The swordmaster Shana was pregnant. She felt the first of her usual contractions, but this one was different. Shana was going to be two months early.
She was outside her house, hanging wet laundry on the clothesline. She grunted and grimaced as the contraction happens again. She called for Nepton but he was not at home.
Her breathing quickened.
Though she was seven months pregnant, her stomach was only slightly rounded, but she had been plagued with spinal ache since she entered the second trimester.
She managed to make it all the way to the main street, where she found a teenage boy who lived in the area. She called him over.
'Your name is Hansun.'
'Yes, it is.'
She winced from another contraction. 'I need your help Hansun. I am going into labor and I need the midwife. Can you run to her house to fetch her? It is not too far'
'But I don't know who the midwife is.' Hansun's gaze landed on her stomach, he was not convinced, though she sounded in pain as spoke.
'You are a smart boy so I am sure you can find out where . . . and who she is.'
'But I was just sent to buy fuzzpeas . . .'
'Please!' It came out very loud as the contraction felt like it knitted her insides together and her eyes widened. 'You have to help me.'
Hansun finally believed her as she grabbed him to keep from toppling. 'My house first please.'
Hansun led the pregnant woman into her simple house. She directed him towards the bathroom, where a tubful of cold water was. She slipped into the tub and screamed after a few seconds.
Hansun was frightened, all of a sudden, from something deep within that primal howl. His legs started shaking, he feared for what he did not know.
'I will get the midwife!' He scampered out of the building. Even when he was far out of earshot he could hear her screams in his head. He forgot all about the fuzzpeas and focused completely on the task at hand and soon got the directions to the midwife.
Not too long afterwardsz a man with a significant paunch and excess weight on his body hurried into the Iron Ladle tavern. The unnecessary rush drew the attention of the patrons, but they lost interest immediately when they recognized the man.
The man went straight into the kitchen.
'What a world! You can't even say hello anymore Bempo,' The bartender said.
Bempo, the man with the paunch, did not reply. He disappeared into the kitchen while the man at the bar asked the regulars what found its way into Bempo.
A patron who was not a regular watched them with interest. He was treating himself to a small celebration for finishing a job. The problem was that he was unable to get himself drunk, despite the bottles he had emptied. The bartender at first had been wary and refused to serve until he saw evidence of purchasing power.
The Iron Ladle's backdoor slammed open, though the other patrons did not. The bartender also did not.
The strange patron, whose name was Nepton, cocked his head at the sound.
Bempo came out of the kitchen and promptly and uncharacteristically ordered drinks for everyone in the tavern.
Nepton got scared when, some hundred meters away, an unveiling of power occurred. He jumped out of his seat, thrashing the drinks on his table. For nearly a year he had been keeping close watch and there had never been anything close to the amount of power unveiled by anyone that wasn't the swordmaster Shana.
Nepton went over to sit with Bempo. 'What did you tell the cook?'
'it ain't your business.'
'It is.'
Nepton slapped the back of Bempo's head into the bar. The shot glass Bempo had been about to drink shattered. The bartender backed away, eyes going wide. The patrons all turned to look.
'You have one more chance to answer.'
Bempo's nose was broken and shards of glass were stuck in his forehead and his cheek. He grabbed Bempo's neck and squeezed until everything came out. He did not like what he heard.
Nepton broke into a run back home, though he still sensed Shana's presence from over ten kilometers away. She was on the verge of death.
The time Nepton spent interrogating Bempo, the midwife's husband, he had also spent tracking the cook who had been in hiding the whole time. He went to interrogate Bempo only because he felt the signature move away from the town, not towards it. But the information Bempo sold was about Shana being in labor.
Nepton ran as fast as he could toward Shana, regretting that he was not with her in her hour of need every step of the way.
Princess reached the general area of the hideout, forty-something kilometers out of town within an hour. She thrashed through the hidden trails while leaving gaps of wind behind her. Branches snapped as she tore through them unmindful of the pain.
