ADARA

Twilight fell from the green galaxies guiding light. Into a world of bright hues, where mesas dotted the golden plains which stretched around her and into the misty forests ahead. Ahead of them, a road wound into a bustling city. Paper ornaments rustled over doors and walkways deeper into the heart of the activity. A navy spire spread its shadow, while a light shone at its peak, striking the pink clouds of sunrise. Her breath escaped her at the whisper of gentle wind, touching her cheek in welcome. Dim lamps lit the corners of the curved roofs of buildings. As if she stepped into a world of wonder from her nightmare of monsters.

"Bit off the mark, Fenrer," Yuven mumbled on Fenrer's other side. "I was hoping to land through the city's umbral gate."

Fenrer sighed as a carriage rolled past them, crunching the stone underneath the wheels as the horse huffed along its route. "It was the best I could do with the path slowly dwindling in front of us." He turned to her with a smile. "How are you feeling? It was your first time teleporting, yes?"

"I'm... I'm fine." Adara clutched her dirty linens, unable to draw away from the colourful, ever-moving city which blended with the golden plains and mesas. "Where are we?"

"Azahama, I thought that we established that," Yuven mumbled and took the lead without another word. "Let us hurry. We head straight for the lodge to get you — and ourselves — cleaned up and presentable for the Elder Conclave on the morrow." He sent a glance at her. "No dawdling."

Adara scowled but followed nonetheless, the blood weighing down her rags and apron. Everything within the city limits hit her senses. People, living and conversing. Stalls full of unbelievable, unknown things she had never seen. Storefronts, some of them familiar, or guessed. From blacksmiths, to tailors. Some open buildings, where individuals sat at a small bar, sipping at tiny cups and eating breaded food. Adara stumbled in an attempt to keep Yuven's pace. Flowing clothes, from silk to tougher leather for guards made her all the more aware of her own tattered linens. Adara clutched the crimson shawl around her shoulders. Some they passed gave her curious glances, but went on their business without another word until they reached a junction in all paths into the city.

A large marble gate sat upon a platform, in complete stasis. Several runes lined the inner curvature, and etchings of phoenixes drawn along the outside. This must be the square... Adara tried to take it all in, but it was too much. Too much movement. Too much noise. Too much colour and activity and voices.

"We are going that way." Yuven pointed down a different street. "Let's go."

Unable to process all the information, she shuffled behind them and held tighter onto her shawl, raising it to hug the sides of her head. Everything blurred past her until all she focused on was the two Storm Wardens who took her away from the nightmare. Yuven's feathers flicked with the wind as he muttered under his breath, while Fenrer remained silent. Out of the compact, cobbled streets into a rounded second square. Standards raised over a huge, wide building, rustling with the wind. The wyvern in defense of the star. Though it paled in size to the navy spire behind her, the people brought a sense of familiarity to her. Storm Wardens, garbed in studded leather or plate. In the middle, a fountain with the same wyvern, wings outstretched where water dripped from each feather.

Adara moved between them to gaze upon the wonders of an unknown world. Crescent blades shone in the dawn's light as words flitted in her ears. "I..." Water dripped down her throat at the gentle sounds of the fountain as she came closer to it to look into its crystal surface. Perfect, reflective glass. Beauty marred, she dug her fingertips into the grime on her apron, and fought down tears. Fenrer widened his eyes, though Yuven kept his arms folded.

"This place is beautiful." Adara peeked at every shadow, but nothing moved with hunger. It all shifted with peace and tranquility. "I'd find it hard to believe if you told me Derelicts could attack this place."

"Well, they can, and they have before. We've just gotten better with our warding and building practices," Yuven grunted as he led them up to the huge building. "This is the lodge, and this is where we'll be staying for the night." He scrunched his nose at her. "You should go get yourself freshened up and free of the blood, and a fresh set of..." He hesitated, whispering under his breath in an icy sounding language before finishing, "Belongings."

Adara stepped away from him and Fenrer both. "Well, I'm sorry that I just had to wade through literal death."

