>>5559394The Heretic seems shocked at this outburst… But, then, a full-blooded Serpent priestess is the highest-born of the three of you, with indisputable privilege to assail even the Dragonborn Antipaladin.
“Do you understand WHY, though?” the Heretic asks.
“A… Number of reasons, yes?” you ask, suddenly uncertain. “They earn her ire, or perish in battle, or suffer from…”
You pause, and he nods.
“Yes,” the Heretic affirms. “Health complications. Illness. Even those who do not come to bad ends undergo such a travail.”
“She is testing them, then?” you ask. “Testing ME? To what end?”
“Not a test, Superior One,” the Heretic explains. “It is a side-effect of the mating process, and the subsequent gestation.”
“Gestation?” You blink. “I am not the one doing the gestating. Why should it effect me?”
There is a long pause.
“Wait,” the Novice asks, “what? No. That is… Impossible.”
“It is not a true pregnancy,” the heretic quickly clarifies. “But it is the nature of the Mother of Dragons to require material beings to craft material beings. The soul-gestation—the generation of a hybrid, demigod spirit—must take place inside of a mortal.”
After a moment, the Novice Fleshweaver laughs, and she does not stop for some time.
“You are PREGNANT!” she cackles.
