Soul of a Human

"Explain to me again from the beginning," Dinothom ordered, looking at the devastation before him. They were standing in a forest clearing, a crashed glider on the ground, and a noticeable break in the trees leading away from them was visible, as if something massive had broken through the trunks to get to something else.

"Yes, your Highness. We checked the glider, then the princess and her companions got on, and we took off," the pilot said, glancing nervously at the man who accompanied the prince, glaring daggers at him.

"Nothing unusual?" The prince asked.

"No, Sire. At first, everything was alright, but suddenly, the glider malfunctioned, forcing a crash landing. We did what we could and at least got us to the ground alive, but the impact knocked everybody out. At least this is what we can gather after talking to each other." The pilot squirmed.

"No clues of tampering? Or a last-minute passenger?" Dinothom continued the questioning.

"Nothing, sir. If anything, we forgot the luggage back at the academy," the pilot said, and Dinothom sighed.

"I understand. You may go. Good work, getting everyone down alive," he said, sending the pilot away and turning to his two followers.

The woman was sobbing uncontrollably while the male glared like he wanted to uproot the whole forest.

"I'm sorry… Really... He's… I mean… Sorry." Dino stammered.

He couldn't find the right words for his closest friends.

"We promised to have a father-son travel… When he got back." Morokhan said in a deadpan voice.

Dino couldn't keep eye contact with his friend, who was fighting grief and trying to stay strong for his wife.

"Sir!" a tracker called out as he got closer. "I reviewed the evidence and could piece together the most likely happenstance."

"Tell me, then," Dinothom ordered.

The tracker hesitated momentarily, looking at the grieving pair and almost asking if the prince would like the information for himself. But looking at his Lord, he instantly knew it would end badly if he didn't talk right now.

"There was tampering with the glider! As far as I can ascertain, critical components were "loosened", leading to a controlled crash. Whoever did this knew exactly where to strike. However, we can only guess the objective of the tampering. If the princess was the target, then something had gone wrong. On questioning the other passengers, only the commoner Agaton was missing. No extra passenger was accounted for. The most plausible explanation is that the tamperer made a mistake and failed to sneak on." The tracker now looked uncomfortable, knowing the next part of his report would be hard.

"According to the tracks, a grand gobbler searched this crash site, but seeing every other passenger alive, it's clear the missing person was not unconscious. Instead, he rose to the challenge…" The tracker held up a worked piece of wood, broken into multiple pieces.

"Master Obsidian identified this as Sir Agaton's favored weapon. I found it pressed into the ground next to… the blood…" The tracker had to force the last two words.

"I can gather that this blood came from the missing person, probably when he lost an arm to the gobbler, trying to pull its attention away from the helpless others."

"Why an arm?" Dinothom asked in morbid curiosity.

"Sir Agaton was still alive after that, and it had to be a major wound for that much blood to be here," the tracker stated.

"You mean my son could still be out there?" Morokhan interjected, hope in his eyes, and even Saphine looked expectantly at the tracker.

The tracker took a deep breath. He didn't want to crush their hopes, but his duty was to report truthfully to his Lord.

"No. He led the gobbler away, saving everyone's lives, but there's no chance he could get away. Either exhaustion or blood loss would render him helpless, and the gobbler…"

"Would catch him…" Dinothom finished the sentence, the tracker nodding.

"I can only say, in all my years as a Soul-kin soldier, I never experienced such selfless courage. That boy is a real hero and a model to any soldier." The tracker said with honest admiration.

Morokhan wanted to shout at the tracker that all this heroism was worth shit. He would rather have his son back. Sophie wordlessly squirmed free from her husband's embrace, walking towards the forest. Morokhan picked up at her intention, nodded to himself, and followed.

"Sophie…Moro…” Dinothom began, "Where are you going?"

"That should be obvious," Sophie growled. "Killing the thing and getting my boy back. I don't believe he's dead until I see his body."

"You know, that's impossible…" Dinothom said, and Sophie rounded at him.

"YOU! DON'T! KNOW!" She screamed.

"If he was still alive, don't you think he would have contacted his friends, Moro, you or me?" Dinothom tried to stay calm, but his emotions were all over the place.

He was proud of the boy he saw as his nephew for protecting everyone and devastated that this bright boy wouldn't be among them anymore. He glanced at the other young Soul-kin, sitting around grieving in their own way, and then back at Sophie.

"I'm sorry." He added, honestly.

This honesty was what broke Sophie completely. She sunk to her knees and let out her grief in pained howls and tears. Morokhan rushed back over and got down next to his wife, holding her tight, unable to bottle up his emotions any longer, crying freely.

Dino wanted to join in and console his friend more, but his status as a prince wouldn't allow him to give in. Instead, he left the pair their space and went to the kids. Watching the parents cry, he sat down next to his sister, who instantly latched on to him, trying to find solace in his presence.

"It's my fault…" Tiara mumbled, but Orth refused this.

"It's not. We all know he was like this," the boy said through clenched teeth. "Mor was just an idiot like this. Instead of running away and saving himself, he needed to be a hero."

Dino looked at the boy, who had taken over as nominal leader of the stranded kin. He had got everyone moving and staying alive. Thanks to him, they had shelter and warmth, and he was the one who called Dinothom for help.

"Don't say "was"," Saphine mumbled.

"We need to accept it. He wouldn't want us to sit around and be depressed. Instead of letting the grief stop us, we should use it to be better. Make the Soul-kin better, he often talked, about supporting Dinothom in his goals, and that's what I will do!" Orth stated with hard conviction.

"Orth," Clare said softly. "You need to understand them. It's harder for them."

Dinothom looked questioning at the girl. There seemed to be more to the story than he knew.

"You think it's easier for me? Think again. Mor was the truest friend I've had! He didn't want anything from my family, be it influence or riches. He simply wanted a friend, just like me!" Orth growled, and Clare recoiled at the intensity.

"I.." she stammered and fell quiet.

"I know, emotions are running hot. You're all in pain, but don't blame each other." Dinothom said in a calm voice.

"I love him…" Tiara mumbled, and Dino understood.

"I see." He answered.

"Saphine and I wanted him to choose…" she continued, and again, Dino gave his evasive answer.

"We pressured him… because of us, he couldn't concentrate on his own safety," Tiara sniffled.

Saphine was nodding along silently.

"Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. I know who's at fault and promise there will be a reckoning." Dinothom growled, but none of the kids had the mental capacity to understand what he had said.

The second pilot, listening in on the discussion, did, though, and a cold shiver ran down his back. He had never seen the "easy-going" prince, beloved by the commoners and always a fair judge, have such a furious look on his face.

"Would you have allowed it? Would father?" Tiara asked quietly.

"What?" Dino asked, surprised, pulled back from his dark thoughts.

"Having Saphine or me get together with Mor." She asked.

"Of course." Dino lied. There would have been no chance to convince the king, and even he would have been hard-pressed. If only there weren't appearances to uphold, he would have celebrated it without a second thought…

"Let's go home." He added, ordering everything to be packed up and to pull back.

After a quick hustle, the guards, the tracker, and the stranded Soul-kin were gathered by the "rescue" gliders. They were returning to Diamond Isle, leaving what was left of the commoner hero behind.