thing in her mouth just as Glory started to warn her. "Careful, it's..." Sunny finished for her as her lips puckered. "Sour!" Glory giggled softly. "Tried to warn you." Clay couldn't help but chuckle as Sunny gave a hard swallow to get down the fruit, smacking her lips a little. "... Actually, quite refreshing."

They flew for hours over sand dunes, the heat of the blazing sun overhead burning into their scales. It wasn't dangerous, but it was hot. They flew further north, and when they got to the border, their bodies were in shock. Glory shivered hard as a brisk cold wind assaulted her senses, when less than ten minutes ago, the sun had been scorching her scales. She breathed and a small fog of mist came from her snout, causing her to frown. "We're getting close to the border... Which means it will only be colder from here." She looked to see that the sun was starting to fall, frowning as she noticed the drop in temperature. "... We need to find shelter. We'll all freeze before we find Mangrove at this rate." Sunny looked like she wanted to protest, but her constant shivering from the cold told her to agree. They all scanned the lightly snow-covered terrain below them, dotted with small rolling hills and rock formations. It was unlikely they would find something to shield them from the cold, but maybe at least something to take cover from the wind was nearby.

Glory pointed to what looked to be a building in the distance. "What's that?" Starflight looked to see the building. It was fairly large, well-fortified, and from what he could see, two Sandwings stood guard outside of it. He swallowed, glad they were far enough out that they weren't very noticeable. "Sandwings... It must be where Blaze has been all this time." They all looked to each other, before Sunny pointed down to a small cave beneath a rock formation. It was a little further away, but it would hide them from the flew down, Sunny shivering lightly as she settled in the middle of the cave, giving a small smile to the others. "Alright, I guess I'm the heater for you all tonight." Clay gave her a sheepish smile. "You don't have to if you don't want to." She smiled back. "I don't mind. But no hogging me." Clay chuckled and Starflight was glad it was already dark, so his blush wasn't visible.

They all huddled together in their usual pile, with the added element of Jambu, who flopped on top of Clay, causing the young Mudwing to give an "Oof!" Jambu almost fell asleep instantly, Glory sighing as she closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from shivering as the cold wind of the night howled out of their small shelter. She breathed softly as her mind raced in worry, that Mangrove's reckless actions might lead the Icewings back to the rainforest, and then they would have even more problems. She rolled over, before blinking as she saw a small rock on the ground that had some sort of sigil on it. She looked closer, and it looked to be the image of a dead tree with some small leaves growing on its branches. but something looked... weird about it. It was almost linear, like dots that had lines connecting them. She frowned before shrugging it off, closing her eyes again to try and get some sleep.

Wither came out of the tunnel just at the sun disappeared on the horizon. He groaned, before beating his wings as he started to fly, going low over the sand as he glided over sand dunes, sniffing to try and pick up a trail. "I really hope you five are safe. Because I might strangle one of you after this is over." He kept flying as the night grew dark, seeing a single full moon in the sky, a second moon waxing on its way to full. "Almost time for another night of two full moons... Moonwatcher... I wonder if you liked that night." He flew for a few hours, feeling his wings ache and his breath harden as he flew closer to the border between Sandwing and Icewing territory, following the light disturbance in the sand on the dunes. "By the moons. This poison is still eating at my strength... I need to rest." He flew to a small rock formation just as he crossed into Icewing territory, shivering at the cold wind as he sighed. "Great. It's going to be a cold night..." He curled in on himself, his scales shifting into his camouflage, closing his eyes as he began to recover his strength. "Be safe you five. I'm coming soon."

Glory awoke early the next morning, before blinking as she looked out of the cave to see that it had snowed the night before. She grew curious, placing a talon on the white powder, shaking it after a few seconds. "Cold... So, this is what fresh snow is like... Have to admit, I love the smell." She looked back to see the others sleeping, huddled around Sunny and her warmth giving scales. She smiled, before looking out over the hill, her eyes locking onto Blaze's fortress. "... Mangrove might have tried to sneak in to find Orchid inside... How could we get in... unless..." She sighed. Her idea was incredibly risky, but it was the only thing she could think of. She went over to Jambu, shaking him awake. "mmgh... Huh?" He slowly cracked his eyes open, groaning. "What? What time is it? It feels SOOO early. And it's so cold." Glory rolled her eyes. "I'm headed to the fortress to see if I can find a way to sneak in. Can you get the others ready?" He blinked. "Wait, you're going alone? Even I can say that's a bad idea." Glory sighed. "Look, I'm not going in, I'm just going to check if there's any other way in than the front gate."

