4 Baby Steps

The early days of Vance as a baby passed peacefully. He had a doting old man as his father who didn't leave his side for a moment. The farmhouse cottage was livened for the first time in a long time. Morgan felt like the Mother Goddess had blessed him for all the sacrifices he made in his life. He was not alone anymore in this world.

Time passed and the season changed. It was spring now - a season that brought joy to everyone.

Vance is a half-year-old baby now. Morgan would always take him on a stroll in the hilly plains every day. The first time they went outside, Vance seemed mesmerized for some reason, even though he was a baby. This made Morgan very happy and he made it a habit of going on a daily stroll.

They would go early in the morning and in the evening while he did the farm work in the day as Vance slept.

Morgan was ecstatic when Vance first tried to crawl, but it soon turned to worry. Now, he couldn't leave him alone for a long time. The diet of the baby also increased. And time passed again.

Vance was finally a year-old now. When he first stood up on his legs, Morgan felt like crying. He now understood what it felt like to be a parent. Vance would often try to walk around the cottage, falling occasionally and hurting himself. Morgan was the proudest in his life at that moment. It was winter outside, so they mostly stayed indoors. The farm animals provided the necessary rations to sustain themselves in this faraway cottage.

However, there was one problem. Vance would often wake up in the middle of the night and would start crying. This started when the baby turned one year old. Morgan was clueless as to what had happened to his son. He took Vance to the nearest city Cleric, and even the Cleric declared the baby healthy. After some time, Morgan wondered if this was normal for a baby.

Time passed again and the seasons changed. It was another spring - the second spring of Vance in this world.

"Dadda"

Morgan was working inside the cottage when he heard someone speaking. He turned around and saw Vance on the ground as if he had stumbled and fell, and smiling. Morgan stared wide-eyed and hurried down to the baby with wide eyes, with tears rolling down.

"Say it again! What you just said. Say it again!" Feeling over-excited, Morgan held the baby and shook him while the baby giggled.

"Daadaa~"

The baby said slowly and softly, flailing his arms, asking Morgan to pick him up.

"Once again! Once more!"

Alas, there was no third time. A little bit dejected, he picked the baby up into his arms.

"Hah. Today's the happiest day of my life. I wasn't this happy even when I received an honor from the Royal Family. You are my son, my pride, my everything." He said with wet eyes. He patted the baby's head, earning him a giggle in return.

Vance would now occasionally sneak out of the cottage into the farm, which often earned him Morgan's ire. But the 'Dadda' with a giggle always made him soft.

One night, while they were sleeping, Vance suddenly woke up crying. Morgan was jolted awake by the sound. This was something that has plagued Morgan for some time now. Even the Cleric wasn't able to help the baby.

"Daaddddaaaa" the baby cried.

"Shush. What happened to my son? A Nightmare? Feeling Hungry?" Morgan tried coaxing the baby while holding him in his arms. He feared something was haunting his son.

"Daddaa, hurt" A soft niffle

"What, where, my child?" Asked Morgan, petrified. Vance pointed to his head.

"Let me take you to the cleric again."

Morgan hurriedly got ready and took off for the city. Walking to and fro from the city at this old age was no easy thing. But all he had was his son's well-being on his mind. He continued walking down the hill till the first daylight broke.

When he reached the cleric's house, the day had already begun. For the first time, he regretted not having a horse cart.

"Hello, Mr. Albino's here?" Morgan knocked on the door and anxiously asked.

*click*

The door opened and a maid appeared. "Yes?"

"Ah, Is Mr. Albino at home? My son is not feeling well. I need to see him." He said with worry written all over his face.

"Please come inside and wait. Let me inform Master about your arrival." The maid signaled towards a chair and went back.

Morgan went inside and sat on the chair. After some time, a man in his 50's walked down the stairs.

"Good morning Mr. Morgan. It's unusual to see you so early in the morning here. Is everything fine?"

"Ah. Good morning Mr. Albino. I have already visited you before because he woke up and cried in the middle of the night. Today was the same too. But when I asked, he said his head hurt." Not wanting to miss a single detail, Morgan explained everything.

"Oh. So he started speaking. Come inside. Let me check him once again then." They moved from the living room to the side room meant to see the patients. He laid the baby on a clothed table.

"Lumiego"

As the cleric said this, a green light enveloped Vance before dissipating later.

"As I had said before, there is nothing wrong with the baby" After examining the baby, the cleric told Morgan.

