by Virlyce
Tafel lowered her hand and blinked at Alora. “You’re right,” she said, her eyes widening. “You’re smart sometimes.”
“That’s right,” Alora said. She bit on the block of wood and froze. Her eyes narrowed. “Hey. What do you mean by sometimes? I’m smart all the time.”
“I mean, you’re eating a block of wood,” Tafel said, raising an eyebrow. “It can be hard to take you seriously.”
“I’m not eating it, you dumb bird,” Alora said and snorted. “I’m teething.”
Tafel stared at Alora and nodded. “I see.” She turned away and ran her fingers over her staff. “An innate ability to prevent sweating. Maybe I’ll learn it after awakening. Ah, I wish Emile or Susan were here, then I could just ask them. I wonder what happened to them anyway?”
***
The scenery blurred as Mary traversed through a forest at inhuman speeds. She was walking, but the floor seemed to be shrinking underneath her feet. Every time she took a step, her pale face became a little paler until her thin blue veins could be seen through her skin. When her vision faded in and out, gray lining its edges, she took in a deep breath and sat down on the nearest object that looked like it could be sat on without having to bend her knees too far.
Mary scanned her surroundings. After confirming nothing was around, she crouched down and fell onto all fours, bending her legs and elbows, hiding her arms and legs underneath her stomach. The rune on her forehead glowed as a turtle-shaped aura enveloped her. A translucent snake sprang out of the aura and coiled on top of the turtle’s shell, its tongue flickering in and out as it kept an eye out. Mary closed her eyes and exhaled, her heartbeat dropping to once every five seconds.
Fifteen minutes later, Mary’s eyes shot open. The snake retreated back into the shell, and the black aura melted away, sinking into the cracks in Mary’s armor. She climbed to her feet, her face flush with blood. Her arms reached towards the sky as she stretched, and she tilted her head up before taking in a deep breath. A familiar scent tickled her nose, causing her brow to wrinkle. “Tafel?”
In a nearby tree, two phoenixes were crouching, hiding behind some leaves as they stared at a weird lady that had turned into a turtle with a snake tail and back again. “What do you think that is?” one of the phoenixes whispered. “I like her hair color. Tafel has a thing for taking redheaded people’s hair, right? Let’s steal some.”
“We shouldn’t do that, Emile,” Susan whispered back. “Poor Percy was crying for hours after Tafel took her hair. I don’t want to ruin a stranger’s day.”
“Just a stranger’s day?” Emile asked. “Then if we become friends with her, you’ll do it?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Susan said, glaring at her brother, whose beak was contorted into a stupid grin. “You—”
“Sshh!” Emile said and stuffed Susan’s beak with his wing. “I think she noticed us.” He grabbed some nearby flowers that were growing on some vines and stuck them into Susan’s feathers with his talons. Then he put some on himself. “Emergency camouflage.”
Susan trembled as Mary approached the tree. She crouched down even further, deflating her body until she was as flat as a pancake. “I don’t think this is going to work,” she whispered to Emile, who was doing the same. “She’s letting off a scary aura.”
“Don’t worry,” Emile whispered back. “Snakes have trouble seeing their prey if they aren’t moving.”
“Why did you label us as prey?” Susan hissed.
“Shush!”
Mary frowned and brought her face close to the tree trunk. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her frown deepened as a wrinkle appeared on her brow. She grabbed onto the tree with her arms and pulled herself up, hugging the trunk like a koala would. Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air again. Tiny tremors ran through the tree as she shinnied up the trunk, inhaling the familiar scent with every motion. She stretched her neck out to the side and sniffed, her eyes still closed.
Emile and Susan stared at each other with wide eyes. The strange lady’s face was hovering right over their heads, sniffing them. Susan’s feathers were swaying from the small movements in the air caused by Mary’s inhalations. As Mary’s nose got closer and closer, Susan’s heart beat faster and faster. Right when Mary’s nose was about to touch the phoenix, Susan hiccoughed, causing Mary’s eyes to shoot open.
