Creative Corner

Day 27

Cad wasn’t coming back. Ever.

Winse had pulled the two young Guardians, grown now from their hatchling days, aside to the graves outside of the lair. Winse was the largest dragon in the lair now, towering over his adoptive father by nearly two meters. That meant he towered extra-high over Zone’s children, 5M Betes and 8M Losis. Winse was 18M. It was quite a difference.

It had all started when Losis saw the scars over Winse’s left eye. Three marks, claws, cutting along the ridge of his brow and cheek, slicing into the lid but leaving the violet eye beneath unmarked. The scales had parted, leaving pale pink scar tissue exposed.

Lymph and Leth had no visible scars, unlike their older sibling. That’s why it caught Losis’ eye. Nobody else had scars in plain sight.

Why he led them outside to the graveyard, the siblings had no clue. Winse stopped before three particular ones, sat, and spoke.

Losis wished he had never asked about the scar.

Winse told them about three dragons, two Mirror ladies and a Tundra male–Bola, Malihini, and Pizzicato–that he had grown up with in this lair. Told them of their daily forays into the wilderness for food and supplies, a practice that–back then–Zone and Safe had argued against until recently. Told them of the move–likely initiated by Malihini–into Woodland Path from Training Fields. Told them of the owls and chargers and serpentine plants and dryads.

Told them of how Pizzicato had gone down first in the forest, too weak to survive the ferocious attacks on him.

Told them of how Bola fell next, torn apart by Wildwood Owls four battles after Pizzicato died.

Told them of how Malihini tried her hardest to defend her adoptive sister against those owls. How she watched Bola die. How she soon joined Bola in death.

How Zone found them that evening when they didn’t come home. How Zone brought them back to the lair. How he yelled and blamed Winse. How Winse stayed outside that night.

How Winse would never forgive himself.

How they couldn’t stop now. How they needed the food and supplies to live. How hard life would be without him and Lymph and Leth taking that risk every day that they could.

How hard life would become if they three died and left Safe and Zone, Betes and Losis, behind.

Winse told them about Safe and Zone’s first nest, how those three had died minutes out of the egg. How Zone, depressed and angry, fled to Wind territory to escape. How Bola’s egg was found. How Zone found him and Pizzicato and Malihini abandoned in the Wandering Contagion. How, even to this day, Zone searched the ruined territory for abandoned hatchlings.

How the plague had driven them to this. Was still driving them to this.

The plague had killed Fluen, Kanker, and Pox. It had killed Cad too. It might kill the hatchlings from Safe and Zone’s next nest. It might kill Leth and Lymph’s future children too. It might even kill all of them.

“Why doesn’t the Plaguebringer do something? Can’t she fix this?” Betes asked.

Winse frowned. “How should I know? Safe saw her once and then never again. As far as I’m concerned, there is no Plaguebringer. Only the plague itself. And it sure isn’t friendly or about to help us. We’re on our own.”

Losis didn’t want to hear anymore. He turned and ran back into the lair. Leth’s stories were happier. She’d make him forget about all of this pain and sadness. He couldn’t bear it.

Betes stayed. She moved close and reached up with a paw–the bitten one, Losis’ teeth having marked it permanently. She touched Winse’s scarred eye gently.

“How did it happen?” she asked softly.

“Cockatrice in Woodland Path,” Winse replied. “It’s nothing exciting.”

“Tell me anyway.”

So he did.

