‘There was no need to sneak around,’ I said to Hawthorne as Emilija cleaned her second baby.
Hawthorne watched as his two offspring bumped blindly into one another; their tiny, featherless wings flapping uselessly.
‘Are you done, girl?’ I asked Emilija. ‘Are there any more?’
I had to admit, she looked much better now that she had given birth to two fat babies. They were larger than newborn Labradors, but smaller than a fully grown cat. I didn’t know how many offspring a Vulmessian could have; these were probably the first naturalborn of their kind.
I knew dogs could have a litter of puppies in the teens, but I had no idea about foxes. Though ‘fox’ didn’t really describe the animals before me.
Again, Emilija began to push as the third baby made its way into the world. It was by far the biggest of the three, and a far lighter grey than the others.
~
An hour later, the three pups were suckling happily on their mother’s teats, Hawthorne brought Emilija a dead rabbit to feast upon, which she ate greedily, and I was re-bandaging my damaged leg.
I had to admit, Emilija looked much better now she had given birth. She was sitting up, breathing normally, and cleaning her babies. Hawthorne had not touched the pups yet, and eyed them warily, as if unsure what to make of them. His head tilted whenever they made a squeaking noise.
I had not touched the babies either; Emilija was not familiar with me, and I didn’t fancy having my arm torn off. So instead, I sat back and observed the family longingly, wishing Jack could be here to witness this miracle with me.
I was beginning to miss him dearly. We hadn’t spent such a long time apart before; except for the period when I’d been locked in Master Sebastian Forsythe’s dungeon for breaking his nose. I tried to block that period of my life from my memory.
I allowed my thoughts to wander, thinking of Jack and the moment we’d shared before everything had been torn apart.
~
By the following morning, I was able to put a small amount of weight onto my leg. The wound had formed a scab, which was reassuring, and there was no sign of infection, either.
After Hawthorne had caught everyone breakfast, I managed to hop to the stream that he’d taken me to the previous day. Once there, I washed, drank, and relaxed in the cool water. Unfortunately, I had no way of holding water to take back to the windmill.
As I sat on the stream’s edge, I turned my locket between my thumb and forefinger. The ruby lit up like fire as the sun shone through the canopy ahead, its rays dappling across the grass, forming strange patterns.
I sighed and flopped back onto the grass, my hair sprawling out behind me, and I pictured Jack lying by my side. I missed him dearly, to the point where I felt nauseous.
‘Why the worried expression?’ said Jack in my minds eye.
I stared at the leaves above and said, ‘It’s not fair.’
‘What’s not fair?’ said Jack. I imagined him watching me, propped up on his elbow, his face resting against his palm.
‘Everything,’ I said to myself. ‘I must have the worst luck in the world. I mean … can’t things just go smoothly for once?’
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Jack.
‘I don’t know.’ I pondered this for a while. ‘Dagon thinks I should rally human supporters to take down the Realm.’
Jack eyed me beadily. ‘Who is Dagon?’
‘Oh, just a man I met in Port. Don’t worry, he’s just a-’ I stopped as I realized that I was talking to myself. Stupid, I thought. Jack isn’t here. I don’t know where he is.
Calling it a day, I grabbed my things and began the painful walk back to the windmill.
As I hopped along, I noticed that the clouds overhead were becoming darker. In the distance, a rumble of thunder sounded.
I hated the rain, and the windmill was sure to leak. At least I would be able to keep the babies from getting cold.
It had already started to sprinkle by the time I reached the windmill. Hawthorne and Emilija were huddled together, fast asleep, while the kits were trying to hold their own weight up.
It had only been twenty-four hours, but I’d already noticed a small change in their appearance. Their eyes were no longer completely closed. Instead, a sliver of colour could be seen between their eyelids. Not only that, but hair was beginning to grow on their naked, grey bodies; it was wispy and transparent -but nevertheless, they were growing fur. I wondered whether they would grow as fast as Hawthorne had; he’d grown from pup to the size of a horse within a matter of weeks. I tried to imagine hiding in the windmill with five fully-grown Vulmessians. I wouldn’t go unnoticed for long.
While Emilija slept, I took my chances and tried to interact with the pups. I didn’t want to startle them, so I sat a couple of feet away, and watched them.