Cultivating the Unknown

Kira lay sprawled across the sun-warmed flagstones near the altar, lazily toying with a little trinket Harper had returned to her earlier.

Harper perched on the edge of the altar platform in the yard, holding the Unidentified Beast Egg she'd picked up in last night's trade.

The egg was huge—almost the size of a microwave oven. Its shell was dull and mottled with patches of gray, cool to the touch.