The egg shook.
It was a day of threading mana into it like any other. Except that this day marked the end of those.
Aureum watched it in shock for a moment. It shook again.
She grabbed both sides of it, as if holding it down would stop anything. It didn't. It jerked against her grip all the same.
The egg had gotten big by this time. Big enough that a baby could fit inside it.
Crap!
Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!
That was the problem. There was a baby inside of it that was trying to get out. Whether it was human was going to be a question for philosophers. Aureum had other concerns.
What am I supposed to do for this?! What did Spesavia say?
All that came to mind was the first day they had met each other in years.
Did she say something about imprinting?!
"No!"
Aureum picked up the heavy egg and stood up.
I am not going to be imprinted by something ascended sorcerers are fighting over!
This is not happening.
She dashed to the entrance. She even gave a little leap before she realized her cloak wouldn't work. The line of the dark void stopped her. Only for a breath.
I can't let this be mine! I won't carry this!
She hopped from one foot to the other and then dashed into the darkness.
"SPESAVIA! SPESAVIA, THE EGG IS HAAAAAATCHING! What do I do?!"
The egg was large enough that she had to carry it in both arms, so she cradled it in front of her as she blindly ran forward.
It bumped against her with each step. She tripped over an unseen tile. She threw her next foot out and righted herself.
"SPEESAVIAAAA!" She cried.
It was no use. The darkness is all that answered. She was stuck there.
Ambition met reality.
Her mind now caught up to her emotions. She couldn't go forward in the dark alone. Bravery was one thing, but getting lost might be the end.
She looked back. The ever-present glow of the pool was still there. She hadn't taken a turn in her panic, luckily.
"Spesavia," she said, one last time.
But wherever Spesavia's search had taken her, it was too far away to hear.
The egg jerked in her hand.
If she couldn't find Spesavia, and she couldn't wait, she needed to get ready. She turned back and ran again.
Get ready how, though?
Not next to the evil looking-pool, too many variables. That meant inside the tent.
Flipping the tent open, she looked around.
"What do you even need—No! Hold on a little longer!"
Cushions, to keep whatever inside safe when it gets out.
Milk? Do baby reptiles need milk? What even is this thing gonna be?
Something to drink wouldn't hurt it. She didn't have any raw meat. All she could find was water.
Can babies have water?
Something so simple, but she didn't know. She dashed the idea of feeding it at all.
What was poison to new life? What wasn't? She only vaguely remembered Felixia as a baby. And most of that was what was best to do, nothing detailed of what she could try in trying circumstances.
Spesavia should have something prepared. If it starts looking really desperate, I can try water.
Then she was out of time. The shaking was too vigorous. It rolled off the cushions and cracked on the tile.
"No!"
Aureum grabbed the egg and turned it over.
It was cracked!
That was exactly what was supposed to happen.
A dark blue eye stared up at her. It was human.
Why didn't I just hide it in the dark? If imprinting works by sight, I could wait it out and give it to Spesavia.
It was too late for that thought.
"AAGAaaaaaHhhhh! WAaaaaHhhhhH!"
The baby, who was a boy as Aureum would soon discover, began to cry loudly. Barely a little finger poked out.
Aureum watched in horror. She saw the finger rubbing against the sharp edge and heard the cries of pain.
With measured deliberation she stuck a few of her fingers beside his and broke the shell off. It was a very odd thing. It felt brittle along certain lines and hard at others.
The face, red with crying, came into view. Then the little arms that just wouldn't stop wagging about. Finally, he was completely out.
"I guess I should get a blanket to cover you," she said.
"AAAAAGGHHHHH!"
He responded with screams. Finding a blanket was one of many small tribulations for the next few hours, as Aureum would discover.
———————————————————
"Have you done this to steal that little monster from me, Aureum?" Spesavia said.
These were the first words Aureum woke up too, after a night filled with crying and bouncing and more crying. Poo was included, and a bit of puke.
It was not normal poo. No, that would be too simple. It was dark and too squishy and odd.
