Weve been forgotten about again, Emile said. He and Susan were perched on a branch, staring down at a dragon bathing in a pit filled with red liquid. But forgetting about that for a mont, what do you think shes doing?
Susan covered Emiles face with her wing. Shes taking a bath. Stop peeking.
Emile batted away Susans wing and frowned. Its not like theres anything to see, he said and snorted. He gestured towards the bald man crouching next to the lip of the pit. Look at him. Hes staring so intently, but the dragon doesnt care.
It looks like hes casting so sort of spell, Susan said. And looking at how its laid out, it doesnt seem to be the good kind of spell either.
Hah? Emile raised an eyebrow. You can tell whether a spell is good or not just by looking at it? Since when? Were siblings, and Im the older onetherefore, the smarter onebut even I cant differentiate spells based on how theyre drawn on the ground.
Youre not the older one, dummy. Susan pointed at the symbols surrounding the pit with the tip of her wing. And look. Its drawn out in the shape of a dragons skull. How can it be good? If it was good, then maybe the symbols would be heart-shaped or flowerlike.
My egg ca out of Mom first. It doesnt matter if you hatched first, Im the oldest. And, so what? Emile asked. You think that man is plotting against the dragon? Dragons might be very dumb, but humans are even dumber, okay? Theres no way a human can fool a dragon.
You should stop calling everything that isnt a phoenix dumb, Susan said. Look at Vur. Hes not a phoenix, but hes really smart.
Emile rubbed his beak with his wing. Are you taking Moms mission for you seriously? Dont tell youre really falling for Vur.
Susan smacked her brothers head. Im not! Vur just happens to make very good points all the ti, she said and nodded. What if that man over there is like Vur? That dragon could be in serious danger.
Emile fixed the feathers on his face that were ruffled by Susans attack. You might be right, he said, drawing out his words. Should we save her? Id rather have a rivalry with dragons since we already know all their weaknesses from our previous experiences. If we fought with humans, we might actually lose due to our lack of knowledge.
Stop spewing things out in such a roundabout way and say you want to save the dragon if you want to save her, Susan said. Theres no need to make excuses. She flapped her wings twice, lifting herself off the branch and into the air.
I wasnt making excuses, Emile said and followed after his sister. I was just trying to convince you to help her.
Susan rolled her eyes at Emile before turning her head towards the bald man on the ground. She took in a deep breath, puffing her chest up. Then she exhaled out a stream of blood-red flas that crackled and whistled towards the man. The man raised his head just in ti to see a red light wash over him, and he let out a short scream before he disappeared underneath the curtain of fire.
Emile gasped. You killed him! You killed a man!
What? No, Susan said, furrowing her brow. I set him on fire. Hes not dead. Once he turns to ash, hell be reborn as a baby.
See!? I am the smarter one! Only phoenixes co back to life from their ashes, you nitwit, not-older-or-smarter-than- sister! Emile jabbed towards the direction of the burning man with his talons. Youre a murderer now!
Susan clacked her beak twice and frowned. Why didnt you stop if you knew?
How was I supposed to know you were going to do that? Emile asked in reply, nearly shouting. Im supposed to be the reckless one! Youre supposed to prevent from doing stupid things like that!
But, I just wanted to. Susan hung her head, her wings flapping up and down to suspend herself in the air. I wasnt thinking, alright? She swallowed hard and stared at the smoldering body on the ground. Flas were still thriving on its back, dancing in the breeze. Do you think hes still alive?
Is the sky green? Of course hes not alive!
Susan pointed. But hes still moving.
Of course hes not moving? Emile tilted his head. Why is he moving?
The two phoenixes didnt do anything as the charred man picked himself off the ground and ran towards the pit. He leapt inside and landed besides the dragon with a hissing sound as the flas engulfing his body was extinguished by the red liquid.
I think hes alive, Susan said and nodded at Emile. See? I didnt kill him. Im not a murderer.
Emile blinked, keeping his gaze on the man. But hes lting.
Humans dont lt, Susan said and turned her head back towards the ground. Hes just dissolving into a liquid. Is that supposed to happen?
Are you dumb? Did you eat sothing wrong for breakfast today?
Hey. Vurs done it, Susan said and pouted. Hes dissolved into purple liquid before.
Emile opened his beak. Then he shut it. He opened it and made a small sound. Then he shut it again. Okay, he said after a while. Thats true. But Vur never scread as if he were dying when he did that.
Susan watched with a pale face as the charred man dissolved into clumps that dispersed throughout the bath, his screams sputtering down to nothing. Um. At least we saved the dragon, right?
We still dont even know for sure if the dragon was in any actual danger, Emile said. He sighed. Next ti you want to set soone on fire, tell first, okay? Since no one saw that except for the two of us, we can pretend it never happened, but if you had done it in front of anyone else, youd definitely be labeled as a murderous wicked creature and hundreds of adventurers will try to kill you.
What about the dragon? Didnt she see?
No, Emile said. Her eyes have been closed the entire ti. Look, she doesnt even notice that her bath water is black now.
Susan swallowed. Should we flee before she opens her eyes?
Emile sighed again. You really did eat sothing that ssed with your brain. Of course were fleeing!
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