It was a down and dreary night as the tumult of a storm raged around us. My wife and I were trudging through the woods of these lands to get away from it all. This world had turned against us and we were on our last legs, not to mention the fact that my wife was about to give birth. We were stumbling alone in the dark with rain pouring down in sheets on top of us. I was constantly looking over my shoulder for any possible pursuers or dangers. I heard my wife wince in my arm and I helped her lean against a tree to relieve some of the pressure. She nodded her head in thanks as she slowly breathed in controlled breaths.

We didn’t have much farther to go until the clearing that we’d been informed about. I helped her up to her feet for them to continue on. A mob drove us out of our home, so I didn’t want us to get caught. If we were caught, I would have to watch the love of my life die to a mob that didn’t understand what they were doing. We didn’t blame them because they had all been deceived by a man who conquered nations that lay in his path.

When we came to the edge of the trees, I froze where I was at the thought of being out in the open. I was caught between the fear of being caught and getting away from this place. I was trembling when my wife tugged at my sleeve. “We can do it, Honey.” Her voice was quiet but gave me the hope that I needed.

We held each other’s hands as we stepped out into the clearing. In the center of the clearing, through the downpour, I could make out the archway where the gateway would appear. My hopes began to sore as the blue light of the gate swirled into existence. We were finally about to be out of this hell hole. We were halfway to the gate when there was a blinding flash. I leapt in front of my wife, fearing that lightning had struck our path. I braced myself for the inevitable blast that would come, but there was nothing.

I turned to find a man standing in the rain, glowing with the power that he had. He was completely dry despite the downpour, and he wore a comforting smile on his face. The glow that surrounded him slowly enveloped us and all I could feel was warmth and peace. It was like time had stopped and everything was going to be alright. I could feel tears slowly streaming down my face and the knife I had produced on instinct fell to the ground. I could hear a sigh emerge from my wife and I looked to see a look of relief come over her. The pain must have been going away.

The man made a small bow before approaching us and stepped right up to my wife, a look of complete calm on her face. He placed a hand on her bulging belly and smiled a broad grin. Then he looked up at the two of us. The words he said I will never forget. “He is destined for great things. Raise him well.” His voice was almost melodious, in nature, as he slowly dissolved into thin air.

I stood there in utter bewilderment as time seemed to restart. Rain once again poured over the two of us. Then there was a distant howl from the trees and I wrapped an arm around my wife once again. Stepping through the archway, the gateway was activated.

With a flash of brilliant light, we found ourselves along a strange road of black cobblestone. We had made it. This road was something called paved. I’d heard about it from our contact who resided here. After checking our surroundings, I helped my wife to her feet and we started making our way down the side of the road. That was when I noticed peculiar lines that had been painted on the road. “Why would anyone line a road?” I hadn’t meant to say it out loud but I startled myself with how quiet it was in this place. The road was confusing as I thought back to all the other roads that I’d seen in major cities. I’d never seen such markings.

As I continued to ponder the thought, I saw lights up ahead of us. It was quite a ways away so I slowly led my wife off the road. We found a wide nook in the roots of a tree so that her pregnant belly wouldn’t hinder my wife. With us being in a new world, I didn’t want to get into any trouble, so the best thing for us was to wait for them to pass.

After what seemed to be an hour, I was starting to think that something was up. There was only one thing that I could think of that would make them take so long. They were looking for something, which spelled bad news for us. How did they even know that we were here? The gate doesn’t leave a flash or residual magic behind. I went to produce my knife but found the sheath empty. This didn’t look very good for us. I slowly peeked around the tree and saw that the lights were still a ways away but they had come closer. I turned to my wife. “I don’t know if they’re looking for us but they’re coming our way. If someone betrayed us and they were waiting for the gateway to activate, someone could have used detection magic in the general area. I’m going to go see just what is going on.”

I was about to step out from the tree when I heard a low rumbling noise coming from the direction of the lights. I peeked out from the tree again and was instantly bombarded by bright light. The noise was growing in volume as the lights sped closer. Thinking that an enemy had come upon us, I braced for a fight but I wasn’t ready for what was coming. A massive metal chariot came crashing by, larger than any I had seen before. The sheer speed of the thing blasted me off balance and I tumbled back behind the tree. I collected myself as quickly as I could and lept out into the road to face whatever enemy had come. I was certain that whatever that had been was magic of some kind but there was something about how solid the image was that unsettled me. I found myself alone in the middle of the road. Not a soul in sight. I looked back at the retreating chariot and found red lights going off into the distance. The roaring noise had also faded in the same direction.