Yuven stared at her in confusion, but Fenrer raised his hands. "I think what Yuven means to say is that it can't be doing your wellbeing any favours to be stuck in those clothes," he explained. He gestured to the double doors of wyvern-laced brass, though they moved with ease. "It'll do you some good to have some time to clear your head, aye?"

Adara followed them into the main hall of the building. Two staircases split off into the second landing. Left in the middle, two doorways, with a sign in several languages. Archives? Yuven headed past her to block her view for but a moment to speak with the Storm Warden sitting at a desk, passing papers to their fellow where they posted it on a wooden board. An old Warden spoke to a younger one in a windy language, who nodded in an almost excited way.

"Ah, Captain Traye," the Storm Warden at the desk spoke up in a gentle accent. "Glad to see that your mission was fruitful." They scribbled something down. "By the way, a message came for you while you were gone. From Captain Ollain."

"... I see." Yuven coughed. "Fenrer, you will be in charge of her. I must see to this message... as soon as possible."

Without another word of argument, Yuven barrelled through them down the opposite corridor. Adara caught herself, and forced a smile at the desk Warden, who blinked a couple times before returning to their work with a greeting to Fenrer, who raised his hand in return. Awkwardness filled her knees with jelly, but she kept herself standing. "Do we... wait for him?" she managed out to Fenrer, self-conscious of all the blood splattered on her clothes, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from every reminder of the death and scattered bones. Her hands grasped for her shawl to press her face into the last thing she had of Mother.

"I don't think that's necessary," he said with no acknowledgment of her messy being. "Here, I'll take you to our bathhouses. It should be relatively peaceful at this time of day."

Ice washed into her face at his words and she hid deeper into her shawl, though he smiled at her again before going into the other wing of the lodge across from the one Yuven ran through as if his hindquarters were on fire. I just need to get out of these clothes and wash out my... everything. Cheeks puffed, she fell in line behind Fenrer. I'm a mess... Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she frowned when Fenrer stopped in front of another large doorway and opened it with a gentle wave. Water dripped all around her, but Fenrer guided her into a darker hallway to a smaller door. He opened the door, and she wandered in.

A small basket tucked into a corner, where fresh towels filled another basket. Runes of waving water lit up and a small pipe opened up to fill the bathing basin. Light stretched through a round window, but kept the privacy in check. Adara shifted to face Fenrer, who stood at the door. Adara rounded the basin to take a closer look at the pipe cut from marble. "What about my clothes?"

"We can get them cleaned," Fenrer said from where the floor went from wood to marble.

Honestly, I'd rather you burn it all... Adara undid her shawl and placed it into the empty basket. "So... what am I going to wear then?" she asked and headed back up to him, fearing the shadows flickering from the small lamps. "I... I can't walk around in this."

Fenrer blinked a couple times. "Would you like me to grab you something? Is that what you're wanting to say?"

Relief stretched through her bones at the broached topic she found herself unable to say straight. "Yes, please... I just need some time alone... to get cleaned."

Fenrer hesitated, and then nodded. "Is there anything you have in mind?"

"I don't care," she insisted. "I just need to get out of these garments and into something... not... dirty." Every word sliced her tongue. "It doesn't even have to fit."

Fenrer raised both hands with his own awkward smile. "That won't be a problem. I'll see what I can get."

Adara rushed closer when he turned to leave, pushing her coin pouch into his hands. "Here. I'd rather not impose more than... than I know I'm going to."

His lips parted, then he grinned and placed the coin pouch back into her hands. "Also not necessary," he pointed out. "That coin is yours, Adara. You should use it for things you want. I'll be back with something to wear for you." He chuckled. "And don't worry, I'll try and find something that fits." He stepped outside of the door and closed it behind him.

The lock on the knob glowed with magick, and she relaxed in her privacy. Adara reached for the curtains to separate the entrance to the room before heading for the edge of the medium, round basin. At its stone edge, she took off every piece of linen stuck against her skin, some of it glued with blood and grime. Bile rose up to her throat as she took Mother's shawl out and threw the old clothes into the basket instead, before folding the shawl into a safer corner. One toe in the water, she slipped in when warmth stretched over her skin to dance along her inner embers. Heart beating with the music drifting from outside, she sank further into the warm embrace and scrubbed off what she could as a gentle, indescribable scent raised from the runes. As she fought with the dirt caking her hands, she worked through her short, dark brown hair, down every strand to rid herself of the reminders.

