Soulscreamed

               Hadrian Maruke was in the ring with two of Marianna’s gheyos. Marianna Cunningham, the Lady of Shadows and the leader of the shadows. Hadrian was certain in a few years he would be calling her Queen Marianna. Marianna was a gheyic submissive with a full military circle. She was tough as nails and had a dark, rough sense of humor, and vicious streak a mile wide.

               He had been training with the Cunningham circle for years. He had risen through the ranks of the Pits and claimed the Blood Raven title before his first century. But he had had no circle to ground him- he had forced himself to rise through the ranks and competitors in Pits where everyone was against him. And then he had fallen into a slump. He was reckless and taking riskier and riskier jobs searching for his next rush, next meal ticket, next thrill.

               Marianna had found him injured, alone, on a forsaken realm. She had been on the hunt for a trafficking ring and told him to get his ass up. She told him that he was going on a rescue mission for sixteen missing dragels, three missing merrows, and a couple of fae. He was pushed in with a group of jokers who would be mounting the initial infiltration while two suites were going into the rear- clearing the holding area that the missing were in. Pareyas would follow and remove the missing.

               After that, Hadrian signed a contract with the circle. Shortly after, one of their aces would take him under their wings to set him up as a training Ace. He had several students over the years. He mostly worked with nearly feral kings and the occasional queen.  Marianna would occasionally send them on missions off realm, but she really kept him close by with missions aligning closely with their own.

               For now, he was on Neverah running an obstacle course against Marianna’s gheyos. Or he was. There was a scream calling him for help, a plea for aid, and a call to arms. He barely got out a grunted, “soulscream,” before a portal whisked him away.

               Wikhn was in the Shadow Haunts, cringing in pain from his shredded back. He was recovering from a punishment from his training Ace. Marcos was an asshole at the best of times and a cruel and unforgiving Ace. Any infraction could and would be punished to extremes. But his rules were always changing, and his punishments were always worse. He had claw marks down his back cutting under his ribs. His claws were permanently out after his fingernails were torn out repeatedly- it was just easier to keep the claws.

               Wikhn was under orders to not go to a healer. Marcos claimed it was to make sure the punishment stuck- but Wikhn knew that if anyone learned about how badly Marcos treated his trainees, Marcos would be killed. Though it was telling that no one questioned how many jokers Marcos produced or the gheyos that got killed.

               Someone had gotten close a few years ago. A gheyic submissive had been assigned to his brother and she had been almost killed by the brutality. She had been rescued by Marianna Cunningham and taken on as a circle child. Katarina Cunningham had taken her blood price from everyone there- and on Marcos’s training group as they had often been trained together. All that had done to Marcos though was make his temper worse and give them all more orders to not tell anyone what was happening in their training circle.

               For now, Wikhn was complying with another order, “get out of my sight,” from Marcos. And he was as far away as he could get in the from Marcos’s frequent haunts. He was crouched in an alley, trying his best to not be seen.

               And then his ears started ringing. He didn’t remember getting hit ‘round the head- Marcos avoided head injuries that could damage brain function. They were too easy to trace and would lead more questions than Marcos wanted. With the number of jokers around, the scars were easy to explain away. The orders to not see a healer could be explained away by stubborn gheyos not thinking the injuries were that bad. But head injuries were his responsibility to look out for.

               But it wasn’t ringing he was hearing. It was a scream. One that seemed to crescendo and call out to him. It was begging and pleading and desperate. But it was a call for him to arm himself and defend the submissive calling. With a grunt, he stood and pulled out his weapons. A second later, the portal pulled him in.

               Idan Helios and Minh Kalabasa were wrestling. Minh had the last dumpling in his hand and Idan was going to get it. He had called it- not Minh. He pinned Minh to the ground, ate the dumpling out of his ate, and kissed him for the trouble.

               They had been together for seven years. Idan was an air queen, and Minh was his trouble making princess. They had been friends for decades before getting together, and Minh had worn him down over time as they became friends with benefits and then progressed into this bonded stage. Both were feeling the hole of a missing suite, and they were making plans to hunt during this next Hunt, which was six months out.

               Mid-kiss, Idan paused hearing something. A scream was pulling him up and getting him ready. Minh was frozen as he hoped to hear the same. It took a few more seconds, but the same desperate call had him up and moving to Idan’s side.

               Ethan Hartwood was sitting in Neverah’s library working on his latest project. He was working on the uncovering a correlation between Vaughns and Cantrells and their shady business practices. Message bubbles were hard to intercept and monitor, so he focused on their money, business dealings, and their known interactions.

               Prince Raspen had tasked his family with uncovering proof of intentionally not fulfilling their duty. It was their job to hunt for the children taken during an attack on Merrow waters. So far, they had found 3 out of the 60 children who had been taken over a century ago. He was given the task of working through their money. His dera was working on their connections. A joker had shadows lingering behind a bookcase in the head of the Vaughn family’s office and another had shadows trailing after the Cantrell family head. Ethan had uncovered inconsistencies about their practices, but nothing major so far.

