Stella hovered over a deep pit with burn marks and gouges decorating its sides. A black dragon with four wings and a bladed tail lay on its stomach atop a lump of squishy, red material. His scaled hide was covered in wounds: long gashes and bite marks that exposed bone underneath. Munching sounds filled the air as he chewed on something red, slurping the sinewy strands down like noodles. His eyes rolled up and stared at Stella before he lifted one paw in greeting.

“Chompy,” Stella said and waved. “I knew you’d win. Come on, you can eat that thing later; there’s an army outside that needs to be devastated.”

Chompy blinked and looked down at the chimera queen corpse underneath himself. Then he looked back up at Stella. He roared and shook his head before biting into the chimera queen again. Strands of flesh were pulled out and sucked into his mouth where he resumed his lazy chewing like a ruminating cow. He ignored the fairy buzzing around his head and swallowed. His wounds wriggled, and a few of the bone-deep scratches squirmed as they stitched themselves back together.

“Oh, I get it,” Stella said. “You’re healing yourself. Okay, that’s great, but there’s still a massive army outside that are going to break in to try to kill you. Take your time.”

Chompy raised his head and narrowed his eyes at Stella before letting out a low roar. Then it went back to eating the chimera queen at a slower pace, sniffing and picking at portions of the queen’s body with its claws before finding a spot to bite down. Stella’s expression darkened when she saw Chompy’s deliberate act of rebellion, and she stamped her foot in the air. “Chompy! People are invading our home!”

Chompy snorted as if to say he could take care of any problems at any time. Even after a nap. He let out a giant yawn that nearly caused the fairy queen to fall out of the air due to its suction. Then he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. He opened his mouth and bit down on the chimera queen without chewing, sucking on it as if it were a straw.

“Huh!? You’re tired, huh!?” Stella threw her arms up into the air before flying onto Chompy’s head. She jumped up and down, but the dragon ignored her, consuming the chimera queen a little bit at a time, savoring his victory. “Is that it? You’re tired? Well, when that army comes in and kills you, you can sleep forever after you die!”

Chompy smacked his lips and licked them before exhaling out a sigh. He rolled over onto his back, causing Stella to scream as she was nearly crushed by his head, and splayed his limbs. With his front right claw, he tore off a chunk of the chimera queen as if he were grabbing an apple off a tree and placed it into his mouth.

Stella bit her lower lip and landed on Chompy’s chest. “Chompy, I’m begging you,” she said with teary eyes. “Please. This is my home. This is your home too. No one likes it when uninvited guests come over unless they’re selling cookies. But these people aren’t selling cookies, Chompy. They’re selling death and murder. They almost killed Sheryl!”

One of Chompy’s eyes creaked open.

Stella raised her head, saw that Chompy was staring at her, and lowered her head again before sobbing. “Chompy, I’m scared, Chompy. I don’t want to die. They’re going to tear the castle down and find my birthflower and burn it. Please, Chompy. You’re a good boy, right? Won’t you be a good boy and help me?”

Stella sank down as Chompy blew out a long breath, his stomach and chest contracting. Both his eyes opened, and he lifted his head. He stared down at Stella with large, round eyes before pointing at his snout. Stella’s eyes lit up, and she flew up to his face, hugging the scales between his nostrils. She petted his head and rubbed her face on him. “Thank you, Chompy. You’re the best! I promise I’ll give you lots of pets and scratches after this is all over. The army has a few million men, and all of them have classes. Do you think you can take them? Deedee and Mistle will help you.”

Chompy scoffed and rolled over onto his feet. He snorted as he puffed his chest out as if to say he didn’t need anyone’s help to take care of anything. He thumped his tail against the chimera queen and gestured towards it with his claw before crossing his front legs over his chest.

“Yes, yes,” Stella said and flew onto Chompy’s head. “My Chompy is amazing. He can do anything, and no one can stop him.”

***

“What’s this?” Grimmy asked once he landed in the destroyed palace where Vur was resting. He swept his gaze over the annoying trio. “A playground?”

“Who’s that?” Bonnie whispered to Eldest while inching backwards to hide behind Sera.

“Why would I know?” Eldest whispered back. He poked Youngest with his tail. “You know lots of weird things. Who’s that?”

“I know as much as you know!” Youngest hissed. The two dragons fought to hide behind each other to avoid Grimmy’s gaze before settling on escaping behind Vernon.

“This is … a bad influence,” Vernon said and cleared his throat. “Whenever he speaks, cover your ears.”

Grimmy raised an eyebrow. “Are those Sera’s illegitimate children?”

Vernon rolled his eyes and gestured towards the black dragon with his paw. “See? Bad influence. These kids are Sera’s sister’s children, Vur’s cousins.”

Lindyss slid off of Grimmy’s head and landed on the ground with a thump. Tafel ran up to her and gave her a quick hug before pulling on her arm, leading her to Vur. Mary sat in a corner next to a bloody lump that was letting out labored breaths, watching the proceedings with wide eyes. Her armor that could be taken off had been stripped, and her sword was nowhere to be seen.

“This is what happens when you get involved with those two.”

Mary raised her head towards the voice. Alice was standing over her, a glass of water in her hands. “What do you mean?” Mary asked and tilted her head.

“I mean exactly what I said,” Alice said with a snort. “They come into your life, turn it upside down, give it a good shake, and place it back onto the table sideways.” Her gaze slipped down towards Zyocuh. “But, sometimes, that’s a good thing. Do you know what he did to Vur? The dragons might see you in a favorable light if you help him out.”

Mary pursed her lips. “I’m too dumb to learn magic.” She lowered her head and stared at her empty hands. “All I can do is swing a sword.”