Lindyss hummed as she sat in a rocking chair, crocheting with a ball of black yarn by her feet. A bat was forming on the ends of her crocheting hooks. Around her, dozens of stuffed bats lay on her dresser, bed, table, and floor. There was even a wool dragon attached to the ceiling. As she was putting the finishing touches on her bat, the floor shook and knocked her out of her chair. Screams entered the room through her open window as she sat up and brushed her brown hair out of her face. A sigh escaped from her lips as her door swung open and a skeleton appeared.

“Unholy Misstr—“

“Is it Grimmy?” Lindyss asked. The skeleton froze mid-greeting before jerking its head up and down, bones rattling. Lindyss smoothed out her red dress as she walked out of the room. “I told him to stop entering Konigreich like that.” The skeleton watched its master leave before shrugging and entering a nearby closet.

Outside, Lindyss saw Grimmy sitting on top of her newly-founded church of the damned. Her skeletons and religious followers decided to vote on the name of their religion, and the winning entry was Damnedism. What started off as a joke on her part became a continental phenomenon because the results were visible. With Grimmy’s help, Lindyss had set up a holy altar that converted dead bodies into zombies or skeletons—depending on the state of their corpses—that retained their memories from when they were still alive.

“Ah,” Grimmy said, shifting his weight on top of the church, causing tiles to rain down on the populace below. Lindyss noticed a section of the church had collapsed and her skeletons were already working on repairing it. “There you are.” Grimmy leaned forward and plucked Lindyss off the ground before she could say a word. His wings flapped, causing the skeletons on the ground to fall over, and the duo soared into the air.

“Grimmy,” Lindyss said as she was placed on top of the dragon’s forehead. “I’m a very busy person, you know? You can’t just kidnap me every time you’re bored. This is the fifth time this week, and the week only started three days ago.”

Grimmy snorted. “I know what you do in that tower of yours—crocheting little bats and a mini-me all day,” he said. Lindyss smacked his scales, causing him to burst out into laughter. “And I’m not kidnapping you because I’m bored. I’ve come to fulfill a promise.”

“Huh?” Lindyss’ brow furrowed. “Which one?”

“Eastern continent,” Grimmy said. “You finished integrating that holy warrior soul, right? Leila and I are flying over to visit her family. You’re my plus-one.”

Lindyss fell silent. “I don’t think you understand how a plus-one works,” she said as her eye twitched. “Are you sure you didn’t mean third wheel?”

“You two-legged creatures and your words,” Grimmy said and snorted. “I’m bringing you along. Feel honored.”

Lindyss rolled her eyes. “Yes, O mighty one,” she said. “Honored is definitely the feeling I’m experiencing right now. But didn’t you say you weren’t planning on leaving the continent any time soon?”

“Well,” Grimmy said as he flew through a cloud, causing Lindyss’ dress to dampen and cling to her body. “I was staying to make sure Nova didn’t bully Vur too much. Turns out Vur didn’t need my help. Nova accepted him after he caught a meteor.”

“So that’s what that was,” Lindyss said as she furrowed her brow. “I had a feeling it had to do with Vur. Where is he now?”

“He should’ve teleported to Fuselage with Tafel,” Grimmy said and paused as he stroked his chin, “but Sera seemed pretty mad about something. I thought she’d be happier considering Vur’s not a fledgling anymore.”

“No mother likes seeing their children leave the nest,” Lindyss said and shook her head. Although she found it absurd that Sera considered the whole continent of Zuer to be her nest, she couldn’t really argue with her.

“Nah,” Grimmy said. “I think it was something else. Although I do remember that time Vur was kidnapped by a certain someone, and Sera went ballistic trying to find him.” Grimmy’s eye rolled upwards to stare at Lindyss.

The corrupted elf cleared her throat and gazed up at the sky. “Didn’t you go all ‘I’m going to destroy everything with undead’ as well?” she asked. A shiver ran down her spine. “I’m glad we got over that misunderstanding.”

“I think Prika’s still upset you didn’t marry Vur,” Grimmy said and snorted. “Why don’t you?”

“Go die. There’s no way in hell I’m becoming your niece-in-law,” Lindyss said.

Grimmy laughed as he dove downwards, approaching the valley of the dragons. Lindyss had to dig her fingers in between his scales to prevent herself from being thrown off. Her eyes shut due to the wind, and a sudden stop caused her face to smack into Grimmy’s forehead. “Asshole,” Lindyss muttered as she sat up and smoothed out her hair. “Do that again and you’ll regret it.”

“Your relationship with Grimmoldesser is quite unique,” Leila said with her head slightly tilted to the side, staring at Lindyss.

Lindyss stiffened as her hands stopped moving. “Greetings, Leiandra,” she said with an awkward smile.

“Just call me Leila,” the silver dragon said and grinned. “Not many people get to fly on Grimmy’s head. What was your relationship with him again?”

“He’s my bestest buddy,” Lindyss said with a dry laugh. She recalled the first time she met Leila and implied she had a lover’s relationship with Grimmy.

“Mmm.” Leila hummed. “What about that thing from over ten years ago?” She tapped her front claw against the ground. “I think your words were, ‘Grimmy was my light when everything was dark. He was the moon that lit up my night.’” The silver dragon’s eyes twinkled as she stared at Lindyss.

A bead of sweat formed on the elf’s brow. She looked down at Grimmy, trying to catch his gaze, but the black dragon was preoccupied with cleaning his claws. Peals of laughter rang through the air as Leila’s tail thumped against the ground. “I was just teasing you,” she said. “Your expression was glorious. I think I can partially understand why Grimmy has such perverse hobbies now.”

“I do not!” Grimmy said.

Leila smiled and nuzzled his neck with her snout. “You don’t have to be embarrassed when we’re the only ones here.”

Lindyss sighed, but not audibly. Looks like she was third wheeling after all. At least she’d get to see a new continent without having to worry about cleaning up Vur’s messes. The poor parasitic creatures could entertain him instead.