Glorious Politics

AN: Well, this is the first time in a while I wasn't able to get these two chapters out on time. You'll have to forgive me for that, though, because I had a really bad day last Tuesday that pretty much sucked every ounce of motivation I had out of me for the next couple of days. Yeah...it was bad.

But I'm not going to linger on that any longer. Instead, I just want to say that this story, as a whole, is my absolute favorite one that I've ever written. I had another blast and a half writing this chapter, and for the last two or three chapters, I've just been getting more and more excited to work on the next chapter. And then the next one. Dragons Change may have been my most ambitious and most popular story so far, but I never had this much fun writing that one, even at the beginning when I was pumping out two or three chapters a week.

Glorious Politics, in my opinion, is my greatest fanfiction to date, and I thank all of you for reading and engaging through it so far. It truly, truly means a lot to me.

And if you're wondering why I decided to say all this now, it's because this has now become my second ever story to hit over 200k words. That's absolutely mind-boggling, considering the original version was probably only going to be about 50-75k words. And it's even more crazy to think that I see this story going strong for another 100k words, give or take. Heck, maybe it'll be longer than that. Who knows? With how much fun I've been having, I may end up extending it even further (within reason, of course).

I've got a few more things to talk about, but since this note is already long enough, I'll say it at the bottom. For now, enjoy this very special (to me, anyway) chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Nimbus, Sobek, Mistral, and Veneno are my OCs. Bloodwalker belongs to SpyroAndSisuFan. Certus, Solstice, and Swiftback belong to Epsilon33. Bear belongs to Schwanze.

Chapter Forty:

After a short meeting with Mistral and Turtle, the unanimous consensus between the four of them—Greatness was there, too, of course—was to not use the dreamvisitors on Vulture or any of his goons. All of them did agree that there was no reason not to use them to check up on their friends and allies, though. And so, after downing a few drinks while relaxing on Greatness' cushion in front of her fireplace, Glory made her way up to the loft with the dreamvisitor she'd snagged from her office once it got dark.

Once settled upon Greatness' extremely comfortable bed—so comfortable, in fact, that she was a bit jealous that the Nightwing had apparently been holding out on her—there was a decision to make. In actuality, however, there wasn't much of a choice, at all. Winter had been captured several days ago now, and if she was in his position—which she sort of had experience with—she'd be wishing for a friendly face by now. Horus' report could wait.

With the gem in her claws, she laid down and thought of her Icewing friend...

...But nothing happened.

No matter how long she laid there, how hard she tried to fall asleep, she was not transported into the world of Winter's dreams. He was probably still awake. Maybe he was even being tortured as she laid upon this supremely comfortable bed. The mere thought of his suffering when compared to the comfort of her surroundings was enough for a fresh wave of guilt to hit her. So hard, in fact, that her stomach churned with nausea.

Whatever was happening to him, whether he was being moved or tortured, if he was awake, there was no way to dreamvisit him. Unfortunately, Turtle had come up with another possibility earlier, and that particular thought wouldn't quite leave her alone.

What if Jerboa had placed an enchantment upon Winter, or something he was wearing, that prevented anyone from dreamvisiting him? In his situation, there was no telling what new bits of information he was learning. Were someone to dreamvisit him, as she was attempting to do now, he could tell them everything he'd learned without even having to escape. It would be a serious information leak, one which Vulture wasn't stupid enough to ignore. The crime boss hadn't become so feared by ignoring any possibility, no matter how unlikely.

But there was no way to know if that's what had actually happened. After she dreamvisited Horus to hear his report, she resolved to try Winter again. If it still didn't connect at such a late—or early—hour, she'd know something was up. Whether that something meant Turtle's theory was right or...something much worse, it was impossible to be certain.

With her thoughts now on Horus, the loyal Skywing captain, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

She awoke in an unfamiliar place. It was clearly a house, though. That much, at least, was certain. The furnishings and decorations weren't overly opulent, but they were clearly of a higher quality than what the commoners could afford.

