Part 2

Chapter 31

Sky Nightfall

Everything had changed so much too fast. Elise had gone from the least important person in the group of villagers coming from Conter Valley to the most interesting person to talk to. She was no longer just an ordinary person coming from an ordinary life she used to live in the valley. She was the princess of a hidden kingdom that existed right beneath the snouts of the Divine Kingdom, daughter to a queen who had lived over eight-hundred years in hiding. Even if she could go back to Conter Valley one day, she didn't know if she would or could for that matter.

Being a princess meant she was heir to the throne of the Unseen Kingdom. However, she didn't understand how the hierarchy worked in the Unseen Kingdom. Her mother has lived so long as the queen which meant she would most likely live a long lifetime as well. So how would she become queen and when? Was there some kind of rite of passing, a proving, or did her mother's life have a limit to it? All were questions she wanted answers for, but her mother had been busy dealing with the whole Arthur incident trying to prepare for what she says is the beginning of something big.

That was also the talk going around the villagers of Conter Valley. The death of Prince Arthur Drachen wasn't something they thought they'd be worrying about or even thinking about, but that was one of the main topics since their arrival. Why did the life of a selfish, heartless prince have to matter to a small village close to the border of the kingdom who had strong feelings toward the prince? It all revolved around the death of the Titan Zulev.

While they rested in the Unseen Kingdom, the Divine Kingdom around them was healing from the plague that had spread weeks ago poising over two million people. The heart of the Zulev was cut out and conserved so that each drop of blood could be used to heal the sick. Just about everyone was cured save for those that the blood still had to reach. Following the cure was the story of Arthur Drachen that had become the tale of Arthur Drachen the Titanslayer. Though not many people would believe such a thing were true, the soldiers of the City of Aaron including the Countess, Myra Anders, vouched for the fallen prince stating that he had used an ancient power thought legend to defeat the Titan in battle.

A funeral for a royal was different compared to a regular person. For a royal, they are placed in their coffin and that coffin is sealed up tightly. Then the Royal Soldiers carry the royal around town where citizens can choose to follow the proceeding or give their blessings to the fallen royal. If the prince had fallen a few months ago, nobody would've cared. Nobody would have even attended the funeral. But after the soldiers took Arthur's body back to the City of Aaron, they proceeded with a funeral that traveled from the City of Aaron up to the Capital. From what the villagers heard, the City of Aaron was quiet as the streets were flooded with people following the coffin of Arthur Drachen. Most stayed behind as the coffin left the city, but some followed him the whole way to the Capital where it was an even larger mass of people following him to the catacombs where the Royals were buried.

Afterward, the mourning followed. The kingdom had already taken a hit to its' border and its' people, now the hero prince who had traveled a great distance and had slain a Titan much bigger and tougher than him had fallen from the living world leaving everything and everyone quiet. The only good news that came out of it was the death of Zulev. His death had scared off the Scourge giving the kingdom time to recover from everything that had taken place in four and a half weeks.

Her mother told her not to worry herself too much with what was going and that she should be focused on her pregnancy and try to stay well-rested after a harrowing journey. Elise didn't like to be restricted so much, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She just had to wait it out until she gave birth. Luckily, she had Alan helping her around most of the time. The soldiers had nothing much to do considering the Scourge had fled the kingdom and since the forest was a safe haven that had never been breached. Plus, the citizens of the Unseen Kingdom didn't want any of the soldiers making a report about a hidden kingdom nobody knew about. Not yet at least. So they were left to relax and just walk around most of the time which gave Alan more time with her.

Though she still felt slightly guilty about being with someone else that wasn't Cooper, she couldn't complain that the last few weeks were good to her. Alan was a really caring person that took care of her whenever she needed it most. He was always there when she needed someone to talk to or when she needed help walking around. He knew how to take care of her and she couldn't ask for anything else. Eventually, she got so comfortable with him, they ended up sleeping in the same room together. She didn't mind, his fur was soft and his embrace was loving. She was happy being with him.

As much as it sounded harsh, she was kind of glad that Cooper wasn't still present in the Unseen Kingdom when she arrived. Her mother told her that he had left an hour before she got there. It was both relieving and devasting at the same time. She was so close to seeing a ghost of her past in person that had made her happy, sad, and angry just to be an hour late. It hurt knowing that he was just there, but at the same time, she was glad she wouldn't have to explain Alan or have to see him in person after he had hurt her.

