Wind whistled through the trees with the first whispers of winter chill. Many trees had already dropped their leaves to the forest floor, growing into tall piles of yellow, orange and brown.

  The cold brought on a lethargy that fell over me like a heavy quilt. Salamanders hibernate through winter, as it turns out. That wasn’t going to work for me, though; I was much too busy to sleep the winter away. So long as I covered myself with a blanket and made sure to warm up by the fire now and again, I could resist the urge to bed down for three months straight.

  Would Enzirus freeze in the winter? I wasn’t sure how that would work with the endless waterfalls. I could almost see it - The lake of Enzirus frozen over and layered with snow as floating islands of rock and earth traced lazy orbits above, snow laden tree tops and white-capped mountaintops making up the horizon.

  I yawned and stretched my arms out, my spine popping and cracking as I sat up from my choko-choko fur blankets. Unfortunately, it would be another month before my wounds were fully healed. Pulling the blanket around my shoulders, I stood and pushed open the door leading out from my house.

  That’s right, not only did I now have a house of my own, but it even had a door! Not too bad considering I was only… twenty years old? I’d been here long enough that my birthday should have come and gone by now. It was hard to say for certain because I wasn’t entirely sure how much time I had spent sitting in my egg before being born.

  Well, in any event, It had only been just over two weeks since we had freed the former slaves from that caravan. We had made a remarkable amount of progress in a very short amount of time.

  I stepped outside, blanket wrapped around my shoulders and watched the early-morning bustle of our developing village. Briham and Gwen had organized a construction crew and, following the design blueprints that Gwen had drawn up, I approved their plans for prioritizing housing. These buildings were a considerable improvement compared to the earlier shanties and lean-tos that had populated our island, but evidently in the human realms, this was the kind of housing that poor people lived in. I was just thankful that no one would be sleeping under the stars in the middle of winter - We could always upgrade into proper houses later.

  A little girl with cat ears and a fluffy tail ran by, laughing, as her big brother chased after her. I paused, smiling as I watched the two of them run around and between busy adults. I caught sight of the temporary administrator Briham with his assistant, my daughter Gwen, tagging along at his side. Gwen had reached adulthood only a couple days ago and was now my equal in height - I still couldn’t wrap my head around how fast my daughters had grown up.

  Briham had these peculiar bone-colored horns growing from his forehead - they turned at a sharp angle and then curved gently just an inch above his long salt and pepper hair. The two of them seemed to have noticed me as well and began walking over.

  “Good morning, your highness.” Briham placed a hand over his heart and cut a stiff bow.

  Gwen mirrored his movement. “Queen.” She gave me a big smile.

  “Morning to the two of you.” I couldn’t help but grin at the both of them. “How long do we have?” I looked up at Briham, who stood a full head taller than me.

  A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Thirty minutes. I would have woken you, of course, your highness.”

  “Thank you, Briham.” I nodded at him. “Anyone who wants to watch is welcome to come. Send my invitation to the townsfolk, if you would.”

  “Right away, my Queen.” Briham bowed to me, followed closely by Gwen at his cue.

  I pulled my blanket tighter around my shoulders, and as the two left to follow my orders, I began walking toward a nearby floating island.

  It was difficult getting acclimated to my role as the Queen. I was more inclined to ask people to do things for me as opposed to giving them orders, but even I could see how that was a bad quality in a leader. If I let people walk all over me, that would just create more problems.

  The majority of the people we freed from that slaver caravan had decided to join our village, but there were a dozen or so who just wanted to go home. I couldn’t blame them - our townspeople had been through a lot, and plenty of them left families behind after being abducted. There was still a lot of depression and trauma from that experience, but the mood seemed to be improving lately with the new houses we had been building over the last few weeks helping to alleviate their stress. It wasn’t much, but I found that there was remarkably little I could do but feed and house them. Hopefully today would help, too.

  The nearby floating island was much smaller than the one we built our village on, but it was still large enough to have a small pond and stream. Originally we needed to vault between these two islands, but we had recently built a rickety wooden bridge out of vines and wooden boards so that the villagers could cross the gap. This smaller island followed the same orbit as our home island, so we hadn’t needed to strap it down with vines to keep it from floating off - the bridge was enough to keep the two together.

