by Virlyce
“Yes, yes. You’re amazing,” Lindyss said in a flat voice. She pursed her lips and asked Leila, “By any chance, is there a way I can skip the meeting tomorrow? I don’t think it’d be very appropriate for a simple elf to attend a meeting between dragons, right? Especially holy ones since I’m, you know, as far from holy as one can be.”
“Nonsense,” Leila said. “You’re our friend. I was always a bit of a shut-in while growing up, so my parents were worried I would be lonely. But you’re here, so I can show them I’m not.”
Lindyss hung her head. “I never expected dragons to have such … mundane problems. But I suppose that’s all you can have if you’re on the top of the food chain.”
“Oh?” Grimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. “And just what non-mundane problems do you have to deal with, Ms. Important?”
“Currently, I’m trying to figure out how to not die while confronting a group of dragons who object to my existence,” Lindyss said, rolling her eyes.
“Didn’t I already solve that for you?” Grimmy asked and poked Lindyss’ stomach, causing her to twitch. “I gave you that soul from the blessed warrior of light, didn’t I? You think I did that for fun?”
“Well … yes,” Lindyss said with a nod. “Isn’t that why you always do things when it’s not because you’re angry?” She rubbed her chin and hummed. “I guess I can masquerade as a blessed warrior. I don’t suppose you can pretend to be a holy dragon?”
“Grimmy doesn’t have to change who he is,” Leila said, draping a wing over her mate and nuzzling her cheek against his. “Love triumphs all. My parents will be against it at first, but they’ll come around.” Her eyes glinted. “I have a trump card after all.”
Lindyss made a face. “You sound like Prika when you say that,” she said and sighed. “Alright then.” She patted Grimmy’s leg. “If I die, I’m counting on you to revive me.”
***
“I-is he going to be alright?”
Tafel raised her head and glanced at the slave trader with half-closed eyes. She was sitting beside Vur, who was lying on the ground with his eyes closed. His armor had been stripped off, and a massive white rose was growing from his chest. The roots cocooned his body, covering every inch of skin. After Vur had drunk the poisonous pool, he had heated up until steam rose off of him. Even Tafel was worried for a moment before the flower sprouted and cooled him down.
“D-do you mind letting us go?” the slave trader asked in a quiet voice. He pursed his lips and hung his head when Tafel glared at him.
“How many days has it been since we’ve been here?” one of the men whispered. They were all stuck at the entrance to the fairy’s gate. None of them tried to leave after Tafel made an example out of one.
“I don’t know? A week? It’s hard to tell when there’s no sunlight,” another man said. His stomach grumbled. Their rations were running low, and the leader had insisted on giving most of it to Tafel. A strange creature with ten horns that had the power equivalent to a top-tier adventurer, why would he try to provoke something like that?
Tafel sighed. Seeing the flower on Vur’s chest brought back bad memories for her. Even though Lindyss had helped her remove the resentful spirits which were haunting her, she still had the occasional nightmare or flashback during the day. Dark caves were the worst. Hurry up, Vur. She pursed her lips and drew circles on the ground with her mana-tail. Her thoughts were answered. The flower on Vur’s chest shrank as a miniature figure appeared, growing by absorbing the plant’s petals.
The roots receded as the rose withered, returning back to the shape of a small seed and embedding itself into Vur’s chest. The rose tattoo still remained, but it was faint and required the right lighting and angle to see. Vur’s eyes shot open as he sat up, knocking the small fairy over. She squealed as she bounced on his lap. Vur blinked. “Stella?”
The fairy looked exactly like Stella had: same short height, same silver hair, same golden antler-like horns. Even her irises shifted colors depending on how the light hit them. The fairy tilted her head to the side. “Stella…? I … am Stella?”
“That’s right,” Vur said. “You’re Stella. I’m Vur.” He gestured towards Tafel whose face was slightly pale. “She’s Tafel.”
“Vur…,” Stella said and wrinkled her brow. She tilted her head again and placed a finger on her chin. “Dragon?”