[b]Day 28[/b] Leth looked over the strange mirror. Zone had found it while he was out scavenging yesterday and had dropped it in the hoard without looking at it. The teal-bellied Spiral was more curious. She dug it out and slunk away outside where she couldn’t be found. Then she looked it over. [item=Marva's Miraculous reflection] It was a deep purple color, both plastic casing and glass. It refused to reflect her image, though. Leth was confused. Maybe the glass was filthy. She’d go wash it. There was no real water source in the Wandering Contagion. Most of it was filthy or some kind of bubbling green goo. So Leth flew to the edge of Plague territory and found a clear stream. She dipped the mirror in and gasped. [item=Depleted Miraculous Reflection] The shiny surface shone more brightly than it did before. It must be clean now, surely! Leth lifted the mirror and dried it with a piece of linen she brought with her. She smiled, looking into it. Ah! There she was! But…why did she look sad? Her reflection’s head was lowered, golden eyes glistening with tears. She looked so sad! Why? The mirror was humming. It almost sounded like words… [b]Not…miraculous…[/b] Leth reared back and plunged the mirror into the stream. Since when could mirrors talk? She didn’t understand her own fright. It was as if the mirror had spoken to her directly. She slowly lifted the mirror up and gasped again. It had changed color! [item=Depleted outstanding Reflection] It was now a silvery-blue rather than a deep shade of violet. But how? Was it the water? [b]Not…[/b] Leth jumped. It was talking again. No, humming…but with words… Did that make sense? [b]Not…outstanding…[/b] Her reflection seemed to have gotten sadder. It made Leth depressed. Maybe if she washed the mirror again, it would change again? She dunked it under. The color changed once more. [item=depleted phenomenal reflection] It was now a vibrant gold color…but her reflection was still sad. Borderline miserable. Why? [b]Not…phenomenal…[/b] Leth was shaking. All of these words were stabbing her in the heart. Was the mirror…saying these things…to her? Was it…insulting her? Was it lying? She dipped it again and watched the color change. [item=depleted remarkable reflection] The casing became copper…but the glass became blue, reflecting robin’s egg in her face when she lifted it. It looked so pretty compared to the rest of the mirrors. [b]Not…[/b] But her reflection was still the same. Worse even. [b]Not…remarkable…[/b] Leth came to a conclusion. These words weren’t random. They were copied, words she loved. Words Lymph had said about her. And the mirror was twisting them. [item=depleted terrific reflection] The glass turned green with the next dunk. Leth considered breaking the mirror. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She didn’t want to hear Lymph’s beautiful words twisted so cruelly against her. [b]Not…terrific…[/b] [item=depleted amazing reflection] It was pink now. Leth hated it. She decided to take it home and put it back in the chest. Maybe this is why Zone had put it away. Had he played with it? Had it insulted him, like it was doing to her right now? Had it used Safe’s words against him? To hurt him? [b]Not…amazing…[/b] Like it was hurting her? If so…it was working…because it was right… She wasn’t miraculous. She wasn’t outstanding. She wasn’t phenomenal. Or remarkable. Or terrific. She wasn’t even amazing. She was just Leth. Boring Leth who was holding Winse and Lymph back from their jobs in the wilderness, all because she didn’t want to get hurt. Because she wanted Lymph to love her. Because she wanted a family. Because she wanted to be happy. Because she didn’t want to die. Because… She… Hated… It… Here… [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=22115642] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/221157/22115642_350.png[/img] [/url] [b][i]Help…me…[/i][/b]

Day 29

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure, what?” Winse asked.

Lymph huddled close by, so tiny compared to Winse’s bulk. Winse now had 13M on him in size, a behemoth compared to the fragile Skydancer. Lymph remembered a time when they were similar in size. It felt like so long ago.

Lymph mustered his courage again. “Are you sure that you love Betes?”

“Why are you concerned about that? That’s my business,” Winse huffed.

Lymph refused to turn tail and run, give up. This was important. Important enough to risk a verbal conflict with his larger sibling.

Sibling…because that’s what they were. Hatchlings raised alongside one another. Who needed the same blood to be siblings? Their own flesh and blood was who knows where. They abandoned them. Who needed to be flesh and blood to be siblings?

“Is mother okay with that?” Lymph asked.

“Why do you care so much?”

Because mother might not approve. Because mother worries about us. Because we may be mother’s kids but Betes is one of her children, her flesh and blood children. We’re just adopted, found abandoned in the wastes. We and Betes and Losis are different. We are not the same in her eyes. What will she think if our blood intermingles with her own?

All of these thoughts raced through Lymph’s mind, wishing to pour from his mouth and make Winse understand. This was wrong. Something about it made Lymph’s scales prickle.

“Is mother okay with it?”

“Betes and I made our decision. She wants a nest and so do I,” Winse said firmly.

“Is mother okay with it?” Lymph pressed.

“Is she okay with you and Leth?” Winse countered. He smirked when his smaller sibling flinched. “You’re doing the same thing as me. You’re hitching up with a ‘sibling’. I don’t see her complaining about that.”

“Leth and Betes are different!” Lymph argued. “Leth was abandoned, like us! It’s okay! But Betes is our mother’s daughter, related to her through blood!”

“So it’s okay for you two to have a nest but the instant it’s me, it’s wrong?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Lymph denied. “It’s Betes, not you.”

