by Virlyce
Vur snapped his head downwards and plummeted towards the falling dwarf. Vur stretched out an arm and grabbed E moments before the dwarf was about to fall into the flood of pyroclastic rocks. His wings flapped as he soared into the sky.
“Look!” Stella said and pointed towards the side. “Can you see them?”
Vur and E turned their heads. “I don’t see anything,” E said and squinted. “What are you pointing at? The house in the distance?”
“No, you dummy,” Stella said. “They’re—”
“Fire elementals,” Vur said, finishing the fairy’s sentence. “Are there any wildfire ones?” He glanced up at Stella, who narrowed her eyes at the floating motes of red light.
Faint chattering sounds filled the air; though, it was hard to hear over the rumbling below. “What happened to the clan master?”
“He exploded! Kaboom! Whoosh!” A mote of light sparkled and flashed, punctuating each word it spoke. “I’m number one now!”
“That one!” Stella said and pointed at the pulsing red light.
“Eep!” The motes of light squealed as Vur flew towards them, extending his hand. The especially shiny one yelped as Vur grabbed onto it and brought his hand towards his face, showing the elemental to Stella.
“Unhand me, creep!” the struggling elemental said as she consolidated her light into a small fireball.
“Hah! I told you fire elementals were fireballs, stupid Deedee,” Stella said and bobbed her head. “Contract with her, Vur.”
“Contract?” the fire elemental asked and stopped squirming. Her voice sounded incredulous. “With me? Really?”
“Do you want to?” Vur asked.
“Yes!” the elemental said, her flames brightening from orange to yellow. She dissolved into runes that pooled in Vur’s palm before crawling up his arm, snaking towards his shoulder.
“Don’t go to his head,” Stella said to the yellow runes. “Just stop at his collarbone. Right there, stop, stop!” The runes twitched and stopped in response. “Go back a little more.” The runes crept backwards. “Okay, perfect. Now form a sun.” Stella smiled and crossed her arms as the runes curled up like a snake, forming a yellow sun on Vur’s collarbone and shoulder.
“Gah!” the fire elemental shouted. “Is that a dragon!? I’ve fallen for a trap! Don’t eat me!”
Stella turned into purple motes of light which entered Vur through his head. Her voice rang through his thoughts. Calm down. He’s friendly! You just have to give him belly rubs, like this.
Vur furrowed his brow as something inside of him tingled.
Now you try, Stella said.
L-like this? the elemental asked from inside his head. She whimpered. He’s scary.
You’ll get used to him, Stella said as a purple figure formed in the air in front of Vur’s nose. She hugged his face and giggled. “There’s sunshine inside your heart now!”
Vur plucked her off and placed her on his head. He glanced at the yellow runes on his shoulder. “What’s your name?”
“Sheryl,” the wildfire elemental replied. “Who are you?”
“Vur.”
Diamant sighed. “Isn’t this something you should’ve asked before you made a contract with each other?”
Sheryl gasped. “Is that Diamant? Why are you contracted with my owner? Are the rumors about you giving up your clan true? How come you’re here?”
While Diamant and Sheryl chatted, E scratched his head while staring at the ground below. Lava was flowing down from the volcano, crawling over the rocks that had spewed out earlier. The ash, dust, and stone still hadn’t settled, creeping along the ground like spilled honey. Black dots, people, were fleeing from the flood. “Everything’s a mess,” E muttered. “It’s a good thing we didn’t build any cities around Az’s volcano.”
Vur flew ahead past the zone of destruction. “Now that the car’s gone, how do we get back?” he asked as he landed on the untouched ground. Behind him, a sea of rubble littered the land, covering the grass and roads. He dropped E onto the grass and deactivated his awakening.
“Whoa,” Sheryl said from the runes on his shoulder. “You were normal on the outside! I thought you were a really weird dragon at first.” The runes shimmered and wriggled, causing Vur to furrow his brow at them. “There’s so much mana here; I’ll be a volcano elemental in no time! I definitely made the right choice.” She paused. “But why did you contract with him, Diamant? Don’t tell me you’re expecting to evolve from a mountain elemental.”
“I was coerced,” Diamant said with a sigh. “I could either work under him or give up everything and restart as a pebble elemental in a hundred years. Now, I’m just hoping Vur brings my clan unprecedented wealth and prosperity.”
