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Vur laughed as he spread his wings, stood on his hind legs, angled his head into the air, and spewed golden flames towards the sky. His scales were a deeper shade of blue than Sera’s, and golden streaks outlined the edges of his scales. He grinned at Lindyss before picking her up and placing her on his head. She didn’t even get a chance to speak before Vur leapt into the air, spiraling upwards at breakneck speeds.
Erin, Stella, and E stared at the ocean-blue dragon soaring into the sky. Vur disappeared behind a layer of clouds, and the trio lowered their heads to stare at each other. E cleared his throat as Stella hid behind him, shielding herself from Erin’s view. Once Vur had turned into a dragon, the polymorph spell had been undone, returning the dwarf back to his original form. “Erica? Eve…? No, that doesn’t sound right either,” E said. “What was your name again?”
“It’s Erin! Erin Koller!” Erin said and glared at the dwarf. “I never expected to see the dwarf king outside of his home. Tired of sleeping all day?”
“I retired,” E said and pointed towards the sky. “He’s the new dwarf king. There’s going to be a coronation ceremony in three weeks or so; you should come.”
Erin furrowed her brow as Stella appeared over E’s shoulder, peeking at her with unblinking eyes. “I don’t believe you,” Erin said. She glanced at the dragon-shaped holes in the clouds and sighed. “How did I make the mistake of polymorphing a blue mage? No, how does he have enough mana to transform into a dragon? He shouldn’t be able to hold it that long.”
“Well, he’s a bit abnormal,” E said and scratched his head. Stella continued shifting with E’s head, blocking Erin from her view.
“But you’re definitely a culprit too!” Erin said, flying towards Stella. Stella squeaked and flew to the opposite side. The fairies chased each other around E’s head, causing him to develop a headache.
“I just want to beat you up! Stop running!”
“Stop chasing me!”
Twenty minutes later, the two fairies were lying down on E’s shoulders with sweat running down their faces. “Are you two done yet?” E asked.
Before either of the fairies could respond, a voice shouted from up above, “Ah! My wings! My scales!” Vur and Lindyss plummeted towards the trio. The transformation had ended, cancelling Vur’s flight of joy midway. A pair of batwings sprouted out of Lindyss’ back, and she lowered herself along with Vur to the ground. Vur pouted and looked at his hands. “I feel dizzy.”
Lindyss placed her hand on Vur’s forehead. Her eyes widened as she tilted his head back and stared into his eyes. “You ran out of mana? You!?”
“So dizzy,” Vur said before slumping forward onto Lindyss. His eyes closed as he collapsed, his body barely held up by the cursed elf.
“Hey, fairy,” Lindyss said, turning her head towards Erin. “Tell me about your polymorph spell. What’s the mana upkeep like?”
“Secret,” Erin said as she flew into the air and crossed her arms over her chest.
Lindyss scowled. “Don’t make me fight you again.”
“Bring it on! I’m not scared of you,” Erin said, placing her hands on her hips.
Lindyss turned towards E and Stella. “Stella,” she said. “Fight her.”
Stella sat up, tilted her head to the side, and pointed at herself. “Me?” she asked and blinked twice. “I’m too weak.” She patted E’s head. “Fight her, E.”
“Stay out of this, Mr. Retired,” Erin said.
“I’ll tell Vur you bullied me,” Stella said, tugging E’s ear.
E sighed. “Why am I being dragged into this?”
“Help Vur,” Stella said, tugging harder. “You’re his friend.”
E sighed again and snapped his fingers. Dozens of armor sets appeared in the air behind him as Erin’s face paled.
“You’re really going to fight me?” Erin asked. “What happened to the peace treaty between the dwarves and the fairies? Shouldn’t you recognize the consequences as king?”
“I told you,” E said. “I’m not the king anymore. Why does no one ever believe me when I tell them that?” He shook his head and pointed at Erin. “Seize her.”
Erin gritted her teeth as the armor sets marched towards her. They marched through the air, yet their feet still made sounds with every step they took. “Fine,” Erin said as she retreated backwards. She wrinkled her nose at Linydss. “I’ll tell you.”
“Couldn’t you have said that from the start?” E asked and shook his head. The armor sets disappeared as he took a seat on the ground and stretched out his legs, not caring about dirtying his clothes. “Ah, I hate standing.”
Erin ignored the dwarf and spoke to Lindyss. “The mana cost of polymorph depends on the target being polymorphed and what they’re being polymorphed into. A person with no mana is easier to polymorph than someone with a lot of mana. It costs less mana to turn someone into a squirrel than it does into a bear. Even I can’t polymorph someone into an adult dragon unless I have all my mana, and it’d only last a few minutes at most.” She glanced at Vur who was sleeping against Lindyss. “For him to last so long as a dragon, it’s no wonder why he could drink my fountain and still be alive.”
Lindyss nodded. “I see,” she said and glanced down at Vur. She smiled at him before her expression returned back to normal. She slung him over her shoulder and muttered to herself, “Well, time to fulfill my quest.”
“Wait!” E said as wings appeared on Lindyss back. “Where are you going?”
“Who are you?” Lindyss asked, furrowing her brow at the dwarf. “Why are you speaking to me?”
“I’m Vur’s friend,” E said. “I used to be the dwarf king until Vur came along and took my position.”
Lindyss stared at E before turning her gaze onto Stella. “Is he delusional?” she asked, her eyes narrowing at the fairy. If only I hadn’t clashed with Erin earlier…
“Vur’s the dwarf king,” Stella said with a nod.
Lindyss scowled at the teen draped over her shoulder. “What’s wrong with you? Is it a hobby to take over kingdoms?” she asked and rolled her eyes. She shook her head and spread her wings, readying herself to leap into the air.
“Hold on!” a voice called from the sky. E, Stella, Erin, and Lindyss raised their heads. A silver dragon was rapidly approaching. She crashed against the ground, causing the four to fall over. “I knew I recognized you!”
“Lulu?” Lindyss asked as she sat up. “What are you doing here? I was under the impression that you were a basement dweller.”
“Rude,” Lulu said with a snort. “Well, there was an explosion and I got kicked out of the house by Mom. But the explosion wasn’t even my fault! It was like a volcano erupting or something, so I came to apprehend the culprit. But then I saw this really, really handsome dragon, and I had to check him out. But I lost sight of him for a second and he disappeared. Then I saw you nearby and thought you might’ve seen where he went.” The silver dragon nodded twice as she stared at Lindyss with expectation painting her face. “So did you see him? Where’d he go?”
“Damn it, past self,” Lindyss muttered as she hung her head. “Why didn’t you stop that silly fairy’s polymorph? Look at this mess I have to clean up now.”