FENRER

"Yuven?" He walked around the hall's lower levels within the large knoll after Yuven's disappearing act after the fight. Unable to keep track of both Adara and Yuven at once, he went with the pressing matter at hand. Ancients, I hope he hasn't had a flash... but it's chosen more inopportune times than this. He trailed down the rocky steps, into the magick bunker beneath the Storm Warden outpost, following the trail of icy aura his friend had left behind. "Yuven?" He rounded a corner into one of the empty storages, and found his Oathbound in a shadowy bend of the room, arms resting across his knees as he leaned his head on the back of the rocky wall. "Do you want to talk?"

Yuven puffed out a breath. He clutched the bloody cloth in his left hand. "What is there to talk about, Fenrer? I had simply wanted to forget for a little while." He lifted his violet gaze up at him. "I knew you wouldn't approve, but it is what it is." He held out the cloth, and Fenrer frowned when it caught into white flames and curled into ashes to return to the flow. "Fool me to believe that the world and those people would let me forget." He rested his head further back with a soft huff. "I apologise for pushing you. You never did anything wrong."

Fenrer stood in front of him, then knelt down. "It's okay, Yuv." He considered the aura as crimson leashed through the snow and spread the bloody patches into the air. "Did it help in any way?"

A puff of laughter escaped Yuven's lips as he raised his arm up to his brow, resting it across it. "You should've warned me about King Reyn." Another sharp laugh escaped his chest, but Fenrer reached out when he coughed. "Don't worry. He knocked the wind out of me, but that's not my problem, is it?" He settled his hand on his chest, where the fabric of his shirt folded under his grip. "I just want to go home, Molvisaliz. Is that so much to ask?"

"No."

Yuven frowned with a small groan, dropping his arm to the ground. "As for the Naveeran king," he growled. "I plan on getting information from him. I wonder what crossed his mind when he thought he wouldn't have to face the consequences of those he hurt."

Fenrer stood back up. "Yuven... Hirishi and Reyn were talking about how the last Naveeran king passed," he whispered. "That little Naveeran you fought wasn't the king of before."

Yuven scoffed and tapped the back of his head against the wall. "It doesn't make a difference."

A distant horn blew for the end of the tourneys, and the start of kingly discussions. Fenrer lifted his head to the sound, able to hear the drums of the sea and the power of the tempests. "It's almost over, they're going to be expecting you, Captain Traye. The Storm Wardens have their own news to share, don't they? Time to play messenger for a moment," he commented with a smile down at his Oathbound, then reached out his hand to Yuven. "Do you want some help?"

I should've asked, before assuming.

Yuven gazed up at him and then his outstretched hand. He sucked in his lips, then latched onto his hand. "Thanks, Fenrer."

Fenrer hauled him up onto shaky legs, then jumped when Yuven stepped forward and embraced him. He steadied Yuven and huffed out a breath. "We'll go home after this," Fenrer pointed out. "You can get some well-needed rest."

"For as long as the time allows me," Yuven whispered and let him go. He sucked in a breath through his nose, and nodded in one firm motion. "Right. Let's go. I need to have a discussion with a few kings." Strength back in his body, he twisted around and stomped out of the empty storage. Fenrer followed behind him.

They left the outpost and to the center building, the most protected place along the Fields of Light. Able to view every wardstone on the knolls which raised a protective barrier around their Summit grounds. Yuven clenched his fists with another breath as they entered the temporary shelter as a Storm Warden opened it for them. In the center, a large map of the continent, with four seats. One of them left empty.

Fenrer jumped when Adara raced up to him from the shadows.

"Where did you two go?" she asked.

"Nunya," Yuven mumbled, but blinked. "Wait. Were you using umbra magick?"

"What?" Adara blinked back.

"Nothing." Yuven stepped to the head of the table, Fenrer peered at the Naveeran seat. Compared to everyone else, the young man almost lost himself in the seat meant for leaders. Hands in front of him, he kept his gaze trained on the map table. Fenrer switched his attention to Reyn, who appeared none the worse for wear after the fight with Yuven, with Hirishi on his other side.

"Before we start let's address the hippogryph in the room," Yuven growled and snapped his attention to the Naveeran king, who kept his head low. "You should have presented yourself. I hope you know you've made it ten times more difficult to keep track of everything. For all we could've known, you simply sent messengers." He rested his hands against the table, never taking his sharp violets off the Naveeran king, who never met his gaze. "Maybe next time you'll have the common decency to tell us of your arrival."

"It's my fault, Warden Traye," Reyn spoke.

Fenrer frowned at him in confusion, along with Yuven.

"Care to explain?"

Unlike the Naveeran king, Reyn met Yuven's gaze with no fear and no judgment. Only the strength and constant of the storm. "He told me who he was before we guided them to their area." Reyn flicked his gaze back to the little king, who raised his head. "You said your name was Laucan, correct?"

"Yes," Laucan said with a slow nod.

Yuven peered between the two of them. "Say I ignore this deception," he said, ignoring Reyn for Laucan, who avoided Yuven's eyes. "My point stands, King Laucan. You should've sent a warning of your contingent's arrival." His icy aura sharpened and pointed at Laucan, awaiting an unsatisfactory response.

