Chapter 14: Egg Hatching

Arvad's mother had gone mad due to the agony and grief, knowing her son could never do such things. Just before spring started, she disappeared, leaving her four male spouses and their eggs without a trace. The four males pleaded with my father to help them find their female spouse, so my father instructed half of the male tribesmen to search for the missing female. It had already been two weeks since they diligently searched for the missing female, but they couldn't find her or any clue as to her location, as if she had vanished into thin air.

A few weeks passed, so my father tried to visit all the nearby tribes to inquire about the missing female but still failed to find a clue. They also tried to find Arvad, thinking he would know the location of his mother, but it was already too late when they found him deep in the forest with huge wounds from a beast attack. He had already passed away two days before he was found. They never found the female. The male spouses decided to move out of the tribe and continue searching on their own.

A few months later, it had already passed spring and the eggs had failed to hatch, so the elder tribesmen brought them to the elder healer from the incubation room. The eggs were the abandoned eggs left by Arvad's family. My father performed the forced incubation as carefully as he could on the eggs while I watched on the side, fascinated by the sight.

Male eggs were normally smaller since they hatch in their aggressive forms, but there were times when a female egg was similar in size to a male egg due to malnutrition or stress on their mother during the egg-bearing process. The four eggs were the same size, but there was no assurance that the eggs were all males.

While my father performed the forced incubation, I could see the nervousness on his face, though it was not his first time doing so. I wanted to ask him why he was nervous, but I didn't want to disturb him and cause problems during the incubation procedure.

A few cracks appeared on the eggs while my father performed the forced incubation. The cracks got bigger after a few more minutes, until the eggs had a small opening. The elder healer then carefully helped the hatchlings break from their shells.

The process was nerve-racking. Even though I was just watching quietly on the side, I could also feel the pressure my father and the elder healer felt.

The eggs hatched one after another. The hatchlings were too weak. There was no assurance that they could survive the aftermath of the forced incubation. One of the hatchlings was a female, but her condition was worse than her brothers'.

"Woah, they hatched!" I exclaimed as I saw the eggs hatch one after another.

My father patted my head as he smiled sweetly at me, though traces of exhaustion could be seen on his face due to the energy transfer. He was gasping for air and sweating a lot.

I rushed to the kitchen to get some water and gave it to my father, then handed over a handkerchief I made from the cotton threads we had previously made.

He smiled at me, then pulled me closer and hugged me as he rested his head on my shoulder lightly.

"How did my little hatchling become this big in such a short time?" my father sighed. "Is it because I was always busy, so I didn't realize you've grown a lot these few days?"

"Father..." I muttered as I tried to pat his head with my tiny hand.

"Alas, time sure flies too fast; it was just like yesterday when you hatched like them all on your own, and you didn't even wait for your father, me, at that time and hatched on your own—I wasn't even able to see how you broke out of your shell," he continued as he seemed to be reminiscing about the moment when he found me in the incubation room.

Yeah, what a sight it must have been to see a newly born female baby Lioness with a pair of wings! They all double-checked my gender at that time, not minding my embarrassment as they looked at my naked baby body. Oh, my dark past!

The elder healer called for the other female elders to help her with nursing the newly hatched hatchlings.

After the hatchlings were fed, the elders placed them all on the wooden bed with a soft furry pelt as a mattress. I looked at the male hatchlings, and they all looked like a bigger version of a newborn cat in my previous life. They were all so cute. I wanted to pet them, but they looked so frail, and I was not sure if my condition would be triggered.

The female hatchling was already in a dire condition, but we cannot do anything about it. She wasn't even able to feed properly, and she kept vomiting the milk fed to her.

They bathe the hatchlings carefully. However, their condition began to worsen as they all began to vomit blood.

I was asked to go out of the patient's room with my father because they knew that I would be traumatized by the sight, even though they knew I was learning medicine with the elder healer's guide. For them, I was still too young to see such a sight.

I felt pity for the hatchlings. So, I prayed to the beastman goddess in front of the altar and waited for news while my father went to do his duties as usual.

The hatchlings died one after another due to many complications, including the female one. Only one of the hatchlings was able to survive, but he was still in a dire condition.

I went to see the remaining hatchling. He looked so cute despite his condition. I patted his head, then saw a dim light escaping from my hand toward the hatchling. I thought it was just an illusion. At that time, I didn't wear my gloves because they weren't sanitized, and the hatchling might catch an infection from the gloves. I washed my hands thoroughly before trying to lightly pat his head while checking if my condition would be triggered. Luckily, it didn't.