//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Wings of Fire: The Parallel Dream 
// by Mudkipman98 
//------------------------------//

	Deathbringer strode confidently down the halls of the castle.  The instructions were as simple as left turn, right turn, third door on the right, and finally, a large set of double-doors that led into a large, circular room with a round table in the middle.  The princess was waiting on a throne at the opposite side of the table.  She was looking at Deathbringer seriously, and her gaze was a little bit unsettling.
"Deathbringer," said Princess Twilight.  "Are you ready?"
"Yes, your majesty," said Deathbringer.  He approached the table and sat on the opposite side.  "May I ask for more detail regarding the disappearance of the Dragonlord?"
"Yes," said Princess Twilight.  Her horn started glowing, and suddenly, the table in front of them lit up like a fire.  Deathbringer stepped back as the light slowly began to form mountains, hills, rivers, streams, and towns all over the table.  "This is a map of Equestria," she said.  "Here are the Badlands."  Her horn glowed again, and the map grew and grew until it filled up the room.  It moved around until it centered on an arid wasteland close to Deathbringer.
"So this is where my mission is?" asked Deathbringer.
"Close," said Princess Twilight.  Again her horn flashed, and a small pink orb of light began glowing over a mountain on the edge of the Badlands and what Deathbringer guessed was Equestria.  "I'll be teleporting you here.  From there, you need to move to the southern border here."  A line of light suddenly appeared from the dot and drew its way around the edge of the Badlands and down to the southern border, where a new light appeared next to a deep valley labeled "Forbidden."
"One theory," said Princess Twilight, "is that she was attacked near this point.  The Princess' sources didn't find any signs of a struggle, so it's still possible that she has simply gone missing and no one is at fault.  But as you've probably guessed, with Garble's sudden rise to political power, it's unlikely he had zero involvement."
Deathbringer was listening to all of this, but while he was taking in the information, he was also analyzing the Princess.  The tone she used and the way she spoke was unnatural.  It felt as if she had never had to give orders like this before.
"Your mission is to investigate that area and find any sign of Dragonlord Ember.  But no matter what, you can't be seen, and you can't kill anyone."
That last one suddenly put a huge handicap on Deathbringer.  "No one?" he asked.
"Not a single dragon," she said.  "If they find a dead dragon, those in the Badlands will rage and attack without question.  Like I said earlier, most dragons hate ponies, and Garble will jump at the chance to start a war if he can.  You have to avoid contact with any other dragon, and if you are discovered, Equestria will deny any involvement and you will be executed by the dragons."
Deathbringer had heard a lecture similar to this almost every morning until he was four.  His mother drilled those political machinations into his head, so he always thought about them before every order and every kill.  He was always prepared to face those consequences.  Lately, however, he wasn't so sure.
"I understand," said Deathbringer.
"Good.  I'll teleport myself to your drop point in three days.  I'll wait for five minutes, and if you aren't there, I'll be forced to... to leave you behind," she finished with a pained sigh.
"I'm ready," said Deathbringer.  
"Then we'll begin," said the princess.  Her horn flashed and the map disappeared.  The table suddenly lowered itself into the floor, and the chairs were moved back by some invisible force as well.  "Stand back," she said.
Deathbringer obeyed and backed up to the wall.  Princess Twilight moved to the opposite one, and her horn lit up once more.  Suddenly,  a giant pink circle filled with runes, geometric shapes, and light filled the center of the room much like the map had.  Wind began to whip up in the room, and Deathbringer felt his spines waving and his wings threatening to open with the wind.
"This is a teleportation circle!" shouted the princess.  "For a long range teleport, I need to use this spell.  When you're ready to leave, step inside!  You'll be transported to the Badlands, and your mission will begin."
"Right!" shouted Deathbringer.  He glanced around him and took in his surroundings briefly.  She'll be fine.  She'll be waiting right here for me when I get back.  I know it.  Deathbringer stepped toward the circle.  As soon as he entered, he felt the same sinking feeling he got when he used the tunnels Stonemover had made. 
