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“Hey, hey,” Erin said and frowned at the card that Tafel had placed down. “That’s allowed?”
“Yup,” Tafel said and nodded.
Erin’s frown deepened. “Why?”
Tafel shrugged. “It just is. That’s how the rules work.” She glanced at Emile, who was toying with a bug with one of his talons. “It’s your turn, Emile.”
“Ah?” Emile raised his head and blinked. “Already?” He reached underneath his wings with his beak and pulled out a card which he placed on top of the pile in the center. Then he went back to tormenting the bug.
Erin glanced at her hand, then at the cards in the center. “I’m being swindled,” she said. “I don’t know how, but I’m definitely being cheated.” She pouted and stared at Tafel. “I pass.”
Tafel nodded and placed the final card in her hand down onto the pile. “I win. That’s forty-two for me, seventeen for Emile, and thre—”
“Don’t say it!” Erin shouted, throwing her cards into Tafel’s face. She harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest before turning her head towards the prison beside them. “This is the sixth one. She’s really not sacrificing people and collecting their souls, right?”
“Why are you so fixated on that?” Tafel asked. “You ask that every time.”
Erin snorted. “She never lets us go in to see what she’s doing! And she won’t let us go in once she’s done.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m a fairy, dammit! I’m naturally curious and nosy.”
A booming laughter echoed out of the prison. A figure dashed towards the entrance from within and leapt through a glass windowpane even though the opened door was right beside it. The figure tumbled onto the ground, performing a beautiful shoulder roll, ending up on her feet as the shards of broken glass fell beside her. She was an emaciated woman with dark bags underneath her eyes, and her ribs were outlined on her thin clothes, but a brilliant smile adorned her face. She laughed and tilted her chin towards the sky while throwing her arms into the air. “I, Shadow Nelly, the greatest scout in the world, could never be contained by a mere dwarven dungeon!” she shouted in a hoarse voice and grinned. She turned her head back towards the prison. “I won’t forget your kindness, Ms. Elf Lady! Shadow Nelly never forgets her debts!”
Then, Shadow Nelly ran away, leaving behind a dumbfounded trio. Emile blinked and tilted his head. “What was that?” he asked, staring at the little dust clouds that the scout had left behind.
“I’m pretty sure that was a human,” Erin said with a nod. “A damaged human, but a human nonetheless.”
“That,” Tafel said, tapping Erin’s head, “was proof that Auntie’s not sacrificing people. That Nelly person even thanked Auntie for her kindness.”
Erin pouted as she rubbed her head. “You don’t know that. What if…”
Erin stopped talking, causing Tafel to tilt her head. “What if…?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow, but Erin turned her head and stared at the horizon. Tafel followed her gaze and squinted. Some white figures were approaching them. “What’s that?”
Emile soared into the air before flying back down. “It’s six people wearing white armor,” he said as he landed on Tafel’s shoulder. “One of them is grumbling about imperial orders and freeing prisoners.”
“You can hear them from here?” Tafel asked.
Emile’s chest puffed up. “Don’t judge me by your pitiful standards. I’m a glorious phoenix.” Then he blinked. “Ah, but you’re a phoenix now too. Just tilt your head the right way and you should be able to hear them.” His head turned to the side. “Like this.”
Tafel copied Emile’s actions.
“Are you sure the emperor hasn’t already given orders for another adventurer party to attack the dungeons? The last three we went to were all filled with blood but no people. The dwarves were definitely already attacked,” a masculine voice said. It sounded familiar to Tafel, but she couldn’t remember from where.
A feminine voice responded, “If the emperor already gave out a decree, he wouldn’t have sent us here. Besides, other than us, who could he send to breach the dwarven dungeons?”
“Hey, guys,” a different masculine voice said. “Your eyes aren’t as good as mine, but if you look closely up ahead, you’ll see someone very familiar. Here’s a hint: she has horns.”
Me? Tafel thought and blinked. I know these people? “White armor, you said?” she asked Emile. “Could they be the Fangs of Capitis?”
“Ah?” Erin asked. “Those people?” Her eyes narrowed as she flew up into the air. “I don’t like them. I can’t count the number of times they’ve bullied my subjects and made them cry to collect their tears! They tickle my daughters until they pee! So inhumane.”
Tafel coughed, her face turning a shade of pink. “Yes. How inhumane. They definitely deserve to be punished.”
“Tafel!” a voice shouted. “You horned wench! If you don’t die today, then my name’s not Abel Kuhdarm!”
“Abel! That really is the Fangs of Capitis,” Erin said as her fist clenched. Her expression blanked as she turned her head towards Tafel. “It sounds like you annoyed him a lot. What’d you do? Steal his cereal? Change his shampoo with glue? Pee in his perfume?”
“No,” Tafel said and furrowed her brow. “Is that what fairies do?” I should check my perfume. “I fought with him once and won. Maybe he’s a sore loser.”
“Oh,” Erin said and nodded. “Yeah, I imagine he is. Then you can beat him up again, right? I can just watch?”
Tafel scratched her head. “Maybe,” she said. Her eyes glinted as she smiled. “Now that I think about it, he’s a perfect benchmark to test out my strength. Let’s see how much I’ve improved.” She patted Emile as her head shone with a blood-red light. “Stay here.”
A second later, Tafel disappeared and reappeared in front of the six Fangs of Capitis. Her eyes narrowed at the person in the front. “Hi. You said you wanted to kill me?”
“Because of you, we were lost at sea for months!” Abel’s sword glowed red as he pointed it at Tafel. “Stranded on a small vessel out in the big blue ocean—I had no privacy! For months! You could’ve teleported us outside of the ring, but you sent us off the continent!? Who wouldn’t want to kill you?” He glanced around. “Where’s Alice?”
Tafel shrugged and tilted her head to the side, looking past Abel’s head. “Is he always like this? It was just a few months out at sea, right?”
“Are you provoking us?” the Fang with the axes said, taking a step forward.
“Careful,” Charlotte said as she gripped her staff. A white circle spread out underneath the Fangs’ feet. “Don’t you see that rune on her head? She’s been imprinted. And it looks like by a phoenix.”
“So all of you want to fight me,” Tafel said and nodded as the Fangs readied their weapons. Her horns glowed red and green as she pointed her palm at the Fangs. Violent winds picked up, swirling around her body as her hand became hazy from the heat pouring out of it. “Incinerate.”