Jambu frowned, then sighed. "Alright... just be careful. I just got my sister... I don't want to lose her so soon." Glory stopped, turning away from Jambu. "... Will do." Jambu couldn't see the single, happy tears that fell down her face as she flew away. "He... He really does care... wow, I must be going soft... heh. Crying from a compliment... Get it together, Glory." She hid herself as best as she could as she flew, before spotting an oddity. A black shape that she could see on the ground just a few hills away from where they had stayed... that started to move. She had to hold back a gasp as she saw the shape form into a young Nightwing who seemed to be getting himself ready for something, waking up in the chilly morning. She frowned. "Nightwings everywhere apparently. What's one doing around here?... I really hope this works."

She landed silently just over the next hill over, before concentrating on changing her scales into the whites and icy blues that would be found on an Icewing. she ruffled the rough of her neck to imitate the spines that a Icewing would have, before sneaking closer, the Nightwing ruffling through a pouch on his neck, before she growled out. "What are you doing here, Nightwing?" The Nightwing nearly jumped, both our of surprise from the sudden appearance, and that someone had actually managed to sneak up on him. He turned towards her, before smiling. "Well. Hello. I didn't realize there would be Icewings this close to the border." Glory growled, trying to keep up the image of being an Icewing. "I asked what you're doing here, Nightwing." The Nightwing held no look of concern as Glory tried to intimidate him.

He smiled, looking her over almost curiously. "I've never seen you around here. But, to answer that question, I'm waiting for some other dragons. A meeting outside of prying eyes, if you will." Glory blinked, looking confused. "... The talons of peace?" The Nightwing barked a laugh. "Oh, no! Of course not! I just am to meet with some acquaintances of my... boss, so to speak." She frowned. "A Nightwing meeting a couple of people and won't say who they are, on an assignment. You can see why I find that very suspicious, considering how close this is to pri- Queen Blaze's stronghold." She nearly bit her tongue, hoping the Nightwing wouldn't catch the small slip of the tongue. He smiled. "I've never seen you around here before... perhaps we could discuss further after I get you a drink?" She nearly choked on her own spit out of bewilderment. "I have no interest in getting a drink with someone sneaking around so close to the Ice kingdom." He quirked an eyebrow. "And I'd be suspicious of a Icewing soldier without the rest of their squad."

Glory internally started to sweat. She hadn't thought about that part. "... We only arrived last night. The rest are still sleeping... I'm an early riser." He chuckled. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't keep you from them. I swear on my pride as a Nightwing that I won't go anywhere near the fortress." Glory frowned. She didn't know who he was meeting, but it couldn't be good. "... Fine, but make sure you leave quickly. Or I'll kill you myself." He laughed lightly, that stupid smile never leaving his face. "Might I get a name before you go?" She hesitated, trying to rack her brain for one that would work. "... Frost." She turned towards the fortress, flapping her wings to start flying when the Nightwing called out. "If you need me, just remember my name." She turned, only for her blood to freeze as he finished. "My name is Deathbringer." She hid the concern on her face, using all of her willpower to stop her scales from changing, before flying away, a bead of sweat running down her face. "...How literal are Nightwing names again?"