  It was always disconcerting passing over this bridge, as the lake looked so far down from up above. I was in no danger, of course, but it was still intimidating. After passing over the bridge, I pushed through some loose foliage towards the pond.

  Thaddius sat on a stump with a sheathed sword resting on his lap and Mudpuppy leaned against a tree on the other end of the clearing. The bearded soldier flicked a quick, critical glance in my direction when he detected me before his expression softened. He stood, pressing a fist against his chest and bowed slightly, the chainmail under his leather armor rustling with the movement. “Queen.”

  I waved him off. “You don’t need to call me that all the time, Thaddius.”

  “I do. It’s important we reinforce your position as the leader. Your authority isn’t based on the title you have, but the respect that your subordinates show you.” Thaddius was kind enough to keep his lecture short, this time. “I won’t have anyone disrespect our Queen.”

  I felt my face heat up and I looked away in embarrassment. “Alright. Thank you, Thaddius. I’ll defer to your deference.” I really wasn’t used to all of this stuff about being a leader, but Thaddius had been groomed to be the heir of a noble house. He was a trustworthy source on this subject. Well, he was a trustworthy source on most things, really. The guy knew his stuff.

  Mudpuppy, bowing her head, mimicked the fist-to-chest salute from her spot leaning against a tree, spear propped up against her shoulder. I waved at her, feeling a big smile spreading over my face.

  Every day, Mudpuppy looked more and more like a soldier, standing with her head high and never without her spear. Her time spent sparring with Thaddius these last few weeks had paid dividends.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked her.

  Mudpuppy glanced up and met my eyes. “Nervous and excited.”

  I nodded and smiled at my daughter, “Sounds about right.”

  I looked down at the muddy waterline on the edge of the pond. Two porcelain white eggs lay flecked with the mud they were nearly submerged in.

  Mudpuppy had been the first to reach adulthood at level five and immediately laid her eggs. Gwen had only hit level five a couple days ago from the experience we gained from the overeating racial trait and laid three eggs. Luna was still level four and hadn’t reached adulthood yet. She was never very good at overeating for the passive experience gain, considering how uncomfortable it could be, but she had to be close to level five by now, though.

  Both Mudpuppy’s and Gwen’s eggs were deposited in the mud here, on the island we had come to call ‘Egg Island.’ In hindsight, maybe we could have found a better name for it. Hatchery Island, maybe? Anyway.

  Today, Mudpuppy’s eggs would be hatching and we would have two new residents in the floating village of Enzirus.

  Luna was suddenly standing next to me and I nearly jumped in surprise when I noticed. I didn’t even get the impression she was trying to sneak up on me, she was just the kind of person who naturally stepped quietly. Most of it had to do with how the newly minted storm mage’s mana disrupted my ability to sense water in her body with mana sense. That was how I knew where most people were at all times, even without looking at them, but it was completely useless at sensing Luna.

  She placed a hand over her heart and bowed her head, quietly whispering “Queen,” to my side.

  I nodded at her in reply as more people began filing onto Egg Island.

  Briham and Gwen came up to my other side, standing silently at attention in the event that I needed them. They were nothing if not attentive.

  Before long, the small Egg Island was crowded with villagers. There was an excited murmur about the townsfolk as they gathered in a circle around the pond.

  The villagers quieted as I stepped closer, an orange fur blanket wrapped snugly around my shoulders. Climbing atop a tall gray rock bordering the pond’s edge where I could easily watch, I settled into a sitting position. We still had a few minutes. Mudpuppy looked increasingly more nervous - a rare expression for her.

  Closing my eyes and opening my mind to my mana sense, I slowly pulled a spearhead of carefully chiseled obsidian from my bag. Obsidian was a kind of black volcanic glass that had the potential of being sharper than a blade made of forged steel. The problem was that it happened to be very fragile and brittle. Fortunately, using mana during the crafting process helped to reinforce the material and keep it from breaking as I worked with it. The edge had already been chipped down until deadly sharp - the plan for today was to use my scrimshaw skill to further enhance it.

