“Nova? Sharda?” Prika pushed aside a tree and poked her head through the gap left behind. She peered around and blinked at the clearing. It was empty, save for a few gashes in the ground and overturned plants. A few uprooted trees lay on their sides. Prika’s expression darkened, and she shoved her way into the clearing. She cupped her front paws over her mouth and stood on her hindlegs. “Nova! Sharda! Are you there?”

The only response she received was a startled bird cry, and two red birds flying out of a tree. Prika’s eyes shifted towards the movement. “Oh? Are those phoenixes?” She leapt into the air and flew after the two birds, gaining on them with every beat of her wings. “Wait! I’m not going to eat you two if you answer my questions. I promise from one red creature to another.”

One of the phoenixes hesitated, its wings stuttering. The other phoenix squawked, “Susan! What are you thinking!?”

Susan swallowed and turned around, facing the approaching red dragon. “You promise not to hurt us?”

“Yeah, of course,” Prika said, flapping her wings and rearing back, halting in midair. “I don’t live here, see, and it’d be real bad if I triggered a war between phoenixes and dragons. Anyways, do you two know the way to this continent’s dragon roost? I was left behind by an old codger and his mate when they said they wanted their privacy and flew away without telling me when they were done.”

Susan’s face paled. “By any chance,” she said in a low voice, “was that old codger a green dragon?”

“Yeah!” Prika said, her eyes lighting up. “That’s the one. You’ve seen him? Which way did he go?”

Susan furrowed her brow. “Um….” She thought back to the time of sitting so still that even her beak fell asleep. Which direction had the two dragons flown? Susan swallowed and pointed her leg to the north. “That way.”

“Thanks,” Prika said. Instead of flying off, she squinted at the two phoenixes.

“W-was there something else?” Susan asked, flapping her wings a little harder so that she was positioned behind Emile, who was hovering by her side.

“No,” Prika said and scratched her chin. “I just thought that you two looked familiar for some reason.”

Emile blinked. “Are you the red dragon who sealed herself inside of her cave for a hundred years because you wanted your nephew as a mate before realizing it was him?”

Prika flinched. “N-no. Who told you that?” Her eyes narrowed at Emile. “Oh, were you the phoenix who was with Tafel at that time?” She pursed her lips. “I guess that means I can’t get rid of you, huh…? Anyways, it’s been a fast hundred years, right?”

“It hasn’t even been one year,” Emile said. “You—ack!”

Susan smacked the back of Emile’s head with her wing. “When a dragon asks you a question with a heavy implication that you should agree with them, you agree with them!” She smiled at Prika. “Yes, it’s been a very fast hundred years. By any chance, are you going to find Tafel? We’re trying to find her too.”

“I guess if Tafel’s at Sharda’s nest,” Prika said and scratched her head. “Maybe?”

“Can we come with you?” Susan asked, lowering her head to look up Prika with bright, round eyes.

“Sure, if you can keep up,” Prika said. “I fly pretty fast.”

“Wait,” Emile said. “Can’t you let us sit on your head?”

“Hah?” Prika raised an eyebrow. “You think a dragon just lets anyone sit on their head? How about this? I’ll carry you two in my mouth if you want.”

Emile and Susan exchanged glances with each other. Then they looked at Prika. “Okay!”

“Exactly,” Prika said and nodded. “I knew you….” She paused midsentence and stared at the two phoenixes. “Two … were dumb. Really? Really, guys?”

“You gave us your word from one red creature to another,” Susan said. “You won’t harm us, and we’ve never ridden inside a dragon’s mouth before, and you know Tafel, so why not?”

Prika sighed through her nostrils, ejecting two spirals of smoke. She opened her mouth and gestured with her claw. “Alright, get in.”

Emile and Susan rushed towards her mouth, pushing each other out of the way. “I want to sit in the front,” Emile said. “If I didn’t ask, she wouldn’t have let us. The front is mine!”

“I’m the one who stopped and answered her questions in the first place,” Susan said. “I—”

Prika leaned forward her closed her mouth around the two phoenixes.

“Woah! It’s actually not dark in here! Sunlight comes in from her nostrils!”

“Those aren’t her nostrils, dummy,” Susan’s voice rang out. “That’s the back of her mouth. Maybe that’s where the fire comes from.”

“Ooh.” Emile paused. “Want to go deeper?”

Prika scratched her head. Maybe keeping two birds in her mouth wasn’t a good idea. It took all her willpower to not swallow. Well, even if she did eat them on accident, their ashes would probably come out the other end, and they’d resurrect just fine. Probably. She nodded to herself, and the two birds inside her mouth screamed. Then she flew off to the north.

***

“So, Zyocuh came to you with an offer of power, and you accepted it,” Sharda asked, staring down at Alora. Her granddaughter was staring back up at her with watery eyes, her head lowered like a guilty puppy. Sharda pursed her lips and resisted the urge to stroke her granddaughter’s head. “You know that was wrong, don’t you?”

“I was wrong, Grandma,” Alora said, hanging her head even lower. “I’m sorry.” She sniffled and shifted her eyes towards Grimmy, then back to her grandma. “If Grimmoldesser didn’t hurt me, then I wouldn’t have wanted to get stronger. It was all my fault.” She sniffled twice and closed her eyes, wiping them with the backs of her front paws.

Lindyss crossed her arms over her chest while Sharda leaned forward and hugged her granddaughter. “For some reason, I really don’t like that girl,” Lindyss said, leaning towards Tafel. “Maybe it’s because I’m too used to Vur being straightforward all the time.”

Tafel nodded. “No one likes liars or emotional guilt trippers.”

“You’re lucky you married Vur,” Lindyss said.

Tafel glanced behind herself at Vur, who was in his human form, curled up in the fetal position with drool running down the corner of his lips. Soft snores rang out of his mouth. “Yeah. I guess I am.”