The next morning, Malcor knelt before the altar flame of the tribe, his daughter, Lyra, stood a few steps behind him, her hands clenched into fists.
She didn't look like the weak woman who stood innocently in front of Roxy; she had a ferocious look on her face. She was two-faced.
"She changes everything," Lyra hissed. "The king barely looks at anyone else. He's forgotten the dragon laws, Father. A new species unknown to anyone cannot bear the next heir, so how was she able to do it?"
She was filled with jealousy and loathing, and if she could have it her way, she would have killed Roxy.
But it couldn't happen when Zarek was perched so closely to Roxy as if she were some treasure he kept in his cave.
Malcor didn't answer right away.
He had watched their tribe bed toward the female ever since the King's return. He didn't like it one bit. The tribe had been calling her Queen Mother; The guards were even bowing to her. The honor that was meant to belong to his daughter.
Even the skies above the valley shone brightly, as though the heavens themselves blessed her.
This was a strange occurrence, and he believed it was a bad omen. He didn't believe that she could heal their curse and solve their fertility issues when the gods didn't answer them when they prayed.
"We must contain her," Malcor said at last.
Lyra's lips curved into a bitter smile. "Contained? She's building farms and teaching cooking like some saint. The females adore her.
"Then make them remember who they serve," her father murmured. "The Dragon Clan has one ruler, and he is not her."
Lyra smiled, finally thinking of what to do, and quickly left the cave.
*****
Far beyond the dragon territory, the ripples of a stranger getting pregnant reached other beast realms.
It piqued their curiosity, and the wolves were the first to notice it.
Alpha Kael of the Northern Frost Pack stood atop a cliff, eyes narrowed at the messenger kneeling before him. "A female? With a child?" His voice was rough with disbelief, "And the father is the Dragon King himself?"
He found it absurd. The slimy scaly dragon was actually blessed with a child before him?
"Yes, my lord. The scouts perched around their caves confirm it. And the readings from the sky did say it too."
Kael's claws flexed.
The curse that had plagued every beast clan for centuries might finally be broken. If one woman could do that for dragons... what if she could do the same for others?
"Send scouts," Kael ordered. "Quietly. If this is true, she may not remain with the dragons for long."
Across the beast world, the Foxes reached the same conclusion. The Phoenix, the Tigers, and even the deep ocean where the merman slept. The word spread far and wide.
A single fertile female had undone what the gods themselves could not.
Curiosity turned into desire. Desire turned into plans. And while the world stirred, Roxy kept trying to build the Dragon land into a fertile, rich land.
***
The problem with miracles is that they are bright. They shine. And in a world starved of hope, a shining light doesn't just attract admiration.
It attracts moths.
And in the Beast world, the moths were six-foot-tall predators.
Roxy stood in the middle of her rich land of potatoes, wiping sweat from her brow. It had been a month since the first sprout appeared. The volcanic soil, combined with the system-enhanced seeds, had produced a crop that defied logic.
Rows of leafy potato plants stretched across the valley floor. The wheat was already knee-high, and even the bean sprouts were beginning to show.
It was growing all too fast that she could not believe her eyes.
[TheWorldBuildingGod scoffs, saying that you should have trusted him from the start]
Roxy stared at the screen in contempt. It was not too long before these pests started showing themselves to her. First, it was the WorldSaint, then the FinancialDefender, and now the WorldBuildingGod.
If one more god speaks over this cursed system, I am going to end my life right now!
They were like real players talking to her, and they were pissing her off every time they appeared in her face.
She ignored the pop-up.
"It's beautiful, my Queen," Lyra said, walking beside her. The dragon female had filled out. Her scales had become shinier, her eyes brighter. She was no longer skin and bones and turned out to be very beautiful, a powerful contender with her shimmering red hair.
She was carrying a basket of harvest, radishes which were massive, spicy red globes the size of apples.
"It's dinner, Lyra!" Roxy grinned, patting her own growing belly. "How's the irrigation trench coming along?"
Lyra puffed her chest and reported proudly, "The females are digging it now, we have..."
She stopped mid-sentence when an explosion sent the ground shaking. Lyra's eyes turned to narrowing slits standing in front of Roxy protectively.
Roxy also moved her whole body behind Lyra. "Lyra? What is it? Why was there an explosion?"
"Intruder." Lyra spat out in anger.
Before Roxy could ask who, the sky darkened, and a massive shadow swept over the valley floor, blotting out the sun. Roxy looked up just in time to see Zarek in his dragon form.
"Zarek!" Roxy shouted, trying to call him back.
What was that massive dragon thinking....
He ignored her, and he crashed into the ridge overlooking the valley, the impact shaking the ground so hard that Roxy stumbled only to be caught by Lyra.
When Roxy squinted her eyes to look over, she found a leaner beast, in fur, crouched on all fours, before shifting smoothly onto two legs.
It was a wolf.
[TheGodofSuspense shines his eyes with curiosity.]
fucking stop it!
Roxy rolled her eyes, waving at the screen to disperse, so she could focus, but it won't just disappear, so she let it be.
"You dare look upon my tribe?" Zarek roared, the sound booming like thunder, and Roxy visibly shivered.
She gulped.
The wolf scout didn't attack. He raised his hands, holding a bundle wrapped in leaves. "I bear a message from the Pack! The Alpha King seeks–"
He never got the chance to finish his sentence.
Zarek didn't care about it. He cared that another male was within sniffing distance of his pregnant mate.
Zarek lunged, swiped a claw hand, and the wolf scout was flung backward, crashing into the rocks that tumbled over him. The bundle he was holding flew into the air, scattering its contents in the dirt.
Roxy looked over, and her eyes widened.
Damn it, this overgrown lizard was going to kill him.
"Zarek, baby!" She tried shouting but was ignored. He didn't stop. He opened his mouth, and fire burst forth, incinerating the wolf scout's body before it even hit the ground.
Roxy stood frozen in the potato field, her mouth hanging open.
"Did he just..." Roxy pointed a shaky hand at the ridge. "Did he just vaporize the mailman?"