ADARA

Advanced Glyphic Theory for Flares. Complex Shifting. The Importance of Energy Conservation and Conversion from Flow into the Body. Adara tossed each of Yuven's titles to the side, peering at the smaller tome with a whole lock on it. The Mysteries and Truth of Anima Magick— where did he even find this? Her hand went once more to Complex shifting, which Yuven slapped a bright sticky note on it for her to read first, with the others he marked in numerical order for study. The glossary separated its sections by primordials, with Yuven marking those as well. Every page fluttered in her ears as she reached the section meant for water-based primordials. One technique explained in rather grotesque detail on how to push the flow through the lungs to allow temporary water-breathing. On the next pages, several designs of orientation glyphs, with its largest spikes serving as the cardinal points of power. Technique often used by sailors at sea... other primordials can also use it to a smaller, not as efficient degree. Fire Magickae struggle with it the most... great. "Yuven," she bit and turned on the elbow resting on the Annex table on the third section, where he stood on a ladder to reach at the higher shelves, sorting through much thicker books. "I hope you don't expect me to read and retain all of this."

"I can retain all that information." Yuven slipped one of the book tacks between his teeth as he moved one to the side. "I don't see why you can't." He steadied himself on the rung as other tomes hovered around him, carried by misty white fog. Thin tendrils wrapped around his body at the innate levitation, before slipping them back along the shelves. "I'm not going to waste anymore time that I now have," he said as he put the book tack in place, whipping his head back to her where his feathers fluffed out, filled out around his ears. "I'd say you're now past about a seven turns old magickae ability and around sixteen. I aim to get you past that before the Elder Convocation calls upon us for a demonstration."

"On top of trying to learn Hanekan..."

"That is your chosen directive and not part of the plan," he bit back as he rolled the ladder to the next shelf, repeating the process from before. "You will have to find time for it on your own and not on mine." Navei slipped past his lips as he put another book tack in his mouth, pushing books to the side to reach the deeper ones. Adara scowled at his back, twisting to her forced book options with the one Fenrer gave her days before buried underneath it all.

Though she tried to take the smallest chances to study it, Yuven had a tendency to hover over her with all the irritation of a gull pecking for food. Adara opened her palm and breathed with the flow rushing along the phoenix fires making rivers in her blood. Silver auroras swirled into a glyph with a blaze of power. It danced across her glyph's circumference. Shapes formed and bent to follow the trail of the inferno. It weaved and tied itself together, and she stretched her senses through its center; an internal direction of her external movement. Each of the lamps attached to the shelves shuddered silver embers deep within their runes to splatter across the small circuits. Across her fingertips, the spiderweb of an aurora choked her fingers, and she let out a gasp, trying to shake out the smoke rising into the air.

In an instant, they died with the quake of energy she extruded — and it preceded a loud, Navei curse from a certain white-haired Avaerilian who held on tight to the shelf when the lamp closest to him sparked and vibrated until it died without its light. "If I wanted a light, Adara, I would've done it myself," he mumbled once the Annex stopped trembling.

"You're the one who insisted I stretch my magick to measure my reach and find the limit," she bit through her teeth as she shook off silver embers from her palm when the glyph disappeared. Fist clenched against her knee, she opened the fire primordial page to learn a couple of techniques. One caught her attention, the barrier Maria created on the ship made out of fire whips, she stopped when Yuven tutted. "What now?"

"If you're going to do those ones, I want you to go down to the lower training rooms and to not do them in the most flammable place of the citadel. Some of these books are older than either of us and date back centuries." He slid down the ladder with more books under his arm.

"First, you want me to test my magick, but now you're asking me to move before I do?" Adara sent her frustration into the air and all the books slammed closed at once. Only for Yuven to head for her and to slam several dust-covered tomes in front of her and send it straight into her nose. Fingers against her nose, she coughed at the prickling sensation in her throat before waving the particles out of her face. "Which one is it, Know-It-All Nuglet?"

Yuven ignored her insult to head for the railing. "Fenrer! Get up here and stop snoozing in the window chair again before I reach through my magick and pull you up here myself!" He smacked his hand against the wood to return to the bookshelves. "Get reading since jumping straight into practical expression doesn't work for you." He slumped onto the windowsill, flipping open his own book, this one without a title; and she knew better than to question him on his choice of literature when the last time left her with the punishment of once more doing battle with Yuven in the training fields to force her magick out of her instead. Adara slipped her lips between her teeth as Fenrer ascended the staircase which led to the other parts of the Annex, straight down to the bottom, though a massive metal contraption kept anyone but the senior Wardens able to access it.

