Rizantona was ready this time. She only looked asleep. Whatever that ball of light was, it wanted something with her child, and she would not allow that. Creeping up when it thought Rizantona was sleeping, changing its size from larger to tiny, dampening its light, and watching, always watching, the egg she had clutched to her breast. It worried her.

Her egg was rocking. That should happen close to hatching, when the infant experimented with its environment prior to breaking ...