As he stood in the center, he heard Princess Twilight shout, "Remember!  Three days!  If you aren't back, I'll have to leave you there!"  
"I understand!" shouted Deathbringer.  Just like that, he felt a colossal force tug on his body, and he was gone.
Deathbringer woke up to the feeling of snow beneath his Talons.  The world around him was cloaked in a thick fog, and a blizzard seemed to be swirling around him.  Wind assailed his wings, trying to force them open and topple him over, but he held fast and maintained his position.
The wind bit at his ears, his wing tips, his tail, and his talons.  He quickly started a technique he had learned called Deep Fire-breathing.  It involved a dragon breathing fire into their mouths and holding it, letting the warmth spread throughout their body.  As long as they didn't let it get too hot, they were safe from their fire.  It was a technique Deathbringer had to learn quickly once he was assigned missions on the borders of the Ice Kingdom, but even this blizzard was stronger than any he had experienced in Pyrrhia.
"Deathbringer?  Is that you?" shouted a small voice over the storm.  Deathbringer whipped his head around and saw a round, purple head with green spines sticking out of the snow.
"Spike?!" he asked.  "What in the three moons are you doing here?"  He could see Spike shivering, clutching his shoulders and rubbing them in an attempt to stay warm.  Deathbringer quickly rushed over to him and slowly opened his wings to wrap them around the baby dragon.  "How did you get here?" asked Deathbringer as Spike shivered into him.
"I-I j-jumped into th-the ring after y-you," stuttered Spike.  
"What?!" shouted Deathbringer.  "Are you insane?!  You know where we are, don't you?"
"Y-yeah," said Spike.  "On the b-border of the B-badlands in the mountains.  I was l-l-listening to you and T-twilight."
Deathbringer pulled him closer and strengthened the flames of his inner breathing.  It started to burn, but he maintained it to try and keep Spike warm.  Slowly, the dragon's shivering began to slow.  "We need to get down from this mountain now," said Deathbringer.  Without waiting for a response, he took a few steps around to find the slope of the hill.  As soon as he found it, he held Spike close and started walking.
It would be easy for most dragons to lose track of time in a blizzard, but Deathbringer had gotten used to counting the minutes and hours.  It took a couple of hours to descend the mountain and escape the fierce blizzard, but when they did, the terrain immediately turned rocky as they came to a cliff.  
Deathbringer let Spike go, and the baby dragon said, "Thanks, Deathbringer."
"Don't thank me yet, you little twerp," said Deathbringer harshly.  The shocked look on Spike's face made Deathbringer cringe, but he continued.  "You are in monstrous amounts of danger here with me, do you understand?  You could have just jeopardized the whole mission to find the Dragonlord."
"Oh no," said Spike, twiddling his talons.  "So what do we do?"
"YOU are going to stay right here," said Deathbringer, "and I'M going to go complete my mission."  He wanted to say, "I can't afford to put you in danger," but instead, he said, "You'd just slow me down, so don't even think about trying to follow me.  You stay right here until I get back."
"For three days?" asked Spike.  "But I'll starve!"
"Then go hunting," said Deathbringer.  "I'm sure you can find some meat, even in this wasteland."
"I don't eat meat," said Spike.  "I eat gems."
"What?"
"Oh.  That's right.  I had to tell Starflight and Fatespeaker the same thing."  Spike proceeded to explain his diet.
"So you've never eaten a cow or a goat?" asked Deathbringer.
"No!" shouted Spike.  "They're our friends!"
Deathbringer just shook his head in confusion and looked away.  "You're kidding, right?"  Spike just folded his arms and glared.  "Whatever.  You'll be fine.  Just dig up some emeralds or something.  I'm sure you'll be okay."
"But what if the other dragons find me?  What will they do?"
"Oh, them?" asked Deathbringer.  "They'll probably kill you on the spot."