Why should she even if he was still there? It wasn't like he was going to stay long. He had to make a journey to the Conter Mountains to meet Conter himself to finish some sort of training for a secret power he had in him. She shouldn't have to explain herself to him after everything he'd done to her and it wasn't fair that she couldn't love someone else who would actually care for her when she needed it most. It was his fault that he was going to miss out on the birth of their child. It was his fault that she was with another person that cared more.

It didn't matter now as she laid in bed pushing in pain. A lilligant named Mabel and Elise's mother were helping her to get the baby out while another nurse, a leavanny named Sarah, was holding her alongside Alan who was speaking words she couldn't hear or understand. The only thing she was concerned about was getting the baby out and seeing her child. Everything else was blocked out as if a cloud was surrounding her.

To Elise, this all felt impossible. A dream or even possibly a nightmare depending on how she looked at it. She was going to be a mother at the age of eighteen giving birth to a child in a kingdom that didn't exist on the map while the father was off on a suicide mission in a now Scourge infested area. This was definitely not how she envisioned how her life would unwind. She expected to live a small, but peaceful life within Conter Valley away from the mass of people north of the mountains. A life where she could settle down with a mate and a family just like everyone else in the valley. Where she could grow crops most of her life and feel the breeze of the mountains come down on her, but that wasn't how her life was meant to be as it seemed.

She continued to fight through the pain as she stared up at the dome-shaped ceiling. Alan held her right foreleg and was speaking to her softly. She didn't imagine Alan being the one helping her fight through the pain. She thought Cooper would be by her side, that he would be the one speaking words of encouragement and helping her through this once in a lifetime moment. He wasn't though, instead it was a caring absol who stood by her helping her through the moment and she couldn't complain. At least he was willing to stay by her side when she needed it the most.

"Almost there, sweetheart. Just give it another big push!" Fenna said as she helped a Mabel prepare to wrap the baby in a leaf made towel. Elise was exhausted from the experience. She had been in labor for nearly nine hours. Nelsa had told her that it was a long and painful process, but it was worth it in the end. So Elise collected herself as she took a deep breath, squeezed Alan's paw tightly, and gave one more big push.

Then, the pain just suddenly ceased. She felt lighter than she did before giving birth and more importantly, she heard the cries of a baby coming from in front of her. She laid her head on the soft pillow of the bed and closed her eyes. Her breaths were short and she felt tired more than anything, but she was happy it was over.

"You alright, Elise?" Alan asked next to her, pulling up the sheets to cover her body.

She took another deep breath and answered, "Much better now that it's over. I'm extremely tired though."

"That's to be expected," Fenna said walking over to her side with a wrapped-up baby in her ribbons. "Congratulations my dear. It's a little lady."

Fenna handed off the wrapped up baby to Elise who pulled the newborn close to her face so she could see them. The little eevee was crying when she fell into Elise's forelegs. The little girl was a shiny, just like her mother and grandmother. Her fur had a light blue tone to it while her tuft and tail were aqua blue and her eyes that were barely open were crystal white.

Elise felt her heart racing, but not because she was scared. She felt her eyes water as she stared at her child, her own blood that she gave birth to. She was a mother now and she couldn't explain the feeling easily. It felt like all the evil in the world, all the sadness and anger just vanished. It felt as if just holding the newborn child vanquished all her nightmares.

Elise was overjoyed as she rubbed the top of the baby's head with her paw. The little eevee looked up at her and stopped crying. She moved her tiny paws out from under the leaf and placed them on one of Elise's toes. She opened her maw and then nibbled on the toe which made her giggle at the child's efforts.

"Hey there young one," Elise said quietly to her daughter. The little eevee continued to nibble on Elise's toe as if it was the most interesting thing ever.

"She's a cute one," Fenna said smiling. "So do you have a name for her?"

Elise had been considering what to name the child when they were born. She didn't know if it was going to be a boy or girl, so she tried picking out names for both genders that she thought would be nice, but she could never decide on which one to choose. Now that the child was born, however, the name popped up in her head as she gazed at the fur of the newborn.

"I think I'll name her Sky. It'll match her fur," Elise said smiling.

