The babes slept in their chrysalises for two more months. Between the rough texture of the pods and the spikes along Idrus’s stage-one body, Nala couldn’t remember the last time she woke up without a cut of some kind.

Her bed of hay was crowded but she preferred it that way.

A robe covering the chrysalis, mostly for Nala’s own safety, she stretched the morning’s slumber from her body.

One pod nearly fell but Nala caught it in time. She compared it to the second one and smiled.

“Crane, of course.” She swaddled them in the gunny-sack sheet, careful to keep them close to the wall. Though the bed was low, she was always fearful one might roll away somehow.

The suns had risen so she decided to seek Idrus out. No one. The Leveler King was still gone. All that remained of him were the broken tools by the door which he’d promised to mend.

Nala gathered the pieces now and tied the flat stone to the stick using parts of an old gunnysack robe. In her first stage, she would have used her bare hands to do the farming. She wished she could say the sorry state of her farm now was because of the long-forgotten war, or the floods, but that wasn’t the true reason; she was just too weak.

She had the energy she needed, though long periods without food would leave her in distress. Too weak to farm, and too weak to get more food she needed in order to farm.

The week prior still fresh in her mind, she hated herself for allowing the Leveler King to return to the roost without her or the babes. Idrus hadn’t offered, and Nala couldn’t bring herself to.

Maybe he won’t return. He’ll forget us.

Nala didn’t often work on tools within her structure. It was only lately that the Leveler King, in his stage-one body as Idrus, could take hold of a tool without breaking it. Keeping the broken bits as a reminder, Nala put off repairs until now. Idrus promised to take care of them. Today Nala did fix them without her Leveler’s help, though, and she did it to remain bitter.

“You haven’t even come...” Nala muttered. “Six days.... What could you be doing so long?”

Before this cycle had ended, the Leveler King had lived it as Idsel. The nights he sated himself with Nala out in the brush as Indel in order to take on the first stage again was something beyond Nala’s imagination. It had been bliss.

To think they’d come this far. The Leveler King who, a season ago, had forgotten her here. Now and again when Idsel taunted her about the sorry state of the farm and food supply, Nala only smiled because it was so like the surly Leveler King who’d imposed on her almost two seasons ago; changing her life forever.

Nala fought to keep thoughts of her Leveler at bay. She was alone now until his return. Growing excited at the thought of Indel would only lead her stumbling to a bush, far from the farm, to coax herself and return to her senses. Even now whenever she imagined her Leveler, her body secreted for hours.

Though she thought better of it, Nala stood and decided to answer her need, though she was rarely frequent anymore. A noise in the distance made her freeze dead in her tracks.

She opened the door to see a blue hand raised, about to knock.

Nala swallowed down a yelp. The tough stage-two blue skin reminded her of her own which she’d shed seasons ago.

The face was nice to look at as well.

A tattered, half cracked, blue exoskeleton on his head, the Summoner stared at her wide-eyed.

He was young, and he plucked the helmet off, a wild mane of black hair stuck up.

“I’m...I’m sorry. I....” The stranger looked out at the untidy field and then tried to peer into the structure. “Forgive me my intrusion. The rains have me lost. I’ve newly awoken in this new stage and...and I have a hunger like no other. The berries I usually eat—”

“Make you vomit,” Nala said, chuckling. “I hope you haven’t tried the roots.”

The youth’s skin dampened. “Three days’ time I couldn’t leave the bushes or stand. I thought my very belly would fall out of me.”

They stared at each other in awkward silence until the Summoner said, “I can see that you are fit to mate. Should your male not oppose, do you have anything you can spare? I fear the season has taken me.”

“My male....” Remembering her own stage-three body, Nala opened and closed her mouth for some time. This stranger mistook her for a mating Summoner about to answer the mating spell. She wasn’t sure if or how to correct that misunderstanding.

They didn’t have much in the way of food. Other than the meat Idrus sometimes hunted, there wasn’t much left of the fruit and grubs Nala had gathered. Distant memories of her own rude awakening alone and unsteady in changing led her to sympathize.

A Leveler might have made Nala nervous, but she feared no Summoner so she stepped aside and bade him enter.

Bowing his head, the Summoner stepped through the threshold. “My name is Molin.”

Clicking her tongues, Nala answered him.

“Nala?” Molin said, a weak smile in place as he turned his helmet around in his hand. “Nala-da, please excuse my bareness.”

Nala had barely noticed. She glanced down at Molin’s smooth belly for a moment and realized the youth had been using his helmet to guard himself.