Right now, she was in the kitchen. Trays and platters of food were spread out across the dining table and kitchen counter as were bottles of drinks that most likely contained some sort of alcoholic beverage. It was quite an impressive spread with several different meats and vegetables. All of the dishes were either completely or partially empty, which indicated that someone, or many someones, had had quite the feast. Despite that, there was no one to be seen in her immediate vicinity.

Curious where everyone had gone—and now quite hungry—she made her way over to a nearby window. The street outside was a rather familiar one with faceless Skywings walking up and down the cobbled boulevard. It was night, though it didn't seem too late. Oil lamps lit the street outside, providing enough light to reveal that the other houses she could see across the street were multi-story mansions and estates with gated yards and neatly trimmed hedges. "Horus had a house in the upper-class area of the city," she remembered, looking around the abode in a new light. "This is a nice place."

Still, that didn't explain where anyone was. With nothing else to do except look through the rest of the house until she found the Skywing she was looking for, that's what she did. Admittedly, she did take her time to look at a few of the decorations. There was a particular flower vase she took a liking to. Green vines and red roses seemed to twist upon each other on a white background without looking too chaotic. It didn't seem to fit with most of the other decorations. Funnily enough, it brought to mind her new relationship with a certain Icewing—color-wise, that is.

And, of course, the red and orange banner upon the wall with what she assumed was a family insignia was quite interesting, too. It was arranged in a basic diamond shape with the center being made up of a Skywing silhouette, wings and tail fully stretched out. From the tip of the wings to the tip of the tail were spears, and from the tip of the snout to the tip of the wings were swords. Below the design were the words 'Ever Faithful, Always Loyal'.

Horus had mentioned that his family was old blood. Military service was deeply engrained in their legacy. That crest seemed to accentuate that.

"—will be safe with me." Quiet voices made her ears perk up as she tried to locate the source. As it turned out, though, she didn't have to go look, for the owners were getting closer. Not only were the voices growing louder and clearer, but she could also hear a pair of clawsteps coming her way. Turning herself invisible, she peaked around the corner to see a pair of familiar Skywings coming down a hallway on the other side of the entrance. "I promise to take care of it for you until you have the money to buy it back. You have my word."

Both of the Skywings stopped near the entrance. The speaker thus far, who she recognized as Levante, though clearly a few years younger than she knew him, awaited a response from the other dragon. Horus, who looked the same as she remembered, seemed troubled, and rightly so if she correctly guess what this memory entailed. "You know I trust you, Levante. You've been my best friend for as long as can remember. Still...this is my family's home. It's...hard to leave." He growled softly. "Especially knowing it's my fault I have to."

"You know that's not true," Levante gently assured him. "Your parents chose the wrong side, and despite your loyalty to her, Ruby's still wary of trusting you because of them." Horus scoffed, though Glory couldn't tell if he was scoffing because of his parents' actions or Ruby's distrust. She'd never known his parents had been Scarlet loyalists, which was the only thing they could be referring to. Of course, she didn't know Horus all that well to begin with, but from his clear loyalty to Ruby, she never would've guessed he'd been the odd one out in his family. "I'll do what I can, though. You know I will. She trusts me, and I trust you. You may be a sergeant now, but I promise you you'll have your chance to rise through the ranks."

"You sure are making a lot of promises..." Horus grumbled.

"Only because I know I can keep them." The pure confidence in Levante's voice was enough for Horus to relent with a nod. "And, of course, you're welcome to come by any time or take anything of your family's that you want. My name may be on the deed now, but I won't soon forget that this is your house."

Horus was quiet for a while before he made his request. "My family's banner and my great-grandmother's vase... May I take those with me?"

"Of course," Levante immediately acquiesced. "As I said, take what you want. I'll even throw in some of the leftover food." Horus snorted in amusement at the joke, which succeeded in lifting his mood a bit. "It was all quite delicious, wasn't it?"