               His dera stopped by and was grabbing him for a break when Ethan started rubbing a spot on his chest. “Ethan, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

               “What?” His hand paused on his chest as he realized what he was feeling. “Oh,” he started as he felt magic build up around him. A scream started in his ear as he shifted into a crouch. “Soulscream Dera.”

               “Go, son. I’ll tell your Mera.” And with that, Ethan was swept into the portal.

               Perryton sighed as he shifted through the paperwork Dawne had left for him. He was working on approving vendors for the Hunt and approving different accommodations. He was also working on coordinating with Prince Raspen about an investigation into the Cantrells and the Vaughns. He and Dawne had seen the reports that had been swept under the rug because their mother insisted that they were working on their duty to the crown. She kept covering for them and allowing them to get away with horrific crimes.

               There was a Derveraine daughter, a submissive, who had been attacked after she refused to bond with one of theirs. Perryton still could not believe that his mother had allowed that to occur and had not punished them, but rather allowed for the Deveraine ace to be punished for attacking them in revenge after being denied by the courts.

               Perryton tried to shake his head and get back into his work but, he still couldn’t focus. He stood and moved to the window to try and settle himself, but he couldn’t. His hand was rubbing his chest where a seal lay before his guard asked him what was happening. Perry realized what was happening, and managed to say “soulscream” before he had vanished. He would not deny his soul bonded submissive.

               Quinn Kalzik was working under a matron at a small downtown clinic. He had been working here for two months as opposed to his family’s healing grounds so he could take on the non-court cases. He wanted to work with the impoverished, the refugees, the people who needed help desperately. His family worked on some of those cases- but most of their cases were those of the court. People who had the money to pay for the best.

               He had just started his shift with Kyle by his side, when he heard something. He ran out of his clean exam room into the hallway to investigate since screams were not uncommon at the clinic. But there was nothing. Kyle pointed out his hand on his chest, while the matron dismissed them both. Kyle went to tell their mother about the scream while Quinn was swept into the portal.

               Ariki Deveraine was mid shift at The Dive. It was a flight bar/school. He had a group of young dragels learning how to fly. They were working on their dives and slowing to a stop. Half of his students were climbing with slow circles, while the ones waited on platforms to dive. Arms above their head, hands together and pointed, on their toes, knees bent, and then leaping into the air. Wings tucked in and then unfurled out to slow their fall.

               He had three students lined up ready to jump when he called out to one of his co-workers. The co-worker was on call in case of an emergency and rushed to gather the students away from Ariki who was sucked into a portal. His co-worker messaged their boss and sent another bubble to the Deveraines so they would be aware of when Ariki had vanished.

               Alec was training Goonter for King Alcondor’s reveal at the Hunt. Goonter, the sea dragon, would start tightly coiled around the base of the platform. At the signal, he would launch himself up into the air, splashing water rising with him, and Goonter would have to wait in an alert position until the end of the royal introductions. Alec would be positioned behind his head, so Goonter would have to be careful with how he sped to the surface and

               However, Goonter, hated staying still- especially when it would be a while before he got treats during the introduction. He had the positions down, the speed down, but he wasn’t staying as still as he needed to. He wanted to work with him some more before the evening round of complaining idiots pestered King Alcondor for something ridiculous.

               Alec would need to be there as the ward of Lord Keiran. He hated the idiots who would show up and complain about everything under the sea and sun. Alec would stay by near Keiran and Alcondor for the rest of the night. He just needed to stretch out and work out some of his frustrations before he returned to the drama of irritated court members.

               He didn’t notice when his chest started aching but, he did notice the scream coming from inside of him. He let out a snarl as the pain registered and then he sent a message to Alcondor containing only one word. “Soulscream.”

                     Blaise Zabini was twelve years old. He was a gheyo prince. He had inherited early- eight years early. He had been eight years old when he had inherited. His mother had killed the bastard who had tried to kill him. His mother’s fourth husband had been a real piece of work. Antonio Donatelli had been married to Contessa Serena Zabini for four months. Serena had left for a brief shopping trip alongside her friend, Narcissa Malfoy.

               Donatelli had tried to convince Serena to have a child with him, but she had refused. She had always told Blaise that he was enough and that she did not need nor want another child. So Donatelli got it into his brain that the only way for Serena to agree to have a child with him, was for Blaise to die. He waited until Serena was away and then attempted to kill him. Blaise had been working on homework with his nanny elf watching him. Donatelli slipped in and stabbed him in the side while ordering the nanny elf away.

               But Donatelli did not account for the fact that the elf was not his, she was Blaise’s nanny elf. She summoned Contessa Zabini with a simple touch on a necklace. She arrived wand out and killed him. Blaise, however, was in the middle of a forced inheritance. Long dark wings forced their way out of his back. They were covered in iridescent black scales. Each one looked like it had been coated in oil with how the different colors pooled and reflected a spectrum of light. Long talons ripped out of his hands and shimmering scales came along his arms.

