Soul of a Human

As the three young ones had discussed, they used the next four days until Mor's arbitrary deadline mainly to train while also taking on some odd jobs in the village. Here, Mor was shining, and many of the more handy Ice-kin were very happy to have someone on hand who could drop down a dry well. Then, he didn't even need much space because Mor didn't have to use any tools to dig deeper and make it wider for future digging work, should it be necessary.

Now, two weeks after Mor had arrived at the Ice-kin village, he felt enough time had passed for everyone to return to where he expected them, enabling his long-range telepathic spell. Also, to make sure, he waited until the evening so his parents would definitely be at home, and while accompanied by his temporary foster family, he tried.

°Ready to get home?° The human asked.

°Yes, it was a nice vacation, but I miss home.° Mor said.

°Well, we forgot something. Even your mother would need some time to get you, so the vacation is not over yet, ° The human said.

°Right! I forgot! Well, then, we have a few more days to try to master the new technique and help Jorgen out.° Mor said.

With that out of the way, Mor channeled power and contacted his mother, only for the spell to fail.

"Strange," Mor said with a frown.

"Everything alright?" Lize asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I tried contacting my mother, but it didn't work. Maybe she's somewhere else." Mor mused.

After that, Mor tried his father and failed again. Then Dino, another fail, making him frustrated. Continuing with Orth, Clare, Saphine, and Tiara, all of them failing.

°Buddy?° The human asked concerned, but Mor was far too distraught to listen.

He decided to ignore Dino's orders to keep the telepathic spell hidden for now. He tried the headmaster, resulting in another failure. Then, he continued to contact almost everyone in his extended family he knew, even arbitrarily, and had no success at all.

"I don't understand it!" Mor growled, frustrated.

"What?" Elly asked.

"I can't reach anyone, but I don't know why. I made that spell, so why isn't it doing what I want!" The boy shouted.

"Maybe try again tomorrow?" Lize offered.

°Yeah, calm down. You're far too emotional to concentrate effectively. The tries after Tiara probably failed because you didn't focus enough. Also, maybe you can't reach anyone because they are still searching for you." The human said.

"Yes," Mor said dejectedly. To both. "I'm going to sleep."

Without even touching his dinner, Mor retreated to his chambers.

°Come on, don't lose hope. This is a minor setback, nothing more. You'll see, tomorrow or the day after, you'll reach someone. Start with the headmaster tomorrow if your parents, friends, and Dino are still looking for you.° The human tried to calm down Mor.

°Yes, you’re right, but still.° Mor replied.

°I can understand how you feel, but trust me, everything will be fine.° The human stated.

Mor's night was again full of nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Diamond Isle destroyed and completely gone, everyone he knew dead. It was making him wake up more than once in a cold sweat.

°You're imagination is running wild. Calm down.° The human said, but Mor couldn't help it.

Finally, the night gave way to the first light of day, and a far too tired Mor gathered power, concentrated, and contacted the headmaster. He thought there was a connection this time, but in the end, it had only been his imagination.

"Why?!" He shouted in frustration.

°I don't know.° The human said.

Only much later would Mor find out the reason. Though he was the first to get the spell to work, there was a rule for using it that he had misinterpreted. One of Dino's researchers found that limitation by randomly trying things. You needed to know where your target was, but that needed to be in relation to your position, which, generally, your mind would do subconsciously. Mor's mind couldn't do that right now. He knew he was in an Ice-kin village, but because Mor had been unconscious while the gobbler had hunted the human, his mind had no idea where he was in relation to his targets, making the spell fail.

"Where's Mor?" Elly asked her parents after she had come for breakfast, and the boy was nowhere to be seen.

"I called him, but he didn't answer," Lize said with concern.

"Maybe he succeeded and left already?" Gorn added.

"No. Mor wouldn't just leave. Someone would need to get him. Otherwise, he would have been gone long ago," Elly said.

"Who knows how that Soul magic works in detail? Maybe he has a vanishing spell and needed his far-talking spell to use it?" Gorn said.

"Probably not, else they would have gotten me the same way," Lize said.

"Then maybe he's doing some morning training?" Gorn said, but couldn't persuade his daughter.

"Did you try to go in his room?" Elly asked, and Lize shook her head.

