Back in her hut, Lumi stared at the waking flames of the candle on the dining table before her eyes shot to the spellbook beside it. A cool breeze from the night blew through the room, owls hooted softly, marking the arrival of midnight. Her birthday had arrived, and she could wait no longer.

Hesitantly, she opened the book and flipped to the second-to-last page. Clumsily, she tried to keep the blank page above the candle, making circular movements just as she had seen Eason do.

Her heart pounded in her throat, her eyes staring intently at the yellowing paper in her hands, where slowly, brown letters began to appear. "Preparing the father for parenthood" appeared in the center of the page. It seemed the book provided answers to her questions. 

𝔐𝔶 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔏𝔲𝔪𝔦,

𝔗𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔲𝔩𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫. 𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔲𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔩𝔦𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔶 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔶. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰 𝔞 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔞 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔦𝔰 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔢 𝔦𝔱.𝔉𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔢𝔞 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔲𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰, 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔪 𝔴𝔢 𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪. ℭ𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔭𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔞 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡.

𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔢𝔡𝔢𝔡, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔱, 𝔞 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔟𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔪𝔶 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡.

𝔓𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔡

- 𝔉𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 20 𝔟𝔲𝔠𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯.- ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔶 𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔫.- ℌ𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔭 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔦𝔪 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭.- 𝔓𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔡 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔬𝔠𝔨 𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔡.- 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔫, 𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔞 𝔟𝔬𝔦𝔩.

𝔗𝔦𝔭:𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔶, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢.𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔩, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔟𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔰𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔶 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔡.

𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢,𝔐𝔞𝔪𝔞

𝔓.𝔖.

𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔟𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔪-𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔤𝔢, 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔟𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰. ℑ𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔞𝔰𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔬𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔟𝔶 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔪. ℜ𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔢 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔶 𝔩𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔠𝔶.

Lumi's breath caught in her throat, a nauseous feeling filled her stomach. Was Eason a darkling? He indeed possessed the knowledge for conceiving a child, he had a worm-like appendage, and called himself the father of the baby. She could try to tell herself anything, but the facts spoke for themselves.

Carrying on her traditions meant everything to her. But how could she prepare Eason for her traditions, litteraly? That, dear readers, I leave to you. Speak your wisdom and guide Lumi through this darkness. For now, the story ends here, and the fate of Lumi, Eason, and their baby lies in your hands.