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“Hah!” Volearden grinned upon seeing Malvina fuming on the ground in front of Tafel. The armored dragon shifted his gaze onto Vur before giving his great-grandson a thumbs-up. “Not bad. It’s quite a feat to shut a phoenix up.”
Vur glanced down at Malvina. She glared back up at him and waved her wings while jumping up and down. Judging by the flames shooting out of her ears, it was safe to say she was upset. Vur ignored Malvina and nodded at Volearden. “Don’t fight here,” Vur said. “This is my sleeping spot.”
The color on Volearden’s helmet swirled. “You’re right,” the armored dragon said and nodded. “I don’t want to cause a ruckus here either, but you saw what happened; Malvina used her sound attack first. If she hadn’t shut up, the trees and ground would’ve fallen apart from the vibrations. I was simply trying to stop her.”
Vur blinked at Volearden. No wonder why Grimmy had sent Lindyss to chaperone him and Tafel. The cursed elf’s advice of asking Volearden nicely to stop fighting had actually worked. “As long as you know,” Vur said and nodded his ocean-blue head. He glanced at the phoenix throwing a tantrum by Tafel’s side. “Should I return her beak to her?”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t,” Volearden said before shrugging. “But I’m an old relic. The war on Erde has been over for quite some time, hasn’t it? You’ve never experienced the conflict between dragons and phoenixes nor developed the hatred that comes with it.” The metal dragon exhaled. “You’ve even taken a phoenix as your wife. It’s possible dragons and phoenixes will have to rely on the two of you to achieve peace.”
Vur scratched his head. Stella was right when she said old people talked a lot. Vur pointed at Malvina. “Polymorph.”
“—swear I’ll tear out your…! Oh?” The phoenix blinked and stopped her wild gestures before clearing her throat. She touched her beak with her wings before glaring at Vur. “Never do that again! Do you know how rude it is to take away someone’s beak while they’re talking? It’s even worse than telling them to shut up!”
Tafel let out an awkward laugh as she tugged on Malvina’s wing. “Vur got Volearden and Fern drunk just like you asked,” the demon said. “You didn’t do that just so you could fight them, right? I’ve heard drinking lowers your inhibitions; maybe, you can use this opportunity to get to know them better. If you really try, the two of you can end the war between phoenixes and dragons since you’re the leaders, right?”
“Peace talks in our states of mind?” Malvina asked, looking down at Tafel. “Are you the drunken one or am I?” The phoenix puffed her chest out. “Besides, dragons are huge boneheads. It’s impossible for words to get through their thick skulls; the only language they understand is violence.”
“That’s not true,” Tafel said and pursed her lips. “It’s true dragons are stubborn, but they’re capable of reasoning.” The demon paused. “Though, you do have to use dragon reasoning to communicate properly with them.”
“And why should I have to use dragon reasoning to speak to them?” Malvina asked before hiccoughing, shooting out a jet of flames from her beak. “As the most beautiful existence in the world, those dragons should be using phoenix reasoning to communicate with me, don’t you agree?” She nodded. “I said I’d teach you if Vur got Volearden and Fern drunk, so why don’t I begin the lessons right now? Make sure you study my techniques as I kick Volearden’s metal butt back to the scrap heap he came from.”
Tafel’s expression darkened as Vur and Volearden descended, landing on the ground not too far away. Flames surged around Malvina as she glared at the two dragons. “You’re fighting me two against one now, huh?” she asked. “Of course, why wouldn’t Volearden’s great-grandson take his side?” The phoenix turned towards Tafel. “How about you tell your husband to stay out of this? I don’t want to hurt him on accident.”
“They’re not here to fight,” Tafel said, turning her head towards the two dragons. Since Vur wasn’t beating Volearden, the armored dragon must’ve been convinced by Vur. “Right?”
Volearden snorted. “I’m not here to fight,” he said and hiccoughed a jet of flames right onto Malvina’s face. “I’m—”
“You attacked me!” Malvina said and flapped her wings at the flames to bat them away. “Do you see what I mean by dragons can’t be communicated with!?”
“Wait!” Tafel said and as she spread her arms out. She stepped in front of Malvina and frowned. “You’re overreacting; all he did was hiccough! Don’t forget you’ve been hiccoughing out fire all night too.”
“An overreaction? Me?” Malvina asked. She glared at Tafel. “How would you like it if someone breathed a mouthful of flames into your face?”
Tafel furrowed her brow. “I wouldn’t like it very much, but I wouldn’t get violent because of—”
Malvina hiccoughed, and a ball of phoenix flames struck Tafel in the face, the flames engulfing her whole head.
“—it!?” Tafel spluttered and ducked before swiping at her hair with her sleeves. Upon realizing she hadn’t been burnt thanks to being a phoenix herself, she raised her head and glared at Malvina.
The queen of the phoenixes stared back at Tafel.
Tafel took in a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. The phoenix had simply hiccoughed on her on accident, the same way Volearden had hiccoughed on the phoenix earlier; if she were to get upset now, wouldn’t that make her a hypocrite? Tafel cleared her throat and was right about to say something when the corners of Malvina’s beak curled upwards into a smirk so smug it made the demon want to punch the bird right in her stupid, beautiful face.
“Oops,” Malvina said, doing nothing to hide her massive grin. “That was an accident. I swear.”
“Vur,” Tafel said as she clenched her fist. “Give me all the buffs you got.” Her eyes narrowed at Malvina. “I don’t think this phoenix is going to listen to words.”