Glory rushed through the Rainforest as fast as she could, nearly tripping over her own claws as she pushed herself to her limit. Branches and leaves smacked into her face, stinging and scratching her. They also caught her injured wing, causing even worse pain, but she ignored it. She had to.
Deathbringer was right behind her, urging her forward. Also behind her was the creature. She could not see it, but she knew it was there. She could hear its odd growls through the trees, and the deathly smell it emitted remained close by.
Her breathing was heavy, her claws carrying her at a frantic pace. No longer was she concerned with killing the monster that pursued them, no longer was she motivated by revenge or a desire to protect her tribe. No, right now Glory was driven by one simple desire: to survive.
But there was hope. The trees here were thinner, and some even looked familiar. The ground was more trodden, and Glory realized that she was on a path. A path meant dragons came this way, and that meant they were close to the village, to help!
She pushed harder at that revelation, but it was a little too much. She tripped and fell over a large root, crying in pain as her injured wing jostled hard against the ground. Deathbringer was there, picking her up and pushing her on, but her claw that had struck the root throbbed painfully. She hissed in pain, struggling to put any weight on it, and began limping as fast as she could—a pace which felt pitiful.
Deathbringer saw this, looking back at her. His eyes scanned her, and his face hardened. He reached into the small pack he had and pulled out a chakram.
"Go," he told her, "Get to safety. I'll hold it off as long as I can."
It took her a moment to realizing what he was saying. "Deathbringer, no! Don't…"
"I told you I'd keep you safe, and that's what I'm doing," he growled, "Now go!"
She wanted to argue, she wanted to convince him to keep going with her. But his voice left no room for argument. It didn't matter that she was the queen, this was his command, and she could only obey if she didn't want both of them to die.
Tears streamed from her face as she turned and kept going, now completely alone. Overhead, the Rainforest sky grew dark, a rain falling that mixed with the water from her eyes. She shivered and pressed on. Maybe a minute passed, and she heard Deathbringer scream.
Deathbringer never screamed.
Glory choked out a sob, but there was nothing she could do. She followed the small path, hoping that it led back home. She felt tired, she felt miserable, she felt almost like laying down and dying herself. But self-preservation motivated by fear prevailed, and she continued on.
The smell of decay, having vanished when she'd left Deathbringer, returned. The Rainforest around her grew silent, so that she could hear the thing moving near her, bushes shaking and mud squelching underclaw, although she didn't dare turn and look. She almost felt like it was toying with her, making her suffer as it stalked her instead of just killing her.
Then she saw it: brighter light up ahead. A clearing, a large clearing, one that bespoke the village. Her salvation was in sight, and she forced herself as fast as she could, even stepping on her injured claw despite the horrible pain. She was so close…if she could just make it…
She burst from the trees, into the open area. The sun was still hidden behind the clouds, but without the thick canopy overhead that blocked the sky it felt like she'd stepped into the full light of day. But what was most relieving were the houses ahead, the small town that would be filled with dragons that could help, that could protect her, that could get her to safety.
"Help!" she called out, staggering closer, "Somebody, please! Help me!"
She was greeted by silence. Instead of a host of dragons coming out to protect their queen, there was…nobody. Nothing. No signs of life at all.
It took her several seconds before she realized what was wrong. She was in the Nightwing Village: the village that she had ordered evacuated prior to her and the others leaving on their hunt. At the time, she'd thought it a prudent move. Now, she felt like that decision had doomed her.
She screamed in frustration and fury. Jambu was dead, her whole team that went to avenge him was dead, Deathbringer was dead, and she knew that now she too was about to die. It was almost too much, and she felt like simply giving up right there, but a sound from behind her reminded her that she still was not alone.
The creature emerged from the trees. Its scales were still mostly camouflaged, but she could see it now. Caiman and now Deathbringer had left their marks, gashes in the monster revealing its place as it stepped towards it. Scales around the wounds shifted colors, as though they could not hold a single one, and as it came out into the open the illusion of invisibility began to fail. The outline of it was clearer, the camouflage no longer perfect, and Glory wondered if it was as tired as she was as it too seemed somewhat uncertain on its claws.
But that wasn't important. The desire to live seized her again, and she backed away, trying to distance herself from it. Its focus was on her, though, and it began to pursue with slow, deliberate clawfalls, as though it knew that it was vulnerable in the open.
Glory couldn't run, not on her injured claw, but she could hide. She rushed as fast as she could to one of the Nightwing huts, desperately trying the door. It was locked. She moved on to the next, looking over her shoulder. The creature hadn't yet entered the village itself, and as far as she could tell she was out of sight. The second door opened, and she entered quickly, shutting it behind her. Her eyes scanned the unfamiliar abode, and she saw a wooden lock-bar setting on a table. She grabbed it and placed it across the door, then colored her scales black and huddled in the corner of the room.
