Thunder boomed above the forest and shook the ground beneath it, causing the citizens of the barren bandit town to cower in fear. The wild rain pounded the shed and huts housing them, their weak earth magic the only thing holding everything together. They all watched at the larger hut in the center of town, illuminated by candlelight and the crackling lightning. A silhouette of four people were visible in the light glow, three men and one woman. And the shrieks of the woman mingled with the crackling and booming thunder. Some citizens thought it was a warning from the gods, that this child would cause death and despair. Some thought that this was a sign of unimaginable power, perhaps even that of a druid. Most thought that it was just a coincidence that the woman had gone into labour at the first crack of lightning across the sky, and the longer the labour lasted the harder the storm. Every moan was met with gusts of harsh wind, and every shriek another clap of lightning. In the hut the sight was even more gastly. The silvery woman had her head back, her body covered in a thin white spider silk sheet. Her silvery partner held her hand, his long hair pulled back in a tight ponytail to show his even more severe features.
"You need to push Eve." Elder Birk said sternly. His own dark hair was pulled back, his white robes stained with blood. The slender man was watching her womb, and trying to help her pass the child out. The lone male standing off to the side watched silently, his dark eyes watching the older elf struggle to free the child.
"Haldir, help me!" Birk hissed, the gold circlet around his head glittering in the candlelight. Haldir was confused on what to do as the two pale elves looked at him desperately.
"Get this thing out of me!" She screamed and began to kick her legs, blood pooling from in between her legs and falling onto the beaten straw mattress below her. Haldir pushed back his fringe like black hair and positioned himself next to the elder, looking at the woman's eyes rather than the scene between her legs.
"I would not call your child a 'thing'." He frowned at her, but the man instantly straightened himself.
"This thing should have been impossible to begin with. Now get it out of her and get rid of it." The man simply known to Haldir and Birk as Thorne hissed as he clutched his wife's hand. As if on cue, the heavens opened up with a barrage of thunder just as they child slipped out from her and into Birk's hands. Immediately the child began to scream and wail, and the storm above fell silent with the cries. The woman was trying to catch her breath, her pale skin covered in a thick sweat and her silk dress sticking to her. Birk was astonished at the life in his arms, as children to them were quite rare. She was small and frail, her dark hair sticking to her scalp and her eyes squeezed closed. Even Haldir-- a cold and silent hitman-- sat in silence as he looked at the child. However, the parents seemed less than impressed.
"Is it a boy?" The woman huffed, looking over to the starstruck duo and Birk cradled the girl to his chest, not caring of the blood she smeared against him.
"It's a girl." Birk's words he thought would be met with cheers and sighs, but instead they both looked disappointed beyond all measure. He began to edge closer to her, holding out her screaming and crying baby, the cord still connected. Instead the woman just turned her head away, and the father reached out and cut the cord.
"That's not ours." He hissed, holding his wife close to him. Haldir and Birk were confused, and looked at the pair as if they each had three heads.
"I can assure you she most definitely is." The both just vigorously shook their head and refused to look at the infant.
"I am the seventh son of a seventh son. Therefore, we only have sons. She doesn't even look like Freda or I, her features are that of a wood elf and we come from the water tribe." He pushed the infant away from him and Birk cradled the girl to his chest. She stopped crying just as he did so, causing him to clutch her closer.
"One of your more recent ancestors must have been a wood elf, otherwise--"
"We don't want her!" Freda screamed, her face red and enraged. Her sudden scream made the infant start screaming. Just as she did, the heavens roared again and the disgraceful parents flinched.
"She is obviously a cursed child, cursed by the Great Divine Zarya. We have no child." Their faces were very dark and hidden, their gazes avoiding the child screaming in his grasp. Hildar reached out and with as much care as his hands could, gently took the girl from the elder elfs arms. She instantly calmed and began to coo, the storm calming outside as her sudden happiness. Despite having much shorter hair than Birk, she reached out and grabbed his fringey black locks and tugged lightly. He lifted her closer to his face and in turn she started patting the man's sharp features, and tugging lightly at the three stone studs in his right ear. It was if the hardness surrounding the assassin's heart broke off like a nut being cracked.
"I'll take her then." Haldir moved her head into the crook of his neck and looked at the bewildered but still annoyed parents.
"We don't care what happens. Feed her to the saber wolves for all I care." Her own mother was so cold and fierce. Haldir and Birk both tensed at her words, and Birk stood up abruptly.
"I will be adopting your child then," Birk barked, wiping his bloodied hands on the towel he has used to help the child out, "And you both can leave at this moment." Both the parents looked shocked that the usually kind elder was throwing out the couple that had just given birth.
"You can't do that!" Thorne clutched his wife's hand, looking at the duo like they were beneath them.
"You forget where you are. Most people here would kill you and take your extravagant clothes with no remorse or second thought. If it was not for your pregnancy and my voucher, you would have been robbed long ago. However, children here are rare and if they found out you wanted to throw away yours they would do what they want." They began shaking wildly as Haldir's eyes started glowing a bright copper with each of Birk's words. Birk's own black iris glowed with a golden light as they looked at the level two water casters trembling. Haldir-- a single earth caster-- could have taken them both herself, but the more ominous figure was that of Birk. The four golden earrings in his ear showed that he could have annihilated them with a flick of his wrist. There was a loaded silence, only broken by the odd coo of the child. Dust and straw particles danced in the air, making everything seem like it was glowing as the couple struggled to their answer. As if on cue, Thorne grabbed his wife's shoulder and knees and lifted her up. Fearfully he looked over to the two men before he shuffled out of the tent, never looking at his own daughter once.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Haldir asked the elder, bouncing the child slightly as she became a little upset. She instantly calmed and fell asleep, her fingers still in his hair.
"We will have to ask Isla for help, as she has taken care of infants before." The elder began to shuffle around with his various robes and blankets to make a makeshift cradle before they could make their own. He had not prepared for this possibility, throwing him off guard. His circular cut was not overly large, made of tight weaving roots he had conjured himself to make a cone like shape, with tarp making up half the walls so he could see the shadows outside. The dusty ground was covered with various furs, and his straw bed and small writing desk were the only things he had for himself other than a cauldron over a small fire pit in the middle. He was setting up the small bed next to his own, throwing out the furs that were on the previous birthing bed and tossing them outside. Haldir knelt down to put the baby on the bed, but that was when something caught Birk's eye.
"Hold still." He stopped Haldir as he knelt down. The assassin froze, just as Birk swooped down next to him and moved the fingers covering the girls upper back, just under the back of her neck and in between her shoulders. At first he thought it was a birthmark, but at a closer look it was far too intricate. It was a black outline of an upside down triangle, a line crossing through the bottom point. Connected to the end of the line turned into what appeared to be olive branches reaching out to her shoulders. The tip of the triangle had a line leading down to the small of her back, where a lotus flower seemed to be blooming.
"Where is the Gaia Orb?" Birk asked Haldir who raised a scarred eyebrow at the question.
"Shouldn't we test her when she's at least five?" Birk started to shake his head as he motioned for Haldir to place her down.
" I need it now." His voice was hoarse and panicked. The assassin was starting to get worried, never hearing the strain in Birk's voice before.
"It's in the temple, about a day's ride away. Should I send Roric to go and retrieve it?" To answer the question, Birk turned the infant over a bit so Hladir could see the same markings he had seen. Haldir paled and shot up like he had just been electrocuted, causing the candlelight to flicker. His form flickered before he completely disappeared in an instant, leaving the older elf alone with the fresh infant.