The Worst Kobold Chapter 36: Chapter 1 - The Birth of a Drag-, No.... The Birth of a Kobold

Read chapter 36 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

“How in all the depths upon depths did that get in here?” That was a good question. Tenderclaw was an older, squat woman with dark pink scales, and short nubby horns almost like dinner plates on her head. She swayed her stubby tail anxiously as she tried to wrap her mind around… the monolith in front of her. “It’s an egg.” Ginger was a bigger than an average kobold with thick legs and bulging arms. He had mostly rust colored scales, but his head had a mass of brighter red scales which it made look like he almost had human hair. He scratched his rather impressively large snout as he craned his neck up. In front of the pair of egg nursemaids? Was an egg. That wasn’t unusual for them. They worked in the hatchery after all. Their entire careers was centered around taking care of the next generation. It was quite the honored position. “I know that’s an egg,” Tenderclaw pointed up, yes up, to the massive egg. It was as tall as three kobolds in a trenchcoat, and took up one of the nesting areas all to itself. “What I want to know is… well, a couple of things. First off, how did that get in here?” The pinkish kobold looked to the entrance, which was the normal kobold-sized tunnel. “I’m guessing it got in when the shell was still soft?” Ginger scratched one of his pointed horns. “You know, pushing it through like meat in a sausage maker?” “We should not be using the phrase ‘sausage maker’ when we are talking about moving eggs.” Tenderclaw said with a little cringe in her voice. Moving an egg to the nest was one of the most delicate and careful procedures. It was kept with the mother until the shell hardened, then it was placed in a specialized cart to hold it in place. Then, at least two nursemaids will carefully escort it to the next room, and place it gently in its resting place for the next few months. The egg in front of them clearly could not be moved with only two kobolds. “Maybe the mother laid the egg here?” Ginger suggested. Already his mind was planning on how to deal with this unusual case here. Turning the egg alone would be quite the challenge. “I… guess?” Tenderclaw has had four eggs herself in her life. She had been lucky to be promoted to an egg nursemaid for her last two, and so had the rare privilege of caring for her children before they hatched. “That… brings me to my… second question?” “What women in the depth could lay that?” Ginger said what they had both been thinking, although he had been a tad more blunt. Tenderclaw brought up her notebook. They took detailed notes on each egg. Weight, height, time the egg was laid, length of incubation time, and of course the parents. “Oh…” her voice got soft. “The mother… didn’t make it.” There was no claw print next to the egg entry. The mother would place her hand in ink, and then place it on both the paper and the shell. It was another way to keep track of all the unhatched children. Redundancy was important. But if there was no claw print... “Oh…,” Ginger said in response. That was unusual, to say the least. Laying an egg wasn’t as nearly as dangerous to kobolds as it was to other species, so complications were rare. But not unheard of. Though in this case… he shouldn’t be surprised. The younger nurse paused a moment in respect, then asked the question he was dreading. “Who were the parents?” Selfishlessly, he was hoping it was no one he knew. He had only been here for ten years, but for Tenderclaw? It was more than likely the departed mother was one of the eggs she helped take care of. Tenderclaw double checked the records. “There’s no name,” she answered with shock. “In fact, there’s no record of it!” “What?” Ginger was slightly taken aback. Taking records was almost as important as the care. Mixing up children would be the most grievous of errors. “How is that possible?” “I... have no idea!” The pink nursemaid was already going through her notebook. ‘Could... could it be from one of the women from a fallen clan?” Ginger peered over her shoulder, his own eye scanning t