“The Gemstone Merchants are already the richest in the land,” Sheryl said, her voice raising in pitch, “and you want more? I knew Az was telling me the truth when he said all earth elementals are greedy and cutthroat when it comes to profit.”
“Yeah, seriously,” E said while summoning sets of armor. “This elemental can fart out diamonds at will, but he treats them as precious treasures and sells them to us at an outrageous price.” The armors crawled together, some parts of them melting while others bent until the rough frame of a carriage formed in front of him and Vur. The dwarf king glanced at his human companion. “I don’t have any tools to make an engine, so we’ll have to do this the plebian way. Diamant, turn into a horse or an ox and pull this for us.”
The brown runes on Vur’s arm flashed once. “You can manipulate the wheels of that shoddy carriage with your mana,” Diamant said, his voice icy. “My master is Vur, and you gave up your position as dwarf king; why should I listen to you?”
“Oh, just do it, Deedee,” Stella said, smacking the runes with her flower’s roots. “I want to hurry up and leave this place so we can kidnap a water elemental. A flower needs rain to grow.”
Diamant heaved a sigh as an earthen horse materialized in front of the carriage. The carriage’s metal straps—controlled by E—attached themselves to the horse while E and Vur climbed inside. Sheryl spoke up from Vur’s shoulder, “If Az could see Diamant now, I wonder what he’d say.”
***
Lindyss and Erin lay side by side in the center of a massive brown crater, their chests rising up and down as they panted. “Y-you, you’re a freak,” Erin said as she stared at the sky. Her hair was frizzled while her clothes were blackened and torn. “What the garlic are you?”
“Shut up, you stupid fairy,” Lindyss said as she struggled to sit up. “I don’t want to hear that from you. How do you transform someone over 500 times? Do you know how disgusting it feels to turn into an octopus?”
“Want me to do it again?” Erin asked as she propped herself up with her hands. Her golden eyes flashed as she shouted, “Polymorph!”
Lindyss’ expression darkened as her body shrank and contorted. Her bones vanished, causing her flesh to jiggle as it squirmed and split, eight limbs forming. As she was transforming, a purple aura rose up around her and a beam of light rained down from the sky.
Erin cursed as she tossed herself to the side, the heat from the beam causing blisters to form on her skin. A puddle of lava formed where she had just been. “Sky’s Judgement?” she asked as she dodged another falling pillar of light. “How do you have so many classes? Why do you know so many spells?”
The octopus on the ground shuddered as it contorted again, regaining Lindyss’ original shape. Every time she undid a polymorph, she’d lose an absurd amount of mana. If it weren’t for all the souls Grimmy had planted inside of her, she’d have lost to Erin long ago. “I really, really hate fighting fairies,” Lindyss said with a scowl.
“You picked the fight!” Erin shouted back and threw a pebble at Lindyss. It hit the elf’s forehead and bounced off without harming her. “I was just minding my own business, and you nearly drove a stake through my heart!”
“Excuse me, saviors?” a voice asked from outside the crater.
“You, shut up!” Erin and Lindyss shouted at the same time towards the side.
The group of dwarves, elves, humans, and fishmen flinched and lowered their heads. They were the ones trapped inside the dwarves’ dungeon, which had been destroyed during Lindyss and Erin’s battle. None of them knew what to do after being freed, so they had stayed and watched the fight. If they fled from the dungeon, the dwarves would put a bounty on their heads once they were discovered to be missing.
Erin eyed Lindyss and bit her lower lip. “Are we still going to fight?” she asked. “God, all I wanted to do was find one stupid person that I’ve been chasing after for weeks now, and she’s not even here.”
Lindyss exhaled and checked her mana reserves. “I’m willing to call it quits for now,” she said. “Armistice?”
Erin placed her hands on her hips. “You’re not going to repay me for ambushing me and starting a fight?” she asked. “You’re a terrible, terrible person, you know that? Whatever that fairy did to you back then, I believe, you completely deserved it. But fine, armistice.” She stuck her nose into the air and turned her head away when Lindyss offered a handshake. “I don’t trust you enough to shake your hand.”