"Sky Nightfall. That's a nice name for her. Again, congratulations my dear," Fenna said leaning down to kiss Elise on top of the forehead. "I'll be leaving you now my dear. I have to attend to some things. Take care of her, Alan."

Fenna stood up and smiled at Elise once more before leaving the room alongside Mabel. Sarah stayed inside the room to clean up and to deal with preparations for the child. Alan sat next to her smiling at the child. Although it wasn't his, he didn't seem to care. He looked at her as if she was his own. Elise was grateful to have someone like him taking care of her and Sky.

Elise knew that in the tradition of the Unseen Kingdom, the last name of the ancient heritage was used. So the child's name should be Sky Nightfall. However, if that weren't the case, Elise wouldn't know which name to use. Tradition outside of the Unseen Kingdom said that the last name of the father was to be used, so then it should be Sky Verlidian. Then again, he wasn't there for the birth, and Elise wasn't with him anymore even if he didn't know it. She was with Alan now which should make the baby's name Sky Sebastian. But that didn't feel right either. It was a lot to think about and she was going to have to ask her mother later about it considering she had been named Elise Felix for so long.

"Why don't you say hello to her, Alan?" Elise said pulling her toe away from the little vee. Sky started to cry again as she attempted to reach for her mother's toe. Alan stepped closer and reached down to pet the baby. Now the baby was reaching for Alan's paw as it got closer, but Alan had claws instead of a paw, so he avoided Sky's maw as he rubbed her little head gently.

"She's adorable," Alan said smiling at Sky. She continued to try and reach for Alan's paw, but had no luck and eventually starting crying again. Elise lowered her paw down for Sky to nibble on again which ended the crying. "He's missing out on this. He should have been here to see his child."

Elise knew Alan was talking about Cooper and she was kind of upset that he even brought him up. "It doesn't matter now. He's already too far gone from the forest and by the time he gets back, we'll be living in the Capital. It's his fault for missing out on his daughter's birth and he's going to have to live with that," Elise said harshly. To her, it didn't matter if Cooper was a biological parent, Alan was going to be Sky's father now since Cooper had chosen his power over his child.

"Speaking of the Capital," Alan said, "Now that you've given birth. I wonder when we'll be allowed to leave. All the berries that were infected have been found and burned and the Capital should be a safe place now especially with the Royal army on high alert."

"My mother says she would like to keep me here a little while longer after the child was born to make sure the trip would be safe and comfortable for Sky," Elise said laying her head on the pillow again. "Plus, we have the villagers of Conter Valley to worry about as well. With the mountains infested by the Scourge, they have nowhere to go and we have to try and find somewhere suitable for them to live."

"We could try finding a place for them on the outskirts of the Capital. We'd have to build a bunch of new homes, but we might be able to make it work," Alan sighed.

"Hey. Are you doing alright, Darling? Anything bugging you?" Elise asked concerned that something might've been wrong.

"No. No, it's fine. I just… I just want to give you a happy life. Not a confusing, worrisome one having to do with all this madness going around. I want you to be happy," Alan said looking disappointed in himself.

"Hey," Elise said lifting her paw from Sky to hold Alan's face. She lifted her head a bit to kiss him which he happily returned. She pulled away after a few seconds and gave her toe back to Sky who was on the verge of crying again. "You've given me so much more than I could ask for. I'm happy enough just being with you. You shouldn't stress so much about this. Eventually, we'll go to the Capital where we'll be able to live a good long life. Until then, we should be grateful for what we have now and I'm grateful for having you."

Alan smiled at her and whispered to her, "I love you, Elise."

"I love you too, Alan," she responded, sitting up so she could kiss him again.

Ironically, I complained about my computer after writing chapter 9 of Angels and Demons, but I kid you not the next day I got a brand new computer that loads 20 times faster than the old one.

So I gave it a test run on google docs and low and behold I have written chapter 31 of Scourge Wars. I couldn't help myself but write and write some more. The computer is really nice.

Also. I am no expert on the pregnancy of a dog. I did my research and I wrote what I wrote based on my research. If I got some things wrong, which I expect to, forgive me. I did my best.

Criticism and reviews are appreciated. See you next time.

"Make the leap" - Nice Guy Wolf