by Virlyce
“Some wench with horns teleported us out here,” Abel said. “Do you know the way back?”
“Yes, I do,” Mistle said as her fishy body dropped into the water. A current formed, pulling the dead leviathan and raft along. “It’ll take half a month or so. You’re really far out.”
29
“I really think I should check on your mother,” Tafel said, biting her lower lip.
“Our mother,” Emile said as he rolled over, tickling Tafel’s stomach. The demon was lying down with the phoenixes resting on top of her, using her as a bed. The few phoenixes that couldn’t fit on her body were pressed against her sides, keeping her from moving. “And you shouldn’t do that. It’s dangerous.”
Tafel frowned. “Which is why I should check on her….”
“Nope,” Emile said. “Someone cover her face to stop her from talking back.” A phoenix hopped onto Tafel’s head and spread her wings while resting her stomach flat against the demon’s nose. “It’s too dangerous to check on Mom. If something happens to you, what will happen to us? You promised Mom you’d take care of us. Going back will be breaking your promise.”
Tafel displaced two phoenixes as she raised her arms and lifted the limp bird off her face. “This is the fourth excuse you’ve given me when I said I wanted to check on your—our mother. Is there a reason why you don’t want to go back?”
“We can’t have fun when Mom’s around,” the phoenix in Tafel’s hands said as she pressed her wings against her sides. “I want to see the world! But Mom barely lets us outside because she thinks it’s too dangerous. Adventurers will hunt us down and steal our feathers or something like that.”
“Well, they will,” Tafel said with a nod. “There were plenty of requests for phoenix feathers in the adventurers’ guild.”
“Why are our feathers so precious?” one of the phoenixes muttered. “They should steal the penguins’ instead. They’re failure birds; it’s not like they can fly away.”
“That’s just how things are,” Tafel said. “So you don’t want to check on our mother because you’re afraid you’ll lose your freedom? I’m not sure how she’ll feel if she finds out. I bet she’s worried sick about all of you. Don’t you feel even a little bad for her?”
“Someone cover her face so she can’t guilt trip us!” Emile said, nudging the phoenix beside him towards Tafel’s head.
“But it has been two weeks,” the phoenix said and pushed Emile back. “I think we should go back. I miss Mom.”
“Me too.”
“And me.”
“I miss her a little too even though it’s fun outside.”
Emile stood up and flapped his wings. “I demand a vote!” he said, glaring at the phoenixes who spoke up. “Those who want to go back, raise your wings.”
Eight phoenixes raised their wings, outnumbering the four who hadn’t moved. Emile scowled—or, at least, Tafel thought he scowled since it was hard to tell because of his rigid beak—and recounted the wings. There were still more votes for going back than against. Tafel’s eyes twinkled as she sat up and burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Emile asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Nothing,” Tafel said with a wry smile. “I just realized, with all of your help, I’ll be able to make the decisions once I see my husband again. He’s very fond of voting. Before, it was him, a fairy, and me. I’d always get outvoted by those two.” She rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait.”
“You know, if we go back to Mom, then she won’t let us roam around the world with you,” Emile said. “Will you really win the vote without us?”
“Stop trying to change her mind,” one of the phoenixes said. “You lost the vote that you called for fair and square. We’re going home to check on Mom.”
Tafel nodded. “Results of a vote are final,” she said. “If you make an exception one time, it sets a precedent. Sorry, Emile.” She stood up, gently pushing the phoenixes off of her. “Are all of you ready to go?”
“Ready!”
“I’ll teleport us close to the area where the flames were,” Tafel said. “Stay close in case your mother lost the fight against the dragons. I imagine it’d be easy to sense them if she did. If the dragons are there, I’ll teleport us out right away.” Her horns glowed with a silver light as a flaming rune appeared on her forehead. The time it took to calculate a teleportation had been considerably shortened after she received her imprint. A moment after she started the spell, a silver circle appeared around her and the group of huddled phoenixes. With a flash, the scenery changed from a forest to … a forest.
