“Wh-Why are you laughing?” asks Reignleif. She carries her own egg over to look, and unable to resist, everyone gathers around Jeavana to look into her egg, with Hekate and Fal leaning over her shoulder. Daniel burst into laughter upon peeking inside, since Jeavana herself was too timid to verify her hatchling is safe, having retreated into the egg when Geirahoel’s baby exploded its way out of the eggshell.

  Ryuogriar, who was the closest and the first to see, gasps. She retreats so everyone else can look, and Hekate finally gets a chance to observe the primarily-green occupant of the egg. At first, it’s difficult to notice. Hekate was looking for a lack of wings or horns, or maybe some other, more harmful defect. With the colors and the cramped space, it’s difficult to determine what everything is at just a glance, especially because the baby dragons are far ‘brighter’ in color than their parents, and they seem to ‘flip’ primary and secondary colors from their neatly arranged belly scales to their dorsal scales and scutes.

  And, in this particular egg, Hekate counts four arms and four legs, as well as two tails.

  The reason for that, though, is the true surprise when she meets a separate set of violet eyes matching the golden dragon’s looking up at the ravenette. Tiny, sharp teeth are nibbling on an armored tail, while the first set of violet eyes blinks up at everyone looking into the egg.

  “Twins?” whispers Wenlianna, the first to actually say it out loud. She looks around. Everyone is stunned, with Hekate possibly being the only one who doesn’t really grasp the full rarity and specialness of that. Regardless, the feldrok teen is happy and content. She’s most happy for Jeavana, who is a sobbing mess with a stupid-looking smile on her face, since she doesn’t know what to do, say, or think at the moment.

  Geirahoel, who is already breastfeeding her overzealous hatchling, huffs as she turns away. “They’re so small because they had to share so little space. Mukori’s eggs will probably have triplets.”

  “You’re contradicting yourself, Mukori,” retorts Daniel dryly. “And, I will be happy with any number, as long as they are all healthy.” He wipes a tear from his own eye, adding sincerely, “Jeavana, congratulations. I’m very happy for you.”

  “I… It’s not… a dream?”

  The first baby of Jeavana’s egg, which had peeked out at first, makes a sound that sounds like “Gwaaag!”

  Jeavana chokes on her own sniffling sobs of joy, repeating the noise. “Gwag, my baby. Gwag. W-Welcome to the world.”

  Reignleif wears a somewhat bittersweet smile as she holds her own egg.

  “Daddy… why fieya?” asks Tekten nervously.

  “Dragons make fire,” replies Daniel. “Auntie Geira’s baby was just so excited to see us all, she used a surprise escape attack.”

  “B-But… It was scawy…”

  “Yes, it was very scary. When she’s old enough to understand, I’m going to have to scold her, won’t I?”

  “Don’t you dare!” exclaims Geirahoel as she turns away from him, possessively holding the hatchling.

  Daniel gives her an exasperated look, which causes Hekate to snicker. Even the feldrok teen, who is notoriously slow at picking up on subtleties, caught that one.

  The orange dragon blushes, clearing her throat. “Yes, well… We’ll talk to her together and teach her properly. P-Perhaps Tekten can help us, since she’s this little one’s big sister.”

  Tekten doesn’t look particularly pleased with that, since she seems to realize that the baby dragon is rather powerful for being born moments ago.

  Ryuogriar says in her authoritative voice as she waits on her hatchling to fully reveal himself, “Unlike human and goblin babies, which are brought by a stork, dragons are sometimes brought by salamanders.”

  “Sababanders?” repeats Tekten, and everyone giggles at the cuteness of her mispronunciation.

  “Yes, salamanders. They’re fire spirits. Sometimes, they’re so excited, they play pranks on mommies and daddies.” She looks at Geirahoel and her baby, adding a little dryly, “Sometimes, the prank is mean. Mean salamanders.”

  “Mean salbabanders.”

