"So, Briar," you say with a raised voice, hoping to cut off the impending Cordelia/Kasumi argument before it has a chance to build up steam. "Considering what happened to Cordy, do I even dare to ask why you're so tuckered out?"
"Considering that I'm blaming you for this, and I'm not going to let you get weasel out of taking responsibility on a technicality, like Cordy did?" Briar retorts. "Probably not."
"Wait, how is your being tired my fault?" you protest, trying not to look directly at the scowling brunette.
"Because, smart guy, the reason I'm so pooped right now is a combination of physical fatigue from all the flying about under battle conditions you and your master had me doing this morning, with a healthy dose of magical fatigue on top of it. That tracking spell of yours? It led the old guy through two different groups of those brown ninja on his way to Cordelia. Not to mention that lizard demon, which I swear was some kind of mutant Lizalfos that grew an extra pair of arms - and it could see me, thank you so very much."
The word "Lizalfos" brings to mind images of highly agile reptilian swordsmen, replete with fangs, pronounced claws on the end of lean, whipcord limbs, and lashing blade-tipped tails, as well as sharp swords and enough wits to know how to properly employ them. The notion of one with four arms - and presumably, another weapon - is not comforting, though a part of you wonders if such a beast would fare any better against Link than its predecessors.
After a moment's reflection, you shake your head, knowing the answer is likely to be, "No."
Briar, meanwhile, has continued talking. "Now, there was a time not too long ago when having a seven-foot-tall, four-armed lizard-man trying to catch me would have been no biggie. I could have just flown away, and its clumsy claws never would have had a chance of nabbing me. But wouldn't you know it? That time was all of two years ago, before I grew about twice as tall as I used to be and put on goddesses know how much weight, because I was trying to save a certain prestidigitating punk's butt from an evil bureaucracy!"
"Did it catch you?" Kasumi asks, looking alarmed despite the fairy's presence and good health. The other girls wear similar expressions.
"Embarrassing as it is to admit, yeah. And I'm glad the old guy was there to kung fu the thing's scaly butt until it let go, because I'm pretty sure it meant to eat me. As it is, I had to burn a ton of mana fixing up my wings." She flutters the appendages in question, with a faint, bell-like tinkling.