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“Alright, Vur, that’s enough sleeping.”
Vur rolled over onto his back and let out a sigh. Why was his sleep always being interrupted? His eyes remained closed, and he spread his arms and legs out. Maybe if he didn’t move or respond, he’d be left alone. He wasn’t even sure who was trying to wake him up.
“I know you’re awake,” a feminine voice said. “You don’t have a snot bubble coming out of your nose.”
Vur grunted and opened his eyes. Floating just above his head, there was a fairy with silver hair and golden horns staring down at him. “Good morning, Stella. Why’d you wake me up?”
“I was doing some eavesdropping,” Stella said and nodded. “Grimmy and Leila are going to check on their children soon.”
Vur sat up and tilted his head. “So?”
Stella gestured behind herself. The two baby dragons were still held in place by their earthen restraints. “They have big plans for their children, and I think you should be a part of them.”
Vur scratched his butt and furrowed his brow. He waved his hand, and the brown runes on his arms lit up. The earthen restraints crumbled into piles of loose dirt, and the baby dragons shook themselves free. “Plans? Why should I be a part of them?”
“You see, recently, you’ve been sleeping a lot,” Stella said, bobbing her head up and down. “On the last few adventures we had, you were always either sleeping or completely unmotivated. You have to think about us, the creatures living inside your body and watching your adventures. It’s boring when you sleep all the time. We want to see action! Excitement! Take the initiative and do something instead of letting Tafel decide everything for you.”
Vur scratched his chin. “Do something…. Like what?”
Stella wrinkled her nose. “I can’t tell you what to do. This is something you have to find for yourself.”
A shadow covered the entrance of the cave, and a certain black dragon poked his head inside. “There you guys are,” Grimmy said, his slit pupils focusing on Ramon and Gloria. “Come on out. Your mother and I have something to discuss with the two of you.”
“Yes, Papa,” Ramon said as Grimmy’s head stopped blocking the entrance.
Ramon and Gloria trotted out of the cave, and Gloria whispered to Ramon, “You’re not going to tell Daddy about Vur trapping us?”
Ramon snorted. “Dragons have to be independent!” he said and swiped his tail against the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. “I’m not a snitch like you. If someone’s picking on me, I’ll deal with it myself!”
Vur rubbed his nose as he and Stella watched the two baby dragons leave. He glanced down at the floor of his cave at the spot that a baby silver dragon had dubbed the comfiest spot in the valley. It was calling him, beckoning for him to take another nap. Vur turned his head to look at Stella. “Will you get mad at me if I take a short nap?”
“I won’t be mad,” Stella said and let out a soft sigh. “I’ll just be disappointed. Life has so much to offer, but you’re sleeping through it all. There are certain things you can only witness once, and when they’re gone, you’ll never be able to see them again. Are you sure you want to go to sleep and miss out on so many wonderful adventures?”
***
Tafel frowned as she held up Minerva’s feather. It was a bit hard to see the traces Susan and Emile had left behind thanks to the clouds blocking her view. She was standing on a tall pillar of ice, one that extended from the surface of the ocean to the bottom of the sea of clouds. Since she was too stubborn to ask Vur to fly her around to follow the phoenixes’ traces, Tafel had to make do with other methods of tracking things in the sky instead. Her horns glowed light blue, and a path of ice extended out in front of her. When it got to the point where it could no longer support its own weight, another pillar of ice extended downwards until it touched the surface of the ocean, stabilizing the path.
Tafel walked forward, making sure to follow the traces illuminated by Minerva’s feather. After she crossed the icy bridge, it collapsed and melted along with the first pillar of ice. Tafel sighed. It’d be nice if she knew the phoenixes’ final destination. That way, she could just teleport in that direction instead. However, the phoenixes seemed to be drunk or muddleheaded when they flew this way. Sometimes their traces surged upwards, and sometimes they went down to the surface of the ocean. It was impossible to predict where they were going. Thanks to that, Tafel could only tediously create paths to walk on while following their trail. She could only cheer herself up by convincing herself that this was a method of training her spell control.
***
“Ramon, Gloria,” Leila said, making sure to give both her children equal amounts of eye contact. “The two of you are old enough now to leave the roost. Of course, you can only leave when you’re accompanied by one of us.” She gestured towards herself and Grimmy. “This time, we’ll go out together, all four of us.”
Ramon’s eyes brightened, and he bobbed his head up and down. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” He jumped up and spun around, nearly clobbering Gloria’s head with his tail. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for forever!”
Gloria gulped. She glanced at Grimmy. “Where are we going? It won’t be scary, right?”
Grimmy chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’ll only be mildly terrifying. We’re going to see your grandparents.”
“Grandparents?” Ramon asked. “Like Grandpa Nova?” He glanced at Nova’s cave, and his tail trembled. He still remembered the beating he got when he dared Gloria to tip over a jar of paint. “Can we go somewhere else?”
Leila snorted. “No,” she said. “We’re going to visit my mother, your grandmother. You’ll call her Grandma Kondra, and you’ll behave while you’re there. Do you two understand?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Gloria said, staring at her mother with wide eyes.
Leila shifted her gaze onto Ramon. “Do you understand?”
“I always behave,” Ramon said and grumbled. His tail thumped against the ground, but when he thought about finally leaving the roost, it perked up again. “When are we leaving? Now?”
“That’s right,” Leila said. “Are the two of you ready for your first flight out of the roost?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Let’s go!”
Prika lifted her head, staring as the family of four dragons flew into the sky. When they were just dots on the horizon, she lowered her head again. “I still think my idea was the best.” She snorted and leaned over, grabbing a book that was on top of a pile near her boulder. “How is visiting grandparents better than an intervention?” Her brow furrowed, and she tilted her head. “Does Grimmy even have parents?”