A Few Hours Before Our Protagonist Was Born
World of Donthus, Human Kingdom of Norveth, in a village far from the kingdom's capital.
It was winter, January 15th, around 1:00 PM.
The night before, it had snowed heavily.
In the village square, where the residents usually celebrated their festivals and which also served as the main trading point, it was much emptier than usual.
Only a few children between two and four years old, well bundled up, were playing in the snow that had remained after the dirt road had been cleared.
The harvest from the previous year had not been the best, but after selling a good portion of it and paying their taxes, each family still had a good stock of grains and smoked meat to last through the winter.
Life in this type of village was not bad during times of peace, when there were no wars between kingdoms. But when the clouds of war began to darken the horizon, even the rats hid, as they were hunted to ease the hunger that fell upon the kingdoms.
While the children played, a man about eighteen or nineteen years old, with short honey-colored hair and a strong build, ran across the square. He carried a bow and a quiver full of arrows on his back.
The children stopped playing, and one of the older ones shouted:
"Uncle Arthur, did you already return from hunting? And my father?"
The young man named Arthur did not even look back.
"David, my child is being born! Your father will only return tonight with the others!" he replied while running.
David was about to answer, but the young man had already turned onto another street.
David looked at the other children as if he were their leader and said:
"I'm about to get another subordinate. And with that, in the future, all of us will explore a dungeon!" he said excitedly.
A younger child with a runny nose spoke up.
"Boss, I'm already the archer!" he said, pointing his thumb at himself.
"Marcus is the rogue."
He pointed to another boy about three years old with dark brown hair and eyes of the same color.
Then he pointed to a girl of the same age, with blonde hair, green eyes, and very chubby cheeks.
"Kelly is the healer."
After that, he pointed to another girl with black hair and blue eyes, very cute and the youngest among them.
"Sophie is the mage."
Finally, he said:
"The boss is the warrior. Isn't our team already complete?"
David looked at a boy a little younger than him, with black hair and brown eyes, and replied:
"Jhonas, my dad said that a dungeon is very dangerous and that the more people we have, the better. If when he grows up he is smarter than you, he'll already be pretty strong."
All the other children laughed at him.
"Hmph! I am smart! I'm the smartest!" he said, snorting and mumbling.
Everyone laughed even more.
Meanwhile, Arthur arrived at the door of a house made of unfired bricks, with a roof of dried palm leaves. From outside it was already possible to hear the cries of pain from a young woman.
In a hurry, he opened the wooden plank door and went inside. It was much warmer inside than outside, though it was still cold.
He closed the door and greeted a woman who was standing near the bedroom waiting for him.
"Matilda, how is she?" he asked with a nervous voice.
"She went into labor about four hours ago. When it started, I was coming here to see if she needed anything. Her water broke, so I went to inform the village chief to send someone to call you, and then I went to fetch the midwife. We've been like this since then," Matilda said with her gentle voice.
"What can I do?" Arthur asked nervously.
"You? Nothing. This is her war. You cannot fight it for her. You don't need to worry so much, she is strong. If you want something to keep your mind busy, go put more wood in the fireplace and heat some water. It's already past noon, but it's still very cold," Matilda replied.
Arthur said nothing more.
He went to the back of the house, where there was already chopped firewood. He gathered several pieces in his arms and carried them inside, all while hearing the cries of pain from his wife.
After adding more wood to the fire and heating more water, time passed.
Arthur was no longer just nervous.
Now he was anxious, pacing back and forth inside the house.
From time to time, Matilda entered the room carrying hot water and came out with the basin empty.
After what felt like an eternity to Arthur, the sun in the sky was already setting when the noise inside the room began to grow louder.
After some time between cries of pain and words of encouragement, everything suddenly went silent.
Then came a loud cry.
The cry of a baby.
Arthur rushed to the bedroom door just as Matilda opened it.
She was smiling.
"Congratulations. It's a boy, and a very healthy one," she said.
Then she looked down between Arthur's legs and then back to his face with the same smile.
Arthur looked at her with a confused expression and hurried into the room.
When he entered, he saw the midwife, named Dolores, with her back turned to him beside the bed where his wife was lying, sweating from the effort despite the winter cold.
He walked over to her.
"How are you, my dear?" Arthur asked with a voice mixed with relief and concern.
"Tired…" she said, looking at her husband with a weak voice.
"I know. Everything will be alright now," Arthur said, holding her left hand and looking at his wife with affection.
"What will be the name of our little boy?" she asked with a happy smile.
"My dear, you choose his name. You went through so much suffering… you deserve it," he said with a gentle smile.
She then looked at the child, now clean and warmly wrapped, whom the midwife had placed in her arms.
"How about calling him Aron? May he be the strength of those in need and the light that illuminates the future," she said.
She looked lovingly at the child in her arms. The baby had a few thin strands of hair on his head, the same color as his father's: a beautiful amber tone.
Arthur looked at his son, who at that moment had a wrinkled face that looked like a knee with the leg stretched out.
"It's a very beautiful name," he said, trying to hold back his laughter.