  It would make a good present to Mudpuppy, since that stone spear I’d crafted for her was far from my best work. She stubbornly refused to use one of the metal spears that we had collected from the slaver caravan, insisting on using the spear that I’d hand-crafted for her. Well, hopefully this would serve as a replacement.

  I slowly ran a claw-tipped finger along the edge of the spearhead, my mana sense expanding around me to see all of the people who had gathered to witness the birth of my daughter’s children. Two eggs lay buried under the mud, due to hatch any moment now. Golden swathes of mana - a type of mana I had never seen before - coalesced and swirled in patterns through the air like a force of nature, like life itself.

  When I had crafted my lifebloom staff, which had its etching based around the swirling mana patterns around my own eggs, I hadn’t done it exactly at the moment they had hatched. Instead, I had crafted the staff several days before the hatching.

  That might have been why the mana was so different now, or maybe my mana sense simply hadn’t been strong enough to detect this new mana at the time. Mana wasn’t really something you saw, but felt. I was constantly aware of the movement and unique behavior of mana that I was attuned to. It felt wrong to refer to a type of mana by its color, because that was such an incomplete assessment, but the most striking characteristic of this new kind of mana was easily its cascading golden color. This new golden mana hung in the air like the shifting northern lights of an aurora borealis cast in golden hues.

  It was beautiful. Those shifting golden colors felt like purity, like whole and complete perfection hung suspended in the air, dancing swirling patterns like a celebration of life.

  When I saw those beautiful patterns painted in golden light twisting through the air over the eggs, I knew immediately that this would be my focus and inspiration for my attempt at scrimshaw. I formed a mental image along the spearhead. With my claws, I began bringing that pattern to life along the glossy black surface of this spearhead.

  With a small noise, a crack appeared along the surface of one of the two eggs. Mudpuppy fidgeted with the end of her spear planted in the mud at her feet. She took a step forward, then stopped, seemingly deciding that they needed to do this themselves.

  I opened my eyes, no longer paying attention to my hands chiseling at the spearhead anymore as I watched with bated breath.

  Another audible crack and a little brown head popped out of one of the eggs. The little creature cried out with a small voice as she pushed herself the rest of the way out of her dark prison. Her tail slithered out behind her as she plopped onto her belly in the mud, eyes blinking blearily at the bright light and her little chest heaving with exhausted breaths. Her body was a constellation of different shades of brown, tan and orange. Mudpuppy drew a deep breath, eyes wide, hands wringing nervously around the haft of her spear.

  The second egg began to hatch as the first child slowly rose, unsteady, onto her feet. With a crack, a second girl slipped out of her egg; This one had crimson red skin with a tan belly and tan lines. She sank into the mud next to her sister.

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  Mudpuppy stood above them, wringing her hands around her staff and looking much less self assured than she normally did.

  Having caught sight of her mother, the first child cried out and started running forward. Mudpuppy’s spear fell from her hand and slapped into the mud next to her as she caught the child in her arms. The second, red-skinned girl gasped and dashed forward to join in with her red tail trailing and wiggling behind her, wrapping her small arms around the other two.

  It felt like time slowed down as I watched.

  Only a couple months ago that had been me, waiting patiently for my would-be daughters to hatch from their eggs. At one point I had even considered abandoning those eggs. I was endlessly thankful that I hadn’t; Ours was a bizarre little family, but it was nonetheless precious to me. My daughters were all grown up now and having children of their own. It was as though I were looking through a window to the past.

  I drew a deep breath, golden mana swirling through the air as my hands glowed with warmth.

  It was like I was forgetting something. It was right on the tip of my tongue, like something so nostalgic, like the forgotten words of someone so important and precious, but I just couldn’t remember. Something like a memory just out of reach, something so comforting that I couldn’t help but reach for it. But my hands grasped at nothing, the warmth about my fingers receding as that unknown golden mana faded away and the moment passed. Time returned to normal as the cheering and applause from the townspeople reached me. They talked excitedly, pointing and smiling.

  I shook my head to clear it, the strange feeling fading away with the excitement in the air.

