“Mom’s amazing!” Emile said, flapping his wings twice while on Tafel’s shoulder. The demon’s hair flew up and tangled with her horns, causing her head to shy away from the phoenix. A laser beam flew towards the duo, but the phoenix matriarch appeared in front of them and deflected the attack. “Go, Mom! You can beat her!” Emile blinked and nudged Tafel’s cheek with his beak. “Got any snacks?”

“Err, I have some corn,” Tafel said, pulling a cob of corn out of a portal.

“That’ll do,” Emile said as he swooped down, landing on the cob.

Tafel shook her head before turning her attention back onto Minerva and Kondra. Neither side had the advantage. Kondra ignored the flames surrounding her, acting as if they didn’t exist, but at the same time, none of her attacks could pass through. When she tried to engage Minerva in a physical contest, the phoenix matriarch would teleport away, swapping positions with her flames.

“Why don’t we talk this out?” Minerva asked, her voice crisp. “Fighting is a waste of time.”

“Once I decide on something, I won’t stop until I have it,” Kondra said with a snarl. “That’s what it means to stick to ones principles.”

“No,” Minerva said. “That’s called being stubborn.”

“Dragons are stubborn; what were you expecting?” Tafel asked, causing the two matriarchs to turn their gazes onto her. She pursed her lips and hunched her shoulders. When the two beasts looked away, Tafel pouted and muttered, “It’s true though.”

Emile grunted, his affirmation accompanied by munching sounds.

“Not all dragons are stubborn,” Lulu said. She was curled up behind Tafel, resting her chin on her paws. “I’m a very flexible person. I gave up on Vur, didn’t I? How about you let me rent him once a month? I can make pretty useful potions.”

Tafel snorted. “He’s my husband,” she said. “Stop asking.”

Lulu grumbled. “Who’s the stubborn one now?” She narrowed her eyes at the demon in front of her. “I bet I could take you on now that your runes were destroyed by my mom.”

“You sound like a sore loser,” Emile said through a beakful of corn. “Gracefully accept your loss, big lizard.”

Lulu growled at Emile, baring her teeth. “Does the tiny red chicken want to fight?”

Tafel’s mouth fell open as Emile swallowed the rest of the cob in one gulp before flying at Lulu with his talons outstretched. Sweat appeared on her forehead as she scrambled away, avoiding a breath of holy fire. Emile squawked and spewed phoenix flames, countering Lulu’s breath. Tafel wet her lips and snuck away while preparing a teleportation spell. “They’re like cats and dogs,” she muttered, watching the two phoenixes and two dragons clash with each other. Her horns flashed silver, and her surroundings distorted, turning into the walls of a city. Behind her, the streets were littered with food and drinks that the partygoers had left behind in their retreat. Ahead of her, flames filled the air, and Kondra’s and Lulu’s outlines stood out among the destroyed trees.

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Tafel scratched her head. “Maybe I should’ve taken Emile with me,” she said to herself. She frowned at a spilled tankard of ale by her feet. “So much for Vur’s party. Where is he anyway?” She sighed and took a seat on the city’s walls, fiddling with her bloody clothes. Kondra’s talon had pierced through the leviathan armor like it didn’t exist. She rubbed her skin and sighed again. “At least I didn’t scar. Why am I so weak? I bet Vur could’ve beat her; I still have a long way to go.”

Tafel shivered before hugging her knees to her chest. She propped her chin on top of her knees and bit her lower lip. The fire in the sky were sending shivers down her spine despite their intensity, and every time Minerva switched places with her flames, Tafel’s forehead tingled. “Could I learn that?” Tafel muttered, her gaze locked onto Minerva’s form. Her fingers twitched, and she clenched her hand into a fist. “I definitely will.”

Tafel inhaled and closed her eyes. Her horns glowed red as flames spread out from her body, coating the city walls. She opened her eyes and looked around. “Is this it?” she asked and stood up. She touched the fire by her side and frowned. It was cold. “Hmm. Maybe—” Her body stiffened. Sweat ran down her back as she slowly tilted her head up. Four dragons, three silver, one black, were flying towards the city. Tafel’s horns flashed silver, and she appeared by Emile’s side, tackling him to the ground during the middle of his wrestling match with Lulu. She shouted at Minerva, “Mom! There’s another three holy dragons coming this way!”

Kondra laughed after breathing out a breath of white flames. “You lose, Minerva!”

Minerva snorted and let out a cry. “Children!”

Eleven phoenixes rose into the air from outside the battlefield. “Are we going to kick some butts tonight?”

“Yeah! We beat them in a cherry-picking contest; we’ll beat them in a fight too!”

“I want to fight Leo! Let me fight Leo by myself!”

The phoenixes cheered as they soared into the fire in the sky, heading towards the four dragons.

Tafel, Lulu, and Emile watched the eleven phoenixes as they disappeared into the blazing flames. Once Minerva and Kondra resumed their fight, Tafel glared at Lulu. “Look at what you started—a war between phoenixes and dragons. It’s all because you were thinking with your lady bits!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault your husband is ridiculously attractive!” Lulu snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. After a second, she bit her lower lip and sighed. “Ah, it’d really be bad if someone other than you died.”

Tafel kicked Lulu’s leg. “It’d be bad if I died too!” She smacked Emile’s head, stopping his incessant growling. “Let’s try to get them to mediate.”

Lulu shook her head. “That’s not going to happen,” she said. “My mom’s really, really stubborn. But my siblings should understand the general situation. I’ll go talk to them.”

Tafel nodded and teleported onto Lulu’s head. “Let’s go.”

“Hey! What the heck are you doing?” Lulu asked, shaking her head like a dog. Tafel screamed, barely holding onto a crack in one of Lulu’s scales. “Not just anyone can ride on a dragon!”

“I can’t fly,” Tafel said through gritted teeth. “Stop shaking! Let me ride you just this once.”

Lulu paused. “Let me have Vur for a day once every three months.”

“No!”

“Then off with you!”