It was the work of several hours, but eventually our group caught up with the swarm. I hadn’t realized that we would need to cross a river to proceed in the direction we were, but eventually we did just about an hour before we caught up with the rest of the swarm. It wasn’t too deep, but quite wide, and the opposite bank began a steady slope upwards, not to a mountain, but a steep hill.

They were moving at a good clip, almost a slow jog, and they had obviously found several other caches of prey left behind for the swarm’s consumption, since they were even more heavily burdened, even with the continuous snacking from the carriers (which was everyone).

Looking around, the jungle still looked the same as from where we had come from, but the swarm… was exhausted. The less evolved members were only just able to continue plodding along while carrying pitifully small loads of meat while even the khatif-level members were obviously struggling to keep a quick pace. The spawnlings were, without exception, being carried by an adult keelish while sleeping. Sybil was carrying both the girls, one in each arm, with a tender look on her face while Illne was on Took’s back, his head lolling backwards.

With a chuckle I stepped forward and gently pushed Illne’s head to rest on Took’s shoulder instead before I approached Sybil. She looked over at me, exhaustion present in her bearing but hidden as best as she could manage, and a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes, “You’re ok. That’s good… What’s the plan for now?”

I gently flicked my tail out and patted her back, “It’s time to rest. We’ll be fine for the night.” Then I called out, “Everyone, rest. We have several hours to sleep, and you all deserve rest.” I looked for Foire, couldn’t find him, and so looked to Durgal. “How easily can you get in contact with the rest of the scouting parties?”

He shrugged. “Not too hard, we have calls that will bring them in.”

“Good. Then bring them in, station the bare minimum behind us between us and the humans, then get some rest. Actually, take volunteers for watch, say that they won’t have to carry anything tomorrow and are guaranteed the full sleeping time tomorrow. If that isn’t enough, assign just enough to have a stable watch.”

“You underestimate what the scouts think of you. What should I do if there are too many volunteers?

“... After today? There won’t be.”

“Alpha, again, you underestimate what the scouts think of you. You’ve been out just like the rest of them today, so they know you understand their job. I know that my entire pack will want to be a part of anything you ask, after they saw what you did tonight.”

“Send back any extras if there’s too many, then.

Durgal nodded, “Be back soon, Alpha.”

As he jogged off, exhaustion apparent in his gait, I couldn’t help but wonder–was he telling the truth? Was I already inspiring these followers of mine this much? I thought about it as I settled down onto the ground, and suddenly the exhaustion hit me. I’d been rushing and running for most of the day and night, and I was absolutely drained.

Without any fanfare, the swarm quickly fell into silence, falling asleep wherever they laid. I approached the collapsed, softly snoring form of Sybil, Ishtar and Isnanna still in her arms. A grin crossed my face, thinking of how Sybil had changed in so little time, before Took walked up to me with Iituli and handed him over.

He was growing quickly, as all spawnlings did, but with my disproportionate strength I’d dragged nearly 550kg of deer carcass about two miles to the swarm’s camp, so his weight was negligible. Iituli always acted as adultlike as possible, with a veneer of cold detachment, but while asleep he nuzzled deeper into my embrace and mumbled something unintelligible.The smile cracking my face grew wider as I laid down with Ishtar between Sybil and myself and Iituli to the other side. Before I realized it, I was asleep.

…

“Why did Father choose you?”

“Well, Mother carried you two all night and then slept with you! It was only fair!”

“We’re her favorites, so of course she carried us! And you’re too heavy!”

“Yeah, we’re more like her than you, you thickheaded moron! Plus she’s more affectionate than Father since he’s busy!”

“But I’m more like Father, so that’s why he chose me!”

“Don’t make me come over there and rip that tongue from your head!”

A whisper, “Ishtar, keep your head, we’re winning!”

I woke to a whispered argument. The suns were gently filtering through the trees on the horizon, and I slowly took in whatever was happening around me. Iituli had his head poking over my torso, and I was laying on my side facing him. Behind me I heard Ishtar and Isnanna’s voices, and when I decided to roll over, startling all three, I saw the twins pointing at their brother with accusation and anger glowering from their eyes.

Isnanna was the first to recover, bowing her head for a brief moment. “Alpha. Good morning.”

Ishtar, then Iituli followed suit, all three calling me Alpha.

“So, what’s going on here?”

Isnanna was, again, the quickest to speak. “Well, lord Alpha–” I interjected.

“You all should continue calling me Father. It is what I am, isn’t it?”

“But you also are our swarm’s Alpha, and you deserve respect.”

I sighed. “I am that too. But I like being called Father, so indulge me on this. Regardless, your point was?”

“... Yes… Father… This morning Ishtar and myself woke to find our esteemed older brother in your embrace. We felt it was an injustice that had been brought to pass in our vicinity and thus sought to rectify the wrongdoing brought about by the unequal treatment received among your three spawnlings. Our esteemed brother, when confronted by the facts, simply replied ‘it’s because I’m the most worthy!’! Can you believe that? Your son attempted to unilaterally place himself above us simply because–”

“I did not! You’re twisting my words!”

“No, she’s right! You were so smug about it too!”

“Spawnlings.” My voice rumbled, interrupting the bickering siblings. They immediately fell silent. “I need you to listen. I am father to ALL three of you equally. There is no preference I wish to show to or for any of you. In this case, it simply was that you two and Sy… your mother,” the words felt foreign coming from my tongue, “were already asleep quite comfortably while Took was looking for a place to set your brother. I felt envious of the position you were in and took it upon myself to enter a similar rest with my son. If you so desire, tonight we all can change positions to better satisfy your desires of which of us you can sleep next to. Would that work?”

A tense truce was brought about as all three looked between their siblings, then, as one, “Yes.”

“Now, let me say again. I welcome competition among you. Grow strong, powerful. Become members of the swarm that deserve high ranks. However, do not plot against each other. Do not tear each other down. You may entertain petty fights, but when something threatens you, I want nothing more than for you to rally together to protect yourselves against an outside threat.”

Iituli glared at his sisters before nodding, but the twins quickly agreed. I began to sit up, ready to begin the day, when a thought crossed my mind.

“Isnanna, where did you learn all those words?”

A shrug. “I never stop listening, Father.”

A beat of silence. Contrary to initial impressions, I had a sneaking suspicion that this one was going to be the most trouble of all three of these my children.