Soul of a Human

Clare had the worst time of all. The boys were probably together, training under the black knight, and Saphine could visit them whenever she wanted. But Clare was stuck on this backwater isle, almost detained in her family's Mansion-hospital.

Celestite Isle was the home of the Celestite family, and Clare belonged to a branch family. Because of that, she was forced to help out with the sick and wounded every day she was home.

It wasn't like she hated healing people, but she missed her friends and the freedom school-live had shown her. At least her request for a changed diet was accepted after simply saying she had developed a taste for it.

Clare would follow Mor's recommendations and surprise her friends after the break. She could even see a bit of progress whenever she looked at herself in the mirror, whispers of her hidden beauty slowly showing themselves.

Also, she seemed to have more energy, not the magical kind, but just in her body, and this gave her a strange need to go on walks. Soon, it was a daily routine for her to stroll through the premises and the carefully cared-for gardens whenever she was allowed a break, but even the beauty of nature couldn't get rid of her deep loneliness.

All of this would change when her father wanted to speak with her. Clare was called into his office like a human might call a pet, but her father's coldness was nothing new to her. Chorne was a hard, no-nonsense man, and many patients mumbled outside of his hearing that he had no compassion. Clare was the total opposite of her father, almost too compassionate, but therefore also very liked by the patients.

Still, nobody can say Chorne is a bad healer. He might even surpass the main family in pure skill, but he couldn't keep up in magic power, unlike his daughter. She needed a lot more experience but was already showing great magic aptitude. And this "talk" would be about her potential.

"Clare. "You're late." Her father greeted Clare.

"I was told to come here at exactly one p.m., father. So I did," Clare answered, suppressing a sigh. Mor's influence was not always positive.

"Indeed, and therefore, you are two minutes late," her father said, looking disappointed.

"In our business, two minutes are the difference between life and death. Get that into your head already." He continued, almost scolding.

"Yes, father," Clare answered, biting back a snarky comment. It would only get her into trouble.

"That's Good. Then let's get on with it before we waste more time," he said.

"You're almost sixteen now, and that means you are almost of the age for consent. I intend to get ahead of your competition. You will be engaged to the second son of the main family. My influence will take care of that." Chorne ordered coldly.

"What?! Why?!" Clare demanded in protest.

"Because I said so, your bonding will give our family more influence and help us prosper," her father said emotionlessly.

"But I don't know him!" Clare protested further.

"You will."

"But what if I don't like him?" She went on.

"Doesn't matter."

"But maybe I like someone else!" Clare finally said.

"Is it official?" Her father asked.

"No…" Clare mumbled.

"Then give up and do as I say." Her father commanded.

"But…" Clare began.

"Quiet. I indulged in your defiance long enough, but now you're wasting my time. I know what's best for you. End of discussion." Her father interrupted her sternly. "You may leave now. I will finish up the preparations."

Clare turned around and stormed out of the office, not wanting her father to see her tears. She ran to her room, surprising a bunch of the staff, and slammed her door closed with more force than any soul-kin could, except a handful now.

She slowly lowered herself to the ground, clutching her arms around her knees, lamenting this injustice and cursing her father's stubbornness. If only her mother was here, but she's off to wherever healing people. Clare wanted to talk with somebody who understood her. She wanted to speak with Saphine or Orth. Those two would understand. Even Mor would do, though as a commoner, he might need help understanding her problem.

Just as tears flowed down her cheeks, her pleas were answered in the most surprising way possible.

"You're full of shit. This won't work!" A voice said.

"Yeah? Shut up and concentrate, asshole!" Another argued back.

"I told you! This is not how it works. You need to SEE your target. "Just imagine it" won't work!" the first one said.

"Then why, Mister "I know everything" are we using energy? Explain that!" The second one countered.

"I don't know?" The first had to concede.

"Then get back to it and say something!" The second ordered.

Clare could not make out what the first voice grumbled, but then again, it got clearer.

"Hello, Clare! Can you hear me? It's Mor." The first voice said, adding, "Are you happy now? It's not working, as I told you!"

"Give her a moment. You're so fucking impatient." The second voice, probably the human, said.

Clare somehow caught a glimpse of Mor sitting at a table and could feel a connection. Like someone drowning, she clamped onto it, feeling it drain her energy and strengthen the connection in the process.

"Mor!" She cried out, both in her mind and aloud.

"Clare? Really? It works?" Mor answered.

"Told ya! You owe me!" The human added.

And even in her dark thoughts, Clare had to smile at their bantering.

"I'm not hallucinating, right? You're really talking to me? How are you doing that?" Clare asked, half expecting exactly that.

"No, I'm here. I was bored because Saphine and Orth are taking ages talking about something I'm not allowed to know. So I said something along the lines of "I wish you were here so I could talk to you", and the human made me try. It took quite a while to get it right, but now it works!" Mor explained.

"So, how are you? Is everything alright?" he asked, and this innocent question broke the last bit of her composure.

"Noooo." She howled, shocking Mor and the human.

"Clare, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Came the concerned question.

“No… but… my father… He just wants to marry me off. But I don't want that. I want to continue to spend time with you all and at least have the courage and chance to ask him out." Clare cried.

"Yup, that won't fly! Ask her if she wants assistance! I won't stand for anyone getting his or her right of consent ignored!" The human growled.

But before Mor could repeat that question, Clare already answered.

"Yes, please help me…" She said, surprising the human.

"You can hear me? You know… Doesn't matter! Hang tight, we're coming!" They said, and the magic connection faded, leaving Clare alone with her thoughts.

Back on Diamond Isle, Mor opened his eyes with grim determination. His parents gave him a strange look.

"Mor? Why are you looking like that?" His father asked.

"Clare needs my help." He states without explanation.

"And you know that how?" Morokhan continued.

"Because I talked to her!" Mor said, rushing out of the kitchen towards his room.

"Why do I have the feeling our boy did something impossible again?" Sophie asked, and Morokhan nodded.

"Indeed, this boy could destroy Soul-kindom or lead it to never-seen prosperity." He said.

"Then we can only hope we raised him well," Sophie answered.

"Of that. I'm sure." Morokhan smiled.

Mor almost flew up the stairs, crashing against the door, then started to furiously knock.

"Orth! Saphine! We need to leave! Clare is in trouble!" he shouted, and instantly, the door was ripped open.

"What happened? Did she write? Is she Okay?" Saphine demanded in a flood of questions.

"She doesn't want to be bonded. No! No!" Mor answered in quick succession.

"Bonded?" Orth asked in alarm. "But she's not eighteen!"

"Don't know, it's something with her father! Now get going!" Mor shouted, and finally, his friends moved.

"Do we have transport?" Mor asked his friends, and both shook their heads.

"Then we need to go with the public gliders." He decided.

"I can't fly with commoners!" Saphine protested, and Mor almost rounded on her.

"Are you serious?! Clare needs our help!" He growled.

"Calm down," Orth said. "There's another problem, the public gliders almost take a month there, and then everything might be over!"

"A month?! Can't we do anything?" Mor asked.

"You can." Mor's mother added to the heated discussion. "You just have to ask me nicely. I can get you three there in a week."

"How?!" Orth asked.

"I was a pilot once, and I'm a former noble. Therefore, I have my own glider and can fly it. But it's small, so it might be a bit cramped." She said.

"Could you please help us, mother?" Mor asked, and Sophie pulled him into a hug, that he didn't fight this time.

"Yes, your transport fee is paid." She beamed.

With that, the little group left for the glider airfield, and Morokhan wished them luck and waved them goodbye.