Lindyss withdrew the mana in her palm and lowered her arm. “Your name was Erin Koller, right?” she asked. The fairy met her gaze. “I’ll remember it.”
“And what’s your name?” Erin asked, narrowing her eyes.
Lindyss snorted. “Like I’d tell you,” she said. “Why would I bring trouble unto myself?” She dusted off her clothes as she stood up. She thought it was a bit weird how they polymorphed with her, but she wasn’t complaining.
“Hey!” Erin said as she flapped her wings and flew up. “That’s not fair! How am I supposed to find you to enact revenge?”
“Life isn’t fair; deal with it,” Lindyss said, waving her hand dismissively as she turned around. She trudged up the crater and looked back at the prisoners before sighing. She had come all this way for nothing—Vur wasn’t even there. Clopping sounds brought her attention to the road. A strange-looking horse pulling a metal carriage rushed by her at an abnormal speed. Her mouth dropped open as the horse came to a stop, causing the carriage to bump into and destroy it.
“Auntie?” a voice asked as a familiar face popped out of the carriage’s window. “Is that you?”
“Ah!” Erin’s voice rang from behind her. “It’s the newly born fairy queen!”
“Vur, is that you?” Lindyss asked. She walked up to the carriage, but to her surprise, it broke apart into pieces, revealing three figures: a dwarf, Vur, and Stella.
“Hi, Auntie,” Vur said. “I thought I saw you, and it actually was you. What are you doing here?”
“So this is the rumored aunt who’s in an ambiguous relationship with Grimmoldesser?” E asked while rubbing his chin. “She’s … smaller than I thought.”
“What the heck are you telling people about me, you brat?” Lindyss asked, smacking Vur over the head with her hand. Stella yelped as she fell off due to the impact. “Who’s in an ambiguous relationship with Grimmy?”
“Aren’t you?” Vur asked and tilted his head. He laughed as Lindyss stomped her foot. Before she could do anything, Vur stepped forward and hugged her. “It’s nice seeing you again, Auntie.”
“Go die,” Lindyss said with a snort and pushed him away. “Do you know how much trouble you caused me? Why did you contract with an elemental and cause an earthquake? That was you, right?”
“Earthquake?” Vur asked before shaking his head. “I didn’t make the earth shake. But I did contract with Diamant.” He patted the runes on his arm. “Come on out, Deedee.”
“Please don’t call me that too,” Diamant said with a sigh as a brown figure materialized next to Vur. “I greet the aunt. I am a mountain elemental; my name is Diamant.” He nodded at Lindyss before rubbing his chin. “I don’t recall creating any earthquakes, but it’s possible one may have occurred while Vur was testing out my power.”
“Really?” Vur asked.
“That time you forcibly injected me with mana back at the treasury, remember?” Diamant asked. “Nothing happened, but there’s no way nothing could’ve happened with the amount of mana you inserted into me.” He glanced at Lindyss. “Vur also caused the most recent eruption of Mt. Inesia.”
“Can you not cause natural disasters everywhere you go?” Lindyss asked Vur before clicking her tongue. “Ah, why is it you? The holy dragons want to meet the culprit behind the earthquake.”
“The holy dragons?” Erin asked. “You were working for them? They’re the ones that wanted you to kill me!?”
Lindyss swatted down with her hand, smacking Erin away. “You’re annoying, buzz off,” she said. “Why are you even still here? Shoo, shoo.”
“Don’t treat me like a mere insect! I’m Erin Koller, leader of all the fairy queens!” Erin glared at Lindyss before turning towards Stella. “And you! Who are you?”
“Me?” Stella asked and pointed at herself. “I’m Stella.” She landed on Vur’s shoulder and partially hid herself behind his head, peering at Lindyss and Erin.
Lindyss frowned while Erin shook her fist at Stella. “Was it you?” Erin asked. “Were you the one who stole my spring? Do you know how much mana I poured into it? How many years it took to create?”
“No,” Stella said and shook her head. She seemed to shrink as she hid even further behind Vur’s neck. “Wasn’t me.”
“Oh!” Vur said. “Are you the one who placed the commission for information about the fairy spring? Meeting place, 99 Fairy Drive?”
“Yes,” Erin said with a nod. “Are you the one who undertook my commission?”
