Deathbringer stood on Glory's left side while Quickstrike guarded her right. Infinity was a bit more further away, she was hiding in the trees to look out for any danger from above.

He knew Glory thought it was ridiculous to put so much care on her, but NightWings were unpredictable.

Including Deathbringer, of course.

The dragons of night were scattered around the queen, expressions of anger and curiosity all over their faces.

Deathbringer made sure to give each one a warning look, if they dared to hurt the queen, they would pay with their life.

Glory's tail was coiling and uncoiling, a sure sign of nervousness.

He subtly placed the end of his tail on hers to make it clear that he was there, and she could always rely on him to help her out.

The scales on her neck flashed a light pink for a second before disappearing back into their royal purple.

Deathbringer was about to smirk and make a comment about how Glory loved him but never admitted it, but that's when she began her speech.

"Okay listen here, before each of you gets all grumpy and mad with me," Glory said, "I'm going to be as forward as I can. Now, you have eyes right? And you can all see perfectly fine, correct? Then I'm going to assume you can all see Quickstrike here."

There was an awkward silence for two seconds and then...

"SHE'S A ZOMBIE!"

"DARKSTALKER BROUGHT HER BACK TO LIFE!"

"WAIT! SHE DIED?!"

Panic spread faster than a wildfire, and soon enough the younger NightWings were running around like stupid chickens.

"No! Oh my moons, she's not a zombie. Who even is Darkstalker, you know what, forget it. Is anyone even listening to me? Of course you are, you guys love me," Glory said sarcastically more to herself than to her subjects.

Deathbringer glared at the crowd and was going to roar loud to catch their attention, but his sister beat him to it.

"For the deep seas, SHUT UP!"

Infinity had stepped out and stood in front of Glory. She was shaking from her horns to her claws, and there was a deep fury in her purple eyes.

"My mother, IS. NOT. SOME KIND OF MONSTER! You are all crazy! Crazier than a headless fish flopping around!"

They all stopped and stared at her with wide eyes.

Deathbringer could hear the whispers and rumors already passing from one dragon to another.

"Mother? Did she say mother?"

"Quickstrike... is that why she left?!"

"Disgusting!"

"Like mother, like son."

"Seriously, how hard is it to just be with one of your own tribe, ugh."

"She leaves, and all she returns for is to show how off how she got live in the mainland."

"Traitor. Her and Deathbringer, that's all they are. Traitors."

Deathbringer would be lying if he said that the comments didn't hurt him.

But it wasn't the first time he was insulted for falling in love with a RainWing, or for leaving his own tribe in second place to her.

He was used to it, so it was easier to not let the comments get to his head.

Infinity on the other talon...

If she had been raised by Quickstrike in at least the basics of assassin training, which she probably had by the way she showed herself in the rainforest the previous day, then she was taught to pay attention to everything around her.

Deathbringer watched as his sister's eyes grew watery and her muscles clenched in anger.

It was almost like she was standing on the very end of the world, with one touch she would fall into nothing.

Glory was the one who stood up for them.

"Clearly, most of you know perfectly well how to greet guests. All I wanted to do was to help you guys understand that Quickstrike and Infinity weren't here to hurt you, but I was wrong."

The RainWing Queen let the statement hang in there for a second.

Every dragon a hundred tail-lengths from Glory could feel a dark cloud over them. Her anger wasn't like Infinity's, who let it out in shouts and growls.

No, Glory's way of showing her anger was even more dangerous. She could leave you feeling guilty for the rest of your life if she wanted to.

Her words, although cool and collected, were supported by a strong sarcasm that let the others know just how strong her emotions were.

Glory had the anger of an ancient queen.

"I was wrong," she repeated, "maybe... I should have warned them how you all were going to hurt them."

The NightWings stared back at her with guilty looks.

Deathbringer was surprised, it usually took more than a couple days of persistent explanation to make a single dragon understand their mistakes.

Glory had let a crowd of stubborn and cross NightWings understand their faults in just a few sentences.

He admired Glory, in fact, he knew he loved her.

The way she just... was.

Deathbringer loved Glory.

It was something he knew, just the way he knew that he could fly and talk.

Surprised, he realized that his mother was now speaking to their tribe.

"I know you won't take me in, and I don't plan to force myself and my daughter to join the likes of you. But there is one thing that I want every single one of you bird-brains to know. If you dare to speak, assume, or even think a single bad thought of my daughter or my son... I will kill you."

Quickstrike's voice hadn't lost that cold and unfazed tone of the assassin she used to be.

The NightWings, now full of regret and fear, retreated back to their temporary homes in a hurry. Not one of them was left behind after a full minute.

Infinity looked like she had taken the worst hit. She was breathing heavily, and she was barely hanging onto sanity.

Deathbringer slowly approached her and tried to comfort her by placing a wing over her back.

He barely knew her, but either way she was his half-sister.

Without him expecting her to, Infinity collapsed into his chest and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Quickstrike looked over at them, but it looked like she too needed someone.

Glory tentatively approached Deathbringer's mother, but she wasn't like Deathbringer. The queen didn't like touching other dragons, and it seemed as if her bodyguard was the only one she let off the hook.

Her eyes sparked with an idea, and she passed Silver from her neck to Quuckstrike's in an effort to help out.

"H-how dare they!"

Deathbringer looked down at his sister who was practically drowning in her own river of tears.

"Shhh, shhh it's okay."

He tried to soothe her but she just kept on crying.

"H-h-h-How dare th-they?! Dad w-was so kind a-a-and smart, he l-loved us," Infinity bawled and lightly punched Deathbringer's chest in frustration.

He wrapped both of his wings around her and lightly rocked her back and forth.

"Yeah, I bet he was. Mother wouldn't settle for less."

"He... he wrote p-poems and, and told m-me stories before I... before I went to bed and I miss him. I r-really miss him."

He wasn't surprised to see this new side of Infinity. In the years he had spent in the mainland, there was one thing he knew for sure.

Every dragon wore a mask, whether they liked it or not. It was just something automatic, something that couldn't be helped.

Something else that the queen's bodyguard knew for a fact, was that it took more than the strength of a mountain to rip that mask off.

Deathbringer held Infinity close and let her cry on his chest. He didn't have much experience being an older brother, but he did what he could.

Deathbringer was somewhat pleased to find out that her sobs were lighter and less frequent as the seconds ticked by.

"It's okay," he whispered, "it's going to be okay."

——————————————————————

Intense chapter huh?

Thank you as always for your support and your kind comments, I really appreciate every single one of you with all my heart!

Another thing, I have published a new book that is co-written with TheRealDrakeRedwing

It's called Wings of Fire: Flights of Matrimony

It's basically a book filled with proposals and weddings of your favorite Wings of Fire ships

So far there is only Sunkat, but eventually we will have lots of different ships

So if you could go and check it out, that would be amazing!!

Okie Dokie

So, Spurs, Go!

-Sofi