Chapter 4190: Second Chance (Part 1)

In the blink of an eye, all the Verhens were present and accounted for. Friends and men had to wait beyond the door together with the kids. Only a few women were allowed entrance.

"Has childbirth become some kind of show without me knowing?" Kamila grunted. "Why are so many people here?"

"Grandma is the main midwife. Baba Yaga is the secondary midwife in case Grandma is called back to the Desert for an emergency. Then Faluel is ready to step in if Meln attacks-"

"Damn situation 43-F!" Kamila gritted in pain.

"So you read the manual, after all." Lith gave her a warm smile as he let her squeeze his hand to withstand the pain from the contractions.

"What about me?" Elina asked, feeling not up to the task.

"Moral support." Lith replied. "Is it me, or is the delivery progressing faster than the last time?"

"We get it, okay?" Kamila felt something moving and gave a strong push. "You were right. Situation 15-D it is. You would have never made it to Zin’s house in time. Happy now?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I don’t care about that. I’m asking if this is normal." Lith said.

On the one hand, he was happy to skip the anxiety and nervousness of the long wait he had endured on the day of Elysia’s birth. On the other hand, he was worried there might be an issue with the baby.

"There are no two identical births." Salaark shrugged. "Sometimes these little imps arrive fashionably late like royals and other times-"

A powerful wail cut her short as Raldarak complained about his sudden and unwarranted eviction.

"Other times, they come out before you have the time to boil a pot of water." The Guardian shrugged. "Lith, it’s time for you to do the honors. Kami, clench your teeth.

"It’s not going to hurt, but it’s not going to be less unpleasant than the other time either."

Lith cut the umbilical cord with the skill of a veteran Healer and the finesse of an artist dealing with a priceless yet frail crystal. The cut was perfect, but it couldn’t change the outcome.

Kamila felt her strength abandoning her like water escaping the confines of a broken vase. Her body seemed to have turned into lead, and keeping her eyes open required sheer force of will.

’There’s no chance in the nine hells that I take a power nap instead of welcoming my son into this world. I won’t let my snoring be the first thing Ral hears from me.’

Willpower and stubbornness kept her awake while Tyris restored and cleaned Kamila’s body with her breathing technique, Mother Earth.

Meanwhile, Ral reacted poorly to the foreign object touching him. He was already cold, blinded by the light, and deafened by his own screams, so he reacted to the surgical scissors with extreme prejudice.

He shapeshifted into his Tiamat form, releasing a burst of deep orange Origin Flames that warmed him up and melted the metal. Raldarak also used his small membranous wings to shield his eyes from the light.

"If it were someone other than me holding you, this could have been dangerous, Featherling." Salaark scolded the still-crying baby. "Are you alright, Lith?"

"No. I didn’t see anything before Ral erupted in a ball of fire." He replied. "Is he alright? Did I hurt him? Is there something wrong with him?"

"Well, he can definitely see, hear, and feel alright." Salaark had to raise her voice to be heard above Raldarak’s cries. "About the rest, just wait a second."

The Guardian was about to clean the baby with a warm cloth when she realized the burst of Origin Flames had done it for her. She wrapped Raldarak in a soft blanket, waiting for Tyris’ signal to hand him to his mother.

"Kami, meet your son, Raldarak. Ral, this is the woman who forced you to eat all that spicy food."

"Oh, gods." Kamila was already on the verge of tears, but when the snuffling baby shapeshifted into his human form upon touching her skin, she started to cry. "What a handsome boy. He looks like his father."

She instinctively brought the baby boy’s face to her cheek like she always did with Elysia and tried to activate Dragon Scales. Kamila’s skin remained pearly pink, but Raldarak recognized her warmth and scent.

He instantly calmed down and took his first look at his mother.

Kamila was so happy about her son’s reaction that she almost forgot about the loss of her powers.

Almost.

Once again, she felt cut off from something greater, as if she had lived in a bustling, luminous world that suddenly had turned dark and empty.

’Thank the gods Elysia and Valeron are old enough to express themselves already.’ She thought. ’Yet even though I haven’t them in my arms, the idea that this silence in my head is my new normal is crushing me.

’I won’t know what they think, how they feel, and what they need from me any longer. What pains me the most, however, is that Raldarak will grow up feeling isolated solely from me.

’Lith, Ely, and Val have their scales, while at least Solus has her bond with Lith. I have nothing.’ She forced her tears back and smiled as she checked the baby boy.

"Two eyes." She confirmed to Lith. "Lively and special, but he can see pretty well."

Kamila moved her finger left and right in front of Raldarak, and he followed it with curiosity.

"Special how?" This time, no Guardian barred Lith from reaching the bed, but he kept his distance anyway.

"I’m not spoiling you the surprise. Sorry, not sorry." She chuckled. "Two arms, two legs, ten fingers, and ten toes. He’s simply perfect."

Kamila caressed her son’s small hands and feet, making him giggle. She then wrapped him in the warm cloth and gestured to Tyris for help. Despite Invigoration and the best treatments, she still felt like after a double shift in a mine.

The Guardian helped Kamila to stand up and assisted her as Kamila slowly shuffled towards Lith.

"Look at our baby, Lith." Kamila slowly extended her arms, her body unwilling to part from Raldarak so soon. "Look at your son."

’Let’s hope that the second time is not as dramatic as the first.’ Lith thought, feeling calm as he took the small bundle of curiosity that was Raldarak.

"What the-" Raldarak’s right eye was of a brown so dark that it looked black, while the left eye was red.

Lith checked more than once that there was no glow from the baby boy’s mana, making it the natural color of Raldarak’s eyes, not a temporary effect.

The baby boy’s hair was darker than Lith’s, but brighter than Kamila’s, and streaked with the colors of all elements but Spirit.

"Okay, young man. Let’s see what you can do." Lith took a deep breath and shapeshifted into his Voidfeather Dragon form.

Raldarak felt the familiar warmth of the red scales and cooed when he saw them. He shapeshifted as well, revealing four stumpy, featherless wings of a bright pink.

His red scales were slightly bigger than a fish’s, but they bore the colors of the six elements and burned with their corresponding flames.

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