by Virlyce
“I feel like a nightmare’s been unleashed on the world ever since the skeletons started getting along with the fairies,” Tafel said and sighed as she stood up while drawing her sword. She pointed it at Alice. “It’s all Vur’s fault, don’t you agree?”
Alice lunged at the demon in response.
Tafel clicked her tongue and stopped Alice’s charge with her sword. The guild master bounced off the blade and rolled backwards, bumping into a nearby rock. Tafel rushed forward, kicked the bound elf out of the way, and muttered under her breath while keeping her gaze locked onto Alice. The lion aura surrounding Alice roared as it stood on its hind legs. It stomped forward, causing Alice to fall onto all fours, her hands fitting perfectly with the aura’s front paws.
Tafel furrowed her brow. How did Auntie stop Vur’s awakening? She…, she kissed him, didn’t she? Tafel thought before shaking her head. A twinge of annoyance poked her heart. No, no. It wasn’t the kiss. It was her aura beating Vur’s afterwards.
Alice launched herself forwards, turning into a blur of yellow. Tafel rotated the blade in her hands and slashed downwards, hacking at the charging lion with the back of her sword. Alice dodged to the side, but Tafel’s blade entered a portal and smacked Alice in the face, launching her into a tree. “Like a wild animal,” Tafel said and frowned. “How am I supposed to help someone awaken? I don’t have an aura of my own.”
“Subdue her,” a voice said from the side. It belonged to the elf that Mr. Skelly had brought over. “Exhaust her until she regains consciousness, then whether or not she tames the beast inside of her depends completely on her.”
“So I just have to beat her up some more,” Tafel said and nodded. Her horns glowed with different colors: some red, some green, some brown. A vortex formed in the air above her as the ground split apart. Flames blossomed in the sky, spiraling along with the wind while fragments of earth rose up. The rocks collided with the burning winds, turning red and melting into liquid chunks. The vortex of air spun faster, creating a ball of rotating lava in the sky.
“A, a combination spell done by one person,” the elf said with wide eyes. “How?”
Tafel pointed her sword at Alice, who had been circling around the demon. “I hope this isn’t too much,” she said and inhaled through her nose. The ball flew towards Alice, tracking the guild master’s every move. When she dodged, the ball followed at an even faster speed. The aura around Alice bulged and expanded as she roared, charging at the lava head on. The yellow aura and the glowing red ball collided, casting orange hues on the surrounding woods.
A few skeletons oohed and aahed, cropping up only after the fight was almost over. Like a cat playing with a ball of yarn, Alice repeatedly swatted the lava. Her aura and the lava diminished at an equal rate, causing Tafel to exhale in relief. When the ball was the size of a fist, Alice’s red eyes returned to their normal color as she shouted, “Ah! Hot! What the heck is this!?”
Tafel’s horns stopped glowing and the lava dropped to the ground, forming a puddle by Alice’s feet. “Are you alright now?” Tafel asked, still keeping her distance.
“I feel terrible,” Alice said with a groan. She clutched her stomach, causing her eyes to widen. “Why am I glowing yellow? Are these claws?”
“You’re in the awakening process,” the elf on the ground said. He had sat up and managed to undo the bindings on his arms. The material locking his legs together was a lot harder to deal with though. “Close your eyes and concentrate on your forehead. Try to speak to the beast inside your mind. Then…”
“Then?” Alice asked, her eyelids trembling as she resisted the urge to open her eyes.
“Is that a phoenix?” Tafel asked. A red bird had landed beside the puddle of lava, looking at it while tilting its head.
“It, it is!” the elf said.
“Then what!?” Alice shouted, still keeping her eyes shut. Her face was pale, and the lion aura was struggling as if it were trying to break away from her. The red bird squawked in response, flapping its wings and distancing itself from Alice.
“Here, little birdy, come here,” Tafel said while the elf reluctantly guided Alice. Another ball of lava formed in the air above Tafel’s head, causing the tiny phoenix to hop closer to her. “That’s right. Come here, little fella. Come to the nice and cute demon lord. That’s a good bird.”