  Hekate whispers, “Wenlie…”

  “Already on it,” replies the brunette as playfully as she can manage, working to calm herself down as she huffs a little from the shock and exertion of earlier. She scribbles in her notebook, writing down Tekten’s mispronunciations to be made into official words of the Fievegal someday.

  Daniel, seeing what the two are doing, simply scoffs and shakes his head with a ‘do as you will’ smile.

  Hekate grins at him, and the group slowly manages to relax. Skloe returns with Jieka after a bit, and Daniel cleans and bandages Tekten’s scratches, though his kisses on her booboos seem to have far more magical power than the greatest healing magic in terms of calming the young princess, since she keeps offering her booboos to him to make sure he gets them all.

  Jeavana sets her egg down on its side gently so that the opening is easier to get to, and her babies eventually crawl out.

  Ryuogriar’s deep, metallic maroon baby eventually shows himself fully. While no one addresses it fully, his coloring is a little awkward for the dragons, since Morthybargaron and Mulmonbargonaed were both a bright red, and they were the cruellest of the recently-living dragons.

  The long-dead dragons used as sires for the four eggs hatching this day were various colors, and the one chosen by Ryuogriar had good personality traits in the historical records, but his color was described as more of a brown.

  Still, Ryuogriar is content and loving towards the baby. She picks him up as soon as he’s free of the shell, immediately shifting her own dress and being a little modest, but unashamed of feeding him right away. Something to do with Daniel gave the dragon empresses milk in their human forms, and they don’t shy away at all from using it.

  Reignleif’s egg is finally showing signs of imminent hatching, though the other three dragons are well and comfortably holding their babies and giggling playfully.

  Daniel sits with Tekten, Shek, and Reignleif to wait on the last hatchling, and Jieka gently touches Ryuogriar’s baby while he’s feeding, playing with his tail, which he squirms and squeaks in response to her. Jieka giggles as she plays with the baby’s tail.

  It isn’t long before Reignleif’s hatchling makes its way finally out of the shell, though the method is the most meticulous so far; while not a perfect fault line, after a long series of small chips and cracks, the egg finally splits vertically down the middle, with the uneven chunks more or less peeling away more like a flower blooming, revealing the tiny hatchling upside down on its shoulders and tiny wings while its tail pushes the shell pieces apart. Once its weight is no longer supported by the shell, the small reptilian flops down onto its back, looking up at the softly lit room and the giants surrounding it.

  Hekate can see Reignleif trembling as her hands grip Daniel’s shirt, and it’s a wonder his shirt is still intact.

  The feldrok girl teases, “If you don’t want him, Reina, I’ll hold him…”

  The blue dragon’s eyes finally falter, and tears form very quickly afterwards. “‘She’,” retorts the middle Dragon Empress. “She’s a beautiful little girl…”

  Reignleif stretches from Daniel’s lap, refusing to leave it as she scoops up her baby, snuggling against the human to hold the vibrant, flower-like blue dragonling with a hint of violet tones to her metallic scales.

  The blue baby happily squeaks and coos when her mother cuddles her, and Reignleif all but literally buries herself in Daniel’s embrace. Hekate and the others pout a little, but the scene is overall too joyous to worry about minor envy.

  Daniel says sincerely, “Congratulations, all of you. They’re all beautiful.”

  Tekten touches the blue baby’s nose, and the little dragon sneezes cutely. “Baby…” whispers Jieka.

  Hekate can’t help but smile. You’re still a baby, too, Jieka. But, they are all really cute… Daniel… Why must I wait?

  She cuddles Fal in order to get her own surrogate maternal moment, which does feel very nice.

  Reignleif then shifts her mantle to offer her own chest to her baby, though even more subtly than the others. And, surprisingly enough, the baby pureblooded dragons take to it comfortably, which the Empresses happily indulge in. All four dragon women have soft and giddy expressions, and even the softly-stoic Reignleif is a sniffling mess.

  Hekate sniffles a little, feeling the overwhelmingly radiant joy swallow her as well. It’s a truly wonderful occasion, and for all that they all had to go to in order to reach it, it’s well deserved for all four of the women celebrating right now.

