Soul Ties

Chapter 1: Dalmoria

The water is warm this morning, the rays beaming through the salty surface of the ocean and caressing my bare shoulders with its heat. My eyes drift close enjoying it. Lazily, my body turns halfway so that very kiss of comforting heat can fall onto my chest, my hips, until I don't bother stopping myself from completely twirling upward and letting myself be covered in it. Goddess, how I adored the mornings like this. Where the waters were calm and quiet, everyone still tucked into their homes. It always felt like I was the only one here. The only Lunoid who graced the calm pools of Dalmoria, the only planet that held oceans this beautiful and luminous.

Though, just as I begin to swim with that comfort, it quickly sinks to the ocean floor where the rest of my mind has been lately. Those rays that once felt like a warm embrace now feel like a stinging that I can't escape. The same fate I was going to come to sooner than later.

My brow muscles pull together, the twisting in my stomach turning into something raging as the acid inside me bubbles. The very lining of it almost feels like it's eating itself, even though it's obvious that the only thing being consumed is my control. Opening my eyes, I break through the surface, treading water with my tail as I gaze off into the distance. The shore isn't as far away as I'd hoped. As if sensing me, my mother appears out from between the trees, her hand high, giving me one quick wave to call me over.

The floor eventually touches my feet, and I brace myself as I walk up and out of the water, the sun hitting even more of my skin now. Even without it being the highest in the sky, the light coming off it is just as bright, causing me to squint just to make out my mother's smile. I jog a bit until I reach her outstretched arms, the smell of her enveloping me and chasing that sinking feeling in my stomach right out. Honestly, I can barely remember why it came so suddenly to begin with. What was I so worried about?

"Lynx," she whispers against my head, the smooth skin rubbing against her own bare cheek. "I thought you'd be joining me a bit later."

"I wanted to help."

She nods as she pushes me away from her, those cerulean eyes taking in my frame. We both know why I'm really here. Why, after all the years of me begging her to let me stay home during the early morning fruit gathering, during the last few months, I've been up ready to help her. She's aware. Especially when my gaze shifts to the floor and my lip finds its way between my teeth.

"Lynx, dear." My mother sits on the ground beckoning me to join her. I don't bother to fight her on it. Not when I know what's to come. Obediently, I perch myself close enough to her that our knees touch. Her small hand gently lays on my thigh. Has my mother always been this small? Or was the weight of the conversation I knew we were about to have making her seem more fragile? Frailer than she's been.

"It's not that I don't want to go," I start before she has a chance to ask what's wrong. "I just didn't realize how soon it would be. Or how much I'd be leaving behind, or who I'd be leaving in the process, and what if it doesn't pan out the way it's supposed to, and what if my mate isn't who I should be with, and-" the hand that rested on my thigh lifts to my shoulder with a little squeeze. The beating in my chest is frantic, rattling behind my rib cage as I try to silence it so I could get my breathing under control again.

Peering up into her eyes, I see the frown that's forming on my mother's lips. Not one of disapproval. She knows more than anyone how it's our birthright as Luniod's to never go against the rules. I can tell, the heaviness in my heart now fighting with the adrenaline, that she doesn't question whether or not I'll go through with what I was born to do. The tug on her lips is one of concern. Anguish.

Maybe she sees herself in me. Maybe she's reminiscing on all the things she was wary about at first, the same things that kept her up at night thrashing and screaming until her throat was raw and bloodied. But, as I watch that same wariness not reach her eyes, I remember who my mother is. What my mother is. And it becomes painfully obvious to me that she couldn't relate to this hesitation in the slightest.

"There's no need to be afraid. Going to the Goddess and finding out who your mate will be is something most welcome with open arms. It's a rite of passage, and something we're all grateful to experience." She grabs my chin in her hands. "And we do not disobey the Goddess. We don't risk banishment."

I know she doesn't mean to say it as harshly as I hear it, but it sounds more like a threat than something to rejoice over. Her blue eyes stare at me, and it takes everything in me to smile and reassure her that I know we could never turn our backs on the Goddess Thysus. I mean, it wasn't unheard of, honestly. I've heard many stories of others from different planets who refused to mate.

"Of course I'm grateful, but..." my eyes search hers for understanding. Mentally I beg her to hear me, to listen to the fears that have been brewing inside me for the past few months as the time for me to leave Dalmoria, my home planet, the only place I could ever come to know and love.

"Thysus will protect you," she tells me with something like gratitude behind her irises. Nausea starts to bubble up my throat. "She knows where your soul belongs, my dear."

How could my soul not belong right here with you? I want to shout at her, but I just kiss her on her forehead and stand on shaky legs.

"Don't wander off too far today!" She calls after me. "I want you to meet someone later."

Flicking my tail in response, I rush off with the full basket I spied by the edge of the shore bouncing against my chest. I'm months away from my meeting with Thysus, so the only other person my mother would want me to meet now would be the captain of the ship that takes me to her. A prickly feeling washes over me as I wonder what he'll be like and if there's any way to change his mind about taking me. Could I risk such a conversation with the captain? Would he report me to Thysus herself and get me banished just for even suggesting such insane things? Or would he bring me back here to face my mother's disappointment?

Honestly speaking, I think my mother's wrath would be far worse than being banished to my death.

The cold water hits my legs, making me sigh in relief and comfort. Although Lunoid's were able to travel on land for a certain amount of days, the water was where we felt our most powerful. Being out of it for so long took a toll on our bodies and weakened us significantly.

My dry skin washes in a wave and I dive immediately in, happy to get out of the sun's harsh rays for the rest of the day until my mother comes home. With the now heavy basket held close to my chest, I knew exactly who to talk to about all this anxiety I was feeling. The only other Lunoid who secretly felt the exact same way I did about the rite of passage. The only other Lunoid who was willing to risk banishment with me to save themselves from this crazy ritual that we had to go through. The only one who loved me as much as I loved her.

Seren.