I woke up and stretched out, enjoying the new mobility I had gained. I was also far larger than my kids. They all crowded around me, oohing and aahing as I gently shooed them away. I walked away from camp and belly flopped into the lake.

I just sat there for a while, my kids joined me and for a few minutes we just chilled. No one was on patrol, no one was fighting. Jack and Felix were wrestling around, careful to not crush their siblings.

Darwin, Harry and Robert were seeing who could swim the fastest while Diana and Linus were sitting on the shore talking. I walked over to them and sat down. Diana glanced up at me and said. “My Queen, Linus has taken a different evolution we didn’t know about.”

I had forgotten Linus was evolving so I quickly congratulated him before saying. “So, what'd you pick?” Linus looked almost embarrassed as he said. “I’m now a mud Skink Caretaker. My form is meant for protecting,taking care of and guiding hatchlings.”

I looked at him and nodded. He now had long almost finger looking thing coming off of his hands and he was now much larger. I asked him “So you want to take care of the hatchlings?” He nodded sheepishly as I shrugged and said. “Sounds good to me. You’re good with your younger siblings so it should be fine. Just make sure to ask if you need help.”

Actually I haven't been a very good parent lately. I barely gave my kids any free time. And the only recent excursion I had taken with my kids one of them had died. Overall I just wasn’t that good at being a parent. I poked myself with my tail and mentally said. “Then be better! Don’t just complain.”

I agreed with myself on that one. So instead of getting to work we just chilled for the rest of the day. We ate fish and Zorkid meat while having fun watching Jack and Felix wrestle. My kid’s all fell asleep in a burrow while I used my body to block it off, making sure to poke a few holes in the walls so my kids could breathe.

I would have to dig a bigger burrow soon, my kids barely fit right now. Maybe we should move to the cave the Zorkids were in? It would be a bit more secure, although if we get trapped in the cave we’re kinda screwed. Also no fish would mean we would have to fully commit to hunting. I’ll discuss it later with Diana. Time for sleep!

The next day I woke up with the all too familiar pain. I stumbled over towards the nearest empty egg burrow and crouched down. After fifteen minutes of pain and exertion I turned to look at my newest kids. But I paused when I started counting the eggs. “Why are there eight?” Must be the new body.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I shrugged and curled around the eggs. Smiling to myself as I began to think of the names. I didn’t have to think about girl names as by now I’m convinced that they just don’t get born very often. Or maybe you only have one?

Doesn’t matter. I love all my kids, male or female doesn’t change a thing. I made sure all the eggs were safe before walking over to Linus. He was working on finishing a half eaten fish from yesterday when I yelled. “Linus, I just laid eight eggs. As of now you will watch over those eggs and Diana’s. Understand?”

Last night I regretted not giving my kids more freetime but honestly, we did not live in a safe environment. One way to make it safer is patrolling, and making sure we have food for dinner.

Another way is for me to find and kill some threats within our territory. So I hopped around for a bit, loosening up my joints before yelling to Diana. “Diana, you’re in charge while I’m gone.”

My kids started protesting but I was already gone. I was so fast now! I flew through the forest, sniffing and listening for anything that moved. I wanted something big to test my new body out on!

After only thirty minutes I found my first opponent. A giant turkey the size of a small house. One of the notorious fire breathing turkeys. All of its feathers were bright red and its sack thing on its throat was the color of fire.

We paced around each for a few seconds before I darted forward, trying to tackle it. Unfortunately I misjudged how powerful my legs were. I swear the turkey smirked when I slammed face first into a small tree.

I turned and glared at the irritating poultry. I stood still but my tail got to work. I had so much more fine motor control with my tail. It slipped through the skin of the turkey like a hot knife through butter.

Oh god butter. Just anything actually. To make these gods forsaken meals taste better. This fight felt easy. I didn’t have to move! My tail just ripped the thing to shreds. Just as my ego had grown even more I heard a weird barfing noise. I looked at the turkey and for the first time in this fight felt afraid.

It stomped its feet twice and garbled before taking a breath in, then out. I sprinted away as a small portion of the forest was torched. Distagrated, one would say. Unfortunately for the turkey, I had a pretty long tail. I slit the turkey’s throat as it screamed in horror and rage. I strutted towards my fallen enemy and said. “Die for my benefit you poor person!” Then I stomped its skull into paste. This new body is awesome!

You have killed a level 13 Alevli Hinko

I stared at the notifications for a few seconds before screaming. “Why the fuck do they get a fancy name? They’re turkeys!” I kicked the corpse and bit it, beginning the long walk of dragging the large turkey corpse back to my kids. I’m gonna enjoy eating this shit head. As I was about to leave the clearing I heard a voice. “Excuse me! Yeah you! Do. You. Understand. Me? I. Am. A. Human. I. Need. Your. Help.”