Though the sun was beginning to set, the sky was lit up as if it were day. A massive bird soared through the sky, dispersing the clouds as it passed through them, revealing a line of clear blue. Vur shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted at the incoming phoenix. As it approached, something poked his cheek out of nowhere, causing him to flinch.

“You know, if you knew how to turn me back into my original form, I could’ve totally helped,” Lulu said, withdrawing her finger.

“S-substitute Your Gloriousness,” one of the dwarves said. “It’s moving too fast to lock onto. Didn’t you say you had a plan to subdue the phoenix matriarch?” He gulped as beads of sweat formed on his brow. The phoenix was still high up in the sky, yet the heat coming off her body could be felt miles away.

“Just watch,” Vur said, narrowing his eyes at the red bird. Vur’s body crackled as scales sprouted from his skin, a pair of wings growing out of his shoulder blades. He fell forwards as his fingers and toes curled, his nails sharpening into claws. A golden rune appeared on his forehead as the yellow and brown runes representing Sheryl and Diamant faded into faint gray lines.

“Dragon!” an ancient yet young voice said. “Why have you invaded my lands?”

“Your land just happened to be in my way,” Vur said, his voice deep and booming. Lulu swallowed her saliva as Vur leapt into the air, his wings kicking up tiny swirls of dirt and leaves on the forest ground.

“You are trying to say you are just passing through?” the phoenix matriarch asked, swooping down to meet Vur. “Then why have you treated my loyal subjects as such? Leading an army of dwarves through the forest, don’t think you can treat this as a mere journey.”

“I’m a dragon; I can do whatever I want,” Vur said with a snort. “If you don’t like it, then try and stop me. Besides, I don’t see a flag claiming this place as your territory.”

“A flag? What would I need a flag for?” the phoenix matriarch asked. “But I see you’re one of those dragons, unwilling to yield and compromise. Didn’t the holy ones chase you all out eons ago? This land was promised to me by Kondra, the matriarch of the holy dragons. Are you willing to go against her as well?”

Vur sucked in a deep breath through his nostrils, causing his chest to expand. His wings beat downwards as his mouth opened and let out a roar accompanied by a flurry of icicles, each the length of a dragon’s tooth. The frost breath surged towards the phoenix matriarch, threatening to skewer her, but she spread her wings and shrieked. Flames surged out of her feathers, creating a wall of flames in front of herself. The ice and fire collided. Ice turned to water, and water turned to vapor. Plumes of steam surged towards the phoenix, buffeting her backwards but doing no harm.

“Arrogant!” the phoenix matriarch shouted. “Are you not afraid of her retaliation?”

“Living in fear isn’t living at all,” Vur said, flapping his wings to launch himself above the phoenix matriarch. “That’s the dragons’ way.” His eyes flashed with a gold light, and the rune on his forehead shone brighter. The phoenix matriarch plunged towards the ground as the gravity around her increased. She flapped her wings and struggled to stay in the air, but it was futile. As soon as she landed on the ground, Vur’s body slammed into her from above like a comet, crushing the poor bird underneath a dragon’s weight. Though the phoenix matriarch was large relative to another bird, she was only a quarter the size of a dragon. “Ouch,” Lulu said and winced as Vur climbed off the phoenix. “That must’ve hurt.”

“You don’t say,” the phoenix matriarch said while coughing. Her wings lay uselessly by her sides. “I’ve never seen a dragon fight like you before, recklessly using your mana and rushing the fight without toying around with your opponent. What dragon doesn’t toy around with their prey first?”

Vur grunted and poked the phoenix matriarch before plucking a few of her flaming feathers. “Is this enough, Sheryl?” he asked, holding the feathers up to his shoulder.

“Yes!” Sheryl said. A hand made of fire extended from Vur’s scales, grabbing ahold of the feathers. “Thank you!”

“Ah!” Lulu said before Vur could respond to his fire elemental. “The matriarch!”

Vur turned his head just in time to see a ball of flames rush towards the sky. All that was left behind of the matriarch was a thin layer of ash. The flames rushed towards the horizon, disappearing in the direction the phoenix had originally come from.

“She escaped,” Lulu said with a frown. “Why’d you let her…, oh.”

Vur’s body fell to the ground with a crash. He exhaled out a breath full of ice before shuddering. His body shrank, and Lulu shivered. Scales sprouted on her arms and legs as Vur lost his. The horned, winged turtle also grew, turning back into a dwarf. “No wonder why you rushed the fight,” Lulu said, her voice sounding a bit strange as her throat transitioned from a human’s to a dragon’s. “Were you really a human to start with then? How odd.”

The dwarves, who had been following after Vur and Lulu, exchanged glances with each other. Even the elves were stunned by what had just happened. The phoenix matriarch, the being they worshipped, had been defeated in two exchanges. Lulu looked around and scratched her head at the strange atmosphere. “Since my future mate has temporarily collapsed,” she said, puffing her chest out, “I’ll take the lead. Continue the battle plan!”

The dwarves’ expressions were blank for a second before they nodded and shouted, “Yes, Substitute Substitute Your Gloriousness.”

“Hah?” a tiny high-pitched voice asked. “What happened while I was sleeping?” A fairy crawled out of Vur’s chest, her body half solid and half motes of light. Stella rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands before blinking a few times. “Sheryl’s evolving? DeeDee’s unconscious?” Her head tilted to the side. “I thought he said the earth never sleeps.” Her brow furrowed as she sniffed the air before scratching her head. “This feeling…, fairies related to me? But I don’t have any kin on this continent.”

Stella flew off of Vur’s body and landed by the pile of ashes the phoenix matriarch left behind. She pinched some and brought her hand to her nose. Her eyes narrowed as she bared her teeth. “A phoenix burnt my children?”