I stared at the small energetic ball of scales and said. “We are going to be rich! You and me, we’re gonna get rich.” Diana looked up at me for a second then asked “How?” I rolled onto my back and yawned, letting Diana sit there for a few seconds. “We’ll kill monsters, animals, all those weird creatures round here. Then we’ll skin them, take their teeth and anything else that can be seen as valuable.”

Diana tilted her head in confusion as I continued. “There’s gotta be some sort of humans around here, we sell the goods to them and then we get actual money!” She stared at me for a few seconds before saying.

“My queen, that is… A terrific idea!” I smiled and nodded “Of course it is! I thought of it. Now let's start skinning these rats.” We walked over to one of the rotting not eaten corpses and stared at it for a few seconds.

Diana stood right next to me and asked. “Mother, how do we skin something?” I grumbled “I’m not your mother! I’m your father, but to answer your question I have no idea.” We continued to look at it for a few more seconds before I said. “We’ll figure it out later, for now let's go get some non-rotting food.

I stumbled out of my lair, the sun blinding me as I glanced around, making sure nothing could creep up on us. Diana followed me, copying my every move as we waddled over towards the lake.

It was a beautiful day although it was a tad hot. So I hopped into the water and let my tail hang down beside. I wiggled it every once and a while but mostly I was just enjoying myself. Diana joined me and I smiled as she played around in the water. Life was good.

This was how life was supposed to be for me. A happy family, a large amount of land owned by me and getting whatever I want. After around two hours I caught my first fish. Like last time it bit my tail and I threw it onto land.

Before I could get up to check what it was Diana ran over and chomped down, killing it. I just shrugged and went back to enjoying the water. Diana grabbed it in her mouth and brought it over to me. “Here you go my queen!”

I patted her on the head and said. “I’m a king! But good job, you can just eat it now. I’m not hungry.” I was actually quite hungry but eating before your kid did was definitely not something a good parent would do. Especially since there was a finite amount of food.

I would just eat the next one. The day passed quickly after that, it was nice to relax and just enjoy being outside after having spent the last few days stuck in my lair. I had managed to catch three more fish and Diana had killed them each time. I had eaten the three new fish. though, Diana said she was full after the first one.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The only other thing of note that happened was when Diana leveled up after killing the fourth fish. “Mother! I leveled up! What does that mean?” I stared into the distance for a few seconds weighing my options.

I honestly had no idea what levels did but would admitting that make my kid think I’m dumb? But wouldn’t lying to her make me a worse parent? My mind went into overdrive as I tried to think of what to say.

In the end I probably made the wrong choice. “Levels are what show you how much you've grown. It’s a mark of how accomplished you are.” Actually that reminded me I should check my notifications.

You have leveled up. You are now a level 12 mud skink Queen

You have leveled up. You are now a level 13 mud skink Queen

Huh, did the kill notifications go away after a few days? Oh well I was pretty high level now. I smiled smugly at that and rolled onto my back, letting the rays of the sun warm my belly. I was feeling extremely full for some reason.

I glanced down at my belly and saw that it was almost twice its normal size. Weird. I shrugged and rolled to my feet, my stomach dragging on the ground as I waddled over to our lair. It was usually a two minute walk to the lake but for some reason it took longer than before.

Diana didn’t look concerned though and there was no reason to make her worry. We got back to the layer and I rolled onto my stomach near the entrance. Diana raced over and asked. “My queen, are you okay?”

I nodded and said. “Just some indigestion, don’t worry about me. I’m gonna sleep it off.” Diana nodded and walked away. I watched her race around the lair, the pain in my stomach growing even more.

Had I eaten something that had gone bad? I thought I hadn’t eaten any rat? I should get rid of the rat corpses before they start to stink the place up. That reminds me I should probably bury my other eggs.

Holy shit that is not a good thought, but they do deserve a good burial. I’ll mark out a place near the lake, so that way they can enjoy the sunlight and water. Tears began to run down my face as I quickly turned towards the wall.

I don’t want Diana to see me like this. Oh god my stomach hurts. I could feel pressure continuing to build. Damn, this felt like the time I had laid eggs but worse somehow. Suddenly the pressure became too much and it happened.

More eggs! It hurts so fucking much! “Holy shit! Curse you poor people!” Diana wisely stayed away until the hour-long ordeal ended. When I looked under me I saw that a fresh set of four eggs were sitting there.

I couldn’t keep a smile off my face as I looked at the beautiful little eggs. No one was touching them this time. I can promise them that much. I won’t let anything near them. No one will hurt my children ever again.