The Court of Souls?

“In Greek mythology, a phoenix or phenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Clan: Carissimi***

***Elona, 10 years old***

It's so hot! “Quianna! More!”

“Ah... I can't. I am at my limit. Take over,” my little sister moans.

I reach for the magical fan and infuse more mana into it. The device immediately continues to blow cool air at us. “You are useless. Less than forty minutes and I have to take over.” Bless this small piece of luxury.

“I am three! How am I supposed to feed a magical object with my limited mana pool?” she complains and rolls over.

“I don't know. You are the one who has all her memories. Think of something,” I wave my hand. “Summon a pool or make it rain. I thought my prodigy little sister can do that with her little finger.”

“I was a Siren! Not a djinn with three wishes!” she answers.

“One wish is enough!” I mumble.

During the recent week the desert's weather changed from hot to baking and then someone decided that a brown crust on his food wouldn't be so bad. According to Doreen our relocation is going well, but Dedessia's weather system is a little unstable at the moment. All the clans are having trouble surviving. That causes unrest among Carissimi's high members. They believe that we have to expect raids for water and food by the less scrupulous clans. Something we cannot allow under any circumstances.

Quianna and I are somehow enduring it by hiding in our domicile’s deepest part, the wine cellar. Although I think that I will never get to taste all the good stuff in here. After this week the wine is surely spoiled and ruined.

Suddenly the door flies open and a young stranger steps inside. He is dressed in red silk and his hair colour is a mix of various shades of red, orange and yellow. It looks hilarious, almost as if he wears a flame on his head. His face is cleanly shaven and his features may be just a little on the feminine side. When he sees us he spreads both hands. “Finally! Found you! Come here, Cuties!”

I instinctively jump up and step in front of my sister. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

He ignores my aggressive stance and bulldozes into me, practically hugging me and grabbing Quianna behind me. “Oh, Doreen is so cruel. She didn't even tell you about me!” He squeezes while I try with both my hands to push his face away. No chance. It's like pushing against a mountain.

“No hugging! So hot!” Quianna complains from behind me.

Finally the stranger lets go of us. “I am Moonray, leader of the clan Draconis and your grandfather! Isn't it great that we finally meet each other?”

“You are very late if even my sister doesn't know you!” Quianna shoots a destructive glare at Moonray.

He reaches for his heart and sits down next to us. “Oh, you got me there. You see, your grandmother and I had a big fallout a few years ago. She didn't even tell me that you were born. All the information I get about you is through rumours and spies. In fact we can prepare ourselves for my immediate departure from this world as soon as Doreen or Chloe find out that I am here. You could say that I sneaked in.”

“Then I probably don't want to talk to you either!” I step backwards, away from him.

“So cruel! They were right when they said that you two promise great potential. But you have nothing to fear. I just came to make you an offer.” He winks at us conspiratorially. “I want you two to know that you can always join my clan if you want to. Probably you already figured out that Doreen is trying to hide herself and her clan from the world. If you seek a less isolationistic policy it would be best to come over to Draconis. I also happen to have two young higher immortals who happen to match your age-”

His sentence is interrupted by Grandma appearing behind him. Her hair is flowing in all directions, flaring in white light, her face an expression of pure fury, and her eyes, her eyes emit a blue fire!

“She is behind me, isn't she?” He asks.

Both of us nod.

“You should probably look away. This isn't rated for children.” He turns around. “Hi, Doreen.”

I cover Quianna's eyes with my hands and close my own. What follows is the sound of a fist hitting a face, then the breaking of bones followed by snapping tendrils and tearing flesh. Something wet and warm sprays all over me and I smell blood!

When I open my eyes again the room is a horror scene. Grandma has calmed down, but she tore Moonray to pieces! His body parts are all over the place!

Quianna pulls my hand from her eyes and surveys the scenery. “Oh, my gosh! Elona! Look at you! And Moonray!”

Both Quianna and I are covered in blood. But then the unbelievable happens. The blood and Moonray's remains ignite in orange fire. At first both of us try to quench the flames, but then I realize that the fire isn't hurting us, nor burning anything else in the room. The flames flow together into a central point in front of Doreen and form the body of a man. Seconds later Monray stands in front of us, perfectly fine. The mess in the room is also gone, making it seem as if all this never happened.

“Have you calmed down, Doreen? Or do you need to let off a little more steam?” Moonray asks with a cool voice.

Doreen points a finger at the door. “You aren't welcome in my private quarters! And you aren't allowed to pollute their minds with your propaganda and warmongering!”

He raises both hands and walks out. “Okay, I am just here to talk. That's all!”

Doreen follows him, hissing something. I still have problems to wrap my mind around what just happened. The only thing I understand is that I don't get what is going on between Grandma and Moonray.

Quianna pulls at my hand. “Come! That's interesting. They might talk about something important!”

Still dazed I help Quianna and we follow the two clan leaders until we catch up to them at the balcony. They are engaged in a very emotional discussion and are not paying any attention to us.

“... told you that you aren't free to walk around as you please! Yggdrasil is my property and you stay off of it!”

“I am not even allowed to see my daughter and my grandchildren? You can't forbid them from talking to me! They have no part in our dispute,” Moonray complains.

Doreen shakes her head in utter disbelief. “Dispute!? This isn't a dispute! We are finished. There is nothing we have to say to each other. And that's entirely your fault!”

“If you would just look past your morbid jealousy issues we would have saved Tisha long ago!”

Doreen shakes a finger at Moonray, fury in her face. “Her clan got destroyed. She is in the hands of Inanimatum with a slave collar around her neck! Since twelve years! What's there to talk about? You probably won't even recognize your little escapade once you meet her again!”

Moonray spreads his hands and reaches for his pocket. He pulls out a small envelope. “She is fighting her shackles. Last month she got a message out. If your clan and mine unite and we get Ishaan to join the group like in old times.”

“It's always her! Tisha this and Tisha that. Do you seriously think that Ishaan wants to see you after you moved in on his girl? At least you could have had the decency to end our relationship if you had feelings for each other. We tried to change the state of things in this area and we failed. Why can't you accept that? Isn't one destroyed clan enough?”

“At least I am still trying to correct my mistakes! What are you two doing? You just lean back and do nothing? Together we have almost eighty higher immortals! If we swoop in on Inanimatum we can take them! Why don't you see that!?” Moonray begs with both hands.

Doreen doesn't budge. “And if we unite you can count on it that Parle will help them! That makes it what? Eighty against sixty higher immortals? Plus their slaves! They will tell Tisha and the other slaves to fight you until she dies and you will have saved nobody. It will be a massacre! Wars aren't fought without losses, Moonray. We might win, but once the battle is over we will look around and find out that we lost a lot of friends! Tisha was my friend, but the other twenty-one people who put their trust in me are also my friends. I can't throw my entire clan into a war for a single person.”

“It doesn't matter. I know that I wronged all of you and failed as the leader of the group. That's why I have to bring Tisha's message to Ishaan.”

Doreen sighs. “What's so important about that stupid message? Ishaan will kill you for real if you pester him with something useless. You won't revive once he is done with you, you know that.”

“I know. That's why I wanted you to back me up. I am calling in a favour!”

With that Moonray steps onto the balcony and jumps. Once in the air he transforms into a huge firebird! The wingspan is at least fifty metres. He soars high into the sky and flies away at high speed and with strong wing beats.

Doreen turns around and glares at us as if she knew the entire time that we are listening in. “Tell Shawn and Chloe that I'll be gone for a while. I've to save that idiot from getting himself killed!” With that she floats up into the air and follows Moonray with a sonic boom.

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