"Next." - A boy with horns shouted as he picked another glass bottle from the lake of mud. He looked high in the sky, green clouds were blocking out the brilliant light coming from the floating city above.

His sister, with a single horn, didn't seem to listen. She jumped around, splattering the mud, and kept popping large bubbles that emerged from the lake. She had lots of fun, of course, at cost of her skirt being stained all brown.

"Lily!" - The boy shouted.

Lily stopped playing. She grabbed her plastic bag, then combed through the wet clay with her fingers.

The boy exhaled with a short relief and smiled, then examined his finding. The glass was dirty, so there was no way to tell what was inside until the bottle was open.

Lily curiously peeked at her brother, then continued to comb through the mud.

The boy uncorked the bottle, then turned it upside down, letting its contents fall into his hand. It were two brass coins.

"Meh, my luck." - The boy sighed and hid both pieces in the pocket of his trousers.

"Bro, I'm tired. Can we go back home?" - The sister asked.

"Not until we find something valuable."

"We never find anything! It'll be dark soon."

"We still need a few more bottles to afford new shoes for you."

"I don't need new shoes."

"Yes, you do. What will the druids say, If they see you in these old, ragged sandals?"

"I don't care about druids, I don't want to join the circle."

"Lily. We already talked about it! It's for your own good."

"I want to stay with dad and mom!"

"Mom and dad can't afford food for us both."

"Then why do YOU get to stay with mom and dad!?" - Lily shouted in anger, then hid her face behind her arms and started crying.

Lily's brother clenched his fists. He was angry too, but he kept it bottled inside. - "Because I'm not special." - He uttered silently, to himself, then bit his lip and calmed down. - "Lily..."

Lily turned away, crouched, and kept sobbing. She didn't want to talk to her brother.

The boy understood. It was not the first time. Whatever he would do or say, he would only make it worse. Instead, he returned to searching through the mud.

Another bottle, inside, a pink ball.

Another bottle, inside, a rotten orange.

Another bottle, filled with sand.

Another bottle, broken seashells.

The boy stopped and sat in the mud, then looked at the vanishing beams of light.

"One more bottle and we go home, I promise." - He said to Lily, who was still sulking behind him.

The boy reached deep inside the dirt and searched, but he could not find anything for quite a while, until his fingers stopped on a massive shape. He struggled to get it out, so he locked his feet, dug his arms underneath the object, then pulled with all strength.

The object dislodged, the boy lost his balance and fell into the mud, but the treasure was in his hands. It was a giant bottle in the shape of a rounded cube. Inside, was a grass nest with a single egg inside.

"Oh." - The boy sighed in awe. He smiled, they wouldn't go hungry this evening. - "Lily, we go back!"

Lily was still sad and angry, but stood up, albeit with her head lowered. At least, until she noticed the giant bottle that was in the boy's hands.

"It's big!" - She forgot about her woes for a moment, she never saw a bottle this size.

With this, the boy's family would surely be able to afford a pair of good shoes.

"...and there's an egg inside! We will have a feast tonight!" - The boy said.

Lily looked at the egg with her curious eyes. - "What is an egg?"

The boy wasn't sure how to explain. - "It's a shell with a baby animal inside."

"A baby animal?" - Lily lifted her eyes. - "...and you want to eat it?"

The boy was a bit lost. - "Yes? Druids eat eggs every day."

"Horrible!" - Lily was mad. - "I don't want to eat babies!"

The boy's stomach was rumbling. Lily was already having a small portion of his food for the last few days, since she cried and complained about being hungry all the time.

"You don't have to, more for us..." - The boy uttered. - "...but I heard it's really tasty!"

The girl crossed her arms, pouted angrily, and looked at the egg, once again. - "It's not fair! You can't kill it."

"Why? It's not different than eating meat."

"It's still a baby!"

"I see no difference."

"Don't bring it to dad and mom!"

"Why? They'll cook it. I'm hungry."

"No! They'll kill it! That's not fair." - The girl exclaimed. - "Give it to me! I'll protect it!"

The boy knew that life is harsh, and really wanted to eat, but he didn't know how to explain it to the girl. - "I found it, so I decide."

Lily could stand it no longer, she started to bawl hysterically.

"Lily!" - The boy shouted, he refused to be blackmailed.

Lily continued to bawl.

"I'm going home!"

Lily ignored him.

"Good! We'll eat without you."

Lily didn't care. Her brother grabbed his bag of bottles, then proceeded to head back home. Occasionally, he checked If Lily was following, she usually gave up when the boy walked too far and joined him, but this was not the case today.

"Lily! We're going home!" - The boy shouted from afar.

"I don't care!"

