The phoenix matriarch opened her eyes, stood up, and spread her wings. She let out a screech that caused the flames surrounding her to fly up into the air, filling the sky with bright-red fire. Her surroundings had already been evacuated, allowing her to set the whole nest ablaze, increasing her strength with every fire lit. Tafel had wanted to stay behind, but the matriarch forced her to take the baby phoenixes to a safe place. Even the elves, who’ve lived there for hundreds of years, were removed from their homes.

The wounds the matriarch had suffered during her previous clash with Vur, including the self-inflicted one she created to escape, had all healed. She took one last glance at the cluster of eggs behind her, making sure they were engulfed in flames, before flying out of her nest towards the sky. Her eyes narrowed at the procession of dwarves, their cars snaking through her forest like a line of ants through a field of grass. At the head, a silver dragon stiffened and looked up, meeting her gaze.

“Hey, Vur,” Lulu said, nudging the person on her head with a claw. “She’s staring at us.”

“I know,” Vur said as he stood up. He scratched his head. “Just in case, keep your mana potions at the ready. I’ll test them for you if I need them.”

“Really?” Lulu asked, a gleam in her eyes. “You will? I guarantee that one of my potions will fully recover your mana in an instant!”

“Stop making him repeat himself,” Stella said. “If he says he will, then he will.” She nodded before dissolving into motes of purple light, merging into Vur’s body.

“I don’t want to be greedy, Vur,” Sheryl said from the runes on his shoulder, “but can you give me some more of her flames? I might be able to directly absorb them if she hits your shoulder. I feel like I can evolve even further!”

“I’ll try,” Vur said and nodded. He leapt into the air, his body transforming the moment his feet left Lulu’s head. A pair of wings burst out of his back, launching him towards the phoenix in the sky, his body continuing to transform mid-flight.

“We meet again, dragon!” the phoenix matriarch said as she swooped at Vur, talons outstretched. The flames in the vicinity wrapped around her feet like armor, causing them to give off an incredible amount of heat.

Vur sucked in his breath, his stomach ballooning outwards. A moment later, a torrent of icicles flew out of his mouth accompanied by a dense layer of white frost that clashed with the flames in the sky. The phoenix matriarch continued forward as if she hadn’t noticed the icicles, her body shimmering as she increased in speed. The icicles passed through her body as if she were made of flames, leaving her unharmed.

Vur flapped his wings, soaring up into the air higher than the matriarch, but flames erupted underneath the phoenix, causing her to chase after Vur without needing to flap her wings. Vur let out another breath of frost, but the matriarch passed through unimpeded, the flames in the sky flickering for a brief moment. Vur’s eyes glowed as he increased the gravity around the matriarch, causing her to falter.

“In these flaming skies, I am the monarch!” the matriarch shouted. Her body turned into wisps of fire while the flames above Vur contorted and wriggled, forming the crude outline of a bird. A moment later, the flames solidified, and the matriarch’s talons struck Vur on the shoulder, tearing a long bloody gash through his scales.

Vur roared and swiped his tail at the phoenix as she passed by, but his tail passed through her as she reappeared above him. He glared at the matriarch as the wound on his shoulder closed, white tendrils of light dancing around the flesh. “I can absorb the flames around us, Vur,” Sheryl said. “It’ll take a while, at least an hour. Can you hold out for that long?”

Vur nodded as the flames in the sky swirled towards him, colliding and dispersing against the runes on his shoulder. Usually, the golden rune on his forehead shone brighter, but Sheryl’s runes emitted a light that overshadowed it. He flapped his wings and flew up towards the matriarch, his body swimming through the air like a fish through water.

The matriarch screeched as she summoned a fireball that was the size of Nova’s meteor. Vur roared and halted, raising his arms while leaning back almost as if he were standing on air. A circle of runes appeared in front of him, the mana coming off of them causing the sky to shake. The crude surface of a meteor appeared, colliding with the massive ball of flames. Vur flew down towards Lulu while the meteor and fireball grinded against each other in mutual destruction, raining thousands of flaming rocks onto the forest below.

“Potion!” Vur said as he got closer to Lulu. She stood on her hind legs and made a tossing motion towards Vur with her front paws. Out of nowhere, a ball of green liquid appeared in the air. Vur opened his mouth and chomped down on the liquid, swallowing it without hesitation. His eyes widened as all the runes on his body shone brighter, the golden glow on his scales increasing in intensity as well. He nodded at Lulu before flying back towards the matriarch. “It works.”

“Nice,” Lulu said as she lowered her front paws back onto the ground. She smacked her hand against the ground, creating a tablet of stone which she picked up with one paw. “Now let’s record the side effects.”

“I’m a fifth of the way there, Vur,” Sheryl said. “Around fifty minutes left!”

Vur grunted as his body snaked through the flaming sky, approaching the matriarch. The meteor and fireball finished destroying each other by the time he made it back. Out of nowhere, a pair of talons ripped across his wing, causing him to roar and thrash his claw out to the side. The phoenix matriarch retreated out of range, flying next to the other phoenix in the sky. “Simple creatures fall for simple tricks,” the matriarch said as the phoenix beside her shattered like the image on a broken mirror. “Think, is this body of mine real?”

Vur roared again as his tail swiped beside him, smacking a phoenix that had just appeared. His tail passed through it, scattering it into a swirl of flames. He snorted as white tendrils enveloped the wounds on his wings, stitching the gaping holes back together.

“I don’t understand,” the matriarch said. “How are you proficient in holy magic as well?” She glanced at Lulu who was scribbling notes onto the stone tablet with her claw. “It’s not her.”

“Shut up!” Vur said as he exhaled out a breath of gray smoke. Hints of red tinged his cheeks, his eyes slightly unfocused. “I’ll teach you a lesson. Dragons are the strongest!” He charged through the air flailing his limbs with wide, powerful swipes that left his body vulnerable to attacks. Like a spinning ball of destruction, he whirled around and around, striking with his claws, tails, wings, and even snapping down with his jaws. Lightning bolts, fireballs, icicles, and wind blades flew out of him like fireworks.

“Vur! Vur! I’m getting super dizzy!” Sheryl shouted. “Slow down!”

The phoenix matriarch’s eyes widened as she avoided his strikes. Every time she was hit, she’d disperse into wisps of fire and reappear elsewhere, but the flames in the sky decreased in intensity as well. “Y-you!” the matriarch shouted. “What kind of fighting style is this!?” There were a lot of openings to attack which she took advantage of, but Vur fought recklessly, letting her cut his bone to cut her flesh. His wounds would heal a second after every exchange, making the matriarch feel like she was punching a pool of water.

“Hold on,” Vur said, ceasing all attacks while holding one claw up into the air. His face was completely flushed. He hiccoughed and fell over backwards in the sky like a dead log. The matriarch stared at him with her beak hanging open. Right before Vur was about to crash into the ground, his wings spread open and he flew upside down, gliding towards Lulu. “Potion!”

Lulu heaved another glob of green liquid into the air which Vur promptly swallowed. Then she scribbled onto her tablet as he flew back up towards the matriarch. “Potion may be ever so slightly alcoholic. Just a teensy bit.”