day 138

All three nests were taken as of today. Each bore three gooey green eggs, tiny hatchlings growing inside of them. Each nest was at varying stages of growth.

Winse and Betes had been on their nest for three days and had two days left until their little ones hatched. Betes was ready and eager for the hatchlings to emerge, to be a truly loving mother. Winse, proud as ever, was frequently found curled around the nest, impatiently waiting for the day of hatching to come. Their older children echoed their eagerness.

Pall and Ponti had taken the second nest only a day ago. Their coupling was a rather odd one, considering how wishy-washy Pall had been in his choice of mate. Eventually, the blue Fae settled on Ponti, much to the raspberry Guardian’s pleasure. Tryp’s daughter impatiently waited to meet her children. Pall zipped between her and the nest in equal eagerness, unable to stay still for long.

Safe and Zone, ready for their tenth clutch, had taken the final nest as their own. Having perfecting the art of patience, the two progenitors of the clan had only just begun their five-day wait for their eggs to hatch. They watched their fellow nesters with amusement.

Safe smiled proudly. Among the nesters was her first surviving daughter, a granddaughter, and two adopted children. The eggs would contain her next batch of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Slowly, hatchling by hatchling, her family grew.

But so did her losses. She mourned her great-great-great grandson Tero, slain just yesterday in Woodland Path. The image of the wood brought up too many deaths for her.

Lizotte had been heartbroken but already, she had suitors. Geri and Kemia’s sons had been squabbling over her attention, performing great feats in the air with their long Spiral bodies and short wings. They had yet to catch her eye but they were persistent.

Safe saw love all around her. She had witnessed Flin curling up with Histo, a sparkling blue Wildclaw orphan found in the Abiding Boneyard many weeks ago, multiple times as of late. She knew that once they were ready, a nest would likely come from them. Just as long as they both survived through the next ten days.

Zone’s nuzzle brought the blood-red Mirror back to the present. One of the eggs bobbed in the sea of goo that filled the rotted stump nest. She could almost see a faint shadow twitching inside.

Safe smiled.