YUVEN

Calavia. Gamelan. Verien. Mien... Mezhave and Zoten. Those ones are Naveeran names. He sat in the centre of the quiet grove of their chosen campsite, committing each name to his memory and his listbook. Never to be forgotten as long as the oath necklaces were found and someone remembered. Six names we could get down, and many more left in the citadel.

Fenrer. Maria. Neven. Yuven bit down on his jaw as the names threatened to fade away with the wind and time. Fifty Turns you were left. Fifty Turns it took us to retrieve you and those who left you to your fate got away with it. He slammed the listbook back down with a scowl, trying to ignore the castle's shadow on the hill. He hadn't started setting up their half-covers, and the sun cast a halo over the forest, never to touch him with its gentle light. He raised the book again to look at each name, and imagined those around him. Those he knew. Every name had someone who waited for them, and they never came back. He flipped the paper to the usual camp necessities he wrote down. He put it away, then reached out into the resonating flow.

In the middle of the grove, a glyph of white shone and burst to life. Several points along its icy tips burst into flames, collecting in the centre of the flow's matrix to create a small well of white flames. It breathed life until it spread warmth and turned back into a familiar orange. Yuven knelt down in front of it to poke at it with his magick, and it remained in the contained space. He picked a spot in the grove to set up his half-cover, in the protection of the crystal wards webbed along the trees. Yuven brought up mini pillars of vines, though he struggled to focus on the way the ground breathed with the flow as it stuck up the covers to shield them from the elements. White twine guided the vines along its path, but shuddered in slow movements. Unable to stand the crooked slant of the vine, he tried again until it held up the cover properly before doing the same with Fenrer's on the opposite side. Able to see every angle in case of an attack, he rolled up their travelling cloaks and set them down under their shelter.

One more check of the list and a quick sweep of their grove, he came to a stop in the warmth of the flaming well. Exhaustion rippled down his limbs, and scratched rust inched up his throat with wicked claws of Derelicts. He brought a hand up to cover what he knew was coming. A hard cough escaped him from deep inside his chest. Uncontrolled, he knelt back down to try and release the clawing pressure. It subsided with his sigh, and he retracted his hand from his lips. Crimson dotted his palm, and he glared down at it.

I know you're still there... you never let me forget. He brought out a napkin to wipe away the blood before setting it to the flames to return its essence to the world. He counted his breaths in his chest. Blood continued to swirl in the back of his throat, until he eased his mind out of it and into the warmth of the flames, and the memory of Maria's last touch. Myl'la... He sat there, on his knees, head lowered into the shade of night. Yuven Traye. Yuven Traye. Yuven Traye. I am Yuven Traye. He knew it silly to echo his own name, but everyone forgot, and all he had was Maria's advice of self-assurance. I am a Storm Warden, and I am here. He ruffled out his feathers with another huff while the world dragged down his mind, and he shook out the weight. Cross-legged, he opened his food container to have his night meal, packed to the brim with everything he could eat. Ugh. What a mother hen. Neven has been giving him lessons.

His memories blurred with crimson, but he clung onto them with all his strength. I will never forget. Never. I will be home. Home on the mountain, in a small white-bricked house by the sea. Full of love he never thought he'd gain. Neven and his mother hen tendencies, Kemal, who always indulged in his need to better himself. Fenrer, a young Hanekan boy who held out his hand to a person everyone thought a monster, and saw nothing but the light he couldn't see in himself. The rustic taste never left his tongue as he warmed himself by the flames, waiting for Fenrer to return.

Long into the night.

What is taking him so long? He better not be wasting time. Yuven folded his arms, agitation ripping through his knuckles as the moons made their jaunt across the sky. He popped open one of his medicine phials. Full of the night sky and the stars which bounced with each swishing movement, but had the taste of compost. He downed it all past his complaining taste buds before taking another bite to eat from his rations. He put the empty phial away with a huff, resting a hand on his knee while he waited for the rust to subside. He counted every moment of wasted time, and he clenched his fists. Fenrer, where are you?

He closed himself from the world, and focused on the bond of starry sinew which kept him attached to Fenrer on the soul level. Oathbound. It never changed, which meant Fenrer was alive. Yuven rolled his shoulders, unable to bridge the rest of the way to sense Fenrer's true well-being, though he knew Fenrer could. Whether due to his inherent Aurus abilities, or understanding the bond better than him. Either option was possible, so he opened his eyes and shuffled under his shelter to bustle into his cloak pillow. Yawning, he stared at the nearby tree and waited some more. Waited, never knowing if they'd return.

Don't come back when I know you won't. No one ever has.

"I'll return," it was Neven's voice, a flimsy promise, but he spoke it as fact. And he returned all the same.

He tried to go deeper into his past, but there was nothing left of it. Burnt to crimson ash, gone forever. Unable to remember his parents, or who they were. Whenever he thought of his parents, it was a figure with pale-gold hair. I woke up in a cold place. Yuven rested his brow against his arm with another huff. In Irimount, the city of the dead... but it was your home once... and now it's gone, because I can't remember otherwise. It was all he recalled, and it tore apart his temples trying to pick out the last fragments. Fragments which never fit into the puzzle pieces he gathered.

Not even Fenrer was able to go deep into his mind.

He rolled onto his back and tried to erase his mind. He needed to hit something. To strike it down with his crescent blade and know his actions had meaning to them. The blade in question rested nearby, ready to be used if a Derelict wandered into his wards, unsuspecting of the vicious nature of ice. He adjusted himself, and let the world darken.

I will wake up.

Stars beat down in his view when he heard a branch snap. Body weighed down from a quick doze, he sat up with a groan, hand on his crescent blade. Stars above, damned things can't— He stopped when the crystal webs shimmered with green, and Fenrer shuffled into the clearing. Yuven released his crescent blade to get up and head to him. "Where have you been?" he demanded, though Fenrer ignored him to head for his cover. "Fenrer."

