The Court of Souls?

“Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For these reasons, dryads and the Greek gods punished any mortals who harmed trees without first propitiating the tree-nymphs.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

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

***Elona, 24 years old***

I beat my wings and hurry to follow the tracks. Someone entered our territory, again. Those guys from Parle are really persistent. Ever since their first attack on us we have to deal with regular attacks from their side. I don't understand their motivation.

So far they never gained anything from it and the loss of life is inconceivable. At least I think so. A little water and resources can't be worth the loss of people. We lost at least five percent of our clan's population to their raids.

But maybe Parle is thinking along a different direction. Maybe they think that every lost raider is one mouth less to feed.

Grandma is of the opinion that they are just testing our defences to conduct resource raids. Losing a few mids is nothing to them. I admit that her point of view has logic, but I am not convinced.

When they launched that first big attack at us eight years ago, they mobilized twelve higher immortals to counter our defenders. I don't want to think about it, but there must be a traitor in our midst. How else should they have known that half of our best fighters aren't at home? Doreen thinks that they must have seen her leave. She can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to betray Carissimi to Parle. Parle is known to be ruthless and to practice slavery.

I don't think so.

Since that first attack they never again mobilized higher immortals against us. So either they lost their insider during the first raid, or they still have him.

In case one, their continued attacks make absolutely no sense. They haven't managed to steal much more than what they'd need to invest to conduct these raids in the first place.

In case two, they are just trying to give us a false sense of security.

We are immortals. Time doesn't matter much to us. They must be preparing for a big strike while testing out the waters.

That's why I am always opting for the scouting missions since I am allowed to leave Yggdrasil. My biggest hope is to catch someone of high enough rank to get a glimpse at their plans. Once I have proof, Doreen has to believe me.

At least I don't have to endure the doubtful looks of my clan members out here. Since my ascension, a lot of things have happened. Not only did my powers and my knowledge grow, but also my isolation from the other clan members. The only ones who don't care about my strength are my immediate family members. The others say that it is dangerous to have a higher immortal without memories around.

They are afraid that I could lose it like I did eight years ago.

Maybe it wouldn't be so infuriating if Quianna wouldn't bring so many boys to our doorstep. She tried more than once to hook me up with someone, but that never worked out. Either they were total douche-bags who thought of me as some kind of sex idol, or they were afraid of me. I can tell if someone is trying to be nice, but tries not to touch me at the same time. It's not like I have to drain everyone to the point of mummification.

I suck on them just a little bit.

If they really want a lasting relationship with me, they should be ready to accept my nature. Sometimes it is hard to keep my control and Mom isn't a help either. Yesterday she tried to lock me into a room with 'food', as she called him. She doesn't get that those guys simply don't flip my switch. I want someone I can talk to and interact with. Not some poor puppy which poses no challenge.

As I follow the tracks in the sand they suddenly end and I decide to land.

But even a close up inspection doesn't yield any result. They just stop. Either their owner teleported out or took off to the skies. But if he was capable of doing that, why didn't he use that option all along? I thought I was hunting some low who was scouting us.

I search the horizon, but there is not even one soul in sight. Then I play with my hair while thinking the situation over. This region is a combination of sand dunes and rock formations. When I first encountered the tracks, I found them crossing from one rock formation to the next. That was logical. Nobody would want to walk through sand if he could also walk among the rocky regions. It's harder and the sand leaves tracks which can be seen from the air.

I had to circle each rocky region several times to find the tracks again. Once I even had to land and follow the tracks on foot. My prey passed through a big field of rocks and the slight shifting of pebbles couldn't be followed from the air. I wasted a full hour while doing so.

So moving across sand as little as possible is only beneficial for a scout. I look around. The next big rock formation is a few kilometres to the east. If my prey had a reason to walk for a while, then why not move along the rocks? If you are resting from flying and just want to move in a general direction you could also move over those.

Unless you want your tracks to be found and followed. Unless you want to occupy the enemy scouts with hunting ghosts. And I already feared that we have a traitor among us. If that person has access to our scouting schedule they know that aside from me, three other higher immortals are on duty.

So what do you do to keep them out for as long as possible? You give them something to track and waste time on!

I growl and take off, flying in a straight line towards Yggdrasil. I've been had! We never should have left Yggdrasil and searched for the traitor instead!

Since the raid, our clan has just twenty higher immortals. We lost a guy named Harlem to them. And just a few months ago Franis fell victim to a spirit.

Pulling three defenders away from your target may seem insignificant. But not if those three represent ten percent of the enemy's fighting power. How many immortals does Parle have? Doreen wasn't sure when we had our last conference, but they have certainly more than us. Twenty-five? Thirty? If every immortal of theirs occupies one of ours, and they have just five immortals more than us, those five could cause unbelievable damage if unchecked!

I fly faster, forcing my mana into my wings and giving it my all. After a few minutes I curse the fact that I lack the means to teleport. My stepping technique is very neat, but it lacks range and is exhausting over long distances. The same limitation goes with my knowledge about teleportation. I only can teleport to targets within my line of sight. And I am a little afraid of what could happen if the teleportation matrix fails. The results of such an accident could be nasty. Why weren't my other selves more versatile than this? The pathways which I remember from my time as Celes were so convenient.

