The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons

Lindyss sat back in a recliner, her legs extended out in front of herself, her feet crossed. She was holding a glass of orange liquid with a lime slice placed on the rim. She wasn’t wearing her usual pair of sunglasses considering she was resting underneath the shade of a tree within a jungle. The cursed elf took a sip from her glass as her eyes rolled up to exam the trees.

“Hey,” Erin said. “Is this all you’re going to do today?” The fairy queen was sitting on a small, floating chair with a small table floating in front of her. On the table, there was a glass identical to the one in Lindyss’ hand.

“Yes,” Lindyss said, eyeing a bird pecking away at a tree’s bark. She took a sip from her glass before letting out a satisfied exhalation. “I finished an exhausting job, so now I’m rightfully relaxing. Don’t badger me.”

“You were relaxing on the job too,” Erin said, staring at Lindyss with slightly narrowed eyes.

“It was a tough one,” Lindyss said and shrugged. “Chaperoning a dragon and a phoenix, do you know how stressful that is?” She took another sip from her glass and exhaled again. She eyed her drink. “Phoenix liquor is pretty strong, huh?”

“You can say that again,” Erin said, pulling her red face away from her half-empty glass. “So, we’re really just going to sit here and stare at trees all day today?”

“Unless something pops up,” Lindyss said.

Erin furrowed her brow before an imaginary lightbulb lit up over her head. She shouted at the sky, “I command the world to make something pop up!”

Lindyss furrowed her brow and raised her head, looking up at the sky. Luckily, storm clouds didn’t gather; it didn’t seem like the fairy was capable of calling natural disasters. However, something did pop up: a red-haired man. “Oh, hey, Kax,” Lindyss said, raising her glass at the muscular man. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing the woman standing behind Kax. “Melody too, hello. Where’ve you guys been?”

“Tough dungeon,” Kax said, his brow furrowed. “Very long.”

Melody nodded. “But we’re stronger now,” she said. “It won’t be long before we’ll be of use.”

“You guys are late,” Erin said, waving her hand. “We already dealt with the final bosses. One of them became Vur’s pet, another’s going to be tortured for eternity inside a sheath, and the last one left after eating some of Kim Hajun’s memories.”

Kax and Melody exchanged glances with one another. Melody cleared her throat. “Well, maybe new final bosses will show up in the future, and we’ll be useful when they do.” The pink-haired woman nodded. “So, is there anything urgent we need to take care of, or are we free to…, you know, do our own thing?”

“Nothing urgent,” Lindyss said. “You can drink with us if you’d like.” She leaned to the side to look around Kax and Melody. “Also, what ever happened to Miranda? You know, the bald monk wearing orange.”

“I’ll pass on the liquor,” Melody said with a fake smile on her face. Drinking with someone who could kill her with a snap of their fingers? Melody didn’t have to be a lord of the tower to know that was a bad idea. “As for Miranda, I think she’s still choosing her weapon.”

Lindyss nodded. “Picking the right weapon does take a while,” she said. “It’s better if she takes a long time now than changing her mind and starting over a few years down the road.” The cursed elf turned to look at Kax. “How about you?” Lindyss raised her glass. “Drinking?”

“Kax decline,” the red-haired man said, shaking his head. “Kax go home, open portal to son.”

“If you need any help, ask Vur,” Lindyss said. “If the tower refuses to open a portal for you, Vur can slap some sense into it.”

“Kax understands,” Kax said and nodded. “Thank you.”

Lindyss grunted and sat back in her seat. Kax and Melody bowed their heads at her as they left in silence. The cursed elf reached over and grabbed Erin, narrowing her eyes at the fairy queen. “Did your command really work?”

“I don’t think so,” Erin said. “It didn’t cost me any mana.” She wriggled out of Lindyss’ grasp. “Here, let me try again.” The fairy queen puffed up her chest and shouted at the sky, “I command the world to entertain us!”

Lindyss glanced up at the sky. After a few seconds of waiting, she lowered her head to make eye contact with Erin. The fairy queen shrugged. “Guess it wasn’t me,” Erin said. “Must’ve been a coincidence.”

A loud thumping sound accompanied by a crack and crash rang out through the jungle as a tree toppled over. A phoenix tumbled out from between the trees, rolling on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust. Malvina raised her head and spat out a mouthful of dirt before looking around. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Lindyss and Erin. “Did either one of you cast a sleeping spell just now? My eyes got so tired, and I couldn’t stop myself from falling asleep.”

Lindyss pointed at Erin. “She did it.”

“Figures,” Malvina said before Erin could defend herself. “Fairies, am I right?” She shook herself off, scattering bits of dirt and debris around. Then, she hopped over to Lindyss’ side. “Is that phoenix liquor I smell? Pour me some; I need a drink.” The queen of the phoenixes sighed as she downed a shot of phoenix liquor the instant Lindyss put it in front of the bird. “I told Minerva if she ever needed anything, all she had to do was ask.”

“Uh-huh,” Lindyss said, pouring another shot for the phoenix. “Go on.”

“Can you believe what she did next?” Malvina asked and hiccoughed. “She asked me to babysit her children for her … for a hundred years!”

“Did you say yes?’ Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow at the queen of the phoenix’s miserable expression.

“After saying I’d do anything, how could I refuse?” Malvina asked with a sigh. “Being an honorable person is such a pain in the tail.”