“Isn’t this relaxing, Vur?” Stella asked. “Sitting here, watching observing, soaking in all the joys of nature.”

“This is boring,” Vur said and frowned. He was sitting on Diamant’s earthen spider, but instead of scuttling, it was plodding along at the speed of an old grandma crossing the street with a heavy bag. “What’s exciting about trees?”

“It doesn’t have to be exciting to not be boring,” Stella said and shook her head.

“But this isn’t exciting and it’s boring,” Vur said. “You can’t even see any animals from down here. At least, when I fly, I can rate things in the order of tastiness.”

Stella clicked her tongue. “The only reason there aren’t any animals is because they’re terrified of you,” she said. “I guess that isn’t your fault though. Okay, well, I promise things will be more interesting when those people who’re following us finally catch up.” She glanced behind herself. “I don’t know what’s taking them so long.”

“What’s going to happen?” Vur asked.

“Well….” Stella furrowed her brow. “Now that I think about, what exactly gets you excited, Vur?”

The Recordkeeper cut in before Vur could respond. “Nothing,” she said. “As a dragon, Vur can get whatever he wants whenever he wants it. The only thing that can give him some sense of satisfaction and meaning is helping out the people he cares about, which is the only reason why he listened to your request in the first place.”

Stella shook her fist at the Recordkeeper. “What would you know about the inner workings of people, huh? All you do is stay home and creep on people through your fake birds.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Vur might be a dragon, and he might be able to get whatever he wants, but he’s a lazy dragon, and—”

“Not lazy.”

“Yes, yes,” Stella said and patted Vur’s shoulder. “He’s a very energy-efficient dragon, and if someone brings him what he wants without him having to do anything, he’ll get excited.”

“So, those people who’re following us are going to bring things he wants?” the Recordkeeper asked.

Vur’s eyes lit up. “They have crabcakes? I want to eat crabcakes right now.”

“I didn’t say that,” Stella said. “I just said things would be more interesting.”

“She didn’t say they didn’t have crabcakes,” the Recordkeeper said. “That means they might have some.”

Stella flew over and slapped the Recordkeeper on the back of the head. “Don’t tease him like that. You know you’re the one they’re targeting, right?”

“Of course,” the Recordkeeper said. “Just look at that man’s character. There’s no way he’d pass up the chance to kidnap me; I’m beautiful and unique. Vur couldn’t resist either.”

Stella slapped the Recordkeeper again. “That’s not why Vur dragged you along with us,” she said. “Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

“You’re just upset I wouldn’t assess your character,” the Recordkeeper said and rubbed the back of her head. A lump was beginning to form. “Your body is so tiny; how come you hit so hard? I don’t think your strength is accurately reflected by my ravens.”

Vur frowned and leaned against the Recordkeeper, causing the winged woman to nearly fall off the spider. “Hey!” she said with a red face. “What are you—?”

There was a swooshing sound, and Vur raised his hand. An arrowhead glinted in the sun, mere centimeters away from the Recordkeeper’s eye.

“Impressive,” a voice said from beyond the woods. “However, can you catch this?”

A dark shadow flashed through the air. Vur stretched out his hand and caught it. It was a black orb. Before he could figure out what it was, it exploded, hundreds of shadowy tentacles erupting out of it. They wrapped around Vur, the Recordkeeper, and the earthen spider, binding them in place.

“Hah! You fool!”

Vur frowned, and he shrugged his shoulders. The tentacles binding his arms snapped, and he grabbed the ones covering his torso. There was a faint scream as he ripped them apart and freed himself without an issue. He glanced at Stella. “Are these the people?”

“That’s them,” Stella said, bobbing her head up and down.

“Excuse me,” the Recordkeeper said. “Can you help me get free?”

“Just leave her,” Stella said. “She’s useless in battle.”

Vur nodded and slid off the earthen spider. His attackers still hadn’t shown themselves, but that wasn’t an issue. White light leaked out of Vur’s mouth, and he roared in the direction the arrow had come from. A laser beam erupted from his mouth. It obliterated everything in its path, turning trees and stone to ash. Vur turned his head to the side, causing the laser beam to sweep through the forest. Trees toppled over, crashing like thunder as they hit the ground. Four sorry figures could be seen running for their lives as they avoided and blocked the trees falling on top of them.

“Vur, next time, you should aim a little lower,” Stella said. “All they had to do to avoid your laser beam was drop onto the ground.”

Vur snorted, and the brown rune on his arm shone with a bright light. He swept his arm up, and an earthen wall rose out of the ground. It was shaped much like a tsunami, and it behaved like one too. The wave of earth swept up the fallen trees and four figures before crashing down, creating a large patch of brown in the middle of the woods.

“Are they dead?” the Recordkeeper asked. “Wasn’t that a bit overkill?”

Vur shook his head. “Dirt is very soft,” he said. “They’ll be fine.”

“Well, there were trees and boulders mixed with that dirt,” the Recordkeeper said. “And you basically buried them alive….”

Vur’s brow furrowed. “Tafel, Alice, Mary, and Mr. Skelly would easily be able to escape from that. Something like that wouldn’t even tickle Auntie or Grimmy.”

Stella scratched her head. “I think your standards are a little too high. Think of the possible crabcakes,” she said. “Would those have survived?”

Vur frowned. “Deedee. Dig them out.”