Glory and Deathbringer walked together in a comfortable silence.

They had decided to take a nice stroll around the RainWing village just to clear their heads, and it turned out to be better than they had thought.

Glory was glad that most of the stress Deathbringer had carried around for the last two days was finally drifting away.

"So, what do you plan to do with the rest of the NightWings once everything settles down?"

The queen glanced up at her bodyguard and moved her wings in a shrug.

"I'm not sure, do you think they'll like to be shoved back to their island? At this point, some of them deserve it after treating your family like that," she said.

Deathbringer rolled his eyes in amusement, "Haha, very funny."

Glory gave him a small smile in return.

She really loved the way that everything seemed to be much easier when her bodyguard was around.

Talking to him was easier than blinking, and awkward moments were quite rare.

"Hey, I'm hungry, do you think we could stop by the food platform for some fruit?" Deathbringer suddenly asked.

His stomach rumbled in agreement, and Glory couldn't help but chuckle.

"Of course... not," she replied, mentally grinning at his shocked and unbelieving face.

"I'm joking, of course we can. I'm hungry too, Jambu only brought the strawberries for him and Infinity," Glory said with a shake of her head.

There weren't many dragons out, so the bridges that connected the platforms and huts together were clear enough to have both of them walk side by side.

"I've been thinking about some stuff lately, and I need to ask you something," Deathbringer said.

Glory kept walking and only raised an eye-ridge in response, silently telling him to continue.

"You've been busy helping me and my family for these past few days, but what about your duties as queen?"

The RainWing sighed, "At this point, it's mostly just the NightWings that are the main issue."

Her bodyguard nodded in understanding, and she thanked the moons he didn't press the matter further.

Truth was, Glory had been avoiding her queen duties for some time now, and she knew that eventually she would have to get back to them.

"Whoah, what in the-"

Glory's eyes snapped up as soon as she heard the alarm in Deathbringer's voice.

Up ahead, on the food platform, there were three NightWings cornering a pair of defenseless RainWing dragonets.

"Hey! Leave them alone," Glory shouted as she stepped on the platform.

Deathbringer immediately placed himself in front of her, being the bodyguard he assigned himself to be.

She rolled her eyes at him but quickly shifted her attention back to the NightWings, who were now facing them.

"Well, well, well," the smallest and skinniest one said with a crude smile.

The biggest one, who by chance also seemed to be the bulkiest, slapped the smaller one in the back of the head.

"No, you don't talk," he scolded.

"Sorry," the smaller one whispered. His dark eyes looked down and he took a step back.

"Well, well, well," the leader repeated, as if that little exchange had not happened.

Glory scrunched her snout in confusion, but decided to just see what would happen.

"What a... surprise to meet you here, Queen Glory," he said with a bow that was purposely too deep.

"Cut it out, I'm not here to watch a petty show," the queen growled.

"Are you sure?" The NightWing asked.

Glory pretended to actually go over the question.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I think I might just sit down and grab some berries," she answered sarcastically.

The NightWing smirked, "Perfect, now let me introduce myself. I'm Lifestealer, and no offense, but I'm not too happy to see you here."

Deathbringer scoffed, "Of course you don't. You never liked to be with anyone who had more power over you."

It was obvious that Deathbringer and Lifestealer somehow knew each other from the way they spoke.

Lifestealer laughed, "That RainWing has no power over us."

Glory watched as Deathbringer stalked towards the NightWing trio in way that was much like a hunting jaguar.

"Oh, I'll teach you just how much power she can have over you," he growled.

The NightWings nervously took a few steps back, their eyes not able to hide the fear that ran through their blood.

"Don't," the queen ordered.

Deathbringer slightly turned his head to her, not willing to let Lifestealer and his companions completely out of his sight.

Once Glory made sure that she had their attention, she said, "I do not ever, ever, want to see you harassing dragonets again. If I do, I'll just send Deathbringer over to your place so you can have a nice little chat."

Lifestealer opened his mouth, more than likely wanting to argue, but he shut it when his eyes locked with those of the queen's bodyguard.

"Paincauser, Vicious, let's go," Lifestealer mumbled to his friends before leaping off into the air and flying away.

As soon as they were gone, the two little RainWing dragonets ran up to Glory and Deathbringer.

The smaller one, who was an orange and blue color, hugged Glory's leg as he began to cry.

"Danku, danku, danku!"

Glory's body froze at the touch of his scales, but she nevertheless awkwardly patted his back.

"You're welcome... umm... little dragonet," she offered.

"My name's Guava," he sniffled.

The RainWing Queen immediately like him.

How could she not? With a name as beautiful and amazing as that.

"Okay then, Guava, let's take you and your buddy back to the Wingery," Glory said and gently picked him up just to place him on her back.

"Mother material right there, I simply couldn't ask for a better girlfriend," Deathbringer mused as he too placed his dragonet on his back.

Glory felt her scales wanting to go pink, but she was not going to give in to him that easily.

"You just never know when to shut your mouth, do you?" She commented with an eye roll.

He never got to answer, his sister beat him to it.

"You're gone for one hour, and you already managed to have dragonets! What's next? Will I show up tomorrow and find you with great-grand-dragonets too?"

There was a teasing gleam in the hybrid's eyes as she hid in the shadows of the tall rainforest trees.

To hide her laughter, Glory snorted and let the happy feeling at the thought of her own dragonets with Deathbringer be buried for now.

"Infinity, has anyone ever told you just how hilarious you are?"

Deathbringer's sister grinned at the queen, "Nope, you are the first dragon to say that. So thank you very much."

Glory turned her neck and made eye contact with Guava. He burst out laughing, and the queen let her walls down for that small moment and joined him.

—————————————————————

So....... I've been out of town for a few days, but I'm finally back!

It was so much fun, but sadly there wasn't wifi anywhere, so I'm sorry again if it seemed like I was inactive.

But thank you so much for your support and thoughtful comments! I love you all to the three moons and back.

Okie Dokie

Oh I must be seeing blind

-Sofi