Berrick and the two mini Asarius’ looked at the egg which now sat on the pedestal. It was an off-white, almost yellow looking, and about the size of an ostrich egg. Berrick approached it, poked it, and then grinned.

“I’ve laid an egg!” Berrick proclaimed proudly.

“What a proud mother.” Said Mini Asarius 1.

“Just like a momma cockatrice.” Said Mini Asarius 2.

Berrick glared at them for a moment then wrapped his hands around the egg to pick it up. When he touched the egg, however, his hands passed right through. He tried again and again, but he couldn’t move the egg.

“He can’t hold his own child.” Mini Asarius 1 said.

“Smoking’s bad for you.” Added Mini Asarius 2.

Berrick stopped, frustrated, and examined himself. He was made entirely of smoke. His body was a bit thicker around the head and torso, but there wasn’t really any substance. How was he supposed to do anything? He thought about it for a bit, then decided to try something.

“What if I focus really, really hard.” Berrick mumbled as he focused as much of himself on his hands as he could. Some of his body flowed towards his hands, and they increased in consistency. He then tried to pick up the egg again. This time, it worked.

“I’ve done it!” He exclaimed, holding the egg up high. Then it slipped.

Berrick and the mini Asarius’ watched in horror as the egg cracked open on the ground, and a fist-sized pixie emerged and fluttered off.

“Male pixie. Terribly weak.” Mini Asarius 1.

“Needed to mature longer, for sure.” Mini Asarius 2.

Berrick just watched the pixie fly away as another egg fell from the distributor into the pedestal.

“My baby.” Berrick said sadly, “No matter, so long as it goes out and accomplishes great things.”

As the pixie passed a boulder, a large, purple lizard leapt out and ate it in a single bite.

“That was pretty great.” Mini Asarius 1.

“Gotta love that commitment.” Mini Asarius 2.

Berrick stared, open-mouthed, at the lizard which was now lumbering toward them. Immediately his instinct flipped into overdrive, and before he knew what he was doing he stood in front of the pedestal and shouted at the Mini Asarius’.

“Protect the egg!”

The Mini Asarius’ looked at him then at each other and finally at the approaching lizard. They both leaned back then swung forward, each hurling a small chunk of goop at the lizard. Both projectiles hit, and the lizard growled, backing away. It rolled on its back, growling as it clawed at the sludge which seemed to be burning its skin. When it had finally succeeded in removing the muck, it left with more whining growls.

Berrick turned to his new egg, this one was a faded orange. Berrick watched the new egg for a few hours without turning away even once. During this time he thought about what he could do to hold the eggs. As he thought about this, his answer arrived.

“Thank you, Asarius. I take it you are Berrick?”

Berrick turned to see who was speaking. Asarius had arrived with another demon, and the two mini Asarius’ were gone.

The demon with Asarius, the one who had spoken, looked almost angelic but for a few features. He wore a long, black robe, but had a pair of glowing, white wings spread behind him. On his feet were sandals, and his hands were empty. On his head were long, golden curls of hair. His eyes, however, were solid black, and his tongue was forked.

“I am Berrick, the great Egg Guardian.”

The humanoid demon grinned, and Berrick saw his teeth were all slightly sharpened. “Excellent! I am called Fleurety. I have been assigned by Azazel as your Overseer, thus relieving Asarius of too much work. Admittedly, it’s a far cry from my usual work in the mortal realm, but I have some experience in this area, as well.”

“Hmm…” Berrick looked back to the egg then at Fleurety again, he saw Asarius turning to leave. “I have a question.”

Asarius stopped to peer at Berrick, and Fleurety grinned.

“How do the other egg guardians hold all their eggs?”

Fleurety’s grin faded just a decibel before Asarius spoke.

“Marflinda just has a lot of hands.”

Fleurety glanced up at Asarius then turned back to Berrick, his grin having returned in full. “I’m guessing having six hands isn’t something you’re concerned about, is it? It seems to me that being made of smoke would be inhibitive to holding the eggs, yes?”

“Indeed.” Berrick answered.

“That’s fine, it simply means you must have some other ability for this. There are several egg guardians incapable of holding many eggs themselves who solve this problem other ways. One uses magic to make the eggs float. Another creates nests imbued with magic to keep the eggs. I know of another who is able to teleport the eggs to a separate dimension for storage. Perhaps you have some magic you are yet unaware of?” Fleurety walked closer as he spoke.

Berrick looked at himself and thought about what he could do.

“Earth.” Berrick said.

“Pardon?” Asked Fleurety.

“The Earth feels very familiar to me.”

“That is not a way I’ve heard it described before, but I know a thing or two about earth magic.” Fleurety then waved his hands, and a perfect square of stone removed itself from the ground to float upwards. Fleurety waved his hands again, and it set down next to the hole in the ground.

“No, no. Not like that.” Berrick said quietly then hovered closer to the ground. He touched his hand to the stone and pulled up. With his hand came a rod of stone.

“Yes, more like that.” Berrick spoke again and pushed the rod back into the ground.

Fleurety and Asarius watched interestedly as Berrick pulled another rod from the ground, this one shaped like a staff with a large, open claw at the top. With a snap, the stone staff separated from the ground. Berrick held the staff in his smoky hands for but a moment before it fell to the ground with a clatter.

“I’ll have to do something about that, too.” Berrick mumbled.

Berrick touched the ground again and removed two large rings of stone. Berrick placed his hands through them, and they glowed brightly. When the light died down, they had shrunk around his wrists. Berrick pulled the staff up until an area just a bit below the claw was inside the stone ring on his right wrist. Quickly, the ring shrunk till it was snug around the staff. Then, the ring moved to Berrick’s hand, and both the staff and the ring turned upright as Berrick stood. Berrick closed his fist, and it now appeared as though Berrick was holding the staff.

“What the heaven did you just do?” Fleurety asked his mouth open and his eyes wide. Even Asarius’ massive eye was clearly larger than usual.”

“Earth magic.” Berrick said as he turned and smiled at the two demons.