Blackberry stood among the bones. The bones that had laid there, watching over her family, for cycles upon cycles. She had watched it decay, watched the pretty blue and black feathers shrivel into dust. Watched the skin melt into black goop and watched the goop harden and crack and disappear with age. There was nothing there now but bones. Bones and dust. The ribs stretched out like claws and the beak was open, the eye sockets empty. She had never really stopped to look at the bones before. They had always been there...why would she need to look? But now she realized that they were small. He had been young. Not a baby, but not an adult.

A strange sadness entered her. Perhaps it was a side effect of being a mother, of loving her children, but she realized that it was kind of sad that her first kill had been a mere child. But she did not feel pity for the bird, only for their age, and for whatever mother it had had before its death.

But the pity only lasted for a moment before she flinched and came back to the world. She had come here for a reason. It was time.

She had planned this to be different. She had wanted one of her children to revive the gemstones, but she was becoming impatient. They were scattered and they were not coming to her call. Jayberry was the most loyal but she could not give life just yet. Elderberry was ideal, but he was missing. The rest were either unresponsive or too young. She would have to do this herself.

She lowered her head to the ground and, with the help of one of her wings, slipped the necklace over her head. It clattered on the ground, the precious gems still attached to the old vine twinkling under the light. She leaned forward and carefully snipped them off with her beak, careful not to take off the treasures she had tied along with them. There were two now, the third she had given to Blueberry some time ago.

And one belonged to the bones now in front of her.

It was strange to think about it, but only fitting that the bones would serve as the cradle for these new children to grow and hatch within. The old body protecting the new ones. She smirked at the irony.

She laid the blue moonstone in first and closed her eyes. He beak gently touched the surface of the gemstone and the magic that lay within her, scarcely used, activated with a warm burst. She shivered at the unfamiliar feeling and felt a strange wave wash over her as a part of her own life detached and spread into the gemstone. It shivered and for a moment she wondered if it had been too much, but then it began to glow with a soft golden color.

She leaned back and looked down, triumphantly. One down, one to go.

Blackberry moved away from the moonstone and picked up the emerald, laying it down besides the now glowing chrysalis. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, touching her beak to the emerald again. This time, perhaps, she was a bit too eager and the magic came too forcefully. The shiver that went through the gemstone was violent and a cracking sound rang through her ears. Her eyes snapped open and she lurched away, feeling her heart skip, but it was too late. The gem shivered again and split in two.

For a moment she stared at the shard before frowning with disappointment. "Damn..." she whispered as she gathered the gem bits and took them out of the bones. There was still a bit of vine left and she did her best to wrap it around the two pieces so that they looked at least a little bit like they were one again before attaching it back to the necklace.

She glanced up at the moonstone. At least one gem had succeeded in taking in her life force. Soon there would be another berry on the way. And, hopefully, this one would be loyal to her and to the family.

*exit