A warm sensation brushed across my arms, sending magic tingling up and down my limbs. I had no words for what it was exactly, because I’d never felt anything like it before. It was similar to a sapling rising from the earth after a great and terrible destruction, signaling hope and renewal. Whatever this magic was, it was welcome and cherished, and I knew there was no turning back.
The world outside faded as an unwavering force drew me closer. Machines whirred around me, but all my attention was stolen by a single incubator in the middle of the room. My footsteps echoed throughout the hospital room as I approached the incubator carefully, and my heart swelled with every stride.
I splayed my hand over the top of the incubator, where the child slept soundlessly. He was so small that he couldn’t breathe on his own, and yet, my magic had never felt as strong as it did now. I could feel every molecule of air filling the tubes that connected to his lungs, and sensed his tiny body fighting to hold on to life. Fabric rustled as he wiggled slightly, like he knew I was there and was trying to reach out for me.
Oberi nudged my leg. If you want to touch him, go ahead.
Oberi guided me to a nearby sink, where I nervously washed my hands. I fumbled to turn the faucet off, nearly dropping the towels that I used to dry my skin before I steadily approached the incubator again, feeling every part of me trembling. Here it goes.
I shook as I put the gloves on, realizing I couldn’t help myself. Oberi guided my movements, and I reached my hands inside the holes on the side of the incubator. I placed one hand beside his head, which was soft with a tuft of hair. He was barely sixteen inches, and by my estimates, couldn’t be more than two pounds.
My heart nearly burst.
“It’s okay, baby boy,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes. “Daddy’s here now.”
Saying the words out loud caused a profound shudder of restoration to travel through my entire body. For so long, I’d felt like I was dying— like pieces of myself were withering away one by one. Being here in the presence of my newborn son was an entire soul awakening, as if he wasn’t the only one who’d just been born, but I’d been reborn alongside him. His pulse was weak, but I could swear I felt his little heart pumping to match the rhythm of my own, like he and I were connected and always had been.
And I realized we were. This child was my blood— my baby. I’d made this baby with her.
This, I realized, was what family felt like. For so long, I’d been searching for a family I could call my own, blood that was bonded to me, and here he was… my child.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as his tiny hand brushed against my fingers. When that happened, something shifted. The initial shock was replaced by a wave of magic that hit me full force, nearly knocking me down. I’d only experienced something like this one time before.
“Oberi,” I breathed. The power emanating from my son was so strong, I couldn’t bear to pull away.
What is it? Oberi asked, sniffing the air.
Then he stilled as he sensed exactly what I was feeling, and whispered, By the gods, Charlie. He’s?—
“A naderei.” The words breathed out of me. I told myself it wasn’t true, that I was misreading things, but the magic signature coming from my son was unmistakable. Even so, I didn’t understand how it was possible— this was the end of the world, wasn’t it? The Warden had opened the Elven Gate, but my son had appeared on the very same day. Prophets were born when there was a great future to foretell, weren’t they? What kind of future would exist when the Warden was the one ruling over everything?
I didn’t know he would be a prophet, Charlie, Oberi marveled. If I had, I’d have said something sooner.
“It changes nothing,” I told him. “We just have to figure out what this means.”
A great destiny, Oberi hushed. That is the only thing it can mean.
“Get Maddie,” I told him, and Oberi ran off. I continued to lightly touch my son’s skin, trying to keep myself standing although all I wanted was for my knees to buckle, so I could hit the floor. My son hadn’t been alive for more than a few hours, and already, destiny was claiming him for itself.
I wouldn’t let the gods have him. I’d been through hell and back trying to fulfill what was destined for me— I wouldn’t let fate take away that choice for my son.
Maddie must’ve already been on her way to the hospital, because it wasn’t long before Oberi returned with Ava’s aunt in tow. Maddie entered the room with such grace, as if she had no concern in the world.
I wondered if my son would be the same— moving life knowing that he could see the future, but not change the outcome. It was a monumental responsibility, and a great curse… one I wasn’t sure I wished upon anyone, let alone my own child.
“Maddie,” I said when she entered the room. I still hadn’t moved from the incubator, my fingers stroking my son’s head.
“You summoned me before anyone else, which in my opinion, can only mean one thing. Your son is a naderei,” Maddie stated simply.
“It appears so,” I replied. “I need to know what this means. The Warden has already won. I thought this was all over, but the gods send prophets when they’re needed, don’t they?”
“Yes,” Maddie said gently. “If your child is truly a naderei, then this gives us hope. It means the gods are preparing for something even bigger than the Warden, a turn of events that will be incredibly relevant in your son’s time, when he comes of age.”
Tears leaked from my eyes. “We can’t handle the Warden. How are we going to handle something even bigger than him?”
“You won’t. But your child will,” Maddie explained.
“He’s just a baby,” I protested. “I don’t want him anywhere near the Warden.”