The boy returned and grabbed Lily by the wrist, yanking it. The girl screamed, her arm hurt. Seeing no other way out, Lily's teeth sunk into the boy's hand.

"Ouch!" - The boy looked at his hand, it was bleeding. - "Lily! I'll tell mom and dad! They'll scold you really bad!"

"I don't care! I'm not going home! They won't take me to the druids!"

"It's not about the druids, it's about the egg, isn't it, Lily?"

Lily was awkwardly quieter for a moment, it confirmed his suspicions.

"Okay, Lily. I will give you the egg, but under a condition that you go with the druids, just for one day."

"One day? Do you promise?"

"I promise."

Lily cheered up. The brother took the egg out of the bottle and passed it to the girl. He would have to starve until tomorrow, but at least, he wouldn't have to share his portion this time.

[ . . . ]

"Ash, Ash!" - Lily ran to his brother's room the following morning, she was crying again.

"What's wrong, Lily?"

"The egg broke!"

"What? Show me!"

Lily, still crying, led the brother to her room. There were cracks in the egg.

"Silly, it's not broken!" - Ash said, a little surprised. - "The baby is being born!"

Lily wiped her eyes and looked at Ash askingly.

"Look!" - The pointed at the cracked egg, pieces of shattered shell moved, albeit barely. A tip of beak made it through.

Lily's eyes widened.

"He is right." - A deep voice spoke behind Lily. It was a large, bearded man in a brown, hooded robe.

Lily quickly turned to the man and realized, it was one of the druids. Lily's parents were standing behind him.

Lily immediately blocked the way to the egg, extending her hands to protect it. - "I won't let you eat it!"

"Eat it?" - The druid laughed.

"I know you eat babies! My brother told me!" - Lily spoke in an adamant, confident voice.

The druid looked at the boy. - "Oh? Really? Why would you say that?"

Ash was slightly scared of the man's massive posture. He uttered timidly. - "My friends told me about the eggs, that you eat them."

"That explains everything." - The druid understood the situation, lowered his head to face the girl, and spoke in an earnest tone. - "We do eat eggs, very often, I would say."

The girl gasped.

The man smiled. - "Not every egg has a baby inside, though."

The girl looked at the man, then at her brother. - "Really?"

"Really." - The druid responded.

"I didn't know." - The girl uttered.

"You'll learn a lot of new things on your path to becoming a druid." - The druid encouraged.

The girl was reluctant to trust the man. - "I don't want to be a druid! I want to stay with mom and dad!"

The parents looked at each other, mother assured. - "Lily, you must become a druid. It's a big opportunity, it doesn't happen to everyone."

The father added. - "The druids will take good care of you, there'll be plenty to eat, unlike here."

"I don't want to! I don't want to! I don't want to!" - Lily repeated.

"Lily, yes? Is it okay, If I call you by name?" - The druid asked.

The girl looked a bit uneasily. - "Yes."

"Lily, do you want to learn what kind of an animal your baby is?" - The druid continued.

Lily looked at the egg. - "Yes."

"It's an owl." - The druid smiled.

"Oh." - Lily paused. - "What is an owl?"

"It's a bird." - The druid explained.

"A bird?" - Lily inquired.

"Yes, a bird. Birds are winged creatures that live in the skies." - The druid elaborated.

Lily couldn't believe this. - "They... they live in the city of light?"

"Oh, sometimes." - That wasn't what druid meant, but he did not dwell on it.

Lily became less distrustful towards the man, but she turned sad out of sudden. - "Nothing that falls down ever returns to the city of light."

The druid pondered for a while. - "Yes. That's why you will need to take good care of it."

Lily's eyes sparkled. - "Me?"

"Yes. You'll need to feed it, clean it, and teach it to listen to your voice." - The druid gently stated.

Lily looked at the egg, then at the druid. She was unsure. - "How?"

"That's one of many things that what we, druids, want to teach you." - The druid persuaded.

The girl turned sad. - "...but mom, and dad, when will I see them?"

The druid looked at both of the parents, asking. - "Tomorrow?"

The parents looked at each other, hesitating, but they nodded in agreement.

"Ash?" - Lily turned to her brother, she didn't want to leave him.

"You promised." - Ash responded. - "One day. If you like it, you'll stay for longer."

Lily was anxious. She looked the druid right in his large, brown eyes, as If to check If the man is worth her trust, but she couldn't get a read on him.

The druid extended his open palm, to allow the girl to lay her hand on it. - "Are we going? Just one day, to see If you like it."

Lily extended her hand, then retracted it. - "One moment. I want to say goodbyes."

"No hurry." - The druid assured.

Lily ran to her mom and dad, then hugged them. At last, she approached Ash and hugged him too. She finally took her egg, then accepted the druid's hand.