More than two dozen dragons, most of them red, were milling about a valley. Most of them were lying on their stomachs, their eyelids drooping, but the younger-looking ones were chasing each other around while roaring and laughing. One dragon tackled another, and both went tumbling along like a scaly snowball before colliding into another dragon. The two dragons disengaged and lowered their heads at the dragon they bumped into. “Oops. Sorry, Grandma,” both dragons said at the same time.

“It’s okay, children,” their grandmother said. “Just be careful not to bump into the food. It’s not quite as sturdy as your grandmother.”

“Yes, Grandma!” the two dragons said. One of them licked his lips. “When are we eating? My tummy’s rumbling.”

“We’re still waiting for everyone to arrive,” their grandmother said.

The young dragon tilted his head. “But isn’t everyone here?” He looked around. “Who’s missing?”

“Your aunt, Prika,” their grandmother said. “We wait for her every Christmas, but she never comes home.”

“Maybe she’s dead?” the young dragon asked.

The other young dragon smacked the first one and pushed him down to the ground. “Stupid! You can’t say things like that. People get mad.”

The first young dragon squirmed and flailed his limbs. “The only one who’s mad here is you, blockhead!” He pushed his brother off and was about to pounce, but he stopped upon seeing his grandmother’s gaze. “Sorry, Grandma. Did I make you mad?”

Their grandmother shook her head. “No. I know Prika isn’t dead,” she said. “I still get updates from time to time. Last I heard twenty years ago, she was a part of Novasthiurm’s cohort.”

“Do you think she found a mate?” a red dragon called out from the side before snickering.

“Whether she did or not is none of your business,” the grandmother dragon said. “It’s because you and all your siblings kept teasing her that she hasn’t come back for Christmas all these years.”

The red dragon rolled her eyes. “You teased her too, Ma.”

“Did I?” the grandmother dragon asked and reared her head back. “When?”

“You say stuff like if you keep eating like that, no one’s going to want you as a mate. And other stuff like have you seen the state of your room? No respectable dragon wants to mate with a slob.”

The grandmother dragon exhaled through her nostrils, shooting out two jets of flames. “That’s not teasing. That’s the truth.”

“That’s even worse, Ma.”

“Well—” The grandmother dragon froze mid-speech. She stood up on her hindlegs and craned her neck towards the sky. A red and blue dot broke through the clouds. “Is that…?”

The two young dragons stood up and squinted at the approaching dots. “Is that our aunt?”

“Is that her mate?”

“Prika’s back!” the grandmother dragon shouted. The other dragons in the valley burst out into commotion and stood up to watch the approaching dots in the sky. The children, sensing the change in the adults, stopped playing around and paid attention to the sky as well.

Up on Vur’s head, Tafel swallowed while peering over his snout. She turned her head to the side towards Prika. “Your family is huge.”

“I have twelve younger siblings,” Prika said. “And all of those siblings found mates before I did. I bet half of them already have kids too.” She wrinkled her snout and counted out the dragons in the valley. “Thirty-four of them. My ma and pa are there too. That’s thirty-two minus twenty-four….” Her eyes widened. “Eight of them had kids and I don’t even have a mate yet!”

“Couldn’t it be more than one kid per dragon?” Tafel asked. “Vur’s cousins were triplets. Who knows? Maybe one of your siblings had octuplets.”

“And maybe the moon really is made out of cheese,” Prika said, rolling her eyes.

Vur blinked and turned his head. “Have you heard about the moon dragon?”

“Hmm?” Prika raised an eyebrow. “How did you know? When I went to find the love of my life on the eastern continent, a bunch of humans were throwing festivals and giving sacrifices to the moon dragon.”

“Oh, okay,” Vur said.

“Don’t sound so disappointed!” Tafel said.

“Prika! Welcome home!”

“Oh, they noticed,” Prika said. “Let’s fly a little lower and find a spot to land. There’s a spot there right in front of my ma. We just have to push those two little squirts out of the way.”

Tafel sighed. “You’re a terrible aunt.”

“I’m giving them seashells as presents to make up for it,” Prika said and snorted. “I bet none of them have been to the ocean before. They’ll love ‘em.” She turned to Vur. “Remember. You’re mute. And Tafel’s your translator that can read your mind which is why you keep her around.”