"We were dealing with some internal issues," Laucan mumbled.

"Speak up," Yuven ordered, his voice ringing through the air.

Fenrer studied Laucan's sky blue aura, which wrapped around his body as a flimsy shield. "It's no secret that Naveera struggles due to our current situation," he said. "For a thousand turns we've lived in a blizzard, unable to get nothing more than scraps from our own home." Laucan looked at Reyn instead of Yuven, but then dropped his head again as Fenrer gazed deeper into the blue flurry, reminded of a fearful storm, a mouse among dragons. "I apologize for not sending a word, but it made it difficult."

Reyn and Hirishi eyed Yuven, who folded his arms. Dissatisfaction rippled the crimson further into the icy maelstrom. "So that's always been a Naveeran's excuse," he mumbled. "Back on topic. As you might have heard, there was an Anima confluence from Tebora. Myself and Fenrer were sent there to retrieve them." He nodded at Adara, who sank into the shadows again. "Not only that... I'm afraid Tebora has fallen to the Derelict horde."

Reyn and Hirishi widened their eyes, but Laucan pursed his lips in confusion. "What?" Reyn rasped, leaning forward. "What of the Teboran section of the wall?"

Fenrer winced at the distant cries of spirits as the Derelicts overwhelmed and consumed all in their path. Adara's silver aura muted as she trembled along with it. Yuven glared at Reyn. "Fallen. No one is left, King Reyn. I would suggest reinforcing your part of the wall where possible. I know Haneka has the luxury of cliffs to shield itself from the desert spread, but Tebora had no such thing, so I cannot rightly say if the Hanekan wall will stand to the same test. I will be telling Warden Commander Faehariel of this development."

Horror and despair flitted in the storm as Reyn brought his hand up to his nose. "Damned..." He groaned and shook his head. "I will do what I can then after this. I'll send some men to help the Wardens with anything they need."

"Good, on that topic, Sovereign Hirishi, as you border both Tebora and Haneka, you don't have a defense on that part," Yuven said. "I know that part of Dyrin doesn't have many towns due to certain... past claims." He sent another glare at Laucan, who leaned back. "What you wish to do with that is up to you, just know you've got a resting Derelict horde at your doorstep and I can't guarantee that there'll be enough Storm Wardens to hold them back unless we send a Cleansing March into Tebora."

"I understand," they said.

Laucan lifted his head to the older kings, then blinked. "How far did the taint spread?"

"What?" Yuven bit. "What are you getting at?"

Laucan folded his hands again, dipping his head. "I'm just... wondering."

Images of land, of precious resources, of survival flitted in his mind when he dared to shift through the flurry. Pressure crushed his eardrums, and Fenrer said, "You want the resources of Tebora." He bit on his tongue, tasting the blood for his sin, except Laucan dipped his head closer to the table.

Adara stepped forward. "Can I say something?"

"Go on, Miss Adara, was it?" Hirishi asked.

Adara nodded, and put a hand on her chest. "I don't know all of this, but I was there when the seat of Tebora fell." Fenrer flinched at the pain rushing through her face to strike his own. "I watched as people died and were swallowed." She gulped as her hand shook, but she remained resolute. "I don't think this will matter if we can't save someone from there. I refuse to believe that the Derelict horde killed everyone. Tebora was more than Prunal. It had other places. Places that might not have fallen." She switched her glare to Yuven. "This Cleansing March you speak of. I read it in a book. To erase any hint of the taint... you purge the land itself." She stomped her foot closer to him. "How is that any better than what the king did? How is that any better than his idea of a purge?"

Fenrer raised his hand out, causing her to turn to him. "A Cleansing March is a lot more than a purging of taint," he whispered. "It is also healing. If there are still survivors... of course we'd evacuate them as we go, but the fact still stands that for fifty or so turns Derelicts buried themselves under the land and bled it dry of its own protection."

Adara relaxed, then switched her head to Laucan, who frowned. "It was a suggestion... while yes I'd like the resources for my people—"

"You'd be taking it from possible survivors," Yuven hissed. "Are you truly so arrogant to presume you have free dibs?"

"You mentioned evacutation? Where would you evacuate them?" Laucan asked with a pointed side-eye at Reyn and Hirishi. "As I said, our own resources are low. We barely survive on what we have, and seeing as I can't work with the Teboran monarchy—"

"Actually." Yuven grinned. "You can."

Silver irritation blasted into the side of his face with a force of a punch as Adara scoffed. "I didn't claim to be as such. You're the one who put that title on me!" Adara snapped, throwing her hands up in the air. "My mother was the queen, yes, but I was raised in a little log cabin in the middle of a godsdamned forest!" Silver continued to press into his senses, and he almost fumbled out of its way. "I also don't think you have room to talk. Care to explain what the hells happened in that arena? What is your problem? First, you mock me for being a princess. Second, you try to lump me in with the rest of them like I had anything to do with what the Teboran king chose to do! If you've got something against me personally, then fine, but don't act so holier than thou when I don't think you're any better than me. If anything, you act more like a royal twat than I do. You're projecting on me, and quite frankly, it's starting to get on my nerves. So say it to me straight, or stop being such a snub."

