ADARA

The citadel stretched outwards and upwards into the firmament; every nook, cranny, and odd corner left unexplored to her when she walked through them with only a faint idea of what was placed where. Thin, mosaic windows filled the outer carapace of halls and corridors. Her heart swelled at the naturalistic activity in the air. Skies above glowed with the rise of dawn, the clouds fluffed their way over the horizon and sprouted into towering anvils on the horizon. Wind coursed through open vents, allowing the sound of hippogryph calls to echo throughout the heart of the Order. Inside one of the lifts, she hung back when it burst into her silver might, and raised her to one of the launching grounds for Riders, as directed by Yuven much earlier when he and Fenrer gave her a longer, better tour of their home. It rattled to a stone stop, where the doors swung open with a gleam in the runelocks. Out onto the perfect marble tiles, she shivered at the rising intensity of the mountain breeze, where several large gates remained closed, enough for a hippogryph to trot through. Architecture spiraled high into the rafters as she went around a corner, where a strip of stone loomed over the drop below.

Near the edge, Yuven stood beside Tix'snuv, whose horse-tail flicked with a shake of their neck feathers and Adara flinched when they cracked the bone of their meal with intelligent ferocity, digging into the marrow with sharp gray claws. "Here I thought you'd try and get out of it," he said and headed up to her. Thick straps tucked around his legs, with small hooks lining every hand's length along the material, where a tough cord of rope hung off his belt. "Where is Fenrer?"

"He said he'd catch up soon..." Adara took a step back from him when he grinned at her, showing fangs. "What are you planning?"

"I've become all too aware that I've essentially trapped you in your room for your study." He rolled his shoulders and went around her. "I think you need a fresh perspective, so to speak." He unfurled his fingers over the edge, and Adara leaned over it.

Far below, the training fields nothing more than a distant blur of emerald waves, where the caldera cradled the citadel in its stone arms. It swirled with the low-hanging clouds and bounced between her temples when she tried to shake it out, then gasped when Yuven prodded her in the ribs. Her hands swung around his arm when he stepped back with a cruel smile. "Don't do that!" She shoved her palms into his chest, shoving him to the side with a shudder. "Look, if you intend to quite literally throw me off the edge might I remind you I'm not the one descended from wyverns?" An icy chill raised the skin of her arms into gooseflesh, and she took a far more generous step away from the edge he stood beside without a care in the world. "What does this have to do with me learning magick?"

"Everything." Yuven flicked his gaze when Fenrer walked through, leading a black hippogryph speckled with whites forward through the large gate, patting its beak when it shook it. "There you are." He tugged out another piece of meat from a small bag on the other side of his belt, throwing it in its direction and causing it to trample forward to bite at it. "Alright, Adara. Get on." He threw his hand in the direction of the black hippogryph as it swallowed its motivational meal.

Twilight flames against a starry mirror.

"Excuse me?" Adara gaped at him. "I've never ridden a horse before let alone a hippogryph — the latter of which can fly and I might fall out of the saddle!" Feet pressed against the comfort of the ground, she sank closer to it when Yuven whistled something at his own, where it bounded forward and leaped off the edge before disappearing out of sight.

"Hippogryphs have magick of their own, Sazaka," he explained as Fenrer brushed the neck feathers of the one still planted on the launchpad. "You won't fall unless you intend to."

"Right..." Adara hauled herself against the hippogryphs legs, hooking her fingers against the straps of its saddle, which molded around its feathers and chest without disruption of its movement.

Yuven glared at Fenrer, who shrugged at him. "Guess I'll have to demonstrate," he said with a long, drawn out sigh. Hands hooked onto his belt, Adara lunged at him when he sped for the edge. Underneath the tornadic, crimson gale made out of teeth when he and his namesake joined together and jumped into their wings. The hooks alongside his leg straps glowed and vibrated with magick energy before he disappeared where his hippogryph departed. In another moment, Tix'snuv came into view with a joyful screech, the saddle joining the connection of Yuven's riding attire when he banked into view and slowed into a flapping hover beside them. Adara clung onto the ground, gasping out her stupid concern. "I appreciate the concern, it is unnecessary." Yuven folded his arms, not even attempting to hold on tight to the reins. "I trust my Tix'snuv with my life — with the many a fall I shall undoubtedly throw myself over."

"Are you mad?" Adara rasped.