  Reignleif says softly, “Come over here, Wenlianna… Greet your… Um… Ancestor…”

  Daniel, Ryuogriar, and Jeavana laugh softly, since it’s funny to think about it, and Wenlianna bashfully approaches.

  “A-Ancestor, huh?” She pets the baby’s belly and gingerly touches the tip of her tail. “It’s not usually something humans have to worry about, but… I suppose she is.”

  Jieka stumbly-runs over to Daniel, asking, “Daddy, Jieka and Tekten pway wiff babies?”

  “Soon, Jieka,” replies Daniel. “Baby dragons are shy, so they need more time to be able to play.”

  “Weally?” asks the small princess curiously. With the exception of Jeavana’s twins, the hatchlings are already as big as the two half-goblin princesses, and there’s a possibility they already possess greater strength, which could cause harm.

  Geirahoel’s baby made it really sink in that they are all going to have additional challenges over the normal gauntlet that is child rearing in order to keep the children all alive long enough to understand their own strengths and weaknesses.

  Daniel gently urges Reignleif to let him up, saying, “Mukori, please let me check on Ryuo-Mukori and Geira-Mukori as well…” He kisses her, which ends any protests she was about to make, and she softly agrees. “Very well, Mukori…” She offers up the baby, saying, “A kiss for her as well?”

  Daniel smiles and kisses the baby on the forehead. She coos in response, nuzzling his cheek. The blue empress goes back to feeding her, and Daniel stands up to approach Ryuogriar first. “How’s he doing?” asks the mechanic.

  “Wonderfully,” coos Ryuogriar as she leans into him. She’s still feeding him as well, but adores him. She does say softly, “Sorry… that he’s red…”

  “Nah. That’s definitely maroon,” retorts Daniel as he gently pets the baby dragon’s chin. If he didn’t know better, it would be easy to see it as a baby pet, rather than a child, since their appearances are their reptilian true forms. He does wonder how the hybrid children that share his blood will turn out, but he just hopes they are healthy and happy.

  Ryuogriar looks at him curiously, and Daniel clarifies, “What? You wouldn’t call ‘pink’ like Roetta, ‘red’, right?”

  “N-... No.”

  “What about orange? Orange isn’t…”

  “I’m nothing like those monsters!” growls Geirahoel sharply, keeping her volume low. Her child burps up a little milk, and the orange young dragon panics, rushing to Daniel and Ryuogriar immediately. ‘Wh-What does that mean!? Is she sick!? Is she…”

  “She’s fine,” replies Daniel, knowing it’s going to be a long night. Hekate can’t help but snicker at him, though it comes from a place of sympathy. “Milk is heavy and a little gassy. Or… reactive, I guess. Something like that. Yours, even more so. Let her stomach settle a bit, and then…”

  “Harbinger!” exclaims Jeavana, whining from the floor as she crawls towards him on her belly, her babies on her shoulders. “Harbinger, do something!”

  “For f-... What!?” snaps Daniel. “What is it now!?”

  He’s doing his best to keep his tone level, and he hands Tekten to Shek so he can address the goofy dragon.

  She immediately cries up at him, still keeping low to the floor. “Me too! I want that too!”

  “What the heck are you talk-...!?” He follows her eyes to where Ryuo and Geira are gingerly dabbing milk from each of their babies’ mouths.

  “The milk? We have some bottled-...”

  “Noooo!” whines the golden dragon as she clings to his leg. “I want to make it, too! Do something!”

  “You’re crazy!” exclaims Daniel. Jieka and Tekten, as well as the baby twins, all start laughing and giggling, and Hekate’s tail starts to puff up as she realizes where Jeavana is taking the conversation.

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  Daniel tries to back away from her, while the Empresses give them space, but she has a snare-like grip on his leg, practically climbing up him until she trips him to the ground. She climbs onto him as she babbles incoherently, her babies riding happily on her shoulders like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

  “Dey need it Habbingerrr!” babbles Jeavana, sniffling and crying while she tries to beg him from on top of him, and Daniel uses all of his strength just to hold her back, mindful of the two hatchlings.

