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Tafel grabbed Vur’s arm and leaned her head against his shoulder, careful to avoid poking him with her horns. She let out a sigh, shadows dancing across her face as the bonfire crackled and roared. The two were sitting on a leather couch that Tafel had taken from Mary’s palace via a portal—she didn’t forget to retrieve seats for Mary, Alice, and Mr. Skelly as well. The not-so-faint sounds of dragons squabbling in the background caused a faint smile to appear on her lips. She nestled closer to Vur. “This is really nice.”
Vur tilted his head, resting it atop Tafel’s. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not supposed to ask what I mean,” Tafel said and pouted. “You’re supposed to agree.”
“Oh.”
Tafel sighed. “What do I mean….” She pursed her lips and grumbled before opening her mouth, “Sitting by a warm fire on a slightly chilly night. Being surrounded by family and friends. Spending my time with you. You know, everything.” She paused. “The couch is nice too.”
“It’s my couch,” Mary said and leaned over, placing her chin on the couch’s armrest as if she were a dog. “Before it was mine, it was my brother’s. He died on this couch.”
Tafel sighed again. “There goes the mood.” She nudged Vur, and he raised his head. Tafel lifted her head off of his shoulder and turned her neck to face Mary. “What happened to your brother?”
Mary blinked. “Didn’t I say? He died.” She sat upright and grabbed the turtle shell that was on her lap. Her eyes widened, and she looked down. “Mary Junior turned into a rock!” She raised her head and held the rock out towards Tafel. “Did she die?”
“No,” Tafel said. “That’s an actual rock. While you weren’t paying attention, Emile and Susan swapped Mary Junior with it.”
“That’s right! My parents are a bunch of bullies!” Prika’s voice rang through the air. Tafel flinched from the sudden sound and turned around. The red dragon was wobbling to-and-fro, a large empty barrel held in her claws. The inside of the barrel was damp, and a familiar pungent smell wafted out of it. “So what if I’m the oldest? So what if my youngest sister got hitched first? Who cares if I’m the only dragon in the family for the past six generations who hasn’t had a mate before turning seven centuries old? They think making fun of me will make me feel better or something! Well, guess what? It doesn’t!”
“Miss Prika, Miss Prika, you drank too much,” Bonnie said, hiding the barrels of ale behind her body. “There’s no more to be had.”
“Look, even a child is bullying me now,” Prika wailed, her tail thumping against the ground behind her. “She thinks I’m dumb enough to be tricked. If Tafel brought us sixty barrels, and there’s twelve dragons, then that means each of us gets five barrels! I only had one. I still get four more.”
“Four of those twelve dragons are underaged,” Youngest said. “You shouldn’t count us. And you forgot to include Vur.”
“No, I included Vur,” Prika said, nudging Bonnie aside with her torso. “I excluded Alora because I don’t like her. And if three of you are underaged, then that means each of us gets six and a half barrels each.”
Tafel shook her head and sighed before snuggling closer to Vur. “I didn’t think Prika would be such a bad drinker.”
“She’s sad and lonely and spends all her time reading cheesy romance books,” Vur said. “It makes sense.”
“Who’s sad and lonely and spends all her time reading cheesy romance books!?” Prika threw the empty barrel at Vur, but it soared over his head and landed into the bonfire. “I may be sad and lonely, but the romance books I read are rated very, very highly! They’re the best of the best from all different cultures, okay? Love triangles and drama don’t make a book cheesy!”
“So, uh, Nate and I are going to go over there,” Alice said and pointed in the direction furthest from Prika, “before we get squished by an angry, ranting dragon.”
“Should we get ourselves some privacy too?” Tafel asked Vur.
“Ooh, look at the two not-single lovebirds who want their privacy in a family gathering,” Prika said and snorted twice, the two jets of flames setting the ground on fire. Bonnie scrambled forward and patted it out with her front paws.
Sharda turned to Nova. “I don’t want to be rude to one of the members of your roost, but if she causes any more trouble than this….”
“You don’t want to be rude?” Prika’s eyes bulged and she pointed at Sharda. “Do you remember how you almost killed me over a small joke in my own home!?”
“Stop yelling, Miss Prika,” Bonnie said and tugged on Prika’s tail. “You’ll wake the neighborhood.”
“Everyone in the neighborhood was sacrificed in a ritual to create that blood giant,” Grimmy said. “She won’t wake anyone. Let her yell; sometimes people have to get things off their chests.”
Bonnie stiffened and released Prika’s tail. “Y-you’re right, Uncle Grimmy,” she said and gave the black dragon an awkward smile. She patted Prika’s rump. “Yell all you want, Miss Prika. No one’s around to hear you because they’re all dead.”
Tafel sighed and stood up. She walked over to the barrels of liquid and scooped herself two mugs. She walked back and handed one to Vur. “Well, when the gathering first started, it was nice.”
Vur smiled and took a sip.
Mary stopped sweeping her gaze over the treetops. She held her hand out towards Tafel. “I want some too.”
“No drinks for minors,” Tafel said without missing a beat.
Mary blinked twice and tilted her head. “But I’m older than you.”
Tafel furrowed her brow. “You’re right,” she said after a moment. She leaned forward and reached into a portal, grabbing a flask that she passed to Mary. “Here.”
Mary uncorked it and took a sip. “This tastes like juice.”
“It is juice.”
Mary pointed at Tafel’s mug. “I want what you’re drinking.”
“I’m drinking juice too.”
Mary pouted. Then she brought the flask up to her lips and took a swig.
There was a crash followed by the sounds of gushing water. A short yelp rang through the air. Prika waved her legs, struggling to stand after falling on the barrels. “My legs are betraying me too, what is this!? Why is my life so hard!?”
Vur nodded. “You’re right,” he said and wrapped his arm around Tafel’s shoulder. “This is really nice.”
Author’s Note: The end of book 3. Three sponsored side stories to come after.