In the dark, Adder listens.

Here in his quaint little cave, everything is amplified. It's a feature he quite likes. Despite being adept at detecting vibrations, he also depends on his ears when around those in danger of becoming petrified. Right now, there's no danger of that, but still, Adder enjoys listening to the sounds filling his home. It's early, too early to get up, so he takes a moment to catalog every sound he can identify.

Outside, he can hear the faint trilling of mockingbirds, crickets, and the gentle wind flowing through the forest. In the living room, Zarek snores, tossing and turning in his quilt.

"Adder, what are you doing?" Eben drowsily murmurs.

Adder lays back down in the blankets. "Nothing. Just listening."

"Everything okay?"

"Yes. go back to sleep. It's early."

"Mm. okay."

Adder smiles. With his ear to the ground, he can hear Eben's heartbeat especially well. It's always a comfort to have a constant reminder of his safety.

Merlyn's heartbeat was a little less comforting. Adder had only passing experience with children, so he'd never known how quick their heartbeats could be. At first, he'd feared Merlyn was unwell or afraid. Now, however, he's learned it's quite typical for little children.

Right now, even in her sleep, her little heart flutters fast. Adder reaches out, petting her head.

Eben hugs Merlyn tighter to his chest. "If you wake her, I will make snake leather boots. It's too damn early for her screeching."

Adder grins. "I thought I told you to go back to bed."

"Bandits sleep lightly. How am I supposed to fall asleep with all your tossing and turning?"

"I'm sorry. I'm restless."

Eben lazily pats Adder on the arm, snuggling into the furs. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"I know. You try to get some rest. I'm going to check on Zarek."

"'Kay."

Quiet as he can, Adder slithers away from their shared bedroom. Peeking an eye open as he enters the living room, he finds Zarek still fast asleep, the light of the early morning just starting to filter in.

Adder sneaks close, studying Zarek's face. Within a short span of weeks, he has made significant progress in his healing. The dark, snaking veins have begun to fade into a mottled blue-purple, and color has started to return to his cheeks, replacing the ashen gray. Even his smell is better. The stink of infection has slowly started to fade, replaced by the overpowering scent of herbs and medicines packed into his wound.

Still, they needed to stay sharp. Regular cleaning was still necessary.

He heads out the door, greeting the morning with open eyes. The garden seems in good shape today, flourishing with life and freshly weeded. The only issue as of late is that they have yet again depleted their store of medicinal herbs.

Normally, Eben would go into town to buy more, but Adder sees it as an opportunity for fresh air to gather what they need from the wilds. He heads away from home and into the forest, basket in hand. Venturing under the canopy isn't a wise choice for the average villager, but Adder holds no fear of the nocturnal monsters still wandering around in the early dawn. Besides perhaps harpies and chimeras, not many monsters are likely to attack a gorgon.

Just past the ancient stone walls surrounding his lands is the glass poppy field. Adder stops a moment, searching through the delicate flowers. He takes care to not bruise the translucent blue petals as he finds what he's looking for; a bulbous green seed pod. Just as he goes to snap it off, though, he feels vibration in the earth. Something is coming this way.

Ever cautious, Adder sinks into the flowers. With the dark of his scales aiding as perfect camouflage, the creature approaches the poppies none the wiser. Adder scents the air. It's a stag, grazing at the edge of the meadow.

Adder's first instinct is to let it pass without spotting him. It poses no threat to him, but his appearance would frighten it, no doubt. A second, more suppressed desire begins to bubble up in him, the instinct to kill and take this creature's life.

This isn't a new feeling. It doesn't take a genius to see gorgons were predators. As much as Adder loves his apple pie, he needs meat to survive. So it's not a surprise he has the urge to hunt and kill his prey, but it's a part of his biology he's always denied.

Helia's voice rings in his head: you're not an animal, Adder. You need to control yourself or they will judge you even more harshly.

As the stag comes closer, Adder's muscles tense. Energy builds up in every fiber, ready to spring forward at any moment. He thinks of the desert, of his ancestors. Did they also blunt their claws and grind down their fangs for the comfort of others? He doubts it. He doubts they presented themselves as anything but what they are. Monsters.

The wind changes direction. The poppies sway in the breeze, carrying his scent with it. The stag freezes, eyes widening, heart racing, front legs rearing back—but Adder knows its fear before it does.

Before it even gets a chance to see him fully, Adder has already pounced.

The stag screams as Adder wraps around it. Beast and monster fall to the ground with a violent tumble, hooves searching for a soft spot. However, the sharp keratin is met fruitlessly by the armor-like scales. They only get a few beats in before Adder is sinking long fangs into its neck. It struggles in vainly for a few more moments, but even its breaths are impeded as Adder crushes the air out inch by inch.

Finally, the stag stills. Adder opens his eyes to check his prey. Soft brown eyes stare back, unseeing.

There is no petrifying this creature. It's already dead.

A sudden snap of a nearby branch makes Adder startle. He coils around the carcass protectively, snarling ferally.

"Adder?"

Adder shuts his eyes immediately at the sound of Helia's voice. "Mother?"

"I'm, I'm over here."

Adder turns his head. Suddenly, he can sense the presence of Helia, just a few paces away from him. She saw everything.

