KEMAL

By the Ancients... How many damned letters were my Trainees expecting?

He stared up at the racks of scrolls with messages for Storm Wardens, delegated from headquarters. One of the sorters stood by him with another pile of scrolls to put within the requests for help section before giving the rack a gentle spin to the other side. Along the walls, beneath the static scroll racks, multiple cabinets with branch handles protected more larger packages.

Kemal brought a hand up to his nose. Well, no point staring at it hoping it'll send itself. I've got stuff to do today that requires my attention. This should distract them long enough. He stopped at a book-shaped package with Kayal's name stamped on top of it. Guess the Athenaeum didn't have what he was looking for. He moved down to letters for the senior Wardens, reaching into Neven's. His magick rippled against the icy lock to grab the neatly tied scroll from it. Heh... Yusari. Neven will want to read this.

Yesterday plagued his mind when Neven came home from another late night of obscura reading. When Kemal waved at him to come eat dinner, Neven simply gazed at him as if he hadn't recognized what he said or him. Without stopping to eat anything, he floated upstairs and never came back down except in the morning. Tired, but far more like himself than before.

That book is doing something to him.

He grabbed what he could and headed out of the Lodge's mail room to leave the sorter to their duty. Through the wyvern plastered corridors, he reached the Trainee barracks, always so empty save for his little unit Commander Faehariel made him responsible for. All of them lurched up from their beds when he entered.

"Mail's here," he said as he put it all down on the table spread, and he lunged out of the way of their sudden scramble. Styge hopped in the back, clearly trying to get his attention. Kemal moved through the small crowd around the door to reach Styge. "Yes, what is it?"

"Have you talked to Captain Neven about our first real patrol?"

Kemal tried not to huff. "I haven't had an extensive discussion yet. I may have one in mind..." He leaned forward to push Styge back. "If you'll give me some time. You'll have your first patrol and experience as Storm Wardens. The time will come when you can take the Oath." He nudged the Trainees out of the way, while Kayal unwrapped his package off to the side. "For today, I want all of you to study on how to recognize a Derelict infestation. When I come back, I want to hear all one hundred and one ways to track one." He grinned at their scowls. "One hundred and one. Not a hundred." Kemal tried to hold back his laughter as he left his agonizing Trainees. Wonder if they'll have the foresight to ask around... He closed the barracks behind him and shuffled with his moonwatch, checking the time. Both hands ticked with the crescent moons. Hm... Almost noon, and Neven checks his mail in the morning, though he'd never ignore a letter from Yusari. He put it away to walk through the lodge. Past the kitchens, where the smell of fish wafted up his nose to remind him of a distant home. Through the feast hall, where marble pillars separated some of the tables, and a giant fireplace warmed the area. Several Storm Wardens ate their meals as he moved out into the front area, where two large boards held the duties for the day, and who was given them.

Kemal stepped out into the sunlight. Birds chirped among the canopy, where magick orbs floated among the branches, waiting for night to fall. If I put this off, Neven's going to end up sleeping in there. He rushed to the athenaeum, hoping to find Neven in the stacks full of stories, which he had once done when they first came to Asairai. On the same route as before, he reached the darkened dome Neven hid himself in.

All to read a book with no words.

Kemal opened the lock again, where Neven stood at the same podium, book in hand while its container floated there. He closed the door behind him. "Neven?" His ear flicked in response, but he said nothing. Kemal scowled, and approached him from behind. "Neven. It's mail day."

"Right..." Neven flipped to another page, and then another. Kemal crossed his arms at the lack of response.

"Yusari sent another letter," he said, louder than the pages flicking against each other. "Thought you'd want to know, considering a few weeks ago you couldn't stop wondering when the next one would come in." Kemal nudged Neven in the back with his knuckle, though Neven gave him no acknowledgement. "How long have you been down here?"

"Since the fall of the moons," Neven answered in a strange voice. "I saw something, Kemal. On the last pages, look..." He turned around, and Kemal stepped back at his pupils, beaded as a wyvern's. Sapphires dulled with losing light. With the shadows of the Echo Obscura. His hand trembled when he made a tiny point to another blank page.

Oh, Infernals... Kemal rubbed the bridge of his nose before stepping up to Neven, who almost pushed the book into his face. "You know what, I think I'll pass. I think you need to read something else." At his motion to take it away from Neven, the wyvern pupils tightened further, and Neven drew away with a quick, quiet snarl before returning to its pages.