  Mudpuppy swiped away tears with a balled fist and rose to her feet. She drew a deep breath, looking down at her two newborn children, and spoke. “I’ve chosen names for both of you.”

  My cheeks were sore from smiling so much as I watched Mudpuppy place a clawed hand on the top of the brown one’s head.

  Mudpuppy smiled down at the brown girl with the chaotic splattering of different tans and oranges. “Your name is Dusky.”

  Dusky looked a lot like Mudpuppy, except instead of somewhat orderly flecks of tan across her brown skin, her flecks were an anarchic mess. The girl smiled widely as she was given a name and repeated it back to herself as though testing it.

  The second one, the red-skinned girl with tan lines and a tan belly, wiggled in excitement as Mudpuppy shifted her attention and placed a hand on her crimson head. Mudpuppy stared down at her for a long moment, causing the little one to wiggle even more, before finally speaking. “You’re Gila.”

  Gila responded with a childish ‘Ooooh,’ as though she had just found something interesting, eyes sparkling as she stared up at her mother with a huge smile spread over her face.

  The first one, Dusky, caught sight of me from where I sat on this gray rock near the pond’s edge, her slitted eyes going wide with recognition. In a hushed tone carrying a hint of reverence, she said “Queen!”

  I smiled down at her. When my own daughters were born, it had shocked me that not only had they already known how to speak, but they seemed to have a natural ability to identify me as their Queen. They had called me by that title without any prompting whatsoever, as if it were an inborn instinct. That seemed to hold true for Mudpuppy’s children, too.

  Gila shuffled over to look up at me, too. Mudpuppy rose to her feet and stood between them, looking down at the two wiggling salamanderkin children at her sides.

  “Do as I do,” She said, “This is a warrior’s salute for our Queen.”

  Dusky and Gila looked up at their mother as she slammed a fist against her heart and bowed her head to me. All around the pond, the watching villagers mimicked the motion, placing a hand on their heart and bowing their heads. It was a touching gesture, but I couldn’t help but feel a little flustered as the spotlight shifted to me.

  The little ones mimicked Mudpuppy, slapping little fists against their chests and bowing their heads. Gila wobbled unsteadily, then rocked back and forth on her feet, giggling. Mudpuppy brought her tail around, steadying her errant daughter.

  I was proud of myself - I didn’t fidget as people waited for me to speak. Part of being a leader was having that certain presence that made people listen when you spoke. The moment drew out as I looked out over the crowd of people who had come to witness our first hatching. Hopefully the villagers would take it as an effort at building suspense, but I was actually just trying to calm my slamming heart. I might be lacking in self confidence, but I wasn’t about to let it show. The villagers waited, their hands still pressed against their chests and with heads still bowed, but flicking small glances at me from where they stood.

  I drew a deep breath, taking a moment to consider what I would say before speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. “Today we welcome the first children born since Enzirus became a proper village: Dusky and Gila. This marks an important step towards becoming a thriving city! Tonight, we will celebrate with food and beer!” I yelled out the last part and threw a fist in the air.

  Thankfully, the crowd reacted with loud cheers. Alcohol was a limited resource so far from the human lands, but this was a time for celebration.

  Mudpuppy looked up at me with a proud expression. My announcement seemed to release everyone, and villagers came to pat my daughter on her shoulder and offer her their congratulations. Other children in the village ran up to greet the baby salamanderkin, and before long they were all running about the clearing together.

  I lowered the fist that I’d raised up in cheer and noticed that I was still holding the spearhead. My hands had been moving through the entire hatching even though I had stopped paying attention to my work. Slowly, I raised up the glossy black obsidian spearhead - or rather, what was left of it.

  It had melted as I worked on it. This obsidian - this glass produced in the absurd temperatures of volcanic upheaval - had melted in my hands, solidifying into a scratched, glossy black blob. I had expected it to break, or maybe to chip off or crack in half, but for it to melt? Impossible.

  A notification indicator blinked insistently in the corner of my eye.

Critical Crafting Failure. Reason: Scrimshaw skill insufficient to produce an item of this grade.