  Ryuogriar, ever attentive and not one to leave children in danger, scoops up one of the twins, which Reignleif copies swiftly with the other, retreating away from the two as they allow Daniel to be pounced on by the incoherent mess that the golden dragon has become.

  “Why the heck are you making room!?” complains Daniel, grunting as he tries to wrestle Jeavana off of him. Because she’s next for contract removal, she is still compelled not to be able to harm him, meaning she can only successfully tangle him the way she is, but can’t overpower him.

  Ryuogriar replies matter-of-factly, “Mukori, why in all the world would I stop the Dragon Lord from claiming another dragon consort?”

  Reignleif nods in agreement. “Jeavana is a dear friend, so I don’t mind.”

  “Well, I mind!” snaps Hekate with a fiery tone.

  Wenlianna doesn’t voice her stance, but she agrees with Hekate.

  Regardless, Daniel feels like he’s trying to fend off a clingy octopus with how aggressively the blonde dragon’s grasping at him to try to appeal to him in possibly the least appealing way she can manage.

  “Do it doo me next, Habbinger!” whines Jeavana. “Please, hurry! I want to do it too!”

  “You’re a clown!” Daniel manages to wrestle her onto her back, but she immediately grapples him with her legs and uses her tail to disrupt his balance.

  “You could cruelly order her,” remarks Ryuogriar smugly. “Break a poor dragon matron’s heart…” She is feeding the first of the two twins, while Reignleif shares her own milk with both her own baby and the second twin.

  Hekate takes the appropriate approach. After all, there’s only truly one person to blame at present.

  “Daniel! Stop seducing everyone you meet!”

  “I didn’t!” retorts Daniel sharply. “It’s some kind of damn curse!”

  “Hah! Like I would believe that!”

  “Explain this then!” snaps Daniel. He has Jeavana pinned down by the neck, but he literally can’t move because of how she has her legs and tail pretzeled around his thighs. If he gives up any of the position he has, she will reverse it and have him pinned down once more.

  “You’re a shameless seducer!” accuses Hekate, while the Empresses snicker, Shek and Skloe laugh and quietly explain when Jieka asks what it means, and Wenlianna giggles uneasily. She never has liked sharing Daniel, but she doesn’t put up a fight because of how reliable they all are as a large, silly family.

  “I’m telling you, this has to be some kind of curse!” replies Daniel. “A harem curse put on me by some mischievous god!”

  “Just order her to get off you!” whines Hekate. “She’s still under contract for now!”

  “She’s just an idiot!” counters Daniel. “I can’t use it for that when she’s just being a clown.”

  “I’m not a clown!” complains the dragon in question. “I’ll do it, Harbinger! I’ll bear your children so I can do it, too! I-I’ll share my milk, too! So, please!”

  “There are a bajillion humans and other mammalian races!” retorts Daniel, unable to be cruel enough to hurt her, but frustrated with her sudden clinginess, which has to be some sort of sudden addled state because of the turbulent emotions she’s feeling. “You and Kalegrynten…!”

  “WAAAAAHHHH!” sobs Jeavana dramatically, drowning out everything as everyone other than Hekate and Wenlianna laugh at them. “Am I not good enough!? Is it because I’m weak!?”

  “I’m just asking why it has to be me!” Daniel is raising his voice, and Hekate understands that he has nothing to do with what’s happening right now. The dragons, especially, have been used to a cruel dragon lord for hundreds of years, and males that expected certain things of them with no regard for their own desires.

  Daniel is not only allowing the goofy farce to play out, but he stayed with the four women to comfort and reassure them during the fearful moments leading up to the line they never saw end happily for hundreds of years.

  Hekate sighs in disgust. “Let’s go, Fal.”

  “H-Hekate?” asks Wenlianna, shocked that she’s abandoning Daniel.

