Hundreds of winged ant corpses were piled up like a small mountain. Unlike the seasoned and roasted piles of bugs the dragons and phoenixes were eating at the barbeque, this pile of bugs was covered in greenish liquids leaking from multiple cuts and tears marring the insects carapaces. At the very top of the pile, there was a spear impaled inside a winged ants carapace, and sitting cross-legged on top of the spears butt, there was a woman squinting up at the rift in the sky. On her forehead, there was a deep furrow, the corners of her eyes wrinkled like a crows foot. She was wearing a black dress with golden embroidery, the color nearly identical to her hairs. Luisa was the strongest human lord of the phoenixs tower, and she was not pleased; bugs made her squeamish. If it werent for the crowd of people she was protecting from the swarm, she wouldnt have fought the insects in the first place.
Luisas eyes narrowed at the rift in the sky. A figure erged, but it wasnt a winged ant. It wasnt even an insect. The creature had ocean-blue scales and claws, and a pair of golden eyes. Dragon? Luisa mumbled. Dragons were difficult to find in the tower; the phoenixes were rumored to have driven them away.
That must be her, a high-pitched voice said. On top of the dragons head, there was a woman with horns and a caterpillar. Even though it was a small creature and quite a distance away from Luisa, she could still tell it was pointing its leg at her. A golden-haired woman with a spear is what Gronion said, and she looks like the description to .
The dragon blinked and pointed its face at Luisa. She frowned as she slid off her spear and stood up, placing her hand on her weapon but not removing it from the winged ant corpse below. Why is a dragon looking for ? she asked. I dont believe I have any conflict with you.
The dragon, Vur, pointed at Luisas wrist. I want your root bracelet.
Luisas eyes narrowed. Excuse ? she asked. Since when did dragons resort to mugging people?
Vur blinked. He was about to speak, but Stella popped out of his snout. Were not mugging you, the fairy queen said. Were dethroning you. This tower doesnt want to listen to us because it hasnt seen Vur beat you yet. Were asking you nicely to give us your root bracelet; otherwise, well have to use force.
In that case, Luisa said and yanked her spear out of the winged ant. She held her arm out to the side, the motion flicking the green liquid off the head of her spear. Her root bracelet flashed, and nine shields appeared in the air around her, floating in a spherical formation to protect her from attacks coming from every direction. Eight spears identical to the one she held in her hand appeared in the gaps between the shields. Luisa released her spear, and it flew up into the air, the rest of the spears floating forward to form a neat row pointing at Vur. Lets fight.
Vur pointed at Luisa. Stop.
The golden-haired woman froze, the shields and spears freezing in air as well. Threads of string ca out of Vurs claw, the one he pointed at Luisa, and shot towards the stunned womans wrist, wrapping around the root bracelet. They pried the root bracelet apart, making enough space to slip it off of Luisas wrist without a problem.
Tafel looked down at Vur as the threads retreated, bringing the root bracelet into his waiting paw. Did you just command her?
Amplified command, Vur said as he retreated back into the rift.
Luisa gasped as she regained control of her body. Her eyes widened as the last bits of Vurs claw disappeared into the rift. She pointed her palm forward, sending the row of spears in the air surging into the sky. They shot through the rift, causing the golden-haired woman to frown. She had lost all control of her spears, but a few seconds later, they returned to her. Like trash thrown into a bin, the spears were chucked out of the rift and landed on the ground with a series of clanging sounds. Her brow furrowed as she stared at her weapons, and they rose as they floated in the air. She looked up at the rift, which was closing at a rapid pace, too fast for her to pass through. Was the dragon related to the insect swarm attack? He wanted to take control of the tower?
Luisa turned her head to the side, looking off into the distance at the people who were still retreating. She needed to borrow one of their root bracelets to figure out what was happening. Was she the only one who had been mugged?
***
Vur slipped his newly acquired root bracelet onto his front-right legs ankle, the accessory expanding to fit around his limb. He nodded to himself before raising his head to look at Volearden and Malvina. The towers are going to rge, Vur said.
Malvina and Volearden exchanged glances with one another. Malvina pointed at the armored dragon, gesturing with her wing. Im going to be living with him?
As if youd be lucky enough, Volearden said. You keep to your trees, and well keep to our roost. It wont be any different.
Malvina frowned at Vur. When is the rge going to?
The ground rumbled as it shook and shifted. The shifting was violent, the land bobbing up and down at a high frequency, causing the winged ants to fall over and bounce around like shaken pebbles. The sky rippled with mirages of various places: snowy mountains, lava-filled calderas, dark tunnels with circular routes.
Now, Vur said, unaffected by the shaking. He held out his paw, steadying Malvina, who had fallen onto her face. Once its over, well open the portal back to Erde.
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