The other Skywing nodded. "Yeah. As sad as I am to leave, I'm glad you and the others could give me a proper send-off." For the first time, Levante looked sincerely confused by Horus' statement. "Oh, yeah...and to give you a house-warming party, or...something." Despite the words themselves almost sounding bitter, Horus' tone was joking.

The general—or future general, depending on his current rank—chuckled. "Come on...let's get you set up and ready to go."

The two began walking this way, obviously intending to grab the things Horus said he wanted, and Glory figured she'd lingered and watched long enough. As they approached, she turned the corner and uncamouflaged herself.

Levante didn't react to her presence at all, but Horus recoiled in complete shock. "Q-Queen Glory!? What—!?"

"This is a dreamvisit, Horus," she told him. Then, she gestured around at their surroundings, noting a strange lack of a second Skywing. "This is just a memory."

He blinked a few times before understanding dawned upon him. "Ah...right..." He straightened his posture a bit and cleared his throat awkwardly. "And...how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to know you're exceedingly lucky to have Levante as such a close friend." At his furrowed brows and slightly insulted look, she clarified, understanding that the previous conversation made her comment sound a bit like an intentional jab. "I don't mean that as an insult. From what I've seen of Levante so far, I can tell there's not many dragons like him. Not everyone can say they have a friend like that."

Horus was quiet as he looked away with a small nod. Then, he seemed to remember whose company he was currently in, and his expression returned to being professional. "I know. And I make sure he knows how much I appreciate his friendship on a regular basis. But I also know that my friendship with Levante isn't why you're here. So what is, may I ask?"

"You're right in thinking this isn't a social call," she nodded. "It's been long enough since you left on your mission that I think now's a good time for a sitrep."

"The Icewing Princess and her Mudwing mate are both fine," he immediately reported. "We found them in Sanctuary as Queen Snowfall said they would be. When I gave her the short letter from her sister, they both immediately agreed to come with us. They're worried, of course, but I get the sense that they don't know the full picture. They don't know why we've come to take them to the Sea Kingdom, only that we've been ordered to by both Queen Snowfall and Queen Ruby."

It made sense that Snowfall wouldn't tell them everything. She probably didn't want to cause any needless panic. Knowing that the Skywings had successfully completed the first part of their assignment was a weight off her chest, though. Though she didn't know Crystal personally, she'd been worried about her safety. Mostly because she didn't want anyone to face what she had during her short capture...or what that Icewing she and Winter saw during their last trip down there.

"Good to hear. I'll—" She cut herself off from saying she'd inform the rest of the task force of his progress upon seeing his expression. He was worried about something. "Something wrong?"

He closed his eyes with a small sigh, then nodded. "Nothing concrete...but my gut says this is too easy. I have a feeling something bad's about to happen."

"A feeling?" she asked dubiously. "I'd more expect that from Moon, to be honest." She was the one with the future-sight, after all.

"I've been a soldier long enough to know that ignoring my instincts is usually a bad idea," he actually snapped. And he didn't appear apologetic at all from the tone. "Be skeptical all you want, but I know something's about to happen to us." He clenched his jaw and sighed heavily. "Dreamvisit me again tomorrow night. If you can't connect to me, I'm probably dead."

Before she could even react to that rather dramatic declaration, there was a brilliant flash of light, and then she was suddenly slammed back to conscious awareness with a gasp. Looking around the dark loft, heart hammering in her ears and an inexplicable pit of fear in her stomach, she tried her best to calm down.

Rational thought suggested that the dreamvisit only ended because someone was physically woken up. Horus' words suggested it was him. Maybe something did happen to his group, and someone had woken him up to deal with it. Of course, the only reason for him to be awoken by someone was if they were being attacked, which made her worry even more.

Since there was nothing she could do about that, however, she took another look around her surroundings to try to calm her still-racing heart. The fear she was currently experiencing felt more instinctual, like her subconscious knew there was a reason to be afraid that her conscious mind couldn't fathom.

Her scales shifted to match her surroundings in a similar, instinctual reaction as she glanced around the loft. Even seeing that there was no one around, that fear still didn't go away. In fact, it only seemed to be growing. It's just because I'm in an unfamiliar house...alone, she reasoned. She hadn't even thought of grabbing one or two of the guards watching Greatness or asking Bear for a pair of his.

