Alora wet her lips with her tongue, staring at Vur, who was still in the process of polymorphing. “I can do this,” she said in a low voice. Her golden eyes tinged with a pink color. “I can do this,” she said again. The pink inside of her irises darkened, pushing out the gold. “I can win against Vur.” Her irises turned completely red, her slit pupils shifting from black to pink. She opened her mouth again, her voice slower and more melodic this time, “You can do this.”

“Did that dumb lizard just hypnotize herself?” Lindyss asked and furrowed her brow.

Tafel flinched before tugging on Lindyss’ sleeve. “You’re speaking your thoughts out loud,” she whispered in a hiss.

Lindyss frowned. “I was just surprised.” She glanced at Sharda and Grimmy, but it seemed like neither of them had heard her. “If she knew hypnosis, why didn’t she try it earlier on me?”

A roar rang through the cavern, and Vur flared his wings outwards. He stood on his hindlegs, and two more front legs sprouted out of his sides. He fell forward, his four front feet landing on the altar room’s floor with a thud, shaking the ground. His eyes glowed gold, and Alora sank down, her knees bending as the gravity around her increased, her head nearly touching the marble tiles. Vur pounced forward, but right as he was about to tackle his cousin, Alora’s eyes flashed, and she shifted to the side like a fish in water, avoiding him. She looped around to his back and flung herself on top of him, seemingly unaffected by the increased gravity.

Vur whirled his head around to bite Alora, but an invisible force pressed down from above, bending his knees and forcing his neck towards the ground. Alora’s eyes were completely red, shining like two dying suns, staring down at Vur. Her mouth stretched open and she chomped down on Vur’s neck, sinking deep into his flesh. Not even a second later, she coughed and reared her head back, spitting out a puddle of purple liquid. Vur’s body melted, his scales slipping down like ice cream.

Alora struggled free from the purple goop beneath her feet, but bits and chunks clung to her claws and scales. The purple goop on the floor partially solidified. Two eyes appeared in the center of the mass, and it hopped away from Alora, growing in size with every bounce. Vur reformed, the purple goop turning into blue scales as it wriggled back into place.

“When did he learn how to do that?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s very….”

“Overpowered and broken?” Tafel asked.

“No.” Lindyss shook her head. She tapped her finger against her chin. “Disturbing to watch.”

“Oh.” Tafel nodded. “It is a little weird, I agree. It looked a lot better underwater when the leviathan did it.”

Vur glared at Alora. “Did you reflect my gravity magic?”

Alora didn’t respond. Instead, she sucked in a deep breath, her chest billowing out like a balloon. She stomped forward with her right paw and exhaled, ejecting red icicles out of her mouth. Two streams of fire left Vur’s nostrils as he snorted, and he stood on his hind legs. A green rune in the shape of a star lit up on his front leg, and his wings flapped. Gusts of wind surged forward, halting the icicles before blowing them back to where they came from. Alora growled and leapt to the side, but her foot sank down instead as a fissure opened up underneath her leg. Her face planted into the floor, and the icicles thumped against her side. Only one or two had been blown back with their sharp end pointed at her, and the rest bounced off of her scales without harming her.

Fire blossomed throughout the room, and Lindyss retreated through the entrance. Tafel’s eyes widened as the familiar blood-colored flames danced around her body. “Vur! That’s cheating! How come you know more phoenix skills than I do!?”

Vur burst into flames, and he reappeared over Alora’s head, his body forming from the flames. Alora barely had just lifted her leg out of the ground, but Vur fell on top of her, forcing her down again. White rays of light shone out of the corners of Vur’s mouth, slipping through the gaps between his teeth as well.

Sharda furrowed her brow and turned her head towards Grimmy. “Isn’t that Kondra’s….”

Grimmy grinned. “Yep.”

Sharda’s eyes widened, and she leapt forward. “Stop! The trial by combat is over!” She tackled Vur, knocking him over and off Alora. A beam of white light shot out of Vur’s mouth and into the ceiling. When it dispersed, sunlight shone through from above. Sharda peered up at the hole and exhaled before placing her paw on Vur’s head. “You win.”

Alora rose to her feet, her eyes still red. She lowered her head towards her front leg.

“Alora? It’s over, dear,” Sharda said. “You lost.”

Alora bit down, sinking her teeth into her own flesh. Blood trickled down her leg and towards her paw, but the little red rivulets disappeared as if they were absorbed by her scales. Alora shuddered, and her muscles contorted, growing and shrinking as if a wave had been sent into her body. Starting from her head down to her tail, she grew and shrank before finally ending up a little larger than before. Her purple scales slowly became lighter as they lost their blue hue, turning into a bright red.

Sharda frowned and stepped towards her granddaughter. “Alora?”

Alora roared and charged forward. Sharda dug her legs into the ground, bracing herself to stop Alora’s charge. The two dragons collided, and Sharda was flung into the air while Alora maintained her pace, heading straight for Vur. Vur snorted and disappeared, his body going up in flames. He reappeared behind Alora and grabbed her tail with his front paws. He planted his remaining four paws against the ground and braced himself. Alora’s body stretched taut, and Vur pulled while lifting. Alora’s legs scrabbled in the air, seeking to grab something solid, but Vur curled his body and slammed Alora into the ground behind himself. Before Alora could orient herself, Vur stepped on her hindlegs with his and pressed her front legs down with the four of his. Then his eyes glowed as he increased the gravity around himself. Alora wriggled, but Vur was like an unmoving mountain, pinning her in place.

Alora opened her mouth and inhaled, but Vur blew a breath of flames at her face, and she choked and gagged, her chest deflating. Vur blinked and looked up at Grimmy. “How do I stop her?”

Grimmy shrugged. “Try dumping cold water on her face.”

Vur raised on of his front paws and tapped his back. “Mistle?”

Blue runes lit up in the shape of a baby leviathan, and a sigh rang out. “Alright. Fine.”

A ball of water materialized above Alora’s head with little crystals of ice floating around inside of it. Then it dropped, falling straight onto Alora’s face. Alora gasped, her eyes widening, losing their red hue. “Gyack! That’s cold! W-w-what the heck!?” She spluttered and wriggled, but Vur was still pressing her down. She stopped struggling and blinked up at her cousin. “Uh. Did I win?”

“No.”