"You don't see it?" Neven hugged the open pages against his heart. "How long ago were we sent here, Kemal?" He held it flat out between his hands. "It is our sacred duty to bring light. Commander Faehariel charged us with this posting to find a cult," his voice trembled the Navee chime to his tone. "Answers have eluded us, but this book has it all."

"I don't think it does," Kemal said, reaching out to try and swipe it, but Neven lurched back, his feathers thinning out against his head. "Come on, Nev. You're not thinking straight. You've been reading that thing for Turns now and it's... what?" He stomped forward, and Neven refused to move. "Led us to a ruin and a Derelict we've never seen before. Was that not enough?"

"It's not enough," Neven pointed out. "It has the truth."

"Right, now you're talking nonsense. Give me that book, Lotayrin." He lunged forward to grapple with Neven, who reacted with a quick hissing gasp. "Give it here, you rump." He played tug-of-war with his Oathbound as they vied for nothing.

"Roxho," Neven chittered a string of Navee words Kemal ignored to try and wrench the book away from his friend's hands. Kemal pulled with a burst of grounded magick.

It ripped in his ears when the paper gave out to their struggle. Kemal stared down at his half of the book, where the papers tumbled out to scatter at their feet. Wind whistled through his ears, though none of the edges moved with the sound as he leaned forward to examine them. "Well..."

The wind turned into the roar of a blizzard as ice rose from the damp stones. Kemal pursed his lips, and placed both his palms on the ground. Oh, for... He raised his head to the mirage. Snow swirled at the edges of Neven's fingertips, while the beaded pupil disappeared into the sapphire waters. Ice collected in the orbs of snow, and spiked out.

Kemal slammed his hand down, bringing up his magick through the soil beneath all. Green glyphs rose to protect him from Neven's uncontrolled onslaught of cold. He rolled away from the wind pushing into him, and he stood up as Neven stepped through the papers swirling at his feet. Hazy mist rose in the dome, while the lock on the door strengthened.

Not like I could run. He straightened himself out, almost reaching for his back-up dagger. He stopped himself while Neven came ever closer, on the hunt. No... he's being an idiot, but he'll feel better if I can just— He dodged out of the way of a shard of ice large enough to take out his head. It exploded into droplets of water, and hit his arms when he raised them to protect his face. "Come on, Nev!" he snapped, rushing away from his friend. "Wake up!"

"I was so close!" Neven gasped out in pain, where the magick shuddered in the air in response. "Your questions around the tree towns haven't been getting us anywhere! It was our only chance for the truth! We were so close to finding where they were!"

"Are you hunting the truth or the cult?" Kemal snapped out his own question, sending his own blast of wind at Neven, who braced himself. At the change of stance, Kemal rushed through the snow to wrestle Neven onto the ground, who squirmed as he tried to subdue him. Neven kicked out at his legs, but Kemal settled his knee on his chest and leaned forward to try and hold him down. He brought up more magick to hold down Neven's legs, and scowled when Neven hyperfocused on his arm. His sharp canines revealed themselves, but he knew instantly where his obscura driven mind had gone.

"If you bite me, Nev, I will make you pay for it," he growled, keeping his arm out of reach. Neven lunged forward, though not to chomp down. Kemal grunted when Neven elbowed him in the neck, and attempted to overpower him. He wrapped his arms around Neven's neck, holding him in a headlock while his friend squirmed and huffed through his nose. In the silence of their scuffle, he turned back to the ripped book.

All the papers collected into a pile on top of one half of the cover. He jumped when small tendrils inched out of the spine to grab onto the torn half, dragging itself along the floor to reach what was broken. Neven continued to writhe, but he grabbed Neven's cheeks to force him to look. It continued to inch along like a spider unable to walk properly, then threaded the tendrils through the broken pieces, before snapping shut.

Neven relaxed, and Kemal frowned when he shoved him to stand and pick the book up once again into his hands. Out of breath, Kemal waved away the remains of Neven's offensive magic in the air as he returned to the podium, nose deep in the blank pages.

"All is well," Neven whispered with a tinge of despair. "It'll show me. It has to."

Kemal shook his head. "It's those villages, isn't it?"

