“Come now, you haven’t caused all this fuss to give up this easily!” Xana grasped the child by its neck and turned it over so it lay on its stomach in her hand. She gave the child a few hard taps on the back, even as tiny wings reflexively twitched and tried to flare but were too covered in mucous and fluids to unfurl. “Breathe, little one.”

Her pats became harder, and more insistent. She flipped the child upside down and wiped its mouth and nose, then put her mouth to the babe’s and sucked. The little body flipped over again, and she resumed thumping on its back, but with more force.

Time stood still in the small hut. Astrid finished the stitches, then stood back and slit her forearm with a knife. She began chanting, a healing light filling the room, even as wounds opened all along her own body. Xana gave a screech of triumph as the child coughed, then vomited blood and mucous all over her.

“That’s it! Get it all out my little warrior!”

It was a boy.

After a moment the drakling’s tiny gasps stopped, and it began to cry. I had never thought the sound of crying could bring such joy, but it was as if the entire island stood still to hear the cries of the first draken born in a thousand years. I heard a roar of triumph from outside the hut, and I yelled too, the incandescent joy infectious.

Xana trilled in happiness even as the child continued to scream, wrapping him in a blanket and pushing him to me. The tiny drakling had silver coloring dotting his scales and a tuft of hair that was pure white, a nod to his mother’s heritage. He looked up at me with eerie eyes; one was silver, the other brown like his father’s. I tried to take in all the details, memorizing them for further examination later. He sputtered up at me with a small human face and body except covered in silver scales. Tiny black claws flashed, along with miniscule fangs that made the corners of my mouth twitch with a smile. Wings continued to flex and unfurl reflexively, the same shimmering silver as the rest of his body.

My breath caught as I stared down at the baby, so different than the human ones I had seen delivered yet also exactly alike. Something inside of me broke, a deep hole opening up underneath and swallowing me whole. Memories of screaming women, babes wrenched from their arms filled my head. My grip around the small child tightened.

I gently placed him on his mother’s chest, and her eyes flickered open in awareness. A soft white glow flared on her skin, and Astrid sank to her knees, exhausted. Cassie cracked one eye open as her hands moved to tighten around the child. She gave a happy smile and passed out again.

“She’ll be fine. It will take much rest,” Astrid breathed out.

My eyes flicked to the massive wound across her pelvis, and Xana who was inspecting the stitches closely. “Take care to keep it clean, and when she is ready, cut them out.” Xana shifted her hooded face towards mine. “Hand the child to his father, then take me back. You may come get me when my lodgings are complete.”