The Birth

The day was coming to an end, the glow of the White Moon was becoming dimmer. The clouds began to flock together like sheep being herded, they slowly covered the glow of the moon and darkness fell over the coastal town of Raver Port.

Seren had finished her shift at the docks, it had been as quiet as the last decades, no ships entered and none left. But she was paid all the same, 3 copper rings for the month. Just enough to afford food and rent, luckily.

She sighed as she walked the streets. A quick glance at the fortress that towered over the town of around 1300 people, a horrid sight for most but everyone knew the importance of the residents there.

Protection from the Dark Forest.

The story of the forest was long forgotten but the one rule was to never enter it, the dangers were known to all the people in the tiny port town. Every few years one kid would get too curious and venture into the depths, obviously they would never return, that much was easy to guess.

Seren had navigated through the town to the Four Lodges, the poorest most rundown area. Children sleeping under the pieces of wood neglected from the roofs of the buildings that stood next to them.

Shouts of men aimed at those who had run off with their monthly salary, but most remain calm. This is the norm. This is how it has always been. Unchanging.

The scream of a woman however pierced through the other noise, it drew almost everyone's attention. The woman was giving birth again, the fifth time in her life. She was the fortress owners mistress and was relied upon for supplying enlightened children to him.

Not a life for a human, even in this age. The fortress acts too rashly but no one could say anything about it otherwise you would be maimed. You couldn't say no to them, it just wasn't possible. Luckily they did not get too involved in the lives of those who live beneath them, in people's eyes it was seen that one woman was sacrifice enough to keep the forest at bay.

. . .

The screaming and heavy breathing had stopped, the woman held the little boy in her arms. Her white hair cascaded onto her shoulders and down off the bed nearly touching the polished shoes of the man standing next to her. Clad in black cloth from head to toe he resembled the grim reaper, his cold stern look focused on the child.

His lips parted slightly as he was about to speak but his hand covered his mouth as to stop him and he merely let out a long breath. The child before him was clearly at the Solon stage of enlightenment, an extremely rare case within the port.

The woman had stopped moving, falling into a deep sleep with the child held tightly in her arms as if she was protecting him from something. That something was still standing next to the bed and began to reach down to take the child who kept his eyes fixed firmly on the man clad in black. He did not make a sound as he was lifted out of his mothers arms, the cloth surround his tiny body slowly unwrapped as his legs kicked in protest.

No sound was made even while the child's mouth was open, he clearly was not happy with the situation. He peered around the room for the first time, men wrapped in silver armour with long swords at their hips opened the door and the child was whisked out of the room, his mother left behind.

He still made no noise but his limbs were flailing in obvious protest however the man held tightly onto him trying to stop the baby from moving but he was rather stunned by the fact that the child was making no noise.

The child grew tired after a couple of minutes of walking and as the 3 men exited the building his eyes closed, his body relaxed and he became unaware of the happenings around him.

. . .

It had become bright after I opened my eyes, the light burst into the room along the perimeter of the curtains. A woman dressed in white and black entered the room and drew the curtains apart flooding the room in light, as well as blinding my eyes. I couldn't help but cover my burning eyes and let out a groan of exhaustion.

"Oh! I am sorry again young master." Her voice was soft and melodious, it had a calming effect over my body that felt like magic. It caused a strange feeling that ran through my veins, but I knew what it was. Purity. "It is time for you to be baptised in the White River today. How do you feel?"

"Apart from you burning a layer off of my eyes again I feel excited! I have been waiting 12 years for this." My voice had only just began to deepen and I could not help the crack in pitch at the end. It caused the maid to smile from ear to ear, it was clear that she was trying to not laugh but she managed to compose herself.

My baptising ceremony had arrived, I was going to be submerged in the White River. An experience that every enlightened person goes through on their 12th birthday. As I was thinking about the importance of the day a man walked through my door, without knocking, which made it clear who it was.

"Hello father, I hope you slept well."

A cold gaze was thrown in my direction as I lowered my head in respect.

"Hmm." He never replied properly, his nose pointed high into the air to show his authority over the two people in the room.

He walked up to me and handed me a white cloth signalling me to put it on. His movements were precise and calculated, he carried a clear status of strength and dignity which always annoyed me.

Being enlightened is already a very rare circumstance but not only this I was born at the Solon stage or the second stage to most. The only less likely thing to happen is to be born into the Saint stage or third stage. This was the level my father was born at and not only this his nourishment has been increased exponentially through his status as the fortress owner.

Yeah, his strength pissed me off. I was purely jealous of his strength, I wanted to obtain his height but I knew it wasn't possible. The meaning of my life was to experiment the purity, an essential commodity of the enlightened it is what powers us and keeps us alive. It means we don't need food or water to stay alive and, if we can keep filling ourselves up we could live forever.

That was all that was known about purity, it was nourishment. However it had other applications, that is where my existence comes in. To find out more of the applications and how it works on the body, everyone has a specific amount that they can store and if they go over this limit they enter a state known as overflow. A horrible, torturous state where all the fluids expels themselves from the body, blood, water, urine, just everything.

Today, my baptism will put me into this state by submerging myself in the river. It is unknown why or how the river is full of purity and not just water but this is not what my father wants to investigate, he wants to know how to cure the state of overflow. Thus I will be forced into this state today, a very happy birthday.