All her pain washed to the soles of her feet as she slipped deeper into the water's embrace as it licked her chin. She brought it up to the rest of her face, allowing it to soak her world free of the crimson. An ache swirled around her temples, and she tried to call forth the embers. Some danced along her soaked fingertips, but doused before it drew breath. Her lungs pressed deeper against her chest as she tried to catch up with her mind as it screamed in the silence of the fluttering runes. Arms resting on the marble border, she stared up at the lamp on the ceiling, where its flames danced with silver.

'As I try to imagine a world free from pain... there is nothing left but the ashes.' Adara tried to tear herself away from the passages of a storybook, but she understood the dragon in Jisa's favorite story, when darkness wiped out its kind and all it had left was itself. 'Though all else failed me, I shall continue to sing for the future, unknown as it is to me.' Jisa... Adara bit down on a sob, and tried not to drown underneath her bathwater. I'm so sorry... If only you were here to see this... something we both dreamed for. Hands against her eyes, she allowed some to fall to join the caress of warmth over her shaking body.

Abandoned by all.

"Adara?" Fenrer's voice sounded with the opening of the door. "I've brought you some clothes. I'll put them to the side when you're finished and then I'll take you to your room where you can sleep."

"Thank you, Fenrer."

"No need to thank me." His footsteps drew away along with the door closing again.

Adara lifted herself out of the bath, which swirled down a different drain as the water runes wasted away. She dried herself off with the towels in the basket before parting the curtains to grab his package. In light-fitting clothes, she relished in the new warmth and crisp feeling of laundered linens. She shoved her old, bloodied clothes into the same package, but wrapped Mother's crimson shawl around her to clean it herself at a later time.

I will burn it all away, but I won't leave her behind.

As she left the room, Fenrer leaned on the wall, waiting for her. "Do you feel any better?"

Adara breathed in warmth. "A little. Where's Yuven?"

"Don't worry about that. You need some sleep." He led her away from the bath houses back into the lodge proper. Back into the main hall and up the spiralling stairs. Through a couple of Storm Wardens who rushed about their business as he led her to the farthest end of the junction. He opened a painted door and it slid to the side. Inside, a small bedspread, with sheets cleaned and sorted. "Here. On the morrow either me or Yuven will come to retrieve you and take you to the Elder Conclave."

Adara cringed at the idea of Yuven waking her up at any point in time, but said nothing on the fact. "Where will you be?"

"Yuven and I won't be far away. I still have some things I need to tend to within the lodge, and he's most likely busying himself with his letter." He bowed his head to her. "I promise, Adara, no harm shall befall you."

"You say that like you're expecting trouble," Adara mumbled as she sat down on the bed, testing its bounce.

He smiled at her. "Well, there's still a lot left to explain to you, but we have no time. The Elder Conclave has..." He hesitated and drew out the next words slowly, "Has made it quite difficult for us to move you without incident."

I don't enjoy the way that sounds. "Is that why Yuven's so disgruntled at me?"

Fenrer laughed. "That is not the only reason."

"Does he hate me?"

"I can safely assure you that he does not."

Adara folded her arms and legs. "I don't know about that one, Sir Fenrer."

His laugh softened. "You'll just have to take my word for it, Lady Adara. I have known him for a long time. If he hated you, you'd know — because he'd probably say it outright. He is not someone who minces his words, whether in his mother tongue or Common."

A smile drove itself into her cheeks. "I could tell that much. So what is his problem with me, then?"

His smile dropped into a weary frown, and Adara echoed his expression and shifted with the change within the air. "It's not you specifically," he whispered. "It's not something I can explain, but give him a chance, Adara. What you saw of him in Tebora was quite admittedly not him in a good mood. It takes him time to warm up to people." He bowed again. "Get some rest."

He closed the door, and his painted shadow disappeared and left her in the warm dark.