Chapter 2 – The Boy Without a Fate Line
The next morning, the village of Vedanagar was quiet.
Too quiet.
The wind had stopped, the animals were silent, and a strange calm filled the air, as if the world itself was watching something.
Inside the small clay house, the old midwife sat silently, staring at the newborn baby sleeping beside his mother.
She had checked his palm again.
And again.
And again.
But the result was always the same.
No fate line.
In all her sixty years, she had never seen such a thing.
Every child was born with three lines on their palm:
Life line
Mind line
Fate line
But this child only had two.
It was as if destiny itself had forgotten to write his future.
"Don't tell anyone," the midwife said quietly to the mother.
The mother looked worried. "Is… is that bad?"
The midwife did not answer immediately.
Finally, she said, "I don't know if it is bad… or very dangerous."
Outside, a group of villagers had already gathered. News spread fast in small villages.
"I heard the sky had no stars last night."
"I heard the temple bell rang on its own."
"I heard a sage was seen on the hill."
"Something happened last night."
Inside the house, the baby suddenly opened his eyes.
The midwife looked at him and felt uncomfortable again. Those eyes were not like a normal child's eyes. They were calm, observant, almost as if he understood everything around him.
"Ariv…" his mother said softly, smiling.
The baby slowly closed his tiny fingers, as if trying to grab something invisible in the air.
At that exact moment, a sudden gust of wind entered the house, even though the doors and windows were closed.
The oil lamp flickered wildly.
The midwife stood up in fear. "I don't like this. This child… strange things happen around him."
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The midwife opened the door and froze.
An old man stood outside. He wore simple robes, carried a wooden staff, and had long white hair. His eyes were sharp and deep like he could see through everything.
"I am a traveler," the old man said calmly. "I heard a child was born here last night."
The midwife felt nervous. "Yes… but how did you—"
"The sky had no stars," the old man interrupted. "When the sky changes, sages pay attention."
The old man slowly walked inside the house.
He looked at the baby.
The moment he saw Ariv, his expression changed.
Shock.
Then confusion.
Then something else.
Fear.
"That is impossible…" the old man whispered.
He gently picked up the baby's hand and looked at his palm.
Silence filled the room.
After a long moment, the old man spoke slowly:
"I have read fate lines for fifty years. I have seen kings, beggars, heroes, murderers, saints, and monsters."
He looked at the baby again.
"But I have never seen someone with no destiny."
The mother looked scared. "What does that mean?"
The old man placed the baby back down gently.
"It means," he said slowly, "this child does not belong to fate."
The midwife's hands started shaking again. "Is he cursed?"
The old man shook his head.
"No… if he had a cursed destiny, there would still be a fate line."
He looked at the baby again, very carefully.
"This child is not cursed."
He paused for a long time before continuing.
"This child is free."
The room became silent.
"Free?" the mother asked.
The old man nodded slowly.
"Everyone in this world is bound by three things," he said.
"Karma.
Time.
Fate."
He looked at the sleeping baby.
"But this child… is not bound by fate."
He then said something that neither the mother nor the midwife would understand at that time.
"A person not bound by fate…" he said quietly,
"…can change the world."
He turned and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he stopped and said one last thing:
"Protect this child. Do not let the wrong people know about him."
"Why?" the midwife asked nervously.
The old man looked back once.
"Because the moment the kings, the sects… or the gods learn about a child without destiny…"
He opened the door and stepped outside.
"They will either try to control him…"
He began to walk away.
"…or kill him."
The wind started blowing again.
Inside the house, the baby Ariv slept peacefully.
Unaware that from the moment he was born…
The world had already started moving around him.
End of Chapter 2