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Lindyss stood up and walked over to the knothole. Despite her drunken wobbling and the numerous bottles littering the ground, the cursed elf didn’t stumble a single time. She leaned out of the knothole and waved, catching Vur’s attention. Lindyss hiccoughed as she pointed in Volearden and Malvina’s direction. “Oi,” the cursed elf said. “If they fight, they’re going to destroy the residence you picked out for Tafel.”
Vur turned his head towards Volearden and Malvina. The armored dragon was standing on its hindlegs, glaring up at the phoenix circling in the sky above. They both radiated immense amounts of mana, visible distortions appearing in the space between the two magical beasts. It would’ve been a more impressive scene if the armored dragon wasn’t swaying from side to side and if the glowing phoenix’s flight trajectory wasn’t more like a bat’s than a bird’s. The metal dragon hiccoughed, a small flame shooting out of its mouth.
“As per usual, the dragon is the first one to attack!” Malvina shouted. “This is self-defense now!”
“What?” Volearden asked and tilted his head to the side. “That was a hiccough, you fool. I didn’t attack you.”
Malvina acted as if she hadn’t heard Volearden. She opened her beak and let out a loud screech. The sound was harsh like nails scratching a chalkboard, and it caused Tafel to cover her ears, the demon’s elbow bumping into Vur’s arm as she did so. As the phoenix continued to fly circles in the sky, the screech grew louder and louder, causing Volearden’s armor to vibrate.
“Hey!” Volearden shouted. “Knock it off! If you go any further, I’ll really squish you in front of the phoenix you want to teach!”
In response, Malvina increased the pitch of her horrendous warbling screech, and Volearden slammed his tail down before jumping into the air while letting out a roar.
“Vur!” Lindyss shouted and waved her bottle-clutching hand. “Are you going to stop them or not? If you aren’t, I’m getting the heck out of here.”
Vur scratched his head. “How do I stop them?”
“It’s easy. Try asking them nicely to stop,” Lindyss said and took swig from her bottle. “If that doesn’t work, beat them until they can’t move. Even drunken magical beasts understand the meaning of violence. Get Tafel to help you.”
Vur turned towards Tafel, and the demon blinked before pointing at herself. “How am I supposed to help?”
“You can ask Malvina to stop,” Vur said as Malvina flew past the couple overhead. Shortly after, an armored dragon flew past as well. “I’ll ask Volearden.”
“And if Malvina doesn’t listen to me?” Tafel asked.
“Beat her,” Vur said and nodded as if beating the queen of the phoenixes were the simplest thing to do in the world.
Tafel furrowed her brow as she looked up at the sky. Could she beat Malvina? Probably not. Tafel wasn’t quite sure whether or not she could beat Minerva much less Malvina, the queen of the phoenixes. Even though Malvina had said queenship was determined by beauty, Tafel doubted the phoenix was amongst the weaker ones. Still, she didn’t have anything to lose; in fact, she’d gain some experience after seeing another phoenix in action. “Alright,” the demon said, nodding at Vur. “I’ll try.”
Vur nodded before polymorphing himself, blue scales growing out of his skin as his body expanded and elongated. He leapt forward, bounding towards the armored dragon and phoenix. Volearden was pursuing Malvina, who was still letting out the same god-awful screech that was ringing through the whole residence.
Jeffery poked his head out of his tree, holding Garlic and Ginger underneath his arms. A furrow appeared on his brow as he looked around. “I think we should leave,” the old man said and frowned. A second later, Garlic’s shell flashed repeatedly.
“Don’t you dare!” the unhatched caterpillar said from within its egg. “My ancestors have witnessed phoenixes fighting dragons, but they’ve never seen two inebriated magical beast leaders get into a conflict. This’ll help me grow so much; I might even hatch! Don’t you dare ruin it by leaving.”
Vur frowned before leaping into the air, passing over Jeffery’s head. Vur flapped his wings and wriggled his body from side to side as if he were a swimming eel. His speed rapidly increased, gaining on Volearden with every passing second. “Great-Gramps,” Vur said. His brow furrowing as he flew closer to the source of ungodly screeching which was drowning out his words. He pointed at Malvina. “Polymorph!”
The screeching stopped as Malvina’s beak vanished, replaced with a smooth layer of feathers. The phoenix’s eyes widened as she whipped her head about before raising her wings to touch the spot where her beak used to be. Thanks to those movements, she didn’t have enough time to avoid the portal that opened directly in her flight path. Malvina spread her wings and leaned backwards, but it wasn’t enough to slow her down before she slammed into the ground, the portal’s exit destination. If her mind were still working coherently, perhaps she would’ve reacted in time to burst into flames and avoid the impact, but it was a shame she had drank too much.
Tafel blinked at the phoenix in the center of the miniature crater not too far away from her. She hadn’t expected her portal to work that well. Her horns dimmed as she approached Malvina with an awkward expression on her face. “Excuse me,” Tafel said. “Are you alright?”
Malvina shook herself off and straightened her posture. She … remained silent before touching her head. Though there were only eyes and eyebrows left on the phoenix’s face, Tafel had a pretty good idea what Malvina was thinking; she wanted her beak back. The demon cleared her throat. “So, we’d greatly appreciate it if you didn’t fight with Volearden here. I know dragons and phoenixes are enemies in the towers, but shouldn’t the two of you try to work out a peaceful resolution now that you’re both vaguely related?”
Malvina flapped her wings and stamped her feet against the ground.
“Great,” Tafel said and nodded. “I’m glad you agree.”
The phoenix stopped moving around and glared at Tafel.