Book 3: Chapter 11 (1/2)

Alice leaned back, resting against Mr. Skelly’s sternum. “The sun’s already set, huh?”

The two were sitting next to each other on the ground of a living room. A few leather cushions decorating the floor and a waist-high table were the only pieces of furniture in sight. Mr. Skelly raised his brow. “Oh? We’re in someone else’s home, but you want to do the naugh—”

“No.” Alice straightened her back, sitting upright. The top of her head collided with Mr. Skelly’s lower jaw, cutting off his words. “I mean, it’s nighttime, but Vur and Tafel haven’t contacted us yet. Do you think they forgot about us?”

“Don’t be silly,” Mr. Skelly said. “Vur probably forgot about us, but there’s no way Tafel would’ve. You know how dragons are—everything they do is slow and relaxed as if they have all the time in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vur’s initial meeting with his grandma took several days.”

Alice pursed her lips. “I did hear that dragons slept for years at a time….”

“See?” Mr. Skelly asked. “Our party members wouldn’t abandon us. You worry too much.”

“The bath is ready,” a voice said from a doorway leading outside the living room. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Alice and Mr. Skelly exchanged glances. “Now that I think about it,” Alice said as she climbed to her feet, “do skeletons even take baths?”

Mr. Skelly shook his head.

“It’s because water probably softens your bones, huh?” Alice nodded. “Makes sense.”

“What? No, of course not,” Mr. Skelly said. “We take showers. The only point of a bath is to relax in hot water and play with bubbles, but we can’t feel anything. Showers are much more practical for a skeleton.”

***

Tafel rummaged through her bag and pulled out the coin that Vur had used for his match against Alora. She flipped it over and sighed. It really was the double-headed coin that she confiscated from Mr. Skelly. Her brow furrowed, and after one glance at Alora’s pitiful state, she opened up a portal and tossed the coin inside, removing all evidence. It was her duty as a wife to support her husband after all. But it was also in her best interest to not fool a dragon…, but Vur was a dragon too, so in the end, she made the best choice. After internally justifying her decision, Tafel closed her bag and hung it on the belt on her waist. “Hey, Vur,” she said. “Are we forgetting something?”

Alora stopped rolling around on the ground, lifting her head up to stare at the duo, her cheeks streaked with mud. “Right! Forgetting something like declaring how many rounds there were supposed to be! It’s best two out of three!”

Vur clicked his tongue. “Sore loser.”

“Hah!?” Alora jumped to her feet and glared at Vur. “I’m not a sore loser! You’re not a forgiving winner!”

Vur shrugged. “If you don’t want to be my lackey, then that’s okay too.” He puffed his chest out. “But I won and you lost.”

Alora’s eye twitched. “What kind of dragon do you think I am? I’m an honorable dragon, and honorable dragons keep their promises! Even if you don’t want me to, I’m going to stick so close to you and do everything you could possibly want for the next fifty years that you’ll be rendered completely helpless without me by the time I leave. You got a problem with that?”

“Um, I do,” Tafel said, raising a hand.

Alora snorted. “You’re not my boss.” She pointed at Vur. “He is.”

“No, she’s your boss too,” Vur said. “Treat her words like mine.”