The notion was novel because Idrus had to be reminded to cover himself whenever he shifted stages at will.

Few Summoners lived in clutches, most keeping to small families, very much like Earthers had. Regardless, Nala still asked, “Do you live alone?”

Molin shook his head as he waited by the door. “No, Nala-da. My family had five in total. Our structure washed away with the floods. We found a cave but when I went out into the rain to find food, I lost my way and couldn’t return. I’m heading north; that’s where we’ll meet.”

Nala hurried to the metal containers stacked neatly on the shelves. She had some dried worms she could offer.

The way Molin looked the barn over fueled Nala’s drive to distract him with something to eat. She settled on bringing the youth the entire canister’s worth.

“Here. But don’t eat too much, it’ll make your throat sore.” Nala shoved the metal into Molin’s hands and rushed for another one. “And I have some nicer fruit. I can show you which ones to eat until you return to your family. They’d be the best ones to guide you at this moment.”

At one time, Nala might have offered the hay for sitting but that was unacceptable now with Idrus sleeping there on the nights he wasn’t hunting.

They sat on the floor across from each other. That was why Nala spied her now clean and dried robe the king had gifted to her.

She wanted to save it for an important time.

Molin looked within the containers and gasped. “This is too much. Your Na’am will be vexed.”

The exclamation startled Nala at first. Molin assumed her authority due to her generous offer. In time she smiled. “No. Do not worry. And here, I will lend you this, too.”

She crawled forward to snatch the robe from under the hay and handed it over.

Molin shook his head. “No. I couldn’t take that.”

“You’re not taking it,” Nala said. “You can borrow it and give it back.”

Despite having lamented his bare body, and hiding himself, Molin seemed disinterested in taking the robe.

Nala concluded that maybe it was too nice and she was hurting the youth’s pride. She stood and shed her own everyday gunny-sack robe and put the good robe on.

“Here. Hide yourself with this.”

Molin took the gunny-sack with a look of caution and then relief. He hurried to put it on, turning with his back to Nala when he dropped the helmet.

The sight of his long tail caught Nala off guard. The hairs were full and thick. It was nearly the size and girth of Indel’s. He was a wild Summoner, something Nala hadn’t beheld in some time.

Tying the robe, Molin said thank you again and sat down. He must have been from a good family. He addressed Nala with respect, using ‘da’ to indicate her age and status. He didn’t feast on the worms, either, despite them being so fat and sweet. He shared himself a small amount and put the container between them.

Nala followed proper custom and ate as well. If Idrus came to see her taking part in an extra meal so early in the morning, he’d surely complain.

“I’m truly blessed to have met you,” Molin said. “I’ve been wandering around for ages. Last week, I changed and I was useless in my travels. I thought to sit down and cry out like a lost babe, I was so frightened. Nala-da, thank you.”

Few Summoners would waste time in this valley. It was hard to toil and gave little yield. For Nala it had been enough, mostly because no one else wanted it. Molin wasn’t the first to pass through. No one stayed for long.

When Molin had eaten all but one worm, Nala made sure to finish eating hers otherwise the poor youth might never complete his meal. She stood and offered him a gourd of water. That he drank in a hurry and was too slow to remember his manners until he was sated.

“You’ve come a long way,” Nala said, sympathizing. “I wish I could help you in your journey but I cannot leave here.”

“No, Nala-da. I thank you. You’ve even worn your mating robe and given me your very own usual. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Nala stiffened. All she could do was blink. Today when she took in the fancy robes, she saw it anew. It was similar enough to the Summoner Queen’s for Nala to form one very new conclusion—Indel had honored her from the start. Nearly all the robes were fashioned similarly, but she knew too little about Leveler custom to realize it. This youth, Molin, knew.

A sudden need to see Molin leave crept into the back of Nala’s head and refused to fade.

A thundering voice erupted as the door swung open. “Come Summoner! It’s been five days and I plan to have my fill of you today until the very moon rises! Deep and raw,” Idsel exclaimed.

All feeling drained out of Nala’s body. Molin wasn’t the only one who’d recently changed.

The Leveler king had molted all his scales; now he was in his second stage, no doubt preparing to enter the third. Although that left hand still appeared somewhat smaller than the other, it did look better. Now Nala understood. It was the season for it. It must have been and as she and Idrus had talked and teased one another for the last two months, not much had come of it on the Leveler’s part.

Now he’d come, ready to indulge in the new stage.