It was utterly quiet. The night was calm, which she supposed was fortunate. A loud bolt of lightning at the wrong moment would probably have her screaming bloody murder, what with her nerves so shot at the moment. Apparently she'd gotten used to having some guards around at night...but that's when she realized it was more than the lack of other dragons around.

It was completely silent.

Even at night the rainforest wasn't fully asleep. There were all sorts of nocturnal insects and animals that tended to make at least some noise, especially the former.

Something didn't feel right here, and after Horus' parting words, she was more paranoid than ever. Slowly...carefully...she stood up just enough to see down the stairs to the floor below, and what she saw made her heart stop.

The front door was lying on the floor. Bits of wood still hung from the hinges attached to the doorframe. Someone had just broken in, and now she knew that it wasn't Horus' side that had the problem. It was hers. The noise of the door being broken down had startled her body awake before her mind even knew what was going on.

Despite knowing there was someone else here and specifically trying to hear anything out of the ordinary, be it the sound of breathing or soft clawsteps, there was just nothing. The door was open, though...

There was a clear way out.

A single thought stopped her from running for it, though. A single name, that is.

Sobek.

But that name lead to two others that were just as terrifying to think about. Cobra...and Deathbringer. Every single one of those dragons were highly experienced assassins. None of them would just leave the only way out unguarded. Maybe DB would...depending on his current mindset. He'd want to see her before striking. She knew he would. Maybe it was naïve, but she was still holding out hope that he wasn't with the cult for their sake. If she knew him, he'd want to scare her, make her realize how angry and upset he was, force an apology out of her. Only then, would he disappear again.

He wouldn't kill her, no matter what anyone else thought. He wasn't that kind of dragon, even if she had been unfair to him.

The other two, however...

She didn't really know much about Cobra, other than that she was Qibli's biological mother and Vulture's daughter. And according to Thorn, was rightfully one of the most feared assassins on the entire continent. Based on that slim knowledge, she wouldn't make as big of a scene as breaking down the door and luring her into a false sense of security with an open exit. No, she'd have come in quietly and killed her just as quietly.

And Magnificent was in the Sky Kingdom last time she saw her. Of course, she could have followed her group back to the rainforest. Even for a Rainwing, dragons who specialized in hiding, this was way too quiet...and patient. Nearly five minutes had passed since she first noticed the door and nothing had happened yet. Magnificent wouldn't be able to keep quiet that long, much less stay in one spot.

So it had to be Sobek, she reasoned.

Personal this may be for him, but he was both patient and calculating. Sadistic, too, if her last few encounters with him were any indication. He'd want her to try and escape, only to dash her hopes, taunt her, and then kill her.

A noise behind her made her freeze. Something or someone had just tapped the window. Her only consolation was that it was too small for a grown dragon—even her, small as she was—to fit through. She slowly looked behind her, nearly screaming when she saw the blood red eyes staring back at her.

She bit it back, though, recognizing a friend when she saw one. Bloodwalker had a single claw to his mouth, telling her to be quiet. She nodded, and then he made another gesture telling her to stay down. She nodded again, and he mouthed two words: 'Don't move.'

Following his advice, she crouched down onto the bed, muscles tensed and ready to run in case she needed to. Still, she wasn't going to let herself caught off guard, so she scooched forward just enough to see the top half of the door just in time to see a flash of movement from outside.

"I know you're in there!" Bloodwalker shouted. What is he doing!? I thought he was an assassin! Surely, he should know better than to just reveal his presence like that! "You want out; you have to go through me!"

"And why would I want out?" The menace in that voice sent a chill down her spine. Somehow, Sobek's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, probably because she expected him to be everywhere she looked. He was a Sandwing! Why couldn't she see him!? "I have Glory in here with me, which is exactly where I want her."

