Dawn ca slow through the ironwood vines, filtering into the alcove in pale gold threads that caught on the edges of Leo’s wings and turned Naga’s scales to molten copper.
Alex woke to warmth.
It was the first thing he noticed—not the ache in his body, though that was considerable, or the pleasant heaviness in his belly, though that was also considerable. Just warmth. The particular warmth of being wrapped in four different bodies, each with its own heat signature, each pressed against him in a way that made it impossible to tell where he ended and they began.
Naga’s coils had loosened soti in the night, but his dual cocks were still half-sheathed inside Alex, a fullness that had beco almost comfortable in its familiarity. Lucas’s arm was draped across his belly, the wolf lord’s breath warm against his neck. Zale’s cool hand rested on his hip, a pleasant counterpoint to the heat. And Leo’s body covered Alex like a blanket, the soft rumble of purring against Alex’s skin.
He lay still for a long mont, letting himself be present in the quiet.
Then the mory of yesterday hit him like cold water.
System. The valley. The shadow. The stones scattered in the dark.
Alex’s body tensed, and the change was imdiate. Naga’s coils tightened fractionally. Lucas’s arm pressed closer. Zale’s hand moved in a slow, soothing circle. Leo’s body settled heavier, a weight that said we’re here, we’re here, don’t run.
"Morning," Lucas murmured, his voice rough with sleep. "You’re thinking too loud."
"System—"
"Will be there when we’re ready." Lucas’s lips brushed the back of his neck. "We planned this. Rember? Scouts first. No one goes into the valley until we know what we’re facing."
Alex wanted to argue. The words were right there, ready to spill out—System is alone, System is scared, System has been with from the beginning and I left it—but they died in his throat because Naga was shifting, pulling out with a wet sound that made Alex’s face flush, and Zale was sitting up, and Leo was raising up with the precision of soone preparing for battle.
"Up," Naga said, and there was no negotiation in his voice. "Food first. Then the ridge. You’re no good to anyone running on empty."
Alex opened his mouth to protest—he wasn’t hungry, how could he eat when System was—and his stomach growled so loudly that Leo laughed.
"That’s a yes," Leo said.
---
The central chamber of the half-built sanctuary had been transford overnight.
Sally had clearly been busy. There was food laid out on a flat stone—fruits and dried at and so kind of grain porridge that slled like flower petals and cinnamon. The snakelings were already there, clustered around the fire pit with the particular alertness of children who knew sothing was wrong and were trying very hard to be good about it.
Ripple was the first to spot him. "Mama! You’re walking funny."
Alex’s face went red. "I’m fine."
"You’re walking like Uncle Granite after he slept on the wrong rock."
"Ripple—"
"He ans you’re sore," Jade said, with the particular diplomacy of the eldest child who had learned to translate his siblings. "We brought you food. And water. And—" He glanced at Sterling, who produced a small pouch from sowhere. "We found your stones."
Alex’s heart stopped. "What?"
"The shadow ones," Siddy added helpfully. "The ones that ate the light. They dropped your real stones when you ran. We went back this morning to get them."
This morning. Alex’s brain caught up with his ears. Before dawn. While we were—
"You went back to the valley." His voice was very calm. "Alone."
"We went together," Sterling corrected. "There were six of us. That’s not alone."
"Sterling—"
"We were careful," River said, and his calm voice cut through Alex’s rising panic. "The shadow was gone. The stones were just... there. On the ground. So we picked them up and ca back."
Alex stared at his children. Six small serpent faces, six pairs of eyes watching him with the particular expression they wore when they’d done sothing they knew they shouldn’t but were very proud of anyway.
"You went into the valley." His voice was still calm. He was very proud of his voice. "Where the shadow was. Where sothing attacked and Granite. You went in without telling anyone. Without protection. Without—"
"The shadow was gone," Jade repeated, and there was sothing in his voice that made Alex pause. "Mama. The shadow was gone. The valley was just... a valley. With grass and a stream and your stones on the ground. That’s all."
Alex looked at his eldest child. Jade’s scales were steady, his eyes clear. He wasn’t lying. He wasn’t even embellishing. He was reporting a fact.
"The shadow let you take the stones," Alex said slowly.
"Yes."
"Just... let you."
Jade considered this. "I don’t think it was there to let or not let. I think it wasn’t there at all. Like it was never there."
"But it was there. I was there. Granite was there. We saw it. We heard it."
Jade tilted his head. "Maybe it only cos when you’re there. Maybe it was waiting for you to co back. And when you didn’t, it left."
The words settled into Alex’s chest like stones dropped in still water.
It only cos when you’re there.
The words settled into Alex’s chest like stones dropped in still water.
It only cos when you’re there.
The shadow had let him leave. Had let him run. Had scattered the stones but not kept them. Had done sothing to System’s connection but not destroyed it. And now, when Alex didn’t return imdiately, it had simply... withdrawn. Leaving the stones behind. Leaving the valley empty.
It wants sothing from you. Sothing it can’t take by force.
Sally had said that. And she’d been right.
Naga had moved to Alex’s side, his coils a steady presence at his back. "We need to see the stones."
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