Wither cracked an eye open as the sun started to shine down, before giving a long yawn as he got up, shaking himself to get rid of the morning snow that had piled on top of him. He cracked his knuckles lightly as he stretched, licking his lips lightly with a growl. "Great. Chilly morning, stiff joints... I might actually rip an ear off one of those five... What were they thinking, going off into hostile territory without warning me?... Ah, calm down, Wither. They're young and impulsive. What's important is getting to them before something bad happens." He took to the air, flying low to try and search for where the dragonets were, shivering lightly in the crisp morning air. "Haven't been this far north in a very long time..." He shook his head lightly to fight off getting nostalgic, before scanning the ground for where the Dragonets might have stayed, before spotting something that was new to him. A fort. Albeit, a small one, but a fort. "... Blaze. She can't go any further north, and it makes sense that it would be between the sand and ice kingdoms... Ugh. I just know I'm going to have to deal with that useless ditz of a princess... But not my problem for now. First thing's first. Where are my dragone-" He stopped himself from that thought, pausing. "... Getting in to deep this time... I can't. Stop thinking of them like that... I... I can't get that attached to them. I can care about them, but that is... too much..."

He resumed his search over the hills, staying a good distance away from the fort as he scanned the area, his mind telling him to stop thinking about his precious thought, while his heart tried to push him to confront just how deeply the dragonets had impacted him. He flew on as something... whispered, tickling the back of his mind, but it was too small for him to think it was anything other than the chill. But there was one could hear it quite clearly. The one who said it, deep within his subconscious. "Ah... So, there are five new liabilities now. What have you been doing as I've slumbered, Wither? Five new sources of pain... No... Six... Now this just won't do... Don't you worry, Wither... I will deal with them for you... Just as I have with all the others...hehehe..."

Glory landed outside of the fortress, still disguised as a Icewing as she tried to think put her plan. "Okay. Pretend I bring a message from Glacier, and maybe I can get inside. With luck, Mangrove will be noticeable, I can get out with him, and we can get out of here." She approached cautiously, noticing that there were some fresh dragon prints in the snow that didn't resemble a Sandwing's or Icewing's, being covered by the morning frost. "Good. On the right track. So Mangrove is here... Just have to find him." She approached with as much of a prideful Icewing strut as she could manage as she got in front of the Sandwing guards. "I come with a message from Queen Glacier for Queen Blaze." The sandwings looked at each other, suspicion gleaming in their eyes. "We had no advance notice of a messenger... Where is the rest of your squad?" Glory didn't flinch, expecting that question now. "They are resting. I was the fastest of us, so I figured we could save time if I just came alone." She really hoped they would buy that.

They looked at each other again, before the one on the right gave a sigh. "Let's just take her in. We need an excuse to not freeze out here anyway." The other guard thought for a moment, before nodding. "Good enough for me. Come in." He creaked open the large wooden door of the fort, letting in light from several blazing firepits and torches. One of the guards motioned for her to follow, almost dashing inside as he gave a sigh of relief from the warmth of the flames. Glory had to stop herself from doing the same. The cold had nearly caused her talons to go numb. She followed, doing her best to give off the Icewing's prideful attitude as they walked down a corridor, passing by a room with several other Sandwing guards. Some of them were sleeping, and Glory could see that there was at least one couple inside, nestled together near a small fire. Some of them looked worried or scared, and Glory realized what it meant. "These sandwings are just as scared of this war as we are... They have their own lives... Maybe I'm not part of the prophecy, but this war needs to end, and fast. Like what Wither said to Crocodile... This war will rip their lives apart..."

She was taken past some intricate Sandwing tapestries that hung from the walls, and some very extravagant looking decorations, before coming to a door with... way too many gemstones embedded in it. The firelight made it sparkle and shine so much that Glory couldn't look at it straight. The Sandwing noticed the small flinch, sighing. "Queen Blaze loves anything that glitters or sparkles. They aren't real gems, just colorful crystals. She's... unique." Glory nodded, before he opened the door, thankfully averting the shining assault on her eyes, before being met with a large open room. It was mostly sand, probably brought from the sand kingdom with large torches in the corner. In one corner, she could see a cage with two scavengers in it, cowering. Then her eyes were almost pulled to what was in the center. A huge pile of pillows and sheets and furs, each of them looking as expensive as possible. And on top of it sat Blaze. Unlike her sisters, she didn't have the black diamond pattern on her scales, but the tip of her tail had the black color. She wore a golden tiara on her head with a single gem embedded into the top, but it was big, which probably meant it was excessively pricy. On her neck, she wore a white, silken cloak that flowed down her back, making her black orbs for eyes stand out even more. Glory had to admit, of the three princesses, she was indeed the most beautiful. And then she noticed what Blaze was doing... Wither was right about how long Blaze would spend in front of a mirror.