Silence.
A minute passed, the only sound being Glory's own heavy breathing as she caught her breath. There was a window next to the door, the only source of light, and Glory peered at it from across the room, looking for any sign of the creature that pursued her. She couldn't see much, and she didn't hear much. She hoped that the unnatural creation would get distracted by the rest of the village, or that it didn't know how to enter a home, or that it would simply forget about her.
More seconds went by, and there was still no sign of it. Her breathing slowed, and she gave a sign of relief. Outside, the rain from earlier began to stop, the clouds parting and the sun shining through. Glory looked down at her injured claw and gently rubbed it, hoping that it was simply twisted and not broken. She'd still need to get back to the Rainwing village, after all.
And at that moment, darkness fell, a shadow covering the room she was in. Her head shot up, and she looked at the now-darkened window. There was the creature, uncamouflaged head inches from the glass, looking straight at her hiding place.
It gave a deep rumble, then disappeared, the light filling the room once more. Glory held her breath, hoping that maybe, just maybe it hadn't seen her. A second passed quietly, and she thought maybe it hadn't.
The door to the hut suddenly shook violently, the loud scratching sound of claws on wood filling the small building. Glory eyed the lock bar, which held. The scratching stopped; the room quieted.
Bam.
Glory jumped as the whole building shook, the door nearly knocked clean off its hinges. She heard a snarl, and then it happened again, the creature outside clearly determined to get in. When it attacked a third time, the wood shattered and the door gave way.
Trembling with fear, Glory watched as the creature stepped inside, its head looking back and forth as it cautiously entered this new environment. It was uncamouflaged—although Glory could not be sure why—and for the first time she saw it in its entirety.
It was a large beast, significantly bigger than the largest of Rainwings. Like she'd been able to determine before, it looked vaguely dragon, with a scaly hide, long neck, powerful arms and talons, and a whip-like tail. But that was where most of the similarities ended. The thing was disproportioned, as if it had come into its parts instead of being created with them. Its triangle head was more snake than dragon, the pupils in its eyes black slits. The neck was unnaturally long and thin, as was its tail. Were they removed and put together, Glory could truly believe that it was just a massive snake. But between those two ends was a dragon-like body, arms legs and lethal claws that she'd seen in action. It lacked wings, though, although it had proved that it didn't need flight to kill a dragon.
Its forked tongue flickered out of its mouth, and then it opened its mouth. Glory saw two rows of those long, misshapen teeth inside. But it did not attack. Rather, it only looked at her a moment. Then the scales shifted color, first to a soft red, then a bright orange, and finally to a brilliant blue before settling on that same kind of mottled tan-brown that she'd seen before.
Glory responded by opening her own mouth, spraying her venom at the creature, the droplets covering its chest. She expected it to roar in pain, perhaps lash out, but the monster didn't even seem to notice. It merely took a step towards her, then another.
Whimpering, Glory prepared herself to die. The smell of death already filled her nostrils as the scent of the creature permeated the room. She was alone, there was nothing she could do, and all it had to do was slash its claws once and she it was over. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
A second passed, then another. She heard the creature give a deep rumble in its throat, but nothing more. She was untouched, unharmed.
Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. The creatures face was inches from hers, the serpentine eyes studying her intently. It tilted its head and gave a higher-pitched growl, Glory unable to interpret it at all. From this close, she could see the individual scales on its face and could smell its disgusting breath. It snorted, and she flinched, backing her head as far away as she could.
Then the monster did something she did not expect. It opened its mouth, and out came its slimy, forked tongue. It pulled it across her face, as though tasting her, and Glory gagged. It felt cold and wet and was utterly disgusting, but Glory could not pull away—there was nowhere to pull away to—and so she could only endure it as the creature crudely smeared its saliva over her cheeks and snout as if in a parody of sloppy kiss.
Vaguely, she remembered something Mastermind had said, about why the creature had been killing more dragons now despite being in the Rainforest for longer. It had only been a theory, but she realized now that it was probably true. This thing had been looking for a mate, and apparently it had its twisted mind set on her.
The anger at that overcame her fear, and with a growl she leapt into action, lifting her claws and slashing at its neck and chest even as it lapped at her face. Apparently not expecting that, the created gave a high pitched roar and leapt back in pain, and Glory took the opening to duck beside it and run towards the exit.
Once again she was outside, half-stumbling, half-running away. Behind her, the creature burst forth from the building, roaring fiercely as its wounds bled. Glory had a feeling that its mind was not on mating any more.
