Adder is no stranger to taking care of the sick. Helia was his caretaker, yes, but she was also often his patient. He dedicated many days of his youth to taking care of her. He'd make her tea, help her out of bed, brew her medicine: Adder did anything necessary to care for her, and did it with a smile.

It never felt like work. How could it be when it was his mother? She was the one who protected him from the worst of Sheppard's wrath, the one who held him close when all others shied away, the one who did her best to understand his strange and inhuman ways. When her body rebelled, Adder's assistance was the least he could do to pay her back.

Now though, now he's wondering what it was all for. He can't bring himself to regret taking care of Helia, nor does he wish someone else had taken her role, but his memories of her remain tainted nonetheless. How can he look back fondly on their time together now that everything has changed?

Adder attempts to put it out of his mind, but it keeps ringing in his head like the sick toll of church bells. He doesn't want to remember the way she cried as he banished her from his home. What right did she have to sound like that, what right did she have to cry when she kept her only son in the dark for his entire life?

No, Adder does his best to keep his mind occupied with other things. Even if the familiar routine of caretaking is causing the haunting memories to resurface over and over.

"Is it that hard?"

Adder looks up from the mortar and pestle. Zarek is grinning dopily, drugged up from the multitude of herbal painkillers coursing through his system. "Well?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You look like that leaf is torturing you."

Adder peers down into the bowl, studying the half crushed herb. "It's not hard. I was just thinking of something else."

"Of your man? He'll be home soon, snake."

"No Zarek. I'm not worried about Eben, he's just getting more supplies for you. We're running low on poppy seeds."

"Now why did he do that? It's bad enough I've been in your hair for nearly a week, now you're running errands for me? Anyway, I don't do that opium—it'll screw your head on wrong, I'll tell you that. I like a little spice clover, though."

"Zarek, we've been giving you poppy tea nearly every hour. Your injury is extensive."

"I don't need it! This hot waterskin is working divinely."

"That's Merlyn, not a waterskin."

Zarek looks down. Merlyn is on top of him, stealing his feverish body heat. "I've been turned into a nest! Scoundrel!" Despite his protests, Zarek pets her head, ruffling auburn hair.

Adder smiles. "Do you want something to eat?"

"I could go for something sweet, if you're offering. What do you think, little chick? Do you want sweets?"

"Yesh!" Merlyn screams.

"Inside voice, Merlyn."

Merlyn ignores the command, squealing as she rubs her face into the blanket. Blocking out the ear-piercing squawks of the toddler, Adder heads towards the kitchen to assess their pantry. Just his luck: he finds red apples, a few bowls of blackberries, and a hearty chunk of cheese. He slices the apples first, the cheese next, and finishes the little arrangement with a pile of berries nested in the middle. He Joins Zarek by the hearth, placing the food before him with a jug of water.

"Eat slowly, Zarek. I know you are feeling better, but you're still under the influence of the medicine."

Zarek nods groggily as he sits up, hand weaving as he reaches for the food. He takes a slice of apple first, feeding it to Merlyn before grabbing some blackberries. Adder joins in, taking some cheese. It's creamy yet tart, melting on his tongue.

"Did you have a squabble with your mother?" says Zarek.

Adder pauses chewing, surprised at the sudden question. "Yes."

"I thought so. You're in such a mood."

"I didn't mean to be offputting."

"You're not, you're not. I just dread to think it's all my fault."

Adder's tail slaps the ground in irritation. "It's not your fault. It's hers, she didn't tell me about everything. She tore pages out of my books! Out of your books."

"Well, I'm here now. What do you want to know?"

"I, I don't know. I wouldn't know where to even start."

"I could tell you which village you're from."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Which...village?"

"Gorgon's segregate by village in the Veiled Desert. There's the Sandlurkers, the Oasis dwellers, and the Canyon Builders."

"How would you be able to tell?"

"Your coloration. If you were from the Sandlurkers, your scales would be paler, to blend into the dunes, and your skin darker to resist the sun. The Canyon Builders, on the other hand, are a reddish brown and smaller. Which just leaves the Oasis Dwellers. They live in the shifting areas of Oasis, traveling between them during the wet and dry seasons. They're usually bigger, with darker scales."

"The Veiled Desert is so far away. Do you think that if I went there...would they receive me well?"

"I met their chief once. They're a very secretive people, but I'm sure they would recognize one of their own."

Adder sighs, looking out toward the entrance of the cave. "I want to go there after this. After I reunite Merlyn with her flock."

"You're really going to leave it all?"

"No, I, I don't know. I just...I know that nobody allowed me the opportunity to know who I was. I need to see for myself where I come from."

"Well, the time is soon approaching, then. Autumn is imminent any day now. Unless you intend to leave without me? I wouldn't be offended, you know."

"No. We'll wait until you're healed. All my research has led me to believe harpies are very distrustful of outsiders. We could definitely use someone who has a good relationship with them."

"I wouldn't say our relationship is good, but they certainly were interested in me. I think word has spread of me amongst some of the inhuman communities."

"Where else have you been?"

"Oh, I think I've nearly explored the entire continent by now. I've collected some interesting trinkets, too."

