The cradle carrying Sol dropped to the ground, and for a moment, the only thing moving was the rolling head. The moment resumed when the assassin’s body fell to the ground, snapping everyone back to their senses.

Nicky dropped the sword, ran over, and grabbed Sol from his basket. She began twirling him around in her arms, saying, “Who’s a good baby?”

Sol fanned his mouth using his stubby arm as he yawned, accidentally smearing the blood that landed on his face and getting it on his fingers too. Then, he closed his eyes for a nap.

While twirling Sol around and showering him with affectionate baby talk, Nicky formed a ball of energy in her free hand and threw it into the distance. The mage that was attempting to close his deep gash let out a final, shrill scream while evaporating.

Ella watched the scene and became mortified by the unperturbed duo. She looked down to Lucy for comfort, who was still in the basket she was carrying and found her enthusiastically clapping.

This family is full of psychos.

Sol awoke from his nap and felt himself swaying back and forth. He tiredly opened his eyes and saw his mom walking in front, carrying Lucy’s basket.

Beyond her was a shoddy wooden fence that enclosed a large village. And far into the distance, Sol could see a city surrounded by tall stone walls.

“Good morning sweetie.” Nicky turned around after Sol opened his eyes.

“Welcome to your new home, the village of exiles.” Nicky gestured behind her to the village.

The only disruption of the wooden fence was a stone archway. The height of the archway, almost comically, dwarfed the adjacent wooden fencing. At the center of the entrance one guard stood ready while another sat to the side.

“Identification,” the standing guard condescendingly demanded.

Nicky haphazardly checked her pocket and said, “I must have left it at home.”

“Then, you can’t enter the village.” He crossed his arms.

The guard resting to the side looked up due to hearing the commotion. When his eyes landed on Nicky, they opened wide, and he shot up.

“James, these people don’t need to show their identification.” The guard quickly cut in.

“It doesn’t matter what their former identities were,” James replied and then gave another condescending look back to Nicky, “They are only exiles now.”

The panicked guard stopped in his tracks, let out a deep sigh, and returned to where he was sitting before. ‘I tried…’ he thought to himself.

“You guys can leave now,” James waved his hand but then closely looked Nicky up and down and said, “Unless you-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a strong blast of invisible energy hit the back of his head, then his stomach, followed by the back of his knees, and then his balls. The guard grunted at each blow until the damage to the family jewels caused his eyes to roll back. His body then plopped on the ground.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“It seems your friend also decided to take a nap.” Nicky smiled while looking over to the other guard.

“He does that sometimes. You can go through.” The guard flippantly waved his hands.

“Don’t you want to see my ID?” Nicky reached into her pocket from earlier, pulled out a modern style ID card, and held it out in the guard’s direction.

“It’s fine.” He waved his hand again.

Nicky gave him another smile and proceeded with everyone into the village.

The group first made their way through the outskirts of the village, which consisted mainly of grass with a few spaced out houses. As they moved towards the center, the houses became more densely packed.

The streets in the early morning were filled with many tough or shady-looking individuals. Sol braced himself for the encounters that he was anticipating when he saw many of them eyeing Nicky. However, as they passed the first person, a muscular man with a scar running across his face, they were met with a smile and a welcome back.

Nicky replied, wishing him good morning, and this scene repeated many times as they made their way through the village. Some also congratulated her on having kids, and to those who did, she spared no effort bragging about how cute her babies were.

Eventually, they finished making their way through the village and arrived at one of the sparsely placed houses. The house was made up of wood and stood two stories tall.

“Well, this is our house,” Nicky said while looking at Lucy and Sol as she opened the door.

After getting through the door, Sol’s stomach let out a loud grumble.

“Oh, dear! I already gave Lucy milk, but you were still asleep.”

Sol’s expression shifted from scanning the room to going wide-eyed, staring at his mother.

“Do you mind holding Lucy for me, Ella?” Nicky already extending Lucy’s carrier before getting a reply.

“No ma’am.” Ella grabbed onto Lucy’s carrier and raised Sol’s up so he was easier to grab.

Nicky reached into the carrier and placed Sol in her arms.

“Are you ready for milky?”

At this point, Sol’s cheeks began to turn bright red. He started fidgeting and throwing his hands in front of his face. Nicky brought her free hand in front of her to get ready to give Sol milk. Sol started kicking, but it only turned out to be gentle tapping. Realizing the futility, he closed his eyes in fear and looked away, paralyzed.

“Unfortunately, my body isn’t able to create milk. It’s a miracle from God I was even able to have children. So, you’ll have to settle for this.”

Sol peaked open to see Nicky conjuring a blue accented baby bottle in her hand. Milk then began filling the bottle until it was full, and seeing this, his tension began to lax.

Sol’s stomach growled again, and it was only then he realized how hungry he really was. Nicky placed the bottle into his mouth, and he chugged the entire thing.

“Wow, you both finished your first bottle.”

Sol’s eyelids began to feel heavy again despite having only woken up hours ago.

“Is Baby tired?” Nicky said in a baby-talk tone.

Nicky looked to Lucy’s cradle and said, “It looks like Lucy is already asleep. Let’s move her somewhere comfier.”

Nicky then conjured a crib with padding and a rocker at the bottom. She carefully picked up Lucy, gently kissed her on the forehead, and laid her into the crib.

Sol’s eyes felt especially heavy and almost completely shut by this point when he began to hear his mom hum a gentle tune. Sol closed his eyes to the peaceful humming.

“... When the wind blade flies the head will come off. When his neck breaks the cradle did fall, And down came Sol, with decapitated head and all”

Sol’s eyes were now fully open, and then some. He stared up to his mother in horror as she sang such a terrifying lullaby with such a peaceful expression.

But, as he stared at her, his expression began to soften because she was truly lovely. She never noticed his changing expressions as she sang in her own little world. And after several horrifying lullabies that she sang with her love shown across her face, Sol fell asleep.