Chapter 115: Chapter 115: The Critical Moment of Labor

Lila POV

“Mr. Hale,” the Great Elder addressed Jasper formally for the first time. His tone was still stiff, but it carried a hint of compromise. “If you can guarantee you won’t pose a threat to us, then we, the Sand Sea Tribe, are willing to accept your friendship. As long as the Goddess is willing to help, we will be allies for life.”

Jasper raised an eyebrow, seemingly a little surprised by the change in address. He leaned back lazily on his cushion and yawned. “Should’ve just said so from the start, no? As long as you don’t provoke me, I don’t bite. That’s my principle.”

He turned to look at me, his gaze instantly softening. “Lila, since you’re willing, go ahead. I’ll wait for you here.”

I nodded and stood up. The Great Elder gestured for Kael to lead the way.

“This way, please, Goddess.” Kael respectfully lifted the heavy flap of the main tent.

I glanced back at Jasper. He gave me a slight nod, reassuring me. ’I knew that as long as he was here, no one in this tribe could stir up any trouble.’

Stepping out of the tent, the cool desert night wind rushed to meet me, carrying the distinct, dry scent of sand. By a distant bonfire, the few young warriors who had caused trouble earlier were furtively peeking in our direction. When they saw me emerge, they immediately ducked their heads like startled rabbits, but they couldn’t hide the worship and awe in their eyes.

Kael led me past several rows of low stone houses to a white tent deep within the tribe’s encampment. The guards here were even more stringent, and the air was thick with the heavy smell of medicinal herbs and blood.

“The Queen is inside.” Kael stopped, his expression grave. “She hasn’t closed her eyes for three days and three nights. She is extremely weak. The witch doctor said that if she doesn’t give birth tonight, both mother and child could be in danger.”

I took a deep breath, composed myself, and reached out to lift the heavy flap.

The light inside the tent was dim, with only a few oil lamps casting a faint glow. On a simple stone bed lay a pale-faced woman. She didn’t look coarse like a typical Werewolf; instead, she exuded a delicate air. Even in her unconscious state, her brow was tightly furrowed, her forehead beaded with cold sweat, and her chapped lips trembled slightly.

Her belly was swollen high, but I could feel that the life force within was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

Beside the bed, several elderly women were praying in low voices. When they saw me enter, they all made way, a glimmer of hope in their eyes.

I stepped forward and gently took the Queen’s cold hand. The moment my fingertips touched her, the Moon Power within me suddenly trembled.

I closed my eyes and slowly channeled a gentle stream of healing power into her body. A faint silver light flowed from my fingertips, covering her wrist. As my power delved deeper, I could clearly feel a cold, viscous poison coiled deep within her meridians, entwining itself around her life force and that of the child in her womb like a venomous snake.

“The Queen has been poisoned, too.” I opened my eyes and said to Kael, who was behind me. “If we don’t force this poison out, she won’t make it through the night.”

“How could that be…” one of the elderly women said, looking troubled. “Our Queen hasn’t left her tent at all.”

“Trust me. She has to be detoxified first.” I stood up straight, my gaze firm.

I walked to the center of the tent, closed my eyes, and began to chant the ancient Moon’s Ode that I had learned through my bloodline inheritance. As the words of the Spell left my lips, the air in the tent grew cool, and the flames of the dim oil lamps strangely shifted to a faint, silvery blue.

I raised my hands, palms facing up, and the phantom image of a shimmering, silver full moon slowly materialized above my head.

“In the name of the moon, I grant new life,” I whispered.

A silvery radiance rippled outward like water, gently blanketing the Queen’s body. Wherever the light touched, the Queen’s tightly furrowed brow miraculously smoothed out a little. A faint blush even began to return to her once-ashen cheeks.

“This… This is…” The people behind me gasped, then dropped to their knees, their eyes filled with fervent belief.

’I knew this was only the beginning.’

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the tent. Immediately after, Jasper’s familiar voice pierced through the thick animal-hide flap, tinged with a lazy, teasing tone:

“Lila? Are you done yet? These old geezers are about to talk my ears off.”

I glanced toward the entrance. Though I couldn’t see him, ’I could picture him leaning against the outside of the tent, looking impatient but forcing himself to wait.’

“Almost,” I replied softly, an unconscious smile touching my lips. “Just give me a little more time.”

I turned back and looked at the Queen on the bed, who was gradually regaining her vitality, and offered a silent prayer.

A moment later, the Queen’s heavy, rapid breaths grew more pronounced inside the tent. They were the gasps of someone at their limit, like a fish stranded on the shore, each inhalation a tearing, painful struggle.

I took a deep breath, banished all stray thoughts from my mind, and closed my eyes again, focusing my full attention on the faint pulse I could feel through my palm.

“In the name of the moon, disperse the shadows.”

I guided the Moon Power, using it like a delicate scalpel to carefully peel the mass of poison away from her organs. As the poison shifted, the Queen’s body began to tremble violently, and a suppressed moan escaped her throat.

“Get a container!” I snapped my eyes open, my voice urgent. “She’s about to purge the poison!”

A handmaiden quickly offered up a ceramic bowl. I helped the Queen sit up, placed my palm flat against her back, and gave a sudden, forceful push.

“BLECH—”

The Queen lurched forward, and a mouthful of black blood spewed out, landing entirely in the bowl. The moment the blood hit the container, it made a SIZZLING sound and released a plume of foul-smelling white smoke. The people in the tent cried out in alarm and scrambled back.

I frowned, watching the black blood that was still bubbling in the bowl. Mixed in with the foul stench was an extremely faint, yet strangely familiar, scent. ’It wasn’t the smell of a common desert poison, but something else… a bizarre odor like rotting mushrooms mixed with rust.’

“Secure this.” I handed the bowl to the handmaiden behind me, my expression grave. “Don’t let anyone touch it. This poison… there’s something wrong with it.”

Although the handmaiden didn’t understand why, she still took the bowl respectfully and wrapped it in layer after layer of cloth.

With the poison expelled, the Queen’s complexion improved noticeably, and her breathing steadied. But a new problem immediately followed—the baby still wasn’t moving. It was stuck in the birth canal.

I looked at the Queen’s face, a wave of compassion washing over me. ’She had been holding on for so long—for this child, for this tribe.’

“Queen, listen to me,” I said softly.

I climbed onto the stone bed, sat cross-legged behind the Queen, and gathered her into my arms. I closed my eyes, feeling the faint spark of life within her, as well as the small, struggling life in her womb.

“Relax,” I said, my voice at its gentlest, right beside her ear. “I’ll be with you. Together, we’ll bring him here, okay?”

The Queen gave a slight nod as a single tear slid from the corner of her eye.

I took another deep breath and closed my eyes again. This time, I didn’t just use simple healing power. Instead, I tried to reach the she-wolf deep within her soul.

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