She was close to the hidden entrance, ready to shatter it, unwilling to waste even an instant when one of her four brothers, Prow, appeared in front of the entrance, worried. She slowed down and even then had to shout at him to catch her. He did so easily, despite her momentum.
'What is going on?'
'She is in labor. The swordmaster is in fucking labor! Grab the weapons and tell the others!'
'They're not here.'
'Where the fuck are they?'
'We usually fish during this time.'
They were now inside the hideout and were grabbing weapons left right and center. 'Fuck! No! No!' Princess screamed before she regained her sanity. The golden opportunity was slipping out of her grasp after months of patience and cunning. She calmed down.
'We'll pick them up along the way. We have time. Martial artists spend a lot of time in labor so we can still kill her.' Princess said to herself and her brother knew better than to get in her way. 'She is fucking strong, she could even die just from the labor itself. All that power refuses to give up a part of its host. We have time. Did you hear me? We have time.'
'If you say so big sister.'
'Let's go and get the others and finish this quickly.'
Nepton had long since been unable to feel Shana's presence. He did not jump to conclusions. They had taken precautions to suppress her power to increase her odds of surving. He shut down his extrasensory technique, deciding not to know. The cook of the Iron Ladle was far gone and he couldn't find her even if he tried.
He reached the house after nearly an hour and heard nothing inside. He looked around and did not see signs of combat or conflict. He also did not see any sign of life. Everything he saw felt strange without the extrasensory perception he had kept active for so many months.
He balled his hands into tight fists and entered the house.
The midwife was in the room cleaning a newborn baby. They exchanged looks and she smiled at him. 'It is a boy. Congratulations!'
'I am not the father.'
'Of course I know!'
'What about . . . ?'
'She is still in the bathroom, she's just amazing. I have never met anyone as strong in her situation.'
Nepton fell back, he hit the wall behind him, and the whole world felt normal again.
'Are you alright?' The midwife asked.
'I am. I am. I am.'
'Do you want to see him? Two months early but not a thing is wrong.'
'I need to get to my . . . his mother.'
After the midwife left, Nepton thought of telling Shana about the threat that was coming but she beat him to it. 'I know what you are thinking.'
'Stop exerting yourself, you are exhausted.'
'There is little else I can do. Can you bring my sword to me?'
'Shana you are in no state to fight.'
'I have no choice.'
He gave her the sword.
'Don't come back. Run and never come back . . . I will look for you.'
'Shana, we have enough in reserve. We can run.'
'I don't know if it is just because I have held my son in my hands and known the joy of motherhood, I suddenly don't feel like running or risking his life. It is too dangerous for my son and for you too. I will meet them here and we will be done with it.'
'Bring me my sword please,' Shana said
'Be careful.'
'Always and forever.'
'Don't die.'
'I know. Now you must go.' She grabbed the hilt of her sword that was still in the scabbard. Teardrops ran down Nepton's face as he was packing all the midwife said the child needed and what he considered vital.
'How many are there?'
'Two different signatures. There's something uncanny and they are getting closer.'
'How many minutes do you think?'
'Maybe twenty.'
'Then why are you here talking to me? Go!'
The swordmaster wore simple clothes that reminded her of her childhood in a faraway village. Her hands rested on the pommel of the sword and the strength, stored within the sword, was frightening to behold.
She closed her eyes, holding back the ocean of strength within the sword. She was hardly in any condition to do battle.
Her will was all she relied upon.
She stood behind the window, waiting the hunters coming to claim the dead or alive bounty on her head, at the hour that was supposed to have been her most vulnerable.
The swordmaster was prepared to die, and drew her nameless greatsword out of the scabbard.
'Gant'
She had forgotten to tell Newton the name of her son and now she looked back, saying it to herself. She took a stance and prepared to die.
Nepton was now too far away to even sense Shana. He did not look back. He cradled the boy and focused on getting the boy to safety. Now tapping into a stockpile of power, he ran like the wind.