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go from here. But wherever he was, the presence of the Soulstone felt stronger than before. He placed his hand on the rock he had been pushed up against and used it to steady himself. But the rock started to tilt to the side. Zarim jumped back in surprise, then realized that it wasn’t a rock he had been up against.
    It was an egg.
    Zarim took in his surroundings for the first time since he struck the plateau. This was not simply a flat piece of land atop a mountain, it was a nest. A nest that clearly belonged to the pterosaur. And the nest was filled with large eggs, about the size of Zarim himself. He stared at the eggs with bated breath. And a crack began to appear along the top of one of them.  
    “Oh no...no no no...”
    It was now clear why the pterosaur had grabbed him in the first place—the mother was seeking out food for her babies, who would be born soon. And this was the first. More cracks formed along the top of the shell. The hatchling inside poked a hole through the egg. Its beak emerged, slowly widening and letting out a little screech. More cracks appeared along the rough surface of the shell, and Zarim moved towards the edge of the nest, his fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword.  
    Pieces of the shell fell away, and the baby pterosaur emerged from its egg. Its body was covered with mucous and it wiped some of it away with its tiny wings. As it lowered its wing from its head, the baby caught sight of Zarim. It stared at him, studying him carefully. Zarim remained still, hoping there might be a chance that the creature would think of him as something other than food.  
    And he saw it.
    The egg had obscured his view before, but now he saw the large gemstone in the nest, pulsating with a pale, green glow. The only thing standing between him and the Soulstone was this baby pterosaur. Zarim stepped carefully to one side, keeping his back against the edge of the nest, which was formed from branches and broken saplings. The pterosaur’s eyes followed him and it took a tiny step in his direction.  
    “It’s okay...Uncle Zarim’s not gonna hurt you...”
    The baby pterosaur screeched and opened its wingspan. It lunged for him, using its beak in a stabbing motion. Zarim spun to avoid it, his back now against one of its siblings’ eggs. The pterosaur screeched and lunged again and Zarim ducked, rolling to the side. The pterosaur’s beak pierced the wall of the egg against which he had stood. A muffled screech came from inside that shell. The baby pulled its beak out and the egg it had stabbed now shook and cracked itself.
    “Some days, it’s just not worth gettin’ outta bed...” Zarim drew his sword and deflected another beak-strike. The pterosaur angrily wailed as it felt the tremor of the sword blow vibrate through his beak and into its young cranium. Still, the pterosaur’s belly was empty, and it was not so easily deterred from making a meal out of the pirate. It made another stabbing attack and Zarim deflected it again. The pterosaur’s beak seemed unaffected by the strikes, meaning it was just as strong as his sword.  
    The second egg now broke apart and another baby pterosaur emerged, shaking off the shell fragments and viscous fluid. It approached its sibling and screeched. The two creatures exchanged brief glances and with a bob of his head the eldest motioned towards Zarim. The younger pterosaur instinctually understood, and now moved beside its kin.  
    Zarim glanced over his shoulder and could see the Soulstone’s soft glow behind him. It seemed brighter now than it did before. He thrust forward with his sword, impaling one of the pterosaurs in the neck. While it wriggled on the point, squawking hoarsely, its sibling wailed and charged towards Zarim.  
    The pirate drew his gun in a rapid motion and fired at the second, the third bullet bringing down the pterosaur in a snapping, writhing heap at his feet. Zarim leapt away from the beak of the pterosaur, for even in its death