I woke up in an unfamiliar cave, surrounded by hundreds of hatchlings. The cavern we were in was gigantic. It was also incredibly dark. A stream went through the center. The walls were covered in lichen and moss.

  I was surrounded on all sides by over six hundred hatchings. They weren't the same playful hatchings from before though. They all looked sad and scared. I stumbled to my feet and looked around.

  I cleared my throat and yelled. “Where are my children? Where is everyone? What happened?” I heard a few hatchlings start crying as one walked up to me and said. “They chased us, my Queen. We ran for hours. They killed all the windclaws that were helping us. They gave up after a while and we found this cavern. We’ve been here for around a day now.”

  I groaned and said. “Where are my kids?” The hatchling that had talked to me before said. “Marlow is asleep, James is exploring one of the side caves.” Grief and despair washed through me as I remembered that those were the only two I had left. Tim, Tom, Charlie and Chester. Killed, all because I was their father.

  I sat down and started sobbing. For ten minutes I just sat there crying. The hatchlings around me began to cry as well. After a few minutes I stopped and mentally slapped myself. What am I doing? There are hundreds of scared children all around me. They just lost everything they had even known because of me. Focus Aya!

  I cleared my throat and said. “Why did you follow me?” The halthings looked confused by the question and said. “You’re our queen. We’re loyal to the queen.” Ah, they didn’t realize how much they had messed up.

  Oh well, guess I gotta take care of them now. And evolve. Once I do evolve I’m razing that city to the ground. “Alright kids, let's get to work, gather everyone. Let’s try to sort out the food situation. And let’s see if we can find somewhere nice and safe for you guy to rest.” They all nodded and got to work as I began to plan.

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  Move past the grief, deal with what's in front of you. That’s all I can do right now. Take care of what's in front of me. My little mental pep talk was interrupted by Marlow and James slamming into me. I fell to the ground as they anxiously ran around me, before nestling into the crook of my arm.

  I smiled and beckoned the nearby hatchlings over. We all cuddled together while I began to tell them the plan. “Alright kids, my priority right now is keeping you alive. That means we need food, water and shelter.”

  I picked a hatching up and tossed it onto my back before continuing. “You did well finding water and shelter, this cavern is incredible.” It really was nice. It was roughly a circle with a radius of around three feet. The ceiling was quite high and there was a nice amount of vegetation.

  It was nice and warm as well which was good considering how cold the mountains had felt before. I snapped out of it and continued the debriefing. “But we need food.” Almost all of the wounds had closed up, including the stump of a tail I had now. I should be able to run around.

  I smiled and said. “I’m going to get up and try to find some food. What I want all of you to do is see if you can find some fish in the stream.” I had seen a few and we needed everything we could get. Over seven hundred hatchings had followed me into the mountains. I needed to feed every single one of them.

  As I got to my feet James screamed. “No! Don’t leave us!” I smiled and said. “I’ll be right outside. Just gonna try to see what’s happening.” He sniffled and walked away. All I wanted to do was grab him and hold him for a few hours. But unfortunately that's not how life works. Responsibility calls. Loyalty must be reciprocated.

  I walked out of the cavern, scooching little skinks out of the way as I moved. I walked up to the entrance and was instantly blasted by cold winds. The temperature outside was freezing compared to the interior. Snow was even beginning to fall. I looked around outside for a few more seconds before turning around and walking back into the cavern. There was a three hundred foot tunnel between the cavern and the outside world and apparently it was also what was saving us from freezing to death. Skinks are not built for the cold, especially not hatchlings.

  I walked back into the cavern and said. “Someone said something about side tunnels?” A hatchling nearby nodded and said. “James took ten of us and went exploring before you woke up.

  I thanked him and called for James. He sprinted over to me and gave me a hug before sitting down. I smiled and said. “I heard you went exploring. How big are the tunnels? How many are there?”

  He smiled and said. “A lot! And they’re all gigantic! You can fit in most of them! But there's also a bunch of small ones only hatchlings can fit into.” I grinned and said. “Perfect.” I turned towards the horde of hatchlings and yelled. “Alright kids! Time to go exploring! I want a hundred of you to keep fishing. The rest of you are with me, it’s time to explore our new home.”