The queen’s pregnancy was an arduous one filled with numerous obstacles. At the time of the birth some months later, the king once again called upon Medea’s talents to aid his queen in delivering the baby. In an attempt to save the queen’s life, the sorceress explained that everyone, including the king, should leave the chamber so that she could conjure to a very high source. In the form of a hawk, Rasul watched from the window to ensure that everything proceeded as planned. As Medea examined the queen in private, she was horrified to learn that the queen was ready to deliver twins, one child a girl, and feared that the whole plan could be compromised. Thinking quickly, she swaddled the little girl in a blanket and placed her in a basket, shuddering as she saw a birthmark on her lower back.  It was the mark of the 13th Prophecy.  She placed the basket in Rasul’s waiting talons and ordered him to safely deliver it at once to her lair.

The birth proved to be physically overwhelming for the queen and, after birthing her son, she quietly died. The sorceress called everyone back into the room where she happily announced the birth of a boy. The room was conflicted with a mixture of great joy and sadness when they came to realize that their beloved queen had passed.

Back at her lair, Medea contemplated terminating the baby due to the prophetic mark, but feared that it was not for her to decide the child’s fate. With great concern for her own safety she told Rasul, “This child’s blood will not be on my hands. The request asked of me by the Dark Lords has been fulfilled. Take this child and destroy it if you will.” Rasul concealed the baby in the basket so that it could be taken from her lair without drawing attention, and as the baby slept, he quietly tossed the basket into the river of Kalevan, the river of evil spirits.  As if carried by a guarding force, the basket drifted safely through passages fraught with peril.

Finally, the basket came to rest gently on the bank of the river and was discovered by two monks, one of them a holy leader of the Lyte and his protégé. After rescuing her from certain demise, they name the child Stacia, meaning “one who will rise again.” Taking pity on the innocent child, the two decided to take Stacia back to the solitude of their sanctuary high on the top of Mt. Barbone.

Their joy turned to bewilderment as they tended to the child, only to discover that she bore the mark of the 13th Prophecy. Being practitioners of the Lyte and authorities on the subject, they knew what that Prophecy clearly stated:

“It will soon come to pass that two children, both male in gender, shall be born each bearing a mark found on the small of the back. They will be adversaries compelled by opposing forces. One will bear the mark of the Unholy Trinity. He will be consumed with an ever-growing thirst for evil and rule the most powerful forces of darkness on Earth. Evil will prevail over good by corruption of the Lytian faith. Seduction by the ways of the dark will weaken the Lyte in many forms including love and hate.”

Concerned that there might be an upheaval at the discovery of this child, the monk’s elected to keep her existence a secret and observe her closely.