Lady of the Veiled Vale

Destiny awaits

The day came, at last. The girls were fifteen years old. It had been a long, emotional ride, raising twin Empaths, and a half black dragon, half alphabet soup. Jessica had decided that fateful day that she wanted to take her place on the birthing fields, though she hadn't told her mother.
   The twins hadn't exactly enjoyed being roped into bottle feeding, but once the chromatic wolf pups opened their eyes, there was no getting rid of them. They fed them, bathed them, played with them. Their aunt said they couldn't possibly keep twelve wolves!
   They kept four.
   It didn't help her case that Skye had a favorite, so they had to keep his. Jessie favored the purple, of course. Mirrim grew attached to a pink, Morgan a green. Even when their aunt's care instructions warned that green could mean acid drool, Morgan held firm.
   She named him Bile.
   Skye named his powder blue Cloud. The play on words was too funny. Mirrim named hers Rose. Jessie named hers Destiny.
   Samantha, being the mom, declined to choose. She knew what a hassle four magic wolves were going to be, though she'd had her eye on a pink one, herself.
   They packed the few things they'd accumulated over the years. Though the girls had been chafing at the close confines of the cottage, no matter how much of a clearing the wilds gave them, it was the only home they'd known. Only three of them knew what awaited them. The twins had never, to their memory, been outside the little glade. They didn't know if their grandmother had lied about getting lost, or if Nyxi was being a mischievous pixie. They didn't want to be hunted, or lost forever, so they'd stayed put.
   Now, they had a guide they knew. They could safely travel the wayes, but they would never see their grandfather's cozy little magic cottage again.
   They had to put leashes on the wolves, but they'd been doing that anyway, so they wouldn't run into the woods and get lost. A familiar smoky figure paced beside them, closer than he usually got to the wolves. He didn't want to be left behind.
   It was Smoke who entered the veiled vale first, with Varla close behind. The giant cat walked right up to his Lady and draped himself at her feet.
   The girls felt a surge of jealousy. Though he'd let them crawl all over him, tug his fur, and pull his tail, he'd never been particularly affectionate, unless they were wounded.
   When they got closer, they saw that the big old cat wasn't necessarily on her feet. More accurately, he was pinning a shadow drake to the ground so she could work on him. They hadn't seen it, because, well, it's in the name.
   Her hands shook so badly, the drake snarled and snapped impatiently. Smoke was essential to its treatment. The girls felt remorse, in varying speeds.
   "Heyla, kiddo. You've grown."
   Jessie looked away for a moment. Her sort of uncle stood at her elbow. She smiled down at him.
   "You haven't."
   He laughed, which fascinated her. He'd begun growing a beard since she saw him last. It did funny things when his mouth moved. She tugged the short growth, which made his face go red.
   "Except this, of course. Do you think it'll be a beard someday?"
   He growled and put her in a head lock, mussed the hair around her horns a bit. Then his elbow grazed one burgeoning bosom, and she was abruptly released.
   Her aunt finished with the typically ungrateful shadow drake, which bounded past them into the forest, herded by the growling wolves who tugged at their leads.
   Gwinn took a step toward them, but her knees gave way. She knelt there, looking up at her daughters, eyes flooded with tears. A smile wavered into view, and faded into uncertainty.
   The twins were Empaths, and demigodesses to boot. They Felt the warring emotions within their mother and ran to her, openly weeping, themselves.
   Kevin's eyes were suspiciously moist when he jerked his head toward the hedgerow.
   "Wanna go see the birthing fields?"
   Samantha looked at her little brother, and did a double-take. He'd matured in the three years she'd been gone. Looking at the way he was mincing around her daughter, it occurred to her that they would be the same age, now. The time distortion messed with her head.
   "May I?" Her little girl didn't seem to be quite sure what she wanted, as far as Kevin was concerned, but she knew the birthing fields would likely be her permanent home.
   "I'd make that the last stop in the tour; otherwise, you're not likely to see another inch of the place."
   They laughed, an awkward thing, but she let it go. She let them go.
   "They aren't related by blood," Skye murmured.
   "I know," she said, watching the pair walk away, two tails swishing farewell. She idly wondered if it would be safe to let the wolves off their leads.
   "I can't watch this. Should we go see if our apartment is still open?"
   Varla elbowed her in the ribs. "She'll want to thank you."
   Sam looked at the huddled mass of wings, tails, and tears. "I can wait."
   "Go, then. Your apartment stands. We've converted the nursery to an office, so you can walk around. It was quite cluttered."
   They tried not to flinch at the reminder that they would never need a nursery, but they couldn't help it. Skye would live hundreds of years, and no one knew how long Samantha would live, but they would never raise their own children.
   "We'll probably get roped into babysitting a lot," she grumbled, looking at their cozy little treehouse.
   Skye put his arms around her, pulled her flush to his chest.    "Would that be so bad?" He blew on her neck, just where he knew it would make her shiver. "The thing about other people's children is, you can give them back."
   She turned in his arms, looped hers around his neck. "I don't see any children around now," she purred.
   Skye hummed into her hairline. "Want me to lock the door?"
   "Oh yes."
   The little pink ball of fur, in her little pink bed, greeted her now older brother Cloud, while the humanoids had their fun. It seemed they'd noticed Sam's attachment to her, and set the pup aside for the empty nester.
   When they eventually noticed her presence, Samantha named her Candy, as sweet as she was.