“Flee!” Emile shouted as he smacked Mary in the face. He meant to knock her off with that blow, but it felt like he had hit a steel wall instead. He leapt backwards at the same time as Susan and spread his wings, twisting in midair and flying up towards the sky. He heard Susan’s wings beating underneath him followed by a short yelp.
“Emile! Help! Lookout!”
Emile’s eyes bulged as cold metal made contact with his foot. A moment later, he squawked as his upwards momentum was stopped, his body plunging towards the ground. He struggled to kick off the armored hand wrapped around his leg before remembering he could turn portions of his body into flames. But somehow, despite his legs being made of fire, the vicelike grip wouldn’t let go.
“Caught you,” Mary said as she landed on the ground, one phoenix in each hand. She brought the upside-down Emile to her face and buried her nose into his stomach, taking in a deep sniff while ignoring the flames he spewed at her. She withdrew her head and frowned. “Why do you two smell like Tafel?”
Emile stopped struggling and tilted his head. “Like Tafel? You know her?”
Mary blinked. “Yes. Do you know her?”
“That depends,” Emile said, rubbing the underside of his lower beak with the tip of his wing. “Do you like Tafel or hate her?”
“She’s my friend.”
“Oh! In that case, we know her,” Emile said, bobbing his head up and down. He waved. “Hi, friend.”
Mary frowned. “The friend of my friend isn’t necessarily a friend,” she said. “Do you taste delicious?”
“Nope,” Emile said, shaking his head back and forth underneath Mary’s glare. “We taste like burnt toenails; you definitely don’t want to eat us.”
Mary’s frown deepened before her face relaxed as she sighed. “Maybe we can be friends since you’re not food.”
“Then let’s be friends,” Emile said as he struggled to right himself. “You look like you’re struggling up there, so why not let us help you think?”
Mary blinked at Emile and dropped him onto the ground, causing him to squawk as he fell on his head.
Susan cleared her throat and smiled at Mary. “Can you put me down gently? I’m sure someone as powerful as you can control their strength.”
A faint smile appeared on Mary’s lips as she placed Susan onto her shoulder. She picked Emile up and hugged him, bringing him to her chest. Her head lowered and the two’s gazes met. “You should be more like this one,” Mary said and pointed at Susan. “My name is Mary. I can think perfectly fine by myself when I have to.”
“I’m Emile,” Emile said. One wing popped free from Mary’s hug, and he gestured towards the phoenix sitting on Mary’s shoulder. “She’s my sister, Susan.” His wing covered Mary’s gauntlet as he lowered it. “It seems like you’re pretty strong. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”
Mary patted Emile’s head, causing his face to cramp. Even though she was wearing metal armor, she still felt Emile’s warmth in her palm. “I’m hunting a black dragon. It stole my prey.”
“You’re hunting a dragon…?” Emile asked, his eyes widening. A dry laugh escaped from his beak. “Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope we see each other again someday. Mind letting me go now? I just remembered we had important phoenix things to do.”
Emile squawked as Mary tightened her hug. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Friends do things together, right? And we’re friends.”
Emile hung his head and buried his face into his wing. He muttered, “Big Sis, save me.”
Mary smiled at Emile and grabbed a nearby vine, tying it around his waist. She tied the other end around her arm b
efore meeting Susan’s gaze. “Your brother’s very dramatic. He reminds me of my own.”
“Really?” Susan asked as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “What’s he like?”
“He was a coward,” Mary said. “He used to tremble and hide in a corner when my other siblings picked on him.”
“Used to?” Emile asked, pecking at the vine around his waist. “Does that mean he isn’t a coward anymore?”
“Yes,” Mary said with a nod. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air before turning around and walking, shrinking the ground underneath her feet as her face grew pale. “He’s dead now. He fell on my sword and died.”
“…Oh.” Emile deflated and shut his beak, all thoughts of escape pushed to the back of his mind.
A few days of traveling later, Mary stopped by a gated mansion, two phoenixes perched on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and dropped to all fours, sniffing the ground. “The black dragon was definitely here,” she said as her eyes shot open. She stood up and tilted her head back, letting out a howl towards the moon. Then she closed her eyes and sniffed the air again. “It’s still here. Its scent is fresh.”
