Aksel will be dead in three minutes.

Wrapped up delicately in a blanket and cradled in his parent’s arms, the fragile newborn deserved a name, so his parents insisted. Though his life was cut short, his absence would leave a void in their hearts that would never be filled.

Yes, he deserved a name. A melody to echo within the corridors of their grief and give meaning to the pain in their souls. A name he would be remembered by as the years passed in his absence.

“Death is a journey we all must travel, when our time comes,” the priest tried to console the grieving parents. “Aksel may be departing ahead of us, but we all shall be united together within the Heavens.”

The mother, the father, and the priest, entrusted with the sacred duty of ushering him into this world, were there for him in his final minutes, as the newborn lay there quietly in his mother’s arms.

Two minutes were all that remained.

Aksel lacked the strength to cry, as should have been his right as a new arrival to this world. Life, however, had dealt him an unfair hand. His birth was premature, his body sickly and small. If he had been born in one of the great cities of the east, or as the son of a noble in one of their fine estates or castles within this great kingdom, his destiny might have taken a different path.

“May I bestow upon him his first and final blessing before we send him off to the angels?” the priest asked solemnly. The bedridden mother, her eyes, so red and puffy, resisted the urge to shed tears as she cradled him in her arms. These were the last moments she had left with her precious third born, after all. She had to be strong.

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With a nod, she carefully handed Aksel over to the priest, who began to impart The First’s sacred blessing upon him. This blessing was intended to ensure his health and prosperity for the rest of his life. Instead, it would serve merely as his ticket into the heavens as he departed from this world.

Two fingers gently pressed against the newborn’s chest, imparting the most precious gift both the priest and his parents could offer him.

Only one minute remained now.

A small golden glow illuminated Aksel’s tiny chest. A sliver of divine essence entered his heart and imprinted on his soul. Now and forever, the child would have the favour of the heavens, and never want for anything in his next life.

Having done all he could to provide Aksel with the best possible afterlife, the priest returned the silent newborn back to his mother, to be in the comforting arms of his parents one final time.

Both mother and father leaned in, barely able to keep themselves composed for the final moments of their child’s life.

His time in this world was almost at an end. Only seconds remained.

Five,

His breath was too short to fill his lungs.

Four,

His frail heart could not carry on the struggle.

Three,

His eyes remained closed to the world, as though resting in eternal slumber.

Two,

His parents leaned in closer, for the last time.

One,

“I love you, Aksel.” His mother whispered to him, silent tears running down her cheeks during her final goodbye.

Zero.

…

“W…”

A mumble, a sound that should have been impossible, escaped the newborn’s mouth. The mother, the father, and the priest, already grieving their loss, found their eyes pried open in disbelief.

For the first time, Aksel opened his eyes.

"Waah, waah, waah!" the newborn cried, as all babies should, his little limbs flailing weakly where they had once lain still. Both mother and father sobbed tears of joy, blessing the heavens for their intervention. The son they thought they had lost was given new life before their very eyes; A miracle granted by The First himself.

On that day, the child known as Aksel had lived.

And the countdown to the apocalypse had begun.