Twins

In a dark and dreary cottage, a woman with a bulging belly, all alone, silently screaming, lay in a wooden bed frame, and a hard mattress.

As her tears streamed down her face, her bulging stomach occasionally moved. With each movement of her stomach, the pain became more, and more unbearable.

She gripped the sheets tight, crying silently. She tried her best, and slowly, pushed a baby out of her.

She gasped for breath, panting heavily. She thought all was over, as soon as she heard the baby cry.

And as she thought so... another slipped out after the first child, making for twins. This took the mother by surprise, as it was reflected in her face.

The cottage was soon filled with the cries of the infants, echoing faintly.

Although unexpected, for the woman, it was as joyous as depressing it is. Joyous as she now has 2 children, depressed as she will be leaving 2 children alone, orphaned.

The woman, rested for a second, panting heavily. And in an incredible will, and determination, raised her weak and tired body, and slowly reached out to pick up both her child.

She carried them both to her embrace, tears streamed incessantly down her face, however, instead of pain, joy was in her face.

She looked at them both, burning both their image in her mind.

Although covered by blood, she could clearly discern the features of her newborn. One had blood red eyes, dark blue hair, while the other had bright blue eyes, and platinum blonde hair. Both had similar faces, as it should be for twins.

She hugged them both, kissed their forehead, one-by-one, cradled them both, hushing them slowly.

"Hush now... mama is here... don't cry..."

Af if the twins understood her words, they slowly, stopped crying and, although abnormal, they both opened their eyes slightly and took a peek at the source of the voice and warmth.

The twins stared at her, silently observing her, or that's how the mother interpreted it.

As if both the twins were connected mentally, they stretched both their hands forward together at the same time and touching what they could reach, her face.

They remained like so, until they started shivering uncontrollably.

All three of them were shivering slightly due to various reasons. The mother was shivering due to the pain of giving birth, to happiness, and... cold. As it seems, with her sickly countenance, and thin frame, it didn't seem long, the life she has life. The twins were shivering due to the cold.

The mother, seemingly knowing her time was coming to an end, slowly took a clean cloth nearby, and wrapped both her children in them. After wrapping them both, she whispered to them.

"My children... mama is sorry, please forgive mama... mama can't stay with you longer..."

As she spoke those words, the tears streaming down her face intensified as she knew, she had to leave both her child in a cruel and hard world all alone. The only thing that provided her comfort was the fact that her father was coming to pick these kids and raise them.

However, that still worried her, as her father might not come, or come too late leading to the death of her children due to hunger, and negligence.

She kissed both them once more, embraced them tighter and she lay back down while leaning her head in the wall.

As if both the twins understood her words or the implications of her actions, they burst into tears, crying loudly.

The babies could not understand anything yet, however a baby's intuition should not be underestimated. And so, the mother once more, comforted the twins.

It took a while, but she managed to make the babies fall asleep. She quietly closed her eyes trying to rest, hoping to recover. Praying to whatever she could to revitalize her, so that she could watch over her children.

As she was doing so, a knock was heard on the door of the tiny cottage. She weakly raised her head, and did her best to yell,

'Come in!'

But all that came out of her mouth was a weak moan.

"Ah..."

She struggled once more, and manage to say,

"Come..."

It was a weak whisper, but the it seems the person outside heard it as they quickly and carefully opened the door.

"Fia..."

An old, coarse, and rough voice echoed out as an old man came to the view of the mother. He stepped closer carefully, but in a quick manner. He once more called out a little more loudly, as nobody answered him like he expected there to be.

"Fia?"

"Ugh..."

A weak groan replied back, and the old man quickly turned to the bed beside him. He couldn't see clearly as he was partially blind, and also due to the dark interior of the cottage.

The old man hurriedly approached the bed, kneeled before it, and searched for her breathing.

Although faint, he heard it clearly and was able to deduce where her face should be. However, he was faced with a problem. Why were there 2... 3 people breathing? All of them were very faint... as if they were about to die.

He quickly traced where the sound of the other 2 breaths, while slowly moving his hand to identify what those 2 were.

Soon enough, he got his answer.

"My gosh... Fia... my dear."

"Father... it's you... right, father...?"

Fia, the mother, replied with a question of her own.

Hearing this, the old man hurriedly replies,

"Yes. It's me, Fia. It's your father..."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Is this two...?"

While breathing faintly, she replied weakly,

"Yes... they are... twins were born..."

The old man, knowing that his daughters remaining time is short, took a deep breath and sadly asked,

"Any...message?"

Quickly grasping the meaning of the question, Fia replied softly,

"Blue eyes... Aldric... black, Dam...ien..."

The old man sighed.

"I see..."

Before the old man could add any more, incoherent yells could be heard, light could be spotted in the distance, and heavy metal hooves clashing on the ground could be distinguished.

The old man's somber face darkened, anger and rage clearly seen in his scowling face, as he hissed.

"Those bastards! I'll kill them, kill them all!"

"Father, no! Now... now, is not... the time..."

With fading breathe, she whispered with all her might,

"Take them, please... to somewhere safe..."

The old man, knowing her words hold logic as he could not ensure the safety of the three if he clashes with them, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, inhaling the murky air, and thought of a plan to ensure the safety of them four, but could not. Therefore, he made the best decision, the best and most painful, he ever made in his life.

He swiftly took the twins in his arms, stood up, with shaky breath, said,

"Fia, dear... I love you."

And spun around, dashed to the door, exited and suddenly disappeared...