“So Betes shouldn’t get to have children?”

“I’m not saying that either!”

“Then what are you saying? That I’m nest-robbing?” Winse demanded, teeth bared. “You’re no different than me in that department. You knew Leth when she was a day old and you were fully grown. Now look at you!”

“Leth is a week younger than me,” Lymph argued coldly, unable to hide the bitter anger nipping at his words. “Betes is two weeks younger than you, nearing three.”

“So it’s wrong? What about what mom and dad did, huh? When they had their first nest before they found me and the others?” Winse barked.

Lymph flinched. He didn’t like thinking about what happened before he was found in the wastes. It meant acknowledging the trio of graves outside of the lair, the ones whose names he couldn’t attach faces to. They had died before he was born, the failure of Safe and Zone’s first attempt at a future.

Their parents had been days old when they had that nest. Maybe too young to be having a nest. At least they had been the same age when they did it.

But Winse and Betes…

“It doesn’t matter what they say. Betes and I have made up our minds,” Winse said firmly. “In seven days, she and I will have a nest. You just keep your nose in your own business.”

Lymph stepped away. Winse was so determined. It scared the shadow Skydancer.

“Besides, you shouldn’t panic so much. In four days, you and Leth will be tending to your own nest,” Winse recalled tiredly. “Just think about that, okay? Betes and I will get by on our own.”

“What about mother?”

“…Who cares?”

Lymph reluctantly left, going back to the lair. That hurt. There was already so much friction between Winse and their adoptive parents. Lymph truly didn’t wish to see anymore of the same.

He wished Winse would wait. Betes was still just a baby.

Then again, maybe they all were. After all, Safe and Zone themselves were only four weeks old as of now.

Maybe he was overthinking this.

Or maybe he wasn’t.

Day 30

Safe was worried.

She had to be. She was a mother. She was always worried. Had been since the day the Plaguebringer appeared before her and apologized. She wished the deity was here now, if only to let Safe know of her existence.

Tomorrow was the big day. She and Zone would have another nest. Hopefully Betes and Losis would have more siblings.

Hopefully none of them would die…

Leth and Lymph would take the second nest in three days. They looked ready. Leth was so excited. Lymph was too, if only in the silent, masked manner that the Skydancer displayed his emotions in. Safe wished Lymph was more emotive, like Leth was.

It was Winse and Betes that had her more concerned.

Yes, she had seen the signs. The subtle ways Winse had been courting Betes. The way Betes looked at him when she thought nobody was watching. Betes was head-over-tail for him. Winse certainly was interested, not as deeply as Betes was but there was definitely affection in his violet eyes, in his smile.

That was the perk of having four eyes. You saw things others didn’t. Or couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.

Or didn’t want to.

Safe was scared, scared for her daughter. Betes was young, too young for children. She was a child herself.

Plaguebringer above, she and Zone had practically been children when they had their first nest! But that had been out of loneliness, a desire to have company. It had been necessary.

Maybe she was being too controlling…but this was her only daughter. Winse was trouble, dangerous even. Could he really care for Betes the way Zone had cared for Safe?

His scars spoke volumes to the Mirror. They made her scared.

Betes was proud, headstrong, determined. She wouldn’t listen to her mother, Safe predicted. Betes was going to go ahead with this, have a nest with Winse in six days, and try to be independent. Nothing Safe said would change the young Guardian’s mind. There was too much desire there for logic to work through, too much blind love.

Losis was the opposite. He was loyal and blindly followed his parents. That was just as frightening. Losis showed no interest in love or nesting.

Maybe that would change if there were more females in the lair.

Losis was excited at the prospect of his parents having more kids. He’d been racing around the lair all day, chirping in joy. “More babies, more babies, more babies!” He couldn’t wait to no longer be the youngest.

He didn’t seem to get that there would be eggs first and then babies. Losis had convinced himself that there would be hatchlings tomorrow. Nobody could change his mind.

Safe found that amusing…and relieving. Between Betes’ defiance and Losis’ obedience, she had a relatively balanced family.

She pondered about what kind of personality Cad would have had. Or Fluen, Kanker, and Pox. She thought about them a lot, far more than was maybe healthy.

Her attention was attracted to Winse crossing the lair, carrying bones and rot in his jaws from outside. He had started setting up a third nest in the nesting grounds, preparing for his and Betes’ eggs. There was no permission asked or given. He just did it on his own.

