“Then let’s be friends,” Emile said as he struggled to right himself. “You look like you’re struggling up there, so why not let us help you think?”

Mary blinked at Emile and dropped him onto the ground, causing him to squawk as he fell on his head.

Susan cleared her throat and smiled at Mary. “Can you put me down gently? I’m sure someone as powerful as you can control their strength.”

A faint smile appeared on Mary’s lips as she placed Susan onto her shoulder. She picked Emile up and hugged him, bringing him to her chest. Her head lowered and the two’s gazes met. “You should be more like this one,” Mary said and pointed at Susan. “My name is Mary. I can think perfectly fine by myself when I have to.”

“I’m Emile,” Emile said. One wing popped free from Mary’s hug, and he gestured towards the phoenix sitting on Mary’s shoulder. “She’s my sister, Susan.” His wing covered Mary’s gauntlet as he lowered it. “It seems like you’re pretty strong. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

Mary patted Emile’s head, causing his face to cramp. Even though she was wearing metal armor, she still felt Emile’s warmth in her palm. “I’m hunting a black dragon. It stole my prey.”

“You’re hunting a dragon…?” Emile asked, his eyes widening. A dry laugh escaped from his beak. “Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope we see each other again someday. Mind letting me go now? I just remembered we had important phoenix things to do.”

Emile squawked as Mary tightened her hug. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Friends do things together, right? And we’re friends.”

Emile hung his head and buried his face into his wings. He muttered, “Big Sis, save me.”

Mary smiled at Emile and grabbed a nearby vine, tying it around his waist. She tied the other end around her arm before meeting Susan’s gaze. “Your brother’s very dramatic. He reminds me of my own.”

“Really?” Susan asked as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “What’s he like?”

“He was a coward,” Mary said. “He used to tremble and hide in a corner when my other siblings picked on him.”

“Used to?” Emile asked, pecking at the vine around his waist. “Does that mean he isn’t a coward anymore?”

“Yes,” Mary said with a nod. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air before turning around and walking, shrinking the ground underneath her feet as her face grew pale. “He’s dead now. He fell on my sword and died.”

“…Oh.” Emile deflated and shut his beak, all thoughts of escape pushed to the back of his mind.

A few days of traveling later, Mary stopped by a gated mansion, two phoenixes perched on her shoulders. Mary closed her eyes and dropped to all fours, sniffing the ground. “The black dragon was definitely here,” she said as her eyes shot open. She stood up and tilted her head back, letting out a howl towards the moon. Then she closed her eyes and sniffed the air again. “It’s still here. Its scent is fresh.”

“You sure?” Emile asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Absolutely,” Mary said. “My nose can’t be tricked now that I’ve become more in tune with a wolf. I’m going to rest before this fight starts.” She grabbed a piece of cooked meat that was in a bag hanging on her waist and shoved it into her mouth. She shoved it into her mouth as she crouched down, chewing twice before swallowing. Her back arched as she hunched over, dropping to her elbows and knees, her forehead shining with a black rune that devoured the moonlight illuminating her face.

“Should we run?” Emile whispered to Susan. Mary’s eyes were closed, and the aura turtle and snake had appeared. The snake eyed the phoenixes, its tongue flickering in and out. “If we both fly at the same time, I bet we can confuse it.”

“I don’t think so,” Susan said. “If it chases after only one of us, then we’re dead for sure if Mary finds out. This is all your fault. Why did you insist on following her even though you could see her traveling at ridiculous speeds?”

“I followed her precisely because she could travel at ridiculous speeds,” Emile said, flapping his wings twice. The snake coiled around him, preventing him from moving. “You agreed to follow her too!”

“I didn’t agree.”

Emile snorted. “You didn’t disagree either. That means you agreed.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to say anything before flying off,” Susan said, narrowing her eyes at her brother. “The next time we see Tafel, I’m going to tell her about everything you did wrong.”

Emile rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a tattletale. What’s Tafel going to do to me, huh? I’m technically older than her even if she is our big sister.”

Susan puffed her chest out and stretched her neck up to look down on Emile. Her voice deepened as her wings crossed over her chest. “I’ll make her teleport you back to Mom.”

“…Please don’t tell,” Emile said. “It’s not like I did anything wrong, right? Why are we bickering between ourselves? If anything, we have to get Tafel to punish this crazy turtle lady.”

“I’m not crazy,” Mary said as her eyes opened. The snake that was surrounding Emile disappeared. “I have full confidence in my ability to hunt a dragon. As long as I drain all my blood, I should be able to do it.”

“Doesn’t that mean you’ll die?” Susan asked, tilting her head.

Mary blinked. “But I have two phoenix friends,” she said, patting Emile and Susan on the head. For some reason, she was a lot gentler with Susan. Emile squawked as his wings flapped, but he couldn’t avoid the crushing petting ability of Mary. “If I die, won’t a phoenix down revive me?”

“Do you think we fart out phoenix downs?” Emile asked, tears wetting the corners of his eyes as he pointed at Mary with a trembling wing. “Our down keeps us warm and prevents us from catching on fire! Giving someone your phoenix down is like giving them your favorite pair of still warm underwear from your body heat in the winter when you have no other clothes.”

“What do you know about wearing clothes?” Susan asked Emile.

“It was an analogy that she’d understand,” Emile said, bobbing his head up and down. “You understood that, right?”

Mary shook her head. “I didn’t. But please use your phoenix down on me if I die. Tafel would be sad if I did.” Her brow furrowed, and she added in a tiny voice, “Maybe. I hope.”