Adder’s body is delicately in tune with the changing of the seasons. Even if nobody else notices it, he can sense the gentle thaw of ice and snow. As winter finally lets up its harsh grip on the land, and his body awakens in turn: the color starts returning to his cheeks, the dullness of his eyes starts to fade, and, of course, he starts to shed. It’s a painless, if itchy, process. However, it’s the one and only monstrous trait Eben has a hard time with…

So of course, Adder has to torment him with it.

“Adder! Just pull it off already!” Eben begs, nose scrunched up in disgust.

Adder is at the table, enjoying his afternoon tea. He takes a sip, ignoring the small bit of dead skin under his right eye. “I want to pull it off in one big piece. It’s more satisfying.”

“Augh, Adder, that’s disgusting!”

Adder laughs, snorting into his cup. “Should I take my tea in my room if you find me so repulsive?”

“No, I just—you know I don’t deal well with the—the molting. It reminds me of when I saw a bastard get his face flayed by an unlucky swing,” Eben shivers.

“Okay, I’ll take it off,” Adder agrees, reaching up.

“Wait no—“

The gorgon pulls on the bit of dead skin. It comes off in one big strip, much to the horror of the half-elf. Merlyn laughs, spilling her drink as Eben covers his mouth with an overdramatic display of disgust.

“Happy?”

Eben scowls, setting down his spoon. “We are going to the river today. You will exfoliate from head to tail.”

“Wha—but it’s not as fun to scrub it off!”

“It’s also not fun to watch you pull your face off!”

Merlyn laughs louder at their squabbling, flapping her wings. The action sends fluffy white feathers flying through the air. The half-elf scowls harder as one of them floats down and onto his slice of bread.

“See, I’m not the only one,” says Adder.

“Both of you are going to the river. It should be warm enough by now…”

“Alright alright, we’ll go, okay? Let me finish my breakfast, you gnome.”

Eben huffs, pushing his food away to bite into an apple instead. Adder eats his meal quickly, helping Merlyn with hers before he starts preparing for the short journey. In a wicker basket, he packs the necessities; soap, some rags, an ivory comb, and a soft-bristled brush.

“You ready to go?” He asks.

Eben stacks the bowls and picks up Merlyn. “Yes, let’s go.”

The three monsters head toward the river together. Adder enjoys studying the newly-green landscape as they go; wildflowers dance in the warm wind, dotting the sides of the path with cheerful pops of color. Merlyn makes it her mission to gather one of every variety, hopping around gleefully as she collects them in her claws. When they finally reach the river, she cheers and throws the flowers into the air, watching the colorful petals swirl downstream in the gentle current.

Eben dips his hand into the water, testing the temperature. Finding it a little too frosty still,he snaps his fingers, a golden hue shimmering in the water like a ray of sun hitting instantly. Adder tests it, finding it now pleasantly warm. He slips in, pleased to finally immerse his whole body; the washbasin is good enough for the winter, but nothing beats this. Merlyn seems a little more hesitant, though. She whimpers nervously, wings tight at her sides.

Eben rolls up his pants, stepping in. “It’s okay, Merlyn. This is a shallow part of the river. See? Come here.”

Cautiously, she steps in. She stares down at her talons, observing her claws digging into the colorful riverbed filled with smooth pebbles. She giggle-screams as a brave minnow nibbles at her toes. Fear forgotten, Merlyn tears off after the fish, jumping and splashing around as she tries to catch it. Seeing her occupied, Eben finds a large rock to perch on, deciding to wash his hair.

Adder follows his lead, dunking his head under the water before resurfacing. He grabs the soap and a cloth from the basket, scrubbing at his face and arms. He splashes the suds off before turning to his tail. He rubs the soap in thoroughly, revealing jewel-like shimmering scales under the dull skin. When he’s just about done, he dunks his head under again to rinse the rest of the soap off.

However, when he breaches the surface he’s ambushed by a screeching Merlyn. He yelps, falling backward into the water. The harpy laughs, splashing the gorgon as she flaps her wings.

Eben comes to the rescue, picking up the delinquent toddler by the armpits. “What am I going to do with you, little bird?”

Meryln only giggles, kicking her feet in the air.

“All right, you overgrown omelet, bath time.”