Neven swayed back and forth. "We must find them before the shadows devour everything else," he murmured, and turned to another page, all the fight gone.

I wish you never found the Obscura text in one of them... Kemal stepped closer to Neven, who worked tirelessly when the first villages nearby disappeared without a trace, where their only hint was a book with no words. A book no one could read with consistency. You've been engulfed by it, but I still believe that we can find an answer if we keep asking.

Neven jumped when Kemal latched his arms around his neck, dragging him away from the book's podium. He sent waves of magick into his temples, trying to overpower the mind. This would be much easier with Julis... but I couldn't ask him of it. He brought a hand up to Neven's temple, and allowed the magick to flow free against ice, and rip away the tendrils of the book he couldn't see.

It slipped out of Neven's hands to tumble onto the ground, unbroken.

Kemal braced himself when Neven fell limp, setting his friend on the ground to grab the book. He rested on the last page, empty as all the rest. Its edges shimmered, but he ignored its truth to put it back in its container on the podium, sending his own magick to weave a protective barrier. "Alright, you pain in my ass," he grumbled as he leaned down to heave Neven over his shoulder. "Let's see if Maria can't help you." Without telling her the true purpose of this posting, if possible. Though that's probably out of the bag.

He ignored the odd expressions people gave him as he carried Neven through the back alleys towards the posting. Yusari's letter still tucked in one of his straps, he waved off a couple Storm Wardens who rushed to investigate.

"Just get me Ollain," he said before rounding the tree-lodge to enter the house, where the real posting happened. He dropped Neven onto the couch, rolling his shoulder while his friend remained asleep. He sat down on the small chair, waiting for Maria to come.

"You wanted me, Kemal?" she asked as she stepped through the foyer, taking off her gloves. Her gaze fell on Neven, and she stepped forward to examine him. "What happened?"

He folded his arms, leaning on the back of the chair. "First, I need you to swear secrecy."

Maria frowned at him as she ruffled Neven's feathers, causing him to shift and roll onto his side to face the back of the couch. "I won't tell anyone, but why am I swearing secrecy?"

"What I'm about to say cannot leave this room. Originally it was only meant to be a small task force who knew — for safety, you understand. Captain Neven and I were in charge of it." He sighed, and then brought a hand up to his face, where a migraine stewed at the surface of his brow. "We were sent because villages were disappearing."

"I heard about that."

"Well, we believe there's a cult involved. That's why we're here, at least." He scowled at the lengths Neven felt forced to go. "The first few villages really got to Nev. We had no leads. No hints. No nothing, until..." He raised a finger as Maria withdrew from Neven to stare at him. "We found a single Obscura text, and he's been obsessed with it."

Maria jolted. "Is that why he's been acting like he has?"

"Yes."

Maria clenched her fists. "And I suppose no one warned him of the effects?"

"Oh, I warned him, but he was desperate. He spouted assurances and that he'd be careful, but..." Kemal grunted. "People act stupid when they're cornered."

Her hardened expression fell, and she brought her hair back into a ponytail. "I can see what I can do, but how long was he reading it?"

"Couple Turns, since before you got here for your posting."

"Oh... Ancients." Maria rubbed her hand across her brow before examining him. "If it's bad, we're going to need to discuss it with an Aurus Healer. He's sleep-deprived, but we'll need to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't go back to read the Obscura text. It'll exacerbate what he's feeling, and we'll just end up in the same cycle he's been repeating."

"Julis can do so if needed." Kemal took out Yusari's letter to rest it on the end table by Neven's head. "I've got Trainees to teach and make into surviving Storm Wardens. Since he was so insistent that he could handle this himself, when he wakes up, tell him I said 'I told you so'." Kemal brushed himself off when he heaved out of the chair. "I'll come back to keep an eye on him once I'm done. Hope the research is going well for you." He moved for the front door, leaving Maria with his Oathbound.

What Neven doesn't realise, is that I elect to ignore him when he thinks he can do everything himself. Kemal slipped out his own letter he had retrieved when he woke up, a small smile finding its way across his lips. Thanks, little Fenris, you certainly know how to make someone's day, and I'm sure Neven will appreciate it in the long run. He tucked the small paper where he had it before returning to the Trainees and ask them the many ways to track a Derelict when they thought they could hide.