The new [Quest] itself wasn’t especially concerning, but that it was a repeat had my intuition sparking at the back of my mind. I wanted to get into asking the [System] about it in-depth, but I couldn’t shunt the entirety of acclimatization to my inner circle, as much as I would have liked to. Therefore, I walked around, listening to conversations and generally looking menacing while trying to learn however much I could about these new members of my swarm.

It was reassuring to once again have the swarm be a swarm, and also to have a solid core at the center that was made up of those that had gone through the escape with me. I still didn’t trust Shemira to be a confidant of mine, but now I didn’t feel the pressing need to actively subvert all actions she took. Instead, I could see her walking around the newest members of the swarm, introducing herself and pushing them to follow the directives given by the head leaders of the swarm, and it didn’t fill me with immediate anxiety. Of course, Sybil’s intelligence squad would need to be redeveloped to reestablish the amazingly effective propaganda system from before, but that could be done while we traveled. According to Mpitar, we had ten days’ journey ahead of us, plenty of time.

There was, apparently, a newly hatched clutch of spawnlings, less than a week old. A brief flash of remembrance, thinking of the small spawnlings of my original swarm when we’d been forced to flee our den about three months before. Now that I thought of it, autumn was beginning, and I wasn’t sure how that would impact our ability to travel moving forward. We had a long journey still ahead of us, and I wasn’t sure how exactly that would need to change as the weather became less temperate. Fortunately, we were going north, so the winter wouldn’t be as extreme as in the frigid southern regions, but there would still be issues that were sure to arise.

I shook myself, trying to focus my still-addled mind on the task at hand. My mind wandered much more easily after the effects of Farahlia’s magic, even though I was able to shake off the most potent effects on me. I called to Iituli, Ishtar, and Isnanna, the was quickly able to convince one of the new swarm to take me down to the spawnlings’ den.

The den reeked of rutting in a way that almost made me gag–these keelish weren’t attempting to produce offspring, but simply indulging in each other at every opportunity that presented itself. It was off-putting, this foreignness of this new swarm.

The spawnlings sat in a secluded offshoot of the main tunnel. They seemed to be having some sort of a conference among themselves in hushed whispers.

“... adults don’t understand that…”

“... but the Alpha isn’t a fighter…”

“... I heard it’s a male…” Hushed squeaks of barely contained terror arose among the spawnlings at that. Then, suddenly, there was a squeaking call and the collective group of spawnlings whirled around to face me and my children as we entered.

“Spawnlings. I’m the new Alpha of this swarm, and some things are going to change now.”

At my words, one of the spawnlings, larger than the rest, so presumably their Alpha, stepped forward.

“Cut to the chase. Are you going to let any of us live?” He was stocky, well built, and obviously respected by his subordinates, but I was confused by his words.

“... Why would I kill you?”

“So we don’t get in the way of whatever spawnlings you’re able to rut into being by your latest conquest. You’re surprisingly in control of yourself, not to be rutting Mother right now.” His words dripped with acidic certainty and a deliberately provocative tone, especially on the word Mother.

“You can become my second in command if you’re capable of actually surpassing my children here.” I nodded at the triplets, and they came forward proudly, Iituli in particular sneering down his nose at the inferior keelish. “Additionally, you misunderstand: these three here will become your new Alphas. They work well together, and, frankly, seeing this swarm, I doubt you all are currently at a satisfactory level for me. So, they’ll work on getting you all up to the level of our original swarm.” Finally, I couldn’t help but ask, “Have there been slaughters of spawnlings here?”

The male looked at me, at least as confused as I was. “Of course? Whenever some new male ‘conquers’ Mother, thinking that he’s the new ‘real’ Alpha, there’s always a culling of the surviving spawnlings that aren’t his own. Adults are stupid, think with their dicks.”

I was half infuriated, half holding back laughter at the matter of fact tone. After just a moment’s thought, I turned to my children. “I trust you three to work together. You know what you’re best at, so do it. I would love to see them nearing your level in a month or two. Clear?”

All three nodded, Iituli’s eyes seeming to glow with flames, Ishtar assuming a battle-ready stance, and Isnanna’s head cocking to the side, facing a new challenge. “Need me to send any of your pack down here?”

The three looked at each other, then in unison, “Send them all.”

I grinned, wolfishly. “Good choice.” The spawnlings looked around, confused at the turn of events, but I simply called out as I walked away, “Now, spawnlings, I wish you luck! You’ll need it.”