Glorious Politics

AN: This was another ludicrously fun chapter to write for many reasons, so I hope you all enjoy it! Also, if you want to submit a Mudwing OC for a chance to have them appear in the story, you still have time. By next chapter, I'm going to have one locked in, so there's about ten days and counting until I pick one. If you don't want to leave it the details in a review, or it'd take too much space, you can PM me, as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Sobek, Mistral, and Veneno are my OCs. Shortsail and Mystic belong to Flerovium. Bloodwalker belongs to SpyroAndSisuFan.

Chapter Thirty-Six:

They did what they could to prepare for the trade without actually doing anything Magnificent told them not to. She said they could tell anyone they wanted as long as no one followed her and Glory and Winter were the only two to go down into the sewers. Levante, therefore, put the city guard on alert—again—and had troops stationed at every known entrance to the sewers, even pulling out the old architectural plans from the archives to make sure they had every possible escape route covered.

The time to leave came by much too quickly for her liking, and Winter returned to her room, his expression one of grim acceptance. Peril, Anemone, Veneno, Levante, and a dozen Skywing guards escorted the two of them to the entrance where Glory and the dragons that had saved her came out from after her rescue. Mistral hadn't come with them, which surprised everyone involved. She'd thought he would want to be there to say goodbye to his friend one last time, but no one had been able to find him. Winter had suggested he might be off on his own to figure out his thoughts and feelings about this situation. He tended to do that, or so Winter claimed.

Snowfall didn't come, either, but she had already spent several hours with her cousin. Glory made extra sure to stay out of his thoughts because even though she was curious as to what was said, she knew it was private. His expression had been remarkably neutral, and he was actually more difficult to read than Mistral.

The walk along the dark, deserted city streets was deathly quiet save for the clack of talons against the cobblestone and the clank of armor worn by the Skywings. Peril and Levante were in the lead, and the general was walking quite close to her despite the fact her firescales were fully unleashed. There was definitely space enough between them to prevent wings from brushing accidentally, but it was quite a bit closer than Glory, or anyone else for that matter, would be willing to get. Then again, Anemone had already demonstrated that Peril's firescales didn't affect her by hugging the Skywing when she had shown up hours earlier without wearing her enchanted necklace—it was probably still be repaired.

There were many gasps of horror and shock before everyone started realizing that the Seawing Queen wasn't turning into a pile of ash or screaming in utter agony. The sheer bewilderment on Peril's face in that moment was priceless...at least after the initial horrified reactions were out of the way. Something told Glory that no one really hugged Peril when her firescales were on except maybe Clay on rare occasions, and the fact Anemone was doing it made the Skywing appear as if she was seriously reconsidering her worldview.

When they finally arrived at the sewer entrance, everyone stopped. "I suppose this is as far as we go," the general stated. He looked at Glory apologetically. "I wish we could go with you, but—"

"But that would put my brother in danger," she interrupted him with a shake of her head. "Don't apologize, Levante. You didn't have to escort us down here, but you did. That's enough for me."

He nodded at her and placed a claw on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look. "Good luck, Glory." Then, he turned to Winter. "And you, as well, Winter." After that, he walked away to address the Skywing guards. "I want no less than twenty guards at this entrance at all times until I say otherwise." To everyone gathered, it was clear that that was a standing order and not just in affect for tonight.

Winter and Glory approached the entrance and stopped just outside the threshold, looking down into the dark tunnel, the first few steps of the staircase barely visible in the pale moonlight. "You sure I can't go down there and burn them all?" Peril asked from where she stood nearby.

"As tempting as that is, I'm going to have to say 'no'," Glory told her. "I swear, though, once we capture Magnificent, I'm going to throw her at you. I hear there's few deaths more painful that being burned by a firescales...uh, no offense."

Peril shrugged, completely unfazed by the comment. "Can't be offended if it's true."

"Right..." Veneno said hesitantly as she carefully squeezed by Peril and stopped next to Glory, only sparing the dark staircase a single glance before looking at the Rainwing seriously. "Maybe wait until after we get any useful information out of her before you do that. Changing subjects a bit, though, see if you can get an actual confirmation on Jerboa. We need to know if that actually is a bluff or not."