Skill: Scrimshaw has levelled up to level 16.

  Five whole scrimshaw levels from a failed attempt at crafting? That was the single largest amount of skill levels I’d ever gotten at once. I failed because the item would have been too high quality for my skill level?

  I turned over the molten obsidian in my hand. It was cool to the touch now, but I remembered my hands feeling warm as I was working on it. There were even places where the material had melted between my fingers.

  I’d had this strange feeling come over me while working on this molten blob of black glass, like some kind of nostalgic feeling. I couldn’t place it, but I felt that the golden mana had been a part of that phenomenon.

  I lifted my tail into the air and began wiggling it until I got a lock on Luna with my transmitter tail ability. I’d lost sight of her in the crowd.

  Queen? Her voice streamed into my mind telepathically. She was the only person who could tell immediately when I connected to her with this ability.

  Luna, did you sense a strange kind of mana during the hatching? I asked her, sending my thoughts through the mental link between us. It was glowing gold, streaming through the air.

  Mmmm…. Luna seemed to be considering it, before she answered in her usual quiet manner. No, I don’t think so. Strong wind can look gold, but it was a light breeze during the hatching, so if I had to call it by a color… it was more of a light green, perhaps? Why do you ask?

  I tried to craft something by leaning on inspiration from that golden mana and it turned out strangely.

  Luna’s voice was apologetic when she replied. Sorry, Queen. I didn’t see any mana like that, but I’ll keep an eye out for it.

  Thanks, Luna. I frowned, turning over the black blob in my hand before shoving it into my bag. I’d meant to give Mudpuppy a new spear as congratulations, but now I had nothing to show for my work. Unfortunately, this melted blob of material was essentially useless now. Fortunately, we still had more raw obsidian to work with - it was relatively common underwater near the center of Enzirus’s crater lake.

  I’d need to watch for that golden mana - Even if I’d failed crafting under the inspiration of those golden patterns, the scrimshaw skill levels were worth it. Maybe I would see it again when the next batch of eggs hatched? That wouldn’t be for another two weeks, though.

  Mudpuppy broke through the crowd, heading in my direction. Well, it would be more accurate to say that the villagers parted for her as she walked, maybe out of respect or maybe from the confident, sharp-eyed way she carried herself that said that it was best not to stand in her way.

  Mudpuppy strode toward me with her spear propped up against her shoulder. Her expression softened when she looked up at me, coming to a stop before the rock I was seated on as a grin settled over her face.

  “Lose your kids already, Puppy?” I smiled down at her in return.

  “Oh, they went off running around with some kids.” Mudpuppy shot a glance over her shoulder. “I think they’re playing mudballs now.” She turned back to look at me, and tapped the butt of her spear against the ground thoughtfully. “Queen, there was something I wanted to... ask... ” Her words trailed off as she stared at the melted black glass that I was still holding. “What’s that weird thing in your hand?”

  “This? I was trying to make a new spear for you, but I ended up failing with my scrimshaw attempt. It’s a shame, since I think it might have turned out well. Anyway, this thing is the result.” I turned over the blob of obsidian in my hands. “I’ll make you a new one, but it’ll be a while yet. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can make anything out of this melted thing.”

  “Wait, you’re just going to throw it away?” Mudpuppy said, looking dismayed.

  “Yeah?” I answered her, confusion leaking into my voice. “What, you want it anyway?”

  “...Any gift given to me by my Queen is a treasure.”

  I laughed. “Alright, alright. If it means that much to you-- here.”

  Mudpuppy took the melted blob and held it gently in her free hand, a genuine smile spreading over her face as she looked down at it proudly.

  “I’m still going to make you a new spear, though,” I added. “I keep worrying that the one you have is going to break in half the moment it sees real combat.”

  “I’ll look forward to it, Queen.”

  “What did you want to ask me?”

  “Oh, right.” Mudpuppy averted her gaze and softly tapped the butt of her spear against the ground again, thoughtful. She seemed to be hesitant to speak. Drawing a deep breath and meeting my gaze, she finally spoke. “I want to ask you for a gift.” Her eyes were unwavering and determined in spite of her previous hesitance. “Please give me the ring of burning blood.”

