I walked over to the crab shell where Munch was still snoring.
She was curled up inside, belly rising and falling with each breath, one stubby claw twitching like she was chasing something in her dreams. A tiny bubble of drool hung from the corner of her mouth.
*Classic Munch.*
I crouched down and held the shrimp head in front of her snout.
Her nose twitched first — always the nose. Then her jaws opened wide and *chomped* down on the shrimp head with zero hesitation.
*Crunch crunch crunch.*
I watched her chew, then pulled the shrimp head away. She grumbled in her sleep, reached out with one paw, and grabbed my claw instead.
"Hey. Wake up."
She opened one eye. Then the other.
*"Mrah~?"*
"Time to hunt."
*"Mrah~!"*
She shot to her feet like a spring uncoiling, all four paws skidding on the stone. Her white pupils snapped into focus, and she puffed out her round chest with the enthusiasm of someone who'd just been told there was unlimited buffet.
*"Mrah mrah~!"*
I understood that one. She was ready.
"Good. But first — all the magic cores from this hunt go to me."
*"Mrah..."*
She deflated slightly, her chest sagging.
"What? You don't want to?"
*"Mrah~!"*
Her head shook side to side so hard her whole body wobbled.
"Good girl."
I grinned. Not that it mattered — the cores were always mine. That had been settled since Arc 2. But it was nice to see her accept it with such grace.
*Or maybe she just doesn't understand the concept of negotiation.*
Either way, efficient.
I led her to the water's edge where the other hatchlings were already gathering. The pool had cleared overnight, the murky sediment settling back to the bottom.
Ferra was already there, her crimson scales gleaming in the bioluminescent light. She gave me a look — the kind of look that said *I'm only here because Vesperra told me to be.*
I ignored her. She could sulk all she wanted. As long as she showed up when it mattered, the attitude was irrelevant.
Nyx was perched on a rock nearby, her black scales absorbing the light rather than reflecting it. She watched everything with those quiet, observant eyes. The kind of eyes that missed nothing but said even less.
The other hatchlings were scattered around the pool's edge, some grooming their scales, others dozing in the warm cave air. They looked relaxed. Confident. Like they'd done this a hundred times before.
They hadn't.
Time to go fishing.
I closed my eyes and let the Spell Circle form in front of me. Green light spilled out as Sense Vines erupted from the stone, plunging into the water.
I switched my vision to the leading vine.
*Underwater.*
The pool floor was carpeted with a thin layer of red — old blood from previous hunts. Food scraps littered the bottom, and tiny fish darted between the debris, too small to be worth anyone's attention.
I sent the main vine deeper, past the pool and into the channel mouth. Two more vines branched off, heading toward the underwater cliff.
At twenty meters, small fish appeared.
At fifty meters, two-meter Kelpfang cruised in lazy schools.
Just as I'd expected — the underground river was loaded. Enough prey to keep our entire hatchling colony fat and happy through the juvenile stage.
But I wasn't here for Kelpfang.
The vine kept descending. Seventy meters. Eighty. A hundred and fifty.
The bottom.
Mud. Darkness. And then — movement.
*Xelira.*
Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. The small ones — barely a meter long — made up eighty percent of the mass. They were clustered together in tight schools, their bodies shimmering with a faint bioluminescent glow.
*Breeding season.*
They were spawning.
I withdrew the vine before disturbing them. Let them raise their young. We'd come back for them later.
The vine rose back up. Halfway to the surface, the view went dark.
*Kelpfang.* A whole school of them, hunting the Xelira.
Perfect.
I opened my eyes and grinned.
*Found you.*
One of the Sense Vines extended to the channel mouth, its eyeball rotating to scan the thorn vine spike hanging on the wall. The vine slammed into the spike, puncturing its own eyeball. Green fluid leaked out, diluting in the water.
The blinded vine retreated, pulling back toward the pool like it was fleeing.
The Kelpfang took the bait.
Twenty of them surged into the channel, mouths wide, chasing the retreating vine.
Vesperra was waiting at the channel mouth. She watched the Kelpfang pour in with the expression of a bouncer who'd just been told "free drinks for everyone."
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Same recipe. Same flavor. Just fewer fish this time.
I opened my eyes. The pool was already churning with Kelpfang activity.
The other hatchlings were staring at me with those big, expectant eyes.
"Alright. Go."
*Splash!*
Vesperra hit the water first, taking her position as the gatekeeper. The others followed, diving in one by one.
