“____” speaking

‘____’ thoughts

*____* telepathy

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March 27, 239 A.A. (After The Ancients)

Cecil Everand was a ball of nerves. Even his students who normally took the Arcane professor to be extremely laid back and hard to read could sense his nervousness. Unable to order his thoughts correctly after almost twenty minutes of mumbled speaking, he resigned himself to his fate and released the class early. Cecil started to pack up as a man in his mid thirties approached him. He knew this man very well as he was not a man at all, but a spirit, the source of the subject Cecil taught.

“Worried about you wife sir?”

“Yes. It’s our first child and I’m concerned about her health.”

“For understandable reasons sir. The mothers of your bloodlines children have a much higher mortality rate than others.”

“Please don’t remind me, I’m nervous enough as is and I don’t wish to get drunk today.”

For generations Cecil's family had been practitioners of raw Arcane but this was only possible due to a unique quirk the family carried. Upon each child’s birth they forcibly bound themselves to a spirit and the result, although hard on the mother’s health, allowed them to channel some of the spirit’s power.

“Ready to leave sir?”

“Yes. Let us be off.”

Cecil and Tenzi talked about the students and the lecture material that would need to be covered when he returned and was no longer in a haze. Leaving his briefcase in his office, he headed towards the stables, sending Tanzi ahead to get the horse ready.

Unlike most people, Cecil’s family did not live inside the city's protective walls. Shortly after its founding the Everand family had secured a piece of land and constructed a mansion on it. Thanks to his forefathers, Cecil didn’t have to worry about the taxes on the land and only had to make enough money for his family to survive. Having reached the stables, Cecil mounted his horse and made his way towards the city’s west gate.

“Tanzi, could you return home and tell me how Twila is doing?”

“Of course sir. I shall let you know of her condition upon my return.”

Tanzi left shifting to the ethereal plane to move faster that possible in the physical one. Cecil continued home at a fair pace until Tanzi spoke to him.

*Sir, your wife has gone into labor.*

"What’s her condition?" He had asked the question out loud and had to repeat it again telepathically once he realized his mistake.

*She is fine sir. Might I suggest you hurry up instead of worrying so much?*

Cecil grumbled curses to himself as he spurred the horse to go faster, not wanting to miss the birth of his first child. The same question was asked several times until he got home some five minutes later, splattered with mud and drenched in sweat from anxiety.

Not caring for the horse, he left it outside and entered the main room of the house, fresh mud marking his progress towards the stairs. His destination was the room on the second floor where his wife was currently giving birth. He took the stairs two at a time, using small pulses of Arcane to speed himself up. He nearly slammed into the door of her room due to his rush. Aware of the muck he brought with him, he cracked open the door to speak to those inside.

“How is she?” The question was asked to no one in particular and his wife’s spirit answered him.

“Quiet you imbecile. Everything is fine. Your child has already bonded with a spirit so most of the dangers have passed. All we can do now is wait and let the midwife do her job.”

Knowing he would lose a battle on that front, Cecil turned to a more spirit oriented question.

“Can either of you see the spirit that had been bound?”

“Nay sir. You child either bound itself to a weak or dead spirit as it has yet to materialize.” Tanzi answered while phasing through the wall and standing next to Cecil.

Although a weak spirit wasn't a problem because of training, a dead spirit usually required a massive amount of time to regain its strength. Nothing could be known until lather and with nothing left to do but wait, Cecil cleaned himself up and returned to his wife. After what seemed to be an eternity, the loud cries of new life permeated the room. The midwife cleaned up the babe and swaddled it before giving it to his wife with the stereotypical “Congratulations, it’s a boy.” speech.

Cecil and his wife had talked about names and had decided on Ormonde if the child was a boy. Looking at his son, he could see the faint trail that lead to his spirit, a small translucent pink flame no larger than his fist. He ignored it and talk to his wife and watched his child, nothing amiss in the world as far as he could tell.

Noticing the the fear coming from Tanzi through their bond, Cecil turned to look at the two spirits that had been behind him. Tanzi’s face was fraught with worry while his wife’s spirit had shrunk in fear. Noticing his master’s stare, Tanzi spoke in a hoarse whisper.

“Sir, I would start to pray for your families lives.”

“Why?”

“The spirit your son bonded with was able to partially block the bond. It is either very old or very powerful and in both cases it is sure to be unhappy with its current situation.”

Cecil turned to look at the small spirit that hovered haphazardly over his son, not even strong enough to have a form. His next words where the closest he had ever said to a prayer.

“Let us hope that the spirit remains weakened until we can convince it to do us no harm. If what you say is true I dare not think of the repercussions.”

The small flame continued to flicker sometimes moving as if awake and truly alive.

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AN: Hello! Welcome to the first chapter of Verbundener Geist (Linked Spirit). Although I love to build stories, this is my first attempt at sharing one in a written format. Let me know what you think. I’ll have more questions for you lovely readers later, but for now I’ll bid you adieu.

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