Ari

Chapter 29: The Little Hatchling

Dillon was still stuck on Acwulf's side. I had no idea what they were talking about. He seemed as if he was troubled escaping from Acwulf's endless chattering.

Though I was still worried about my father's condition, Acwulf and Lowell were trying to cheer us up by preparing a simple welcome banquet for us in their tribe.

Dillon was given a separate room since it was as instructed by my father. I decided to ask him about the details the next morning since my father entrusted us to Acwulf and it would be inappropriate for us to stay in the same room late at night just to have a conversation.

The next morning, there was a commotion in the forest wolf tribe. It was said that they found an unconscious lion hatchling in the forest so they brought him back to Lowell to decide what to do after they treated his wounds.

I hurriedly took a peek at the said hatchling as I felt uneasy when I heard the news. Lowell and Dillon accompanied me to the elder healer of their tribe, Ralph.

I was stunned when I saw Gurion's disheveled appearance.

"Gurion!" I screamed in shock.

"Do you know who the parents of this little hatchling are?" The elder healer asked.

"He... He is Ari's little hatchling." Dillon answered as he approached Gurion gently.

Lowell, Acwulf and the elder healer were stunned. They turned into a stone due to shock. All of them were sure that I was too young to have a three to four year old hatchling. What's more is that I haven't even come of age yet?

I laughed at their reactions as they looked at me in confusion.

"He's one of the eggs left by the missing female in our tribe a few years ago. He was the only one who survived. I raised him with the help of the elders in the nursery since then. I adopted him with my father's permission." I said while explaining what Dillon meant about his words.

There was a sign of relief on their faces when they heard my explanation, especially Lowell who sighed in relief.

I wanted to ask for privacy so that I could hold Gurion freely without revealing my secret, but I don't know what excuse I should use.

My power automatically manifests when I touch an injured person. I still don't know how to control it so it will be hard for me to explain it if it was seen by many.

"Can I bring him to my room to recuperate?" I asked firmly.

"Sure, his condition has been already stable, though he is still physically weak due to exhaustion and hunger. I think he travelled alone without food or water intake causing him to faint due to hunger. He is malnourished and dehydrated. He will wake up soon so I will prepare some nourishing soup and deliver it to you later." The elder healer answered.

I asked Dillon to bring the unconscious Gurion to my room and he did as he was told.

We left Lowell and Acwulf as they discussed some other issues with their tribesmen.

We arrived at my room so I fixed the bed and placed another layer of clean and smaller blanket for us to lay Gurion.

"Dillon, could you leave us for a moment please...?" I asked, hoping he would give me some privacy.

"I'll stay here and help you with Gurion. I also want to take care of him." He insisted.

"But... Hmm... Never mind. It's up to you." I hesitantly agreed.

He is my guardian anyway and there will be a time that I have to reveal it to him so I decided that it will be a good time to reveal it to him.

I touched Gurion's head, stroking his soft and furry forehead when a glimmering light escaped from my hand entering Gurion. It was a unique sight.

I don't know what kind of reaction Dillon had when he saw it because he was standing on my back.

I tried to release more energy to transfer to Gurion, so he could wake up already, but I was shocked with the unexpected result.

Gurion's body suddenly changed its shape. He suddenly transformed to his passive form.

His curly honey-blond hair was similar to Dillon and his deep blue eyes. However, Dillon's hair is starting to darken at the bottom since a male lion beastman's hair darkens as they age, the same as their mane.

"Mommy.." Gurion uttered upon seeing me as he woke up.

I looked at Dillon and saw his stunned face. I was sure he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Unexpectedly, there was also someone by the door who was equally as shocked as Dillon.

"Mommy! Waah! Mommy mommy mommy!" Gurion cried as he jumped in my arms.

I caught him and felt frightened that he might accidentally fall on the hard floor. Unfortunately, my legs lost its strength due to the energy transfer. Luckily the two males caught me in time.

"Wahhh! Mommy... I mishu... (I miss you)!" Gurion said as he continued on crying in my arms until a grumbling sound echoed all over the room.

Gurion stopped whining as he touched his stomach while pouting with teary eyes.

"Sooo hangwee (so hungry)..." The little hatchling complained as his stomach grumbled due to hunger.

"Lowell, is there something Gurion can eat for the meantime?" I asked Lowell, who was speechless at that time as I stood up and walked to the bed to sit down while carrying Gurion in my arms.

He left without a word, probably still shocked from the incident.

Gurion was happily rubbing his cheeks on mine when Dillon suddenly picked him up with a grumpy face.

"Dada! (Daddy)" Gurion exclaimed. He was also happy to see Dillon so he hugged him tightly.

Dillon's face softened, then smiled as he hugged him back.

Lowell came back and stood by the door, speechless from the sight while he held the food and herbal medicine for Gurion in his hand.

"Oh! Look Gurion, uncle Lowell brought you some food." I mumbled while yawning a few times due to exhaustion.

"Uncle? Call me Daddy too, Gurion. It's Daddy Lowell." Lowell suggested.

Dillon looked sharply at Lowell as if roaring inside while Gurion was confused and couldn't understand the situation.

"Dada wowew? (Daddy Lowell)" Gurion asked while tilting his head slightly in confusion.

We laughed at how obedient he was.

"By the way... Gurion...? Why did you follow us here in the forest wolf tribe? You could have gotten lost in the woods if you were not found by chance by Lowell's tribesmen." I asked Gurion, while scolding him.

"Mits mommy... Manmas en panpas sez Panpa wev eezts daeeng en e eets mo womper a awfa...." He babbled trying to explain things, but he couldn't talk properly.

He was panicking and his eyes became puffy while pouting in frustration. He looked so cute that I couldn't even concentrate so I failed to understand his words.