Vur beamed. “Yes. I’m a dragon,” he said with a nod. The slave trader’s face adopted a confused expression in the background. Vur ignored it. “You’re a fairy. Do you remember anything?”
Stella’s brow wrinkled. She bit her lower lip while hemming and hawing. Finally, she responded with, “I’m Stella.”
“That’s right. You’re Stella.”
“Oh my god,” Tafel said as she hung her head. “She’s exactly like you. Hopefully she won’t be as unreasonable…. Though, I suppose this is a lot better than her retaining her memories from before.”
Stella turned her head and looked behind her back, testing her wings by raising them up and down. The movement came naturally, and soon she was flying, twisting and turning while giggling in the air. Vur and Tafel watched her as she flitted to and fro before finally alighting on Vur’s head. “That was fun. I’m tired. Goodnight.” She promptly wrapped herself in Vur’s hair and fell asleep.
“Do you think she learned her vocabulary while she was in the tattoo form?” Tafel asked.
“Maybe,” Vur said. “I could feel her a lot, and she even told me about this place.”
“That’s true. Do—”
“Is this the place?” a voice called down from the steps leading outside.
“Of course it is. I, Shadow Nelly, found it,” a woman’s voice said. “Obviously it has to be the right place.”
“I don’t know…. It looks awfully suspicious,” a different voice said. “Aren’t there supposed to be some concealment spells around a fairy spring to prevent intruders from entering? It looks like someone came here first. Look, the runes around the area are broken.”
“This is why I say you worry too much,” Nelly said. “Let’s go. With Shadow Nelly leading the way, nothing can possibly go wrong.”
“Stop raising flags like that, please.”
Tafel and Vur glanced at each other. “The humans really talk strangely on this continent, don’t they?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Please don’t associate us normal people with them,” the slave trader said.
“Ah! What’s this? An ambush!?”
Everyone looked towards the steps. A woman clad in a black leather outfit with a black cloth mask was frozen in place. An elf and a bearded man stood behind her, hands on their weapons’ hilts.
“There’s stupid people everywhere,” Tafel said and sighed.
“W-who are you?” Nelly asked, flourishing a piece of paper. “We signed up for the commission first!”
The slave trader turned his head and asked Tafel, “Can we capture them?”
“N—”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Vur said, cutting Tafel off. She glared at him. “What? Everyone has to work hard to make a dishonest living.”
“Don’t quote the skeletons!” Tafel shouted.
“Uh….” The slave trader scratched his head.
“Carry on,” Vur said to the man before hugging Tafel. He stroked her hair and whispered into her ear, “Didn’t you want to go on an adventure to relax? Why are you worrying about such bothersome things?” He separated himself from Tafel, who had turned docile, and placed his hands on her shoulders. “If it’s none of your business and not profitable, leave it alone. That’s what Raffgier told me.”
“Raffgier? That rich noble?” Tafel asked. Her brow furrowed. “Wait. Why are you associating with him?”
“He gives me cake,” Vur said with a nod, a serious expression on his face.
“…I’m really going to have to follow you around one day to see what exactly goes on in your daily life back at home,” Tafel said.
“I’v
e been telling you to, but you always say you’re training,” Vur said and snorted. The three adventurers were strung up in the background as Vur and Tafel chatted.
Tafel turned her head away. “That’s because there’s someone I want to beat,” she said and pursed her lips.
“Oh, he must be very strong,” Vur said. “Why don’t I beat him for you?”
Tafel resisted the urge to hit him. She sighed instead. “Don’t worry about it. One day, I’ll take his rights away.”
***
Erin bit her lower lip as she flitted through the human town, making her way to the adventurers’ guild underneath a bubble of moving smoke. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. The spring she had laid out for her future children had disappeared from her senses. She crashed into an adventurer on the way into the building, knocking over his hat.
“The heck? Is there a fairy here?” the man muttered as he picked up his hat and dusted it off.
“You always say that,” his companion said and rolled her eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you to wear it properly?”
“No, no. Something really knocked into me.”
