PROLOGUE
The rain beat down mercilessly as she made her way through the darkened streets encumbered by the small bundle in the basket that she held. The heavens raged and washed the silent city as its half million inhabitants soundly slept. She pulled the black hood of the cloak she wore down below her eyes, but made her way swiftly as if she were intimately acquainted with the narrow cobble-stone streets of Boston's historic North End district. It was past three in the morning and the streets were empty save for the occasional rat darting across Hanover Street to sample the delicacies unceremoniously tossed out onto the street from the local bakeries. The air was thick with the scent of dirt mixed with ocean, of bread mixed with molasses. But all the city's sensory stimulations went unnoticed; she would not be deterred from her purpose.
Some of the back streets she found herself traversing were so narrow that a car would have trouble opening the doors on both sides. But she made her way steadfastly through and reached her destination. Massive steel garage doors touched down to the sidewalk but they were set back from the red brick of the facade of the fire house almost two feet creating a respite from the elements. She placed the basket down into the corner, out of the rain, and peered inside. The infant was only a few weeks old, but already bearing a striking resemblance to her father with tufts of blond hair poking out in every direction and huge eyes the color of a summer sea. It would not be long before one of the firefighters noticed the errant basket and brought the infant into their safe haven. And when they did, she would be long gone, a vague whisper vanished into thin air. They would never find her.
After setting the infant down, she reached inside her cloak and withdrew the letter she had written only hours before and reread it.
"Dearest One:
Knowing not whether this will ever reach you, I will be brief. Do not lament your circumstances. Know that you were not abandoned to your fate, but surrendered to it for we can no more fight the will of Destiny than we can stop the course of Time. You have great hardship ahead of you. You will shoulder burdens that no person should have to. But it is your solemn duty to do so. You have a Light inside you that will guide you. Use it wisely and use it well.
Do not come searching for your past for it will find you. The story of your origin will be revealed when you are ready to know it.
I leave you with one comfort. There is another like you. Find her. Teach her. Together you will embark on a great mission. Do not take it lightly. The weight of a world will rest on your success."
In lieu of a signature, she had merely drawn a symbol that would remain unintelligible to the child until she was ready. She folded the letter neatly in half three times and tucked it into the basket. She grazed her lips against the soft forehead of the infant, who cooed at the cool touch. She folded the parts of the blanket that were overlapping over the basket back inside and took one last look at the infant inside and whispered:
"Until we meet again!"