"What?!"
"Better get good at hiding," said Deathbringer.  He turned around to see a crushing look of sadness and despair on Spike's face.  His heart melted immediately.  "Crap," he muttered.  "Okay, fine.  You're coming with me."  He saw Spike's face light up, so he immediately added, "But you stay completely quiet and you do exactly as I say when I say it.  No arguing, and no deliberating.  Do you understand?  From now on, every choice we make could be life or death."
"Okay," said Spike determinedly.  "Whatever you say, boss."
"Don't call me boss.  Ever," said Deathbringer quickly.
"Oh, um... okay, Deathbringer."
"That's better," said the nightwing.  "Now follow me.  We need to get to the border in a day so we'll have the time we'll need to search.  Here.  Get on."  Deathbringer knelt down and extended a wing for Spike to climb onto. 
"On your back?" asked Spike.
"Yes, on my back," echoed Deathbringer.  "Hurry up."  Spike did a short hop and ran over, quickly climbing up Deathbringer's wing and up onto his shoulder.  "Now, have you ever flown before?"
"With Twilight a couple of times," said Spike.  
"Good.  But this will be faster."  Deathbringer suddenly winged to the sky, taking off at lightning speed and flying high up into the clouds.  He felt Spike's small talons gripping his neck, the only sign the baby dragon hadn't fallen off.  When they got up high enough, Deathbringer leveled out and started gliding.
As an assassin, he hadn't had much of a chance to fly openly aside from the Sand Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom, where the land and water stretched on for miles and miles in every direction.  With the clouds as thick as they were, they would provide enough cover from watchful eyes below for Deathbringer to glide as lazily as he liked.  "Three moons, I miss this," he said as his wing caught the tip of a cloud and sliced it in two.
"Yeah, me too," said Spike.  "I don't fly with Twilight very much any more.  Really, I've only been able to fly recently with Ember.  Granted, she has to carry me, but we still have fun."
"Ember?  That's the name of the Dragonlord, right?" asked Deathbringer.  
"Yeah," said Spike.  "You know, I'm actually the one who helped her become Dragonlord."
"Ha ha, very funny," said Deathbringer sarcastically.
"No, really!" protested Spike.  "We won the scepter together, and she became the new Dragonlord."
"When was this?" asked Deathbringer.
"About a year ago," said Spike.  "But to think someone would already try to hurt her like this..."
"A year is nothing," said Deathbringer.  "Try assassination attempts on day four."
"Day four?"
"That's right.  Queen Glory had only just become queen when she had to rescue Starflight from the island of the nightwings.  I helped, and when we got back to the rainforest and the nightwings had lost their home, Queen Glory offered them sanctuary if they swore their allegiance to her.  Most of them agreed out of desperation, but there were enough who decided they wouldn't serve a rainwing.  They tried to kill her, Spike.  As much as I wanted to rip out their throats, Glory held me back and the dragons who had tried to kill her were imprisoned instead."
"Yeesh," said Spike.  "Sounds rough."
"It still is," said Deathbringer.  "Every time we're apart, I get worried.  Even now, in this unfamiliar world, she could be in danger at the castle, and I'm out here chasing down your Dragonlord instead of protecting her."
"But she's like your princess, right?" asked Spike.  "Can't she protect herself?"
"That's not the point," said Deathbringer, trying not to get upset at Spike's ignorance.  The more he spoke with the dragon, the greater the differences seemed to be between their cultures.  "Let me tell you a story, Spike.  And remember it well."
"Okay," said Spike.
"I grew up on a volcanic island.  I hardly saw members of other tribes except for prisoners when I was ordered to execute them.  All I had seen of Pyrrhia was a single map hanging on a wall in the palace.  When I went out for my first real mission at the age of four, my mother had an accident while we were flying, and she was knocked out of the sky.  She was out cold when I landed with her, and for all I know, she could have been in a coma.  I tried to hide her on the beach so I could complete our mission."