She did not have adequate equipment to deal with any of this, nor experience. As he cried as she tried to wash his bum, she was crying too.
After days of a marathon of training, she was not even prepared for dealing with any of this. As soon as he cried himself to some sort of calmness, she fell asleep too.
So she woke with Spesavia standing over her like thunder over her, and she was beyond caring.
"I called out for you so many times," Aureum said. "If you had stayed nearby, you would have been the second one to know!"
Spesavia's eyes shone with fury.
"You got through this task incredibly fast. I told you to go slow. Why didn't you?"
And Aureum felt her temper deflating at the seriousness of her mentor's tone.
She really thinks I would try and steal this from her?
"I had nothing else to do, stuck in this cave," Aureum said. "If you had checked up on the egg sooner, you probably would have been able to tell when it was going to hatch. I haven't ever deceived you."
The quietness of Aureum's tone struck her teacher more than anger would have. Spesavia slowly blinked. Then rubbed her nose.
"I didn't mean to accuse you," Spesavia said. "It's just that this could have serious repercussions. And it wasn't what I planned at all."
The old woman's lips tightened.
"It was an oversight." She sighed. "At least the results are good."
"What are we going to do?" Aureum said.
"Tell no one," Spesavia said.
"No, I meant about food! Clothes! Do you have anything a baby could eat?" Aureum said.
Practicality born from months of travel and living away from any home. Food was a number one necessity. Especially if one was convinced it would stop a baby from shrieking.
"I am not so flawed!" Spesavia said. "I brought a number of things the child might have liked. Seeing his appearance…" Both women looked down at the baby's disheveled state. "We can figure something out about clothes too."
What did you even bring a baby if it wasn't clothes?! Can I assume it's food?! Can I?!
With the necessity made by an infant somehow still sleeping, Aureum withheld herself from more pointless, angry questions.
Under Aureum's increasingly condemning gaze, Spesavia managed to produce different types of baby food.
There was a normal wooden jug of milk, a mashed bowl of meat, and a jar of worms.
"A jar of worms?" Aureum asked in a harsh whisper. "What were you expecting to come out of the egg?"
"A baby."
"What. Kind. Of. Baby?"
"We should think about what to feed him, Aureum. Be responsible."
Aureum's fist gripped tightly.
"Why wouldn't we do anything other than the milk, Spesavia? Is there a reason you pulled this all out?"
"If it looks like a human baby, then it must be a baby," Spesavia said. "There's no reason to worry. This makes sense. You really worked hard—
"WAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhHHHHH!"
Like that, the fragile peace broke. Aureum covered her ears and leaned back. It was not a magical sound. It was just very loud. Especially when it came from your lap.
"Well," Spesavia said, "at least he's healthy."
"You take him then!" Having said it, Aureum lifted and shoved the baby into Spesavia's arms. This only caused the little one to cry louder.
"WAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Spesavia took him without trouble. Aureum made her escape.
The sound was a bit more manageable outside. She stood, hugging herself.
For a moment her mind was blank. The sound drowned out all thoughts until Spesavia apparently managed to feed him. Unless she suffocated him. Aureum wasn't sure what Spesavia's plan was.
It seemed unlikely.
Silence again reigned.
The moment stretched out.
I should probably check in a minute.
Then her mind opened back up to the biggest problem.
Did I just adopt a cursed baby?!
I don't even have a partner! I'm alone and doing this?! It's not fair!
Aureum sagged and fell to her knees.
After everything I've done, I've been pulled into the center of everything?!
"Why?" Aureum said. "Just why?"
She shook her head and hugged her knees before her shoulders shook. Then she stilled.
"Eeeh," she let out a little helpless sigh.
Forget everything. It's all Spesavia's fault, so she can take responsibility.
"Yeah," Aureum said.
"WAH, WAAAAaaaaaaahhhhHHHHH!"
"I think he wants you," Spesavia said, coming out of the tent.