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise much more than the word of a criminal at this point." They'd talked about that earlier, too. Anemone said that Magnificent believed that Jerboa was allied with the cult, but it could turn out to be a false truth to scare them out of using Anemone's magic. Alternatively, it could be a ruse to force Anemone to create an enchanted item, or multiple, to nullify animus magic, so they could steal it and become immune to magic themselves. That was a longshot, admittedly, but it was still possible.

Unless Jerboa was actually down there, though, there wasn't much actual evidence for her alliance other than the cultists' claims.

"As for you," Anemone addressed Winter from the other side that Peril and Veneno were. "Glory and I will try and keep in contact with you through the dreamvisitors. Depending, of course, if they aren't blocked by another spell."

"I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing some friendly faces," he admitted.

Glory gazed at him, already feeling another wave of guilt hitting her. "Are you ready?"

He sighed and steeled himself. "As ever..." Without another word, he started walking down the dark staircase. Fortunately, the tunnels further in were lit with torches, the smoke leaving the subterranean tunnels through small grates in the ceiling. Moonlight also streamed in through them, casting their gridded shadows on the walls and floor.

It was eerily quiet. "You remember the way?" she asked upon reaching the first fork, her voice a mere whisper.

"Unfortunately..." He said nothing else, merely continuing down the path that would lead them to the cult hideout further in.

After barely escaping the first time, she thought she'd never come back down here again. Yet here she was, walking willingly into the mouth of the monster. The thought that this was a trap never left her mind, and she was certain everyone else was thinking the same thing. She really hoped Thorn or Anemone—or both—had cooked up some contingency plans for if that was the case.

They took a few turns until, at last, the broken wall appeared at the other end of the tunnel. That's where Qibli, Winter, and the others had blasted in to save her. Standing in front of it was a familiar Nightwing. "You're early. But only just. I guess we can deal with that." Winter growled at the voice, glaring at the Nightwing terrorist with clear hatred. "Oh, save the intimidation tactics, former Prince Winter. They don't work on me, especially since I know you'll be in chains here in a few minutes."

"Where's my brother?" Glory demanded, her own glare matching Winter's in intensity.

"Further in," Mystic supplied. "And unharmed." She turned and glanced back at them only once. "Follow me."

Glory hesitated only a moment, but Winter followed immediately. She stayed on his tail, though, not wanting to be separated from her only real source of safety down here. The old cell she was kept in was still there, the door wide open and chains scattered about the floor just as she left it. A great deal of effort was required to tear her gaze away from it and put the torture she was put through out of her mind.

The next room was almost the same as she remembered, too. The carvings of Darkstalker were still there, and the braziers were lit. The only real difference was the dead Icewing on the altar. The poor victim had her tongue cut out, blue blood staining her jaw, but that was only the beginning. She'd been disemboweled in a frighteningly similar way to the etchings on the wall showing Darkstalker doing the exact thing to his father.

Her stomach roiled at the sight, and she almost lost her dinner right then and there. She made sure to keep her eyes averted after that first glance. Winter growled again, though he made sure to take in the dead dragoness' face. "I don't recognize her," he muttered quietly, most likely for Glory's sake. She had been about to ask that.

"She was a merchant. I didn't care to remember her name," Mystic responded callously. Winter glared at the Nightwing again before pointedly yanking the dead dragon's circle necklace off and passing it to Glory. She took it without hesitation and glanced at it only briefly. It was a third circle necklace if she remembered the designs right.

"Why do this?" Winter asked. "Darkstalker can't be brought back. I'm sure you've realized that by now."

"Correction: Lord Darkstalker cannot be brought back yet." It was pretty much the same thing Magnificent had said earlier.

"Then why bother killing all these Icewings like this?" Glory challenged her.

Mystic turned away with a malicious smirk. "Because we can."

The answer made Winter's muscles tense, and he snarled. Fortunately, he held himself in check, though he glanced at the dead Icewing with clear fear as they followed Mystic out of the room.

"That's not why they want you," Glory reminded him. "They need you alive, Winter. This is all just a mind game meant to scare you."

He didn't respond, but he certainly seemed a lot more nervous about this exchange. Mystic lead them into a room that Glory hadn't been to before. It was much larger, rectangular in shape, and had many branching tunnels on the other end of the room. Including the one they'd just come through, there were six—no seven—different exits to this room, which made it an ideal place to escape from. Twenty-one cultists were scattered about the other side of the room.