"But shouldn't your mom come before your mission?" asked Spike.
"I had that thought, but then I considered the gravity of the choice to save her instead of destabilize the three-way alliance we were sent to stop.  She would have told me the mission came first.  That was what was always most important to her.  So, I did as I thought she would say, and I carried out our mission.  Unfortunately, I didn't hide her well enough.  She was discovered, and Blister ordered her killed.  If I had broken my cover to save her, the nightwing plot to break up the alliance would have been discovered, and we would have both been killed anyway.  I couldn't afford to save my mother because the mission was too important.  So from that day forward, I promised that if I ever found another dragon I cared about that much, that I loved, then I would do whatever it took, even jeopardize my mission, to save them."
"Glory, right?" asked Spike.
"That's Queen Glory to you," said Deathbringer lightly.  "She's got this belief that she can do anything alone.  She doesn't realize how much danger she's really in.  She thinks she's invincible thanks to her venom, but I've seen plenty of rainwings die relying solely on that weapon."
Spike didn't respond, so Deathbringer echoed his silence, letting his declaration drift in the wind around them.  It took far less time to reach their objective with a straight flight rather than a walk.  So little time, in fact, that the sun still hung high in the sky.  Deathbringer landed in a small clearing in the mountains, scattering rocks and pebbles all over the place as he slid on the unexpectedly smooth stone.  He steadied himself and knelt down to give Spike a chance to jump off.  The baby dragon slid down Deathbringer's large black wing, and Spike suddenly started sniffing the air.
"Do you smell that?" he asked with a sour expression.  
Deathbringer lifted his nose.  He inhaled deeply, and he could smell it too.  The familiarity was chilling.  "You may want to hold your breath," said Deathbringer as he started walking forward.
"What?  Why?" asked Spike as he followed.  
"Because if my hunch is correct, the smell is about to get a whole lot worse."  Deathbringer simply began following his nose.  He moved around boulders and divots in the hills, searching every crack and crevice as he went.  He kept following his nose, and eventually, it led him exactly where he expected.
As he rounded a hill, he immediately flung his wings open to block Spike's view of what lay ahead.  
"Hey," protested Spike.  "What are you doing?"
"Back up right now," said Deathbringer seriously.
"What do you mean?"
"You have to turn back.  Go back and wait for me where we landed.  Don't move, and don't make a sound."
"But I want to see what's there!"
"Spike, I said-"
Deathbringer felt a fold in his wing, and Spike rolled past and up in front of him.  Deathbringer held his breath and immediately regretted it thanks to the smell.
Spike opened his eyes and gasped.  In the small dip in the hill ahead of them, laying in a messy, rotting pile of bile and gore, being picked to pieces by buzzards, were the corpses of dragons.
A pile of scaly bodies at least three times the size of Deathbringer was stacked just out of sight.  Most of them were falling apart as if they had been there for weeks on end.  The color in their scales was faded to a sick green, and a couple of limbs were strewn about around the pile.  Deathbringer glanced down at Spike.  The baby dragon backed into his wing and Deathbringer steadied him.  The nightwing took a step so he was inbetween the horrific scene and Spike.
"Spike, listen to me," he said.  "You must go back to the area we landed at and stay there while I investigate.  This is not safe for you.  Do you understand?"
Spike didn't nod.  He hardly appeared to be breathing, he was so shocked.  Deathbringer sighed and scooped him up in his arms.  He walked Spike back a little ways and deposited him between two divots in the rocks.  "Stay," commanded Deathbringer.  Spike still didn't move, so Deathbringer turned away and returned to the pile.  With a reluctant sigh, he set to work.
Deathbringer approached the pile and dragged the body of the dragon on top off.  As it fell to the ground next to him, Deathbringer examined it briefly.  The dragon was big, with a body shape Deathbringer couldn't recognize.  It seemed to have a bulbous and inflated stomach, and the nightwing assassin hoped it wouldn't pop like a balloon.  Its small wings barely looked like they could support flight at all.
