Book 3: Chapter 10

“Whew, it’s so hard to eat when your mouth is so tiny,” Alora said, staring at the half-eaten drumstick in her hands. “If I had my dragon form, I could inhale this through my nostrils and swallow it like a booger.”

“Please, we’re trying to eat here,” Tafel said, making a face. She sighed as she placed her drumstick onto a nearby flat rock, wiping her hands on a handkerchief. She stood up and walked to the campfire before rotating the dead boar that was spit roasted above the flames. “Do you want more, Vur?”

Vur shook his head, holding onto a chunk of meat that was the size of his torso with his mouth.

“Ah.” Alora sighed and leaned back against a boulder, tossing the remains of the drumstick to the side. She placed her hands on her stomach and exhaled. “It feels great to the leave the house. Normally, I’m stuck babysitting the annoying trio, so I never get to do anything fun. It’s nice that Aunt Sera can watch over them for me. Mom and Dad sleep way too much. How can they just shirk their responsibilities and pass them all to me? I’m only three hundred years old! People shouldn’t be allowed to burden children with such heavy responsibilities, don’t you agree?”

Tafel’s eyes narrowed at Alora. “You know, I’m only seventeen.”

Alora blinked at Tafel, a blank expression on her face. A moment passed before her eyes lit up. “Right! I forgot how short a human’s life is. And a sacrifice once told me a dog’s life is even shorter. One nap, and the dog’s already dead, can you believe that? Oh! And flies live even shorter lives than dogs! You can close your eyes and an entire generation of flies would’ve been born and died! Weird, huh?”

“Right….” Tafel turned to face Vur. “What am I even supposed to say to that?”

“When people talk about boring things, just nod and grunt,” Vur said. The chunk of meat that he was eating had vanished. “I do it all the time.”

Tafel’s eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips. “You nod and grunt at me all the time. Do I bore you?”

Vur coughed and turned his head to the side.

“Hey!” Tafel said. “Dragons can’t lie. C’mon, answer me.”

“Oh, the moon looks nice today,” Vur said, staring at the sky while avoiding Tafel’s gaze despite her best attempts to stand in front of his view. “How come the moon always looks the same no matter where we go?”

Tafel’s voice lowered. “Vur….”

“The moon?” Alora asked, bolting upright. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes wide. “It’s nighttime! Quick, turn me back into a dragon!”

Vur scratched his nose. “I don’t know how. Why do you want to turn back?”

“Grandma has a strict curfew!” Alora ran up to Vur and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back and forth. “We can’t be out at night without an adult or else Grandma will withhold her cookies from us!”

“Then there’s no problem,” Vur said and puffed his chest out. “I’m an adult.”

Alora stopped shaking Vur and blinked. “Huh? You? Really?”

Vur snorted. “What’s with that tone? I stopped Grandpa’s meteor a long time ago.”

Alora collapsed to her knees, her arms falling to her sides. “No way…. You don’t act like an adult at all! And I’m a prodigy! A genius! An unparalleled existence amongst dragons! How can someone my age become an adult before me!?” She fell onto her stomach and grabbed her hair while fluttering her feet, kicking the ground.

“Is she alright?” Tafel asked, staring at the polymorphed dragon that seemed to be throwing a temper tantrum. A bitter smile appeared on Tafel’s lips. “I can understand how she’s feeling.”

Vur scratched his head. “Should I tell her I’m only as old as you?”

Alora flinched, her legs freezing mid-kick. Her neck let out creaking sounds as her head crept up and to the side to face him. “You’re less than two decades old…?”

Vur coughed and shifted his gaze up towards the sky. “Oh, the moon looks nice today, doesn’t it?”

“Vur…,” Tafel said. “Why are you avoiding our questions?”

“Yup, it’s a really pretty moon. No clouds to block it.”

Tafel sighed. “You take after Grimmy too much,” she said, recalling all the times Grimmy would avoid conflict by saying random things. Tafel bent over and grabbed Alora’s leg, dragging her back and away from Vur. “Don’t try to kill my husband. And yes, he’s really as old as me.”

Alora’s body went limp as she sighed, deflating like a balloon. “What have I been doing for the past three hundred years? Someone younger than the annoying trio is stronger than me…. Supposedly.” She raised her head off the ground, glaring at Vur. “Is he really? I don’t believe it. Vur, I challenge you to a match!”

Vur lowered his head to meet Alora’s gaze. “No thanks. Mom said I shouldn’t bully people weaker than me.”

“Wow!” Alora shook off Tafel’s grip and jumped to her feet. “I can’t not fight you after hearing that!”

Vur scratched his nose and looked around. He walked over to Tafel and reached into the bag by her waist, pulling out a silver coin. “Okay, let’s have a match based on our luck.”

“Can that even be called a match anymore?” Alora asked, tilting her head to the side.

Vur shrugged. “Well, I don’t know how to turn you back into a dragon without getting rid of all my mana,” he said. “You can fight me like that, though. I don’t mind.”

Alora lowered her head and stared at her palms. “Eh…. Alright, we’ll compete in luck.” She stuck out her hand before Vur could say anything. “Wait! There has to be stakes. The loser has to follow the winner around as a lackey for fifty years!”

“I object!” Tafel shouted. “If Vur loses, then I’ll have to follow you around too since I’ll be sticking by him. And if Vur wins, then we’ll have unwanted company for fifty years.”

Alora’s face fell. “I’m … unwanted?”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant,” Tafel said. “I mean—”

“Then there’s no issue,” Alora said, her head bobbing up and down. She pointed at Vur. “Flip the coin!”

Vur nodded. “I pick heads,” he said as he tossed the coin into the air. It bounced on the ground twice before coming to a stop by Tafel’s feet. A strange expression appeared on her face as she stared at the coin before turning her gaze onto Vur.

Alora held her breath as she approached the coin, squinting her eyes to prevent herself from seeing the result. She crouched down and slowly opened one eye. “No! No, no, no! How can this be!?”

“Heads,” Vur said as he grabbed the coin and dumped it into Tafel’s bag. “I win.”

Alora clutched her hair as she dropped onto the ground, rolling back and forth.

Tafel furrowed her brow and whispered into Vur’s ear, “Wasn’t that the coin I confiscated from Mr. Skelly? The one with the same picture on both sides?”

“Oh, hey. The moon’s really bright tonight.”