Sun Mote Copse red breath

birthing thread/first pack activity! @Ar-Khalba @Arunik'ra @Asherah @Ragna. round one ends 9.11.16

eshamun slept alone following the claiming howl, retreating to a small den she had dug for herself. when the pains begun, molech had just begun to draw back the veil of night from across the skies, and the ekar-aji braced herself and set her jaw so she would not cry out. in a grim silence she laboured, the floor of the den wet with the sweet waters that had broken from her loins in a welter -- in quietude she writhed, refusing to call for ar-khalba or even her dear sister.

but eshamun knew that these children must be born beneath the god's golden light, and so with tight breaths and hitching steps she made her way to the denmouth, pausing when the cramping pains racked her body, ripping low, agonized moans from her lips. a sense of panic began in the canaanite's heart; she had been prepared for this, groomed to take the helm of the malkaria, but even her mother's warnings had not prepared her for the hot lances of pain that thrust through her body.

the heavens had lightened; eshamun cried then for the priestess, their sunspear, but it was a call of fear from her heart to that of her kith. she dared not buckle to the ground, for she would not rise; she must come instead to the fork of the stream not far from her den, and bring forth her children there. "sister," she moaned, leaning against the slim red shoulder of the other, "sister, i must do it now. we cannot wait for the eighth day; i do not ... i do not trust myself."

they came to the waters and eshamun broke away from arunik'ra and fell to the earth, her screams scarring her throat even as her body felt as if it were divided in twain, and blood and water met the light of day to reveal the gasping, crying muzzle of her firstborn. 

she did not turn to clean the babe, leaving this task instead to arunik'ra -- in rapid succession, or so it felt, she birthed four more small, strong bodies, all squalling with toothless jaws for her milk and for her warmth. and still the ekar-aji did not turn, for the stress of the birth and the knowledge of what she must do drew a weak and mewling cry from her, a sob upon which she closed her jaws tightly. she would not allow herself to look upon them, though their tiny sounds had brought milk to bead upon her teats, and her heart ached until her body trembled to embrace her children. "call them," she gritted to the priestess, not daring to meet the knowing eyes of molech's chosen one.

eshamun faced into the gentle stream which rushed placidly over its stone bed, and breathed in the presence of her god as the light of dawn reached down to light the copse with the fire of morning-sun.