“Jeez, what is going on out there?” Tafel asked and sat up. Susan let out a tiny squawk as she fell off of Tafel’s chest, landing in the demon’s lap, knocking into Emile. Tafel brushed the two phoenixes off of her body and stood up while yawning. She glanced down at Vur, who was sound asleep. Evidently, the roars, thumps, and clanging sounds didn’t affect his sleep at all.

Tafel scratched her head and brushed the tangles out of her hair as she made her way to one side of the room. She created a rod of ice, which she used to press a certain brick above her head, one placed at a convenient height for dragons to press without exerting much effort. The wall rumbled, and a dragon-sized portion of stone bricks sank into the ground, revealing a long corridor. The sounds of thumping and roaring became much louder, and Tafel swore she could make out some curses within the noise.

The sound of flapping wings came from behind Tafel, and Susan landed on the demon’s shoulder. Not long after, Emile landed on Tafel’s other shoulder, causing her ears to become extra warm. “Is someone fighting?” Emile asked in a whisper. “Who do you think it is? Do you think Grimmy’s fighting his parents because they don’t like Leila?”

“I thought Grimmy’s parents liked Leila,” Susan said. “Grimmy and Leila don’t fight with each other either. Maybe Grimmy’s parents got into an argument. They’re cursed dragons. Maybe they show their love to each other in a different, unhealthy way.”

“Oh, you mean like how Alice always punches that skeleton’s skull off?” Emile asked. He looked at Tafel and Susan, who were both staring at him. “What? I can’t be the only one who thinks that’s pretty abusive, right? Punching someone’s head is pretty bad, but punching it all the way off? That’s way worse, isn’t it?”

“Don’t let Alice hear you say that,” Tafel said. Her brow furrowed. Now that Emile mentioned the slightly aggressive guild master, Tafel couldn’t help but remember she had left her with a task. Well, it was probably fine even though it had been a few days since then. Alice was more than capable of keeping a weak researcher in check. There were more important matters at hand. Tafel raised her hand and scratched Susan’s belly while listening to the sounds of fighting. “Do you think it’d be rude of us to intrude?”

“Let’s stay here,” Susan said.

Emile nodded. “I agree.”

Tafel raised an eyebrow and turned her head towards Emile. “You agree? Don’t you usually disagree with your sister?”

Emile squawked and flapped his wings once, messing up Tafel’s hair. “Weren’t you listening to what the Recordkeeper said? Phoenixes aren’t immortal! We can live forever, but it’s still easy for us to die!” He raised one leg and pointed down the corridor with his talon. “If we go there and upset the fighting dragons, who’s going to protect us? You?” He snorted. “If you wake Vur up and take him with you, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check it out.”

Tafel’s expression darkened. “Forget it,” she said and picked up Emile with one hand. She tossed him towards Vur, causing him to screech and tumble through the air. “If you’re scared, then you’re scared.” Tafel narrowed her eyes at Susan. “Are you coming with me?”

“Don’t die,” Susan said and hopped off of Tafel’s shoulder. She landed on the ground and waved at Tafel with her left wing. “Can you bring us some grapes if you make it back safely?”

Tafel sighed. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” she said and clicked her tongue. She walked out the exit and tapped a brick with her piece of ice.

Susan continued waving until the wall stopped rumbling. The bricks that had sunk into the ground earlier were now back in their original place. The phoenix hopped back over to Vur’s side and exchanged a glance with Emile. “Should we wake Vur up just in case Tafel gets mauled?”

“It’ll be fine,” Emile said. “Remember, Leila’s out there. Even if Tafel dies and her ashes are scattered, Leila can bring her back to life.”

“If you knew she could do that, why didn’t the two of you go with Tafel?” Stella asked and poked her head out of Vur’s chest. She climbed out some more and propped her elbows up on Vur’s sternum, holding her face up with her palms.

Emile rolled his eyes. “Phoenixes and dragons don’t get along,” he said. “Rather than trusting Leila to bring me back to life, I’d rather just not die in the first place.”

Stella giggled. Before she could say anything else, the wall rumbled, and Tafel dove through the opening. Behind her, a tumbling ball of black and white scales was rolling towards the room. Tafel scrambled to her feet and prodded the wall with her piece of ice, but it was too late. The ball rolled through the gap in the wall, heading straight towards Vur. Emile flew away, but Susan grabbed Vur’s shoulder and pulled. However, she could tell there wasn’t enough time to move him out of the way, so she quickly pecked his snot bubble before flying away.

Vur sneezed and sat up just in time to see a mass of white scales cover his vision. His eyes widened, and the ball rolled over him. After it passed through, all that remained of Vur was a puddle of purple liquid and his black pants.

“Holy smokes!” Emile shouted and flapped his wings. “Vur died!”

The puddle of purple liquid blobbed together and rose off the ground. It wriggled and expanded, creating a humanoid figure shaped much like Vur. A moment later, his flesh and skin filled back in. He squatted down and put his pants back on before looking around. Upon seeing that Tafel and the two phoenixes were fine, he let out a yawn and stretched his arms up towards the ceiling, arching his back. After he was done stretching, he scratched his butt with one hand and narrowed his eyes at the two dragons, who were still fighting with each other. “Apologize.”

Kondra and Glen ignored Vur, continuing their fight. A frown appeared on Vur’s face, and he tilted his neck to one side, cracking his neck.