Eben carries the toddler to his rock, placing her on top. He squeezes the damp cloth over her head and gets to work lathering up her hair.

Adder exits the river, basking in the warm sun as Eben gently combs through the tangles. Once all the knots are out, Eben hands the harpy the cloth. “Okay, can you squeeze it yourself?”

Merlyn stares blankly for a moment before she takes the washcloth, closing her eyes and squeezing the water over her head.

Eben smiles, taking the washcloth back. “Good job, Merlyn! Now turn around, it’s wing time.”

Already knowing what’s next, Merlyn turns around, spreading her wings wide. Carefully, Eben begins to pluck the loose feathers. Clumps of white are carried downstream as more and more dark-brown pin feathers are revealed. Eben gets to work, setting them free one by one. By the time he’s done, the appendages have completely transformed. No longer the awkward patchy things as they were before, they are now two perfect, glistening wings. The outside of each one is umber brown, dotted with snowy white speckles, while the inside is a sandy tan that's only interrupted by a few dark bands on the primaries.

Merlyn stands atop the rock, stretching her wings wide as if to rejoice their freedom from their fluffy prison. Adder can only stare, unbelieving that it happened so fast. Just yesterday it seemed she was a blind little creature, struggling to even breathe—how had one winter changed her so much?

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“Alright, time to get out, Merlyn. Go shake the water off on the shore.”

Merlyn obeys partially, shaking the water off her wings and splattering both Eben and Adder in the process. She jumps off the rock with a splash, skipping her way back to shore. Adder follows after her, retrieving a dry cloth from the basket and patting her down. Merlyn coos contentedly, her hair sticking up at odd angles.

“Ready to go back, little bird?”

Merlyn smiles, raising her wings so Adder can lift her up. The gorgon complies, hugging her tight as Eben retrieves the basket. The walk back is quiet, strangely tense, before the half-elf breaks the silence. “Koranalia is tomorrow.”

“It is.”

Eben darts his eyes away. “I want us to celebrate with everyone else.”

Adder frowns. “You mean, actually go to the village?”

“Yes.”

“I can stay with Merlyn if you want to go.”

“No, I mean all three of us, Adder.”

Adder frowns. “That’s not a safe idea.”

“I know you’re hesitant, but we’ll be careful.”

Adder hugs Merlyn to his chest tighter. “No, Eben.”

“Why not? We came back fine last time and when Merlyn hatched, the villagers celebrated.”

“Some of them did. Not all of them…”

Eben’s scowl deepens as he raises his voice. “Who gives a rat's ass about the others? Adder, your mother is the high priestess of the village. There’s no way she’d ever allow harm to come to any of us.”

Adder whips his head around to face Eben. “Is she strong enough to protect the villagers from Merlyn?”

Eben pauses on the trail in shock. “What? What do you mean?”

“I have read the books to you, you know what harpies can do. Their voices can decimate entire armies.”

“Adder!” Eben growls, “you cannot be really saying Merlyn would hurt someone!”

“If she gets scared, or lost, upset; she could lose control. We’ve never seen her manifest her powers, she might accidentally—“

“Stop it! She wouldn’t, Adder. What happened to you isn’t going to happen again.”

“You don’t know that,” Adder growls, “If we want to prevent it we need to take all necessary precautions.”

“You’re being ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous? You think it’s ridiculous that half the village lost twenty-five years of their lives because I couldn’t control my powers? Whatever forgiveness they have granted me, I will still always carry the knowledge of what I did. I will not allow that to happen to Merlyn!”

Eben falters, eyes going sorrowful. “That’s not what I meant—”

The anger in Adder is bubbling over as Eben continues to dismiss him. He growls beastially, turning away from Eben and quickly going ahead on the trail. Eben calls after him, but it’s in vain. Adder’s agitation follows him all the way home, even as he enters the cave.

Merlyn makes an unhappy noise in his arms, and Adder looks down to find her sucking a claw, clearly distressed by the argument. Guilt wraps around his heart—he hadn’t thought about how she would react to them fighting like that.

Suddenly, an ancient memory surfaces; he remembers Helia spitting something venomously at Sheppard, angered over what the man had told Adder. The little gorgon had curled under the table, shaking as the priest had raged against the woman.