Fenrer raised a hand of acknowledgement with a mumbled word in Hanekan, which he was fairly certain was the word for later. Unsure of his own inner translation, Yuven stood by as Fenrer dropped his crescent blade, and laid down underneath the cover, his head hitting the cloak-pillow without another word. Yuven jolted, listening as Fenrer went to sleep faster than he knew possible of his friend. He rounded the well of flames to kneel down beside him. "Fenrer? You didn't answer my question." Common stuck its own webs in his throat, but he fought past it to prod Fenrer in his spine, causing him to curl up.

"Yuven." Fenrer groaned, waving his hand as if swatting a fly. "I said not now."

"You said it in Hanekan."

"I'm saying it in Common, and don't give me that, I know you can understand Hanekan..." Fenrer sighed then peered up at him with a weary expression. "Go to sleep. The area's clear now."

"Now?" Yuven growled, leaning closer. "It wasn't before? You found a Derelict?" He reached for his list, but Fenrer snapped his hand out with a deft quickness for an exhausted person to clasp his wrist. "Tell me what happened. Have plans changed?"

"It can wait." Fenrer let go of his wrist to nestle back into a resting position. "I'll tell you in the morning what I found."

Yuven threw his hands up before standing and taking shelter in his cover to let Fenrer sleep. He kept himself on guard for any changes, but the night took him into its embrace. Noiseless dreams awaited him, full of crimson monsters, licking the air with their lolling tongues, but he stood his ground and pushed it all away. Every one, though they hungered for the things they hadn't taken from him, when his life wasn't enough for them.

I won't let you take anything more.

Impatient for the morning, he tossed and turned, checking on Fenrer whenever he roused from his restless, rustic tasting sleep. Fenrer's sleepless nights caught up with him, but the cycle would continue. Yuven huffed out a breath, then closed his eyes. It dragged on through the crimson muck, until the tolling bells jolted him out of his sleep. Morning light shone through the clouds, and he sat up with a huff before moving to check on Fenrer again.

He laid on his back, arms folded across his chest as he breathed softly.

Yuven knelt down. "Fenrer, it's morning — and you slept."

"That's not how it works," Fenrer said after one deep breath. He opened his eyes after another long moment Yuven couldn't bear through. "Give me a couple minutes." Yuven drew back as Fenrer dragged himself upwards with another wince, rubbing his back while heavy shadows pulled down his features. Fenrer rubbed his eyes, so Yuven took out his waterskin to take a drink from it. He snapped his head up when Fenrer nodded. "There's a lot I have to tell you."

Yuven listened to the bells tolling in the nearby town. "Keep it short... we have those pointless fights — unless that's changed."

Fenrer took his time to send his own flames into the dying well, before taking out his food container to eat. "I found the Anima."

"What?" Yuven moved up to him while Fenrer thoughtfully chewed. "Why didn't you retrieve them and bring them here? We don't have to stay here. Our job was to find and bring them to Euros."

Fenrer shook his head. "There's a bit of complication."

Yuven tipped his head. "How complicated?"

Fenrer finished off his morning meal and snapped his container closed. "She doesn't remember anything — and her Guardian seems to be in a tough spot to leave," he explained. "I got told that every magickae that lived in this kingdom is gone, save for a few. Adara doesn't recall much, or know anything of the magickae lands. I doubt she even knows what she is."

"Adara? Who? You're giving me extra questions and no answers," Yuven snapped.

"The Anima," Fenrer said. "She's living here with a Storm Warden."

Yuven sat down in disbelief. "I thought—"

"I did too, but he was here with another Warden, sent to investigate the lack of communication with Lyzetiel citadel — and got caught up with what was happening within the kingdom."

"Why didn't you convince him?"

"I tried."

"What about the other Warden?"

"Dead, and I don't think the Warden is going to give up the Anima without some sort of assurance." Fenrer put his food container away. "We have to find the crystal they used to block her memories."

Yuven groaned and punched the ground beneath him. "An elementia crystal is involved?" He choked on the thought of his own memories, never able to access them as time went on. "Where?"

Fenrer frowned at him, then pointed at the castle on the hill.

Of course... Yuven stretched. "We need to work, Fenrer. We aren't leaving without the Anima. Take me to them fast."

"It won't matter if we can't get access to the crystal. If I reach it, I could figure out the truth and maybe disconnect it from her. It should allow her memories to flow freely," Fenrer insisted as he stood up, and doused the well of flames. "Adara — the Anima, I found her in an orchard nearby. I think she had a friend there and it gorged on them. She wasn't—" Fenrer hesitated, then held his temples, a deep swirl entering the green. "Brute force isn't going to work, Yuven. She's trapped, and the old Warden is on the defensive. He told me to find that crystal and see what happened for myself before he decides anything."

Yuven frowned at Fenrer. "We don't have time to waste on investigating orchards. You killed the Derelict?"

"Yes, but it's not the only one here. I can sense them. Deep beneath us, waiting for a chance to burst forth and eat."

"I suppose not." Yuven folded his arms. "Anything else to know?"

Fenrer nodded. "The queen who died due to suspected magick causes twenty or so Turns ago when we asked around, which ultimately led to the purge of the magickae?" He frowned. "They weren't wrong, but not for the reason they think. The queen was the other Storm Warden, and she sacrificed her life to create the connection between Adara and the crystal."

"And...?" Yuven heard the unsaid continuation.

"Adara is her daughter."

A monarch Storm Warden... what am I to do with that? The bells tolled. Yuven clenched his fists. "Fine. Let us prepare ourselves."