“You sure?” Emile asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Absolutely,” Mary said. “My nose can’t be tricked now that I’ve become more in tune with a wolf. I’m going to rest before this fight starts.” She grabbed a piece of cooked meat that was in a bag hanging on her waist and shoved it into her mouth as she crouched down, chewing twice before swallowing. Her back arched as she hunched over, dropping to her elbows and knees, her forehead shining with a black rune that devoured the moonlight illuminating her face.
“Should we run?” Emile whispered to Susan. Mary’s eyes were closed, and the aura turtle and snake had appeared. The snake eyed the phoenixes, its tongue flickering in and out. “If we both fly at the same time, I bet we can confuse it.”
“I don’t think so,” Susan said. “If it chases after only one of us, then we’re dead for sure if Mary finds out. This is all your fault. Why did you insist on following her even though you could see her traveling at ridiculous speeds?”
“I followed her precisely because she could travel at ridiculous speeds,” Emile said, flapping his wings twice. The snake coiled around him, preventing him from moving. “You agreed to follow her too!”
“I didn’t agree.”
Emile snorted. “You didn’t disagree either. That means you agreed.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to say anything before flying off,” Susan said, narrowing her eyes at her brother. “The next time we see Tafel, I’m going to tell her about everything you did wrong.”
Emile rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a tattletale. What’s Tafel going to do to me, huh? I’m technically older than her even if she is our big sister.”
Susan puffed her chest out and stretched her neck up to look down on Emile. Her voice deepened as her wings crossed over her chest. “I’ll make her teleport you back to Mom.”
“…Please don’t tell,” Emile said. “It’s not like I did anything wrong, right? Why are we bickering between ourselves? If anything, we have to get Tafel to punish this crazy turtle lady.”
“I’m not crazy,” Mary said as her eyes opened. The snake that was surrounding Emile disappeared. “I have full confidence in my ability to hunt a dragon. As long as I drain all my blood, I should be able to do it.”
“Doesn’t that mean you’ll die?” Susan asked, tilting her head.
Mary blinked. “But I have two phoenix friends,” she said, patting Emile and Susan on the head. For some reason, she was a lot gentler with Susan. Emile squawked as his wings flapped, but he couldn’t avoid the crushing petting ability of Mary. “If I die, won’t a phoenix down revive me?”
“Do you think we fart out phoenix downs?” Emile asked, tears wetting the corners of his eyes as he pointed at Mary with a trembling wing. “Our down keeps us warm and prevents us from catching on fire! Giving someone your phoenix down is like giving them your favorite pair of still-warm underwear from your body heat in the winter when you have no other clothes.”
“What do you know about wearing clothes?” Susan asked Emile.
“It was an analogy that she’d understand,” Emile said, bobbing his head up and down. “You understood that, right?”
Mary shook her head. “I didn’t. But please use your phoenix down on me if I die. Tafel would be sad if I did.” Her brow furrowed, and she added in a tiny voice, “Maybe. I hope.”
***
Grimmy rolled a translucent jar back and forth between his two front paws. The devil inside had turned back into a potato-like shape with closed eyes, its limbs and distinguishing features having snapped off due to a previous session of violent shaking. Grimmy blew flames over the jar, but the devil didn’t react. The black dragon rolled the jar towards Lindyss, who was sitting on a rock while reading a book. The jar struck her leg, causing her to hiss as she put the book down. “That’s hot,” she said as she kicked the jar away and rubbed her knee and shin with a hand filled with healing magic. She wiped her hand on her seat and stared at Grimmy. “What do you want?”
“Pay attention to me,” Grimmy said, a smile cutting across his face.
Lindyss snorted. “What are you, a dog?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a book. “Here, you can read this.”
“Pass,” Grimmy said, holding his paw out in front of himself. “Human words are too tiny and flipping the pages is annoying.”
