The demonlings were growing steadily now, much to Ive’s simultaneous delight and despair.

They were her children. She loved them... right?

Of course she did.

And yet, no matter how desperately she tried, she could still see traces of their sire within them. The devil lingered stubbornly in her mind, haunting her dreams night after night until exhaustion became something painfully familiar.

This morning was no different.

Blue eyes fluttered open slowly, settling upon the two small forms curled against her side. Both children slept soundly, peaceful and warm beneath the shelter of the Grove.

There was nothing monstrous about them.

Nothing demonic.

They were only children.

She reminded herself of that constantly, though some quieter, uglier part of her still whispered otherwise.

Lowering her head onto her paws, Ive simply watched them sleep for a while. The gentle rise and fall of their tiny chests stirred an unexpected warmth within her chest. Truthfully, she loved watching them beneath the protective canopy of the Grove, chasing one another through the trees, tumbling clumsily through the undergrowth, carrying that wild and free-spirited joy only children seemed capable of.

It gave her hope.

Hope that perhaps they would grow into something good. Something wholesome despite the darkness tied to their blood.

Slowly leaning forward, Ive brushed her tongue gently over each of their heads in turn, a rare display of maternal affection from the usually distant woman.

---

---

---

He had been sleeping soundly, dreaming of the outside, the brightness and the warmth, the birdsongs and the breeze. He smiled softly in his slumber when he was roused by a soft raspy warmth on his head.

Blinking slowly and sleepily he opened his eyes just in time to see her licking his brothers head, something she didn't do often, and though he was confused by the affectionate gesture he liked how it warmed his chest. A blossoming of heat in his pounding heart so he smiled wider, past the dream smile, and twitched the tip of his tail behind him with soft thaps in the dirt.

Bright blue optics shone up at his mother silently, a loving shine as he peered up at the one who'd showed him love and care. The pale one did too, but this was different, mother was different.

---

The boy slept soundlessly, drifting aimlessly through the sporadic flashing of images he greedily consumed. First, it had been the sunlight blinding his dreams with an orange shadow across the grove he knew. Next, it had been a murder of crows squawking their defiant words toward his ears as they bent and soared through the tree branches above. And then came the raindrops of a springtime shower, dropping endlessly atop his head as his ears twitched in their own reluctant response.

It was his mother’s touch, a tongue ran quietly atop his head, that had turned his dreams from their sun-kissed sky toward a downpour of rain as he shifted once in his sleep. A paw jutted out, twitching, as a gruntled moan fled his lips.

His mother moved toward his sibling, and the unnamed boy awoke.

He fluttered blurry, sleep-touched eyes as his head groggily rose from where it had sat nestled in the tangle of limbs that were his own and his family. He yawned wide as a stretch of his limbs ran all the way down to the splaying of his toes as his head turned toward his mother and blinked.

She seemed…

Lighter today.

And for a moment, a shadow of what could’ve been considered a smile seemed to have graced his lips.

Although it was short-lived, as most things were, his attention turned toward his brother.

He watched, blinking, as his brother looked up at their mother, and the boy could not explain what had taken hold of him, but suddenly he reached for his brother’s ear.

It was a quiet, soundless motion and fortunately one made without the purchase of teeth—but he gummed his brother’s ear with a hungry slobber as he growled playfully.

The gentle warmth shining in her son’s eyes made Ive’s chest ache painfully.

She could be better.

She should be better.

No matter the demons clawing endlessly through her mind, these children still deserved love. They deserved comfort, affection, care, all the things she so often struggled to give freely.

As the lighter-colored boy stretched sleepily, a soft fondness settled into her gaze. They were still so young. So unbearably sweet despite everything tied to their existence.

A small smile tugged at her lips, and a quiet whine slipped from her throat as she rested her head back upon her paws, simply watching them begin to tumble into play. Tiny growls and clumsy wrestling filled the den as the pair rolled over one another with childish enthusiasm.

At least they seemed close.

That alone brought the weary mother some measure of relief. If nothing else, they had one another.

Slowly, though, the smile faded from her face as another thought crept in.

They still were not speaking.

Concern twisted within her chest as she watched them. Perhaps they needed more time around Ivandri and her children. More opportunities to learn from others.

Ive did not want them growing up mute as she had.

The frustrations of her own silence had followed her throughout her entire life. The inability to communicate properly, to express herself fully, to make others understand, it had always left her feeling isolated and restrained.

She wanted something better for the demonlings.

Something easier.

Something kinder than the life she herself had been forced to navigate in silence.