The dragon seemed to have been carrying a satchel of some kind, and Deathbringer quickly searched it.  Inside, he found a scroll with a set of instructions on it.  It appeared to be a map with labels showing various settlements and villages in the badlands.  He noticed a few of them seemed to line up with his flight path, and he thanked the moons the clouds had been so thick.  
The instructions written on the piece of paper referenced a few of the towns and seemed to be a list of places to look for the Dragonlord.  Several of them were crossed off, and only two remained; one appeared to be very nearby, and the other was even further south in the valley Deathbringer remembered as being labeled "Forbidden" on Princess Twilight's map.  Whoever had killed this dragon had not been thorough in disposing of its belongings.  
Deathbringer folded up the paper and stashed it in the pouch around his neck, and he glanced around the clearing some more just to make sure the coast was still clear.  As soon as he was sure, Deathbringer did another quick search of the bodies still on the pile.  One other dragon had a satchel like the first, and he opened it to find a belt with a dagger in a scabbard on it.  He withdrew the belt and fit it around his waist.  It stretched to the last ring, but it fit him.  The dagger was just the right size, and Deathbringer suddenly had the thought that this was a small sword meant for a small dragon somewhere.  
"Well, he certainly won't be using it," muttered Deathbringer.  As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a voice.
"Hello?" it gasped dryly.  "Is someone there?  Help me!"
Deathbringer leaped back and around the dip of the hill.  He stayed perfectly still and silent, and the voice returned.  "Please, you've got to help me.  It hurts so much.  Why?  Why does it hurt so much?" it groaned.  Deathbringer slowly poked his head around the corner and eyed the pile.  
He could see a wing moving, and as he followed it down, it was connected (barely) to the back of one of the dragons in the middle.  One of the dragon's eyes was black and shriveled, and a long clawmark was drawn across it.  Another mark was traced along the dragon's neck as well.  A failed execution, he thought. 
Deathbringer stepped completely out of cover and approached the pile again.  "You," rasped the dragon painfully.  "You don't look right."
"You're no prize yourself," said Deathbringer.  The dragon winced in pain.
"Can you help me?  I have to find the Dragonlord.  She's in danger," it said.  Deathbringer suddenly realized the dragon must have gone crazy.  It knew it was in pain, but couldn't understand why. 
"You're searching for her as well?" asked Deathbringer.
"Are you one of Garble's brutes?" it asked.  The dragon coughed painfully and spat up a mess of blood, but didn't seemed to care. 
"Hardly.  But I do need to find her.  I heard she went missing around here."
"She did.  I was with her group."
"What?" asked Deathbringer.  He took another step toward the pile.
"Yes," said the dragon.  "I was part of her guard.  We didn't expect any trouble, but when we found the bodies, we were attacked.  I can't move.  The Dragonlord got away, but I... I... oh god!"  The dragon started to scream, and Deathbringer quickly whipped his head around to make sure they were still alone.  He dashed forward and wrapped his talons roughly around the screaming dragon.
"Shut up!" he commanded in a harsh whisper.  After about a minute of trying to scream, the dragon seemed to realize what was happening to it.  
"Please," it begged painfully.  "Just put an end to me."
Deathbringer paused and said, "As you wish.  But first, you have to tell me everything you know about the Dragonlord and where she went.  I need to find her and bring her back."
The dragon seemed reluctant at first, but eventually it gave in.  "A few weeks ago, we were searching the border of the Badlands for missing dragons.  They've been disappearing for months now, and we got a hint that the source of the disappearances was around here somewhere.  We were ambushed when we arrived, and all of us were killed.  I saw Dragonlord Ember escape to the south, but then everything went dark.  I just... I just want to die..."
Deathbringer pulled out one of his blades.  "Thank you," he said.  He briefly considered his agreement not to kill, then he quickly swung the blade across the dragon's neck.  It immediately fell limply back into the pile, and the clearing was quiet once more.  I couldn't leave it like that, he thought.  It was already dead.