The phoenix hopped over to Tafel, who had sat down on the grass, and perched itself on her knee. The ball of lava lowered towards the phoenix, causing it to chirp and gaze upon it with bright eyes. It hopped up and down while fluttering its wings, craning its neck towards the lava. When the ball came close enough for the phoenix to touch, the red bird leaned forward and dipped its beak into it, its throat bobbing up and down as it drank without restraint.
“Who’s a good bird?” Tafel asked in a high-pitched voice while smiling at the phoenix. “You are. Yes you are. Such a cute little thing.” She raised her head and glanced at the elf. “Can phoenixes speak?”
The elf had a look of longing on his face. It took a while for his gaze to break away from the phoenix on Tafel’s lap. He gave Tafel a wry smile before saying, “Yes, phoenixes can speak. But only if they’re imprinted.”
Tafel lowered her head, and her eyes widened. The phoenix had finished drinking the lava, its body bloating up into a rotund feathered ball with beady eyes. Its wings flapped uselessly against its sides as it wobbled and fell over, rolling on the ground. A tiny voice escaped from its beak. “H-help!”
Tafel stared at the bird in disbelief. This was a glorious phoenix? Floofykins was a thousand times more graceful than this thing. She sighed as she picked the phoenix up and placed it into her lap, running her hands through the bird’s feathers, removing a few pebbles and pieces of dirt. “Better?” Tafel asked, tilting the phoenix’s face towards her.
The phoenix yawned, its pink tongue poking out of its beak. It blinked a few times before ruffling its feathers. “Strange elf, so pale,” it said as it snuggled against Tafel’s stomach. “Smells like Mom. …And bacon?”
Tafel smiled at the phoenix while the elf watched on with his mouth and eyes wide open. Would Floofykins taste like bacon? Tafel thought. A moment later, she shook her head. Don’t think weird, murderous thoughts about Floofykins, Tafel. Save those for the woman preying on Vur. There’s definitely someone or you wouldn’t be feeling this uneasy!
22
E parked the car beside all his other cars and sighed as he stepped outside.
“What’s wrong, E?” Sheryl asked. She had taken the form of a red rock that sat on his right shoulder. Her legs dangled near his collarbone while her arms held onto him, keeping her in place. “You sound upset.”
“Worst drive of my life,” E said. He turned around and stared at the car with Sheryl. Lindyss and Erin were fighting each other in the backseat with Vur stuck in between them. And behind the car, attached by a hook, there was a giant wagon with a dragon sleeping on top of it, her head tucked underneath her wing. “I’ve done my best to forget about it, but these last two weeks were more stressful than my whole time as king.”
Sheryl grunted in agreement. “Are all humans like my contractor?” she asked. “The world’s a very scary place if they are. No wonder why Az never left the volcano.”
“No,” E said. “If every human was like Vur, then dwarves wouldn’t be the race in power. You just happened to contract with the most abnormal person in existence.” He glanced at the rock sitting on his shoulder. “Regretting it now?”
“Nope!” Sheryl said and threw her arms into the air. “I’m almost a volcano elemental already. There’s so much mana inside of his body, it’s amazing. I’m evolving a hundred times faster than I was inside the volcano. I think Az forbade us from contracting with people because he was afraid of us advancing past him. But he died and has to restart as an ember elemental, so ironic, isn’t it?”
“You treat death pretty lightly,” E said. “He was your clan master, right? Shouldn’t you be a little more upset
? I’d be upset if my people didn’t care one wit for me after I died.”
“Death is just a new beginning,” Sheryl said. “Sure, some memories are eaten, but you get to pick which ones you give up.”
“Eaten?” E asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Sheryl said with a nod of her rocky body. “Eaten. Like how you eat berries, the Wisty eats memories. You meet her every time you die.” She paused and put a finger to the crack which represented her mouth. “Oh, but you wouldn’t remember meeting her. I heard she eats all of your memories if you’re not an elemental or fairy.”
“Huh,” E said. “This is my first time hearing about this Wisty. What does she look like?”
Sheryl hummed. “An octopus?” she asked. “With millions of billions of legs taking souls all the time. That’s also why it takes so long to come back to life. The queue takes forever—unless a living person helps you skip it. We call that the fast track.”
