There she stood, on fire and in a living, breathing heat that exuded power, confidence and anything else that brought to mind those two things. Beside her sat an egg. Oval, pebbled, bumpy and malformed. All of those words described this egg as it seemed to shift in the vision with each second that went by.

But the fire tempered it after a while. The woman, bathed in flames, sitting with it in her lap as she burned hotter and hotter, the flames turning from red and gold to white and blue. Any normal human would have been incinerated by now. And those standing nearby, there in case of emergency, hissed with the heat that poured throughout the room like a desert wind.

“Come to me, my child.” The woman, bathed in the firelight of blue and white, sang to the egg. Her hair curled around her head like wisps of smoke, fine, curly, and untamed. Rich velvets covered her body, though the fire didn’t seem to catch on. “Come to your family. You belong here with us.”

Her words filled the room, and at that moment, in taking a breath and letting it out, the egg seemed to just fall away from what was within in. The crowd that was gathered gasped in unison, moving in closer until they could almost see just what it was amongst the shells.

What looked like a long-tailed lizard with wings jutted its muzzle against the shells surrounding it, pushing them away to cry out in a small plaintive voice. Whispers floated among the crowd, theorizing what it may be. The woman, now aptly labeled a witch by some within the crowd, bent and picked the creature up as if it were a babe, to which it replied with another plaintive cry.

“Who amongst you are touched by the gods and will take this creature under their care?” She called out to those around her and set a piercing stare upon the crowd that suddenly wanted nothing to do with being there. People pulled from the group and walked off, muttering and whispering to themselves about how she was overstepping her bounds by assuming there was another touched by the gods.

“I’ll do it.” A voice, small and quiet, almost not rising above the noise of the crowd. The witch looked curiously at the young woman, who pushed her way through a reluctant crowd. “I don’t think I’m touched by the gods, but I’ll take it under my care.”

“The gods touched you child, you always have been, no matter your doubts.” The witch spoke in soothing tones, moving to hand the creature over to the young woman.

“You’ve said that over the years, but I’ve always doubted you. I probably always will.” At least she was honest. Mouse brown hair tinged with specks of silver, despite her young age, fell forward in a cascade covering her arms. Blue-grey eyes searched the crowd for anyone that might judge her, suddenly self conscience of the entire thing.

“Maybe I shouldn’t…” The hesitation in her voice was palpable. Her hands reached out to take the creature when the witch held him forth. This creature who seemed to not mind the grip and laid its head upon the young woman’s chest. She looked down at it and her hawklike features relaxed, shoulders slumped, and her demeanor seemed to change.

The witch smiled at her encouragingly. “Alda, the gods have touched you since birth. It’s obvious with the marks you were born with and your eyes when you get upset.”

Alda shifted her grip on the creature. “You say that, but I seem to be shunned for it. I’m not like you.” Looking as if she wished they weren’t having this conversation in public, Alda glanced at the crowd, which had dwindled now. Only a few people remained with inquisitive eyes at the scene. A hand slipped out from the velvet robes which garbed the witch in a dark shroud and reached through space to brush against Alda’s cheek reassuringly before disappearing again within its folds.

“Ah, but you are like me. I was in your position once, shunned by the world because of my ability to hear the gods. I hear them even now whispering to me you have great things ahead of you.” She smiled a toothy smile. Her face was reverent with what Alda could only think of as enthusiasm and excitement. At least as far as she could tell.

Alda gripped the creature tightly to her. It nestled against her chest in response and she couldn’t help but feel a streak of protectiveness run through her. “We’ll see. For now, I’m going to focus on this little guy.” moving away from the witch to disengage from the conversation, as she continued walking backwards, Alda felt the witch grab onto her arm firmly and stop her movement entirely when she turned away.

Panicking, she looked up into the witch’s eyes, staring intently at her with a hint of determination running across their face. Knowing that arguing would only make things worse, Alda gave in and listened as she started talking again about being touched by the gods. Her eyes glazed over and she couldn’t hear anything the witch said, the panic in her chest rising, pulling her arm away after a few moments.

“Please stop, you’re hurting me, and you will not convince me. The gods aren’t with us anymore and nothing you say is going to prove that.” Her skepticism burned through her voice and bled into the air between them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going. I have chores to do.”

With that, the witch pulled back, her claw-like hands disappearing within the folds of her robe. “One day you’ll hear them and it will be undeniable.”

Alda stepped back with a skeptical look that spoke volumes and made the witch close her mouth against whatever else she was going to say. “We’ll see.” Walking away with the creature nestled against her and the feeling this would be a hell of an adventure in taking care of it.