"Trinkets?"

"Just some curiosities, things to offer at the altar."

"What does your God like? I'll add some things to my shrine."

"He likes wine, antiques, and plants. Especially rare plants. I have a shrine out west I visit as my home base. The atrium is immaculate—I collected samples from the deepest forests and most isolated canyons. The colors are entrancing."

"It sounds beautiful, Zarek."

"It is."

"What about monsters? Are there any you have met that you haven't mentioned in your books?"

"Oh plenty. Between you and me, I've met many creatures that are better off not mentioned in print."

"Why can't you mention them?"

"Get too specific, and the monster hunter guild will get excited. Some of these species are thought to be extinct."

"You've met extinct monsters?"

"A few. It's been decades since anyone has seen dragon shifters. And yet, I met one, a young male holed up in some ruins further north."

"That's amazing! What did he look like?"

"He was a sight! Amazing iridescent scales, orange horns, and massive wings. You could easily mistake their kind for a dragon, if it wasn't for the mate marks. Dragons are solitary, as you know, while Dragon shifters mate for life."

"Like gorgons then."

"Yes! It's common for many species: werewolves, unicorns, pegasai, mermaids—ah, my God, how I long to visit the mermaids again. I miss the sea."

With the invocation of his deity, Zarek yelps, clutching his chest in pain.

"Zarek, stop."

"Ugh, it's a reflex! Damn!"

Luckily, it's just then that Eben returns with supplies in hand. He sets a satchel on the table as he enters. "What's going on now?"

"My damned God is trying to kill me."

"Stop praying then."

"I'm trying!"

Eben snorts, beginning to unpack. "Sorry I was gone so long. I tried to get everything we needed for that spell, but the mapmaker was trying to steal all my gold."

"Did Helia help you acquire anything?" Adder asks, feigning mild interest.

"She did. She provided the instructions we need."

Eben lays out a scroll on the table before unpacking the rest of the items: the harpy feather, a small ornamental knife, a map, and a sage green candle.

"Should we do it now or wait?"

"No sense in waiting. Let's do it now."

Eben nods. He sets the candle alight with a snap of his finger. The scent of something earthy fills the air as the light casts across the cave walls, flickering and dancing much too vibrantly for a normal flame. Next, he holds the feather above the flame: It bursts into a bright blue ball, iridescent tongues of heat licking at Eben's fingertips. Unaffected, he touches the tip of the feather to the map. The flames slowly inch across the paper, leaving scorched dark marks everywhere they touch. Nǣdre Tor, Crestholm, and the whole coast of Aaridivirsi is swallowed up. Next is the Veiled desert, the Scaled Mountains, the Great Forest, and the western Gulf. Finally, when the last of the flames flicker out into a smoldering line of ash, there remains only one spot untouched.

Zarek shifts uncomfortably. "Well, that's not good."

"What? What is it?" Adder asks.

"The harpies flew deeper into the forest, right next to the Scaled mountains."

"Why is that bad?"

Eben lays a hand on Adder's shoulder. "They flew directly through the evergreen and through Fallowfall."

"Wait, the nation of the elves? It moves too, right? It moves with the Evergreen."

"It's the heart of the Evergreen. It moves only about a few centimeters a year," adds Zarek.

"We can't go around it?"

"They chose a spot right on the edge of elven territory, pinned up against the mountains. The only way to get to it without crossing through Fallowfall is to cross the mountains. That would take two years at least. Good luck surviving the brutal weather, frost trolls, and dragons!"

Adder's heart is sinking. "So, we can't get to them. They're completely cut off."

"Adder. It's okay. We'll figure something out," Eben says, voice quiet.

"Figure out what!? If we go in, they'll kill us. They'll kill you!"

"That is, if they catch us," Zarek says.

"What do you mean?"

Zarek points at the map with a wobbly hand. "There's always a thin spot, along the border of the Evergreen. That's how human hunters invade and get out in time before they get noticed. We could camp out near Fallowfall and wait for a thin spot, then try to pass through as quickly as possible."

"If they find us though..."

"We could ask my God, ugh, for a blessing. To hide us from the elves."

"Nobody can use magic inside the Evergreen except those blessed by Giakora. Eben could try, but I'm pretty sure they'd feel it."

"Magic is sourced from pantheon, child. They refuse to disrespect Giakora's sacred land by granting their followers magic once inside."

"But isn't your God a minor deity? He's not part of the Pantheon."

"Exactly."

Adder fiddles with a strand of his hair anxiously. It was already risky to travel so far from home, but to travel through the evergreen? It wouldn't just be endangering Merlyn, it would be endangering them all.

For a moment, Adder considers giving up. It's an insidiously sweet idea: keep Merlyn here with him a just little longer. Keep her safe. They could always try next year, and by then she would be a little older, too. More mature, more ready to go out into the world. Or maybe he'd just give up on the idea as a whole—why should he hand her over to these strangers! To these monsters who abandoned her! Adder was her father! This was her home!

Right?

"That's not your choice to make."

"It is when I raised you! You're my child! You're my son!"

Adder groans, covering his face with his hands. He was turning into his mother. "Let's discuss this more later. Zarek needs to rest."