"You have to be a little to be a Rider," Yuven said and tucked the reins through his fingers. "This will teach you more than I could on the ground alone. It's not that bad. Give it a chance," it sounded more a demand than a request when he turned into a vulture and flew circles around them. "You need not fear the heights you shall fall with wings." Wind fluffed out his feathers when he came closer. "Get on."

Bossy as usual... Adara groaned out her fear and rubbed her thighs. "Again, I've never even ridden a horse before." Her voice died on the breeze when Fenrer hauled himself into the saddle without another word, the hippogryph swaying to adjust. Its horsetail flicked a couple times before falling still. Straps from the saddle clung on tight to his legs. He adjusted the reins around his arms with none of Yuven's utter, perfect grace and fluidity.

"I'm no rider, but..." Fenrer tilted his head to her, where the sun glinted off the wolven pin tied into his braid. Her heart fluttered when he held out her hand to her. "You can trust both of us." His other hand disappeared into the puff of black feathers. "I won't make you jump off the edge — Yuven fails to mention that since he's a Rider... him and his hippogryph share a bond that allows him to pull off much more complicated maneuvers." He followed his Oathbound with his head when he continued his circles before returning his full attention to her. "After this... everything will seem so much easier to grasp."

Adara placed her trust in him and he hauled her into the saddle with ease. Fearful brambles tucked into her shins when the straps spun around her legs. "I know I said I'm not afraid of heights—" Her arms lunged forward to wrap around his chest when the hippogryph shuddered beneath her. On the back of a wyvern who crossed a thousand expanses at once. Cheek pressed against his back, she scowled when Yuven whistled at them in time with his hippogryph — both of them two peas in a pod. Yet, Yuven smiled bright. Boyish, almost.

"You won't get a better tour of the citadel than this," Yuven called.

Adara buried her face into the back of Fenrer's shirt, digging her fingers into the front of it for support. "Just don't let me fall off."

"I won't." Fenrer twisted around to her with a smile. "It's usually the running launch that's the worst part. Everything else is... nothing, compared to that first step." He faced the edge in full, gripping on the reins tighter. "Ready?"

"Yes." Adara held onto him in response when tension cracked between her thighs, the hippogryph readying itself for the leap she found herself too afraid to take. Its hind hooves clopped to the beat of the wind. Its wingspan stretched out, the feathers unfurling. Her feet pressed deeper into the magick saddle straps when Fenrer clicked his teeth and rolled out his shoulders before the hippogryph bolted forwards to take the running jump. Blood coursed through her ears and screamed in her heart when the edge closed in, closer, and then disappeared onto the wings of dragons instead of hippogryphs. Freedom in hope. Release in despair. Over the fallen ruins of their home.

'And yet I shall still fly... carrying their dreams upon my wings.'

It stuttered into a flow when Yuven sped to glide beside them. Adara dared not let go of Fenrer before turning to her other friend, who came back to life from his tribulations within the cells. Over her shoulder, the citadel became a flower, a precious rose against the dark of the world. A spear against despair. A shield against endless loss. Its peaks tangled across the low-hanging clouds, with small shapes milling about the entire mountain. Adara twisted her front back to Fenrer, then her heart smiled when he checked on her.

"It's not that bad," she admitted, and she dragged her hands off his front to rest on his back, raising an eyebrow when his lips formed into a curious grin. "What?"

"I never noticed it before, but I think the reason your aura was so intense was simply because of how packed you felt. Trapped on all sides," he remarked and faced the horizon, where the sun kissed his skin and he closed the spiral of green galaxies made out of his irides. Beside them, Yuven took on a burst of speed and made a trail for them to follow made out of misty glyphs. His spins, twists, turns, and utter trust in his mount pressurized her head, with Fenrer following steady, smooth on a riverbend. "How do you feel now?" He gave a nudge of the reins, and the hippogryph responded without effort, without a firmer word.

"I feel..." Underneath her feet, a mirror. Twilight flames stretched across her wings, full of power and cyclic fury. Adara returned her hands to his front and sighed. "Lighter." Her peace broke when Yuven took a sharp turn, and she screeched when their hippogryphs came too close to colliding. He disappeared into a rush of ghostly distortion, before reappearing beside them with nary a wriggle of uncertainty from either of the gryphs. "Do you mind?"

"I don't, thank you for asking." Yuven flew circles around them once more, before twirling out of sight, higher and higher until he bounded across the ocean of white, diving through the crags without fear before taking another smooth flight upwards.

"He's somehow even more insufferable in the air," Adara grumbled.

"He missed this," Fenrer explained. "He's in his element up here."

