Previous | Table of Contents | Next
“Can we go now?” Prika asked, rolling her eyes up. She was floating on the surface of the ocean, her wings completely spread to prevent herself from sinking. “Weren’t we waiting for your friend and that elf’s skeleton minion? Why does the skeleton get more action than me?”
Tafel cleared her throat. “It’s only been a few minutes,” she said. “Give them some time to finish whatever they’re doing.” Her brow furrowed, and she tugged on Vur’s arm. “Hey. What’s that on the horizon?”
Vur glanced at the horizon before shifting his gaze back onto Tafel. “Oh,” he said. “That’s my fleet.”
“Your what?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow. “You built a fleet? I subordinated a few people and forced them to make boats to explore the New World, but they only made around ten ships.” Her eyes narrowed. “They’ve been holding out on me. How many ships are in your fleet?”
Vur shrugged and tapped on his forearm. “Deedee, how many ships did you build?”
“I didn’t keep track,” Diamant’s voice said, Vur’s rune lighting up. “I kept constructing boats until there weren’t any more people left on shore.”
“Why did you bring so many people?” Tafel asked. “Were they following Prika? I didn’t really ask, but how was your experience in this world? What did you do?”
Vur rubbed his chin. “I didn’t like it,” he said and shook his head. “All I did was fly around, have Deedee make statues, cure sick people, and sleep. There wasn’t even anything good to eat.” He frowned and glanced at his stomach, touching it with his hand. “But for some reason, I’m not hungry.”
“Oh,” Sheryl said from the sun-like rune on Vur’s shoulder. “Those people sacrificed and fed a lot of animals to you while you were sleeping. That’s probably why you’re not hungry.” There was a short pause. “I’m just wondering, but shouldn’t Prika lead them back? There’s no need to go to this new land mass since we already found Tafel, right? It wouldn’t be right to abandon them all right now. If we go home, the boats will sink once Mistle and Zilphy are gone.”
Prika grunted and rolled her eyes. “Not only do we have to wait for a skeleton for who knows why, but we also have to bring these people to land?” She sighed. “I just want to go home and throw Sung through a portal and see how she likes it.”
“Sorry for making you wait, Prika,” Tafel said. “How about this? I’ll open a portal for the boats to enter the place I conquered. By the time that’s over, I’ll fetch Alice and Mr. Skelly, and we’ll be good to go.”
Vur scratched his chin. “Stella wanted to keep them since they were pretty strong,” he said in a slow manner. He tapped on the tattoo on his chest. “Stella? Are you there?”
“Not now, Vur.” Stella’s voice rang out. Along with it, there were some frantic squeaking sounds. “I’m a bit busy. Whatever you need, I trust your judgment.”
“Wow,” Tafel muttered and blinked twice. “She must be really busy.”
Vur tilted his head. “Hmm?”
“Nothing,” Tafel said. “Anyway, we’ll teleport them over, yeah? It’s not like we can bring them back with us. We’ll be taking people from their homes and into a magical world where it’ll probably be hard for them to adapt. It just wouldn’t be right. Besides, Exzenter warned me of transferring large populations of species. It’s not good for the local ecology.”
Vur shrugged. “Alright,” he said and yawned. “I’m not attached to them anyway.” He wrinkled his snout. “They always try to feed themselves to me for some reason.” He glanced at the rune on his shoulder. “They didn’t feed me any people while I was asleep, right? I think my tummy would be hurting if they did.”
“They didn’t,” Sheryl said. “They tried, but Stella had Deedee stop them. After a while, they just stuck with dancing and bleeding around you instead of sacrificing people to you.”
Tafel nodded. “It’s decided then,” she said, her horns glowing silver. “I’ll create a portal. Have Mistle and Zilphy guide the ships into it.” A line appeared above the ocean near the horizon, and it split open, a portal forming slightly ahead of the fleet of rocky boats. One by one, they passed through with the guidance of the wind and currents, disappearing from view. Sweat appeared on Tafel’s forehead. “You really put a lot of mana into those boats, huh? It’s a good thing there’s so much mana in the air because it feels like I’m transporting a couple of dragons.”
Diamant’s voice came out of Vur’s arm. “I didn’t put any mana into—”
“Dragons!?” Prika asked, her voice thundering over Diamant’s. “Did someone say dragons?” Her head swiveled around, nearly tossing Vur, Tafel, and Mary off of it. “Where?”
“Weren’t you listening to the rest of what I was saying?” Tafel asked with a dark expression. Mary was holding her arm, keeping Tafel from being thrown into the ocean. “Why did you only respond to the word dragons?”
“So, there aren’t any dragons?” Prika asked and sighed. “I obviously wasn’t listening to you speak. Why would I listen to something so boring?” She sighed again. “You got my hopes up for no reason. I really thought my future mate was in sight for a second.”
Tafel rolled her eyes and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It seemed like all the boats had gone through. “Alright,” she said. “Don’t mope around; I’ll make contact with Mr. Skelly and Alice again. They should be done by now.” The first portal closed, and a second one opened—slowly, at first—revealing a red-faced guild master and a skeleton standing next to her. Tafel glanced at them and relaxed. They were wearing clothes. A neutral expression appeared on Tafel’s face, and she said, “We found Vur and Prika. Are you two ready to go home?”
“We can go at any time,” Mr. Skelly said, chuckling as he placed his arm around Alice’s shoulder. With a snap, she ripped it out of its socket. “However, my skeletons found something interesting. There’s some bones, and they’re very big. They remind me of dragons.”
Prika’s eyes lit up. “Dragon fossils?” She extended her claws and ripped the portal wide open before swimming through, destroying the building that Mr. Skelly and Alice were residing in with her large body. “Where?”