Chapter 299: May Her Light Guide Us Home

Slimo’s face turned as white as the scales he was wearing on his chest.

"It’s... coming? Like you’re about to give birth?"

Lidia panted heavily and sat on the ground, her legs beginning to shake.

"I’m sorry. I-"

Suddenly, Lidia’s face contorted as she screamed out in pain. The whole camp erupted into panic. Squabee hurled herself over Sarah, dashing towards Lidia as fast as she could with wings sprouting from her back.

"HOLD ON THERE, MAMA! SQUABEE’S ON HER WAY!!"

Maria ran her fingers through her hair and started looking around the place.

"We need clean things! We need clean tools, cloth, ANYTHING!!"

"Wait! Don’t leave Sarah to herself! We need her with you, Squabee!"

"Then bring her over here damn it!"

Jacob’s heart started beating out of his chest. He ran after Sarah and grabbed her arm, slowly guiding her towards Lidia’s moans of agony.

"It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be just fine, so don’t worry a single bit."

"Uh... Jacob? I know it’s going to be fine."

"Hm? Oh. Sorry, Sarah. I was talking about myself."

Even Sheeby appeared to panic hearing Lidia’s screams. She started covering her face with her wings and making weird coughing sounds. She belched to the sky, letting out a ferocious roar that made everyone’s ears ring. Slimo was running around in circles, unable to make a single decision on what he needed to do.

"TELL ME WHAT TO DO! PLEAE, SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT SHE NEEDS! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING TO HAPPEN?!"

Sheeby used her tail to slam Slimo forward, causing him to faceplant right next to Lidia. Lidia grit her teeth and spat out a few words.

"She... told you to that your only job should be to comfort me. She also called you a word I’ve never heard before. ARGH!"

She winced again and threw her head back as more sweat beaded down her cheeks.

"Probably... not a nice... word."

Sarah walked up to Lidia and began preparing her hands. Maria brought over multiple clean buckets of water, clean greenery, and even some homemade stone tools in case Sarah needed them. Sarah began to feel around Lidia’s legs before touching her stomach lightly. Her eyes widened as she felt around.

"Oh, my!"

Slimo reached forward and grabbed Sarah by her collar.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER?!"

"Let go of me you brute!"

Squabee kicked Slimo away while she stood next to Sarah.

"There’s nothing wrong with her, but this baby feels like it’s been ready to come out for a while! Unfortunately... that means this is going to be a lot more painful."

Squabee stomped over to Slimo and got in his face. She grabbed his hand, wrapped in Lidia’s and closed it tightly.

"Don’t you dare let go for a single second. Even if it feels like your hand is getting ripped off, endure it. Be there for your wife. You can watch only if you want, but I’ll be damned if you let go of her hand during this procedure."

Slimo gulped frighteningly.

"But... Lidia is rather strong and I don’t think my hand will-"

Lidia let out another scream.

"Too late! Buckle up, Slimo! Your child is on its way!"

Squabee positioned herself right next to Sarah, helping her guide her hands right to where the baby was already starting to come out. Lidia wailed more as she tightened her hold on Slimo’s hand. She clenched her teeth while using her other hand to rip rock straight out of the ground.

"You’re doing great, Lidia! I can see the head! Sarah is holding it perfectly! Just a few more good pushes."

Lidia’s entire face was red.

Suddenly, her body started glowing brightly. Her power was beginning to activate. Squabee winced but refused to look away from the baby.

"Lidia, do you mind turning the lights down a bit?"

Something began to change to Lidia’s body. It was as if the light around began to manifest into a brand-new shape. Strings of ethereal light tightly wrapped against her skin and made their way down towards her soon to be newborn child. Her crown was beating like a heart, the air around her started to vibrate, Squabee called out to Lidia again.

"Just one more push! Me and Sarah got it! It’s almost there!"

Slimo’s hand was completely broken. It was crushed under Lidia’s grasp, his bones splintering through his skin, but he didn’t so much as twitch. His eyes were glued to the sight of watching something that he helped create manifest itself into reality. Something began to resonate inside of Sheeby as well.

Her white scales began to glow — a sight no one was used to seeing in their group. Her tail thrashed against the ground, her head looked to the sky while her sharp, purple eyes glowed ominously, and then she took flight, disappearing into the brush above like a moving star lighting up the night.

