Sleeping Dragon a prophecy

Gyda had, much to her own surprise, had not hid in the confines of her cave during the swarm as she might have initially thought she would have. The urge had been there, of course, for there wasn't anything she found herself more terrified of than insects. Her duties did not cease because of the swarm, if anything she felt a more pressing urge to see to them and soothe the concerns of her subordinates as best she could. She wanted to feel optimism, but it was hard when faced with the bone-like limbs of the trees and world around them. The swarm had devoured everything in their path but left plenty of bug carcasses around. A wave of nausea overtook her, sudden and she found herself throwing up in ...what had once been a lively little bush just outside the mouth of her cave. Now, it was little more than a shrub skeleton covered in her vomit.

Initially, so caught up in the chaos of the swarm and the devastation it left in it's wake that she's almost forgotten about the life that was, hopefully, growing within her. Over her fear for their survival in the coming months — for surely no herds would linger: there was nothing for them to eat — there had been little time for the Viking Queen to obsess over her symptoms. Not that, granted, she had much idea of what to look for. Lucani had long since left them and had taken her invaluable knowledge with her. Gyda had once wanted her as her adviser and midwife and now the shield-maiden, if Gavriel's seed had taken, would be on her own: for even her own mother was too far away to turn to for the advice and answers.

For now, Gyda focused on what was important: the survival of the pack, her survival, and if The Gods willed it to be so: the survival of the life forming within her. There was no time for her to analyze or be excited about something as revolting as throwing up. Instead, she collected herself as if she hadn't just vomited what little contents her stomach held and marched on, in search of one of the caches, hoping for a few bites. There were plenty of dead bugs around, she noted, but idly Gyda couldn't help but wonder just how desperate she'd have to be before she would succumb to turning to dead bugs for food.