  “Daniel will be fine,” retorts Hekate. “And, we still have the fire to deal with.” She stops a few steps away, saying tenderly, “Congratulations, my dear family…” Hekate sniffles a little, feeling tears welling in her eyes, and she cuddles with Fal before leaving the room to hide her own undeniable joy, in spite of the urge within her to try to separate Daniel and Jeavana.

  If she was in the golden dragon’s position, she would probably be doing exactly the same thing.

  In fact, when her three eggs in the future are about to hatch, she intends to make Daniel do all of the same things.

  ***

  Somehow, Daniel manages to get Jeavana to calm down, and her eyes are puffy as she sits on the floor, sniffling. She is holding her twins again, both of whom are already asleep after getting bellies full of milk. The hatching process appears to have been exhausting for the little reptilians, and they are undeniably cute when they are peacefully sleeping.

  Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and Geirahoel are sitting on the pillows designed to hold the eggs through hatching, cradling their own sleeping infants tenderly as Daniel watches over them with Wenlianna.

  Jieka and Tekten are both watching Reignleif’s baby sleep, since the docile little dragonling is the most peaceful, and the blue Empress is the least likely to disrupt the Princesses with an overextension of clingy behavior from the heightened emotions.

  Daniel asks softly, “So, I hate to ask the uncomfortable, but… is it safe to assume we’re in the clear?”

  “Yes,” chokes out Ryuogriar. All of them are on the verge of crying all over again, but thankfully, the whole moment has been positive.

  “Those that even could break free of the shell,...” starts Jeavana before trailing off. She cuddles her pair of matching children to her chest, trying not to wake them, but overcome with emotions. She asks, “Wh-... What if mine are too small? A-Am I still cursed?”

  “You’ll stay and watch over them,” declares Daniel seriously. “I don’t know much about egg-layers, but twins for humans tend to be born earlier and smaller. There is a higher risk for complications, but as long as they maintain an appetite and apparent good health, we’ll bring in whoever we can find who should know.”

  “The only one among us who really got to deal with a hatchling would be Neith,” declares Reignleif.

  “Tell that idiot Onii-chan to stop screwing around. How could whatever stupid thing he’s doing be more important than this?”

  “We’ll bring him home as soon as we can,” states Daniel. “But, he’s going to have to do something first.”

  “What is it?” asks Geirahoel, looking directly at him. Daniel can’t help but smile, since, like she was with him, she shows affection for her elder brother in her own way.

  “Worry about these little munchkins first,” retorts Daniel. “They are the future of the dragons. Neith and I will handle what we need to.”

  “There’s one more thing we need from you first,” replies Ryuogriar seriously.

  “Names?” asks Tekten inquisitively.

  The platinum dragon Empress grins warmly. “Yes, that’s right, sweet Tekten. You’re so smart.”

  Tekten blushes and cups her own cheeks, dancing in place.

  “I want to name them!” exclaims Jieka. She dashes to Ryuogriar, but the dragon keeps her baby out of reach for the young goblin’s bull-rush, just to keep him from being awakened.

  “You do?” asks Ryuogriar, humoring the toddler. “You have some big shoes to fill. Daddy is really good at picking names.”

  Daniel chuckles, and Jieka looks up at him with admiration, but also a slight competitiveness. That same competitive expression does falter a little at the notion, though, and she tries to think.

  The mechanic adds, “If you ladies have any names you like, please do share them.”

  The orange dragon scowls at him, and he adds, “I didn’t forget, Geira-Mukori. I was thinking either ‘Igni’, which is a pretty on-the-nose name for a fiery little girl with the patience of her mother…”

  Geirahoel rears her head back with a look of shock, asking, “Was I just insulted?”

  “No, definitely not. Less obvious would be something like Anya or Enya, which I think is cute.”

  While Geirahoel’s gears turn, Reignleif says softly, “If it’s alright, I would like to name this one ‘Gyualen’.”

  Daniel thinks about it for a moment, trying to remember why that sounds familiar. Wenlianna answers it just as it's starting to form in his own mind, “After your sister, right? My many-Greats Grandmother?”

  Reignleif nods with a cute smile. “I… hope it’s not too difficult to pronounce.”

