Chapter Text
When they rescued Glory, Starflight, and Clay from the clutches of the Nightwings, the Dragonets of Destiny thought everything would go amazingly. Even as the volcano erupted, they managed to escape. Right? … Right?
When the Nightwings escaped with them, minus Morrowseer, as they knew he had fallen to the lava. But the Dragonets noticed that they were down one DoD. Clay’s worry flared, seeing the burnt body of an unknown Nightwing. It was too small to be Marrowseer, so he made his way over to look. The body's structure was complicated to discern because it was so badly deformed. But he instantly felt sick to his stomach after he noticed something that only Starflight had.
“No… Starflight.” Clay sobbed, his wings going limp. He was heartbroken, having lost his brother. The Mudwing dragonet looked over to Glory with a sad look, and the Rainwing instantly knew.
Glory’s frills expanded, some of her scales shifting to a mix of navy blue and purple to show her sorrow and guilt. She looked over at the remaining Nightwings. One Nightwing in the mix was one she hated. SigilHope. Even when Glory was kept captive, the two never got along. SigilHope was brutal towards Rainwings and her own kind. She wanted to use her venom on the Nightwing so badly. The first time they met, she had the metal clamp around her mouth, so all she could do was change her scales. Maroon and black covered the previous colours as she stared at SigilHope. She had to control her emotions and took a deep breath.
"Nightwings, I stand before you not as a Rainwing queen, but as a friend, a fellow dragon who understands the pain of being judged by the color of your scales. You are not just assassins, not just pawns in a war. You are capable of so much more, and it's time the world saw that. We will rebuild our home, not with fear and secrecy, but with openness and pride. You will not hide our shadows but use them as strength, a reminder of the resilience within each of you. This is a new chapter for the Nightwings, and I stand with you, ready to write it together." Glory rambles, opening her wings. “I will call myself not only the Rainwing Queen but that of the Queen of Nightwings!”
SigilHope erupts in protest. “I will not have some lazy fruit-eater as our Queen!” That’s when the Nightwing attacked, pinning the Rainwing dragonet down. Glory hissed, her frills flaring again as she spat venom at the Nightwing. SigilHope reared back when it landed on her shoulder, but she forced herself to ignore the pain. Lifting a talon to bring it down, slashing Glory's neck. Her back claws sliced down her stomach, ending the fight swiftly. The sloth attached to Glory let out a sad noise, but Sigilhope paid it no mind as she turned to her fellow Nightwings. SigilHope was out of breath, her shoulder ached. She'll have to get it healed later.
“Nightwings! Those who shall accept me as their Queen, follow me. I know of a kingdom location.” With that, she and her son, DeepThought, took off. Many of the Nightwings followed.
Clay was astonished that Glory was easily killed as he sat over her dead body. It had been hours since all the Nightwings had left. His head was just white noise. He heard three other dragons walk into the opening, one letting out a soft gasp. He looked over and saw Kinkajou, Tsunami, and Sunny. Tsunami was staring at Glory’s pale body while Kinkajou ran over to look at Silver. Silver was okay, just scared and heartbroken. Sunny didn’t know what to say, as she just stared.
Tsunami stormed over, clawing at Clay’s shoulder, albeit gently, as she didn’t want to harm the lovable dragon. “What happened!” She pointed to Glory.
Clay’s ears went down. “We got out, and Glory made herself the Queen of Nightwings, but one of the Nightwings, SigilHope, I think, became outraged and attacked. It was too quick for any of us to react.”
Sunny perked up and moved closer. “Where’s… Where’s Starflight?” She questioned, watching Clay nod towards the deformed and burnt body.
“He also didn’t make it. The lava got him.” Sunny collapsed into a sobbing mess, and Kinkajou walked over to console her. Silver was hanging onto Kinkajou’s neck, exhausted from the whole ordeal.
Tsunami looked over at what was left of Starflight’s body with a frown. She couldn’t blame anyone for his death- maybe Morrowseer, but he’s dead as well, as she’s heard. As for Glory’s death, she’ll blame SigilHope. But now that they’re two dragonets down, how would they fulfill their destiny? The Seawing dragonet groans, backing away to stomp around, clawing at the dirt.
“I can’t do this. Not when Glory and Starflight are dead!” Tsunami cries, running off. Where? No one, not even Tsunami herself, knows.
“Tsunami!” Sunny yelped out, stumbling up, but it was too late. Tsunami was gone. Clay looked back down at Glory’s body, his body unable to move. The image of the large Nightwing, pinned and tearing her claws into his sister, was seared into his mind. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall. Usually, if he cried, Tsunami and Glory would’ve comforted him, but he no longer had either of them. If two of the dragonets of destiny were dead, what would they do to stop this war? Even if their prophecy was fake, they still wanted to stop it. But what now? Clay dug his claws into the dirt and bit the inside of his cheek. He knew the Mudwings were no longer safe, even though his tribe had been allied with the Skywings before Scarlet’s death. He heard from passing dragons that Scarlet’s daughter had taken over, and she claimed the Mudwings as enemies after Moorhen didn't do what she wanted. He rose to his talons and looked over at his remaining sister and friend.
“I’m going to go back to my siblings during this war. They’re not safe and… I feel this is pointless now.” He knew those words would hurt Sunny; saying them hurt him. Sunny frowns.
“We can still try!” She tried to claim, watching Clay shake his head.
“What can we do? It’s just the two of us now!” Anger took over, lashing out at Sunny in response to the grief. “Tsunami ran off to who knows where. Glory and Starflight are dead! It’s supposed to be FIVE dragonets! Not two!” Clay turned his back to Sunny, clenching his jaw. “I’m leaving.” He stormed off to find his siblings.
Sunny and Kinkajou both let out startled noises, shocked by Clay. CLAY!! Snapped at Sunny. Kinkajou looked up at Sunny with a frown, holding Silver close to her neck so she could hold on. Sunny fell back, sitting down in disbelief that she was the last dragonet of her group.
“B-but…” Her voice trembled. “What about the prophecy?” She didn’t know who she was talking to, hoping it was all a bad dream and she would wake up at any moment. The moment went by, and she was still awake, causing Sunny to break down in sobs and whimpers. Kinkajou wrapped a wing around Sunny to comfort her, glancing at the Nightwings still around.
Most importantly, Deathbringer. He wore a heartbroken look as he stared at Glory’s body before meeting Kinkajou’s eyes. He walked over to her, bowing. “Since I failed to protect Glory… I will protect you with my life.” Kinkajou blinked in surprise but agreed, nodding at him.
“O-okay.” She looked up at Sunny. “You have me still.” Fatespeaker walked over. “And us too!” She motioned to Deathbringer and herself. Sunny weakly smiled through her tears, then let it drop. “T–” She hiccuped. “Thank you.”