Lindyss tossed a red orb up and down. “That wasn’t very fair at all,” she said and shook her head. Surrounding her, a little more than half of dozen dragons were lying around with their mouths and claws stained red. There was one crushed dragon skeleton resting on top of a red puddle, its limbs ground into dust. “It’s still a shame I lost a skeleton though.”

“Undead are meant to be used,” Grimmy said and thumped Lindyss’ back with his paw. He knocked her over onto the ground from the blow. “You were saving it for something important, weren’t you? If this wasn’t important, you wouldn’t have lost it, but since you did, then it was worth spending.”

Lindyss spat out a mouthful of mud as she pushed herself up with her arms. “Watch your strength, you oaf,” she said and glared at the black dragon. “Am I going to be compensated for my lost skeleton?”

“Compensation?” Grimmy asked and raised an eyebrow. “Why would you need compensation for accomplishing a good deed? The sense of satisfaction from achieving good in the world should be all the compensation you need.”

“Satisfaction won’t replace what I’ve lose,” Lindyss said with a scowl.

“Then … do you want me to gift you another soul?” Grimmy asked and grinned. “I can do that. Which one would you like this time? A beast tamer’s? A phoenix’s?”

Lindyss furrowed her brow. “Why do you have a phoenix’s soul?”

Grimmy shrugged. “You know how things are,” he said. “Things just happen and somehow things end up the way they do.”

“I’ll … take the phoenix’s soul,” Lindyss said and nodded. A moment later, she frowned. “Which phoenix did this belong to?”

Grimmy chuckled before reaching behind his wing, pulling out a hazy red orb. “Despite what you say, you’re quite greedy, aren’t you? As for the phoenix this belonged to…, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” He held out his paw, offering the orb to Lindyss. She grabbed for it, but Grimmy moved his claw forward and smacked the cursed elf’s forehead, planting the hazy mist directly into her face. She yelped and clawed at her face before curling up into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest as she lay on her side in the fetal position.

The annoying trio, Sera’s sister, and Sera’s sister’s mate turned to stare at the fallen elf. “Um,” Bonnie said and bit her lower lip. “Is she okay?”

“This happens all the time,” Sera said and wiped at her mouth with the backs of her paws. She spat a few times, shooting out bits of red saliva. “You can ignore her.”

“Is, is that so?” Bonnie said and swallowed. Lindyss was rocking from side to side, thumping her knees against the ground with every twist. Bonnie snuck a peek at Grimmy, and his eyes met hers. She froze, her wings stiffening against her sides. “Y-yep. She looks perfectly healthy. Nothing wrong here.”

“Did I hear that right?” Tafel turned towards Vur. His face was also smudged with red liquid, his claws tinting the ground red. “Grimmy just slapped a phoenix’s soul into Auntie?”

“I heard it too,” Mary said. She pursed her lips and walked up to Grimmy, holding out her arms which were covered by leather gloves. “Give me back my sword and armor, please.”

Grimmy snorted. “You always cause trouble when you have that sword,” he said. “Why should I give it back?”

“That’s not true,” Mary said and pursed her lips. “Sword, please.”

“Oh? Have you been causing trouble without your sword?” Grimmy asked and raised an eyebrow. His gaze landed on Tafel and Vur. “Has she?”

“No,” Tafel said and shook her head. “She’s been very well-behaved.”

“And there you have it,” Grimmy said. “If you have your sword, you’ll cause trouble. You won’t cause trouble without your sword, so I think it’s better for me to hold onto it. Besides, it’s, uh, melted and stuff. You probably don’t want it back anyway.”

Mary’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “It’s … what?”

Grimmy blinked. “You saw us dismantle that giant blood giant just now, right?”

Mary nodded. “Yes. It was very impressive. What did you say happened to my sword?”

Grimmy pointed at Lindyss. “I let her use the sword to dig out the core. And it partially melted.”

Mary bit her trembling lower lip. “But why would you let her use my sword…?”

“Like I said.” Grimmy shrugged. “Things just end up the way they do. Crying about it now won’t bring back your sword. I suggest you find a new one. Good luck.”

Mary turned towards Tafel, staring at the demon with watery eyes that threatened to spill over at any moment. Tafel sighed and ran her hand through her hair from the front of her head to the back. She walked up to Mary and held her hand before nodding at Grimmy. “Do you think you can spare one of your swords that I know you hoard for Mary?”

“I want my sword…,” Mary said and sniffled. She blinked hard, her eyes burning.

“Nope,” Grimmy said. “Those are my swords. Maybe if you do a quest for me, I’ll consider it.”

Tafel squeezed Mary’s hand. “Do you want to do a quest for a sword? It might be even better than your first one.”

“How am I supposed to do a quest without my sword…?” Mary asked in a tiny voice.

“That’s simple,” Grimmy said. He grabbed Lindyss and frowned. “Stop squirming.” The elf cursed at him as he rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a crying baby turtle with an attached snake for a tail. He dropped Lindyss onto the ground and rolled the turtle over to Mary. “Here. Raise this thing. It reminded me of you because you both cry a lot.”

Mary stared at the turtle pawing at her foot. She blinked away her tears and raised her head to glare at Grimmy. “How long do I have to raise it for?”

Grimmy shrugged. “Not sure. Until it’s old enough for me to harvest its soul.”

Sera glared at Grimmy and spoke while Mary’s mouth was hanging open in shock, “I think you should go to Leila and help her watch over your egg. She needs to be around you to keep you in check.”