Sophie's glider touched down softly in an abandoned landing space, far away from prying eyes, just as Dino had suggested. After a moment, the single door opened, and Sophie, Mor, and Mirage emerged, the latter one crawling out invisible, suspicious of the new location. The trio waited for a while, Mor and Sophie walking a few steps to rid themselves of the stiffness extended glider travel brings with it, while Mirage was sniffing around, making itself familiar with the new surroundings. They didn't need to wait long, though. Soon, the familiar shapes of Dino and Morokhan appeared, walking side by side.

Morokhan waved to his family and hastened his step, quickly embracing his wife and giving her a kiss before smiling at Mor. Dino, on the other hand, continued his leisurely pace and let the family exchange their greetings first before he needed to interrupt the reunion with his matters.

"Hello, Mor." The prince said after closing the distance. It's good to see you back in good health."

"Thank you, Dino," Mor said with a slight smile.

"Sorry for not staying, but everyone had matters to attend to." Dino apologized for their departure while Mor was occupied with the Ice-kin trial.

"Don't apologize, " Mor said. "True, I was a bit put out after Mom told me everyone had left, but she explained it, and I understood."

Morokhan raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Sophie after noticing that Mor had called her mom instead of mother like he normally did. His wife interpreted his silent question and gave him a satisfied smile, which Morokhan returned with a slight shrug.

"Are the others still busy?" Mor asked, looking for his friends.

"Indeed," Dino answered. "Orth is training his team right now, with the tips you gave him. It's incredible how they are evolving. Saphine is working hard to take over as the next head of the Sapphire family after her brother was drawn into quite a commotion. On the other hand, Clare shows a knack for politicking and discussing a reformation of the training for future healers with the heir to the Celestite family. Quite a capable young man, I must say. And well, Tiara is learning and practicing for her final school year."

Mor listened to Dino's explanations and then nodded. "Too bad, I wanted to introduce them to Mirage."

Mor fished around on the ground, getting confused looks from Morokhan and Dino, but the one he was searching for noticed, and Mirage's cold snout touched Mor's hand, making the boy's face light up. He held out his arms, and Mirage clambered into Mor's hold. When the boy stood back up, it looked to Dino and Morokhan like he held something invisible, which was correct.

"Mirage is a little shy, so he, she? Huh, I never checked. Anyway, Mirage is invisible right now." Mor finished.

°He.° The human added. °I checked.°

"You have an invisible monstrosity in your arms?" Dino asked, confused, while Morokhan just chuckled.

"He did ask you, and I talked it through with Sophie," Morokhan said, then slowly inched his hand closer to the invisible beast, his hand carefully inching closer while his pulse rose, the fear ingrained by their upbringing making itself visible. Morokhan's shaking hand touched something soft, and he flinched back when something slightly wet licked at his palm.

"That I need to get used to." He said with a sigh.

"Don't be like that." Sophie admonished her husband. "Mirage is cute and friendly."

"And not dangerous at all." Mor quickly added.

"May I?" Dino asked, and Mor nodded.

When Dino stretched out his hand, just as nervous as Morokhan before him, something unexpected happened. From the invisible creature in Mor's arms came a little growl, and Dino suddenly came face to face with a monstrosity he had never seen before. The giant black raptor-like creature appeared out of thin air, literally, as Mirage conjured up the image of the monstrosity, dropping his invisibility in turn.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Dino jumped back in surprise and landed on his ass with all the grace a clumsy Soul-kin was able to muster. Sophie and Morokhan looked at Mirage in shock, while Mor, unaffected by the illusion, looked confused. However, when Dino's butt hit the ground, the illusion vanished. One might interpret the wagging tails and slightly open mouth, in combination with some triumphant jips, from Mirage as a sign of amusement, but it could also just be a method for the little beast to cope with getting close to an unfamiliar-smelling person.

"Are you ok?" Mor asked, concerned, while the human laughed.

Before Dino could answer, though, Sophie let out an amused chuckle that grew to full-on laughter, and after a moment, everyone joined in. Mirage tilted his head, and his tails wagged a bit harder at the joy of the kin.

"That was a surprise." Dino chuckled. "I did not expect such a powerful illusion, but I guess he is quite small for a monstrosity."

"Mirage is no monstrosity." Mor corrected. "He's a magical beast."

"Where's the difference?" Morokhan asked.

"As far as I know, magical beasts are the normal state for monstrosities, but when there was trouble with the magic, they went berserk. However, now that the magic is returning to normal, the next generation of beasts is also regressing. They are more intelligent and, therefore, can be more dangerous than regular monstrosities. However, there can also be ones like Mirage, who is normally very docile." Mor explained, then looked down in puzzlement.

"Except when he wants to scare off a scary-looking person like Dino." Morokhan joked, getting a flat look from the prince.

"Anyway," Dino said. "You are responsible for it. If it hurts someone, you will be the one getting punished."

"I know, but Mirage wouldn't do that," Mor said. "Right, little guy?"

Mirage looked at Mor and gave a sneezing nod as if agreeing.

"Now that I have made that clear again, let's get to the important stuff," Dino said with a sideglance from Morokhan.

"I still have not revealed the true extent to how one might change their body. So you can't walk around like you please."

Mor frowned at that but decided to keep quiet until Dino had finished. He was leaving the complaining to the human.

"Because someone coming back from the dead would raise suspicion, we will introduce you as a new bodyguard and liaison from the Ice-kin. With your ties to them, you are exactly that." Dino explained.

"This will also put you in the fortunate situation to keep your little beast because such strangeness is expected from Ice-kin barbarians. After all, they eat monstrosities, so joining in hunting for food is not too outlandish a thought."

°Right. Food. I guess it's back to nuts and veggies.° The human grumbled, already missing steak.

°It's not that bad. I rather look forward to eating normal food.° Mor said.

°But the gains! The protein!° The human exclaimed.

°We will find a way, asking, for example.° Mor said.

"With this out of the way, welcome home, Mor." Dino finished. "Take it slow. You have been gone a long time."

"Well. I also have something to tell you. I need to contact the Shadow-kin." Mor stated, not beating around the bush.

"What?!" Dino and Morokhan exclaimed simultaneously.

"Some things happened, and I met someone," Mor said.

"Did you just say you want to meet the Shadow-kin? Those murderers and thieves?" Dino asked.

"Absolutely not!" Morokhan added.

Mor gave them both a flat look until they remembered that Mor had already been involved in killing two Shadow-kin. And the two men took a deep breath.

"Think it over, Mor," Morokhan said, looking to his wife for support, but then he was surprised that he got none. Instead, Sophie came down on Mor's side of the argument.

"Listen to your son," Sophie stated.

"I need to verify an information source," Mor said. "And the fastest way is to talk to the Shadow-kin. If my source is trustworthy, we need all the kin we can get." Mor said.

"Because she told me the First is back."

Dino looked at Mor as if he just turned green and hopped around on four legs.

"That's a rumor. We had thought it possible, but it never appeared again. The more likely explanation for the Stone-kin's tragedy is a natural accident. Maybe the magic reacted to something they did." Dino said, but Mor shook his head slightly.

"That's why I need to talk to them," Mor said again.

Dino let out a sigh. "Then we need to talk to my father because Lord Ruby will be the last one likely to help you."