Adder grimaces. He refuses to feel the shame she wants him to. "I didn't hear you over there."

"I was using a spell. There are monsters—other monsters out right now."

"I was hunting the deer, mother. Not you. There's no need to trip over your words."

"Well Giakora forbid an old woman startles when she sees her son jump from the brush, rolling on the ground like an—"

Helia's words cut off suddenly as Adder's growl echoes in the empty forest. He swallows it with some effort, turning away as he wipes the blood from his mouth. A pregnant pause takes its place, causing the silence to stretch between them.

Helia is the one to break it. "Are you and Eben faring well? If you are low on funds, I could bring you some."

"We're fine, Helia."

"Why are you out this early then, attacking deer?"

"Would you be bothered if it was Eben who had slain it with his bow?"

"I, I'm not bothered. I'm just worried for you."

"We want to head for Merlyn's flock soon. We need meat. Hunting is merely a convenience."

"I see. How did the spell go? Did you locate the flock? I was hoping you would send a letter, at least."

"Her flock is pinned against the Scaled Mountains. Near Frostfallow."

"What?! And you didn't think of telling me?"

"I didn't see why it matters. We are returning her to her kind, regardless."

"Adder, you cannot be serious. The elves—"

"Zarek's God will hide us."

"Adder, it's too dangerous. You can try next year when they come back. Perhaps they will nest somewhere else—"

"It was you who stressed the importance of returning Merlyn to her kind as soon as possible."

"Yes. I did. But I cannot allow you to endanger yourself like this."

"I think you forget I'm not your little snake anymore? I can make my own choices."

"You'll always be my son."

Adder is quiet. "Am I your son, or did you just get stuck with me?"

"Adder..."

Helia approaches. Adder smells the herbs she's been gathering in her basket. It's a comforting scent, one that reminds him of long days spent reading books in the study, drinking tea on a rainy day.

"Adder. I didn't tell you much about my life before you came. But I was...I was trying for children before you came."

"With who?"

"Sheppard. I loved him, Adder. I loved him, and I wanted to start a family with him."

"Why didn't you?"

Helia takes a deep breath. Adder can hear the grief in that motion, he can feel her steel her heart. "Elves rarely conceive with humans. Half-elves conceiving at all is—it's unheard of. Every time I was with child I...lost them. All of them died."

Sorrow creeps its way into Adder's heart. "They died before they were born?"

"Two died before. One of them, she—" Helia pauses, gathering herself for a moment, "she lived a day."

"So she was one-third elf?"

"Yes. She was perfect, Adder. She had little pointed ears, and hazel eyes just like Sheppard—" Helia's voice trembles as she speaks. "He couldn't accept it was his heritage to blame for her death. He did anything he could to pretend it was my fault. That's why I was outcast from the village. He said it was me who killed her by practicing magic."

"I'm sorry, Mother."

Helia speaks softly. "If I must be honest, there were nights I longed for that broken dream, even after everything. I longed for the man who never really existed and the daughter I never got to have. But Sheppard, in his foolishness, thought he could punish me more, punish me with you."

"With me?"

"I suppose he wanted it to be some cruel twist of fate. He could never give me a child, so he bound me to an infant gorgon to raise as his weapon," Helia reaches up, touching the pointed tip of Adder's ear. "He was a fool, such a fool, to think I could do anything but love you."

Adder considers her words for a moment. What would he have done, in her shoes? If Eben had turned out like Sheppard, would Adder have gone to such lengths to keep Merlyn safe?

Helia squeezes Adder's hand. "I just want to keep you safe, adder. You're my child, my only child. I couldn't bear to lose you."

"Then you understand why I need to return Merlyn to her people."

"Adder, please don't do this—"

Adder lets Helia go. "After she's home, I'm going to the Veiled Desert. I'm going to find my people too."

Helia steps back, gripping her basket with white knuckles. "You'll die out there."

"I won't."

"You're going to uproot Eben? After he's finally found a home of his own?"

"I won't make him come if he doesn't want to."

"You'd throw him away? You'd throw away your family for this!?"

Adder fiddles with the ring on his finger. "I need to know who I am. I am more than just your son. I am more than his mate."

"I will not support this idiotic choice. It is suicide."

"Fine."

Helia turns away, crushing poppies underfoot as she stalks back toward the village. Adder collects the stag, throws it over his shoulders, and heads back home. He didn't get the herbs he needed, but his mood has soured too much to enjoy the woods now.

Eben greets him at the door to the cave, eyes wide as he observes the massive stag limply hanging from his fiance's arms. "Gods! I wake up expecting you to bring back chicken eggs and you bring me a beast instead!"

"I was looking for herbs. I got sidetracked."

"Is that blood on you? Did you take it down with your bare hands?"

Adder flushes. "I didn't think to bring a weapon. I just relied on my instinct."

"Oh, Gods, do you ever stop being so alluring?"

"Alluring?"

"Remind me to go on your next damned crack-of-dawn excursion. I want to see you in action."

"Eben, you're ridiculous."

"How is it ridiculous? Damn, this is doing something to me, imagining you going feral. Merlyn is asleep still. We could go to the study. Fuck, the things I've been thinking of—"

"Good morning! I awoke a few moments ago!" Zarek nearly shouts.

"Damn," Eben grumbles.

Adder laughs.