The many long days of travel had worn on them both. For her, it had been physically harrowing with the ever-growing weight in her rounded stomach. The terrain they had encountered had been trying for her, to say the least, and though it was little challenge for him, he grew tired with worry as he fussed over her health. He had a family now and though their objective was to reach the territory of her herd, his main concern was her safety.

"How are you feeling, dear?" His soothing voice interrupted the rhythm of their footfalls on the dense soil. Washed-out moonlight reflected dimly off his pale feathers as he lifted his wing to tenderly embrace her swollen midsection. He reached out to gently nudge her belly with his muzzle, only to feel the firm thump of a kick retaliate from within her body. It was then that she froze in her tracks, her whole body tensing in pain as stones and pebbles around them rose from the mossy floor to hover suspended in the cool night air.

Immediately he begun to panic. What was happening to her? Why had the forest floor suddenly come alive around them? How on earth were those rocks floating at shoulder height above the ground? "Chernobyl?!" He rushed to her head in a flurry of white feathers, deciding the stones were the least of his worries for now. "Are you ok?" He wasn't ready for this. Neither of them were quite ready for this. They were supposed to reach the safety of her herd first!

Finally, the child emerged.

After what seemed like a lifetime of fussing over Chernobyl as she lay straining on the damp ground, their son had arrived. Its body was dark and slick and mottled in places with what appeared to be scales. Tiny wings were tucked in against its body with feathers of iridescent green and black above pure white. Nearly immediately, she is up once more and leaning over the tiny colt to clean his damp body. He struggles to stand, too, wobbling about on long and thin legs as his mother fussed over him.

Taking his eyes off the child for a moment, he stepped over to Chernobyl's shoulder. Her heaving sides were damp with sweat and she trembled ever so slightly. Tenderly he stretched a wing around her, holding her close to his chest, and resting his muzzle against her cheek. "He is so beautiful," he whispered softly to her, "What name shall we give to him?"

He could not quite believe that this small creature was his son. It was a part of them both. A beautiful and magical collaboration. The only thing he couldn't quite place were the large, orb-like eyes of bright green. He almost resembled a gecko or lizard of sorts, much like the tiny reptiles he used to chase across the rocks when he was a child. It did not matter though. Their child was here and his heart was swollen with love for his new family.



"talk talk talk"