With one final scream, an explosion of light surrounded the area.

A small silence hung in the air. Everything was eerily quiet. Maria and Jacob anxiously stood behind Sarah and Squabee, still recovering from the blind light, when all of a sudden...

"It’s... it’s a boy!"

A small baby boy with closed eyes was wrapped in a small, clean leaf. Sarah was holding on to it while Squabee helped support its weight under her. Squabee slowly grabbed the baby from her and stared into its infinitely innocent face, holding back tears. Strangely, the baby didn’t make a single sound, but it was moving vibrantly in its cradled position, brimming with fresh life.

"Please, heal Lidia and Slimo so they can hold their son."

Sarah smiled warmly.

"I wish I could see his beautiful face. Is he really cute, Squabee?"

"The cutest."

Something was different about Lidia’s body. Normally after she passed out, her light slowly receded back into her body, waiting to be called on another day. However, it never disappeared this time. Her crown, along with her vibrant light power, stayed wrapped around her body like a permeant protective layer. Her child shared that same protection. The Prince of Lumos had been born, and with it...

"What... is that?!"

"Sheeby. What are you-"

"HEAR ME, LUMINATORS! Your savior, The GREAT SERPENT has been reborn! And to those burdened by the corruption of Zalo or the Frost Monarch, hear my voice and be granted mercy! Bask in the light, bask in The Great Serpent’s blessing, bask in eternity, for there can be no darkness without LIGHT!!"

...Prosperity ensued.

Zalo’s hold over the heavens faltered, a call of dead blood chasing its tail.

"Did... Sheeby just talk?"

Sarah lifted her head while she finished healing Slimo’s hand.

"Something’s coming... a LOT of things are coming!"

Squabee’s face turned cold and serious.

"Over my dead body something is happening to this thing. I’d like to see them try and get close."

Suddenly, hundreds of dragons crashed through the tops of the trees, surrounding them in seconds. Each one carried gruesome scars as they revered their heads at the group below them. Sheeby was the last one to drop to the ground, yet she was the first to bow her head.

"Praise the Prince of Lumos, praise The Great Serpent, praise our glorious Lady of Light!"

Every single dragon’s head bowed deeply towards the floor while closing their eyes in silence.

While all this was happening, Slimo never once noticed. His eyes continued to stay fixated on his son, his special boy.

"Squabee... can I please hold him."

Squabee looked over at Slimo hesitantly before nodding and slowly handing over the small child. Slimo scooped him up gently in his arms. His child was so light that he was taken aback when he first held him, but he didn’t care about that. The second the child was in his father’s presence, he opened his eyes, revealing wide, glowing yellow pupils — the same color as Slimo’s.

With that reveal, Slimo softly wept tears of joy. His shared creation, a combination of himself with the person he cared about more than anything, was resting softly in his arms. It was more beautiful than any sunset, more special than any celebration, and more fulfilling than any victory.

This was life.

This was his son.

And without them knowing, this was their only hope.

As if reacting to the child’s mere presence, the world began to shake beneath them. Sheeby lifted her head.

"He knows, but it’s too late. It’s already started."

They all looked to the sky. For the first time in what felt like years, there was light. Jacob looked down at his mark, his eyes widening. His skull was severely damaged. Its mouth hung open wide as if something had punched it in its face. There was hardly any dark glow in the pupils as well.

He knew that there was no ridding him of his mark, but now being in the mere presence of Lidia’s child seemed to drastically smother his dark powers. This quietly brought him a sense of comfort since he wouldn’t be able to so much as get near the child if he lost control of himself. Each dragon lifted their head to sky and shot a spiral of various elemental powers into the air.

Their groans and shouts all translating to one clear message, one that Sheeby herself repeated.

"LONG LIVE THE LUMINATORS!"

"LONG LIVE THE LUMINATORS!"

While the scene unfolded, there was something staring at the jungle from the outside.

"Long... live... the luminators. Long... live... the luminators. Long live... hahaha."

He straightened his suit and ripped the bandages covering his mouth, revealing pointed white teeth accompanied with a black, hollowed mouth. His smile curved upward before finishing his sentence.

"The luminators."

He looked upward, tilting his head sideways.

"I’m... early?"

He disappeared.

There was never a man.

No.

There was never supposed to be a man yet.