Book 3: Chapter 45 (1/2)
Tafel brought her hand close to her forehead and evaporated the sweat on her brow. She splayed her fingers out in front of her face and exhaled. “That’s pretty convenient,” she said and nodded.
“Why do you sweat?” Alora asked, munching on a rectangular piece of wood. Her teeth left indents on its surface and stripped away splinters that she spat out of her mouth. “You’re a phoenix, right? Those dumb birds shouldn’t sweat. Things only sweat when they become overheated like staying in a pool of lava for a few hours after Mom told you to get out—which I’ve totally never done by the way. Don’t phoenixes have a better way of cooling off?”
Tafel lowered her hand and blinked at Alora. “You’re right,” she said, her eyes widening. “You’re smart sometimes.”
“That’s right,” Alora said and nodded. She bit on the block of wood and froze. Her eyes narrowed. “Hey. What do you mean by sometimes? I’m smart all the time.”
“I mean, you’re eating a block of wood,” Tafel said, raising an eyebrow. “It can be hard to take you seriously.”
“I’m not eating it, you dumb bird,” Alora said and snorted. “I’m teething.”
Tafel stared at Alora and nodded. “I see.” She turned away and stared at the staff in her hand. “An innate ability to prevent sweating. Maybe I’ll learn it after awakening. Ah, I wish Emile or Susan were here, then I could just ask them. I wonder what happened to them anyway?”
***
The scenery blurred as Mary traversed through a forest at inhuman speeds. She was walking, but the floor seemed to be shrinking underneath her feet as she walked. Every time she took a step, her pale face became a little paler until her thin blue veins could be seen through her skin. When her vision faded in and out, gray lining its edges, she took in a deep breath and sat down on the nearest object that looked like it could be sat on without having to bend her knees too far.
Mary scanned her surroundings. After confirming nothing was around, she crouched down and fell onto all fours, bending her legs and elbows, hiding her arms and legs underneath her stomach. The rune on her forehead glowed as a turtle-shaped aura enveloped her. A translucent snake sprang out of the aura and coiled on top of the turtle’s shell, its tongue flickering in and out as it kept an eye out. Mary closed her eyes and exhaled, her heartbeat dropping to once every five seconds.
Fifteen minutes later, Mary’s eyes shot open. The snake retreated back into the shell, and the black aura melted away, sinking back into the cracks in Mary’s armor. She climbed to her feet, her face flush with blood. Her arms reached towards the sky as she stretched, and she tilted her head up towards the sky before taking in a deep breath. A familiar scent tickled her nose, causing her brow to wrinkle. “Tafel?”
In a nearby tree, two phoenixes were crouching in the branches, hiding behind some leaves as they stared at a weird lady that had turned into a turtle with a snake tail and back again. “What do you think that is?” one of the phoenixes whispered. “I like her hair color. Tafel has a thing for taking redheaded people’s hair, right? Let’s steal some.”
“We shouldn’t do that, Emile,” Susan whispered back. “Poor Percy was crying for hours after Tafel took her hair. I don’t want to ruin a stranger’s day.”
“Just a stranger’s day?” Emile asked. “Then if we become friends with her, you’ll do it?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Susan said, glaring at her brother, whose beak was contorted into a stupid grin. “You—”
“Sshh!” Emile said and stuffed Susan’s beak with his wing. “I think she noticed us.” He grabbed some nearby flowers that were growing on some vines and stuck them into Susan’s feathers with his talons. Then he put some on himself. “Emergency camouflage.”
Susan trembled as Mary approached the tree. She crouched down even further, deflating her body until she was as flat as a pancake. “I don’t think this is going to work,” she whispered to Emile, who was doing the same. “She’s letting off a scary aura.”