Soul of a Human

The three groups converged on the Ice-kin capital, with the girls, accompanied by the traders, arriving first. As their little group of gliders came into viewing distance, they could see the glacial fortress, which was exactly as its name suggested. The three girls marveled at its beauty, as the outer walls were made of clear ice.

In addition, the fortress's protective qualities weren't lacking, as a deep crevasse ran in front of the ice wall, only crossable by a glider or one of three draw bridges, of which only one is half downed right now. The girls could also see some sort of big mechanical bows, probably able to instantly kill any flying monstrosities trying to evade the structural defenses.

Behind the ice wall, the space was split into multiple spaces, each protected with a wooden palisade, a big house in each of them. This layout consisted of lots of easily defended pockets, with the houses serving as obvious strong points for caught defenders.

The glider set down in one of those pockets, which was especially marked. The house inside hugged the palisade wall, giving the gliders just enough space to land. The girls spent their time staying with the traders, their status as nobility, of no interest or acknowledgment from the guarding Ice-kin, leaving them free of any annoying introductions.

The second group arriving was the other Soul-kin party, who set down far less smoothly. The royal provided glider landing with a hard crunch, which gathered a lot of attention from the Ice-kin hosts. As they closed in, five figures dressed in identical robes fell out from a side door on the front compartment and collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. They were followed up by a woman stepping over their prone forms, without giving them a second glance, instead looking around expectantly.

A few seconds later, the door to the travel compartment flew open, disgorging two Soul-kin in military attire. One let out a deep sigh, while the other laughed in obvious amusement. The last people out of the glider were a regal-looking man and a second one holding onto the glider's frame, looking quite sick.

"Please remind me not to stand in Sophie's way regarding her son," Dino said, looking at Morokhan, who had slid down with his back to the glider's frame and hugged his knees.

"I told you not to let her fly," Morokhan grumbled, letting out a burp and instantly regretting it after tasting the fumes of what his stomach planned to reintroduce to the outside world.

"I hate it when she's flying recklessly." The man grumbled further before falling quiet.

The two younger men had a somewhat similar discussion, as Orth chided Ambor.

"I don't see how almost falling out of the sky is funny to you! Are you courageous or stupid?"

"Come on, Boss. It was exciting. Also, we could have bailed and glided slowly to the ground," Ambor replied, still chuckling.

"Stupid it is." Orth sighed. "Armin, what is my affinity?"

"Earth, sir." Came the instant answer, and shortly after the realization. "Oh."

"Could you stop your chatting and get going? We need to find my boy, now!" Sophie scolded the group, including the five drained pilots.

"Sophie, calm down. Right now, we need to wait until the Ice-kin delegation arrives to make introductions. It's only polite and proper, " Dino said, almost enduring Sophie's withering glance without flinching.

"We don't even know if Mor is here," Orth added, coming to the prince's help. "Waiting is the fastest way."

"Listen to them, and give the girls a bit of time to come to us. They should be here already," Morokhan stated, slowly picking himself up from the ground.

The pilots used this moment of inattention from the scary lady to scramble away and find a good spot to rest within the spacious house, not at all hiding away. It didn't escape Dino's attention, however. Still, he deemed their decision a good one, and even while Sophie grumbled at her inability to act, Dino led everyone in the house, forcing Orth and Ambor to unload the glider and bring the space luggage with them.

They spent a short while making the guest home more hospitable until a delegation of the resident Ice-kin arrived, leading Dino to make introductions, while Morokhan stopped his wife from aggressively" asking the Ice-kin to release her boy to her. Though he was just as anxious as her to see Mor again, he trusted Dino's approach to be the more expedient one. The prince may have no talent for strategy, but his ability to persuade and influence others with his talent for diplomacy unrivaled.

Dino had quickly made the Ice-kin retreat after revealing his noble lineage. They left to get the grand Chief but had revealed that the only other Soul-kin in the fortress were the usual traders, and no other village had arrived with a rouge Soul in tow. The additional waiting time gave the girls enough time to arrive at Dino's domicile, and Tiara was the first to throw herself into a hug from Sophie, even before greeting her brother, who got a friendly clap on his shoulder from Morokhan, as he looked a bit hurt at his treatment.

Orth and Clare also shared a little moment of intimate greetings before splitting up again after they noticed Ambor's big grin. Saphine was the odd one out, but she didn't mind. She greeted the prince first, as tradition demanded, and worked her way down the status ladder.

As she was done, Dino latched onto the chance to talk to somebody, not giving him the cold shoulder or looking at him in pity, and asked Saphine how it was going with her "boyfriend".

However, to his dismay, he tried to get the wrong person to have a chat, as the answer came back quickly and diplomatically.

"Everything proceeds well, thank you for asking."

Dino let out a sigh and asked himself out loud.

"Is no one respecting me anymore?"

Prompting Morokhan to seize on the chance to tease his old friend.