“Yup,” Vur said and nodded. Lindyss stared at him before shifting her gaze onto Erin. She knit her brow before taking a step back.
“Well, what do you know about my spring?” Erin asked and crossed her arms over her chest as she hovered in front of Vur’s face. “What happened to it?”
“Polymorph staff first, please,” Vur said and held out his hand.
Erin snorted before reaching into her clothes. She pulled out a stick that was as long as her arm and placed it into Vur’s hand. It was almost as long as his finger. “Well?”
Vur frowned. “I thought it’d be bigger,” he said and scratched his head as he inspected the staff. The number ten was inscribed on its side. He pointed the staff at E and waved it. “Polymorph.”
E’s eyes widened as he spasmed and fell to the ground. His bones crackled as he contorted and shouted, his screams becoming garbled and eventually turning into a rooster’s warbling. Feathers sprouted from his skin while his legs turned into talons, his arms into wings. A bright-red crown appeared on his head and chin while his mouth jutted forward, transforming into a golden beak.
The number on the staff shifted from ten to nine, and Vur nodded his head before smiling at Erin. “The fountain,” he said, “I drank it.”
Erin’s expression froze. Frenzied clucking noises permeated the silence, but she ignored them. “You what?” she asked as her head tilted to the side. “You, you drank my fountain?”
“He drank mine too,” Lindyss said with a snort. She ruffled Vur’s hair. “Why are you like this?”
“Polymorph!” Erin shouted, pointing her hand at Vur.
“Oh dear lord,” Lindyss said with a sigh as she took a step back while turning her gaze onto the infuriated fairy. Vur fell to the ground and sprouted fur while Stella yelped and hid behind him, hiding from Erin’s gaze. Lindyss inhaled and pinched the bridge of her nose before asking Erin, “Why would you do that?”
“He deserved it!” Erin said, her hands balled up into fists. “My years of hard work! Everything’s gone to waste!” A bushy tail sprung up from Vur’s butt as he finished his transformation into a squirrel. “I’m going to feed him to a hawk!”
“He’s a blue mage,” Lindyss said and snatched Erin out of the air. The fairy queen turned into a porcupine before reverting back to a fairy once Lindyss
let go. “Do you know what you just taught him?”
Erin’s face drained of blood as her gaze landed on Vur. Blue scales were sprouting on his squirrely body, and he was swelling in size. Razor sharp teeth filled his mouth as a pair of dragon wings unfurled from his back. The bushy tail elongated and straightened, forming a reptilian tail that gleamed in the sun. His beady eyes widened and turned golden, his pupils forming into slits. A puff of smoke escaped from his nostrils as he continued to grow in size.
“Well…, poop,” Erin said as her arms fell to her sides. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Lindyss sighed again and sat on the ground, burying her face in her hands. A deep yet loud voice boomed in her ears. “Look! Look! I’m a dragon! My scales and wings grew out!” Vur said. His gaze landed on Lindyss, and he lowered his head to the ground. “What’s wrong, Auntie?”
“Congratulations, Vur,” Lindyss said in a monotonous voice. “Nothing’s wrong; it’s just that my future self is crying to me about all the messes she’ll have to clean up.”
Vur laughed as he spread his wings, stood on his hind legs, angled his head into the air, and spewed golden flames towards the sky. His scales were a deeper shade of blue than Sera’s, and golden streaks outlined their edges. He grinned at Lindyss before picking her up and placing her on his head. She didn’t even get a chance to speak before Vur leapt into the air, spiraling upwards at breakneck speeds.
Erin, Stella, and E stared at the ocean-blue dragon soaring into the sky. Vur disappeared behind a layer of clouds, and the trio lowered their heads, exchanging glances. E cleared his throat as Stella hid behind him, shielding herself from Erin’s view. Once Vur had turned into a dragon, the polymorph spell had been undone, returning the dwarf back to his original form. “Erica? Eve…? No, that doesn’t sound right either,” E said. “What was your name again?”
“It’s Erin! Erin Koller!” Erin said and glared at the dwarf. “I never expected to see the dwarf king outside of his home. Tired of sleeping all day?”
“I retired,” E said and pointed towards the sky. “He’s the new dwarf king. There’s going to be a coronation ceremony in three weeks or so; you should come.”