Deathbringer wiped the blood off on one of the bodies, then turned back around.  He needed to retrieve Spike, and they had to move fast.  The fact there were so many bodies was proof that they were frequently dumped there, and if his suspicions about the disappearing dragons were correct, the divot in the hill could be a dumping ground for the victims as well as any other dragons searching for Ember.  
Deathbringer wove around the hill until he came to the spot he had left Spike.  The baby dragon still had the empty look on his face.  He wondered if Spike would be able to follow him, but as he said, "Come on, Spike.  We have to move," the little dragon stood up and stood by Deathbringer's side.
The nightwing sighed, angry at himself for letting Spike slip by him.  He knew it was a terrible sight, but it couldn't be helped.  "Follow me," he said.  Deathbringer started walking, and Spike followed without a sound.  As they passed the pile of bodies, Deathbringer tried to hide the sight again with his wings, but Spike hardly seemed to notice them anyway.
As they walked, Deathbringer studied the ground closely.  He quickly found claw marks of various sizes gouged into the dirt.  Every now and again, he would come across a pile of dried blood, and sometimes, one of the trails of claw marks would end abruptly with no trace of where they went.  Only one track of small footprints seemed to persist past the others.  The tracks were long, and they kept going for almost an hour.  
By the time Deathbringer and Spike stopped walking, they had approached the area marked Forbidden on the map.  Deathbringer and Spike found themselves standing at the entrance to a giant ravine, of which they were in the bottom.  Very little light managed to enter the crack, and the tracks led in.  However, they seemed to pace back and forth in front of the entrance.
"So whoever went in there was deliberating for a while," muttered Deathbringer.
"We should leave," said Spike all of a sudden.  "We should leave right now, and never come back."
"What's gotten into you?" asked Deathbringer.  Could it be the bodies? he wondered.  Is the shock finally catching up?
"In there," said Spike, pointing a talon into the ravine.  "There's something really bad in there."
"I don't understand," said Deathbringer.  "What is it?"
"I don't know!" Spike half-shouted.  "It just feels really, really wrong, okay?!"
"Calm down, Spike.  You've got to relax."  The baby dragon was almost hyperventilating.  "Here.  Why don't you stay back, and I'll go investigate, okay?"
"No!" shouted Spike.  "You can't go in there.  You'll die!"
"What aren't you telling me?" asked Deathbringer.  He was getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over.
"I don't know what's in there, but it's a terrible feeling I've got," said Spike.  "I think I get why this place is forbidden.  It feels terrible!"
"I'm going in," said Deathbringer definitively, almost as if he had to tell himself as well, though he wasn't sure why.  "Stay out here and hide.  I'll be out shortly.  Hopefully."
He heard Spike gulp, but he didn't even glance at the baby dragon before he started walking.  This could be it, he thought.  Those footprints must be the Dragonlord's.  If she's still alive, then this is the best lead I've got.  Without looking back, Deathbringer strode into the ravine.
As soon as he passed the threshold of light, a deep chill suddenly overtook him.  It felt magical, like the feeling he got with the tunnels and with Princess Twilight's magic circle.  So there's a source of magic in here.  Wait.  This is different though.  It felt like whatever magic was acting on him was trying to make him fearful.  He had long learned to suppress the negativity he felt with magic, but this was different.  "Is this what a spell is like?" he asked worriedly to no one.  
"Some of them," came a response from further in the cave.  The voice made Deathbringer jump, and he smoothly drew out three blades in between the talons on one hand, ready to throw them at the first sign of danger.  
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Strange.  I thought the scepter affected every dragon, but it seems not."  The voice sounded young.  Far too young, in fact, to be the Dragonlord.  
"Who's there?" repeated Deathbringer.  "Show yourself!"