The Sandwing princess was holding up various jeweled necklaces and bracelets to herself to see how they would look on her, not even noticing that Glory had been brought in. She tried on various jewels with sapphires and rubies, emeralds and diamonds, all sorts of gold and silver trinkets. Five minutes passed and Blaze hadn't even noticed she had a visitor yet. The Sandwing guard gave a small cough to get her attention. "Your highness. A messenger from Queen Glacier is here to see you." Blaze didn't even look over at them putting on a new necklace. "... What do you think? I think this one brings out my eyes the most." Glory hesitated, not sure how to answer. She instead gazed around the room, trying to look where Mangrove might be hiding, before she remembered something she heard Wither say off handedly, about looking for small distortions in the air around hiding Rainwings. She looked for where one might be and spotted it only because it was in front of one of the hanging tapestries, a small outline where the design on the cloth blurred. She glanced to it, spotting where she assumed Mangrove's eyes were, giving a discreet gesture to the door. The shape slowly started to slide towards the door.

Blaze then turned, before her eyes brightened as she spotted Glory. "Oh my. How pretty!" She got up to Glory quickly, Glory taking a step back at how intensely Baze was looking her over. "Your scales are so shiny! Not as shiny as mine, obviously, but still." Glory did her best to not look nervous as Blaze suddenly took glory's chin in her talon, turning her for a better look. "How beautiful... If have any scales fall out, could I have them? I think they would look perfect on my cloak." Glory... did not know how to react to that. "... M-maybe. Listen, I have a message for you, Queen Blaze." Blaze smiled. "Oh, I do love that title. Well, go on. What message does Glacier send?" Glory noticed that the Sandwing guard had left her and Blaze alone, before looking at her with a stern expression. "The dragonets of destiny have arrived nearby and wish to speak with you about what might be done to end the war." Blaze tilted her head in confusion. "But Glazier told me to just stay here and stay safe and that she would take care of it." Glory internally cursed. "Well, the dragonets are here to see if they might have reason to side with you in this war. They have... Already met your sisters, and they're not keen on choosing either of them, but want to meet you first before the finalize their decision."

Blaze frowned, looking to the door. "... But it's SO cold out there. I'll freeze. I can't leave my fort in case she comes by." Glory sighed. "Listen, they really want to see you, but their only condition is that you come alone. You can bring as many covers as you want. But no guards that could try and imprison them." Blaze sighed. "... Fine. I've wanted to get some fresh air, and I guess I'll just have to prove to these dragonets why I'm obviously a better choice. Blister is pretty, but nowhere near as beautiful as me, and Burn is so ugly. I'm obviously the perfect choice." Glory could only stare at her as she thought. "If she becomes queen, the Sandwings won't last a year." Blaze grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around herself like a second cloak to keep herself warm, looking to Glory. "Very well, lead me to the dragonets... What was your name again?" Glory nodded. "Frost... I'll take you there once we get outside. After you." Blaze gave a regal strut out of the room, The blurred outline of Mangrove's hidden form following after as she turned back, seeing the cowering scavengers, before sighing. She grabbed them despite their squeaks of terror, before tucking them under her wings, hushing them quickly as she followed through the fort to return back to the others.

She quickly slipped the scavengers into a hiding place among some rocks just outside of the fort, seeing Mangrove's disguised shape nearby. She gestured for him to follow, before going forward. "This way your Highness. They should be ready for you." She started flying into the air, towards where her friends were, not noticing the black shape that was watching them from afar, smiling as his followed.

Wither sighed as he couldn't spot the dragonets from the air, so he decided it was best to wait for something to start happening, something that might change from the normal barren cold. He settled, waiting patiently... well, not so much. He was tense, not knowing if those five were safe or not, fidgety due to being so close to Blaze and the Sand kingdom, and most of all because it was freaking cold. He shivered as he rubbed his talons together to produce some warmth, groaning lightly. "It's at times like this that I wish my breath was fire..." He held his talons together, rubbing them to keep warm, before noticing something happening. His eye twitched as he noticed a black shape taking off from near the fortress. "... Another unknown Nightwing. For moon's sake, for the rarest tribe, they seem to be popping up everywhe-" His eyes landed on what the Nightwing was following. A Icewing and... Blaze. No Sandwing soldier in their right mind would wear something so flashy. He squinted, before noticing a small blur following the two. "Glory? Or Mangrove... Or Jambu? Ugh, too many possibilities... But... They seem to know where they're going... Oh."

