Page 82 of The Arcane God

“Xena, how much farther?” Ty called to his sister.

“Only a few miles now,” Xena replied, pitching her voice above the howl of the wind.

“Come on,” Ty said to her, scooping one arm under her knees, and the other under her arms as he carried her like a child. “You can do it, viper. We’re almost there.”

She hated how tight his voice sounded—how afraid. Ty was never afraid, and the fact that he was now made her realize how grave this all was.

Ty carried her for another hour, his muscles straining with her weight, until they finally started moving inward, approaching the side of the mountain. They must have been getting close now.

Ena shielded her face from the wind by hiding it in the crux of Ty’s neck, shutting her eyes tight with every contraction. They were closer together now, and longer. As much as she wanted them to stop until they made it somewhere safer, they wouldn’t—and that feeling of being utterly out of control, having no idea what was about to happen to her, how much it would hurt, if she would be alright… Ena wasn’t sure she’d never felt more terrified in her entire life. Because it wasn’t just her life on the line, it was the baby’s too. The baby that she hadn’t wanted, but had come to her anyway. The baby that had saved her from the truest depths of her despair after Ty was lost. The baby that she had housed and grown and felt move and loved over the past nine months.

Because deep down, it was the thought that the baby might not be alright that truly scared her. Wondering if they had really overcome the ill omen of the Canus Elk, or if something else tragic was bound to happen…

“It’s here!” Xena called from ahead of them.

A tiny burst of relief crashed through Ena as Ty followed Xena’s voice, leading them to a small depression in the mountain that created an overhang about twelve feet deep. It wasn’t much, but as they stepped underneath it, they were blocked from the worst of the wind and pelting ice.

Ty put her down at the back of the overhang, as far from the snow and wind as he could, his arms shaking with the effort as he lowered her. Then he took off his outer layer of fur and brushed off the worst of the snow before setting it down on the ground. He prompted her to move on top of it and then lean back against the cave wall.

“We need to start a fire,” he said to Turner and Xena, the former having finished digging in his pack to offer her some water and dried meat. She wasn’t exactly hungry, but she took them nonetheless, knowing she needed to keep her strength up.

“And then what?” Turner said to him quietly. “I don’t know about you, Ty, but I don’t exactly know how to a deliver a baby. What if something goes wrong?”

Ty stroked his beard. “I’m not sure we have a choice, Turner,” he replied, his voice harsher than usual, though she knew that was just the fear talking.

“What about you?” Turner asked Xena. “Know anything about childbirth?”

Xena shook her head solemnly at them. “The stryx do not give birth much anymore. The last baby that was born was delivered by Kaya. Her Gift makes her an invaluable asset.”

“We’re still several hours away from camp,” Turner said, his voice almost panicked. He was worried about her too. Everyone was worried, and it made her feel on the edge of panicking herself.

“I can get there faster,” Xena said. “It’s a full moon tonight. As soon as it rises, I’ll be able to Change. I’ll fly there and get Kaya.”

“But how will Kaya get here?” Turner asked her.

“Max will bring her, I’m sure of it. When he is Changed, he can move quickly.”

“She is going to ride here…on the back of a bear?” Turner asked skeptically, his eyebrows flying up.

Xena simply nodded at him, as if this were obvious.

“Okay, it’s worth a—” Ty began to say, but then Ena lost the thread of the conversation as she was beset by another contraction. By the time it ebbed away again, Turner was gone—presumably out to gather what wood he could, and Ty and Xena stood on the edge of the cave, watching as the sun set outside of it.

“Do you have enough blood to fuel the Change?” Ty asked her.

“We’ll see,” she said. “I don’t need as much as others, since my animal form is smaller than I am.”

Ena came in and out of attention, beginning to focus only on her internal state. At some point, Turner started a fire, and the space warmed significantly, and she silently thanked Gaia for it.

She shed her outer layers, able to move more comfortably in fewer clothes now. She found herself moving around the cave—leaning against the wall, crouching, sitting—doing anything and everything to escape the discomfort.

She wanted to wait until Kaya got here—that would be the safest thing—but at the same time, she already desperately wanted this all to be over. Wanted the pain to stop. Wanted to be safe and comfortable once more. But she knew, one way or another, she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Okay,” she overheard Xena say to the others. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Ena watched as she opened the waterskin of blood attached to her belt, and drained it dry. Then, she stripped herself of her clothing until she stood in the nude, and turned back to look at Ena over her shoulder.

“Omnis is within you, Ena. Stay strong,” she said, and then she turned her attention to the sky and began to Change.