Foire was immediately smitten with his daughter and couldn’t seem to be bothered to look at me, though I didn’t care or even want him to. Though, looking at her, I wasn’t sure how Trai would be able to learn how to work with other keelish since she was the only egg at the time and wouldn't have a brood to grow with. But, I supposed that wasn’t my issue to deal with. Though, she was born a child of two khatif, not keelish, and I was interested to watch and see how she might differ from a purely keelish hatchling. Even so, I did have something else to do while I was here.

I quietly hummed, my voice laced with magic without having to speak individual words as I had learned over the past weeks. In having learned as much, I‘d become much more willing to use the [Skill] in the first place, as merely repeating random words that I thought might be encouraging was, if not outright embarrassing, at least annoying. I didn’t need to speak for [Nurturing Enunciation] to begin to function, so I instead merely hummed while in the proximity of keelish who could benefit from my visits. Due to my feeling uncomfortable, there had been only some few instances in which I’d used the [Skill] over Joral’s brood, but most frequently I had paid visits to this little egg, Trai’s egg, and had nearly emptied my sonilphon in blessing her however I could. With a quick thought, I looked at the function of the [Skill].

[Those whose development is assisted and guided by Nurturing Enunciation gain Stats, Skills, Titles, and other benefits more easily until they have reached adulthood.]

As my humming washed over Trai, she cocked her head up at me and watched me as my magical [Skill] washed over her before she softly echoed her own hum back at me. I felt a small smile crack my face as my frills as well as the scales around my neck vibrated from the power hidden behind my innocuous [Skill]. The little thing was adorable, her eyes large and her fangs almost too long for her mouth. She’d slumped, exhausted, to the ground after she’d eaten her fill, though she seemed energized and almost entranced by my voice now and began to sit up.

Upon investigating the [Skill], I thought it noteworthy that its description made no mention of the [fetuses, infants and juveniles] growing to maturity any faster, and instead the benefits given by my [Skill] were instead focused on long-term growth, not short-term speed of maturation. Thus, I was reasonably certain that I could understand a little about the baseline rate of growth for a khatif hatchling through watching Trai. My planning and thoughts were torn apart by the simple joy of watching Foire’s happiness at spending time with his little one. She was, funnily enough, more feisty than the even-keeled Treel or reserved Foire ever were, and she kept snapping at Foire whenever he reached a hand down or got too close to her. Even so, I could see the little sparks of contentment in her actions, as well as her fondness for her father.

Before long, the hatchling gave in to the allure of sleep and her head settled onto the ground. Before ten seconds had passed, she was wholly unconscious and snoring. Foire lowered himself and curled mostly around Trai’s vulnerable body, his snout placed right near her own. Looking at her, I wasn’t sure, but I thought that she was quite a bit smaller than the other hatchlings we’d seen, both my own brood, as well as Joral’s, but I couldn’t be sure if that was due to the fraught circumstances that led to her early incubation or her nature, or anything else. I felt somewhat confident in saying that khatif might have a longer development cycle than keelish, but this was the first I’d seen and that was nothing more than a hunch.

My little break with one of my elites was over, though, and I rolled my shoulders and returned to where I had left the rest of my subordinate Alphas waiting for my command. The happiness I felt seeing the joy of one of my khatif was quickly snuffed out by the frustrations that surged seeing the weak, lesser keelish. Ideally, with [Evolutionary Exemplar], I could begin to raise these… disappointments to my level. Though the thought didn’t initially come from myself, I agreed with the sentiment at my core. Mere keelish couldn’t compare to khatif, and most khatif couldn’t compare to a True Speaker, much less a High Speaker. If I could choose between one thousand keelish or one hundred khatif, the decision was simple, easy, and quick.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Now, prepare yourselves, for I will give you only one night’s rest before we begin our escape.” My tone didn’t brook any disagreement, and then, with a flick of my tail I dismissed the assembled keelish. As they filtered out of the den I called Arwa to me, and with a couple more of my elites, went out for a quick hunt.

[Fen POV]

Two days ago, Fen was sadly trudging through one of her mother’s go-to foraging locations after her parents had sacrificed themselves to let her escape from the keelish (she wouldn’t honor them with the name Saharliard)’s attack. Maybe it was because of how sad she was, or maybe her thoughts on why the gods were so cruel at to let her see what a family was before tearing it away from her, but whatever the reason, she was too late to recognize the trap that had been set before her. For her. Before she could do anything, she found herself wrenched up by her leg to dangle in the air as she bleated piteously and thrashed wildly.

Fen was nearly able to squirm out of the noose around her leg in time, but the hunter was too quick and immediately bound her body like a… like a something. Fen cried out and screamed and thrashed, but to no avail. She was going to be eaten, just like her parents. Maybe this thing wouldn’t be so cruel as to eat her alive, but Fen didn’t think it would be so kind.

Eventually, though, she did realize that this human didn’t seem to want to eat her. Instead, she excitedly muttered under her breath, “This one will be a great companion. She’ll be with me as I grow to a True Speaker. I wonder how long it’ll be before I can contract with her? I’m not trained on how to Soulbind yet…”

The idea of being a “Soulbound companion” initially scared Fen, but before she could start to panic again, there was a message from the [System]:

[New Quest: Form a companionship contract with Varali. Rewards: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +3, Telepathic Bond Skill.]

Fen was curious–what did all of this mean? She stopped struggling so much and simply allowed this human… Varali, she assumed, to continue hauling her towards their unknown destination. Eventually, however, Fen began to be overwhelmed by the cloying, iron smell of blood. So much of it that it was all she could smell or even sense, and, almost subconsciously she began to thrash once again.

Before long, the human dropped her unceremoniously and the painful thud of falling to the ground woke her from her stupor. Looking around, Varali had brought her to a village where dozens of people were talking to her, so many and so loud that Fen couldn’t understand with her sensitive ears, but in her absence, something must have happened. The humans were shouting, crying, and from inside of many of the houses came the smell of blood and death. Before Fen could do anything, Varali sprinted down a street. As best as she could in her bound state, Fen numbly followed Varali, supposing her to be her best chance of survival, what with the surrounding humans eyeing her somewhat angrily.

When she finally could find and approach the girl, Fen could hear her mumbling some Veushten prayer, something from the Veratocracy that Fen couldn’t be bothered to learn. Then, “Father, I’m sorry. I was stupid. You could have run. You should have run, or stayed with Mother… It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” On the table were two bodies, savaged by the unmistakable jaws of keelish

Suddenly, it clicked. This girl lost her family to the Saharliard, no, keelish, just like me. Almost involuntarily, Fen approached the girl and gently nuzzled her neck, and, almost subconsciously, the girl wrapped her arms around her new companion as she wept bitterly.

Now, two days later, Fen stood nearby while Varali tried to convince her village to go to war.