That night was dark, darker than ever before. Black clouds hung low over the fields that surrounded the town of Hayward, and heavy rain threatened to pour down at any second as the rumbles of thunder echoed over the plains and the village. The largest building in town was the Temple of the White Mages, its tall steeple seemed to disappear into the heavy clouds around it as the little town huddled in its safety.
Within the temple's kitchen only three people remained awake. Sister Kathleen, who wore a long white robe with the traditional red triangles around the hem and on the sleeve ends which were currently rolled up and tied back, with her were two apprentices in knee length white dresses, both with the long sleeves tied back. The three were washing and drying the last of the meal dishes while the rest of the residents filled up the dormitories.
"Why do we have to clean the dishes every night, Sister?" The taller of the apprentices complained, she was nine or ten years old, pale skinned, with chestnut colored hair and yellow green eyes. She twisted back and forth and wiggled about as she dried dishes and stacked them on a wooden table.
"If no one were to clean the dishes at the end of the day, what would we eat off in the morning?" Sister Kathleen explained softly, "Look at little Jereni, she does not complain about being helpful to the Temple. You should follow her lead, Elaina." Kathleen smiled down at the other little girl, no more than three she had been deposited on their doorstep when her parents had perished in some accident, and though she spoke very little, she was always smiling and helpful. Her tan skin and black, wiry hair stood out against the clean white dress, and when she smiled up at the Sister and handed her the dish she had dried, Jereni's eyes were sparkling, warm, and brown.
"Thank you," Sister Kathleen smiled back, her own blue eyes shining with love for the children she was charged to train, guide, and protect, as she took the last dish from the little apprentice, "Alright then, Jereni, Elaina, time for bed!" The Sister clapped her hands and Jereni followed suit, mimicking her mentor as she released her sleeves from their ties and tucked her hands into the opposite sides. Elaina laughed and followed along, out of the kitchen and into the Chapel area, pillars lined the sides and reached up to the impossibly high ceiling and stained glass windows would normally let the glow of the full moon through in wonderfully mysterious colors, but tonight it was completely black, except for a single moment when the sky was filled with lightning and the rain began to fall from the sky in driving sheets.
Kathleen narrowed her eyes, the Chapel had never felt so…eerie before. She took a torch from its resting place on one of the pillars and lit it with the flint stored next to it. The little girls clutched at the older woman's robe as if sensing her fear, so she held up her torch and her head as she crossed the area to the dormitory door on the far side. As the trio reached the center of the aisle, where, to the right was the great, solid oak door, and to the left was the alter. Suddenly a peal of thunder rippled from directly above the church. Jereni shivered and stopped walking, which forced Sister Kathleen to do the same. Once the thunder ceased there were three, loud knocks from the great carved door and before the sister could say a word Jereni ran towards it. What stopped the other two in their tracks was that, as the tiny little girl reached the enormous doors, one swung open of its own accord and allowed her to skid through it.
"Hello!?! I'm here!!" her shrill, young voice cried into the cold, wet void. Kathleen and Elaina could see her putting her hands to her mouth to call, then searching back and forth as though looking for someone. Then just as suddenly as it had opened the huge door slammed shut. With a gasp Sister Kathleen dropped the torch and put a hand to her mouth, before running to the door and pulling on it uselessly.
"Elaina! Get the Mother Superior!" she shouted frantically, and her apprentice ran faster than anyone had ever moved through those hallowed halls. Just as Elaina ducked out of sight and Kathleen stepped back, the door swung open once more, without prompting or pulling and Jereni was standing at the top of the steps, still facing out into the night.
"Are you alright? Jereni? Child, are you alright?" Kathleen wanted to rush out and scoop her up and carry her far away, yet she found her legs would not budge, and her voice had lost any of its strength. The little girl turned around and showed Kathleen what she had. It was a baby, not a newborn, but certainly not a whole year old. The sister gulped slightly when the little black haired girl spoke.
"Another cataclysm is upon us, Greater even than that which has passed not so long ago. This Child will be the light to repel the darkness, chosen by us to preserve this world. Raise him well, and protect him, lest the world turn to dust, the people destroyed, the wildlife, the plants, the land wholly and in its entirety…consumed by the shadows," were the words that flowed from Jereni's mouth, yet the voice was not hers, in fact it sounded far more like multiple voices, some soft, others hard as steel, on was like a small child, and another like an ancient sages voice, they were both male, and female voices, and when they spoke the same words, the effect was enough to send shivers up and down the older Sister's spine.
Her speech finished, Jereni strode purposefully into the Chapel once more, the baby clutched to her chest. Once the child was inside again Kathleen came out of her stupor enough to close the door, seeing as it had made no attempt to close itself. Sister Kathleen looked down at Jereni once more, but the strangeness to the child had left, and her plain, chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes stared back up at her.
"Sister! Can we keep him? He's just like me! Left on the door step! Oh please, can't we? I'll help take care of him! Honest I will!" The child's voice echoed in the large chamber, but that was the only sound to it, though it was as though the shy child had just found her voice, save for the strange speech given moments ago, those were the most words anyone had heard come through the child's mouth since she had been adopted by the White Mages. Kathleen sighed and patted Jereni on the head lovingly.
"Of course, we would never turn away someone in need-" the sister broke off, and stroked the apprentice's hair once more. Despite having been out in the wind and rain, she and the baby boy were completely dry…
"Oh, Sister? His name is Jayce," Jereni smiled again, a plain, innocent smile, completely unaware of the strange occurrences that had just passed. She took the baby to the Mother Superior who had just arrived with half the people from the dormitories in suit, lead by Elaina. A knowing look passed between Sister Kathleen and the Mother before the older Sisters began herding people back to their beds. These next few years will be interesting indeed… the Sister thought with a final glance to Jereni, and their newest charge, Jayce…