"Who sent you?  Are you one of Garble's dragons?" asked the voice.  It seemed to spit the name Garble.
Deathbringer considered whether or not to reveal his mission.  This was clearly a dragon who disliked Garble, but he couldn't be sure whether or not they supported Dragonlord Ember.  In the end, he determined he had no choice.  He needed information.  But, he thought, that doesn't mean I have to tell the whole truth.  "I was sent by Queen Glory of the Rainwings to investigate Dragonlord Ember's disappearance," said Deathbringer.  "She ordered me to search this area, which from our sources suggested this was where she disappeared."
"I don't remember a queen named Glory," said the voice.  "Sounds made up, to be honest."
"If you have any information on the Dragonlord, please tell me.  It is imperative I find her."
"You already have," said the voice.  Suddenly, from behind a large stone, stepped a small, blue dragon only twice as tall as Spike.  She stood on her hind legs, her slender tail keeping her balance behind her.  Her white horns curved downward like a ram's, and she had a regal look on her face.  Unfortunately, Deathbringer was more preoccupied with how many cuts and bruises she had across her body.  She had one black eye, and her underbelly had deep gashes that seemed to be oozing more than blood.  One arm hung limply at her side, and both wings were bent in an unnatural way.  
"Here I am," she coughed.  "Though I'll warn you, if you're here to kill me, good luck.  I've fought off more attackers and assassins in the last week than you've got scales."  She crouched slightly and held one of her claws out to the side, menacingly twisting them so they caught the light from behind Deathbringer.
Deathbringer relaxed.  He stashed his blades and sighed.  This dragon couldn't fight her way out of bed, much less best me with only one functioning arm, he thought.  "Forgive me," said Deathbringer.  "I'm here to rescue you.  Princess Twilight was the one who ordered me to search for you."
"Princess Twilight?" asked the Dragonlord.  She suddenly relaxed as well, and she said, "Does that mean Spike is with you?"
"Yes, he... accompanied me," said Deathbringer.  The Dragonlord gave him a confused look and he added, "Don't ask.  He's waiting outside for me."
Without another word, the Dragonlord rushed passed Deathbringer, wincing slightly as she ran, and straight out of the cave.  "Ember?  Is that you?" heard Deathbringer from outside.  
"Spike?" she asked.  
"You're okay!" said Spike again.  "I was so worried when I heard you were gone!"
Deathbringer let out a sigh of relief.  He had succeeded.  Now all he had to do was get the Dragonlord back to his drop point safely.  He had to wonder how, though.
Deathbringer walked proudly out of the cave and saw Spike gently hugging Ember, trying his best not to put a hand on one of her bruises or cuts.  The gesture warmed his heart as it reminded him of how he'd often held Glory, afraid to hold her as tight as he wished for fear of breaking her.  He approached the couple and said, "Are you ready to go?"
The Dragonlord broke away and looked up to face Deathbringer.  "Yes.  Though, to be honest, I could really use some medical attention.  Kind of bleeding to death here."  Despite her words, she appeared to be standing strong.
"Well, it will be a day's flight back to the recovery point," said Deathbringer.  "Princess Twilight said she would recover us from up in the mountains to the north of the Badlands.  We need to meet her there two days from now."  Deathbringer looked out toward the horizon and saw the sun beginning to sink behind the hills.
"Well, I can't exactly fly with dislocated and-or broken wings," she said as she tenderly brushed her working claw against a wing, wincing at the contact.  
"Deathbringer can fly us there," offered Spike.  "He carried me the whole way."
"One baby dragon is one thing," said Deathbringer.  "Two, and an injured one at that, is a lot more difficult."
"So we're stuck?" asked Spike.
"Hey, I said difficult, not impossible," replied Deathbringer with a warm smile.  Spike beamed back at him.  "We need to sleep for the night," he said.  "How's this ravine you've been squatting in?"
"It's roomy, at least," said the Dragonlord.  "Hardly comfortable, but we can probably stay one more night."
