Glorybringer: The Nightmare Within

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Glory was running through the rainforest as fast as her legs would take her. She didn't know exactly why she was running, but she was running from... something. Or someone. All she knew was that if she stopped for just a second it would catch her. She screamed for help as she ran, unable to fly for some reason. She would jump into the air and flap her wings, but they would suddenly become very heavy, and she would crash down to earth again. 

"Help!" she screamed desperately. "Jambu! Tsunami! Clay! Deathbringer! ANYONE?!"

But there was no one to answer her. She was alone, and only wasting her breath. She suddenly tripped over something and went tumbling down a hill. Hitting her hips and ribs on the dirt mounds. When she reached the bottom, she felt something large and cold against her. She recoiled and looked at the thing she rolled into.

It was Deathbringer's corpse. And a knife was in his throat. Glory cried out in terror. She had stopped. The creature chasing her revealed himself, though not fully. All she saw were his twisted smile and his awful, evil green eyes. Green was usually a signal for good, for life, but his entailed death and mutilation. They bore into her soul, into her mind, corrupting it, breaking it.

"Thanks for the delivery."

Glory woke up in a cold sweat, and her Nightwing bodyguard was beside her in an instant, glass of water already in hand. Glory writhed and screamed, a million tiny fingers clawing at her scales. 
"Calm down," Deathbringer urged. He put the glass of water to the side and grabbed Glory's talons to prevent her from hurting herself, but took a bit of damage in the process. "Glory! Glory! It's me..."-Glory finally began to calm down, and took deep breathes-"It's me... Take 3 deep breathes... Good, now 3 more... And 3 more... Good, good. You're ok."

Glory coughed, and Deathbringer gave her the water, which she gladly accepted, allowing the cool liquid to soothe her dry throat. 

"Thank you," Glory says, breathing heavily. Deathbringer nods and disappears in the bathroom for a moment, before coming out with a cold towel. Deathbringer dabbed Glory's forehead before she took it from him and laid it on top of her head. 

"Wanna talk about it?" Deathbringer asked.

"There's nothing to talk about," Glory snaps, still a bit shook. "How did you know how to do that?"

Deathbringer scoffed. "I've had my fair share of Nightmares, and I... taught it to myself."

Now that her heart had slowed down enough, Glory was starting to feel her fatigue again. "What time is it?"

"Almost Sunrise," Deathbringer responded, causing Glory to grunt and stuff herself into her hammock. "Remember, you're friends are coming today."

Glory launched up again and looked at him. She had totally forgotten about the plans she had made with her friends. Glory groaned and stood up, deciding that it was time to get ready for the day. "Take a bath and get dressed up, I don't want you smelling like a pig when my friends come along. And use soap this time!"

"Fine! Fine!" Deathbringer digressed and went to go take a bath. Glory also took a bath in a separate room, then spent a few minutes changing her scale colors to the best combination, though she didn't find it. I'll figure it out later, Glory thought and came out of the bathroom with turquoise base colors with hints of dark blue and indigo on her joints and a gold streak down her spine. 

When she came out, she caught Deathbringer looking in the mirror scraping his horns with a knife. "Are you sharpening your horns?" Glory questioned with a snicker.

"Ssshhhh!" he said harshly, before saying in almost a whisper. "It's a very meticulous process."

Glory chuckled. "My moons, Deathbringer. What am I going to do with you?"

"I have a few suggestions," Deathbringer said smugly, and Glory exclaimed in disgust and stormed out. "Oh come on. I'm sorry, I was joking! Glory!"

Little bits of red and green and a hint of pink appeared on Glory's scales. She stormed out of the palace with a little difficulty. Even after a few years, the palace was just so massive it was hard to navigate sometimes; though the size was necessary since it not only had to be a living space fit for a queen, many of the committees the queen actively supervised (such as the seers, the postal services, etc) also met in the west wing. However, Glory was still allowed to be mad at it. It was only early sunrise, and streaks of purple and gold lit up the night sky. Glory found herself lingering at the doorway, looking at the beautiful picture. That's it, she thought. Glory shifted her turquoise to a dark-ish velvet blue, then added little white spots so it looks somewhat like the night sky, from there, she cast a gold hue then added light rays of purple, orange, and pink. Glory looked again at the sunrise, just taking in how beautiful it looked.

"Almost as beautiful as you," Deathbringer said, coming up next to her with a smirk. Glory rolled her eyes and punched him in the gut, before flying off to the crystal pond. The Crystal Pond is a small place in the forest with water that was so clear you could see the beautiful rocks at the bottom and the fish swimming around. There is a rumor that it was animus-touched, and had the magic ability to heal any injury. But it had never been proven. So for now, it was just a beautiful spot for dragons to meet in. 

Glory saw 3 shapes in the distance. Wow, they're early, Glory thought. Then, something strange happened. It's difficult to describe the feeling that washed over Glory in that instant. It was as if every dragon in Pyrrhia suddenly looked at Glory at once... a million eyes all over her; her scales washed green and her heart skipped a beat, but it was over as suddenly as it began. 

"Glory?" Deathbringer said urgently. He rushed to her side with comedic speed. "Are you ok?"

"I'm alright," Glory lied. She wasn't alright, she didn't even know what happened. "Just had a bit of Deja-"

"Glory!" Sunny screamed as she nearly tackled Glory in a tight hug. "By all the moons I missed you!"

Glory laughed and hugged her friend back as Fatespeaker helped Starflight land. "My goodness, Sunny! Look how big you are!" Glory exclaimed. Sunny was no longer had the little sister look that she'd always had, she was almost as big as Glory.

"I have so much to tell you!" Sunny practically yelled. However long it had been, Sunny still hadn't lost her hyperactive energy.

"Yeah, don't mind the blind guy over here," Starflight said with a smile, and Glory ran over and hugged him and Fatespeaker.  

"It's good to see you, too, Starflight," Glory said. "And Fatespeaker, good to see you're taking good care of my brother for me."

"I try," Fatespeaker joked. 

"Wait, wait," Glory said pulling away. "Where's the rest of us?"

"Clay and Peril are back at JMA, they are taking care of-" Starflight's eyes flashed behind Glory for a moment. "the students."

Glory turned around and saw Sunny sitting innocently, and raised an eye ridge. "Anyway!" Fatesepaker said. "As Sunny said, we have a lot to tell you, but first, you need to tell us!"

"Yes!" Sunny agreed. "Don't leave anything out!"