The cave was quiet without him, echoing only the beat of my heart and the occasional drip of water from the stone teeth above. Sometimes the air stilled so completely I could count the sound of my own thoughts, which was more unnerving than the aftermath of any dragon's snarl.
Ash had left before dawn, trailing firelight from his palms as he swept an arm around my shoulders and told me, "Do not leave this den. The valley reeks of wolves." His face was half-shadow, half-moon, and when he touched my wrist in parting it was with the careful reverence of someone who wasn't sure if his hands built or ruined things. Then, gone. A gust of air. Absolute silence.
I'd always thought I liked solitude, but that was before a dragon decided to hoard me.
The first hour, I wrapped myself in silks he'd brought from the deep places and stood at the mouth of the cave, peering down at the green smudge of forest and the distant black line of river. There were no signs of him after a while; just the wind and, below, the faintest plume of smoke someone's camp, or maybe someone's funeral.
I went back inside. The cave was warmer now, holding the memory of his breath and the residue of fire, but still vast enough that old echoes didn't know they should die.
Sprout?
The system's voice was a cool, clinical intrusion, like a finger dipped in cold water pressing against my skull.
Would you like to review Shop notifications?
Just 'Luna' is fine, I told it. I was pacing, a dragonish habit I picked, embarrassing and compulsive.
You have not yet selected a preferred title, Luna. Be aware that system shoutouts will default to "Sprout" until bonded tier unlocks.
My laugh sounded brittle in the empty space. "Shoutout" was a generous word for how this thing chose to communicate, mostly turning up like a bad pop-up ad right when I was either naked or in the middle of an identity crisis.
System: You have not used the phrase "identity crisis" aloud in the past thirty days. Would you like to set a reminder related to… Something unreadable flickered at the edge of my vision, like a tab I hadn't meant to click.
"No," I said, tugging the edge of the blanket around my shoulders. It was less comfort and more habit at this point. "What's in the shop?"
Chem-Resistant Tincture
Unique Item: Lying Charm [NEW!]
Please scroll for additional items.
I squinted. "Tummy Tuck?"
System: You have successfully completed a reproductive event with a Tier 0 mate. The Tummy Tuck Chem-Resistant Tincture will prevent excess weight gain for the duration of gestation, while allowing you to maintain normal energy levels.
I set the notification spinning with one finger. "Are you saying I'm pregnant?"
System: Processing... Yes.
I sat. The rocks weren't cold so much as unyielding, like the seat of a throne at the end of a long, humiliating parade. Nothing hurt. Nothing felt different. Only the dull, animal understanding that something seismic had just rearranged the basic architecture of my life.
I thought of Ash, somewhere in the tree line, probably turning would-be husbands into fertilizer. I thought of my mother, her voice a dull, instructive drone, always ending arguments with, "You'll understand when it's your turn to protect something soft." I had never imagined she meant myself.
System: Would you like to view your current pregnancy status?
"No," I said, and blinked until the system's overlay faded. "Not until I've eaten those egg rolls. And bread. And butter. Not the charm. I don't trust things labeled 'Lying' on first pass."
Items dispensed to a hollow at the edge of the cave: a wicker basket lined with moss, partly steaming already from warmth-activated runes. I took it to my little bed of furs, swallowing bites too quickly to taste. When I was nearly done, the world steadied just enough to handle the news.
System: Would you like to set a reminder for Ash? You may wish to inform the male of your condition.
"Why?" I said. "Won't he smell it off me?"
System: You consistently underestimate the obliviousness of dragonkind. The system respects your privacy, but tradition entitles the primary mate to knowledge of first conception before the second trimester.
I pressed my hand low and flat against my abdomen, expecting to feel a spark, a twitch some confirmation of the cosmic joke. I found nothing but bone and trivial softness. Would things become more obvious? Would he notice? Would he
Would he leave, or would he stay?
Sometimes I envied the certainty of beastmen, their simple gradients of loyalty: protect the territory, mate the female, raise the young. Only a human mind could complicate something as basic as survival.
There was a little jolt when I thought of that. The system was waiting for my next move, hovering a notification just at the corner of my sight.
I ignored it. I had, after all, enough sense to know when to leave an answer hanging.
Instead, I wandered the cave, cataloging every shadow, every spill of gold dust where sunlight caught the edges of the hoard. I touched things I'd never dare to touch with Ash present a broken tiara, the curve of a glassy claw, a fist-sized and suspiciously glowing garnet.
System: Would you like to review Shop for additional items? New unlock: Low Red Alert.
"Let me guess," I said. "People are coming?"
System: Three adult males and two subadults, approaching from the southern mouth. Estimated arrival: one hour.
I found myself laughing, not because it was funny, but because nothing had really changed. I was still prey. I was still a rare commodity in a world that didn't care if I wanted to be wanted.
"Send a ping to Ash," I said, voice steadier than it had any right to be.
Already done, Sprout, said the system, folding the message away like a secret.
I held the basket tight, looking out into the sunlight and the blank blue sky. It was astonishing, the things we called "normal" until new normalcy forced a recalibration.
I watched the valley with a dragon's patience, a dragon's hunger, and for the first time, understood why nothing in this world survived without someone to claim it.