“That’s definitely Grimmoldesser,” Emile whispered to Susan. The two phoenixes huddled next to each other, hiding behind a particularly large leaf. “Look, it’s Lindyss. She’s the elf who kicked Kondra’s butt.”

“Don’t call the dragon matriarch by her name,” Susan said, smacking the back of Emile’s head with her wing. “That’s disrespectful. But you’re right. I wonder what those two are doing here?”

“Does it matter?” Emile asked and shrugged. He stood up straight and spread his wings before hopping off the branch.

Susan’s eyes widened. “Emile! Did you forget Grimmoldesser tried to eat us but only stopped because Tafel was there!?” She leapt off the branch after her brother, tackling him to the ground. The two tumbled in the dirt, rolling and screeching until they collided with a hard wall-like object. They froze and fell silent as they untangled and raised their heads. A black dragon’s face was gazing back down at them.

“Grimmoldesser!” Emile said. “Um. Hi.”

Grimmy exhaled a puff of smoke through his nose, blowing Emile’s and Susan’s feathers backwards. “It rarely happens, but sometimes snacks really do appear by themselves,” he said with a grin.

Lindyss smacked his scales near his eye. “Those are Tafel’s siblings,” she said. “Don’t eat them.”

“Hmm?” Grimmy raised an eyebrow as his eye rolled up to stare at Lindyss. “And how do you know that? You can tell phoenixes apart?”

“Of course not,” Lindyss said and snorted. “How is anyone supposed to distinguish one red bird from another when they look exactly the same?” She pointed off into the distance. “I heard them talking while they were hiding in that tree over there.” She took a sip from her drink before leaning over Grimmy’s snout and gestured towards the phoenixes. “If you two are here, does that mean Vur and Tafel are nearby as well?”

“Maybe,” Emile said and shrugged.

Lindyss knit her brow. “Maybe? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, either she’s here,” Emile said as flames spouted out of his beak, “or she’s been eaten by a pack of wild dogs. Either one.”

Lindyss stared at Emile. A few moments of silence passed. Lindyss turned her head towards Susan, who was fidgeting by shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Because, clearly, your brother has issues.”

“Right,” Susan said, bobbing her head up and down, causing Emile to let out squawks of protest. “What Emile meant to say was we don’t know because he dared Tafel to leave and was shocked when she actually left. Tafel left behind a bead for us to let her know if and when we were in danger, but Emile threw it away because he’s a butt.”

“If I’m a butt, then you’re a sister to a butt!”

“So if I eat them, no one will know?” Grimmy asked, blinking at Lindyss.

“Don’t eat my friends!” a voice boomed out of the hole in the ground. A few seconds later, there was a thumping sound and a squeal along with a groan accompanied by the clanking of metal. Shrieks and clangs roared out of the hole as the ground shook while cracks formed on the earth’s surface. Grimmy took a step back while Lindyss furrowed her brow and spread her aura wings, ascending into the sky.

The ground crumbled as it sank inwards, creating a crater filled with gravel and dirt. An arm shot out of the center of the rubble, and Mary climbed out with her armor and sword dyed completely red. Blood poured out of her like a fountain from two deep slashes on her neck, and her face was so pale that her lips were white. A roar echoed out of Mary’s mouth as she swung her sword upwards, lifting it above her head. The air caught fire and exploded as a red line surged out of her blade, striking Lindyss and cutting off her right arm. The cursed elf had tried to dodge, but Mary’s attack had traveled too fast.

Mary stomped her leg against the ground, and her body vanished, reappearing in the air in front of Lindyss. The empress’ eyes were dull, and her gaze unfocused, but her following sword strike was sharp, gleaming like a polished gem as it sliced down at Lindyss. A white shield emitting a soft glow appeared out of nowhere, blocking the sword strike, causing the muscles in Mary’s arm to tear from the backlash as her blade bounced off.

Mary flew backwards through the sky from the impact, but she righted herself and kicked off the air with her legs, flying back towards Lindyss like an arrow but destroying her knees in the process. “Null-magic!” she shouted, her sword glowing with an even brighter red light. She swung it horizontally at Lindyss’ waist, but the shield floating above the cursed elf intercepted the blow. Mary’s blade bounced off the shield again, causing her body to spin in the air and crash into the ground, blood pouring out of her neck, arms, and legs as she panted, her eyes shifting to stare at Lindyss in the sky. Mary propped herself up on one elbow, gritting her teeth. She raised her sword arm, pointing the trembling blade at Lindyss, and collapsed, her eyes glazing over.

Lindyss frowned as she flew down and picked up her severed arm. She touched the two wounded bits together, and a stringy white light stitched her body back together. “She ruined my shirt,” Lindyss said and wiped away the sweat on her forehead. “Is she dead?”

“Almost,” Grimmy said, “just like you.” He grinned at Lindyss. “If you didn’t have that holy shield spell from that blessed warrior of light’s soul, you would’ve died.”

“Then it’s a good thing I had it, didn’t I?” Lindyss asked as she walked over to Mary’s unmoving body that the two phoenixes had gathered around.

“Stop!” Emile shouted. “What are you doing!? Where do you think you’re touching!?”

“Don’t struggle!” Susan said as she tore away bits of her brother’s feathers with her talons. “This is all your fault in the first place, you dumb butt!” She grumbled as she pinned her brother down and systematically stripped the feathers near his butt. Then she hopped off of him and stuffed the feathers into Mary’s mouth. Susan took in a deep breath and blew a small flame onto the feathers, igniting them. A golden glow encompassed Mary’s body, healing her wounds at a visible rate.

Lindyss ignored the process and looted Mary’s sword. A frown appeared on her face as the blade flashed with a blue light and said, “Don’t touch me! Stop groping my hilt! Let go, let go!” With a swift slap to the surface of the blade, Lindyss dispersed the blue light, silencing the sword. Then she stuck it into her pocket.

“You’re going to let me see that, right?” Grimmy asked, nudging Lindyss’ waist with his claw, forcing a yelp out of the cursed elf.

Lindyss rubbed her side and glared at Grimmy. “This is my trophy.”

“If I didn’t force you two to fight, you wouldn’t have had a reason to claim a trophy in the first place,” Grimmy said with a grin. “I just want a look at it later.”

Lindyss sighed. She knew he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Alright, whatever. Just don’t force me to fight your fights again, okay?”

Grimmy scratched his snout and looked away. “Eh…. The moon’s nice tonight, huh?”