"I'm glad you see that" Iskra replied. "Life exists to make more life, you know. I'm just glad to see so many expectant mothers here. The trick is not to get discouraged or give up. Not every egg will make it, unless you are very lucky or very careful. I remember when I didn't get enough to eat during some dry seasons, the eggshells were too thin. That's how I lost most of the hatchlings who didn't make it. Except for one egg which was a dud for some weird reason. It looked perfectly healthy, but never hatched. Maybe there was never a child inside of it. That happens sometimes. I have no idea why. It still got a decent burial. I still wonder who it might have hatched."

Larek saw Adykon and Adair talking. He made out the words "Kos' mother." "Oh, this is a sad story."

Veax and Hermia saw a large group of dracon and human children playing around. Some were running around in the mud, others were wrestling with each other an play-fighting. Watching them was a female dracon, Tacita one of Veax's sisters. She was seventeen years old and would be looking for a husband in a year or so. She was a decent gardener, but wasn't particularly ambitious or adventurous. While her mother was a bit disappointed with her daughter's plan for a domestic sort of life, she gave Tacita her full support. She wanted to learn how to look after a large number of younglings, but she wasn't doing the best job at the moment, although she was trying quite hard. It would have been hard for anyone to look after so many all by herself.