  “Not at all,” replies Daniel. “Gyualen is a very cute name.” He crouches and touches the baby dragon’s little hand. “Happy birthday, Gyualen.”

  “I-I-I choose Enya!” declares Geirahoel. “It’s sweet and cute.” She blushes, repeating, “Enya.”

  Ryuogriar giggles, saying softly, “I wasn’t going to steal it from you, sweet Geira.”

  Daniel crouches before Geirahoel next, doing the same for Enya. “Happy birthday, Enya, you little firecracker…”

  Geirahoel smiles tenderly and kisses him. “Thank you, Mukori…”

  “Thank you, Mukori,” replies the human.

  Ryuogriar clears her throat. “Mukori, I request a mighty name like the Valkyries.”

  “As I’ve mentioned before, the Valkyries themselves were all women, so far as I know. But,... Hmm… I can think of a couple more names.” He crouches before the platinum blonde and her maroon-colored son. “How does ‘Samael’ sound?”

  “Samael?” repeats Ryuogriar curiously.

  Daniel nods. “It’s the name of an archangel, specifically the Angel of Death. He’s sometimes associated with evil, but his specific role originally was the ‘destroyer of sin’, I think.” He chuckles, saying softly, “In some religious contexts, even the epitome of evil was a fallen angel because he tried to challenge God on how God ruled creation, thinking he could do it better. In my limited understanding, Samael followed Lucifer because of a similar view on various matters, but I was never that religious myself, so I could be way off.”

  “An Archangel who could be good or evil, depending on his path.” She smiles, saying softly, “Samael, destroyer of sin. Make me proud, my sweet son.” She kisses his forehead, and then holds him for Daniel to give his blessing.

  “Happy birthday, Samael,” replies Daniel. “Please look after your sisters. The future will be yours, so I’m counting on you.”

  Ryuogriar smiles, and Jieka pouts, “I wanted to name him, Daddy!”

  “Oh?” asks the dragon. “We’re still considering options. So, please tell me what you pick as well, Jieka.”

  The goblin blushes, squirming as she looks around. It put her on the spot, even though she had time to at least come up with something. Though, Daniel doesn’t expect she knows too many names to begin with.

  “Uhhh… Uuuuhhh… Jayba!”

  “Oooh, ‘Jayba’, is it?” asks Ryuogriar with obvious approval in her tone, but she shoots a dry glance at Jeavana.

  “I-I didn’t tell her to,” complains Jeavana softly.

  Ryuogriar gently pets Jieka’s head. “It’s a very pretty name, Jieka. Thank you. Since I just love both names so much, I shall give them both to him. He shall be Samael Jayba, since you and Daddy are just so good at picking names.”

  Jieka giggles happily as she dances in place, cooing, “Nice to meet you, Sameel Jayba!”

  Samael squirms slightly, still asleep.

  Daniel then gently guides Jieka and Tekten close to himself so he can scoop them up. “Now then, let’s go head to nap time, girls, and let Aunties and their babies…”

  “Ahem…” Daniel looks at the source of the semi-forced throat-clearing, since dragons typically have powerful muscles from nose to tail, meaning it’s rare they have to worry about any sort of obstruction for their fire breath.

  She rocks back and forth with her twins, smiling up at Daniel.

  “You’re not serious…” replies Daniel softly.

  “I’ll be giving them true names, but they won’t be pronounceable by most. So, Harbinger of Babies,...”

  Daniel sighs and relaxes his impending departure. “Are you sure? It’s a pretty big privilege to give to someone who’s not their father, adopted or otherwise.”

  Jeavana smiles softly. “You are the Dragon Emperor, and you and Neith will be the closest things my little ones will have to a father to guide them from a male perspective. We… probably wouldn’t have had any say in names with… the three we were dealing with before.”

  Daniel nods softly. He asks, “Any thoughts, Jieka? Tekten?”

