The couple stood closely, quietly, watching the Vine in front of them. It was a deep green that crept along the cave wall, and pulsed gently with a dim amber light. From this Vine, hung a single egg, only the size of a large housecat that might be curled up in a spot of sunshine. But what it held was arguably more important than a cat: a baby dragon. Their baby dragon. They had spent a good long several years discussing a child between them, and about twelve months ago, they decided that they were ready. 

That, and they thought their human daughter finally needed a companion, more so than her human father and dragon stepmother, and a friend. They turned around to face their sleeping daughter, lying peacefully in the opposite corner. They held their breath as she stirred silently in her sleep, not wanting to wake her again. Five she may be, but putting her to sleep was like trying to herd cats.

The human man finally stirred “... Karec,” he said, calling his mate.

“Yes, love?”

“I know that it is too late to stop the Vine, and I would never think of getting rid of our child, but the Human kingdoms are becoming restless… will we even be able to protect ourselves, much less our children?”

“Of course,” Karec said, a bit more harshly than she meant. This had been troubling her as well, but she was too afraid to bring it up; talking about it would make it real.

 “Of course we can,” she said softer this time. “I have spent my whole adult life safe in this place,” she gestured to the spacious cave around them, “and I have been able to keep both you and Katelynn safe as well. What’s one more?” she chuckled.

“What’s one more dragon, dear. A hatchling is very different from a hyperactive human.”

“Are you sure about that? Lynn is something else…” Karec trailed off, laughing quietly again.

She loved her mate, and she loved his daughter as her own. She would do anything to keep them safe, from Humans, from Hunters, even from other Otherkin if need be.

“Hmm… whatever you say…” the man whispered, obviously not convinced.

“Arinand, trust me on this. Besides, I have a feeling that this one will be no trouble at all.” She stared fondly at the glowing Vine again.

“Of course I trust you. It’s just the Humans I don’t. I know that there are still kingdoms out there that are fine with Fae and Otherkin, our own Alinvelle included, but Alinville is small. It isn’t a trading kingdom, it isn’t a military kingdom, it isn’t really anything. If the kingdom were to be sieged, the king overthrown, who’s to say there won’t be Hunters swarming the kingdom soon after? I just… I want us all to be safe. Together. I can’t lose you, I can’t lose Lynn, and I can’t lose our to-be child.”

“I know. And I worry about that too, but we shouldn’t dwell on what might be, only what is. And right now, we are safe, the kingdom is tolerant, and we have a baby on the way. Fate will work itself out. Besides, if worst comes to worst, we can sneak out and move to the Mistlands. The King and Queen of the Otherkin are very accepting of everyone, as long as they don’t cause trouble. And we wouldn’t cause trouble, right?” 

At this, Karec smirked at Arinand, causing his lips to finally pull up into a smile. They fell into a comfortable silence after that, holding each other’s hands tightly, as they stared at the Vine carrying their baby. Any day now it would hatch, and bring with it a new dragon into the world. And a new family member to love.

***

“Zairyn! Slow down!” Lynn shouted at the young dragon. He was now fourteen, and should be past all the childishness that came with chasing moths. Especially if you were the size of a small house.

“HAH! MAKE ME!” Zairyn shouted back at his older sister.

“Do you really want me to make you, little brother?” she asked. She had stopped running after him and put her hands on her hips. She quirked one of her brows and gave him the darkest look he could, channeling all the inner motherly-ness she could.

Fortunately for her, it worked, and, despite being almost ten times her size, Zairyn hunched down and tucked his tail under his belly.

“Okay, okay, I’m stopping, no need to be so mean…” he mumbled, lumbering past her.

“Go back inside the cave, and wait for me to come back from the village before you even think of stepping back out again.” She knew it was harsh, but she couldn’t risk her brother being seen by any Humans.

It had been only nine months since their parents were lost to the roaming Hunters in the area. Alinvelle had been taken over by another kingdom, just like her parents had feared all those years ago, and while the new monarchs didn’t outwardly oppose Otherkin, they allowed Hunters to travel around freely and kill whatever they pleased with no consequence. She knew that her brother knew that their parents were gone, for good, because of Humans, but she also knew that he didn’t understand that this wasn’t some sort of one-time thing, and that his life was in just as much danger. 

So she did her best to take care of her brother, to go into town and sell what metalworks she could and buy what supplies they couldn’t find in the woods near their cave. She did her best. But she couldn’t have known what was in store for both her and her brother.