Events of a Day in Self-Quarantine

"Pssst. Estrel, wake up," a voice loudly whispered into her ear. The dragoness known as Estrel yawned, lifting her head to face the pale red-haired boy in front of her. She folded her previously splayed wings and tucked in her legs. She had been taking pleasure in her slumber and desired to withdraw to it.

"Yes, Pheleonix?"

"I'm bored. You should come play with me."

"Why can you not play outside instead?"

"You know mother won't let me out, especially since it's raining. She believes it's too dangerous and I'll get sick, like being sick has prevented me from playing before," the boy said, crossing his arms. The dragoness shook her head, chuckling internally at the smaller creature. She agreed with him, he should at least be able to go play in the yard, despite the virus everyone feared so much.

"And why can you not play with your parents and sister?"

"They're playing a board game."

"What is so bad about that?"

"I'm not allowed to play board games anymore because I cheat," he mumbled. Estrel sighed, stretching like a cat. There wasn't much else for him to do.

"Fine, we can play." She smiled at the elven boy.

"Can Halcorion come too?"

"Of course." He whistled and a tame hellhound faded into sight, seated at Pheleonix's side. Halcorion seemed to be a standard wolfhound, the only discrepancy in appearance being his abyss-black coat and glowing crimson eyes. Estrel enjoyed the hound as a companion. During bad storms, he could be found hiding from lightning under her wings and sharing the best sleeping spots with her during sunny days. His tail wagged at his side and his red tongue flopped out of his muzzle. An impatient whine emerged from him. He was excited to play with his boy since Pheleonix would normally be at school this time of day.

"Let's go!" Pheleonix pointed toward the door with a wooden sword he had brought with him.

"Wait! I have to hide first." After the boy buried his face into Halcorion's fur and began counting to thirty, Estrel snuck off to a different room which happened to be Pheleonix's. She blended in with the shadows under his bed, but just in case she was too obvious she made herself look as small as possible.

"Twenty-nine, thirty! Ready or not, here we come!" Pheleonix had finished counting and began to roam the house in search of Estrel. The house was large and he didn't have sufficient patience to look everywhere for the dragoness, so, as any young child would do, he gave up after a few minutes. He laid down on the wood floor and refused to move. Halcorion huffed and dragged him to Estrel by the sleeve. She stuck her head out of the darkness, growling playfully.

"Who has awoken the powerful Estrel, dragon of stars?!" She crawled out with her wings flared. A small plume of flame slipped between her teeth. Pheleonix stood with his legs spread out. He drew his sword on Estrel.

"I am Pheleonix, warrior and mighty adventurer! I'm here to slay you so the village of Kaylaurora may be free from your reign of terror," he yelled. Using his imagination was a great skill of his. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his swordsmanship. Halcorion crouched defensively, growling at the dragoness before him.

"What's all that racket?" a voice called from the kitchen. The red-haired boy sighed, temporarily leaving his imginatory realm. He walked out of his room and stood at the top of the stairs, yelling down.

"I'm playing adventurer with Estrel and Halcorion!"

"Alright, well play nice. And use your inside voice!"

"Yes, Mother." Pheleonix cowboy-walked back to the room, his fingers substituting as guns in their holders. He stood in the doorway now, squinting at Estrel.

"Now, where were we?" he said in a Western accent. After a quiet moment of Estrel struggling to stay in character, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" The boy pointed his finger guns at her.

"I thought we were playing adventurer, not the Wild West!"

"Cowboys can be adventurers too!"

"You are right... fine, I will make an exception."

"Anyways, where were we?"

"You will never slay me! I will rule over Kalyaurora as long as I have so much as a gold piece!"

"Have it your way, then. Halcorion, get her!" The hellhound pranced over and licked Estrel's face all over. She squirmed, trying to make sure he would accidentally lick the inside of her mouth while she was smiling.

"Get him away from me! I will do anything, just save me from this fearsome mutt!"

"Only if you let me become your rider. Then he'll stop."

"Fine! I accept! Just get him off me!" As was agreed upon, Halcorion walked back to Pheleonix and sat at the boy's side. The hound was beaming, very happy to be a part of all that, no matter how chaotic it was. Estrel crouched so the boy could climb on. He swung his leg over, pushing a few of her spines out of the way.

"Ha! I am not giving you a ride, I'm taking you far away from here so you can never come back! I will never take a rider!" Estrel trotted through the halls with Pheleonix until Halcorion became a bit too playful. The hellhound nipped the tip of the purple dragoness's tail. She yelped and eased into a run as the hound begun to chase her through the halls.

