If I were to tell you a story would you listen? Would you listen even if the ending was sad and all chances of hope, valour and sustained happiness were lost? Do not jump to conclusions so eagerly, for I did not say what the future of this tale was. I was simply listing a possibility. The gift of foresight is accompanied by the bitter price of certain uncertainty. Uncertainty leads to faults and errors be them big or small. No fate is absolute, even the rock underneath a waterfall will give way over time. And so our story begins as any story with a hero would; with a boy who never thought his life path of sweet simplicity would be led astray. Things were not always as simple as he thinks. No, they were much more complex.
I had foretold a bitter winter in the village of Eve. People were warming themselves by the fireplace, hoping they had enough food and wood for the season. Twilight was approaching and there was mysterious work in the air. It was so thick and dense I could sense it in my bones. A man whom you will soon come to know as Zeldion was walking down a back staircase. He arrived on a lower level platform nestled against the rocky mountain side. He entered a brick building with blackened puffs of smoke rising form the top. Shaking a copious amount of fat snowflakes form his wool jacket, he hung it on the rack to dry and made his way to the living area. The creaky wooden floor snarling beneath his feet, he passed by a thick wooden door. Screams and moans leaked out from behind it. Watching these events thus far had almost bore me to death until he calmly sat by the crackling fire and kicked his feet up, picking up a piece of literature. When Asterius Voda, the villages infamous alchemist, came out of the room I was especially intrigued. With sweat above his brow and blood on his white coat, he waited for Zeldion to take notice. Zeldion's eyes remained on the pages of the book and shot up for a mere second without acknowledgement. His eyes went back down and moments later he shut the book abruptly, coughing as if he were waiting for something.
"She will not make it sir. She will pass anytime now." Asterius spoke softly, as if he did not want 'her' to hear. Zeldion's expression did not change a single bit. Not even a blink. "That is fine. She would only put up a fight anyways. What did you do with the runt?"
"I did what you asked of me." "Good. I will not have any mistakes, understood?" Asterius nodded. "Will you not go to her in her final moments?" Zeldion shook his head and a solemn smile appeared on his face; the first sign of emotion I could see. He definitely felt deep down, he had difficulty showing it was all. "I've lingered here too long. Deliver the ashes to me as soon as they are prepared. Where is my first born son? I would very much like to take him home." As soon as he said those words I realized I had missed something. Silence. The moaning and screaming had stopped quite some time ago and all I could hear was the soft murmur of an infant. "What shall he be known as sir?" Zeldion smiled softly and replied triumphantly. "Prince Asdyn of the Village Eve." Asterius then returned with a small bundle of cotton. Zeldion put on his jacket and took the tiny baby. He smiled. "You will be a great king one day my son." Without another word he left. Smiling, I licked my lips. Oh for what purpose did the creator make me so devious? One should not interfere with fate, but I could not put a hault to my plans. They were much too exciting. My sight wandered into the room behind the door. Oh what a terrible sight to see. There laying on the bed is whom I assumed to be the mother. It looked as if she had been butchered. Her abdomen sliced open, I closed my eyes but the image remained. I sighed and looked in a small cradle. She must have had twins, for there was another small baby before me. Asterius was in the other room cleaning. I thought back and realized that this was the 'runt' Zeldion was referring to. Due to the fact that only my spiritual entity was present, I could not pick the child up. I wanted to figure out what he had done. A normal birthing process would have involved a doctor, not an alchemist.
My entity peered into the living area to find Asterius creating symbols in chalk before the fire. It consisted of a large circle with smaller ones on top of the outline. Many different symbols were written inside them. What was he planning? All of a sudden a presence I did not expect appeared. I had thought this to be a private affair and assumed Asterius to not use an assistant. This one was only a young boy, looking to be about 7 or 8 years. "Why does the king not want the younger twin to have royal blood?" He asked. Now I understood. Smiling wickedly I silently thanked Asterius' stupidity for giving me all the answers. He should know better than to bring a boy along with him. I frowned. No, this was no mistake. There is a purpose to this boy, I had yet to figure that out. "Only one son can be king Orin. He also believes that a younger twin is unlucky and should not even be alive. He believes that if he were to keep this son that it would only be another burden to bare. It is sad, but that is the way it is. I pleaded with him to keep the baby alive. I told him that I would drain his blood of the royal gene, and keep him as my guinea pig. And that is exactly what I plan to do." The young boy nodded in solemn understanding. Reading his feelings I understood how he felt. How could a being be so cruel to another? T'was not his fault for being born second. My heart fell. It was such a strange thing, emotion. It reached up and grabbed hold of me stunning me on the spot. I felt for this unwanted child, for I was the same. Asterius called the boy over to him and motioned to give him his wrist. Before I knew what was happening there was vast amounts of blood flowing from the boys arm. He went pale and a small sound escaped his mouth. I knew it was the end for him when the light in the eyes went out.
My heart tremmored and fear took me. My entity rushed back to the room where the infant was. I took full form in that moment and slammed the door shut locking it from the inside. There was banging from the outside. "Who's in there? I cannot waste time! Open this immediately!" Shaken by what I had just done I grabbed the child and began to mumble incantations. "I will use force if I have to! The full moon approaches and I must make haste!" By the time Asterius forced the door open, the infant and I had vanished.
Many years later, I still look in on him. I named him Phoenix. I had thought of many names, Aspen was the one I had liked the most however, I did not think it was fair to pick a name similar to that of his brothers. Phoenix is the bird the rose from the ashes, just as he shall do. I knew in my heart I could not keep this child and had no choice but to depart from him. I left him on the doorstep of a cherishable older man. He would know how to raise this child. Though his wife died years ago, he would have no problem. He had a daughter before, but had lost her, too. I observed the old man for some time before making my move. He was beyond generous and had a pure heart. He also had a steady job as the towns baker. This meant Phoenix would be fed well. The moon was at it's peak in the sky when I knocked on his door. A small tear gathered in my eye, and I was sad to see him with another. It was strange, I loved this child like he was my own. I was positive this man would do the same. When he came to the door and discovered Phoenix, he looked around puzzled as to why he was there. He plucked the note I left in his basket and read it. "Please do what I could not; take care of my baby, Phoenix." The note also listed his birthday. Without another glance I left.