"Nice trick...but your ventriloquism won't work on me!" Is that what he was doing? Why it sounded like he was coming from everywhere at once? He was throwing his voice? "Last chance! Give up now or I'm coming in!"

"Oh, I'm so scared..." Sobek's tone was as teasing as it was arrogant. "You're no Deathbringer, Bloodwalker! Even your cousin couldn't beat me!" He chuckled maliciously. Hearing Sobek namedrop DB made her gasp in surprise. It could be a lie, of course, but it was unlikely. This was pretty much confirmation that the Nightwing assassin was working for them. "But come on! I'll kill you before slitting your precious Queen's throat!"

Her jaw dropped, but not at Sobek's threat. That was bad, too, but not as bad as what she was currently witnessing. Bloodwalker just walked through the front door! Casually, too, as if there wasn't a rogue—and insane—Sandwing SpecOps agent just waiting to strike as soon as he saw his prey!

His brazenness almost made her shout her incredulity at him, but before she could, there was a flash of movement from the living room. Sobek tackled Bloodwalker, and Glory couldn't help but freeze in place. With Sobek distracted, she could've made a break for the door, but seeing the Sandwing rise from the tangled mess of limbs with a sneer on his face was enough to stun her in place.

"Pathetic..." Sobek sneered. "Sacrifice yourself to let Glory escape? That was your plan?" He snorted derisively. "Too bad she's too stupid to follow through." He turned and stared right at her, which made her blood run cold. A quick look at herself showed that she was still invisible, but somehow he knew she was here! He turned away from Bloodwalker's body, leaving his dagger stuck in the Nightwing's chest, and began to slowly stalk towards the stairs. "Your camouflage is impeccable, Glory. Too bad your heartbeat gives it away. It's like a drum, how loud it is."

She was still frozen. Faced with this savage and calculating opponent who stood between her and her way out, there was nothing she could do except watch his every move and try to predict his attack. Maybe if she could evade his first strike or two, she could escape. His eyes glowed menacingly in the dark, and the creak of him stepping on the first step of the stairs made her cringe back in fear. Memories of how easily he'd overpowered her last time sprang to mind, and though she'd had a few lessons with Peril, she knew she stood absolutely no chance against somehow who'd been trained to become a living weapon since a young age.

No other dragon had ever invoked more fear in her than this Sandwing in front of her.

But that's not why her eyes widened, almost comically so despite the circumstances, at that moment. Movement behind him caught her attention. "That's not possible..." she couldn't help but mutter.

Though he was clearly confused—and suspicious—of her sudden, strange behavior, he didn't turn until another voice sounded from behind him. "I'm curious...after killing me, what is it you're planning on doing next?"

From halfway up the steps, Glory could see Sobek's expression clearly, and his matched hers almost perfectly. That surprise didn't last, however, as he turned to growl at the somehow still-living Nightwing. With a loud squelch, Bloodwalker pulled the dagger out of his chest. His expression didn't change, didn't betray any hints of pain, even as blood freely flowed from the fresh wound.

Forgetting about her in the wake of this new development, Sobek jumped off of the stairs and back onto the ground floor. "What are you...?" he hissed, a slight hint of fear in his voice. But then, his voice grew hard again. "Doesn't matter. If you can bleed, you can die. With you injured, you stand even less of a chance against me."

"Then what about me?" Glory sighed in utter relief upon hearing yet another new voice. And it was one she'd never been more glad to hear than right now. "If you need to pick on a female to feel like a male, then try me on for size. I won't even use my firescales."

Even from her perch in the loft, she could tell that Sobek was suddenly a lot less confident. But who wouldn't when facing down an utterly pissed-off Peril? "You really bodged this job, didn't you?" Bloodwalker snarked. "But that's what happens when you make things personal."

There was a sound of clear contempt form the Sandwing before he suddenly pounced towards Bloodwalker. The Nightwing braced himself, only to overextend and unbalance himself as Sobek suddenly juked towards Peril. The Skywing, however, was not taken by surprise. In a single motion, she deflected his attack, grabbed his left arm with her right, spit a tiny gout of fire in his face to stun him, grabbed his other arm as he blindly swiped at her, and used his momentum to swing him bodily into the walls, which cracked and bowed outwards at an alarming angle from the impact.

