Book 3: Chapter 101 (1/2)

Two dragons, one gold, one sky-blue, flew through the air, passing over some clouds. On the sky-blue dragon’s head, an elf was sitting with her legs and arms crossed, her hair remaining perfectly still even though nothing was shielding her from the wind. The sky was tinted with a pink hue, and as the dragons flew further north, the pink became darker, redder. The golden dragon wrinkled his snout. “I don’t like the smell of this, honey. How about we turn back and go home?”

“If you don’t like it, then that just shows how right Grimmy was,” Sera said. “And we can’t allow such dangerous things to encroach upon our nest.”

Vernon cleared his throat. “Uh, it’s your mother’s nest. Not ours. I’d just like to point that out. If anyone should be taking care of this, it’s her.”

“That’s right,” Lindyss said. “I don’t see any reason why I should be here at all.”

Sera rolled her eyes up and glared at the cursed elf. “Just the other day I was wondering who taught my son how to cast fire spells. If my memory isn’t failing me, then it was some woman who had taken him away from the elves when I sent him there….”

Lindyss swallowed. “Were you going to thank her for teaching him by any chance?”

Sera hummed. “That’s right,” she said, her voice more like a growl. “I was going to thank her for throwing fireballs at my son to help him learn. Sometimes, two-footed creatures can get very cold. I’m sure they’d be nice and warm inside my stomach.” Her eyes glinted, curving upwards as she smiled. “That’d be an appropriate way to thank her, don’t you think?”

Lindyss coughed, her face pale. “I think … she’d much rather you didn’t.”

“Oh?” Sera raised an eyebrow. “So, she’d much rather be outside, not complaining about a task she’s been assigned is what you’re saying?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Lindyss said, bobbing her head up and down. “You can put your aura away now. It might attract that thing’s attention, whatever it is.”

“And there’s supposed to be three of these things?” Vernon asked in a tired voice. “Why couldn’t there just be one? After this, I’m going to have to take a nap. I’ve already done way too much work this century with raising Vur and all.”

Lindyss turned her head towards Vernon. “Do you treat centuries like a normal person treats a week?”

Vernon exhaled flames out of his nostrils. “Are you saying I’m not normal? I treat centuries like how I treat centuries.”

A tiny voice whispered into Lindyss’ ear, “I think you should just keep your mouth shut.”

Lindyss shifted the tiny fairy up towards the center of her head. “I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”

***

Vur, Tafel, Mary, Alice, and Mr. Skelly sat around a campfire. They were surrounded by woods, the only light coming from their fire. The moon and stars were covered by a thick layer of clouds. Smoke drifted into the air, carrying the aroma of a roast boar. Mary’s stomach growled, and she swallowed her saliva, her eyes locked onto the spit-roasted boar rotating over the fire. Her eyes flitted towards Tafel and Vur. “Is it ready?”