Yuven stepped back with a hand on his chest. "There's a difference, Adara."

"Is there?"

"No," Laucan mumbled. "Because Traye is an old Naveeran name... and a branch of my family. Is that not common knowledge?"

Fenrer tried not to crumble into dust from the growing pressure in the room from several sources at once. Adara, whose anger blazed into a forest consuming inferno. Yuven's blizzard, which grew in an attempt to swallow Laucan's dying flurry when he stepped closer. "You don't get to speak of my ties to you," he hissed. "Because quite frankly, I don't give a shit. If Naveera wishes to implode because they can't decide on who is more of a royal roxho, then that is not my problem — but you know what? Since we are addressing gryphs in the room because someone won't let it go, fine, I am royalty in the technical sense of the word. Are you satisfied, Anima? Does it make you happy?" Yuven almost smashed his head against hers, glaring into her eyes. "Feel better about your plight? Want to sympathise like everyone else? Spare me. At least I know where I stand."

Adara huffed out a breath and met him on equal ground.

"Wait," Reyn broke the unending pressure before it crushed his temples. "King Laucan, you need resources?"

Fenrer breathed out in relief when the pressure subsided, but Yuven glared daggers at Laucan.

"Why don't we reach an accord?" Reyn asked. "This is what the Summit is for, after all. I've already settled several trade routes with Hirishi. I don't share a border with you... but I could use those self-same routes to send some relief." He blinked, then a knowing smile crawled along his lips. "In return... I want something of yours."

Laucan sighed. "What's that?"

"I won't deny that Naveeran masonry is second to none," Reyn said. "You have precious metals and stone that I could in turn use to reinforce the Hanekan wall that keeps everyone safe. You have access, correct?"

Laucan blinked, then nodded. "We do, but doesn't Haneka have seastone?"

Reyn tipped his head. "Have you attempted to breach the north ocean?"

"No, we're not boat builders and there's too much ice," Laucan said.

Yuven stepped back from the table. Fenrer set a hand on his back to stop his retreat and to press down on the crimson waves. Reyn set his hands on the table. "Well, then maybe we can help each other. The dark sea has spread further, but I've noticed that they don't like the cold. I'm hoping we can find another route around the dark sea... in the northern ocean." He leaned back. "We have techniques for sea travel, and yes, that does include through colder waters. Does that sound fair?"

Laucan tipped his head. "It... It does, but may we discuss this further?"

"I can send some diplomats if that is enough. I know there's a lot of complications to work through with this sort of trade deal. You can discuss it with your council," Reyn said. "Warden Traye, is there naught else the Storm Wardens need to add?"

Yuven relaxed, lowering his gaze to the ground. Fenrer dropped his hand from Yuven's back as the icy aura rippled back out. "No. I think that is all."

Fenrer sighed, and went to step away, but the world cracked. Crimson bled throughout the flow as he almost choked on the stench of decay and mold. Far away, but coming closer with each second. He sank to his knees as it continued to stretch across his world, causing everyone to turn to him. "What?" Yuven knelt down at his side. "Fenrer, what is it?"

A deep, bloody song hummed. Hungry. Relentless. Its utter depravity threatened to swallow his senses as the call in his blood shivered him to his bone. Yuven blinked, then leaned back, recognition entering the violets. "You joke?" he whispered.

Reyn knelt down on Fenrer's other side with Adara. "Warden Pyren?"

Fenrer straightened himself out with a shake of his head. "... it doesn't joke, Yuven. You're feeling it too. You've been feeling it. Focus." He eyed his Oathbound.

Yuven blinked a couple times, then widened his eyes with a short huff. "Gods... Fine." He snapped up to his feet. "Get your contingents into the bunkers while we sort this out. We'll tell you when it's safe. Wait here."

"What's going on?" Adara asked, and Fenrer took her hand of help.

Yuven scowled as they all stepped out into the darkness.

Crimson reflected off the moon.

The fields of light were silent save for the distant sparks of magick.

"We need to get to the outpost. Now," Yuven hissed. "We need some sort of visual on the area around us." He turned to the kings. "I want you to come back here once I send for you. If it is as bad as I suspect it is... we're going to need a plan."

"What's happening?" Laucan asked, though Reyn scowled with Yuven.

"A Derelict horde has sensed magick," Reyn answered, then snapped into action, rushing down the path.

The crimson song continued to wither his bones as he brought his hands up to his head to try and block out the sounds. He heard their distant howls and screams, their hunger for blood and magick. Yuven set a hand on his shoulder. "It's bad, isn't it?"

Adara stepped away from them, the silver turning into a fearful gray. "No... it's not happening again..." Magick touched the flow in panic, and the crimson intensified in response.

"Adara," Fenrer managed out, letting go of his burning temples. "Remember what I said about your magick?"

Adara nodded.

"Good." Fenrer ignored the call and eyed Yuven. "Yes, it's bad, but we have time to reinforce the wards if we act now, Yuven."

But they're coming... and they're coming fast.