His eyes widened, before chuckling as he pieced it together. "Glory, you are as brave as you are reckless. Disguising yourself as a Icewing. Clever... But the Nightwing following... Better get closer." He stood back up, flapping his wings as he started to take off, following the figures, before he noticed where they were headed. "... Of all the odds. You five found one of my old hoard locations... I wonder if they found what's underneath... Maybe they'd like a souvenir... right after I pull on each of their ears for doing something so stupid." He landed a hill away, staying out of sight as the disguised Glory and Blaze started to descend, shifting his scales to blend into the rocks while staying in earshot to listen in, keeping an eye on the Nightwing who also landed stealthily a few hills away. "Be careful, Glory. I'll wait, but I'll step in if I need to." "Why not just kill both the Nightwing and the Sandwing?" He blinked, shaking his head lightly, mumbling to himself. "... Not sure where that thought came from... ugh, this cold temperature must be messing with me."

Glory Landed down first, telling Blaze that she would get the Dragonets ready to meet her. She entered the cave to find Jambu actually glaring at her. The unexpected expression actually made her stop for a second as he growled. "... You said a look. Not that you would bring someone back, especially in a disguise." She gave a sheepish smile. "Um... Mangrove was inside, and I didn't know how else to get him out?" He sighed. "Explain that to the others." Starflight had wide, panicking eyes. "You brought Blaze? Here? What were you thinking!?" Tsunami looked grumpy. "I am not in the mood to deal with another Sandwing Princess this early in the morning when it's this cold." Clay looked worriedly to Glory. "... Are you alright. No injuries?" Glory gave a smile to Clay. "Not hurt at all. But I figured you all needed to at least talk to her. And I needed to get Mangrove out." Sunny sighed. "As long as you are alright... You should warn us, Glory. What if Jambu wasn't here and you got captured. We'd have no idea where or how to find you. I'm not sure how to say enough, you're one of us." Glory sighed. "... I know. I know. Sorry. I just... didn't want to trouble you all."

She shifted back into her normal scales, before looking to Starflight. "Quick question... How literal are Nightwing names?" Starflight thought for a moment. "... Usually quite literal. Like Morrowseer, his name is because he's a prophet, so he 'Sees on the morrow' as it's put." Glory started to look worried. "... There's a Nightwing nearby named Deathbringer." They all stared at her, before Starflight fell over onto his side, having fainted. Glory blinked, before groaning, shaking him to wake him up again. "Now is not the time to faint, Starflight!" Starflight blinked back into consciousness, shaking his head lightly. "Okay, so we obviously have something to worry about... wait, how do you know his name?" Glory froze, looking to the side. "Um... I kind of... Talked to him?" The others could only stare at her as if she had sprouted a unicorn horn out of her head.

Starflight sighed. "Glory... You know we're with you, but... what were you thinking?" Glory huffed. "I saw a Nightwing in the middle of nowhere near Blaze's fortress. I wanted to make sure we weren't in danger." Sunny smiled softly. "... I think you did the right thing in trying to see what's going on... not happy that you risked yourself, but I'm glad you're safe... What is he here for then?" She shrugged. "Meeting some other... acquaintances of his boss. didn't say much else." Starflight looked heavily concerned. "... like Morrowseer? Because... We're technically acquaintances of him..." Glory paused, her eyes widening. "... I hadn't thought of that... if he's waiting for us, then... Does that mean...?" Starflight shivered hard. "... We should have told Wither we were coming here. We shouldn't have come all by ourselves." Glory thought it over, realizing... they really were in over their heads. "... I'm sorry. It was my fault... all of this is my fault. I got too impatient and now... I..." she shivered, a single tear falling down her face as her confident, usually sarcastic façade broke. "... I-I'm scared... I don't know what will happen, and it's all my fault... just like when the Skywings took us... It's all my fault..." She whimpered, starting to cry as she fruitlessly tried to hold back her tears