She spoke around the crying infant as she rocked him in her arms. The old woman tried to shove the baby back into Aureum's arms.
You couldn't last even one minute?
"Nonsense!" Aureum said. "I don't even know how to hold him! Your experience is so much better! He's just bothered by being born!"
"What? I'm too old, Aureum. I can't hear you clearly. Speak up and take the baby. My back hurts."
Always using her age as an excuse!
Aureum took the baby back.
"Not like that," Spesavia said. "You need to support his bum too. He's not a cat."
The baby in question was wrapped up in a different blanket than Aureum had found. It was smaller. Aureum followed Spesavia's directions.
"…I thought cats needed the support too," Aureum said.
The baby stopped crying as Aureum shifted.
"Says who? That's nonsense. Let's get you spooning out his milk."
"You're just teaching me how to do the new chore—!
Aureum spoke at Spesavia's bent and retreating back. The old woman returned with the jug, a bowl, and a little wooden spoon.
"This is a life skill, Aureum. But yes. Why shouldn't I?"
This is your responsibility!
Is what Aureum wanted to say. But she wasn't sleep talking now.
"I can't handle this baby," Aureum said. "The world seems to want it too much."
Spesavia placed the jug down after filling the bowl. Then she spooned some milk into the baby's mouth.
"A few old sorcerers is hardly 'the world.' This is fine. It might be better to hide it in plain sight."
Spesavia handed the spoon to Aureum, and she took it without thought. She gripped it tight.
"No, Spesavia. I really can't handle this. There has to be a way to undo the imprinting!"
"Ah. Gah gah."
The baby made some noise, and Aureum spooned some milk into him. A little onto him, too. Aureum patted it off with concern.
"I don't know anything that can help you," Spesavia said.
Aureum glared. Spesavia sighed.
"What we heard first about the monster was rumors. Scattered details. No one knew what it was at first. We saw only the soldier's corpses it left behind as true. Mutilated and half-chewed upon."
"Then how did you even know to come here? You must know something!"
Spesavia raised a hand, and Aureum quieted.
"Then we heard the reports. They were ludicrous! 'Monster' was repeated throughout. Wings of a bird, fur of a wolf, head of a snake. I didn't believe them at first. I thought Nix's rumors were at work. That the whole thing was a scare tactic.
Until I saw it.
Yes, the reports were true. But they had seen it in dark nights and panicked glances. I saw the many misaligned eyes protruding like tumors along its legs. The multiple heads that hung in pain from its neck. The tiny wings flapping uselessly against its legs and back.
Nothing did it justice. I saw once again how little I knew of this world."
Spesavia's face twisted into a small sneer. Aureum's grip had tightened upon the baby without her knowing.
"From that point, I had to know how such a thing could exist. How to break down the being that held itself together despite being in defiance of the laws of nature itself?
I came up with a few theories—
"We were talking about the imprinting," Aureum said.
Spesavia froze.
"Ah, yes," she said. "The imprinting. Yes. In all my research I knew that the beast only followed the commands of one man. That man being his owner.
He was not an ascended sorcerer. Or much of a combatant. Once I separated him from his guardian and the beast, I was able to gather some information about it.
In short, since you seem interested in summary, the beast locked eyes with him when it hatched. It stuck with him as a baby, and it listened to what it could understand of him.
But it couldn't understand much, and at that point it was reaching adulthood…"
"What does that mean?" Aureum said.
"It means it wasn't always listening to its parent anymore," Spesavia said.
Aureum eyes narrowed.
"Eh! And you think I won't sick this monster on you! Why has it come to this? Why?!"
"Waha. Wa."
The baby reached for the spoon. Aureum obediently gave him more milk.
"I didn't want it to come to this either," Spesavia said. "Who asked you to be diligent for once?!"
"I wanted to get out of here!" Aureum said.
"WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Their arguing started the shrieking again.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Aureum shouted.
Left without much else to do, she joined in.
"Should I start screaming too?" Spesavia asked.
"Shut it!" Aureum snapped.