In the middle of the room stood several easily recognizable dragons. Magnificent was there, grinning at her with dark amusement. Next to her was her brother, his limbs chained together, and another chain connected the collar around his neck to one of the sturdy pillars in the center of the room. In his mouth was a thick gag that prevented him from speaking or using his venom. His eyes met hers, and he whined. She nodded at him in an effort to let him know things would be alright.

Two Sandwings stood in the front, one an older male and the other a rather large female. She didn't recognize the female, though she did recognize the male, which putting context clues together, meant she knew who the female was, too. She'd never actually met him face to face before, but if the family resemblance wasn't enough to identify him, the dragon skull tattoos on his neck were. "Vulture... Thorn thought you might be involved."

The crime boss smirked, his dark eyes taking in her form. It made her feel very uncomfortable. "I would be very disappointed, indeed, had she not come to that conclusion. I hear she decided to adopt you, too." The statement in and of itself wasn't threatening, but the insinuation behind it was. He wasn't beyond hurting her to get to Thorn. "But yes, I am involved. In fact, I was the one who gave the cult enough funding and personnel to get their scheme started. Be sure to let Thorn know that while she was resting on her laurels, growing soft and complacent, I was operating right under her nose. Her end is nigh, and she doesn't even see it."

"I highly doubt that," Glory shot back.

He snorted and shook his head, giving her an extremely patronizing look. "Doubt all you want, Glory. More the fool will you feel when the inevitable happens." Then, his gaze turned to Winter. "And Winter...the last time we saw each other was during Darkstalker's original return eleven years ago. You were with my grandson." He shook his head, his expression one of fake fondness. "Oh, how time flies. It truly has been too long."

"Not long enough if you ask me," Winter returned calmly. Vulture just grinned.

"I do admire Icewings for their ability to mask their emotions so well. But don't worry...we'll see just how afraid you are in due time." He held out a claw to the other Sandwing in introduction. "Before that, I would introduce you to my new, lovely, associate. Are they clean, Jerboa?"

"Mostly," she replied immediately. "The Rainwing has an enchanted bracelet on her that allows her to read minds. I'm sure she'd already discovered that the enchantment is no longer functional." Actually, she hadn't. As soon as she figured out who the Sandwing was, she had kept her mind to herself and had actively not tried to read anyone's minds for fear of retribution. "But there is no one else here, either. A pity. I would have liked to meet Anemone for myself."

"Perhaps we could arrange that," Vulture commented. "Back to business, however. You brought Winter to us, so you shall have your brother, as promised." He nodded to Magnificent, and she unlocked the collar around his neck, the chain falling away from him with a loud rattle as it hit the pillar. After that, she unlocked his limbs and gestured for Jambu to walk over to Glory. Winter took that as his cue to walk forward, passing Jambu in the middle. Magnificent was about to start putting the chains on him, unconcerned by his constant threatening growl, when Vulture stopped her. "Put a muzzle on him. The other chains are unnecessary. We'll be leaving soon enough."

As soon as Jambu got close to Glory, he latched himself onto her, tears in his eyes, and she hugged him back, breaking the embrace only once to pull the gag out of his mouth. "Don't say anything," she whispered to him, and he nodded. "We'll talk later when we're safe." She looked to Winter and nodded her thanks, and he nodded back. "So we can go now?"

"Not quite..." She tensed at Vulture's words, expecting the cultists to start moving in. None did, however. "Don't fret, Glory, this isn't a trap. I am done with my business here, but Magnificent has a deal of her own for you, which I decided to let her present to you as a reward for her loyalty."

Glory looked to the other Rainwing with clear suspicion, wondering just what other trick Magnificent had yet to reveal. "Bring him in!" she called.

The jingle of chains came from one of the many tunnels, and a few moments later, another Rainwing in chains was escorted into the room and placed next to Magnificent. Glory's breath whooshed out of her when she recognized him. "P-Pineapple..." Jambu squeaked. Pineapple was utterly terrified, his eyes darting between his lover, his Queen, and his captors. Like Jambu, he had a gag in his mouth that prevented him from saying anything.

Even though she knew where this was going—only two dragons had come down here, after all—she still decided to ask in the extremely unlikely chance that she was wrong. "What do you want?"

Magnificent grinned. "You."