Ferra was about to jump in when I grabbed her tail.
She turned, crimson pupils narrowing. The look said: *What do you want?*
I pointed at the stone pot setup on the bank.
"Borrow some fire."
Ferra didn't waste time with words. She opened her jaws and—
*FWOOOSH.*
Crimson flame erupted from her maw, slamming into the stone pot. The water inside began to boil instantly.
The stone pot, however, launched three meters into the air.
*My pot!*
I sprinted after it, claws scrabbling on the stone. The pot tumbled end over end, bouncing toward the river. I dove, catching it just before it rolled into the current.
Checked it for damage. A few scratches. Nothing critical.
*The rice-cooking vessel survives another day.*
Ferra was already in the water, having launched herself off the bank the moment her flames finished. No apology. No acknowledgment. Just *fire and go.*
*Outsourcing combustion to the only enterprise-grade gas line in the cave. And I don't even get a discount.*
I carried the pot back to the stove. The fire was still raging — Ferra's breath didn't mess around. I set the pot back on the stones and waited for the water to boil.
The other hatchlings were still in the water, tearing through the Kelpfang school with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Vesperra led the charge, her crimson form a blur of motion as she herded the fish toward the channel mouth. Ferra flanked from the side, her raw power compensating for her lack of finesse — a three-meter Kelpfang clamped onto her tail and she simply *spun,* slamming the fish against the channel wall with enough force to crack stone.
*Brute force is also a valid engineering solution.*
It was almost beautiful to watch. Almost.
A five-meter Kelpfang corpse flew out of the channel and landed next to me with a wet *thud.* Head crushed. Vesperra's work.
*Good girl.*
Another one landed nearby. Then another. The pile was growing. Loa — the quiet green hatchling who'd been hiding behind a rock since the hunt started — finally crept into the water and clamped her jaws onto a stray Kelpfang that had wandered too close to the bank. She dragged it out with a determined wiggle, her whole body trembling with the effort.
*There she goes. Employee of the month.*
Now for the guest.
I tapped the surface of the boiling water with one claw. The water rose in a spiral, forming a transparent ring in the air. My claw traced blue spell patterns into the ring, each sigil flowing from instinct rather than thought.
One-ring spell: *Water Blade Strike Inscription.*
The Spell Circle glowed blue. Then something unexpected happened.
Additional patterns appeared on the surface — not mine. A message.
*"Hello~! Mighty dragon! Would you like to contract a water fairy? Nixie is a very powerful water fairy, super capable!"*
I could feel the energy radiating off those words. Pure, unfiltered enthusiasm.
I tapped the center of the Spell Circle.
A small head popped up. Then a body. Then two pairs of translucent blue wings.
A water fairy, no bigger than my thumb, stood on the Spell Circle with her hands on her hips, beaming up at me.
"You have great taste! Choosing Nixie means choosing success!"
Then she looked down.
"AAAAH! Why is the water so HOT!"
She started hopping from foot to foot, her tiny face scrunching up in pain. Her feet were bright red.
I pointed at the boiling pot beneath the Spell Circle.
"AAAAH! You used a POT to summon Nixie?! You big dummy!"
She launched herself off the Spell Circle, wings fluttering frantically as she hovered at eye level, glaring at me with tears in her eyes.
*...I think I summoned an idiot.*
I extended my claw. Green light pooled in my palm — concentrated life magic. The fairy hesitated, then landed in my claw, her burned feet sinking into the glowing liquid.
The red faded. Her feet returned to their normal translucent blue.
Her face softened.
"Sorry. First time summoning."
"Hmph! I forgive you!" She beamed, the anger vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. "What's your name, dragon?"
"Syl. Call me Syl."
"Great name! I'm Nixie. Call me Nixie!"
"Alright, Nixie."
Her blue eyes sparkled. "So, Syl, let's sign the contract!"
There it was. That eager, innocent look. The kind of look that said she'd never been scammed before.
I leaned in close, activating my best *sincere* expression.
"Nixie, I think we should get to know each other first."
"Get to know each other?"
"Yeah. We're both long-lived, right? A contract is forever. You don't even know me yet."
She tilted her head. "I... suppose that's true."
"I think we should have a meal together first. Get to know each other. Then, maybe, we can start as friends."
*Friends.*
The word landed like a charm. Her eyes went soft, and she nodded eagerly.
"Okay! I'll listen to you, Syl!"
*Too easy.*
I dropped a piece of fish into the boiling pot. It turned white almost instantly.