               Blaise and her travelled around for a little while- hopping from villa to villa in Europe. She remarried a few times, but she never left her son alone with them. She usually killed them within the year. Her latest had lasted the longest so far, he was at thirteen months. Blaise had barely seen him. She and Eugene had left on their honeymoon in May prior to school starting, and then arrived back in England for August. Eugene had then been called into work and Blaise had been in bed before he came back. Even at Yule he had barely seen the man. Granted, Blaise had been back in Italy with his Nonna at the Zabini estate. His mother stayed during the day before arriving back at Eugene’s house after dinner.

               He was dreading going back to Eugene’s for the summer. His Nonna would be happy to have him, but his mother was insistent that they all go on a big family vacation before he goes. He was sitting on his bed dreading the summer now that final exams were over. There was a scream and then a tug as a portal whisked him out of bed.

               Theo was in the bed next to Blaise. He was meditating as he talked with his oretta, Ilsa Gorgons. Ilsa had been his mentor and guardian since he was nine years old. He had been poisoned at his cousin’s eleventh birthday. His uncle had seen proof that his son had enough magic to go to Hogwarts and wanted his son as the heir to the House of Nott. He poisoned Theo’s drink with something strong enough to kill a wizard child, but not strong enough to kill a dragel. His dragel had emerged and he leveled the house with an earthquake. He killed the entirety of the Nott family present. Then, his oretta arrived, fixed his house and helped him bury the bodies before they ran off to different realms for two years.

               To communicate while he was at Hogwarts, he had to enter a trance through meditation. He was feeling like something weird was going to happen. He had been feeling a tension in the air and wanted to confer with his mentor to make sure nothing was wrong with him that she could tell.

               “Theo, are you feeling alright? You are rubbing your chest.”

               “Oh, I…” Theo trailed off as he heard a scream start to break his meditative concentration. “Soulscream.”

               Ilsa started to curse as he faded, and rushed to prepare a few of her bonded to come to their aid. She gathered up Greta and Aracle (her king and a beta) to go and help the newly formed circle. Any situation that put one of theirs in a position to scream would probably be one where help would be needed.

               Pain started to register as he faded out of his trance and back into the present. Blaise was being sucked into a similar portal and Draco was staring at them confused, and then horrified as a portal sucked Theo away as well.

               Fred and George snuck down into the common room. They were getting ready to plant a prank in the Great Hall over breakfast. However, upon their descent of the stairs, they saw a strange sight on the couch near the fire place.

               “Is that Neville?” Fred asked. A boy was slumped over on the couch with a blanket pulled up over him. But he was frozen.

               George quickly cast a counter-curse to the body bind jinks and was promptly tackled by Neville who cried out his thanks. Both vowed to get their revenge on whoever would have cast a curse on the first year and then left him there for the night.

               “Harry, Haven, Ron, and Hermione were sneaking out again! I- I- I couldn’t let them lose us any more points! Not when the rest of us have worked so hard on regaining some of them that they lost us the first time!” Neville was furious over the thought of the ungratefulness of his year-mates. “Haven and Harry left first- before I said anything. But when Hermione and Ron were about to leave, I told them not to go. I told them they would lose us even more points than last time! Hermione cast the body bind jinks and Ron moved me to the couch! Hermione put a blanket on me so it would take longer for me to be found, but I’ve started to regain movement in my fingers, so I was inching it down. But, after I was covered, Harry and Haven came back in. They said, ‘we gotta go! Snape’s going to steal the stone and give the stone to V- V- V- you-know-who if we don’t leave now!’ If they would have just told me what was happening, I wouldn’t have raised as much of a fuss!”

               “Neville, you did the right thing. As far as you were aware, they were just sneaking out to cause trouble.”

               “Yeah, you did good. A professor or even a prefect should have been notified- especially if they were taking about you-know-who!” George said.

               “Trust us,” Fred started.

               “Really trust us,” George cut in.

               “You did a great job.” Fred finished.

               “Did you say they were trying to stop You-Know-You and Snape,” George began.

               “Even though they are first years,” Fred added.

               “And stopped you from telling on them to the Professors,” George looked incredulously at Fred, hoping he was misunderstanding.

               “Even though half of them had fought in the war against him in the first place?” Fred finished.

               Both twins were tense, nervous, and then feeling on edge. And then the three of them jumped- hearing a scream echoing from the very depths of their souls. And then the three of them were pulled towards the scream.

               Delicately, he lifted his leg to continue to peck at a golden cuff. He needed to weaken at least one more rune before he had any hope of freedom and he needed to work quickly- magic was building in the air. Magic he would use to escape.

               He had been trapped in here for seven generations. It was long since time for him to break free. He had never really meant to stay here at all. He had come for a simple mission to overview a transitional period- magic was being hidden away on Earth, and he had been sent to see if any magical creatures wished to relocate.

               Every generation of the family had added their own additional runes and blood into the cuff keeping him trapped. The cuff had started with a simple restriction and obedience runic sequence but had gotten more and more restrictive as the generations to follow added their own runes. Now, he could barely leave the Gryffindor area of the school and when he did, it had to be with the approval of the bastard. He was mostly confined to the stupid golden perch in his office. Now though, he could feel the building soul magic, and one more scratch through the runes he would be free. What he didn’t expect was for the soul magic to be building not just around him, but in him as well. With one final scratch, he was sucked into a waiting portal.