She grit her teeth at the predictable answer and looked between Jambu, Pineapple, and Winter. The former looked conflicted. The middle looked hopeful. And the latter was shaking his head. "And if I refuse?"

It was Vulture who answered. "What do you think?"

"Glory..." Jambu began, but she didn't even glance at him. She knew he was naïve enough to think she would be fine, but she also knew they would use her against Thorn. And then they'd use Thorn against Qibli. And then they might use Qibli against Moon. She remembered that her and Darkstalker used to be friends. And maybe they would be stupid enough to use Moon against Darkstalker. It was a cycle that couldn't be allowed to happen.

Besides, and as callous as it seemed, she liked Pineapple but not enough to risk herself or Pyrrhia for. But it didn't matter. Jambu would remember this, how she sacrificed his lover to save herself—or so it would seem to him. She shook her head and looked Pineapple in the eye as he began to realize what was about to happen. Fear and denial was the last emotions she saw in his eyes before Vulture slit his throat. "A pity...but as I expected. Now you are free to go."

Jambu keened in grief as Pineapple's body slumped to the floor, his lifeless eyes seeming to stare straight into Glory's, accusing. She forced herself to watch, figuring she could give him that much. Jambu began to struggle in her grasp, and she snapped her gaze down to him, doing her best to sound sympathetic yet authoritative. "Unless you want us both to die, too, keep quiet and start walking." She spared one last glance for Pineapple's corpse and then Winter before turning away and escorting her brother out of the hideout the way they had come from.

As soon as they were past her old cell and in the tunnels, he finally spoke. "You left Pineapple to die." A sigh escaped her at the clear accusation. Just as she suspected, he was thinking too narrowly. He'd never been one for thinking past the moment.

"I'm the Queen, Jambu. I can't sacrifice myself for every dragon that gets captured. Winter traded himself for you willingly, so don't even think about using that as an argument." He'd opened his mouth to argue but closed it after that.

A few seconds later, however, he said this: "So you're just more important than other dragons, huh? Their lives don't mean as much as yours?"

A spike of outrage hit her. She'd just watch one of her friends give himself up! Did he really think that didn't matter!? But she didn't say that. Instead, her frustration at Jambu's narrow-mindedness couple with the guilt of surrendering Winter caused her to answer in a way she would forever regret. "Yes! I am! And no! They aren't! That completely sucks, I know, but that's the way it is!"

It took a few steps before she realized hers was the only set of clawsteps she heard, so she turned back to see what happened. Jambu was standing there, his expression one of complete and utter betrayal and sadness. "I hate you..." And then he was gone, having turned invisible and run towards the entrance.

"Jambu!" she called despite knowing it was futile. Clenching her jaw and blinking away a few tears, she walked to the entrance alone. They'd planned this all along. Her brother may be alive, but she'd still lost him because of this. She took only two steps before turning around with a furious roar. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS, MAGNIFICENT! YOU HEAR ME!? I'LL MAKE YOU BEG FOR MERCY BEFORE THE END!"

It didn't make her feel better.

She felt like sitting down and crying at the injustice of it all. But she didn't. She kept her emotions in check as best as she could before walking back towards the entrance. The lump in her throat never went away, though, and she knew if she opened her mouth to say anything, her emotions would just spill out.

Even when Anemone sprinted down the stairs to meet her, asking, "Are you okay!? Where's Jambu!?" she didn't say anything. Nor did she say anything to Peril or Levante or Veneno. She just kept walking resolutely forward, leaving a bunch of confused dragons behind. When they caught up to her, and when the incessant questions became too much, she turned invisible and flew away.

There was only one place in her mind where she wanted to go, so that's where she went. She snuck through the palace, staying invisible to prevent anyone from seeing and trying to speak with her. As soon as she reached the appropriate door, the bubble burst. Heavy sobs racked her body as all of those bottled-up emotions came spilling out, and she threw open the door with a cry. "Mom!"

Thorn startled awake, rolling off her bed and landing on the ground with a solid oof. She'd barely recovered her feet before Glory was there, burying her head in Thorn's chest as she cried. There were no false platitudes, no sweet nothings. Thorn just held onto her as tight as she could and didn't let go.