"Want to try some?"
"Yes!"
I fished out a piece and blew on it. "Raw's fresher. Cooked's softer. Which do you want?"
"I've never eaten before. What's the difference?"
I glanced at her tiny legs, still swinging over my claw. The burns were completely gone.
"Let's go cooked, then."
I waited until the fish was fully white, then placed it in front of her. She took a tiny bite, chewed carefully, and swallowed.
"...It doesn't have much flavor."
She looked up at me, worried.
I grinned. "No spices yet. When we leave this cave, I'll cook you something better."
"Okay!" She nodded, her smile returning.
I finished the fish in a few bites. Then grabbed another and started eating raw — no point cooking without seasoning.
Nixie fluttered up and perched on my head, her tiny legs dangling over my scales.
When I was about eighty percent full, I stopped.
"Done?" Nixie asked.
"Yeah." I burped. "Full."
"So we've had a meal together now, right? Can we sign the contract?"
*Here we go.*
"Not yet."
"Huh? Not yet?"
"Nope. Definitely not yet." I shook my head. "Nixie, do you like me?"
Her face went pink. "I... I like you!"
*Zero to a hundred. These fairies really are blank slates.*
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes!"
"Then trust me when I say the first meal should count. That fish didn't count — you didn't even like it."
She deflated. "Oh... I guess you're right."
"I'll make you something you'll love next time. Promise."
"Okay... next time, then."
She sounded disappointed, but she was already fluttering around my head again, chirping about how capable she was.
*Handle complete.*
I looked up at the sky — well, the cave ceiling. Hard to tell time down here, but my internal clock said we'd been at this for a few hours. The hunt was going well.
The channel erupted with activity. Hatchlings dragged Kelpfang corpses onto the bank, one after another. The pile grew into a small mountain, the air thick with the smell of blood.
Vesperra walked over, her scales slick with river water. She glanced at Nixie perched on my head, then dismissed the fairy with a single look.
Nixie puffed up her chest. "What? Don't I look cute up here?"
Vesperra didn't answer. She never did.
"Hunt's done. Is this enough?" Vesperra asked, nodding at the pile of Kelpfang.
I scanned the pile. Twenty-three Kelpfang. More than enough for the array framework.
"Should be. If not, we'll hunt more."
"Good. I'm going to eat."
She turned and joined the feeding frenzy.
The hatchlings devoured the Kelpfang with the enthusiasm of a colony that hadn't eaten in a week. Bones and magic cores were all that remained.
Twenty-three white cores. I collected them all, stacking them neatly in a pile. The hatchlings watched with varying expressions — some resigned, some envious, most just too full to care.
*Corporate resource allocation at its finest.*
Then the hatchlings collapsed, bellies distended, unwilling to move. Munch was already snoring, her round belly rising and falling with each breath. Ferra was grooming a scratch on her flank, her movements slow and deliberate. Nyx was perched on her rock again, eyes half-lidded.
Classic juvenile dragon post-meal behavior.
I found a crab shell and lay down in it, conserving energy. Nixie fluttered down and perched on the edge, her tiny legs dangling over the side.
"You're not eating?" she asked.
"Later. I need to rest first."
"Oh! Are you going to do the big magic thing tomorrow?"
"Something like that."
"I can help! I'm very capable, you know."
I smiled. "I know, Nixie. I know."
She beamed, then settled down on the crab shell's edge, her wings folding neatly behind her.
I closed my eyes. The cave ceiling was invisible in the dark, but I could feel the weight of the stone above us — hundreds of meters of rock and river and time. Down here, in this pocket of warmth and bioluminescent glow, our little colony had carved out something that almost felt like home.
Almost.
Tomorrow was the array. Tomorrow was the Mindkraken. Tomorrow was everything riding on whether a green dragon who'd spent his previous life debugging spreadsheets could actually pull off four-ring spell engineering with fish bones and stolen fire.
*No pressure.*
Nixie was already humming something — a tiny, wordless melody that sounded like water dripping into a still pool. It was surprisingly soothing.
*Maybe having a fairy around won't be so bad.*
Then she sneezed. A tiny blue spark popped out of her nose and landed on my scale.
*...On second thought.*
I let the thought drift away and focused on the rhythm of my own breathing. In, out. In, out. The Spell Circle for the Water Serpent Binding Array was fully mapped in my head — every sigil, every flow path, every junction point. All I needed was the materials and the opening.
*Big day tomorrow.*