Lindyss stored the book and swiveled her head around, looking for anything to amuse Grimmy with. Unfortunately, the cave that they had chosen to reside in was relatively empty. There was a bear carcass in the corner—the previous owner of the cave. Lindyss scratched her head. “Why don’t you, uh, I don’t know, terrorize a few towns or something? That’s always fun for you, isn’t it?” She glared at him when he shrugged his shoulders in response. “Didn’t you come here with a goal in mind? All you did was trap a devil. Why don’t you catch the summoner or the people behind him as well?”
Grimmy exhaled, causing Lindyss’ hair to flutter backwards. “This is why you’re the ruler of only half the world,” he said and shook his head. “You see, summoning devils takes a lot of energy and resources, and the materials required for that are a huge pain to find. Well, not really, but it’s a hassle. If I want to capture devils, all I have to do is let those summoners summon more for me. I’ll achieve my aims without even lifting a finger. It’s a little like having the great idea of creating a massive undead army that I control but don’t have to maintain because I placed someone else in charge of the boring bits.”
“See,” Erin whispered from within Lindyss’ shirt. “He’s just using you.”
Lindyss flicked the fairy with her finger, causing her to cry out. “I already know that.”
“Then why’d you hit me!?”
“Be quiet,” Lindyss said. “Stop saying things that’ll annoy him because he’ll take it out on me in the form of relentless nagging or teasing.”
“…You deserve it,” Erin said in a defeated voice.
Grimmy’s head rose off the ground as his legs straightened. He turned around, his massive body scraping against the walls of the cave, kicking bits of dust and soil up into the air. “Something interesting is coming this way,” he said with a chuckle as his tail nearly knocked Lindyss’ head off. He lumbered outside, the moonlight gleaming off his black scales as if they were made of obsidian.
“What is it?” Lindyss asked as she stored the book in her hand. “Not many things are interesting to you.”
“Two phoenixes,” Grimmy said as he licked his lips, “and one very delicious species of turtle.”
“Aren’t all species of turtle delicious?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow as she climbed up Grimmy’s tail. She made her way to the top of his head and sat in between his eyes with her legs crossed. “I want some too.”
“This species of turtle has a snake for a tail, so it’s a two-in-one package
deal,” Grimmy said. “I thought they went extinct long ago, but it seems like we encroached on one’s territory.”
Lindyss nodded and swallowed her saliva. She hadn’t eaten for a few days because she was too engrossed in her book, and Grimmy hadn’t hunted anything either. “I think I can sense it, but it’s a very faint aura. It seems like an infant? If it’s on the verge of extinction, shouldn’t you capture it and start up a hatchery?”
“You want me to start a turtle farm? These turtles are as strong as dragons when they’re adults,” Grimmy said. “It’s better to eat it now before it grows old enough to lay eggs.”
Lindyss smacked the top of his head. “You’re giving up huge long-term profits for a tiny short-term gain.”
Grimmy rubbed his chin with his front paw. “We’ll see.”
The two waited underneath the moonlight. A figure appeared on the horizon, two phoenixes perched on its shoulders. Grimmy’s expression relaxed as he deflated with a sigh. “It’s just a person with an imprint,” he said and clicked his tongue. “How disappointing.”
Lindyss sighed as well, her stomach grumbling. “I guess we can eat the phoenixes? A small consolation prize at least.”
“Phoenixes taste burnt,” Grimmy said with a snort. “I don’t want any.” He turned back around and lumbered inside the cave, plopping down onto the ground while curling up into a ball. A moment later, he raised his head. “Waiting for these people to summon more devils is boring. Maybe I’ll capture this person and use her as bait for the turtle that imprinted her.” He climbed back onto his feet and trudged out of the cave. When his head poked out of it, his snout nearly collided against an armored woman, Mary.
Mary took in a deep breath and drew her sword, pointing it at Grimmy’s nose as the two phoenixes on her shoulders flew away into a nearby tree.
“Doesn’t that dragon look familiar?” Susan asked Emile as they hid behind some leaves.
“All dragons look the same,” Emile said and snorted.
Grimmy tilted his head and blinked at Mary. “What’s this?” he asked. “You’re pointing a sword at me?”