"Good," said Deathbringer.  "I'll go hide our tracks.  You both settle in, and I'll be back soon."
"Gotcha," said Spike.  He and the Dragonlord walked off into the ravine, and Deathbringer turned to the path that brought them here.  
He started by using his tail to wipe away all the tracks leading into the cave.  He made a few gusts of wind to add a natural look to it before he started on the rest of his path.  He back tracked all the way to where the second to last set of footprints ended, and he walked back to the ravine from there, sweeping his tail behind him and clearing Ember's tracks as well as his own.  Just as the sun finished setting and the sky lit up with stars, Deathbringer arrived back at the ravine.
He found Spike asleep next to the Dragonlord, who seemed to be awake and watching the entrance for him.  As Deathbringer approached, she said, "Let's talk."
"What about?" he asked.
"You.  You don't make sense, you know that?"
"Excuse me?" asked Deathbringer.
Ember gently pulled away from Spike and stood up.  She tried to hide a wince through gritted teeth, but it still came out loud enough for Deathbringer to notice.  "You're a dragon, yet the warding spell on this place hardly seemed to affect you.  You came straight in and were ready to fight me if I attacked.  You're also far larger than most dragons, and your wingspan is massive, even for your size.  The scepter's spell doesn't seem to ward this place from you at all.  How?"
"Scepter?  Spell?  And what about my size?  I hope you're not calling me fat.  That would be quite offensive," added Deathbringer with a playful smirk.
Ember seemed to pick up on his sarcasm and she chuckled painfully.  She gripped her ribs with her good arm and took a deep, pained breath.  "Who are you?  Really?  You can't be a dragon.  I've never heard of a Queen Glory.  I rule every dragon in Equestria absolutely, and yet the scepter's magic doesn't affect you.  It's also odd that Princess Twilight would let a complete stranger come out here to find me, let alone risk a war with Garble's forces in such a way AND send Spike along with you.  I'm also willing to bet she went behind the other Princess' backs by ordering you out here.  So tell me who you are."
"My name is Deathbringer."  He felt he owed her answers for some reason, though he couldn't quite understand why.  "I am a nightwing, one of seven tribes of dragons in the land of Pyrrhia, and Queen Glory of the rainwings is my liege.  Spike followed me through a magic circle and was dragged along against my will.  I'm sorry, Dragonlord, but I owe no allegiance to you.  My orders were to bring you back to Equestria alive and safe, so here I am."
"So Spike followed you?" she asked, seeming to skip over the rest of what he said.  She turned away and chuckled lightly.  "That's just like him, isn't it..."
"Ember?" asked Deathbringer.
"Forget it," she said sharply all of a sudden.  "What's our plan to get past Garble's forces on our way back?"
"We didn't see any on the way here.  Just a pile of bodies a ways back."
"Wait," said Ember, suddenly fearful.  "Bodies?  What bodies?"
"About an hour back, Spike and I came across a pile of corpses.  Dragon corpses.  I searched the area and found a barely living dragon in the pile.  It gave me general directions to find you.  Or at least, the area it believed you had escaped to."
Ember suddenly rushed to the entrance and hid just around the corner.  "And you're positive you weren't followed?" she asked as she stared out.
"Sure of it," said Deathbringer as he stood next to her.  "I made sure to cover our tracks thoroughly as well.  If someone already knew where you were, they would have attacked you and Spike while I was gone."
"I'm not so sure," she said as she glared down the path.  "Let's take turns on watch tonight.  I'll take the first shift, and you take the second."
"What about Spike?" asked Deathbringer.
"He'll fall asleep two minutes in," said Ember with a chuckle.  "It's up to you and I."
"Got it," said Deathbringer.  He obeyed the Dragonlord and walked over to where Spike was sleeping.  He knelt down and wrapped his wing round the baby dragon.  It felt good having someone so small to protect.  This must be what having a dragonet feels like, he thought warmly.  He closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.