“And all of this is real? You’re not making this up?” E asked. “I feel like I should’ve heard about this before considering it answers the question of what happens when you die.”
Sheryl rolled her obsidian eyes. “Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘elementals and fairies are as trustworthy as farts during a stomach cramp’? It’s up to you whether you want to believe me or not about the Wisty.”
“You stupid apple-shaped elf! Why are you so hateful!?” Erin’s voice rang through the air. A second later, the car burst into pieces as Lindyss turned into a hippopotamus. Vur tumbled on the ground, rolling to E’s feet. He spat out a clump of grass as he sat up and looked around.
“Can’t you do something about your aunt?” E asked as he offered his hand to Vur. Sheryl hopped along his arm and melded back into Vur’s shoulder, disappearing into the yellow runes. Vur grabbed E’s hand and stood up.
“Do something? Why?” Vur asked and tilted his head. “It’s been forever since Auntie made a new friend.”
E stared at the hippopotamus that was flying in the air and trying to chomp the fleeing fairy queen into bits. “If that’s how she treats her friends, I don’t want to see how she treats her enemies,” he said.
Vur rubbed his chin. “About the same,” he said. His brow furrowed. “Maybe Erin’s actually not a friend.” He shrugged and turned towards the dwarf’s palace. “So when’s my coronation ceremony?”
“It should be ready in about a week or so as long as nothing’s gone wrong,” E said. “Then I’ll finally be able to pass all my work over to your aunt, right? She’s the one with the hobby of ruling kingdoms?”
“Yeah,” Vur said, ignoring the screaming fairy in the background.
“Your Gloriousness!” a voice shouted from the palace’s entrance. Dozens of dwarves rushed outside with cannons trailing behind them. Within a few seconds, all the cannons were primed and loaded in a neat line, pointing at Lulu, who was just beginning to wake up. “Just give the order and we’ll blow it away!”
“No!” E said and ran towards the palace with his hands in the air. “Bad! Stop! Lulu is a guest!”
Lulu blinked twice before craning her head towards the cannons. “Oh,” she said and poked one with the tip of her tail. “Are these the thunder shooters that scared my mom away? How do they work?” She picked one up and peered at it, fiddling with everything she could. “Kind of heavy for such a small thing, don’t you think? Why don’t you use a lighter material like kalyterium? And this powder is pretty crude; the explosions won’t be clean at all. But the sound it’ll make would be pretty loud. No wonder why Mom called them thunder shooters. But the actual projectile should’ve been this ball, right? Interesting. Oh? There’s even smaller fragments inside this ball. Wow, that’s pretty neat, but why not fill it with plague-infested insects? Or explosive mayjorbs?”
The dwarves stared at Lulu with wide eyes as she dissected the cannon within seconds. One of the dwarves looked at E and asked, “D-did you bring her here to help us create better weapons for the war?”
“The war?” E asked. “What war?”
“You, you don’t know about the war, Your Gloriousness?” the dwarf asked with a strange expression on his face.
“No,” E said and straightened his back. “Who’d we declare war on?”
“The humans declared war on us,” the dwarf said. “They struck first.”
E recoiled. “What? Are they stupid?”
“Quite the opposite, Your Gloriousness,” the dwarf said, expression grim. “While we were retaliating, they struck at the vital points in our infrastructure. Mooney’s territory has been completely isolated and disabled. We fear he’s already fallen in battle.”
“Ridiculous,” E said and turned towards Vur. “Sorry, but it seems like your coronation ceremony will be delayed for a while.” He nodded at the dwarves. “Let me see the war room. It better not be slacking.”
“I’ll come too,” Vur said. “I’m good at strategy.” He glanced at Lindyss and Erin, who were still bickering with each other, before shrugging and following after E.
“Welcome back, Your Gloriousness,” a dwarf said as Vur and E walked into a room. Close to a dozen dwarves were sitting in a circle with two empty seats in the center. “Who is this?”
“This is Vur,” E said. “He was supposed to be the new dwarf king. The coronation ceremony will have to be put on hold until this situation is dealt with.”
“A human as our king?” one of the dwarves with a massive red nose asked. “I can’t accept this!”
