Glorybringer: The Nightmare Within

Tensions High

"Morning your majesty," Deathbringer said, and Glory glanced at him suspiciously.

"What? No, Hey Beautiful with a sassy wink?" she questioned jokingly. 

"You always get mad at me when I do that," he said simply, but the worry in her eyes only grew. It had been like this for a while. He had lost his usual sarcastic flare...The rainwing couldn't remember the last she saw that smirk of his... 

She opened her mouth to say something but there was a knock on the door before a rainwing entered. "Queen Glory, you have a message from Queen Ruby of the Skywings!"

He handed her a scroll, which Glory hastily took sitting back down at her desk to read it.

Dear Queen Glory of The Rainwings and Nightwings,
Sorry to reach out to you so soon after our meeting, but I figured you'd find this crucial to the rebuilding of your Kingdom. Recently in the Sky Kingdom, we have been very fortunate in terms of resources, so much so in fact, that we are running into issues regarding storage. Given your recent hardships, I concluded the best course of action for both of our tribes is to organize a trade.

"Oh thank the moons!" Glory said, collapsing onto her desk. She had been worried that it was bad news... that seemed to be the only kind of news they got nowadays. Her heart sunk a little when she turned and didn't find Deathbringer looking over her shoulder at the Queen's confidential letters; instead, he was standing in the corner like an actual, professional bodyguard... and it pissed her off! She turned back to paper and kept reading.

As for the conditions of this trade, as you know, I have recently begun an expansion project. The project is doing well, however, it is behind schedule due to a lack of workers. I ask that you send at least 60 able-bodied dragons, as well as MightyClaws (as his abilities will come in handy), for 200 days.

"Sloth on a stick..." she cursed. She needed Mightyclaws for the rebuilding of the Rainforest Kingdom! But at the same time, supplies were very much needed! Naturally, the fruit on the border of the rainforest kingdom wasn't as plentiful, and many residents were beginning to complain about a lack of food. She had organized a program solely to plant fruit-bearing plant life, but that wouldn't solve the issue until years later!

"Queen Ruby wants 60 able-bodied dragons as well as Mightyclaws in exchange for food and supplies," Glory said, turning to Deathbringer. "What should take priority? The needs of the people or the reconstruction of our Kingdom?"

"60 dragons plus Mightyclaws?" Deathbringer questioned. "Perhaps you could organize a compromise?"

The rainwing nodded. "But Mightyclaws really is indispensable! What could beat a dragon who can draw something to life?"

The moment she asked it, the solution popped into her brain: a super-dragon; a rightwing whose strength rivaled that of 60 dragons! But doing that would mean exposing the secret to Queen Ruby...

"The only other alternative is sending you..." Glory said. "But... that would mean exposing the secret... is it worth it?"

"Its not my place to say, your majesty," he said respectfully, and the rainwing growled. She needed the old Deathbringer back! This new one was... it was just so strange! So... not him! It was distracting...

"Fine then..." she said, finally making up her mind. She grabbed a scroll of her own, and wrote a reply stating that they should meet 2 weeks from then to discuss something, and that it was crucial that she kept their meeting as much of a secret as possible. It was the only way... Glory would be killing two scavengers with one stone. Getting supplies and removing distractions...

Moons above she hated this... how after being broken by his death, he had become more of a distraction than anything. She hated that the solution to her problems was giving up Deathbringer... But as far as she could see... this was the best option for her Kingdom. And wasn't that what being a queen is all about? Putting her subjects needs above her own?

Glory suddenly stood up, shaking her head as if it would help to clear the tornado in her brain. There was still so much to do... and she still hadn't even had time to think about what the Nightmares next move will be...

And then there was Twisted...

He was behaving himself, but that's what worried her. When she met him, she thought he could be anything but mundane. And yet, that was all they had gotten from him. Despite standard inappropriate comments about her and Deathbringer, he's been mostly quiet... and though she should probably be thankful for it, with someone as predictable as Foxy...

"I need a vacation..." she decided aloud, chuckling at the thought. Queens don't get vacations... she knew that, of course. But it was times like these that Glory almost wished she could pass on her problems to another queen every month or so.

She looked at Deathbringer expantantly, waiting for him to offer her a drink so she could say "Queens don't drink away their problems" only to accept one anyway... but he said nothing... Just stood there with that stupid respectful posture...

"Deathbringer, could you leave for a moment?" Glory asked, and her heart fluttered when he opened his mouth to refuse... but then he snapped it shut, nodded, and left! He actually left when she ordered him to!

She knew that at this point, she sounded like one of those brats who expect people to read their minds and just know what they really want, but she couldn't help it! Deathbringer just always had been able to read her mind... now what would she do?

She looked back at her desk... at all the complaints. When they had dropped them off today, it had taken 2 separate barrels. It usually only took hald of one. There was so much to do... her friends had written her countless letters that she hadn't even read yet. She was so busy...

How much sleep had she gotten in the past week? Was it 15? More? Less? It felt like less? If she stood for more than a few minutes she got dizzy... but sleeping was worse. Nightmares about Twisted killing those she loved, sometimes Deathbringer, sometimes her friends...

Before they disappeared, she had told Lefte about her dreams, and he had told her that prophetic dreams were sure signs of mystic energy... but unlike Deathbringer, she hadn't been exposed to it... in fact, she had been inside during the entire ordeal! Even if she hadn't, she'd been having those dreams since before the storm...

When else could she have ever been in contact with mystic energy?

She shook her head. That was a later problem, she needed to focus on the now problems...

Like the 412 complaints she still had to address...