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I took a breath before gripping my shaking knees, “What the hell was that?” I strode back over to the tree to see my wife clutching her swollen belly. “Are you alright, Christina?” I knelt down next to her and tried to find a way to help her to her feet.

Christina chuckled as she smiled up at me, “Nothing but a normal pregnancy here.” She took my extended hand and slowly made her way to her feet. “Was that one of the many technologies that reside in this world, Daniel?” She threw a hand over one of my shoulders and sighed as we started back for the road again.

“I believe it was, but I have no idea what kind of technology it would be,” I answered as I carefully watched for roots and other obstructions that Christina would have to watch out for. “Where’s Debi? She was supposed to be here.” I scanned from front to back to see if there was any sign of the witch that had helped us in our hour of need.

“I’m right here.” A woman’s voice stated nonchalantly from behind us.

I spun around, putting my fists up for a fight only to find myself being lifted into the air by a spell. I tried to twist my body around and gain purchase somewhere on the ground by I was too far above the ground by then. I stubbornly crossed my arms and glared at the woman before me. “I thought that magic didn’t work all that well here?”

Debi had to clamp a hand over her mouth as she saw my now precarious position, hanging upside down. Then she put up a finger like she was addressing one of her students, “That is only if you don’t know where to find a magic node.” She waved the spell away and I fell like a sack of potatoes. I quickly put my feet under myself and dusted myself off. “The car is over here,” Debi stated as she turned into the trees down a dirt path.

I continued to roughly swat the dirt off myself as we strode after her, “What the hell is a car?” I held my arm out for Christina and she gripped it welcomingly.

“It’s the primary mode of travel here.” Debi scoffed as if she was speaking to a child. “I’ll get you guys up to speed on the details once we’ve reached the house. There’s a lot to learn about this place if you want to live and raise that child of yours.” She waved a hand in front of her and the trees parted to reveal a small red chariot that was covered in metal, not unlike what I had seen on the road.

Christina chuckled next to me, “About that,” She started, with a small grimace at our son’s movements. “A strange man said something to us just before we entered the gateway.”

Debi spun on her heels and regarded us with a very serious stare, “What did this strange man say and what did he look like?” The air around her began to heat up like she was a furnace about the blow.

I had to gulp back my surprise because Debi only stopped joking when lives were on the line. “He was glowing a bright white with the power that he commanded. He wore pure white robes and was a little taller than I was. He said, ‘He is destined for great things. Raise him well.’, before disappearing out of thin air.” It was only then that I started to think of who the man had been. I hadn’t known anyone that powerful before. We wouldn’t have been in this predicament if that was the case. I had heard of someone that was so powerful, but there was no way that such a being actually existed, right?

Debi’s gaze fell on Christina’s swollen belly and I heard her gulp, “That changes everything.” She abruptly turned and sprinted for the car. She opened the doors on the back, “Get in!” She shouted.

Christina and I shared a worried glance as I slowly led her over to the car and helped her get into the back seat. Then I sprinted around the back and opened the other back door just as I’d seen Debi do it. As we sat in the back, Debi firmly placed herself in the front seat and planted her foot somewhere on the floor. The car lurched forward and they were speeding down the road faster than any chariot would have gone. “Things are about to change and you guys are going to have to be ready when the time comes.” She stated as she glanced at the front of the car’s interior.

I was a little distracted by the fact that we were going so fast but weren’t feeling any of the effects I knew were supposed to be there. “How is this even possible without magic?”

“That’s not important right now!” Debi screeched from the front seat. My attention was solidly brought to what was about to come from her lips. “Sorry. I’ll explain all that I can at the house, but you guys need to know exactly what is going on. Your son may very well be, The Bringer of Change.” She sighed as she said it, knowing that a great weight had just been put on all of them.

My mind was racing as I thought of all the things that were about to happen. The legend of the Bringer of Change was known throughout the dimensions. I slowly looked down at Christina’s pregnant belly and could only think one thing. Debi was certainly right. This news did change everything.