Safe prayed her adopted son knew what he was doing. She prayed Betes would be happy with her choice.

She looked to the skies and prayed, hardest of all, that no more hatchlings would perish in the coming weeks.

@NuzlockeProject
I'd really like to be added to a pinglist to see when you update, I really like your story!
I cant wait to see how many from all the nest live or not

@AnnaStar353

Will do. Glad to see you're enjoying my dergs' suffering.

@AnnaStar353

Day 33

Leth gave happy chirps, circling around the nest of glistening green eggs. Lymph smiled proudly at their work. In five days, the trio of gooey green eggs would hatch, spilling forth life into the world.

Before then, in three days, mom and dad’s third nest would hatch. Two darling babies would come forth, toddling into the world with unmatched innocence.

Five babies. That’s how many would be there in five days. Five innocent babies.

Betes looked at the empty nest nearby, the one Winse had put together for them. It didn’t look as neat and tidy as the nests that dad and Lymph had made. It would work, though. The green goo bubbled, waiting for eggs to warm up and hatch.

Three more days. That’s how long she still had to wait until she could have a nest to huddle over, eggs to coo at, hatchlings to bring into the world. How many, she had no clue ,but she was dreaming of at least five.

Five toddling, wide-eyed, open-hearted babies that would chirp and squeak and call her “mom”.

Watching her mother and Leth tend to their eggs made something bubble up in Betes’ gut. She didn’t want to say it was jealousy. That was ridiculous. Jealous of her mother? Impossible. Without her, Betes wouldn’t be alive right now. She wouldn’t exist.

Yet the bubbling, twisting, knotting feeling refused to subside. Even snuggling with Winse, her favorite pastime (especially when dad was watching, the look on his face was hilarious), couldn’t wipe out the feeling. It was dark and sour, churning in her belly. Betes hated it. Even looking at her mother or Leth made it froth violently inside of her.

It was disgusting. She hated it.

She left the lair, unable to watch the happiness that her mother and Leth had. Hers wouldn’t come for three more days. Three more days of feeling that awful bubbling in her gut.

Would it even leave once she had kids?

Betes hoped so. She hoped to Plaguebringer that it would. She didn’t want it to stay any longer.

She stopped by Cad’s grave and licked her paw, the one marked by her brother’s teeth when they were younger. They weren’t her only marks now. Webwing scratches and mouse bites marked her, barely visible against her dark scales, not on the same damage scale as the bite from Losis was. Losis had similar marks, minus a permanent scar from his sibling.

Losis had no interest in love or nesting. His interest lay with the hatchlings. He didn’t want to be the youngest anymore, even if it was only by a few seconds. Any hatchlings would relieve him of that burden, of being youngest. That’s what he was looking forward to most.

Betes couldn’t help but smile down at the mound of dirt, the bone grave marker. If Cad were alive, he’d be the oldest of the three of them. Would Cad find her silly for worrying? For being jealous?

She wished he was here. Losis could be such an energetic bore at times.

“Hey, Cad…” she said softly. “In three days, I’m going to have kids. Maybe…could you put a word in for me…with the Plaguebringer? If you’re able to, I mean.”

The wind whistled. Betes decided to pretend it was Cad, circling her, watching, listening. She smiled softly, red eyes sliding closed.

“Winse told me about the plague. The deaths. Could you…maybe…ask it to skip me?” Betes asked bravely. “I don’t want any of my hatchlings to die.”

She frowned. Something dark clung to her thoughts.

“If you need to…could you send it to Leth?”

This is cruel.

“I never did anything wrong. I don’t deserve to lose anything.”

Don’t do this to her.

“So if you could ask the Plaguebringer, please…”

Why why why why why why–

“Let my hatchlings live, even if you have to send it to mom’s and Leth’s instead.”

…Why?

@AnnaStar353

Day 34

“Why does it have so many legs?”

Losis stared down in the puddle that his father was scavenging near.

…Okay, maybe puddle was the wrong word. Was it lake? Those were big, right? Or maybe it was ocean?

Losis could never match the words right to such places. They all looked the same to him. Why have so many different names for the same thing? It was a body of water. Just call it water!

“Dad!”

“What?”

“Why does it have so many legs?”