She rushed towards the middle of the village, eyes scanning for another place she might be able to hide, but this time the creature was coming at her with abandon, no longer cautious about its surroundings. It lunged at her and caught her tail in its claws, and she gasped as she was pulled back.
She looked behind her to see the monster opening his mouth to bite at her tail or hindquarters, and she kicked out with her rear-claws, catching it in the face. It roared again in pain and released her, and she scrambled to her feet again. Once more she looked for some place or something that could help her, and her eyes caught the sight of the large, unfinished town hall.
Glory got an idea.
Glancing back, she saw the creature writhing on the ground, neck and tail lashing in all directions as it pulled itself back up. Blood streamed from the wound on its snout as it screeched and resumed its chase.
Turning her mind back to her plan, she made for the town hall, ducking under the rickety structure. She'd come from a different angle than she had when coming at from the Rainwing village before, cutting the whole way diagonally beneath, and she paused once she reached the corner beam that had cracked, the one that Greatness had cautioned against her even being near.
Turning around, she watched as the creature pursued. But it paused at the edge of the structure, caution at the unfamiliar environment no doubt entering its mind as it clearly didn't like the idea of crawling beneath the raised platform. It hissed and began to step around, going the long way.
That was unacceptable. "I'm right here!" she shouted at it, hoping that like Caiman, she could bait it, "Are you afraid, half-snake? Don't want to fight a Rainwing in a fair fight?"
Maybe it was the taunt, or maybe it was just the creature's impatience to kill her, but it paused, and then stepped under the structure, taking the straight path towards her. It snarled as it went, long tail lashing behind it, its head shifting back and forth as if it were slithering on the ground instead of walking.
Glory swallowed, hoping this would go right. She'd seen it attack, she knew what it liked to do, and she'd seen how powerful it could be. If she could just time this right…
The creature closed the distance, its scales shifting so it was invisible once again, although she could still it from the blood and dirt on it. She took a deep breath, carefully watching, listening. About a dragon-length away, it stopped.
The creature crouched, and Glory did the same. An instant later, she made her gamble.
Flashing her scales a bright red to distract it, she leapt to the side, out from under the town hall. At the same time, the creature roared and leapt forward in attack. Claws barely missing her, it slammed headfirst into the support beam. The wood splintered, and she heard a loud crack as she rushed away, only looking back once she thought she was far enough away.
Snarling and roaring, the creature got up in a daze, once more thrashing about as its invisibility gave way to brown scales again. Its eyes fixated on her as it got back up, and it took a menacing step towards her.
…Then looked up and behind it as the sound of wood creaking and snapping filled the air. The support beam broken, the wooden structure could not stand, and at once the town hall began to crumble under its own weight, falling forward towards the weak point that had been created. Hundreds if not thousands of pounds of wood and building supplies were collapsing onto the ground, right where the creature was standing.
Realizing its situation, the monster scrambled to escape, but it was too late. The now ruined town hall smashed into him, burying him nearly immediately in a pile of rubble as a cloud of dust and debris was thrown into the air. Glory herself was forced to look away, splinters flying through the air and threatening to damage her eyes as the massive structure settled.
She waited until it was quiet before she looked back up. There was the pile of rubble, sitting still, no other movement and no other sound. Her eyes scanned it, and she tried to keep herself from giving a victory cry until she knew for sure it was dead.
But surely, she thought to herself, Nothing could survive that.
She stepped closer to the rubble, scanning for any sign of movement. She saw none, and signed in relief. It was finally gone.
Creak.
She jumped back at the sound of wood shifting, eyes searching again in alarm. It couldn't have survived, not that! But as she watched, a pile of wood was pushed over, and the head of the creature emerged.
But if Glory was terrified at its survival initially, she soon realized she had nothing to fear from it, not this time. The creature's forked tongue rolled out, its breath heaving. The color of its scales were a pale white, and the only sounds it made were pained gasps.
Hesitantly, Glory approached. It eyes didn't even look at her. Blood streamed from multiple lacerations all around it, and Glory could only imagine the parts that were still buried in the rubble were even worse. This was an animal in its death throes in this moment, nothing more.
For a moment, Glory was tempted to leave there to suffer, to drag out its pain as long as possible. But that wasn't the kind of dragon she was, not even now. Carefully, she set her talons on his throat, just beneath the head, feeling them dig into his scales.
"This is for Jambu," she whispered, and then she cut them across it. A few moments later, it was all over.
Glory staggered back, her eyes on the now dead creature. She opened her mouth and gave a single cry of victory, of sorrow, or tiredness and rage. She emptied her emotions until there was nothing left. Despite the fact that the monster lay dead in front of her, she felt hallow, empty. She felt incredibly tired.
Falling to the ground, she closed her eyes as her vision went black and she knew no more.