Erin ignored the squabbling couple and flew in front of the receptionist, cutting ahead of the line. She dropped her veil, causing the receptionist to blink as he stopped mid-sentence. “Please proceed to the back of the line if you need something,” he said, unfazed by Erin’s sudden appearance.
“Who was it!?” Erin shouted, flying forward and tugging on the receptionist’s hair. “Who destroyed my spring!?”
“Ma’am,” the receptionist said as he winced. “I have no clue what you’re talking about, but if you can calm down, I’ll be—baaaaa.”
His voice was cut-off as he was transformed into a goat. Erin shook her fist at him before flying past the counter and into the back room of the guild. The guests stared blankly at the receptionist who fell over onto his side and bleated.
“I told you there was a fairy!” the man with the hat said. “And a queen by the looks of it.”
His companion knocked his hat off. “Just because you were right one time doesn’t mean your hat isn’t not on properly!”
In the backroom of the guild, Erin rummaged through the pile of commissions. On the floor surrounding her, there were a dozen bleating goats lying on their sides. None of them were used to being polymorphed. “Fairy spring, fairy spring, fairy spring,” Erin muttered as she scattered papers about, ripping files off their shelves and tossing them on the ground when they weren’t what she was looking for. “Not here, not here, not here!”
Erin barged out of the room and flew to the mission board hanging on the wall of the guild. She tore down all the papers while the adventurers watched. When the board was clear, her hand was engulfed in a purple aura, and she wrote on the board, leaving sticky letters. The message said, “Wanted!!! Valuable information pertaining to the destroyed fairy spring located in the Peaceful Forest! Deliver a message to 99 Fairy Drive. Reward: Ten-use polymorph staff! All ranks welcome.”
Erin floated a foot back and placed her hands on her hips, admiring her handiwork. That should do it. Whoever ignored the message on her gate was going to pay.
***
Vur yawned as he stretched his arms out to his sides. Stella copied his actions from on top of his head. Tafel stared at them before rolling her eyes. Stella was almost like a miniature Vur. One Vur was more than enough for the world. The wagon they were sitting on wobbled as it passed over a pothole in the road. They had liberated Shadow Nelly’s ride and were heading towards the closest human city which was less than a day away.
Vur rubbed the crud out of his eyes, and Stella copied his actions. He looked around, and Stella did the same. “This place is a lot less green,” Vur said and furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?” Tafel asked. “This is the right amount of green for where we are.” The wagon continued to rattle along the stone road, passing by a few fields of yellow wheat. “We’re in a residential area. You can’t compare everything to the wilderness.”
Vur frowned and glanced around again. Stella spoke up from his head, “It’s less green.”
“You weren’t even born until half a day ago,” Tafel said and rolled her eyes. “What would you know about less and more green?”
“Less green is less green,” Stella said with a nod. She glanced at Vur who met her gaze. “Right?”
“Right,” Vur said. He smiled at Tafel. “See? I’m right.”
Tafel sighed and hung her head. She remembered how Sera convinced Nova to accept Vur through a democratic vote. Was she going to lose all decisions now because Stella would always agree with Vur? She bit her lower lip. She couldn’t let that happen. “Hey, Stella,” Tafel said, causing the newborn fairy queen’s ears to perk up. “Are you hungry?” If the fairy was like Vur, then the quickest way to her heart was through her sweet tooth. Tafel picked up the bag by her side and waved it in the air. “I have some juicy apples.”
Stella pursed her lips as her eyes followed the motions of the bag. She shook her head and glanced at Vur. He didn’t say anything, so Stella flapped her wings and flew towards Tafel, landing on her lap. “Apple,” Stella said, holding out both her hands, palms facing up.
“What’s the magic word?” Tafel asked as she pulled an apple out of the bag.
Stella’s brow furrowed. “Apple,” she said again, her voice firmer this time. She added after a thought and nodded, “Or I’ll curse you.”
Tafel sighed and placed the apple in Stella’s hands. She glared at Vur. “You’re a terrible influence,” she said. “Why did Stella trust you with her birthflower?”
“Vur’s very reliable,” Stella said as she bit into the apple. She struggled as she flew through the air, her face red as she carried the apple back onto Vur’s head. “Because he’s an ice dragon.”