  Tekten is quick to shake her head, since she likes to be a part of things more passively. In turn, Jieka gives it thought for a moment, looking at the two babies in Jeavana’s arms. She’s a little disappointed that Daniel seems to be resisting her, but he doesn’t want to take advantage of her emotions when she’s obviously not acting like her usual self.

  Jieka shakes her head, admitting softly, “Jieka doesn’t know too many names…”

  Daniel smiles and pets both of their heads. “Very well… Let’s see… Twins present a fun challenge…”

  The three Empresses shoot her a brief glare, and Jeavana chuckles uneasily. She probably actually could defeat any one of the three in a fight, since she has taken more interest in battle compared to them. But, she does defer to the three even without the imposition the contract places upon her.

  “They’re both girls, right?” confirms Daniel.

  Jeavana nods. “Yes. And, only G-, um, Enya has ignityal right now.”

  “That’s fine. If it’s alright, and… a sort of extension of the name I gave you…”

  Hearing this immediately perks up the golden dragon as she anticipates the reveal. Daniel can’t help but chuckle nervously at the pressure. “Go easy on me. The names I’m thinking are ‘Clover’ and ‘Willow’. Clovers on Earth are symbols of good luck, are green, and they are associated with fields, spring and summer, just generally good things. Willow is a tree on Earth associated with peace and grace, and in my own personal experience and probably a little biased by my own admiration for willow trees, they do appear a lot in mystical forests associated with fairies, spirits, and other things.”

  “Clover and Willow,” murmurs Jeavana softly.

  “I realize they aren’t the names of spirits themselves, the way yours is, but…”

  “I love them,” states Jeavana. “Green-belly shall be ‘Clover’, and gold-belly shall be ‘Willow’.” She rocks them slowly and lovingly. “My little Clover and my little Willow.”

  Jieka and Tekten clap happily, and Daniel crouches in front of the golden dragon. She looks at him expectantly, especially because he hesitates, still worried that he’s crossing over a line that only he seems to worry about. Daniel smiles softly, and he pets both girls gently. “Happy Birthday Willow. Happy Birthday Clover. Grow up big and strong and love your mother as much as she loves you.”

  Jeavana’s eyes water once more as she smiles affectionately. She whispers, “Thank you…”

  Daniel nods, gently patting her shoulder. “If you need anything at all, it’s yours. I was going to remove your contract, but if you want to rest…”

  She swallows hard, and she requests softly, “Please remove mine as well… I… I want to be able to protect them without question… And I… I will help you with anything… Everything… I promise I will never turn against you…” Her voice turns quiet, since she’s pledging her life to him in spite of how much more powerful she is, and how suspicious it is to have to address the fact that she could and would have killed him if circumstances were different.

  The otherworlder human chuckles softly. “After what I’ve seen today, I don’t think I could be suspicious of you anymore…”

  She smiles at him, sniffling as she resists the urge to cry again.

  “Oh geez… Since when are you of all people such a crybaby?”

  “Shut up! You know why!”

  Daniel stands up, saying in a showy, dramatic voice, “Daniel Lawson, the Harbinger of Calamity; Monster who makes even dragons cry…”

  “Shut up…” whines Jeavana as she loses her battle to resist crying happily again, while the other dragon women laugh.

  He scoops the goblin princesses up and joins Wenlianna, Shek, and Skloe, saying, “You ladies take your time and get some rest. If I need help, I’ll let you know, but for now, we’ll launch the initial attempts to combat the fire.”

  The dragons nod in agreement, and three of the four say, “Be safe, Mukori,” while the fourth states, “Come back safe… M-arbinger…”

  Daniel feels exhausted already just enduring the last couple hours.

  In spite of that, he is actually quite content. The future is in motion for the dragons, who he has come to love. And, Hekate and Fal represent a tiny ember of hope for the feldroks, though like the archoneldwyn, it’ll be in a different form than simple pure-blooded descendants.

  It is what it is, since he would never force either of them to do anything they don’t want to do.

  Hopefully, Jeavana calms down. If she wasn’t acting so crazy,...

  Daniel takes a breath and returns his focus to his next task. He can worry about that when everything is settled down.

  ***