Vur nodded while Tafel sighed again. “I don’t think this…. Okay.” She swallowed her words upon seeing Prika’s glare. “I’m a mind-reading mouthpiece for a dragon, got it.”

Prika and Vur landed on the ground, in the center of her family, who had gathered around and made a ring. Prika stood on her hindlegs and puffed her chest out. “Ma, I’m home.” She was promptly tackled to the ground by her mother, who smothered her with kisses. “S-stop! Ma! You’re embarrassing me in front of my mate!”

Prika’s mother chuckled and climbed off of Prika. “Welcome home,” she said before smiling at Vur. “And who’s this?”

“Good evening,” Tafel said. “My name is Vur. Prika’s told me a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” Vur nodded twice.

“This is Vur,” Prika said and patted Vur’s shoulder. “Due to an unfortunate encounter with Grimmoldesser, he lost his ability to speak. But, he found a two-legged creature that can read his mind, so she acts like his mouthpiece for him.”

“You’ve met Grimmoldesser!?” one of the young dragons shouted. “Does he really eat misbehaving children!?”

“Yes,” Tafel said. “I’ve seen him eat many children. Stay good, kids; listen to your parents. I was lucky and only lost my voice.”

“Vur is your mate?” one of the larger red dragons asked. “Did our little Prika finally grow up?”

“I’m older than you!” Prika shouted. “I’m not your little Prika! And yes, Vur is my mate. I bet you’re jealous of how handsome he is.”

“This is my first time meeting you, but even if you’re my sister-in-law, I can’t take that lying down,” the gold dragon next to Prika’s sister said. “Why would she be jealous when she has me?” He glared at Vur. “Let’s have a little exercise before dinner, shall we?”

“I’m a pacifist,” Tafel said. “I believe all conflicts can be resolved with words. Prika didn’t mean to anger—”

A white laser beam flew out of Vur’s mouth and struck the gold dragon. He roared and tumbled against the ground, rolling with the laser as if he were a rock being pushed by a white pole. When he disappeared from sight, Vur closed his mouth and snorted, exhaling two jets of white mist from his nostrils.

The younger red dragons stared up at him, their mouths gaping and eyes shining. “So cool!”

“…I’m amazing, right…? Ha-ha….” Tafel placed her hand against her forehead and pushed back, running her fingers through her hair. She exhaled. “I apologize.” She nodded at Prika’s stunned sister. “I thought he wanted to fight.”

“…Didn’t you say you were a pacifist?”

“I didn’t fight him,” Tafel said. “I cleansed him with holy light.” Vur bobbed his head up and down, nearly causing Tafel to fall off. Then he gave Tafel a thumbs-up, crossing his eyes to look at her. While the other dragons were thinking of what to say, Vur turned his head from side to side, sweeping his gaze over the valley. Tafel cleared her throat. “I heard there was a feast?” She pinched Vur’s snout, though it didn’t do anything. “Not that I’m impatiently waiting to eat or anything.”

“Right!” Prika said. “Stop ogling my completely normal mate and start ogling the food! It looks like it’s getting cold. Were you waiting long?”

“We were waiting for you, Prika,” Prika’s mother said. “Like we do every century.”

Prika blinked. She tilted her head. “How long do you usually wait for?”

“Until the food goes cold.”

Prika swallowed. She swept her gaze over her siblings and her mate and the brown line of earth that the gold dragon had left behind when he was pushed out of sight. “I sincerely apologize for making all of you eat cold food for the past few centuries.”

“Please forgive the inconvenience my mate has caused you,” Tafel said. Prika nodded. “She’ll make it up to all of you personally.” Prika turned her head to stare at Tafel. “She’ll have a deep conversation with each of you to make up for all the time she’s spent away from you”—she smiled at Prika’s mother—“especially you, Ma.”

Prika’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. A claw landing on her shoulder caused her to cry out. Her mother smiled down at her, placing her other hand on Prika’s other shoulder as well. “You found a good mate.”

Prika bit her lower lip before stuffing down what she wanted to say. She sighed and gave her mother a small smile. “About time too, right?”

Prika’s mother stroked her daughter’s head. “I believed in you. You were always so bright as a child. Anything you wanted to do, you could’ve done. The whole world is your oyster, it makes no sense for you to live out the rest of your life alone.”

“That’s right,” Tafel said. “Makes no sense.”

Prika gave Tafel a dirty look.