Elly walked over to the small room and tried to open the door, which it did without any problems. She stuck her head in, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the windowless room. After a few seconds, Elly could make out Mor. He was backed as far into a corner as possible, his head on his knees and his arms around his legs, a depressed bundle of misery.

"Mor?" She asked, entering the room fully.

"Are you alright?"

Elly slowly got closer before she got an answer.

"Go away. Leave me alone." Mor whispered a tremble in his voice.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong. You look awful." Elly denied the request but also didn't come closer.

"You couldn't contact anyone?" She asked, out of a hunch.

Mor let out a somewhat agreeing grunt.

°And I said, we need to find another way:° The human continued to try to cheer Mor up.

Elly waited a second for an explanation or something, but when Mor didn't say anything or move, she closed the distance and embraced the boy. She noticed the wet spots on Mor's knees and gathered he had cried.

"It will be fine. You can stay as long as you need to," Elly said calmly, getting another reaction from Mor.

"I don't want to. I want to go home." He mumbled.

°Well, we should still be close to the school, so maybe some Ice-kin could get us there.° The human said for the umpteenth time, only this time it seemed to get through to his buddy.

°Yes, and then a teacher can get me home!° Mor replied, gathering a bit of hope.

He stood up quickly, making Elly flinch back.

"I need to speak with the chief," Mor explained, rubbing his teary eyes before leaving the confused girl behind.

He rushed by Lize and Gorn, who looked surprised and confused. After Mor had left without a word, they questioned their daughter about what had happened.

While Mor quickly made his way to the central longhouse, hoping to find the chief there, Thor got in his way.

"Do you know how much trouble I got into because of you?" The bigger boy asked.

"I don't care. I need to speak to the chief, not you." Mor replied, annoyed.

"Tough luck, you need to get through me," Thor stated, and the already annoyed Mor shrugged.

A magically powered punch and a broken nose later, Thor lay unconscious on the ground while Mor stepped over him and entered the longhouse, coming face to face with the chief, who just heard some commotion.

"Soul-boy. Why is Thor laying on the ground like that?" He asked, looking at his unconscious son.

"I need to speak with you, but he didn't want to let me in," Mor said with a shrug, and the chief sighed.

"When will that boy learn… Give me a second. I need to take care of him." The chief said, without any accusations.

After the chief had tended to his son and brought Thor to a comfortable place, he listened to Mor's request.

"So you can't leave because your Soul Magic doesn't work, and now you want me to get some hunters to bring you where you need to go?" the chief asked, and Mor nodded.

"Sorry, I can't do that. It's simply too dangerous. The monstrosities near your floating islands are far too numerous and too strong. Because your islands are held in the air by magic, which attracts monstrosities. Also, while your glidy things are fast, on foot, it is a long journey, taking weeks through dense forests. Even laying eyes on the island will be a suicidal endeavor."

"But!" Mor protested.

"I said no! You can stay here or leave alone, but I will not endanger my people. Listen, there is the next grand gathering in just about two years. All Ice-kin villages gather, and the first hunt is held, but it is also an opportunity for other kin to trade with us. Meaning there will be Soul-kin there that can get you home." The chief said sternly but still with compassion.

"Can you at least get a message to my kin? I want to tell my parents I'm alive." Mor asked, hoping that his mother would then come and get him.

"That's not possible. The fastest way to get a message to your kin would be at the grand gathering, but then you can go with the other Soul-kin." The chief also shot that idea down.

"But why?" Mor asked.

"Because we Ice-kin are very autonomous, if there's important news, hunting groups will be risked to carry them to other villages, but we can't contact other kin outside the grand gathering." The chief explained.

°Well, if he doesn't want to help, we can do it ourselves!° The human stated before Mor could fall back into a depressive state.

°But how? Going alone will be our end.° Mor asked.

°As you are right now, yes. I'm sorry for Dino, but we're done holding back! Now it's full power training until we can go alone! We might not be quicker than until this grand gathering, but it's worth a try.° The human explained, more to give his buddy hope as to really believe it.

°And if Gorn helps us…° Mor added, getting the thoughts rolling.

°Now you're having the right thoughts.° The human said, making Mor smile.

The chief looked a bit scared at the boy, who started smiling after getting such bad news. He was glad when the boy made his excuses and left.

"Those Souls are weird." He said to himself.