"Everyone here knows your true nature, the one you hide behind your royal facade. The easy-going, day-drinking bum, " he said, leading Dino to take a sharp breath in protest. The prince deflated as he had to concede the point.

"Well, at least I can be myself with all of you." He stated, only surprising Ambor, who wasn't as familiar with the dynamic of this strange grouping. Still, the Soul-kin soldier knew better than to speak up and instead kept his silence.

They continued to chat about random things, just catching up. They were only interrupted by the arrival of another Ice-kin messenger, conveying the grand Chief's excuses. An internal matter had his utmost attention, which had to be dealt with first. The prince and his entourage were free to explore the city as they pleased, and the guards were instructed to lend their assistance whenever possible, as well as keep a lookout for this missing Soul-kin.

Dino frowned at the message, as it was quite unconventional, but he accepted it graciously, as befitted his standing. Sophie, in turn, wanted to take that chance to go look for her boy but was stopped by Clare, calmly stating that Mor's travel group was still a few days out. Instead, the girls transferred from the traders' living space to Dino's and got comfortable.

As Clare had stated, it took a few days before Mor reached the sight of the clear wall and let out a surprised whistle.

°Yeah, indeed.° The human agreed, enthralled by the sight.

The gleam of the reflecting light made the ice wall shine in a display of playful colors, making it look all the more majestic. The group had traveled without any problems, a rarity according to Gorn, and entered the fortress through the draw bridge lowered for them.

°Well, now were here.° The human stated.°Ready to meet with your parents?°

°We don't even know if they have arrived yet.° Mor stated.

°Really? You think they took their time and not rush here?° The human asked.

°Well, we took three weeks walking here. Who knows how close Diamond Isle is, but it should be quite far, ° Mor replied.

°I'm betting twenty to your mother being here already.° The human said, drawing a sigh from Mor.

"Ready to meet your parents?" Elly asked.

"What is it with you people?!" Mor exclaimed, walking off in a huff, leaving Elly in his wake confused.

"What did I do?" She asked but got only a shrug from Jorgen as the answer.

The group of Ice-kin entered the city, and the Chief was instantly directed to get to the main building while the rest of the group was led to their assigned lodgings. Everyone was quite worried about the implications, more so with their own experiences.

After they got situated, Mor got ready to search out the girl's lodging, Jorgen and Elly tagging along, having nothing better to do and deeming it interesting enough. While they were out and about, asking for directions and, in turn, honing in on the girl's lodging, Elly noticed a forming scene shortly before the human did.

°Is that Clare?° The human asked, making Mor strain his eyes.

°Looks like it.° Mor agreed.

They quickly closed the distance and walked into what seemed like an argument. There was an unknown Soul-kin next to the girl, who looked quite pissed.

"Get your hands off big sis." The Soul-kin growled.

"Or what?" The Ice-kin thug answered. "I just want to have a bit of fun with her, and it looks like she could use the attention of a real man."

Mor reacted instantly, rushing full force to intervene, leaving Jorgen and Elly behind when he noticed the rise in magic power the Soul-kin displayed. Before Ambor's lightning-charged fist could reach the loudmouth, Mor's had clamped around his wrist in a vice-like grip.

"Don't," Mor said softly.

However, as his gaze went over to the Ice-kin, he noticed that the man was crouching on the floor, holding the space between his legs courtesy of a rock thorn sticking out from the ground. Clare, the apparent source of the man's pain, looked at Mor and smiled, making both Soul-kin men shudder.

"Mor, good to see you. I'm glad you made it safely." She said while the Ice-kin groaned on the ground.

The Soul-kin man looked at Mor, and his excitement was clearly visible.

°I know this look.° The human warned, but was too late.

"Let's fight!" Ambor surprised Mor but got a slap on the behind of his head instead from Clare.

"No!" She scolded the soldier. "First, we need to get back to the rest. Sophie will kill you if you keep her son from her for even a second longer."

"Two for one. I always wanted to know how it feels to be frozen, " Ambor said.

°That one is crazy.° The human stated, and Mor nodded.

°Wait, did she say, Sophie, as in my mother?° Mor asked.

°Sure did. Meaning you owe me a twenny.° The human reminded his partner.

Jorgen and Elly had caught up but decided to tag along, while Clare and Mor ignored Ambor's demands. They reached the lodging of the Soul-kin party, and Mor hesitated at the entrance.

"Do you think she will recognize me?" He asked.

"Of course she will." Clare tried to calm him.

"Get it over with, then we can go a round," Ambor added.

°Probably not. But she's your mother anyway.° The human stated.

"I'm looking forward to meet her," Elly whispered to Jorgen, who returned a curious look.

Mor took a deep breath and made the first step past the entrance gate. He was getting ready to face his parents for the first time after "dying" and listen to what the girls had hinted at on their short visit to the Snow village.