"But…he was crying all night. There must be something wrong with him. Can it be that something is haunting him or someone cast a curse on him?" Worried for his son, tears rolled from Morgan's eyes.

"Aye, you are overthinking it, Mr. Morgan. There's no such thing as that here. Not to mention, he's just a baby. I will cast a healing spell just in case so don't worry too much."

"Thank you, Mr. Albino," Morgan profusely thanked the cleric.

"Surge of Twilight"

A ball of white light engulfed the baby, attempting to heal the wounds and injuries he might have had. When the white light faded, he handed the baby to Morgan.

Morgan paid 5 ducats as a fee, thanked the cleric, and left for the cottage. It took several hours for them to get back as they resupplied a few groceries on the way. The sun was deep in the middle and the day was out of sync with his mood. He was tired.

Soon, the seasons changed and years passed. Vance grew up to be four years old while Morgan grew older. Vance was now a short and lean child with blue eyes and dark black hair, with a pendant tied around his neck.

One fine morning, "Good morning, father!" Vance said while rubbing his eyes, yawning.

"Good morning, Vance. Slept well? Do you still get frequent headaches?" asked Morgan.

"Yes, it's been good lately. No headaches,'' replied Vance, while thinking to himself, 'Should I tell father about these weird dreams lately?'. But he decided against it, to not worry his father unnecessarily.

"Hah. I forgot to tell you, it's about time I started your elementary education."

"Whaattt?"

It was now time to start Vance's basic education. Being a Knight Commander himself, Morgan was well educated. He took it upon himself to impart the basic education to Vance instead of hiring a tutor.

First came the numbers. All the stuff Morgan knew about the numeric system, he taught to the four-year-old. He instructed the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to properly establish the fundamentals. Fortunately, Vance was a smart kid. It took him only a few weeks to learn the basics of the number system.

Then came the alphabets. It was very important to teach both to read and write - be able to both speak and spell them, and learning them simultaneously was an arduous task. Starting with individual letters, to words and long sentences and their meanings - it was going to be a long journey.

And with a short rest, Vance's education began once again. He would wake up early, go for a walk in the hills, classes for the better half of the day, have an evening walk, and finally time for bed. This was Vance's set routine.

It took him some time to get used to the letters. He would fail, again and again, only to be scolded.

"Can't we take a small break? My head feels like exploding from studying." Feeling tired, he complained to his tutor - his father.

"Stop complaining! It's only been an hour and a half." Morgan replied in a stern tone.

"But why do I need to study so hard? Can't I take it slow? I doubt there are many educated people around here. I will somehow manage to get to their level. Why the hurry?" Vance complained in a more aggrieved tone, feeling wronged.

"Do you always want to stay here? In the mountains? All alone?" Morgan said in a bit louder tone.

Seeing his father somewhat angry, Vance became silent and said "Why would I be all alone? Aren't you there with me?", in a slow voice.

"I am always there for you. But I won't be there forever by your side." Feeling a bit sad, Morgan replied in a regretful voice.

"Why?" Vance was surprised at his father's statement.

"Because…" He stopped halfway and spoke. "Nevermind. Let's take a break and continue classes later on".

"But you haven't answered my question." Vance protested.

"Some other time when you are a little more grown-up. Now go play."

'If only I had met you earlier in my life,' Morgan thought to himself.

Vance's education continued and, being the smart kid he was, he became good at reading and writing the basics - his elementary education lasted one year. He practiced daily reading and writing, memorizing everything. Morgan was proud of his son.

It was the winter season once again, the fifth winter since Morgan found Vance. But strangely this time, small white droplets fell from the grey dark sky. Such a phenomenon was never witnessed in the Ashton Kingdom before - It was a snowfall.

Vance was playing in the farmhouse while Morgan was tending to the regular farm work. They felt something was off and looked up. It was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon as pure white pearls fell from the sky, blessing the earth. Soon, a white layer started covering the dried land.

"Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

A scream woke Morgan out of his stupor. Looking toward the source of the scream, he was shocked. Vance was screaming while holding his head, kneeling on the ground.

Vance felt a throbbing and intense pain in his head as if his head would explode any minute now. The pain was unbearable and his screams grew louder. When the pain grew intolerable, something inside him snapped and he felt his consciousness fading.

"Vanceeeee!!"

The old man was petrified when he saw his son falling to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, from far away, a raven was watching the events unfolding in front of him, while sitting atop an oak tree.