Another dwarf who was bald and had a silver mustache nodded. “Right. I hate Plumby’s guts, but even I have to agree with him this time.”
“Don’t call me Plumby!”
“Shut up!” E said, stifling the commotion before it could grow too loud. “If you can’t accept a human as our king, then pretend he’s a really tall dwarf. There will be no more arguments about this, understood? We have more pressing matters to deal with.” E strode to the table and leaned over it, reading the titles of the documents spread out over a massive map. “This is the declaration of war? It’s definitely written by some pretentious nobles, look at how archaic the language is. And it’s even backed by the Lion of the East. What are those two buffoons who call themselves emperor and empress thinking?”
“Oh, you were hit pretty hard, huh?” Vur asked as he towered over all the dwarves. He rested one arm on Plumby’s head while gazing at the map on the table. He brushed aside a few documents and clicked his tongue. “Whoever designed this kingdom sucked. It looks like a mishmash of twelve separate countries tied together by a couple of roads.”
“Well, that’s essentially what my kingdom is,” E said. “I rule over the twelve generals, and the twelve generals rule over their own lands.”
“There’s only eleven people here,” Vur said and looked around.
“We lost Mooney,” one of the dwarves said. “That’s his portion over there.” He pointed at the section of the map with a giant red ‘X’ drawn through it. “We know nothing about it. No messages have been sent out, and all the scouts we sent in never came back.”
Vur rolled his eyes. “Well, when you only have two roads leading into a country, of course, it’s going to be easy to isolate. Get the earth elementals to construct a road over this river and send in scouts that way.” He pointed at the portion next to Mooney’s on the map. “Who owns this section?”
“I do,” the dwarf with the silver mustache said. “I—”
“Alright, you’re responsible for reconnecting with Mooney via new entry routes,” Vur said. “Create one road exiting your territory, but have it branch out into hundreds of roads to enter Mooney’s so the invaders can’t use them to sneak in.”
The mustached dwarf glanced at E. E nodded. “Do as he says,” E said. “His words are greater than mine. He’s a master at strategy and warfare. He comes from across the ocean, much like our ancestors, and he owns his own kingdom that he’s confident enough to leave without management to go on a vacation.”
; “Hmm.” The mustached dwarf inspected Vur from top to bottom as if he were seeing him for the first time. “So he has some qualifications. Well, I see nothing wrong with his proposal. I’ll create those roads right away, but will the earth elementals cooperate with me?”
Vur patted his right arm. “Deedee.”
“Don’t call me that…,” a defeated voice said as a brown figure materialized next to Vur.
Vur gestured towards Diamant. “He’ll help you coordinate with the earth elementals.”
“My name is Diamant,” Diamant said to the mustached dwarf. “I look forward to working with you.”
Chatter broke out amongst the dwarves. “Diamant…?”
The door to the war room flew open, silencing them. Lindyss walked inside with her hair disheveled and clothes partly tattered. Following close behind was a fairy who was spewing curses out of her mouth. “Hey! I want to go inside too!” Lulu’s voice shouted from outside the palace. “Hey, guys! Wait for me! …Guys?”
“What’s this?” Lindyss asked as she plopped down on the seat reserved for the king. “A strategy meeting? How boring. Just summon a swarm of undead and sweep through them.” She glanced around. “Where’s your royal library? I want to find some information on how to increase Vur’s mana pool and mana regeneration so his dreams won’t stay dreams. Take me there.”
The dwarves exchanged looks with each other while Erin muttered, “Do you see how rude she is? How can someone like her even exist?”
E sighed and snapped his fingers. An armor set appeared next to Lindyss. “Follow that and you’ll arrive at the royal library,” he said. Lindyss nodded and stood up, letting herself be guided by the empty suit. Erin glanced at the dwarves, who were shooting hostile looks at her, before muttering and following after Lindyss.
“That was his aunt,” E said, gesturing at Vur after Lindyss had left the room.
Vur scratched his chin. “I want a report on all your troops and supplies required to maintain them. I need to know everything about your firepower and abilities,” he said. “I also need to know about our enemies: what they can do, how strong they are, what their favorite foods are, how many times they drink water in a day. Everything.”