Lyra arrived at the scene and found Zena panting on the floor. "She went in," she said.
Lyra groaned once. Her body was in no shape for this cave but-
But before she could go in, two people rushed out. Xerec and Lin. Xerec was basically dragging Lin out.
"Lin!" Lyra yelled. "You alright?"
"Do I look alright?"
She didn't. in fact, her eyes were puffy, her hair was somewhat disheveled and at first glance anyone would mistake her for a girl who just broke up.
"You don't," Lyra snickered.
It was already evening and soon this place would be covered in a thick mist. Making it awfully dangerous. Yet, Lyra was here. Even in her state. "What are you doing here?" Lin managed. "You know you shouldn't be here."
"I'm here for you. Heard Sol fell."
"Yeah," Lin rubbed her right arm, looking down. "I brought him here."
"It wasn't your fault. You know how the cave works."
"I do… but I still brought him here. It is my fault." Her eyes moistened and she shed a few tears.
Lyra knew Lin from a young age. The two of them were rivals. Always fighting over who was stronger, who was faster… who was prettier. Some battles Lyra won. Others, Lin. But they weren't just rivals, they were also friends.
And throughout those years, Lyra only saw Lin be emotional in a handful scenarios. Yet, these days, Lin was always emotional. No, that wasn't right. Lin was emotional for Sol.
"You've changed," Lyra managed. Her face retorting a little.
"I'll set up camp," Serec said, and got to work.
Zena stayed for a while to check on things and after a brief exchange, left. Her house was in shambles, and she had to be there.
Lyra too had to leave. She couldn't be out here and- "Oh, no," she said. A hand on her stomach. "Not now…" Her face darkened. Liquid dripped.
"Fuck," Lin groaned. "Burn some wood! We need fire and warm water!"
It would virtually be impossible to carry Lyra back to the village. And although it would be somewhat possible for them to bring a midwife here, they knew no one was stupid enough to come to this place at this hour.
"Serec, Xerec, keep watch!" Lin barked the orders. She was the only one here with enough experience and enough expertise. Lin knew how to do everything. She'd taught herself, forced herself to learn. Over and over again. She didn't like being dependent on anyone or anything. Yet, right now, she was hoping with all her fucking guts, something would happen and her kid would mysteriously be okay while she dealt with this.
As they were shaking and trying to sort things, one of Lyra's kids showed up. Tall, almost of age. Joseph. "What the fuck…" he mumbled. "Shouldn't we carry her back?" He got the situation in an instant.
"Runt, get to work! Make your mother comfortable," Lin said.
"I'm not a runt anymore Lin…" He whined but did as he was told.
The fire grew large and they got their warm water. Lyra laid down in a bunch of cloth and other stuff. They were originally planning on camping out here, at least Serec and Xerec were, so they'd bought in some camping here. Who'd have thought it'd all come in handy like this?
And although none of them were calm perse, Lyra was the one who wasn't panicking. She'd already been through this three times and it didn't really hurt as much as the first few times. "It's only the water kids, calm down," she snickered. "Just keep me warm and let's get this done!" And she was excited no less. Another addition to the family. I hope he makes it out okay… She only had one thing on her mind.
Lin though, had a lot of things to worry about. The birth came first, but her mind really was back in the second floor. Where she lost her boy.
Yet- yet, she bit her gums hard and steeled her nerves. This wasn't the first birth she was going to oversee and certainly not the last. So- she draped a cloth over Lyra's legs, and started the usual routine. "Look at you, already so big," Lin snickered. Or at least attempted to.
"Oh, shut up," Lyra rolled her eyes, "ARGHH!" And groaned. But compared to the previous few times, especially the first time, this was nothing. And she could feel the baby slowly positioning its head against her. If it wasn't for the rotten smell and the oncoming mist, this would have been a great experience.
But since she didn't have that luxury-
"Runt what are you still doing here? Go get your dad or something!" Lin yelled.
"He's not home, why do you think I'm here!?"
Lin rolled her eyes. "I see the head, keep pushing!"
Meanwhile, Serec and Xerec were trying to not watch. They'd never seen childbirth, not even their own kids. So yeah, they were kind of curious. But they knew the moment they even attempt to take a peek… Lin would beat the living shit out of them. Even now, even after growing such strong muscles, they knew that beast was beastly in terms of strength. What's worse, she was in a really bad mood because of her kid. Right now, she was somewhat distracted but…
Gulping, they just kept the watch. Luckily, no dark wolf actually came near the camp.
"ARGHHH!"
In one fell swoop the baby just came out.
"WAHHH!"
"Well, that was easy," Joseph managed. "Didn't it take like hours with Lia?"
Yet it only took one hour for this one.
"It took a whole day for you," Lyra panted. Face flushed with sweat, she was bleeding, and yet… yet her smile didn't vanish.
Lin cut the ambilocal cord with a knife she just boiled. With the stuff cut, she wiped the boy, put a cloth around it and gave the child to its mother. "Well congratulations Runt, you now have more competition for your father's estate," Lin shrugged.
"Nah," the boy smiled. "I'm kind of tempted to just give him stuff anyway."
That said, Lin got ready for the placenta which also came out surprisingly easily. This really was, the easiest birth Lin experienced. And she was glad for that.
"Think I'll name him Solin," Lyra said.
However- "After I clean you, I'm going back in," Lin said. "And maybe decide on names with the father present or something?"
"You can't be serious!" Xerec came over. Serec kept watch. "You know, we can't leave her right now. We don't know how to do anything!"
Lin struggled to hold back the groan. It was already close to midnight. She'd murdered all the snakes in the first four floors and there was virtually nothing there. This was her shot at going down. She knew she'd be fine on her own. But the cave was unpredictable. Specially during the night. And with Lyra like this, she couldn't just leave her out here either. The other three were just boys. Maybe if Zena was here….
"I'll stay for an hour. But after that, I'm going in and nothing can stop me."