When I finally see a column of smoke rising from Yggdrasil's position my heart skips a few beats. Am I already too late? I throw all caution to the wind and raise my hands to form the teleportation matrix, setting the column of smoke as my target.

I close my eyes and try to remember one of my past selves. Cyla was a techno-mage and at least she knew how to do this. But no matter how much training and effort I put into this, it feels like the ability of someone else.

There is no point in dwelling on what might and might not be. I cast the spell.

And appear right above Yggdrasil. With horror I watch the sorry state of my home. One of the enormous branches which served me as an aerial obstacle course is broken. Large parts of the tree are burned and ashen, but at least someone put out the flames.

I can't find a single part of my home which doesn't look like a battlefield. Flapping my wings, I descent towards my home which is embedded in the trunk's side.

On my way down I watch the people on the walkways and suspension bridges caring for the wounded and carrying away the dead. There are many corpses who wear the black armour of Parle among them.

Others try to salvage something useful from the rubble, but it seems like a depressing task. Then my eyes wander to the big, ghastly wound in the tree's side.

Anger surges through my entire being. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. Those monsters from Parle have to pay. I'll make them pay!

But first I have to see to my family. I don't even want to imagine the worst.

I find my own home mysteriously untouched and sigh when I find Doreen with my parents in the living room. There are also seven other people whom I recognize as our higher immortals. Titho is the only one of them whom I know a little better. She is a good friend of Doreen's.

All of them wear grim expressions, but when Doreen sees me, she sighs. My mother abandons Shawn's embrace and bulldozes into me, tears in her eyes.

“I am so glad that you are okay! I wouldn't be able to take it if they had gotten you too,” she sobs.

Me too? My eyes survey the room. And then I realize that my sister isn't here. “Where is Quianna? What happened?”

“They took her! They put a slave collar on her and took her with so many others!” Mother cries.

My world starts spinning as I imagine Quianna being carried off as a slave. If they sell her to some unknown clan, we might never find her. This isn't what I expected. Didn't they attack us for our water and resources? “Why?” No forget the why. “We have to get her back!” I feel my own eyes flaring up in anger.

Doreen gestures at the couch. “I have had enough. We will get them back. But not blindly. This attack was beyond what anyone can call a resource raid. We will talk to our alliance partners to gain their assistance. And then we will go to Parle and get each and every one of them back!”

I see her own eyes emit that blue fire of theirs and don't dare to press the matter. When Doreen's eyes change like that she is well and truly pissed.

As it turns out the eleven people in this room are the only higher immortals we have left. The others are either dead or taken by the slavers, along with several mids and lows. We aren't sure of the exact numbers, but our attackers mounted a huge attack. There are at least a thousand dead and that's already one-fifth of our population. Then there are about a thousand six hundred people who haven't reported in yet.

Doreen is hoping that most of them are hiding somewhere, but Parle must have taken hundreds of us.

I feel my own knees starting to shiver upon hearing the devastating news. Such a huge impact on our clan's fighting power could mean our end.

To mount an adequate defence against spirits you need at least ten higher immortals. The same goes for a good hunting party in times like these. Any less and you take the risk of needless losses.

I want to take it out on the others for not listening to me. But what would my warnings have changed? We didn't know where to look for a traitor in the beginning. But now we know where to start!

Carissimi is crippled if we don't get our people back! “How could this happen! Are you now finally inclined to search for the traitor? It must be someone who knows the higher immortals' schedule! Parle must have mobilized thousands in that attack! I saw at least one body clad in black for every one of ours! Did they throw all their lows and mids at us to distract our fighters?”

Shawn rubs his forehead. “Something like that. They used mostly slaves of weak skill to occupy us while their elite forces captured everyone who seemed worth the effort. They opened several portals right inside Yggdrasil. It was utter chaos. It looked like they were out for a skill grab.”

My eyes wander back to Doreen.

Our matriarch stands up and gestures for us to follow. “Five of you, come with me. The rest stays here and protects Yggdrasil. As much planning as Parle might have invested in this endeavour, they still got it as badly as they dealt out. Right now their clan must be weaker than ever. We will make a round trip to all the clans who have a little bit of decency left and call in on our agreements.

“And the first one we will visit is Draconis. I am sure that they will assist us, even if I don't think much of their leader.”

I feel a bitter taste in my mouth when I think about meeting my grandfather again. He may have said that he wants us, but in the end he never again showed up after his meeting with Doreen. If he really cares about his grandchildren surely he would have paid a visit at least once a year. “Why him?”

Doreen turns around to face me with a grim expression. “As much as I would like to believe in alliances, our partners are still just people who think of themselves first and foremost. I don't want to assume the worst, but at least a few of them surely wouldn't think twice about turning us away after seeing that our offensive capabilities were rendered non-existent overnight. I also fear that that's exactly what Parle is counting on. What they may not have thought about is that if Moonray gives us twenty of his men, we might be able to make an impression with the others.”

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