King of The Dragons (Wings of Fire X Monster Hunter)

Part 3: Chapter 28 & 29

(3rd Pov Glory)

Glory leaped back with a hiss and opened her mouth.
"Don't you dare," snarled the queen. "Haven't you done enough already?"
Glory paused, studying the SkyWing's face.

It was perfect - as perfect as it had ever been, a shimmering orange like the orchids growing from the moss behind her, with small rubies above her eyes glittering in the bright sunlight.

And then Scarlet's whole body . . . flickered somehow, and under the perfect scales Glory saw something dark and melted, a horrible smeared mess where a face used to be. Behind Scarlet she caught a glimpse of a dim room with glass jars hanging from the ceiling, some of them glowing strangely.

"Oh. You're not really here," Glory said as the rainforest reappeared and Scarlet's scales smoothed back to perfect. The queen was perched on the edge of Glory's sleeping platform, but now that Glory looked closely, she could see that the SkyWing's claws didn't sink into the leaves below her.

Glory sat down an curled her tail around her talons. Kinkajou and Mangrove were fast asleep on either side of her, the sloth was snoring on her shoulder, and the sun had climbed higher into the sky.
"Am I even awake?" Glory asked.

"No," said Scarlet. "I've been trying to catch you asleep for days." She held up a small star-shaped sapphire that glowed an eerie blue light through her claws. "Once I realized what this was."

"A dreamvisitor," Glory said, recognizing the shape from her scrolls. "I read about those. An animus dragon made three of them hundreds of years ago, right? I though the last one in existence was lost with the SandWing treasure, when the scavenger killed Queen Oasis and stole it all."

"Apparently not," Scarlet said, opening her claws to glance down at it.
"So you're really alive," Glory said.
"You don't sound as disappointed as I though you would be," Scarlet said.
Glory flicked her tail. "It's not that I want you dead. I just don't want you trying to kill us."

"I never tried to kill you," Scarlet pointed out. "I quite liked you. We could have had a thrilling time together." She stood up and paced toward Glory until their snouts were almost nose-to-nose. "Which reminds me. I wanted to try something."

Abruptly she lashed out with her free talon, slashing at Glory's face. He claws sliced right through Glory's scales like raindrops splashing icy water over her. it was cold, but it didn't hurt. Scarlet's claws weren't really there. Glory fixed that thought in her head as Scarlet lunged again. She closed her eyes and sat perfectly still. There was nothing the SkyWing queen could do to her right now. She was not more dangerous than any dream.

After a few moment, Glory opened her eyes again, and Scarlet stepped back, hissing. Smoke rose up from her snout, winding around her horns, and the dark misshapen snout underneath flickered through again for a moment, along with the room beyond.

"Where are you?" Glory asked.
"If I tell you, will you find me and free me?" Scarlet asked.
"Not likely," Glory said. "Wait, let me think. Absolutely, definitely not."
"But you owe me," Scarlet said, stamping one foot.
Glory tilted her head sideways. "How, exactly, do you figure that?"

"For what you did to me," Scarlet seethed. "I was beautiful before. I had ever thing."
"Including a pretty rainbow dragon on a tree," Glory said. "I remember."
"If you don't free me," Scarlet said, "I will find a way out of here myself, and then I will find you, I will kill you."
"You know, something tells me that's on your agenda either way," Glory hissed.

Scarlet hissed deep in her throat and then shot a blast of flame at Glory's face. 'Calm and blue,' Glory thought. 'Stay calm and blue.'
"Is someone keeping you prisoner?" Glory asked. A thought occurred to her. "Is it the NightWings?"
"If you're not going to help me," Scarlet growled, "I'll find someone else who will."