Chapter 152 Concerns About the Baby
Elara's POV
"Three weeks?" I gripped the table. "That's impossible!"
"Hybrid pregnancies accelerate when exposed to powerful magic," Chronax explained. "Your bond, the grove, your mother's sacrifice, all feeding the baby's growth."
"We need a midwife," Faye said. "Healers. Someone who knows about hybrid births."
"There are only four recorded dragon-human hybrid births in history," Chronax said gravely. "Three of the mothers died. The fourth barely survived."
My blood ran cold. "What?"
"The babies are too powerful. Too volatile. They shift in the womb. Their magic erupts unpredictably." His ancient eyes met mine. "I'm sorry, Elara. But you need to know the truth."
Drakon pulled me close. Through our bond, I felt his terror matching mine.
"What happened to the babies?" I whispered. "The four who were born?"
"Two died within hours. Couldn't control their shifting. Tore themselves apart." Chronax's voice was heavy. "One lived to adolescence but went mad from the conflicting natures. Dragon and human fighting inside one body."
"And the fourth?"
"Me," Drakon said quietly.
Everyone stared at him.
"What?" I breathed.
"My mother was human. My father was a dragon. I'm a hybrid." Drakon's hands shook. "I didn't know until after they died. Thought I was pure dragon. But my mother's human blood runs through me."
"That's why you can control your shifting so well," Faye realized. "Why you're stronger than other dragons."
"And why I'm terrified," Drakon admitted. "I know what this pregnancy means. What it costs. What it risks."
I touched his face. "Your mother survived. So will I."
"Barely. She was sick for years afterward. Weakened. That's partly why the assassins succeeded in killing her." His eyes filled with pain. "I can't lose you, Elara. I can't."
"You won't." I said it firmly, though I had no idea if it was true.
The next days blurred together. Healers examined me constantly. The baby grew impossibly fast. My stomach swelled visibly each morning.
"She's shifting already," a healer said, pressing her hands to my belly. "I can feel dragon scales forming. Then disappearing. Then forming again."
"Is that normal?" I asked.
"Nothing about this is normal, Your Majesty."
The baby's magic surged unpredictably. Sometimes ice erupted from my hands without warning. Other times, dragon fire. I couldn't control it.
"It's the baby's power mixing with yours," Lily explained. "She doesn't know how to contain it yet."
"Will she hurt me?" I asked the question I'd been avoiding.
Lily hesitated. "Honestly? I don't know."
Drakon barely left my side. He watched me constantly. Terrified.
"Talk to me," I said one evening. "Tell me what you're thinking."
"I'm thinking about my mother. How she screamed during my birth. How the healers couldn't stop the bleeding." His voice broke. "How my father held her afterward, begging her not to leave."
"I'm not your mother."
"You're stronger. I know. But Elara..." He touched my swollen stomach. "What if the baby shifts mid-birth? What if her dragon claws..."
"Stop." I grabbed his hand. "We can't think like that. We face this together. Like everything else."
But that night, I woke to agonizing pain.
My stomach felt like it was tearing apart from inside. I screamed.
Drakon bolted awake. "Elara!"
"Something's wrong!" I gasped. "The baby, she's shifting, I can feel her claws..."
Healers rushed in. Lily appeared. Everyone surrounded me.
"She's shifting in the womb," the head healer confirmed. "Too early. The baby isn't developed enough. If she fully transforms now..."
"She'll kill Elara from inside," Chronax finished grimly.
Through the pain, I felt it. Tiny dragon wings pressing against my ribs. Scales scraping. Magic exploding.
"Make it stop!" I screamed.
Lily pressed her hands to my stomach. Golden light poured out. "Baby girl, listen to me. You need to stay small. Stay human-shaped. Just for now. I know it's hard. But you have to try."
The pressure increased. The baby was fighting Lily's magic.
"She's not listening!" the healer said. "The transformation is accelerating!"
Then Drakon did something unexpected.
He shifted into dragon form. Placed his massive head against my stomach. And spoke in the ancient dragon tongue.
Whatever he said, the baby understood.
The shifting stopped. The pressure eased.
I collapsed back, gasping.
"What did you tell her?" I asked.
"I told her that her mother is strong. That she doesn't need to be dragon yet. That she can be human for now. Safe and small." His golden eyes were wet. "And I promised her she'll have a lifetime to learn to shift. Just please don't hurt her mama."
Tears ran down my face. "You called me mama."
"That's what you are." He shifted human and held me. "To her. To our daughter."
The crisis passed. The baby settled.
But the healers looked worried.
"This will happen again," the head healer said. "The baby will try to shift repeatedly as she grows. Each time, the danger increases."
"How do we stop it?"
"We don't. We just... hope she listens. Hope she stays small long enough." The healer wouldn't meet my eyes. "Your Majesty, I must recommend early delivery. Before the baby gets too strong."
"How early?"
"Now. Tomorrow. As soon as possible."
"But you said three weeks! She needs time to develop!"
"If we wait, she might kill you before she's born." The healer's voice was gentle but firm. "We need to choose. Risk the baby's underdevelopment, or risk your life."
"No," Drakon said immediately. "We're not risking Elara."
"We're not risking our daughter either," I countered.
We stared at each other. Neither backing down.
Through our bond, I felt his desperation. His love. His absolute terror of losing me.
And I felt my own fear. Not of dying. But of making the wrong choice. Of sacrificing our daughter to save myself.
Before we could decide, Lily gasped.
"What?" I asked.
She stared at my stomach with wide eyes. "The baby just... spoke. In my mind."
"What did she say?"
Lily's voice shook. "She said: 'Don't fight. Mama lives. I wait. But promise... stop the bad lady. Stop Grandma Morgana. She's coming. Coming soon. Coming to take me.'"
The room went silent.
Our unborn daughter had just warned us.
Morgana was coming.
And she knew exactly when the baby would be most vulnerable.