It lit up her curiosity, broken only by Fenrer's closing in approach to them. "What do you need?"

Yuven closed his book and left the window to meet him halfway with a sideways glance at her. "Adara here wants to do some primordial techniques — I saw the one you were eyeing down," he barked at her, and she frowned. "Protective usage of the flow is difficult if you lack the ability to ground yourself and the confidence to stand as strong as a shield. As such, it's the perfect thing to add to our demonstration for the Conclave. Show that you are more than destruction incarnate." He threw his hand into Fenrer's shoulder. "You're a Warden shieldbearer, you can teach her some as to how to use her magick as a consistent barrier and how to maintain it. I shall observe to make sure neither of you stray from the purpose of the exercise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adara got up.

"It means I cannot trust either of you to keep to the task at hand without supervision." Yuven squeezed Fenrer's shoulder and stomped to the staircase.

Adara sighed at his departure. "Is it me or is he... moodier than usual?"

Neven and Maria's departure left a heaviness in the air around Yuven as he stomped, complained, and bossed other Wardens around into their daily tasks. Trainees got the worst of it, cowering out of his way to hide behind their Trainers, who evidently used Yuven as a strict, efficient basis of a Storm Warden. Fenrer rubbed his cheek to tangle his fingers with the small braid holding the wolven pin, and she turned her attention to him. "Are you worried about them too?"

"Of course," he said. "But... standing around worrying won't accomplish anything. Best we get you sorted before the Elder Convocation calls on us, and you." His hand touched her shoulder and sent a shockwave of spring's warmth through her nose to replace the staleness of the dust bunnies.

Unable to see his aura herself, she imagined its sweeping jadeite hues to match his eyes, swirling with a sense of tranquility to outpace Yuven's constant nagging whirlwind. The thorn she tugged out of her heart threatened to dig in once more, but for once, she held on tight to the happiness in dreams instead of the despair found in her blood-soaked nightmares. Her hand found his fingers, and she faced him in full. Bloodstains bathed the rose Tara once gave her into deeper reds, and Fenrer had yet to reveal the full truth of what he garnered. Torment trapped her in asking. Old love sought closure. Their fingers overlapped, with Fenrer responding with welcoming affection as his expression softened.

Can you hear me in my own head? Hear how... confused I still am? How afraid I am? What if I fail and you two suffer for nothing? Her heart burned with too many questions unanswered, but she stopped when Fenrer clutched both her shoulders.

"You're buzzing," he whispered.

You can... you just choose to listen to the surface sounds in safety. "With how much information Yuven's been shoving in my head, I'd be shocked if I wasn't," she mumbled and tried to resist the urge to sink into his touch, the way he held her surrounded by beautiful snowroses blooming in the harshest of conditions. How close can I get? I'm still... processing the fact that we can be more than what we were before. Her arms slid around his middle and she rested her head against his shoulder. "Do they even know when the Elder Convocation will call upon us?"

"No, but we have Wardens in Azahama keeping an eye out in case they try to drop something on us when we're not prepared for it." Fenrer's chest lifted when he brushed her back. "You'll do fine, Adara, now... let's see if I can't teach you how to use your fire as a protective shield instead of what you've been told it's good for."

"I saw something in that book that Animas were able to... hasten other's magick? Is that true?" Another question spilled out of her lips.

"I don't know, but protective magicks is a good step to something like that." Fenrer tapped her shoulders with a smile. "Let's go."

Out of the Annex, she followed Fenrer through the beautiful citadel made out of marble trellis, storied pillars, mosaic windows, and etched limestone walls. Her steps echoed down the long spiral staircase which touched into the highest peaks of the home of the Order. Music rang out with her tempo. Magick pulsed in her ears from the heart as runic circuitry guided the power from the thermal energy born from the core below. Fire lit up underneath her skin in recognition. Wings of power which drew her phoenix flames forth into liquid light. It's strange... I feel... comfortable down here. Well, maybe not so strange, considering.

Yuven waited beside a pair of doors, ushering them inside a training room. He closed them and leaned against the wall of sprinkled red gemstones. "Here you are at less risk of burning important documents."

"Thank you for your confidence," Adara said and followed Fenrer over the floor rune then kept her attention on Fenrer.

