Back at the river, the kobold tried screaming for help, only amplifying my anger. I was enraged and his pain could still not satisfy me. I felt too responsible as a mom to let this go unnoticed. I wanted him to feel as close to losing a child as I could, he will never walk again if he would even manage to live in the first place!

Once he had lost consciousness and his groaning and crying had stopped, I threw him off to the side of the river. His broken soul and crippled body folded around the tree it hit, then dropped lifeless on the ground.

I shook off the anger as I started to come to, the adrenaline rushing through my body finally lowering. My thirst for revenge satisfied, I took my second child in my hands. My baby was safe, back where they belonged… Finally. I sat down in the boat, a loud cry escaping me as I lifted my head to the sky with my eyes closed, realizing what I had just done. As reality slowly dawned on me I looked around. I had left the river, its strong currents still dragging me into the open sea.

I could hear Cebyr’s voice in the distance, calling for me, begging for my return. He wanted a hug, just to be told everything would be okay... I felt heartbroken, I held the egg close to me, inspecting its shell for any cracks, then it dawned on me: Maybe after all, I did lose a child trying to save the other.

“Mommy will be back!” I yelled at him, his silhouette eagerly jumping and waving at me on the edge of the salty water.

My first born's cries muffled over the sound of waves crashing around me, I was in a tough spot and I knew it. I glanced at my spellbook, the ink had been drained nearly completely, the black on the surface of the boat only confirming my thoughts. I started to panic, sitting myself down in the boat with my child in my lap, trying my best to use my relatively long arms to paddle back against the underwater currents, but to no avail. The forests lining the sea and rivers grew ever smaller. I was helpless.

No one could survive open sea in this world. There are big creatures on land, but those roaming the seas could eat them in a single bite! No man would dare go as far as I was being dragged, the clear blue water below me growing darker and darker.

Then, I saw it, a gigantic shadow running under the boat as a fin the size of a mountain pierced from below.

A Penglider. Very strange to actually see a creature only described in songs and stories of brave men never returning home. So close to me it could block out the sun completely. I stumbled on my back, falling to the bottom of the boat.

I was petrified as I held my second child in a tight grip. After all this effort, can a woman not bring up her child safely in this world? How much worse must I endure, if I even survive this day at all… Please, Dekum, I beg of you... Let at least my first born be safe…