“How dare you presume to order me,” Sheppard had roared, magic roiling with suffocating fury, “you chose this monster over me, over your priesthood! Accept you have no power any longer!”

Helia had scowled, unflinching in the face of Sheppard’s malice. “I did not choose him over you. I simply cannot love a creature who loves himself most of all, Sheppard. If you want that to change, it’s you who must look inward,”

Then there was a sound, almost like the crackle of a flame rolling in reverse, and Helia began to make some horrible choking sound. Adder had been glad that he hadn’t been able to see what was happening.

That hadn’t been the last time they fought—Adder became numb to it, eventually. He’d hide himself away in some cold nook or cranny with a book, or go use the sound of the river to drown out his pain. But it was never easy to ignore, it was a constant anxiety that loomed over Helia and him both. The memories are still fresh, oozing and stinging against his mind.

Thankfully, Adder is brought out of the nightmare by a touch to his chin. He looks down, finding Merlyn is looking up at him with a concerned expression. The gorgon sets the harpy down gently. “Did I scare you back there, fledgling? I wasn’t—I wasn’t going to hurt him. I wouldn’t do that. I was just upset, that's all.”

Thankfully, Merlyn doesn’t seem afraid. She leans forward, hugging the gorgon with both wings. Touched, Adder pats the top of her head softly. “Let’s get our minds off this, I'm sure I can find a story you like in my collection…”

The gorgon takes Merlyn to the study, searching for a proper book. He finds an illustrated novel, something about a porcelain rabbit, and shows the book to Merlyn. The harpy coos, enthralled by the gilded cover, and climbs into Adder’s coils. He sits down with her, and begins to read. A few pages into the book, Eben enters the study. He lingers at the entrance for a moment, waiting for Adder’s reaction before coming closer. When the gorgon doesn’t respond with anger, Eben joins the pair. Adder reads on, pausing every now and then so Merlyn can see the pictures. She trills excitedly as Adder turns to a page with a particularly intricate drawing. She takes the book into her claws, toddling off with it to sit and stare at it intensely.

Eben laughs, covering his mouth. “You’ve been robbed, Adder.”

“It seems so…”

They watch Merlyn together, her glee is contagious, lifting away the caustic emotions with her joy.

Eben turns to Adder. “Are you still mad at me?”

Adder sighs, kissing the crown of Eben’s head. “No, I’m not. I did not like being called ridiculous for being worried, though.”

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.”

“It’s alright, I just—did I—did I frighten you?”

“Frighten me?”

“I got angry with you—I didn’t mean to raise my voice so loud.”

“We were both yelling, Adder. I knew you were just emotional.”

“Merlyn got upset…”

Eben glances over to Merlyn, watching her flip through the pages of the book rapidly. “She seems okay now. She knows it was just a spat.”

“I just don't understand, why do you want to go to Koranalia? You never cared about it before, you don’t even worship Giakora.”

“Merlyn’s grown all her feathers, Adder. Don’t you think she’s going to be learning how to fly soon? This might be our only Koranalia with her…I want it to be a good one.”

Adder glances at Merlyn’s wings. “She can have a good one with us at home.”

Eben sighs, going quiet for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes widen. “I have an idea!”

“What?”

“I’ve been practicing my glamours—what if we went to Koranalia disguised?”

“Disguised?”

“Yes, I could make you and Merlyn look human for a day. That would make you feel better, right?”

Adder contemplates the idea. He pictures himself walking on two legs, being treated like any other human as they all enjoy the festival. The thought is extremely tempting, but, “My concerns about Merlyn remain.”

Eben grabs Adder's hands with his own, kissing them. “I know, I know, but I’ll be right there with you. I’ll stop any trouble before it ever happens, I promise.”

“This is really important to you, isn’t it?”

Eben flushes. “I might be dwelling on my own childhood a little. I always wanted to celebrate, but my father never permitted me to. Then when he died…it was too late.”

The emotional story stirs something within Adder. He can’t help but imagine a newly orphaned Eben, witnessing humanity celebrate joyously while he was resigned to watch from the shadows. Adder knew what it was like to be excluded, but at least in his childhood, he had Helia to spend the holidays with.

“I guess…if we’re extremely careful,” Adder concedes.

“Yes! Adder, it’s going to be great, trust me.”

Adder hugs Eben close, “I hope so.”