Nova Peak my arms are open

@Lorcan + @Kaldros

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elowen woke to a deep, gut-wrenching nausea. not the lingering sickness she had grown accustomed to, the kind that had haunted her mornings for weeks now, but something sharper. worse.

her body ached—throbbed—with a foreign, unrelenting pressure, and she knew, with the kind of instinct that made her breath hitch in fear, that something was wrong.

a tremor ran through her limbs as she shifted, barely lifting her head before the pain overtook her, dragging a soft, broken whimper from her throat. her belly felt tight, too tight, as though her body were bracing itself for something she was not yet ready to face.

"lore—" his name came out weak, barely a whisper. she swallowed against the rising wave of sickness, eyes squeezing shut as a fresh surge of pain coiled deep in her abdomen. too early. it was too early.

her breathing came quick and uneven, panic creeping into her chest as she tried to force herself upright, only for her legs to buckle beneath her. her nest, once a place of warmth and security, now felt suffocating. her pulse pounded in her ears.

"lorcan!" louder this time, a desperate plea, raw with pain. the realization hit her like a stone—she was going into labor. far, far too soon.