Emile blinked. “We”—his head swiveled around like an owl—“moved, right?”
“Yes,” Tafel said. “I don’t sense any dragons. Do you?”
The phoenixes stopped crowding around her legs and looked around. Some spread their wings, but none of them flew into the air. “I don’t sense any,” Emile said. “But I’ve never encountered one before. What do they feel like?”
“Like you’re about to be eaten,” Tafel said. “If none of you are feeling nervous, then they’re probably not there. It looks like Mom won.” Her horns flashed silver again. “I’ll bring us closer.” The scenery shifted from a forest to a hollowed-out tree, the same one she had met Persephone in. A startled bald elf was the first thing she saw.
“Y-you’re back,” Persephone said with wide eyes. She glanced at the book she was holding. Her face turned red, and she quickly slammed it shut, placed it on the ground, and covered it with her cushion before sitting on it. “T-the matriarch has been waiting for you. She was just about to leave the nest to search for you. You should catch her before she leaves, hurry, hurry.”
“What were you reading?” Emile asked, hopping closer to Persephone.
“Nothing!” Persephone said, half-shouting as she retreated while dragging the cushion back. She bit her lower lip. “You should find your mother before she leaves.”
“C’mon, Emile,” Tafel said and grabbed Emile’s tail feathers before he could get closer to Persephone. “Let the poor woman have some privacy.”
“Fine, fine,” Emile said and jutted his beak out. Tafel assumed he was pouting. “Let’s go find Mom.”
It didn’t take long for Tafel and the phoenixes to arrive at their mother’s nest. It resembled a beehive more than a pigeon’s nest with dozens of trees stacked against each other in a spiral pattern, leaving a hollowed-out center with hundreds of entrances. “Mom!” Emile shouted from one of the tunnel-like entrances at the base of the nest. The phoenixes huddled around Tafel, holding their breaths.
“Are you nervous?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to see her.”
“No,” one of the phoenixes said. “We just like huddling. You didn’t realize that yet?”
“I mean, I did, but….” Tafel shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Mom!” Emile shouted again, dragging out the word this time. “Mommy! Ma! Momma!”
Flames roared out of the nest, causing Tafel’s hair to fly parallel to the ground from the gust of hot air blowing against her. She squinted and shielded her face with her arms while the phoenixes hid behind her legs. “You’re the fire-resistant ones,” she muttered to the baby birds, but they acted like they hadn’t heard her.
The phoenix matriarch soared out of the nest, heading towards the sky. She looked down and screeched before diving towards Tafel, landing in front of her while folding her wings. “You’re back,” she said, arching her neck to count the phoenixes behind the demon. “All of you. And uninjured. That’s good.”
“I’m sorry it took so long to come back to check on you,” Tafel said, a wry smile appearing on her lips. “They wanted to explore the outside world more and wouldn’t let me return.”
“That’s not true!”
“Not true at all!”
“We wanted to come back to see you, but she wouldn’t let us.”
“It’s her fault.”
“We love you, Mom
ma. Why would we want to stay away from you?”
Tafel’s mouth fell open at the baby phoenixes’ blatant betrayal. “Y-you guys!” she said and glanced at the matriarch, who was glaring at her. “I’m being bullied by your children. I swear I wanted to come back before they did.”
“Nuh-uh!”
“If you’re going to blame us, we’re going to blame you!”
The phoenixes nodded in agreement, separating from Tafel while moving closer to their mother. Emile looked at the phoenixes before turning his gaze onto Tafel. He shrugged. “Sorry,” he said and hopped over to his brothers’ and sisters’ sides. “I missed you, Mom.”
The phoenix matriarch sighed and patted Tafel’s drooping head with her wing. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I believe you. I know these brats are troublemakers through and through.”
Tafel exhaled. “I’m glad,” she said. “I’m also glad you managed to stay safe. What happened?”
“About that…,” the phoenix matriarch said, her expression turning odd. She rubbed her beak a few times with her wing while staring at Tafel. “Why didn’t you tell me your husband was a dragon?”