Pheleonix cheered, occasionally letting out a "Yee-haw!"

"Alright, alright, that is enough." Estrel crouched so her rider could get off. The hellhound sat nearby, yipping happily. His tail drummed against the floor.

"Let's play again!"

"Begin counting." Pheleonix once again buried his face into Halcorion's fur and counted to thirty. Estrel wandered back into his room, casting purple and silver flecks about the walls and ceiling whenever she stepped into sunbeams that had filtered in through the windows. She hid in his closet this time. By the time Pheleonix had finished counting, the dragoness had come out of her hiding place. Her ear pressed to the wall, she listened for a strange noise she had heard moments ago. He ran over to her and whipped her in the side with his sword. This elicited a loud, 'thwack!' followed closely by a pained yelp.

"What was that for?" The dragoness turned to the boy. Little plumes of smoke drifted from her nostrils.

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident!" He was telling the truth. He didn't think before he had done it, he only saw the opportunity. Halcorion backed out of the room. He didn't want to be involved in this.

"How was that an accident?! It hurt!"

"I'm sorry." The red-haired boy gave her sad puppy eyes, dropping the sword onto the floor beside him. He put his hands behind his back as he lowered his head. Her dark purple tail lashed back and forth as she decided what to do. She sighed, mumbling things under her breath while she examined the spot where she had been whacked. It was mostly fine except for a slightly red spot near her underbelly. Right as she was going to say something to Pheleonix to keep him from crying, her tail hit the wall. Surprisingly the wall crumbled under the force. After hearing the noise, Diris, the boy's mother, came upstairs to investigate. She brushed dark hair away from her face as she peeked into the room. Estrel stepped away from the damage. Diris would've found out sooner or later so the dragoness didn't see the point in hiding it.

"What happened here?"

"Estrel and I were playing and the wall broke."

"Ah. I tell you two to be careful for this very reason." Diris walked over to the hole to determine the extent of the damage.

After looked through, she muttered a quiet, "Oh my," followed by "Perlani, you need to come see this." The purple dragoness moved out of the way of the elves, wondering what all the fuss was about. Pheleonix tried to peek over Diris's shoulder to see into the hole, but all he could see was darkness. Perlani, the boy's father, stepped into the room with Pheleonix's older sister, Pandawn, following close behind. Halcorion trailed behind.

"Yes, darling?"

"Come see, come see." Diris waved Perlani over and he looked through the hole.

"That's incredible. You don't see very many of those in near Miranova, let alone in our house!" Next to look was Pandawn, whose face lit up as she looked through.

"Awesome!"

"I wanna see! Let me look! Mother, sister isn't letting me have a turn," Pheleonix whined. With a scoff, Pandawn moved out of the way so her brother could have a look. He gasped at what he saw inside. A bright red phoenix and an orange phoenix had nested in that hidden room which appeared to be connected to the attic. The bright red one screeched melodically at the watching elven boy. This screech was repeated in a higher pitch by three baby phoenix in the nest, each ic a different color.

"What are we going to do with them?"

"Perhaps we let them live in the solarium until they're all grown," Pandawn suggested.

"I think that's an excellent idea. I'll go prepare a space in the plants for the nest and keep open it so we can get them in easier." Diris stood, humming as she made her way down the stairs to the solarium. Perlani stood, examining the wall.

"Estrel, do you think you could make a hole just big enough for you to get thr birds out?"

"I should be able to, but I can't guarantee the rest of the walk won't crumble as well." She walked over and ripped a bit more of the wall away. It was just enough space for her head to fit and for the phoenixes to get out.

"I hope the space is ready for them since I'll have to rush if I don't want it to hurt." The dragoness snaked her head in and grabbed the nest. This elicited frightened chirps and angry screeches. She rushed down the stairs, careful not to drop any phoenixes. The parents flew after her, swooping at her head. Once she was in the solarium, she placed the nest in the nook of the moss-covered antarctic beech they had built the solarium around. She quickly backed away once the parents landed and begun to make sure the nest was secure. Diris opened one of the window panes so they could go in and out as they pleased.

"I think they'll enjoy it here, though I do hope they'll leave the koi alone," Diris said, looking the room over.

"We won't be able to be in here for quite some time, but you'll be able to come in from time to time to check on them," she added

"That is fine. There are plenty of other quiet spots in the house for me to sleep in." Estrel smiled, leaving the room. She would grow to enjoy the presence of the birds and perhaps one of the young ones would as well.