As startled as Nala was at seeing her king there, Molin seemed incapable of speech.

He stared at Idsel and Idsel stared back as they tried to make sense of each other.

Before Nala could be questioned, she tossed the empty gourd in Idsel’s direction. “Fill this and come back,” Nala order, fearful that her attempt at sounding dominant might falter.

Idsel caught it, still wearing a curious look.

Hearts beating faster, Nala glanced at Molin who looked to her for guidance. The youth calmed. Nala was anything but.

Though breathing shallow from the fear of discovery, Nala managed to keep that fright out of her voice when she said. “Now, Na’am. And be quick.”

Silent, Idsel cocked his head to the right. His dark eyes settled on Molin and he chuckled as he turned to leave.

“Strange Summoner. I shall fetch your water like a good little pet,” Idsel muttered.

As soon as the door closed, Molin hurried to his feet.

Nala stood as well.

Molin wouldn’t meet her gaze when he said, “Thank you, N...Nala-da. Thank you, but I must leave here.”

Spirits sinking, Nala nodded. That much she could understand. “I am...I am sorry. And I’m sorry about him. I...I should have warned you.”

“I’ve seen Levelers before...at a distance. You must be so brave to have command of one. But I’ve heard enough stories about Leveler ways.”

Molin stared down at the strings around his waist. He looked like he was ready to remove it. Nala hoped he wouldn’t scorn even the robe.

“Thank you for the food, and the water, and...and the clothing,” Molin said, inching toward the door. “But I cannot stay here, Nala-da. Thank you. You’re a good person and I hope I can pay you back one day. He may misunderstand my presence and injure you—or us both.”

The journey to the door was one of the longest Nala ever took. She couldn’t smile when Molin stepped out and turned to face her, albeit still with his gaze lowered.

“Thank you, Nala-da. Thank you.” Molin turned to leave but paused and came back.

He held out his hands but Nala hesitated.

Molin was offering a shake out of courtesy. Nala risked it, relieved when it was a firm grip and not a limp one to mask some sort of revulsion.

“Thank you, Nala-da. If I can ever repay you, I will. But I cannot stay and risk your injury. I thank you for wearing your Na’am’s markings on my behalf.”

Without looking back, Molin hurried down the hill. He nearly bumped into Idsel who was carrying several gourds up. To Idsel, Molin said nothing, he didn’t even nod his head to acknowledge him.

Now with that over, another problem reared its head. Idsel put the water down.

Resting with his right shoulder against the doorframe, Idsel stared at her and then cocked his head, calling Nala closer.

Nala’s body burned, her skin damp rather than slippery as embarrassment took her.

When she was close enough, Idsel caught her by the waist of the robe and tugged her near.

“Na’am? I am your Na’am?” Idsel asked. “You’ve guided my first mating now instead?”

Nala had no adequate words to offer. She opened and closed her mouth several times as she fought to find some.

Brushing the lower half of Nala’s robe aside, Idsel ran his left hand up Nala’s thigh until he slid his fingers between her legs.

“Am I no longer your Mana?” Idsel asked.

Nala shook her head. “It’s very difficult to explain.”

“What are you about?” Idsel asked leaning in close. “Don’t you enjoy the thing between my legs?”

When Nala hung her head, Idsel tapped her chin, prompting her to return the gaze.

“Answer me, Summoner. Aren’t you pleased with the force of my affection?”

“I am pleased,” Nala said, finally. “I am very pleased by it. Forgive me, I was foolish. It was nonsense.”

Idsel gave her a smile and said, “I shall just have to earn my title again, Na’am.”

A lay wasn’t an immediate thing Nala longed for at this moment, but she did miss their embraces. It’d been so long that even this very touch was enticing.

“Mana...” Nala whispered, holding Idsel’s shoulders lest her knees go weak. “About what I said...about calling you Na’am, I want to explain.”

“Explain after I’ve had you,” Idsel cooed. “I found a safe place to molt to save you the cleanup and this is what I return to?” he teased.

“Mana,” Nala said again, hoping to keep her Leveler king focused. “Speak to me for a moment. There’s time later for a lay.”

An unfamiliar noise reached them, and after a short moment, a baby began to cry.

On the bed, both chrysalises bumped one another as one rolled.

“No!” Idsel hurried to catch it before it struck the ground. “Well, this is a surprise,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Nala. “Boon’s about to leave his chrysalis first. But it’s too early. Find me some rope. We must force him to remain in it.”