“Ice dragon?” Tafel asked. She wasn’t aware dragons had elements. She guessed it made sense based on what she had seen Vur’s family do: Leila was a holy dragon. Grimmy was obviously attuned to darkness. Grandpa Nova was a dragon of poison while Sera was a dragon of ice. Then what about Vernon and Prika? Vernon was a fan of gravity magic, but Tafel hadn’t ever seen Prika cast a spell. If anything, she’d be a lovesick dragon?
5
Prika scratched her snout and stared at the empty cave. “Uh. Guys? Hello?” she asked and tilted her head. She crawled halfway inside the entrance and looked around. “Grimmy? Leila? I don’t want to interrupt you two if you’re doing anything personal, so at least shout out an answer.” She waited for a few seconds before pursing her lips. She snorted and entered the cave, but she didn’t find any trace of the two even after searching through the whole place; however, she did find a few legendary weapons forged thousands of years ago.
Prika grumbled as she entered the valley, leaving Grimmy and Leila’s cave. “Where did everyone go? Vernon’s not here. Sera’s not here. Grimmy and Leila aren’t here. What the heck, guys? That’s not cool.” She had left for a trip to the south for a few days to acquire some lizardmen romance books, but she was beginning to regret going now. The dragons had left their stuff behind, so obviously someone was still here.
Prika sighed and entered the largest mountain within the range. As expected, she found a green dragon humming to himself as he painted on the walls of the cave. “Hey-o, patriarch,” Prika said and waved one arm.
Nova turned his head, staring at Prika with a slightly blue snout where he had rubbed paint on himself. “Oh, you’re back, Prika,” he said and nodded. “Find any good books?”
“Yup,” Prika said and sat on her haunches. “Just wondering, but where did everyone go?”
Nova scratched his head, adding red paint to the scales near his ear. “Sera and Vernon went on a honeymoon trip to the western continent. Grimmy and Leila went to the eastern continent to visit her family. Oh, and Vur and his wife went there too, I guess….” He mumbled to himself, “He should’ve made it, right?”
Prika�
��s head tilted and continued to tilt until her chin was pointing towards the ceiling. “They abandoned me then? Just because I don’t have a mate!?” She sighed as she righted her head and stared at her front claws. “How could they leave me all alone?”
“Aren’t I here?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ew. You’re old,” Prika said and wrinkled her snout. She flinched. “Err. I meant that endearingly. Yeah, endearingly.” Her head bobbed up and down as her legs inched backwards. Nova glared at her. Prika shouted and dashed out of the cave, “I just remembered I had something to do! Catch you later!”
The cave blurred behind her as she launched herself into the air, soaring above the mountain range in a second. Maybe she’d go to Konigreich and bother Lindyss. The little elf was doomed to be hopelessly alone like herself. Maybe they could play chess or something.
Screams greeted her when she arrived at the city of the undead, landing on a suspiciously crushed-looking church roof. Usually, the screams were enough to attract the elfling’s attention; at least, that’s how Grimmy always did it. But this time, it didn’t work. A skeleton came out to greet her instead.
“Pyrrhicandra,” the skeleton said and saluted. “I’m sorry, but the person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later.”
Prika stared at the skeleton before poking its skull, knocking it off. “Where is she?”
The skeleton picked its skull back up and reattached it. “She was taken away by Grimmoldesser. You can leave a message if you’d like.”
“So … Lindyss isn’t here. Vur isn’t here. Tafel’s not here.” Prika let out unintelligible murmurs as she scratched her chin. The skeleton shivered as the red dragon’s eyes gleamed. “Then I declare myself Empress of the Pyrrhic Empire!”
“Pardon?” the skeleton asked.
Prika’s tail swished, knocking off the church’s steeple. She counted with her claws. “Konigreich. Konigreich the Second. Whatever Tafel’s territory was called.” She nodded. “I just united the three kingdoms and made my conquered lands into the Pyrrhic Empire. Spread the word. It’s my turn to shine!”