"Now, the concept of extending your magick as a protective physical shield is simple enough to understand," Fenrer began, and revealed the runic expanders around his forearms. "A shieldbearer Storm Warden uses these expanders to provid a grounded front of protection in large operations, but by ourselves, we're the ones who will often wrangle Derelicts. But, that's not all our shields can do." He slapped his hands together. Sparks mingled with greens when he swung his arms out with the steam whistling out of the vambraces. Golden stars lit up and formed into a thick barrier which separated her from him. "Yuven, if you would."

Adara jolted when white glyphs created sharp icicles, and threw them at Fenrer without hesitation. It blasted into mist and fell upon the shield to coat it with snow. Yuven continued his barrage with some added sweeps of magick, though Fenrer remained stalwart until Yuven ceased his assault. Green smoke left out of the expanders, and Fenrer dropped his hands. Golden stars fell along the floor rune, and he smiled at her. "The concept is the same when using your magick, your inner flow. You concentrate on the area you wish to shield with all your heart... and your magick will respond."

"I will say, the ward Maria employed is difficult to master, let alone create for the first time. It is a moving barrier, and you'll notice Fenrer had to stay still," Yuven mumbled with his back against the wall again. "And raw talent cannot replace practice and hard work, for Flares such as us or an Anima such as yourself." He flicked his finger between them.

Hesitation crushed the coals, but she jolted when Fenrer nodded at her in encouragement. Nothing left to do but to just... go for it, into the trial of fire. Adara planted her feet, but frowned when Yuven shook his head. Heels lighter on the pressure, she focused hard on the area, the way the icicles slammed into her face as she dragged Fenrer through the Frozen Wastes with Yuven, her fire useless against its swallowing cold. Fingers curled, she swelled with the heat of the volcano as a small whisper of smoke tangled around her. It raised into a bundle of leashes, twisting and writhing like superheated snakes, trying to reach the top of the barrier. It slithered and hissed through silver smoke, but she tried to force them upwards.

"Confidence and concentration, Adara," Yuven growled.

"I am trying, if you'd like to shut it for longer than a minute." One leash tumbled to the ground, and she tried to tug it back into the anchor of her own body. It intensified into a glyph around her, and the leashes pulsated down the extensions as she lifted up its unseen weight to spread it farther in a sphere of love and compassion. It sparked at the tailed ends, and she gasped when it exploded down the barrier. In a blur, Fenrer rushed forward into the aurora to cling onto her wrist. Silver wrapped around him and dissipated, only for him to throw her flames into the rune, bright with the morning sun. It lit up, then whispered out.

Fenrer let her go with a soft smile, hand wide open to reveal that she had not scorched his skin.

"And... that is why I chose this room," Yuven said with a scoff. "It should not matter if I speak or not, Adara."

"It matters when I am just trying to do this technique," she complained then investigated Fenrer. "You alright?"

"Bloodline magick, remember?" He beamed as he tapped his chest. "I'm fine, but that was a start, Adara. You had it halfway completed before it fell apart."

"You mean exploded violently," Yuven piped up.

Adara twisted on her heel to lunge at Yuven, but she slowed herself into clear thinking. I know why he's doing that... trying to push me into irritation — let my emotions dictate my magick control and that's what happens... Hands on her hips, she ignored Yuven, who she swore a smirk pulled the corner of his cheeks. "Any advice, Fenrer, the actual shieldbearer?"

"Well, what Yuven said was a good basis as to how protective techniques work, you also need to be aware of your surroundings, who and what you're trying to protect. As the fireward can also provide an offensive side to it, it is an active conduit," he described. "Whereas these runic expanders are a passive conduit — as Yuven mentioned, I cannot move the way you could with that fireward. With more practice, you could use it both as a shield and as a weapon."

"And mastering both sides of fire's power is important in this case," Yuven said. "Which Maria can help you with when she comes back... and I think Neven can teach you something as well." He blinked, and his gaze trailed off of them. "I will be sure to implore that you are a difficult study, though Neven's dealt with worse."

Fenrer's lips quirked. "Namely?"

"Do not start, Molvi." Yuven threw his hand at him. "I shall see you in the refectory. I need to make sure the cooks got my new diet plans from Maria. Adara, I expect you to be back in the Annex reading those books after we have had a meal, after which I will expect you to sleep." He stomped out of the room.

His stuffy attitude no longer sent a strike of fear, but of fond annoyance at his expression of care and compassion as she turned to Fenrer. "Would a simple fireward even impress the Elder Conclave?"

Fenrer tipped his head. "People have thought of Anima magick as a destructive force for Turns. I think it time they learnt otherwise."