Tafel blinked. “Huh?” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Don’t tell me you met him….”
The matriarch nodded. “He’s very strong,” she said. “Very, very strong.” She paused and tilted her head. “But weak to alcohol.”
“You fought him?” Tafel asked. She bit her lower lip. “And drank with him? Can you explain things clearly, please?”
“The ice dragon I encountered that could use gravity magic,” the matriarch said and narrowed her eyes at Tafel, “turned out to be your husband.”
“But how?” Tafel asked, furrowing her brow. “He can’t turn into a dragon.”
The matriarch stared at Tafel. She fidgeted underneath the phoenix’s gaze, but the matriarch maintained her silence.
“He can turn into a dragon…?” Tafel asked in a small voice.
The matriarch nodded.
Tafel sighed. “Goddammit.”
“So you didn’t know,” the matriarch said. “Well, he told me to leave you a message for when you returned.” She blinked at Tafel, who was crouching and holding her horns. “Are you ready to hear it or do you need a moment?”
“A moment, please,” Tafel said and closed her eyes. She inhaled through her nose and exhaled out her mouth, causing Emile’s feathers to ruffle. Tafel opened her eyes and stood up with a nod. “I’m ready now.”
“Vur told me to tell you to go to the dwarven capital. He’ll be waiting for you there with Auntie,” the matriarch said. “I assume you know who Auntie is because he didn’t give me a name.”
“Yeah, I do,” Tafel said and nodded. “But what is he doing in the dwarven capital?”
“He’s the dwarf king,” the matriarch said. “Why wouldn’t he be in the dwarven capital?”
“He’s the what king?” Tafel asked, eyes widening.
“Dwarf. Dwarf king. Ruler of the dwarves.”
“How!?” Tafel shouted. “I separated from him two months ago and he’s suddenly a fully grown dragon who’s ruling over the dwarves? What the heck!? I know I told him to make a name for himself if we ever separated, but this….” She chewed her lower lip and stared at the ground. A second later, her eyes narrowed as she raised her head. “You said there was a holy dragon with him when he first attacked you. Was it a male or female?”
The matriarch chuckled. “She was a female,” she said. “And she had some interesting things to say. Like how Vur was her future mate and she was going to fight you for him.”
The expression on Tafel’s face disappeared. “What the fu—”
“What!?” Emile asked. “Tafel has to fight a dragon?” He blinked a few times before staring at Tafel. “Good luck, baby sis. If I had any friends, I’d’ve set you up with them after your inevitable break up, but I don’t. Sorry.”
“I’m going to cry,” Tafel said as she crouched and buried her face in her hands. “I have to fend off a dragon?”
“Don’t forget that you’re a phoenix now,” the matriarch said, patting Tafel’s back with her wing. “Maybe you’d win if Vur lent you his fire elemental. She’s close to being an elemental ruler.”
Tafel raised her head, a dark expression on her face. “His what?”
The phoenix matriarch tilted her head to the side and rubbed it with her wing. “How do you know so little about your own husband?” she asked. “He’s an elementalist with two top-tier elementals bound to him.”
Tafel sighed. “But you managed to beat him in a fight, right? That means there’s still hope for me since I have your imprint.”
“Oh dear,” the matriarch said and sighed in return. “Today is just not your day.”
***
“You’re sure this is going to work?” Alice asked while pursing her lips and staring across a bridge at a towering fortress wall. “No, why am I even asking that? What I meant to ask was, why am I doing this?” She turned her head and glared at the grinning skeleton standing beside her. Behind them, trees casted shadows on a massive army of skeletons, all of them standing silently behind the two.
“Because you love”—Alice punched Mr. Skelly’s head off—“me.” But he finished his sentence anyway since his voice didn’t come from his mouth. A new skull sprouted out of thin air while his old one disappeared. He chuckled before patting Alice’s shoulder. “Don’t worry; it’ll be easy. Just follow the script and everything will all go according to plan.”
“You know,” Alice said with a frown, “all plans go awry the moment they start. What do I do if they go off script?”