Tsunami looked to be at a loss for words, as did Starflight. Jambu frowned, looking to his sister worriedly. Clay stumbled to find the right words but came up with nothing. Sunny came up to the sobbing Rainwing, before hugging her tightly. "Shh... It'll be okay. We're with you through thick and thin, Glory. We're all here for you, so don't feel so alone... We care about you. You're one of us. We tried to escape the cave because we wanted to do it for you. It was our choice, just like this is. So stop blaming yourself." Glory looked down at the smaller sandwing, before hugging her tightly, not caring about showing what she saw as weakness, letting the myriad of worried lime greens and navy blues swirled in her scales, only Jambu recognizing the colors of fear and sorrow, as small flecks of pink showed through them every so often. Jambu came up, putting a talon on Glory's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up so much, Sis. We all make mistakes, but we can get through them. I know we haven't known each other long, but I'm here for you too. If your basket is too heavy, I'm more than happy to carry a side."

Glory looked to them, seeing Clay giving his usual lovable smile. Starflight looked to her meaningfully, while Tsunami nodded along with them, before Tsunami spoke. "We have our differences, Glory, and I know we always tend to fight or banter, but... Prophecy or not, We're a team... closest thing we've ever known to family before we escaped. So... Let us help you deal with some of this stuff instead of just going off on your own all the time." Glory recovered slowly, wiping way her last few tears as she regained her composure. "Th-thanks... I think I really needed that... Let's go talk to blaze before anything unexpected happens." The others nodded, coming out of the small cave to meet the Sandwing princess.

Blaze was shivering like a leaf in the wind, even under her double coating of protection. Not even Starflight was shivering as bad as she was as she looked at them all with a pointed glare. "I-I-It's ab-b-bout time! It's FREEZING out here!" Her teeth chattered as she spoke, clutching the cloaks to herself tighter. Starflight looked around. It wasn't even windy. Blaze then frowned. "Wait, where's frost? Where did she g-g-go?" Glory sighed, before shifting into her disguise, before shifting back, causing Blaze to stare at her wide eyed. "W-what even are you? Wait, so you didn't come from Glacier?" Glory shook her head. "It was the only way I could think of getting an audience with you without us... going to prison." Blaze glared lightly. "W-w-why should you matter? Y-y-you're not the skywing, so why are you here. All the others are th-the right tribes, but where is the Skywing?" Glory flinched hard at that before Clay stepped forward. "Regardless of tribe, she is one of us. Now... What would you do if you became queen of the Sandwings?"

Blaze huffed. "Why should that matter. Just look at me. I'm far more beautiful than my ugly sisters. Isn't that enough?" Starflight could only stare at her in amazement. "... You... really have no idea how a kingdom works, do you. The responsibilities of being a queen." Blaze looked at him, confusion prevalent in her expression. "What responsibilities? I would be the queen, and everyone would have to do as I say." Starflight had to stop his jaw from dropping. Clay looked a bit weirded out, before looking to the others, whispering so Blaze couldn't here. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to see why Wither said none of the three princesses would be any good." Tsunami nodded. "Same." Glory sighed, turning to Blaze. "There is much more than just ordering people around. There's making sure that everything is going smoothly in the kingdom. Making sure crimes and criminals are caught and punished. Ensuring towns don't starve." Blaze waved a talon. "Oh, Glacier can just do all of that. She's a very good friend of mine... How about this, if you all choose me, then I'll give you each as much land as you want. A personal palace for each of you even!"

That statement made something in Starflight's mind click. "... Of course. That's why the Icewings are on your side. You're giving them a ton of land if you become queen." Blaze tilted her head. "Y-yeah. Everything from the edge of the sand kingdom to the Ice kingdom. All of this." She gestured to the barren hills. It dawned on Glory that Blaze was essentially giving an absurd amount of land to Glacier in exchange for winning this war. "... I think we've spoken enough. We'll have to decide at another time." Blaze frowned. "Oh, come on. I come out here alone like you asked, get my tail frozen off, and now you're leaving without saying your decision? I'm the obvious choice compared to my sisters. Just choose me already."