"You realize who I am, right?" Peril gloated. Sobek shook his head, probably to clear it after hitting the wall so hard, but Peril took that to mean that: no, he didn't. "I'm the best single-combatant on the entire continent, trained in every tribal style. You'll need more than cheap tricks to take me down."

"Apparently," he agreed. And then he was on his feet, trading blows with Peril faster than Glory could keep up with. With his tail barb, he had an advantage that even Peril wasn't immune against, which kept her on the back foot. She had to constantly give ground to prevent herself from being stung.

As the two continued their fight into the living room, Glory sprung down from the loft to check on her injured friend. Ignoring the sound of breaking furniture, furious roars, and grunts of effort from the two exceptionally-skilled fighters, she ripped a tapestry off the wall and pressed it against Bloodwalker's still-bleeding wound. He nodded to her in thanks, and she just gawked at how...unconcerned he seemed despite his apparent trouble breathing.

"How are you still alive?" she all but demanded.

"Old...animus enchantment," he told her between ragged breaths. "No time...to explain...dagger...punctured a lung. Hard...to breathe."

A particular loud crash caught both of their attentions, and Glory was able to watch the tail end of that spectacular blow. Sobek had somehow gotten the upper claw and threw Peril out of the building through the wall. The Sandwing turned to snarl at them, but that second's distraction was enough for Peril to leap back through the hole, looking none the worse for wear, and hit the Sandwing hard on the injured side of his face.

He roared in clear agony, and in a move that was probably more instinctual than anything else, his tail barb shot towards Peril's neck. She caught it—barely—and though he was able to score a hit on her with his claws during this moment, she used her own to cut his barb off.

He roared again, with fury mixing in this time, and he growled lowly as Peril taunted him with his severed tail barb. "Not so tough now, are you?"

In response, the Sandwing spewed a gout of fire at her, and when Peril dived out of the way, only minorly scorched, he swung the flame around erratically until that entire side of the house was alight. Already, the flames were roaring louder than Sobek had previously, and smoke was filling the room quickly. Glory heard Peril growl, but she had to focus on getting Bloodwalker out of here. The Nightwing was weakening alarmingly fast, though he still didn't appear to be in much pain. Even as he forced his body to move at her insistence, he didn't once wince or gasp in anything but exhaustion.

As the two all but collapsed down the stairs—Bloodwalker was quite a bit heavier than she was, and he'd been leaning on her heavily—they were quickly followed by Sobek jumping out of the new hole in the wall that he'd sent Peril through earlier. He turned their way briefly, and Glory's heart skipped a beat when she realized they were out here alone for the moment. However, his gaze flicked to a point behind them, and he took off the other way, rounding the corner of the house just as Peril jumped out of the hole.

"He went around the house!" Glory shouted to the Skywing, who immediately took off to pursue her quarry. She didn't take two steps before the Sandwing came flying—not of his own choice—backwards with a strangled gurgle.

The Sandwing hit the ground and rolled a few times as a familiar, massive Mudwing walked calmly around the corner. Bear was soon followed by many more large Mudwings, who immediately moved to surround the clearly unconscious Sobek.

"It appears I arrived just in time," the Mudwing captain observed. Then, as Peril went to join the other Mudwings in watching—and hopefully chaining—Sobek, Bear turned his gaze to her. "Your orders, Queen Glory? Shall we kill him now or take him alive?"

"Thorn wants him alive," she told him simply. Whether he disapproved of her informal mentioning of the Sandwing Queen or not, she turned her attention back to the clearly dying Nightwing. "Hang on, Bloodwalker. Just—"

"GLORY!" Her breath all but left her upon hearing panic in a voice she'd never heard panic in before. She looked behind her, in the direction that Sobek had briefly glanced, and saw a veritable stampede of her friends coming her way. Veneno, Turtle, Kinkajou, even Greatness and her Sandwing guards were all heading her way.

