Chapter 213: You still cannot bite every person who scares a baby

Chapter 213: Chapter 213: You still cannot bite every person who scares a baby

Brea looked up sharply.

Veyra noticed.

"I don’t know" Brea said. "But the land knows her."

"How?"

"She lives here. Defends it. Feeds people. Her children were born here."

Veyra’s gaze sharpened.

"The newborns."

Brea immediately regretted speaking.

"I said nothing about them opening anything."

"But the land recognizes them?"

"I don’t know."

"Could they carry someone across?"

"I don’t know."

"Could blood from someone recognized..."

Brea threw the wet cloth into the bowl.

"Enough."

Veyra went quiet.

Brea’s eyes were hard.

"I told you what I know. Most of it is nothing."

Veyra studied her.

Then stepped back.

"Thank you."

Brea laughed without humor.

"Do not thank me."

Veyra disappeared between the trees.

Brea sat very still.

One of the guards looked suspiciously toward the boundary.

"What was that?"

Brea picked up another cloth.

"Nothing."

Farther away, Tharek stood between two trees.

He had seen Veyra.

He had seen Brea.

He had heard none of the words.

But his huge armored body remained completely still.

His eyes followed Veyra back toward camp.

He said nothing.

Yet.

...

Selka’s death did not disappear simply because Ironwood had new problems.

Brann still woke looking for her.

Sometimes he hated himself for that.

Sometimes he hated her.

Sometimes he missed her so badly he could not breathe.

Vara, Renn, and Sela did not care about any of that.

They were hungry.

Warm.

Alive.

Growing.

One of the nursing females fed them when needed.

Brann slept beside them.

The remaining males helped.

Badly.

One afternoon Swanly visited.

Eira came with her.

Sira had fallen asleep on Soren’s chest and Swanly had decided there was no reason to disturb the rare miracle.

Brann sat beneath a shade with Renn against his chest.

Vara and Sela slept inside a low basket.

He looked older.

Swanly sat beside him.

"Have you eaten?"

Brann grunted.

Swanly stared.

"That means no."

"I’m fine."

"You look like a dead tree."

Brann looked at her.

Swanly shrugged.

"Eat."

She handed him food.

He took it.

After several breaths, he said:

"She would have hated this."

Swanly knew exactly who.

"Being dead?"

His mouth twitched.

"No."

He looked at the cubs.

"People helping."

Swanly said nothing.

Brann swallowed.

"She always thought help meant weakness."

His hand rested against Renn’s tiny back.

"She was wrong about a lot."

"Yes."

He looked at Swanly.

No anger.

Just exhaustion.

"Thank you for not taking it out on them."

Swanly frowned.

"They’re babies."

"I know."

"Then why would I?"

Brann looked away.

Because the beastworld was not always kind.

That answer did not need saying.

A group of older children ran past.

One larger boy stumbled near the cub basket.

His foot struck the side.

The basket rocked.

Vara woke.

A frightened squeak escaped.

Brann moved.

Swanly moved.

Eira moved first.

The tiny girl waddled between the basket and the older child.

Her face went completely cold.

The boy stopped.

"Eira?"

She spread both tiny arms.

"Mine."

Swanly blinked.

The boy took one confused step closer.

"I wasn’t going to..."

Eira lunged.

Chomp.

The boy screamed.

Everyone panicked.

"EIRA!"

Swanly snatched her up.

Brann grabbed the boy.

"Did she use venom?"

The boy stared at his arm.

Two tiny marks.

No numbness.

No weakness.

Nothing.

Swanly checked frantically.

Soren had taught them.

Again and again.

No venom on family.

No venom unless danger.

Eira had bitten.

But had deliberately kept the venom back.

Swanly looked down.

Eira was staring at the basket.

Not the boy.

At Vara.

The frightened baby had stopped squeaking.

Swanly’s anger faltered.

Brann looked at Eira too.

"She was protecting the baby."

Eira pointed.

"Baby."

Swanly’s heart squeezed.

"Yes."

Eira touched her own chest.

"Mine."

There it was.

Simple.

Terrifying.

Sweet.

Mine meant protect.

Threat meant bite.

Weak meant guard.

Her daughters were not cruel without reason.

Their reason was simply primitive.

Tiny.

Sharp.

Immediate.

Swanly kissed Eira’s forehead.

"You still cannot bite every person who scares a baby."

Eira looked unconvinced.

"But..."

Swanly smiled.

"You didn’t use venom."

Eira stared.

Then her tiny chest puffed.

Swanly laughed.

"Yes. Mama noticed."

Brann looked down at his cubs.

Then at Eira.

For the first time in a long while, something warmer entered his face.

"Thank you, little monster."

Eira stared at him.

"Mine."

Brann’s eyes suddenly shone.

He looked away.

...

That evening, Thalara asked to see the Veilkin prisoner.

The creature was still alive.

Barely cooperative.

Still furious.

Still bound beneath heavy guard.

...

Soren joined her.

Swanly watched from the entrance with Kael beside her.

Raku stood behind them.

Thalara placed one blackened hand against the Veilkin’s forehead.

Her purple eye opened.

The creature jerked.

"No."

Soren’s silver pupils narrowed.

His hand closed around the prisoner’s wrist.

Mind-touch.

The Veilkin screamed.

Then Thalara froze.

"Stop."

Soren stopped.

Everyone stared.

Thalara’s face changed.

"The memories were not destroyed."

Soren’s expression sharpened.

The Veilkin began breathing harder.

Thalara leaned closer.

"They are underneath something."

Swanly frowned.

"Underneath?"

"Sealed."

Thalara’s voice went quiet.

"Layer beneath layer."

Her eye brightened.

"Ancient technique."

The Veilkin began struggling.

"No."

Soren’s grip tightened.

Thalara looked at him.

"Together."

He nodded.

Her power entered first.

Memory.

Roots.

Old things buried beneath newer things. ℴ

Soren followed.

Mind against mind.

The prisoner screamed.

Images broke through.

Not clearly.

Fragments.

Snow.

Mountains.

A black marsh.

Ruined towers beneath red clouds.

Something crawling through a canyon.

Hundreds of shapes.

Thousands.

Wings.

Horns.

Shells.

Bodies too large to understand.

Creatures walking.

Flying.

Digging.

Swimming upriver.

Different races.

Different monsters.

All moving toward the same point.

Ironwood.

Swanly’s blood went cold.

Another fragment.

Voices.

Not one.

Many.

Different languages.

Different mouths.

One meaning.

Again.

Again.

Again.

"When the Heart opens, the old world returns."

The vision shattered.

The Veilkin collapsed.

Thalara stumbled.

Soren caught himself against the wall.

Swanly stared.

Nobody spoke.

Raku finally asked:

"What does that mean?"

Thalara looked toward the ground.

"I do not know."

Kael’s jaw tightened.

"Good or bad?"

"I do not know."

...

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