A man who wielded a silver crescent blade forged by the moon, who leapt off the edge and fought for love. ...Evyriaz—no, Euron... or maybe both of them are his names in some way. Knowledge placed its weight on her brow and she rested it back against Fenrer's back, who glanced at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing," she mumbled. "Just... thinking about that stupid story."

His smile died into a thoughtful frown as they caught up with Yuven. Another bank around the tallest peaks of the citadel, and she braced for the impact of their landing when they came closer to the fields near the paddocks. Back on solid ground, she frowned when Yuven leered down at them with a wave. "Are you not coming down?" she asked.

"Not for a while. I need peace and quiet." He whistled and Tix'snuv flapped his wings with a powerful thrust, near sending her off the hippogryph from the force.

"Ugh." Adara stuck out her tongue when Fenrer swung out from the saddle, and she followed him. Knees bent, she swam in jelly and clung onto his arm when he held one out. "That still might take some getting used to. Thanks." Out of the way of their temporary mount, it ran back to the stables with a joyful chirp of its romp in the skies.

"Well, if you ever want to, you can ask until you're comfortable enough to go up there yourself," he said with a nod, and lowered his arm back against his side when she found her footing on solid ground. He placed his hands on his belt and gazed at Yuven until he was long out of sight. "It might have to wait, though."

"Why?" Adara fixed her fly-away hair against her ears.

"After what we told the Warden-Commander of what we found in the cradle... it was decided that it was too dangerous to let a corrupted wyvern fly about Naveera," he mumbled and continued to stare up to the heavens. "There was a bit of a discussion on whether to kill it... or to try and cleanse it. To cleanse it of the husk, we'd have to know how old it is. How long it's been a Corruptor. Many would argue it would be easier — simpler to kill it... but that's not what we stand for. We must give it a chance to live." A soft exhale left his nose and he lowered his head to her. "... and Yuven agreed."

"Really?"

Fenrer nodded. "It was strange... he had something on his mind but I couldn't quite figure out what it was from his aura alone. So, we're having to prepare ourselves for a March into Irimount. Many Storm Wardens will have to drop everything to participate. Hippogryphs will have to be armored and saddled. Every piece of weapon or magitek we have to bring this thing back down to the ground but..." He squinted. "I don't think it'll be that simple."

"What makes you say that?"

A shudder ran through his chest in silence. "I mind-controlled it," he whispered. "In a moment, I saw through its eyes... and I don't know what I was seeing." His lips pursed. "It was paramount that I got it away from you two, but then it... it called out my name — my surname, more specifically, and called me Molvasolevu." He brought a hand up to his oath. "It was Kon who broke me out of mind-control, not the Corruptor."

Adara jolted. "Why would he do that?"

"He refuses to tell me." Fenrer shrugged. "He has his reasons, and he might have saved my life for it. The pressure was becoming too much, the decay seeping through the river of thoughts. But I got a glimpse, and when the time comes... I will be the one cleansing that Corruptor."

Adara mulled over his words, then clung onto his arm. "Fenrer, this isn't a deer."

"I am aware." He smiled at her. "Try not to worry though. We are a long way off from that. Teams have to be decided. We also have to tear a route through the Twilight Sea straight from here to Irimount... possibly a more permanent connection. Neven's suggestion, Yuven was less enthused, but didn't argue. Just in case we have a repeat of what happened to us... the Storm Wardens will have a place in Naveera all the same."

Her hand drifted down his chest, and she jolted to a stop when he rested her warm hand over hers. "I'm fine," he answered her unspoken concern. "I thank you, and I apologise for the stress I've caused — I've learned my lessons well and hard." He let go of her hand, and it dropped to her side. "There's a chance you might not come with us for the March... it was close the last time."

"I want to come."

His brow softened. "I know, you just might have to convince the Wardens that you will help more than put yourself in danger. You will hear no arguments from me, I know you're capable. Yuven might be able to help on that front."

Adara swung her head upwards at another distant, melodic call. "If he ever comes down."

"He will," Fenrer said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'm going to go to the Annex. I'll be in my usual spot if you require anything." He raised his hand in farewell, then bounded for the citadel doors.

Her resolve for the unbroken wings steeled over her chest, where the melody rose into a crescendo against the Derelict skies above. Draconic wings flew over the despair they brought, the last of her kind.

I am carrying their dreams upon my wings... I will tell him that. I will tell him the story when I am ready... when I can finally walk away from that lake and know that your memory will be carried as well.