“You dimwit! You mustn’t jump into the void like that! It’s much too dangerous. Much too dangerous, I say!”

I open my eyes to the horrible, throaty sound of what seems to be coming from a toad-man standing next to an old desk. I squint and comb through the foggy ether to touch him, just to make sure he’s even real. The disdain on his face should have told me enough.

The toad-man jumps back in extreme alarm. His glasses fly off his face, but he catches them with his tongue. “Do not touch me! What do I look like to you, a plaything? No, no, no. We have rules around here, boy. I do think you should read up on them. But don’t trouble yourself this moment. If it has taken you this long, it’ll surely take another millennia.”

“Uh…” I have to blink my eyes rapidly to realize that this apparition isn’t going away. Again, I’m stuck in some dream realm, but this is extremely different than usual.

“No need to open your blubbering lips just yet, boy. I am Gorbins, your guide. Follow me, follow me. I have important things to show you. Now, do be careful. I know how you mortals like to play dumb in these realms.”

“Gorbin? How many realms are there?” I ask the question without thinking, but instantly regret it.

He turns around and stomps his right foot loudly. “There are as many as I want there to be! And the name isn’t Gorbin. It is Gorbin-s! There is an S. S-S-S-S- Now, get it right!”

“Okay, okay,” I whisper. “Calm down.”

All I can really do is follow the pimpled, short, and green man through the thick fog. A cold chill passes over me. I notice that the hairs on my body actually start to freeze. Once we pass through, we are in an old library, filled with what looks to be ancient texts.

Gorbins jumps onto a ladder and slides across to the book of his choice. “Ah yes, here we are,” he says, pulling out a large book. The text is so heavy that he begins to wobble. “Oh, no! Not aga—iiiiiin!”

Slipping off of the top step, he falls to the ground, slamming directly onto his back.

“Argh!” He cries out in pain. “The goddesses must fix the damn ladders in these halls!”

I reach out, careful not to say anything. His slimy hands reach around mine, and pull himself back onto his feet. I wipe my wet palm against my jeans.

“Thank you, yes. Seems my balance was a bit thrown off. Funny, funny, I’m sure. But not to me, I can assure you!”

Dealing with this salmonella-spreading amphibian was starting to turn exhausting. Jackson. My Mate. I know that he’s next to me right now, in the material world. I can practically feel him there. I just want to hold him and kiss his neck. I don’t want to have to deal with this dream crap.

“Look, I figure you have something important to tell me, so why not just say it. I’m getting pretty tired of this runaround and would appreciate it if you’d get to the point,” I say, tapping my foot impatiently.

“You alphas are always trouble,” he mutters.

I half expect him to go on another tirade on how alphas are the worst of the worst, but he stops himself. Instead, he holds his glasses steady, while digging into the book.

“Hm. It says here that you will have twins, but that must be wrong,” he says, looking up from the book to eye me carefully. “You’re not exactly chosen-one material, if I say so myself.”

I roll my eyes and continue my foot tapping. “Go on. Do you have any other insults you want to throw my way?”

Twins? So Jackson is pregnant with twins? Oh, my brave kitten! I can’t believe it. Despite being trapped in a musky library with this toad-turd, I am the happiest I have ever been in my entire life!

“Oh, do chill out. If you are the chosen one, then you can’t let these things get to you. It’s only a bit of fun,” he croaks.

“Chosen one? Why do you keep using these terms? I’m not chosen. I’m just someone who’s trying to make sense of my own life,” I say.

The toad-man suddenly turns weary. His voice turns more serious, as if he’s done playing the role of “angry caretaker.”

“But you’ve felt it all your life. Don’t lie to me, boy. You’ve felt it in your veins. Ever since the great rift. You remember the fires in your camp all too well. You experienced it from within,” he says. “And what frightened you most wasn’t that you would have to start over. It was that you would have to become a great hero with great responsibility.”

“I don’t understand,” I say.

“Of course, you don’t. The chosen-ones never do. So I’ll explain it to you how I explained it to the rest of them. The world, as you know it, sometimes falls into extreme duress. Why, you ask? It is simple! The fates have always looked at everything as if it’s a complex game.

“So my twins’ lives are just a game to them?” I ask, feeling my face turn hot.

He holds his wet finger into the air. “The council keeps the law and order around these parts, they do. They govern time, yes. They relish in their ability to keep order. You must understand. The goddesses are beautiful, and sometimes wise. But they are children nonetheless. They don’t understand the fates’ motives, and tend to help the fates out of sheer impulse!”

I nod, somewhat understanding what he’s talking about. “Yeah. I know all about the goddesses. The shamans in our village have many tales about them. I still don’t see how I come into all of this.”

The toad-man clears his phlegmy throat and continues. “You were born to sew the rift back together. The fate and the goddesses come together, once every epoch, in order to bring the worlds together. You see, you must help in this. It is a law of nature, boy.”

“Like the wax and wane of the moons?” I ask. The man ignores me.

I step back and feel the weight of all this press against my shoulders. Still, I hold strong. The toad-man is right. I knew something was going to happen and I knew it would be huge. I just didn’t realize the fate of the world would be resting on my shoulders and shit.

“Alright. What’s next? How do I sew the rift back together to end the void? Is there some holy sewing needle or something?” I ask.

He frowns. “Don’t be daft, boy. I cannot give you all of the answers. I am merely a messenger. The answer will be met on your journey,” he says. “When you feel lost—and you will feel lost—you must listen to your omega. Listen deep within him, to the heartbeat of the holy twins. You will surely find the way.”

The sound of my twins’ heartbeat pounds against my ear. I look up, into the sky, to see them already starting to form. I begin floating into the air toward them. I look back for the toad-man, but the library has disappeared. I move toward the warmth of Jackson’s womb. I close my eyes. And then I’m awake.