“What?” Zone looked up from the wet grass, staring at his son. “Why does what have so many legs?”

“This…thing!” Losis cried, pointing to the water.

“…Losis, I can’t see that far. I’m busy.” Zone dug through the marshy ground again. “Describe it for me.”

“De…scri…be…?”

“What does it look like?” Zone explained patiently.

“Oh! Okay!” Losis nodded.

Several minutes passed before Losis spoke.

“It’s got a lot of legs! And it’s blue! And its eyes are all stuck out of its head!”

“…What?” Zone lifted his head, not sure he heard that right. “What kind of critter are you looking at?”

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking you!” Losis replied.

“What else does it have?”

“Um, um, um… Eight!”

“…Huh?”

“Eight legs! Hey, there’s something in the middle of the legs…”

Eight legs? What the heck has eight legs and lives in water? Can’t be a spider, right? Zone thought, confused.

“YAAAAAAAAHHHH!! IT BIT ME!!!"

Zone charged from the marsh and to the lake. Losis flung himself on shore, nursing his forepaw. Blood gushed from a deep gash atop his toes. Zone hunched over his child, glaring at the water, trying to find his child’s attacker.

“Where is it?”

“Right there!”

“I only see sand there, Losis!”

“It changed color! Look!”

Zone stared hard before finally noticing a shape in the sand. A squishy-looking sea creature with eight long legs and a bulbous head, large eyes bulging from the sides. Faint red swirled into nonexistence under its bulk.

“…Losis…”

“Am I going to die?” Losis held up his paw, displaying the bite. “It had a beak. Some kind of bird-spider thing…”

“It’s an octopus,” Zone corrected. “And you’ll be fine. Just don’t play with them. They bite hard and some are poisonous.”

“Okay, dad.”

“Why don’t you come dig in the mud with me?”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Zone regretted bringing Losis to Water territory with him that day. They both came home caked in mud. Safe was not amused.

@AnnaStar353

Day 37

Losis smiled down at his baby siblings, Chemi and Tryp. He was so happy not to be the youngest in the lair anymore.

And best of all, those two wouldn’t be the youngest for long either! Leth and Lymph’s nest hatched tomorrow and Winse and sis’ nest would hatch in four days!

Losis was happy to see so many babies around the lair. Or would be when they came. But he was happy right now, too. He’d just be even happier when there were more babies.

Though he was the youngest, he certainly didn’t look the youngest. If you didn’t know him beyond his size, you’d think Losis was in charge of the lair. He was 19M, a meter larger than Winse was now. It was amazing, how quickly such a young Guardian grew.

Winse was mildly annoyed by this. When he’d gotten bigger than his adopted father, it had been a grand day of internal celebration for the Shadow-born dragon.

And now, in the span of a week since becoming an adult, Losis was suddenly much bigger.

Winse didn’t know who to curse for this. He didn’t believe in deities anymore. Maybe he’d just curse the sky.

…Or maybe he’d just forget about it.

So Losis was bigger. So what? Bigger didn’t mean better. Losis still had a hard time in the wilderness, as any beginner did. His large size just made him a bigger target.

That made Winse feel better.

So did resting by the nest he had made. The hissing goo housed one slimy green egg. Betes had been hoping for five. Winse was just happy to have a child on the way. He didn’t care how many. Even one was good enough.

Now he needed to ensure the child lived. If there was a way to evade the plague, to keep it from taking a life, then Winse was going to find out how and use it. He refused to lose his firstborn child to something that had taken the lives of four other hatchlings.

His child would survive. They would be strong, like he was.

They had to be.

Needed to be.

Please…

@AnnaStar353

Day 41

The last week had been one of celebration…and mourning…

Three sets of nests had been birthed. Three different clutches were incubated. Six hatchlings were born.

Two did not make it.

The first nest was Safe and Zone’s, their third nest since meeting in the Wandering Contagion over a month ago. Two eggs, quivering green in the goo, promised joy or misery to the couple. Their last nest had been successful despite the cost, bringing Losis and Betes into their lives.

The day of the hatching, Safe held her breath. Two hatchlings, both crimson-scaled with dark wings, spilled forth from their eggs.

They were both moving.

Breathing.

Crying.

Safe collapsed within herself in relief. They would live. Strong cries guaranteed survival. Her third clutch had escaped death’s grip, this time completely.

