Grimmy yawned and smacked his lips a few times. He curled his front paws and rested his chin on top of them, stretching out his hind legs until his knees were touching the ground. His tail and wings arched into the air once as he fully extended them before letting them fall limp to the ground. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, his back rising from the action. Then he exhaled through his nose, deflating while blowing tendrils of fire out of his nostrils. Meanwhile, three dragons sat in a neat row in the same exact position, staring at Grimmy with wide eyes. None of them moved or said a word. If it weren’t for the tiny shivers racking their bodies and the tears threatening to fall from the middle one’s eyes, someone could’ve mistaken them for statues.

One of the trio swallowed. Then the other two swallowed when Grimmy didn’t react. Their necks creaked as they slowly turned their heads to look at each other. One of Grimmy’s eyes trembled, and the three dragons nearly snapped their necks trying to get their heads back into their original position before his eye opened. Grimmy’s eyelids stopped moving, but his eyes remained closed. The annoying trio relaxed, and the one in the middle, Bonnie, exhaled. Grimmy’s eyes shot open, and Bonnie nearly screamed, but her two brothers covered her mouth with their paws.

“What are you three doing?” a voice asked from above.

Grimmy sat up and smiled at the two dragons descended from the sky. “Oh, you’re back,” he said. “How was it? Easy?”

Sera snorted. She gave the annoying trio a strange look before turning her attention onto Grimmy. “I used your little elf as a scout and decided we need all of us to destroy it without getting hurt.” She swept her gaze over the courtyard. “Where’s Alora?”

“Alora? She’s right there…,” Grimmy said and turned around. His eyes narrowed into slits when he saw that Alora’s tail wasn’t peeking out from behind the palace. He turned to the annoying trio. “Where is Alora?”

“We don’t know, Uncle Grimmy!” the three dragons said at the same time, sitting in the same way.

Vernon’s gaze alternated between the annoying trio and Grimmy. “Did something happen while we were gone?”

“No, nothing happened,” the annoying trio said in unison. “Uncle Grimmy treated us very well. We’re very happy that you let him watch over us. He’s so nice.” A teardrop leaked out of the corner of Bonnie’s eye, and Eldest wiped it away with the tip of his wing. “What could possibly happen with Uncle Grimmy watching over us?”

“What did you do to them?” Lindyss asked and slid off of Sera’s head. She walked up to Grimmy and climbed his face like it was a cliffside before sitting on top of his forehead. “They’re awfully well-behaved. A little too well-behaved.”

“We’re always well behaved,” the trio said, speaking at the same time. “Please don’t accuse Uncle Grimmy of doing something to us.”

“Wow.” Lindyss blinked at the trio. “This coercion is on a whole different level.”

“So Alora’s gone missing,” Sera said. “And where’s Vur?”

“Oh, Vur? I know where he went,” Grimmy said and nodded. “He went to find genies with his little friends somewhere to the west.” His eyes lit up. “Ah. Maybe Alora went with him.”

Sera exhaled out two jets of smoke. She gave the annoying trio another strange look before nodding at Grimmy. “Then I suppose the six of us will have to do. The trio can pin down the giant’s legs. You and Vernon can take its arms. And I’ll take off its head.” Just as Lindyss was about to celebrate, Sera glared at her. “And you can help prevent injuries with your bone dragons.”

Lindyss sighed. “Got it, boss. Whatever you say.”

***

Vur, Alice, and Mr. Skelly sat around a boar skeleton that was lying next to a fire. Vur’s eyelids drooped, and his body slumped forward, but he jerked back up in the next second. Then his neck relaxed, and he fell forward again. Alice and Mr. Skelly watched Vur bob up and down without saying a word. After spectating for a while, Alice cleared her throat. “If you’re tired, then lie down. We’ll keep watch.”

Vur blinked at her before nodding. He slid off the stump he was sitting on and stumbled towards the fire before stretching himself out and yawning. The second his head touched the ground, snores rang out of his face. Four rocks crawled out of the runes on his body and sat around him in a square formation. Stella popped her head out of Vur’s chest and looked around. Then she flew out and towards Vur’s neck, crawling into his hair to use as a bed.

“It looks like we don’t have to keep watch,” Alice said, staring at the elementals.

“The earth never sleeps,” Diamant said in reply.

“Neither do skeletons,” Mr. Skelly said. “You should rest too, Alice.”

Alice frowned. “I’m a little worried about Tafel and Mary. Mary’s a bit of an idiot, and Tafel’s the type to get dragged along by idiots’ whims. What if they’re doing something stupid right now?”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Mr. Skelly said. “The only dangerous thing inside of these forests are rude genies, and that’s only if you make a vague wish.”

“Baaa.”

Alice furrowed her brow. “Did one of you just bleat?” she asked the elementals.

“It was probably Mistle,” Zilphy said with venom in her voice. “She’s a filthy animal.”

“Excuse me?” Mistle asked, standing up. “Why don’t you say that to my face?”

Zilphy crossed her arms without standing or turning towards the blue rock. “Sorry, I don’t speak animal.”

Sheryl wiggled over to Diamant and poked his side. She whispered, “Shouldn’t you do something about those two? Isn’t it your fault in the first place?”

“Yes, yes, blame me,” Diamant said and rolled his eyes. “It’s always the earth elemental’s fault.” He sighed. “I suppose it’s my fault for being too handsome and having two elementals fall for me.”

Sheryl’s eyes narrowed. She reached down, dug her sticklike fingers underneath Diamant, and flipped him over in one motion. He shouted, but Sheryl ignored him and wiggled back to her previous spot by Vur’s head.

“Baaaa!”

“Someone shut that sheep up!” Stella said, popping out of Vur’s hair.

“Mistle can do it,” Zilphy said. “Maybe it’s her cousin.”

“I’ll do it,” Diamant said and righted himself. He stood up and walked past Alice and Mr. Skelly towards the source of the sound. The darkness seemed to swallow him as he walked into the woods. A moment later, he came back out. “Alright. It was a weird sheep that looked like a human, but I shut it up anyway. Happy?”

“Ye—”

“Baaa! Baaa!”

“—s?” Stella tilted her head. “Why does it sound like there are even more now?”