“Since when did Vur get this strong?” Prika narrowed her eyes and frowned, stroking her chin with her front paw. “Could it be…? I got weaker?” She tilted her head and stared at the meteorite she had summoned. It was an impressive size, and the composition of it was topnotch as well, but Vur had caught it so easily with one claw while still asleep. Steam rose out of Prika’s head, and she furrowed her brow. “Another!”

A second red circle appeared in the sky, and an even larger meteor emerged from it. It descended faster and louder than the first one too, heading straight for Vur. Once again, he rolled onto his side and stuck one claw out. The meteor collided with his scales, and a few buildings near his body were destroyed by the effects of the impact. The natives screamed again before prostrating themselves, bowing towards Vur while chanting. A few were stabbing themselves with stone knives, letting blood freely flow from their wounds, offering it as a sacrifice to Vur. The blood evaporated upon hitting the ground, turning into a red mist that flew towards Vur, circling him before pressing against and disappearing into his scales.

Prika blinked hard. Is that what the little fairy queen meant by the natives were making Vur stronger? Wait a minute. “You fairy! You never told me what you cursed me with!” She clenched her jaws, showing her teeth while wrinkling her snout. However, she wasn’t willing to descend, not with that crowd of annoying and fearless and resilient humans waiting for her. “Hey! I know there’s a bunch of parasites living in Vur’s body, and I know you can understand me. Get those humans to stop attacking me, and let me land!”

Sheryl popped out of Vur’s body from the sun-like tattoo on his shoulder. She patted a smoky mark on Vur’s scales. “Mr. Rabbit, make those natives stop. Prika’s a friend.”

“She’s not.”

“Ignore Stella,” Sheryl said and cleared her throat. “She just gets super touchy when someone ruins her plans, and Prika almost did that.” She poked the smoky part on Vur’s scale again. “Am I poking Mr. Rabbit?” Her rocky face contorted as she narrowed her eyes. “It’s always so hard to tell.” There were hundreds of smoky parts all over Vur’s scales, some larger than others, some brighter, but they constantly moved around, making his body seem like it was shimmering.

Soon, a furry head with rabbit ears popped out of Vur’s scale. It looked around and wiggled its ears. Mist drifted out of it and spread out, creating a fog around Vur. It washed over the natives, and they closed their eyes, their movements slowing to a halt. The rabbit blinked at Sheryl and nodded at her twice before sinking back into Vur. Sheryl scratched her head and shouted up at Prika, “It’s safe to come down now.”

Prika circled around in the sky a few times before landing beside Vur. “Alright,” she said. “What’s this about? Did Vur get a new parasite inside of his body?” She sighed. “First, there was that fairy. Then, there were the four different-colored rocks. And now, there’s even all kinds of silver food?”

“They’re not food,” Sheryl said and pursed her lips. “They’re animals.”

“Food,” Vur mumbled in his sleep.

“Food,” Prika said, agreeing with Vur.

Sheryl kept her mouth shut. She coughed. “Anyway, Vur absorbed a bunch of these spirit animals. They have this weird link with these humans. Whenever the humans dream about them, the animals grow stronger, and that makes Vur a little stronger too.”

Prika blinked. “What about that weird bit with the blood?”

“Oh,” Sheryl said. “That’s the chimera queen. It absorbs blood and gets a little stronger every time it does, and for some reason, these humans really, really like spilling their own blood.” She shivered. “You should see it. They have all kinds of rituals and dances that hurt themselves.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “It’s really creepy.”

Prika blinked again. She poked Vur’s side. “How many things did he absorb?” She tilted her head before shrugging. “Well, it’s not my problem. Sera’s the one responsible for him. Anyway”—her eyes gleamed—“have you seen any other dragons? Preferably some handsome ones. They don’t have to be single either; I can chase their mates away.”

Sheryl shook her head. “We haven’t seen any dragons,” she said and sighed. “Oh! We came here to look for you. Your sister said the portal wasn’t calibrated, but you rushed in too soon without even taking the crystal that could bring you home.”

“The portal wasn’t calibrated?” Prika asked. “What does that mean? There aren’t any dragons here?” Her body trembled. “That, that can’t be! If that’s true, then I spent months digging through lava, rocks, and sand for no reason!? Where’s the crystal!? Take me home! I’m going to teach Sung a lesson she won’t forget.”

“We don’t have the crystal,” Sheryl said. “Tafel does.”

“And where’s Tafel?”

Sheryl shrugged. “Somewhere. Vur left the statues behind for her to find us, but it’s been so long and she still hasn’t shown up yet.”

“So, I have to find Tafel if I want to go home?” Prika asked. She glanced at Vur. “Why isn’t he looking for her?”

“There’s this rule,” Sheryl said. “When you get lost in a forest and people are looking for you, you’re not supposed to move around. You stay in the same spot, and they’ll find you eventually.”

“What do you know about getting lost in a forest?” Stella asked, her head poking out of Vur’s snout. “You lived in a volcano your whole life, didn’t you?”

Sheryl coughed. “I’ve read books, okay? Stop being so touchy; Prika’s not going to hurt Vur’s humans anymore.”

Prika waved her paw, interrupting the two. “So, you’re telling me, the fastest way to find Tafel is to sit here and do nothing?”

Sheryl nodded. “Yup.”

“I approve!” Prika said, her wings raising into the air. “It’s been so long since I’ve last slept. All I’ve been doing is digging and swimming and more digging.” She yawned and splayed her limbs, flopping onto her stomach. Her body deflated as she exhaled, and her eyelids pressed together. Then, one eye shot open. “Wait. What was the curse you put on me?”

Stella completely crawled out of Vur and puffed her chest out. “A curse of small bladder! Every time you’re about to fall asleep, you’ll have a really strong urge to pee.”

Prika shifted her gaze onto Sheryl. “Do you see why no one likes fairies?”