# Chapter 85 – The Child's Judgment (Lydia's POV)
The contractions hit me like ocean waves. Each one stronger than the last. Each one bringing my child closer to this broken world.
I grip the rough stone walls of the hidden cave. This isn't how I imagined giving birth. Alone in the darkness, with only shadows for company.
But it's the only safe place left.
The war between light and darkness has consumed everything. Vanessa and her allies fight against forces I helped unleash. The guilt eats at me worse than the labor pains.
Another contraction rips through me. I bite down on a piece of leather to keep from screaming. Can't make noise. Can't let anyone find us.
Not until I know what this child really is.
The pregnancy was impossible from the start. No father. No explanation. One day I simply was carrying a life inside me. A life that moved in ways no normal baby should.
A life that whispered to me in dreams.
"It's time," I gasp to the empty cave.
