Emily wakes up with a start, her head pounding as the light of a campfire pierces her eyes. She groans as she tries to sit up, finding herself unable to, wrapped up in a blanket like a cocoon with her arms firmly held in place, holding something rough and heavy.
“What… Where am I?” She croaks out, her throat feeling like sandpaper.
Nora sits up from her place by the fire, looking at Emily with concern.
“Hey, sleepyhead. Welcome back to the land of the living.”
Emily lets out a groan, shifting from side to side in an attempt to sit up.
“Hey, now. Hey.” Nora gets up and hurries over to Emily’s side. “Just calm down. I’ll get you out of there.”
Nora lifts up the corner of the blanket, freeing it from underneath Emily. With a sigh of relief, Emily uncurls her arm from the thing in the blanket with her, stretching out the fingers with some painful cracks. “There. That’s better. How’re you feeling?”
“Like I just got my head bashed in with a rock.” She groans, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to rid the spots dancing in her vision.
Nora’s face relaxes into a relieved smile, as she lets out a chuckle.
“Well, that’s probably because you got your damn head bashed in with a rock.” She says, as she double checks the fresh bandage wrapped around Emily’s head. “Almost painted Alastair’s back red with how much you were bleeding.”
Emily lets out another groan of pain. “What happened?”
“Well, after you got your brains scrambled, we made a break for it. We crossed a river to get them off of our scent, and kept running until nightfall.”
“Until nightfall? So, where… Where are we?” Emily tries to get up and fails, the awkward weight on her stomach making it almost impossible to lift herself up properly.
“What…?” She lifts the cover of the blanket up, revealing the massive, mottled brown thing weighing her down. She stares at it for a moment, running her hand over its rough surface. “What is this thing?”
Nora glances at it and shrugs. “No idea. But you did not want to let the damn thing go without a fight.”
Emily goes silent, tracing her finger across the pattern of the rock. “Is it a rock?”
“It’s an egg.” Alastair’s baritone voice cuts in, as he walks into the firelight. “Glad you’re awake, by the way.”
Alastair stops next to Nora, giving her a nod. “Forest’s quiet, by the way. Looks like we lost them.”
Emily lets out a breath of relief at seeing Alastair fine and well, and feels a small pang of guilt for forgetting about him until now. “What kind of egg do you think it is?”
Alastair stops next to Emily, his tall frame blocking out the firelight, before he kneels down and moves to the side, letting the light fall back on Emily. He cocks his head from side to side, his eyes narrowed as he takes in every detail.
“Hmmm…”, he leans in closer, tapping the surface with his knuckles, the egg letting out a deep, hollow knocking sound back. “Maybe it’s a griffin egg?”
“Griffins? In the forest?” Nora responds, cocking an eyebrow at Alastair.
Alastair shrugs. “Hey, I’m not the monster expert here. Just throwing out some suggestions.”
Nora crouches down and stares at the egg, Emily suddenly feeling self-conscious from all the attention. “Well… It’s not the right colour. Griffin eggs are more like massive chicken eggs.”
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Alastair thinks to himself for a moment. “Well, could it be a reptile egg?”
Emily looks at Alastair with confusion.
“A reptile egg?” She looks down at it. “Really?”
Nora snaps her fingers.
“You’re right! But it doesn’t look like any reptile egg I’ve ever seen. Aren’t they usually more… Square? Oval? Long on the sides, short on the top?”
Alastair scratches at his days-old stubble. “Well… It could be a basilisk egg.”
Emily’s eyes widen in shock. “A basilisk egg? But… What would a basilisk egg be doing all the way out here? I thought… I thought the edge of the forest was relatively safe.”
Nora and Alastair share a look, before Alastair sighs, closing his eyes for a moment. He opens them and looks at Emily seriously.
“We’re not at the edge anymore.”
Emily’s eyes widen further, almost popping out. “Excuse me?”
“We got turned around during the chase. We’re now in the deep forest.” Nora replies, her face set in a serious expression.
Emily stares at Nora for a moment, shock on her face and her mouth hanging open. She shuts her mouth and looks away from Nora, contemplating.
“I… I see.”
Nora puts a reassuring hand on Emily’s shoulder.
“Hey. It’s okay. We’ll make it out of here.”
Emily pulls the egg closer to her, hugging it tightly. “But even the veterans avoid the deep forest. We’ve only been adventurers for two months…”
Nora squeezes Emily’s shoulder reassuringly. “Most veterans don’t have a wind mage with them. We just need to keep our heads cool, calm and level, move cautiously, and we’ll be out of here in no time.”
Emily takes a deep breath, and then nods. “Okay. I’ll try to stay calm…” she glances down at the egg in her arms, realizing what she’s been squeezing this whole time. She recoils from it slightly. “So what should we do with this thing?”
Alastair looks at it for a moment, then looks up at Emily, a grin on his face.
“How about we crack it open for dinner?”
Nora glares at Alastair. “No! You can’t eat a basilisk!”
Alastair looks at Nora, confused. “Why not?”
Nora sputters for a moment, caught off guard. “Because it’s a basilisk! What kind of idiot sees a basilisk egg and wants to eat it?”
Alastair crosses his arms, a frown on his face. “We can’t just leave it. That’s just another basilisk threatening the troops later on.”
Nora lifts her finger up, as if to protest, then pauses, the words stuck in her throat. She lowers her finger slightly, her head cocked to the side as she absorbs these words. She lowers her hand and shakes her head.
“Why was your first thought eating it and not just, I don’t know… Smashing it?”
“Because when else are we going to have the opportunity? Think of the bragging rights!”
The egg shifts suddenly in Emily’s arms, and she snaps her eyes downwards swiftly, seeing a small crack forming in its surface. “Um… Guys?”
“Bragging rights go to those who survive, Alastair. I’m pretty sure our chances of doing just that plummets significantly if we’re dealing with basilisk poison flowing through our bodies because we ate it!”
The egg shifts again, the crack widening as others join it. Emily watches on in mute horror as smaller cracks split off from the main one in a crosscross pattern, like lightning striking the surface in slow motion. “The egg’s hatching.” she says numbly.
Alastair smirks, pointing at Nora. “Hah! But that’s just it! It’s venom! It’s totally harmless if we–” he spins to look at Emily, concern on his face. “– Wait, you said what now?”
Alastair and Nora turn to look at the egg in Emily’s arms, their faces falling into a terrified rictus as they watch it shift and crack.
“Emily!” Alastair shouts, rushing towards her. “Get away from it!”
With a final, ear-creaking crack, the egg splits all the way open, spilling its contents out into Emily’s lap. The three stare down at it in shock, not a single person moving, not a single one knowing what to do.
Emily, her eyes never once having left the egg, watches as a small, mottled-feathered form writhes on her lap, taking its first deep breath of air. It lifts its head shakily, the length of its neck surprising her for a moment, seemingly too long and too delicate to be able to hold up its massive head and sharp-looking beak. Feeling strangely protective, Emily cups its head, supporting it and stabilizing it.
“I think… It hatched.” Emily says weakly.
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