Safe in the arms of the dragon she was beginning to trust more than any other, Glory let it all out. And not just the emotions from tonight, either. Sure, she cried about Jambu and Pineapple and Winter, but she also cried for that other Icewing she saw down there and every other dragon that had been murdered by the cult. She cried because of how badly she wanted to kill Magnificent. She cried because of her frustration over Mistral and her growing fear of being alone forever. She cried for pushing Deathbringer away. She cried for accidentally ruining Sobek's life and turning him into the monster he was now. Then, she cried for Grandeur again, missing the old Rainwing more than ever in this moment. And finally, she cried because she had someone in her life that would just sit here and let her cry on them. Not everyone had a shoulder to cry on, and she loved and appreciated Thorn all the more because of it.

It probably took close to an hour for her to get all cried out, and when she finally began to calm down, Thorn kissed the top of her head. "Feel better?"

"A little," Glory admitted. Then, she began to realize what all happened, and she started to pull away, but Thorn didn't let her. She settled for apologizing. "Sorry...I—"

"Shh, it's okay, Glory. Don't apologize. Everyone gets overwhelmed and needs a moment to let it out at some point. Even me."

Even if she couldn't see, what with Glory's head buried in Thorn's chest, the Rainwing's expression was quite skeptical. "I've never seen you cry before."

Thorn chuckled. "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's never happened. I cried myself to sleep earlier because I was so worried about you." There was a short pause. "Do you want to talk about it?"

There was a longer pause as she had an internal argument with herself. In the end, she knew that she trusted Thorn. "They had Pineapple, too."

"Jambu's lover?" Thorn checked.

Glory nodded, realized Thorn probably couldn't see it, and then verbally responded. "Yeah. Magnificent offered a second trade. Me for Pineapple."

"Evidently, you made the correct choice." Glory sighed, and Thorn pulled away to look Glory in the eye. "Whatever Jambu said to you...don't worry about it too much. I know he's not the brightest dragon out there. I also know he's now grieving the loss of someone he loved very much. Emotions have a funny way of making you say or do things you don't mean. It might take a while, maybe longer than you'd like, but one day he'll come around."

Glory sighed again. "It's not that simple. I...said something I shouldn't have." She explained the short argument she and Jambu had when they were walking out, about how he accused her of thinking herself more important, and her life more valuable, than other dragons. And then, she told Thorn how she responded.

There was a long moment of silence, and Glory glanced up to check Thorn's expression, fearing disappointment or anger. Instead, she saw pity. "Remember what I said about emotions making you say things you don't mean?" Glory opened her mouth to argue, but Thorn cut her off. "Tell me truly, do you really feel that way? That you're more important than other dragons?"

"As a Queen, yes," she admitted. "I have a duty to my tribes to keep them safe no matter what, even if it means sacrificing one dragon for the good of everyone else."

"But...?" Thorn pressed.

"But, as a dragon...that feels wrong. I shouldn't be considered more important because of a fancy title." Thorn nodded, a hint of pride in her gaze.

"If only more dragons thought like you," she mused. "And...I hate to ask this, but did you find anything out about Jerboa?"

Glory nodded. "She was down there." Thorn's eyes went wide in surprise, clearly having not expected that. "And so was Vulture." Surprise turned to fury, and Thorn's tail lashed behind her in agitation. "He...asked me to pass on a message."

Thorn was not happy upon receiving that message. "The gall of that...that...bastard!" She growled for a moment before huffing, "Pardon the language."

"It's fine. At least you're not punching something." Thorn snorted in amusement and looked down at her with feigned indignation.

"Don't tempt me." Now, it was Glory's turn to snort in amusement. She sighed and then yawned heavily. "Back to more serious topics, however, we'll need Anemone or Turtle to start enchanting animus immunity stuff, especially for the task force and the Queens. Probably Levante, too, since he's technically the King. And Greatness since you're passing your Kingdom off to her. And I'm definitely going to want one for Qibli and Moon. Sunny, too."

"In other words, a lot of dragons need one," Glory summed up. Thorn shrugged but nodded. "Tomorrow, though?"

The Sandwing yawned again and nodded. "Definitely tomorrow."

AN: Everybody needs a good cry every now and then, even Glory. Good thing Thorn's a great mom.

And if the showdown between Magnificent and Glory wasn't personal before, it certainly is now. Vulture is now a confirmed threat, and Jerboa wasn't a bluff. Surely, that won't complicate things too much, though...right?

Yeah, of course it will...

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22