“Actually,” Bonnie said and tugged on Prika’s tail, drawing the red dragon’s attention. “We do have an older cousin. He’s really cool too.”

“Ooh?” Prika’s eyes lit up, and she whirled around to face Bonnie. “Where is he? Is he single? Do I have to fight off a different dragon?”

Bonnie furrowed her brow. “Um….”

But before she could reply, Nova placed his paw on top of Prika’s head, his claws lightly touching her skull. “She’s talking about Vur,” Nova said. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself again, just—”

“Damnit, Vur!” Prika shouted, cutting Nova off. She huffed, exhaling two jets of flames through her nostrils. She sighed and looked down at Bonnie, a defeated expression on her face. “Any cousins beside Vur?”

Bonnie shook her head.

“Actually,” Youngest said and tugged on Prika’s tail in the same manner that Bonnie had earlier. “Maybe Uncle Vernon has an older brother or sister with kids.”

“He doesn’t,” Prika said and rolled her eyes. “I asked him a looong time ago.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. In that long amount of time, couldn’t one have been born?” She bit her lower lip. “But then they’d be too young.” She sighed again, her head drooping towards the ground. Her tail rose and slammed into the earth. She lifted her head towards the sky and shouted, “There needs to be more dragons in the world! Why are there so few of us!?”

“Hey,” Alice said. She was standing atop Nova’s back, holding a metal rake. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and she wiped at it with the back of her arm.

Prika turned her head and blinked at Alice. Then she pointed at herself. “Are you talking to me?” She cupped her paw over her mouth and whispered to Nova, “You slept for too long. Parasites are growing on your back.”

“I’m Vur’s friend,” Alice said.

“…Friend?” Prika asked. She raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Girl…friend?”

Alice turned to Mr. Skelly. “Is it just me or are dragons really a lot like children?”

“No, I’ve been noticing that too lately,” Mr. Skelly said and nodded.

“I’m Vur’s girl friend!” Mary said, raising her hand into the air. She stood up out of her aura turtle shell before hanging her head. “Or, I’m trying to be.”

“Ooh!” Prika’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Mary bobbed her head up and down. “For Grandpa’s sake,” she said and patted Nova’s claw.

Prika blinked at Nova. “Eh? Is Tafel not good enough for you?”

Nova sighed and pushed Prika’s head down to the ground with his tail. He faced his three grandchildren and gestured towards the struggling red dragon with his claw. “And this is why you should ignore her. Her neurons have been replaced with hormones, and she can’t think or speak properly.”

Bonnie swallowed. “When we grow up … will we be like her?”

“Eh.” Nova shrugged. “It’s possible if you don’t find a mate in a suitable timeframe, but I don’t think that’ll happen to you three.”

Prika shoved Nova’s tail off of her head and gasped for breath. “Whose neurons have been replaced with hormones!?” She paused and tilted her head. “What’s a neuron?”

Alice cleared her throat. “Hello? Miss Red Dragon?”

“Oh, right. You were saying something to me before I was so rudely interrupted,” Prika said and shot a dirty look at Nova. She snorted and nodded at Alice. “What’s up?”

“So, back on the eastern continent where I’m from, there’s a bunch of holy dragons,” Alice said. “Do you know them?”

“Leila’s family?” Prika asked. She furrowed her brow. “I actually don’t know much about her family. She doesn’t talk about them.”

“Well, other than the dragon matriarch and her mate, there’s another four dragons,” Alice said. “There’s Leila, the one that you know. Lulu, a freak that kept following Vur around for the majority of the time. And there’s another two that I don’t know the names of, but judging by the way they were talking to the dragon matriarch, they’re definitely brothers.”

Prika stiffened. “Brothers?” She wet her lips with her tongue. “How old did you say there were?”

“I didn’t say anything about their age,” Alice said. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s not something a two-legged creature like me is able to discern at a glance.”

“Leila had brothers and never mentioned them to me…,” Prika said in a low voice while staring at the ground. “I wonder why.”

“Is it because your neurons were replaced by hormones?” Eldest asked.

“No!” Prika said, snapping her jaws at Eldest. “Stop saying that. I’m a perfectly healthy and functional dragon. Nothing vital was replaced by anything, okay?” She furrowed her brow and looked up at the sky before sighing. “Leila must’ve forgot. Yes, that must be it.” Her head snapped down to glare at Alice. “How big are they? Are they bigger than me, or smaller than me?”

Alice scratched her head before tapping on Mr. Skelly’s shoulder. “How big would you say they were?”

“As someone with no eyes, I can say with complete confidence that when we last saw them, they were the same size as you, Prika.” Mr. Skelly nodded.

Prika stared at Mr. Skelly. “Aren’t you one of Lindyss’ skeletons?”

“I’m a free man now,” Mr. Skelly said. He wrapped his arm around Alice’s shoulder. “This is my wife.”

Prika’s expression darkened. “Are you telling me a skeleton has a better love life than me? Is that for real?” She exhaled and spread her wings. “Alright, to the eastern continent I go. I’m not coming back until I have a mate.”

“Wait!” Alice said. When Prika turned to look at her, Alice cleared her throat and scratched her reddening neck. “Err, wasn’t my information helpful? Isn’t there something you might want to … give … me…?” She shrank back under Prika’s glare but continued talking, “Like a scale? Or two?”

Prika snorted. “You’re happily married to a skeleton. What could you possibly want from a lonely old spinster like me?” Her wings spread even further, and her knees bent.

“Before you go, say hi to Lulu for me,” a voice said from behind her.

Prika turned around. “Vur! When did you get here?”

Tafel cleared her throat. “About the time Mary said she wanted to be Vur’s girlfriend because of Nova.”

“Ooh,” Prika said. She closed her wings, letting them rest against her sides. “I think I’ll stick around for a bit longer then.”