And at their forefront was Mistral, who seemed like he was on the verge of a panic attack. He slid to a stop just before he'd run her over, and just before she could say anything, he pulled her into his chest tightly. So close to him, she could both hear and feel how rapid his heart was beating, and each of his exhales were quite shaky. That's when she realized he wasn't on the verge of a panic attack, he was having one right now.

"Hey, I'm okay...I'm okay," she spoke softly. Her words were enough to calm him slightly, but he seemed both unable and unwilling to let her go. "Turtle, check on Bloodwalker! He's hurt bad!" Her words were a bit muffled since her face was pretty much buried in Mistral's chest, but she heard the activity next to her, which she assumed was the Seawing doing what she asked.

It took several minutes for him to calm down, and her entire world for that time consisted of his arms and wings around her back, his chest in front of her, and his head above hers. It almost felt like she was in a living cocoon. The biggest sign that he was calming down was his heartbeat, which grew slower and steadier as the minutes passed.

She didn't even have to say anything to him. All it took was her presence in his arms and her nuzzling his chest a few times for him to calm down. At last, after what she counted to be about seven minutes, he spoke. "I'm sorry..." It was but a whisper, but she heard it perfectly fine, just the same.

But his apology only confused her. Gently, she tried to pull back, and after a moment, he allowed her. In her peripherals, she saw that Bloodwalker was back on his feet with no evidence of his former wound, the Mudwings, Peril, and Veneno were all watching Sobek, who was in chains by this point, and Greatness was staring at her burning house in despair. As the only Icewing here, she'd rather Mistral be helping to put the fire out, but it seemed the local firefighters were already dealing with it. Dragons carried buckets filled with water from the river and dumped them upon the fire as they flew above. Already, the fire seemed a lot weaker than it had been.

It only took a few seconds for her to glance around to make sure everyone was okay, and then her attention was fully upon Mistral once more. He still seemed a bit shaken, and he definitely seemed upset about something. Compared to a few minutes ago, however, he had calmed down a lot. "About what?" she gently asked. "It's okay to be scared for me. I was scared for me."

Despite her attempt at humor, he wasn't swayed. "Magnificent hid in your room in the Skywing Palace. I should've known something similar would happen here. I shouldn't have just let you go off alone after our meeting."

That made a bit more sense. She could see why he felt as bad as he did. "If you're going to blame yourself for that oversight, don't just blame yourself. Okay? I didn't think of it, either. Neither did Veneno, and Thorn sent her here specifically to keep me safe."

"Bloodwalker did," he immediately responded as he glanced at the named Nightwing. He sounded angry, but she knew it was probably more at himself. After a moment, he sighed. "I see now why you trust him as much as you do."

That was certainly a surprise. "You complimenting a Nightwing?" She chuckled in spite of herself. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Apologies for interrupting, Queen Glory..." Both her and Mistral turned to regard the Mudwing Captain, who appeared to be only moderately apologetic. "...But I believe the prisoner is close to waking up. Have you someplace secure to put him?"

Well, there was the Box, but she had a better idea. "Not particularly. But Queen Thorn does. Since we planned on going over there, anyway, I believe now would be a good reason to leave a little earlier than planned."

"I see. I'll make the arrangements, then." He went to turn away, but before he could, Glory stopped him.

"And Captain?" When his attention was back on her, she gave her request. "I would feel better, and I'm sure Queen Thorn would, too, if you assigned a pair or two of your own troops to watch him even once he's behind bars."

"As a counter to the potential security threat in the Sandwing Palace?" he correctly guessed. When she nodded, he did, as well. "It will be done."

"Speaking of the security threat..." Mistral began once the Mudwing had walked away to give orders to his troops. "I'm not going to allow a repeat of this scenario again. Three times has made it clear enough that you, for whatever reason, are one of our enemies' primary targets."

"I'll make sure to have guards with me from now on," she promised, but he shook his head.

