CHAPTER 206: WANT ME GONE?

[ Old World – Blackmoon Colony – Inner Camp]

The air inside the birthing tent was heavy.

Not warm. Not cold. Just thick...too full of tension and commotion...as if the shadows in the corners were breathing alongside everyone inside. The smell of boiled herbs, sweat, and blood clung to every thread of the canvas walls.

Another piercing moan cut through, followed by a ragged gasp.

Then another scream followed...sharp, shuddering, drawn from the bottom of Lyla’s lungs.

Her back was arched against the thin pallet, fingers clawing at the rough blanket beneath her. The muscles in her neck stood out like taut cords, veins bulging under skin that was already slick with sweat.

"Hold her still...!" one of the midwives barked, pushing a rolled cloth into Lyla’s palm. "Bite if you have to, my lady!"

Lyla shook her head violently, her hair plastered to her temples. "I can’t...oh goddess...!" Her voice cracked into another scream as her whole body spasmed.

"You can," the older healer said firmly, leaning over her. Her voice was steady, but her eyes were quick, darting between the swollen curve of Lyla’s belly and the blood stained clothes at her knees. "You have got to, Luna Lyla. There is no stopping now."

Outside, the wind too moaned against the tent flaps, carrying with it the creak of wooden watchtowers and the faint barked orders of guards on patrol. Somewhere far off, a wolf howled...a long, hollow sound that sent a shiver through the younger midwife’s hands as she wrung out another rag in cold water... "Was that... was that the Alpha?!" But nobody answered her.

The Old World never made anything easy. Neither birth. Nor survival.

Lyla’s lips trembled, and she grabbed blindly for the younger woman’s arm. "Please...just...just get it out..."

"We are trying," the girl soothed, brushing wet strands of hair from Lyla’s face. "But you have got to push harder. The baby’s fighting too."

The older healer glanced at the window slit...towards the setting sun.Lyla had been in active labour,fighting the entire day for literally her life. "We don’t have much time. The cold will set in once the sun drops.We need to get this done before that..."

Another contraction slammed into Lyla like a wave, wrenching a guttural cry from her. She jerked upward, clutching at her belly.

"It burns...oh damn, it burns!" she gasped.

"That’s the pressure, my lady, that’s the head moving," the midwife said, her own voice growing sharper. "Don’t you dare stop now. Push harder when I tell you."

The younger one was already scrambling to replace the soaked clothes beneath her. "Too much blood," she whispered under her breath.

The older healer heard it anyway. "Keep your mouth shut unless you have got something useful to say."

Lyla’s breath came in short, desperate pants now, her eyes unfocused, the tendons in her hands standing out as she crushed the fabric in her fists.

"Push!"

"I am...pushing...!" Lyla’s voice cracked again, and tears spilled down her temples. "It...hurts...too...much..."

"Good," the healer snapped. "Pain means you are still here. Now give me more."

The wind outside shifted, and the temperature inside seemed to drop another degree. The cold licked at the sweat on Lyla’s skin, raising gooseflesh along her arms. Her body shuddered under the strain, muscles trembling with each contraction.

The younger midwife leaned close to her ear. "You are almost there, Luna Lyla. Just one more strong push, I swear..."

A harsh laugh escaped Lyla, strangled and breathless. "You said that...a thousand...pushes ago..." Lyla said with much difficulty.

"Then I will say it again," the girl said, gripping her hand tighter. "One more."

Another contraction seized her, harder than the last, and she let out a sound that was more animal than human.

Her body bowed against the pain, every muscle straining, fighting against the weakness that had already been gnawing at her for weeks.

And still... the baby didn’t come.

"The problem is...she is still not opening enough," The younger healer muttered, fingers slick with blood as she bent down to check Lyla’s entrance once again.

" This is where the husband usually comes to help," One of the onlookers murmured before the older healer gave her a sharp look. Yet she could not stop another from blabbering. " I heard the Alpha only entered her once... no wonder she is still so small down there... no wonder the baby won’t come... "

"The babe’s too big...or she is too weak to be a Luna," another replied grimly.

"Push, my lady...push!" The younger healer said a bit too loud trying to drown the irrelevant wave of observations going around.

"I am!" she snarled this time , her voice breaking.

"Her womb is too weak to hold the baby any longer... with her condition it was a miracle she carried the baby so long... "

" Yet, she can’t birth it alright! The child is suffering... it’s choking and suffocating... they might ultimately have to cut her open!"

" Cut her open? We can not do that here! There isn’t even any proper operation theatre, let alone supplies to support a sanitized Cesarean section! She will die if they even try that... "

"I think the Alpha wants her dead! Otherwise, won’t he be here, helping her with his Alpha aura...give part of his strength to his beloved... that would help in the birthing...won’t it?! "

" Yeah, a lot!!! "

" Just shut up and carry on with your work... or head out... you are not helping... At all! " The older healer finally outburst out, drawing immediate silence from everyone.

" Am I... Am I dying?" Lyla asked, straining her head up.

"You might be," the healer said bluntly.

" Please don’t let me die until I hold my baby in my arms... "

Another contraction hit.

This one was different.

It didn’t crest and fade like the others...it clamped down, iron hot, unrelenting. Lyla’s scream was soundless this time, her body bowing off, her spine locking in a rigid arc.

Something was wrong.

"She is tearing...hold her...hold her down...!"

Hands pinned her down. Lyla thrashed, her vision whiting out. She could feel it....the way her body was splitting, the way the pain was no longer just pain but something deeper, something that threatened to unmake her.

"Shit!!!The babe’s stuck...!"

" God dammit...Turn it...turn it now...!"

Fingers were thrashed inside her, twisting, pulling.

Lyla’s scream didn’t work past her throat.

Darkness flickered at the edges of her vision. She was slipping...slipping...

"Stay with us, my lady! Stay with us!"