  I blinked at her from my perch atop the tall gray rock. My answer came easily. “No. It’s too dangerous.”

  “It might not be, though,” Came her immediate reply. Evidently she had anticipated my refusal and prepared an argument in her favor. Thaddius was rubbing off on her, that’s to be certain. “My courage trait keeps things like blood loss from killing me, so I might be able to use the ring without fear of the bloodflames killing me mid-fight.”

  “You can’t know that. This ring is bad news, I don’t even feel comfortable carrying this creepy thing in my bag. Letting you use it is out of the question.”

  “Queen --”

  “No.” I turned and slid off the rock I’d been sitting on and began pacing away towards our home island. Mudpuppy stepped up to walk at my side, eyes fixed on me and with a frown growing on her face. “I’m not letting you gamble with your life, Puppy.”

  “Getting stronger means gambling with my life, Queen! I can’t sit around eating fish stew for a trickle of experience points. I need to go out and fight monsters to see any real improvement. Not just choko-chokos, but real monsters - The kind that you avoid when you find them in the woods. If I had the ring with me, it would make fighting them safer. Triple agility and strength means I could run away faster if I needed to.”

  I glanced in her direction. “You? Run away? I can’t see you doing something like that.”

  Mudpuppy flashed me a toothy grin at that for only a moment before realizing that what I’d just said wasn’t actually a point in her favor.

  “Your children were just born today, Puppy. I won’t let you go off and get yourself killed when they need you here,” I said as we neared the rope bridge.

  Right before we reached the bridge, Mudpuppy stepped in front of me, blocking me from going forward. She held my gaze with steely, sharp eyes. “Queen, it’s exactly because my kids were born today that I’m asking you this. Right now, I’m not strong enough to protect them. That ring is the fastest - and safest - way for me to grow stronger.” Her eyes were filled with steelbound resolve, the same kind of stubborn determination that had carried me forward through the mud so many times. “If you order me to stand down, I won’t speak of this again. But Queen -- I need you to trust me.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but bit back the words. Tightening my hands into fists, I glared at my daughter, but not out of anger. I held up my balled fist and lightly punched it into Mudpuppy’s chest, not enough to hurt her. She didn’t flinch. “You’re a big stupid idiot, Mudpuppy.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

  “I won’t.”

  “The second you go under half health, you run away.”

  “I promise.”

  “Only go out hunting with the ring if Thaddius is with you.”

  Mudpuppy hesitated for a moment, looking flustered by that particular demand. Sensing weakness, I looked up to meet her eyes again. A second passed under my unwavering gaze before she reluctantly gave a small nod. “...Alright. I promise.”

  Before I had a chance to change my mind, I shoved a hand into the leather messenger bag at my side and fished out the ring of burning blood, that cursed artifact we’d won from the attack on the slaver caravan. I pushed it into her outstretched hand. “You’re not allowed to die. I need you. We all need you.”

  Mudpuppy was silent after that, simply staring down into the simple silver band in her palm. I walked around her to cross the bridge. I made it halfway and paused as the rope bridge swayed with the wind. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to compose myself. She just had to go and get me all riled up and worried. Of course I trusted Mudpuppy, but I knew better than anyone how dangerous those woods could be.

  However, Mudpuppy was strong and capable now. Even if she made a mistake, Thaddius would ensure that no harm came to her. My daughter would get to grow stronger while remaining relatively safe - it was an acceptable compromise.

  I drew another calming breath.

  Silver angels danced and zipped through the air on outstretched fins, their glimmering quicksilver scales flickering with thick rays of morning sunlight. Vast islands of stone and tangled, misty greenery floated with gargantuan calmness, indifferent and uncaring to the laws of gravity. Endless waterfalls rushed from their rocky crags to the lake below, casting up mists of water vapor where they met.

  I sighed as the tension drained out of me. The decision was made and there was no sense in letting it wind me up any further. Besides, I had other tasks to take care of in the village. I would need to track down Briham and Gwen, who were no doubt already beginning preparations.

  We had a party to set up, after all.