Zone gathered his mate and newborn children to him, warming the minute-old hatchlings with his body. Losis scrambled over his father, the youngster now much larger than his parents, eager to see his new baby siblings.

Betes looked and then left. There was a coldness in his daughter’s eyes that Zone didn’t like. He decided to address it later. It was now a time to rest and relax.

His young were alive. That was what mattered now.

The young female would be called Chemi. The young male, Tryp.

Perfect names for perfect children.

…

Two days later, Leth and Lymph’s three eggs hatched. Leth had been excited in the aftermath of Safe’s nest surviving. Death had not crossed the young Spiral’s mind. Just the joy of being a mother, like Safe was.

The excitement died quickly.

Two of the young, a female Spiral and the lone Skydancer of the clutch, were unmoving. Only one Spiral, a tiny male, cried out and squirmed…but it was weak. He was barely alive.

Leth gathered her lone child to her, shocked. The plague, a nightmare only mentioned but rarely seen, had reared its ugly head to claim two of her firstborn children’s lives.

Zone left Lymph to comfort his mate, taking the limp bodies of the two tiny children away to bury them. He mourned their passing.

Leth would name the Skydancer Cepha and the female Spiral Boni. Their graves rested alongside Cad’s, marked with sharp rib bones that Zone found in the wastes beyond their lair.

The surviving Spiral would be called Rabi. Though weak at his hatchling, he was a fighter. He struggled to breathe, struggled to move, struggled to eat.

But he did not give up.

Chemi and Tryp, two days older, would often be found curled around the weak Spiral, as if trying to pass on their endless strength to him. The effort was appreciated by Leth, who had lost her perpetual smile in the wake of the deaths. She was slowly coping with Safe’s help, mother to mother.

…

Three days later, Winse and Betes’ nest hatched. In it was one lone egg, a vicious contrast to the five that Betes had envisioned having. She had become almost cold toward the nest and its egg, ignoring it.

She was rapidly drifting away from her family.

Winse hovered over the nest every free moment he had. He was in love with the tiny green egg that floated in the goo. How Betes could not feel the same, he did not know.

Maybe he didn’t care enough to know.

His heart, mind, and soul were with this tiny hatchling. It broke from the egg, giving tiny chirps. Winse hunkered nearby, wanting to reach out and help it. Zone had advised against such action.

“Let it break out on its own. It will help it build strength. If it can break out of the egg and still cry, still move, still fight, then it will live. The plague will take it otherwise.”

So Winse patiently watched and waited. Zone would know more than him on this, having fathered two surviving clutches and mourned one. Winse trusted his adopted father to know what to do here.

It took so long to hatch. Winse wanted to reach out, break the shell, scoop the tiny life from within out to show the world. To show Betes the fruits of their labor. Maybe that would make her warm-hearted again.

After what felt like eternity–probably no more than an hour in reality–the egg broke to reveal a tiny Guardian with carmine scales and chocolate wings. The eye spots made Winse’s heart rise. The hatchling, a tiny male, rolled in the egg shells and goo.

And cried.

Swiped a paw.

Cracked open tiny red eyes.

He would live.

Winse cried to the heavens, gathering the child to him. Safe and Zone surrounded him, Safe crying at the sight of the child. Their grandchild. The pair were grandparents now. Oh, what a happy day!

The child would be named Malar. Winse had already decided to shower the hatchling with all the love and attention he deserved, on top of the love his grandparents would give him. Malar would never feel lonely, not with parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles to love him. Loneliness wasn’t possible.

But Betes was oddly absent at the joyous occasion of her son’s hatching. She was out by the graves, seated by Cad’s marker. She watched the sky above, full of angry gray clouds that promised a storm. The scent of rain buffeted her.

“Why?” she asked.

Where Winse believed there to be no deity, Betes thought the opposite. She had made her wish clear. The opposite had occurred. Mother and Leth’s young had survived, only two lost among five lives. Instead of five of her own, Betes received only one child.

This had to have been done out of spite. She had incurred a god’s wrath for her selfishness.

But wasn’t the Plaguebringer selfish too?

It was she who let the plague run rampant in her territory. She who let helpless hatchlings die of disease, barely out of the egg. She who allowed death to lurk over them as the adults hunted for food and fought to survive.

So who was she to blame and spite Betes for her own selfishness? Her request wasn’t that difficult to grant. It was fairly simple.

So why did it blow up in her face?