Glory was about to respond, before her eyes darted to behind the Sandwing Princess. She launched forward, tackling Blaze over and just barely dodging a bladed ring of some kind that sparked as it hit rocks. A sigh came from the top of the hill, Deathbringer coming out of his hiding spot. "Oh, you just had to go and save her. And I thought it was my lucky day. Hello, frost. Or... is there another name I should call you. You know, lying is quite rude." Glory growled as she got back up, seeing Deathbringer holding two more of the throwing disks. "You weren't exactly truthful to me, either. You were waiting to kill me and my friends!" He gave a fake hurt expression. "Oh, you wound me. I never lied. I simply stated the truth in a way you didn't recognize." He looked them over, then looked at Blaze. "While my original assignment was to kill you five dragonets, killing one of the three Sandwing princesses is a far more valuable opportunity, so I'll make you all an offer. Let me kill Blaze, and you all can go free." Glory growled. "That's not going to happen... Rah!" She lunged forward, hoping to take Deathbringer by surprise as Tsunami did the same, the distraction allowing Tsunami to get into a position to pincer the Nightwing. He just smiled, before jumping over Tsunami's lunge, spinning around Glory, before throwing another of his rings at Blaze.

The Sandwing princess's eyes widened as the bladed ring came closer and closer, poised to lodge into her neck. She closed her eyes in fear, waiting for what she was sure to be unimaginable pain. But then, there was a... strange sound. Like a metal hoop being waved around on stone. Then a voice rang out. "I leave you five for one day. One day! And you're already getting into this much trouble." Blaze uncovered her eyes, looking at her Savior. Her eyes widened at his figure, even with the size bracelet on, he was easily bigger than her. She gazed on his stone scales, noticing that the ring was now caught on one of his talons, still spinning with his claw through the center, before she noticed his eyes, as black as the night with red stars. She blushed heavily at her savior, but nobody else seemed to notice.

Wither gazed down at Deathbringer, before using his Thumb talon to hold the ring in place, gazing at it. "Ah. Chakrams. Haven't seen these in a while, but they are always the trademark tool of an assassin... Are the Nightwings really starting you on that path this young now?" Deathbringer could only stare in wonder at the dragon he had never seen before. In fact, he had never seen any dragon like Wither before. "... Wither, correct? Oh, Morrowseer has apparently been throwing a fit because of you. Blister has been rambling and obsessing over getting revenge on you to him." Wither stopped spinning the weapon, before cracking it in half with his talon. "I figured as much from Blister. I assume you're saying that to let my guard down, but it won't work. I've dealt with a fair number of assassins before... So Deathbringer, I will give you this one chance. Leave now. If you leave peacefully, I won't chase you." Deathbringer snorted. "And I'm supposed to be scared?" Wither smirked. "No. I'm not trying to be intimidating... But I think you need to be more aware of the fact that I've completely distracted you and it's too late to notice."

Deathbringer looked confused, until he yelped as Glory barreled into him, tackling him to the ground. She grabbed the pouch around his neck, hearing the clinking of metal on metal inside, before ripping it off of him and throwing it to the side, pinning him down. He struggled, but didn't look worried, giving a smile. "Oof. Ask me out to dinner first." Glory growled as she held him down. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up." Wither shook his head. "No. Let him keep talking. After all..."

He came forward, slipping off his bracelet as he grew in size, bigger and bigger, until he towered over them, his eyes fixed on Deathbringer as he spoke in a low growl. "I have some questions... and you're going to answer them, Deathbringer."

The plot thickens, and to those wondering about the thoughts... no spoilers. I want this to be a pretty good build of my reveal for Wither's main arc in this story, and to set up for later events. As for Glory, She's not perfect. She's snarky and sarcastic, but stress can get the best of people, and I wanted a moment where all those pent up emotions just come spilling out like many emotional breakdowns. She'd dealing with a lot of stress and frustrations that it makes sense that a draconic adolescent would break down when another load of stress is put on them. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you guys next week with another one. As always, leave a review if you'd like, and I'll see you all then.