"There were guards wandering the halls of the Skywing Palace both when you were captured and when Magnificent was found in your room. In the second case, Anemone's presence was the only reason why nothing worse happened." He looked away, and she cocked her head in curiosity when she noticed that he was blushing. "I, uh... Don't take this the wrong way. I'm not suggesting this for myself, but maybe..."

He trailed off, but she could guess where he was going. The as-of-yet-asked request made her feel a bit warm inside, and the fact he was asking and not demanding was even better. "You want to share a room with me."

His blush deepened, and he nodded. "I...yes... Again, for security purposes." She nodded in a way that made it clear she wasn't buying it, though her smirk also let him know she wasn't mad. He sighed. "If that's okay?"

She chuckled fondly. "I think I'm supposed to be asking you that question. We're going at your speed, remember?" He nodded, but since he still seemed embarrassed to even be suggesting it, she offered him an out. "I think you're right in suggesting a share a room with someone, but it doesn't have to be you if you don't want to. I could share with Bloodwalker. Or even Thorn. I'm sure mom wouldn't mind."

He looked so close to accepting that alternative, a sight that hurt a bit to see, In the end, however, he shook his head, and averted his gaze to the ground. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "I was...terrified that I'd lost you when I saw the fire. I know our relationship is new, but..." He trailed off with a slightly frustrated sigh, so she nuzzled his cheek since it was close enough. The action brought a small, affectionate smile to his face. "I can't lose you..." he whispered. The amount of love and desperation in his voice was enough to make her gasp with an inrush of feelings. "Not now that I've accepted how I feel."

She kissed him, an action which he quickly reciprocated, though they broke away after a few seconds. "Yes, you can share a room with me." This time, he nuzzled her at his question being answered. Unfortunately, she was too caught up in the moment to stop herself from offering something else, too. "And the bed if you want." He completely froze at that. She realized she'd screwed up at about the time when he pulled away from her with a distinctly uncomfortable expression. "Sorry...it's just an offer."

He smiled awkwardly before looking away with a sigh, his fake smile falling. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"That's alright." So she said, but it still hurt to be so clearly rejected, even if only for now. "Your pace." The reiteration apparently made him feel a bit better.

"We're ready to go when you are, Glory!" At Peril's call, both lovers turned to see that, indeed, the group seemed ready to move out once the word was given.

And she was the one to give it. "Let's go, then. The sooner we get to the Sand Kingdom and take care of that dumbass, the sooner we can get back to bed." She was, of course, referring to Sobek. Since the dreamvisitor was currently in a burning building, she'd come retrieve it later. Winter, unfortunately, would have to wait another day. As the others got moving towards the portals, Mistral lingered with her, so she reached up, using his shoulders to balance, and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for worrying. It's sweet."

This time, his smile was genuine.

AN: So we got to see just how close Levante and Horus are as friends, Sobek tries and fails spectacularly to kill Glory, and Mistral has a panic attack at almost losing the first dragoness since his traumatic experiences with Greatness that he allowed himself to fall in love with. He's going to be a bit protective in the near future, though not without reason as evidenced by the close shave they just had.

Now, the other important thing I needed to mention is that one of my stories, The Good Life, is nearing completion. I'd say it has four, five, maybe six chapters left. That being said, I know I have many promised Dragons Change-universe stories I need to start on, but I know for a fact that I won't be able to properly focus on those while I'm still working on this one. Right now, this is the one story I want to work on above all others, so once The Good Life is done, I'm going back to weekly updates on this one until it's done. After that, the first of those new stories, which I have dubbed Dragons Change: Origins (a reference to Dragon Age: Origins while also being appropriate for the content within) will be started. And it's going to answer a lot of unanswered questions from the main story.

Including: the Spirits' origins, the anchor's creation and what exactly it is, Pyrrhia's creation, Urfael's fall to madness, the original Winter and Razorclaw's story about how they became Champions, Urfael's defeat and the end of the war, and maybe a few others. Those are the arcs I have planned out right now, but I might think of others between now and then.

So...anyone excited?

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22