Free Web NovelChapter 788: Chapter 789: They shed their first skin
A few hours later, Isabella woke up.
At first, she did not open her eyes fully. Her body was still too heavy, and for a moment she felt as if she had been buried under warm furs and left there to become part of the bed. Her arms were sore. Her waist was sore. Her lower body still carried a dull pain that reminded her very clearly that giving birth was not something a person could simply sleep off and forget.
But it was different from before.
The terrible pressure was gone.
The feeling that her body was about to split apart was gone.
She was still tired, and there were places that ached so much she did not even want to think about them, but she could breathe without feeling like the next wave of pain was waiting to drag her under again.
For a few breaths, she only lay there quietly and listened.
The room was warm. The fire was low but steady. Somewhere close to her, there was the faint sound of tiny bodies moving against soft cloth. It was such a small sound that if the room had been noisy, she would not have heard it at all. But now the room was calm enough for every little movement to reach her.
Then she remembered.
Her babies.
Isabella’s eyes opened at once.
The first thing she saw was Cyrus.
He was sitting beside the low fur bed with his red hair falling over one shoulder, and his face looked so tired that Isabella almost forgot to look for the babies. His skin was still a little pale. The cloth around his arm had been changed, but she could still see the faint marks where she had bitten him again and again during the birth. Even now, after everything, he was not sleeping. He was watching over the babies with a soft focus in his pink eyes, and in one hand, he held a thin piece of dry, transparent skin.
Isabella blinked.
Then she blinked again.
"Cyrus," she said hoarsely.
He looked up immediately.
The moment he saw that she was awake, his whole face changed. Worry came first, then relief, then that soft tenderness he always had when looking at her. He leaned closer at once and touched her forehead with the back of his fingers.
"You’re awake," he said. "How do you feel?"
Isabella stared at the thing in his hand instead of answering. "What is that?"
Cyrus followed her gaze and looked down.
Then he seemed to understand.
"They shed," he said.
Isabella went still.
For a moment, she honestly thought she had misheard him.
"They what?"
"They shed their first skin."
Isabella slowly turned her head toward the babies.
The three tiny creatures she had given birth to only a few hours ago were no longer wrapped up and crying helplessly like before. They were still small. Very small. But they looked different now. Their bodies had changed after shedding. Their red tails were smoother and brighter, with tiny soft scales that reflected the firelight faintly. Their little horns looked cleaner now too, still soft and rounded, but more visible than before.
And their eyes were open.
Isabella stared at them like she had fallen asleep in one world and woken up in another.
"What the fuck," she whispered.
Cyrus paused.
Then his lips moved a little, as if he wanted to smile but was too careful to do it openly.
Isabella pointed weakly at the babies. "Those are the same babies I left before sleeping, right?"
"Yes."
"They could barely move."
"They were tired after birth."
"They were fresh little worms."
Cyrus’s eyes softened. "They were newborns."
"They were fresh little worms, Cyrus."
This time, Cyrus did smile.
Only a little.
Isabella looked back at the babies again. Her mind still could not accept what she was seeing. A few hours ago, they had been curled in cloth, red, wrinkled, loud, and very offended. Now they were moving slowly on the thick fur near her side, tiny tails dragging in clumsy little paths. They did not move fast. They were still newborns. But compared to before, this was already too much progress.
Riven, the first boy, was sleeping with his little head resting against the folded cloth, his tiny horned head tilted to one side.
Taren, the second boy, was awake but lazy, his small body curled tightly like he had decided that moving was too much work after the trouble he caused during birth.
Liora, the little girl, was the one moving the most.
She moved slowly, her red tail sliding over the fur in small uncertain motions. Her tiny head lifted, lowered, then lifted again. She looked so small that Isabella’s whole heart squeezed, but at the same time, when Isabella saw the little snake body coming toward her, a very old human fear rose inside her for one second.
Because that was a snake.
A baby snake.
Her baby snake.
But still, a snake.
Isabella’s face changed before she could stop it. "Cyrus."
He looked at her at once. "What is it?"
She swallowed and stared at Liora, who was now slowly coming closer with her tiny body moving in a way that was somehow both cute and terrifying. "Are they venomous?"
Cyrus’s expression became serious for half a breath, then he nodded. "Yes." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Isabella’s soul almost left her body.
"Yes?" she repeated.
"They are venomous," Cyrus said gently. "Not poisonous. Venom is from biting. Poison is something that harms when touched or swallowed."
Isabella stared at him.
This was not the time for a lesson.
Cyrus clearly saw that and quickly continued. "But it will not harm you. You are their mother. Their blood recognizes you. Their venom will not act against you."
Isabella looked at the babies again.
Liora was still coming.
Very slowly.
Very clumsily.
Her tiny red tail dragged behind her, and her little head wobbled like even holding it up was a serious job. She did not have teeth that looked dangerous yet.
