Page 81 of The Arcane God

No, no, no.

This wasn’t right. The baby was not supposed to come for a few more weeks. She was supposed to have time.

“Iblis, fuck,” Ty said, his face grave as the wind picked up around them. The snow was beginning to fall in earnest now, blanketing everyone’s hoods and shoulders in icy white.

“What do we do?” Turner asked. He’d unconsciously moved closer to Ena, as had Ty, as they both attempted to shield her from the worst of the storm.

“We have to move. We can’t stay here,” Ty said urgently.

“Where, though?” Turner asked. “Camp is almost two days of travel away.”

“There’s a shelter—a cave—a few hours away that we could go to,” Xena contributed.

“A few hours?” Turner asked, sounding appalled. “Will she make it that long?”

Xena shrugged.

“‘She’ is right here,” Ena spoke, tired of having everyone speak around her. “And I don’t know if I can make it. I have no idea how long the labor will be, but…we have no other choice, so I’ll try.”

Ena spoke decisively, but inside, terror gripped her.

Because what was worse than being stuck in a blizzard with no shelter in sight? Being stuck in a blizzard, in labor, with the prospect of having to deliver her baby completely exposed to the elements.

Yes, that was infinitely worse.

Ena almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, but she knew to do so now would make her sound insane.

“Okay, can you walk?” Ty asked her, immediately assuming charge now that they had a goal.

“Yes, I think so,” Ena said, but as she began to move, more liquid came gushing out of her. She knew she’d have to deal with her extremely wet clothes at some point, but there was nowhere to do so now, so she just kept moving, hoping it would keep her warm.

The three of them surrounded her on all sides as they moved as swiftly as possible down the trail they had come up. It wasn’t until about thirty minutes later that Ena felt her first contraction—at least, she was pretty sure it was a contraction. She’d heard so much about them, but it didn’t feel like much yet, though she knew that would likely change.

After about an hour, she started to get really cold—the wetness of her broken water causing her pants to freeze. Ty—who’d been sticking close to her side and holding her arm through the steep parts—noticed her shaking.

“Are you getting cold, Ena?” he asked, his beard thick with snow from the storm.

“Yes,” she answered, her teeth chattering as she looked down at herself. “It’s…I’m all wet.”

“She can trade clothes with me,” Xena called from beside them.

“I don’t know if your p-pants will f-fit me right now,” she said, though she knew dry clothes would help her mental state immensely.

“So rip them in the front if you have to,” Xena said without a care. “Come here.” She guided Ena over to a small copse of trees that were more densely packed together than the rest. Ty and Turner stood on either side of them, shielding her and Xena from the worst of the storm as they disrobed in the cold, deep snow.

It took some wrangling, but after a few minutes, Ena was able to wriggle her significantly thicker legs and ass into Xena’s pants, leaving the front unbuttoned and sitting low below her stomach. It felt good to have dry clothes on again, but another contraction rocked her as they rested there.

Ena clutched at her stomach, the feeling of it tightening her entire body, like someone held her muscles in a vise-grip. But then, after a few seconds, it passed.

“Are you alright?” Ty asked her, his gaze filled with concern.

“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s keep moving,” she said. Her only goal now was to get to the cave Xena knew about. She had to put all other concerns and fears from her mind, lest they overwhelm her.

After several more hours, Ena began to tire. Not just of walking, but of her increasingly painful contractions. She had to stop frequently now, leaning against Ty as they progressively rocked her body harder and harder. She knew she needed to keep moving, to get to the cave before it was too late, but her body wouldn’t cooperate, and she was getting more terrified with every moment that passed. The snow continued to fall around them, rising from the forest floor as if they stood in a glass slowly filling with water.

She stopped, breathing heavily through her nose and clutching onto Ty’s shoulder with all her might as another contraction ripped through her.

“Ty,” she said. “I don’t know if I can keep walking. I don’t know if I can make it.”