“Improv!” Mr. Skelly said and raised both his hands into the air. “Let’s begin.” The other skeletons standing behind the duo raised their swords and shields while cheering. A few fairies flew into the air and casted illusion spells, turning the armored army of skeletons into a group of well-dressed human nobles wearing fancy silk clothes.
Alice sucked in her breath when she saw Mr. Skelly’s new appearance. She pursed her lips before shaking her head. He’s a skeleton.
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Skelly asked, raising an eyebrow. He stroked his jaw before smiling, causing Alice to turn her head away. “Don’t forget, you’re the star of the show. Ready?” Before Alice could reply, Mr. Skelly raised one hand. “Forward march!”
The group left the cover of the trees. Moments later, a fire was lighted on the fortress walls and smoke rose into the air. The heads of dozens of dwarves popped up from over the wall, gawking at the small army approaching them. Mr. Skelly acted as if he hadn’t seen the cannons rolling into place, marching along at a steady pace.
“Halt!” a dwarf shouted from atop the fortress. A cone was placed by his mouth that amplified his voice. “Who goes there? Take one step further and we’ll blow you to bits!”
“Men!” Mr. Skelly shouted, pulling an object from out behind his back.
“Leader!” the army shouted back. Dozens of white bamboo poles rose into the air.
“Ahoy!” Mr. Skelly shouted, waving his arm. “The war is over! Our leaders have made peace! We’ve brought meat and ale!” According to Alice, white bamboo was the universal sign of surrender since the continent didn’t use flags. Mr. Skelly took a step forward, and the ground ahead of him promptly exploded as a bullet entered it.
“I said halt!” the dwarf with the cone shouted back. “I haven’t heard anything about the war ending.”
Mr. Skelly tilted his head. “What do you mean? When was the last time you had contact with your headquarters?” he asked. “The war ended yesterday just before midnight.”
“So what?” the dwarf asked. “The war ends, and you come here with an army saying you have food and drink? Do you think I’m stupid?”
Mr. Skelly frowned before patting Alice’s back. “Your turn.”
Alice glared at the handsome appearance Mr. Skelly took on before taking a step forward towards the bridge. She raised a white bam
boo pole into the air. “My name is Alice Lowenherz. You might know me as the Lion of the East.”
“The berserk librarian?” the dwarf asked.
“Why is it that title!?” Alice shouted, throwing the bamboo pole against the ground. She closed her eyes and exhaled before picking up the pole and raising it back into the air. “Yes. The berserk librarian. May I know who’s in charge of this fortress?”
“The leader is me, Mr. Vice-General Sir Captain Poppy,” the dwarf with the cone said. “But you can call me Mr. Vice-General Sir Captain Poppy the Bull Eater and Deer Hunter’s firstborn son for short.”
Alice’s expression darkened. “Can I just call you Poppy?”
“You may call me what I told you to call me!” Poppy bellowed. “Men, ready the cannons!”
“Alright, Vice-General Sir Captain Poppy,” Alice said. “I’ve come—”
“You forgot to say mister and the bit about my lineage,” Poppy said. He turned his head to the side and asked the dwarves who were loading the cannons, “Aren’t they ready yet!?”
“What are you doing, Alice?” Mr. Skelly whispered. “I didn’t realize your improv skills were this bad. They’re going to shoot at us at this rate.”
“Goddammit, don’t criticize me when I’m doing you a favor!” Alice said and stomped her foot. She glared at the dwarf on the fortress wall. “Mr. Vice-General Sir Captain Poppy the Bull Eater and Deer Hunter’s firstborn son! As an SSS-ranked adventurer and a guild master, my words should hold some weight, no? Even the emperor listens to my words.”
“What are you getting at, berserk librarian?” Poppy asked with a frown. “I don’t give two snots about your emperor. He has to listen to my words as well.”
“I swear on my title of berserk librarian that the war is truly over,” Alice said. “We do mean to make amends for our wrongful actions, which is why we’re extending our hands and gifting you meat and drink. If I’m lying, I will never refer to myself as the berserk librarian again!”
