NEVEN

Waves crashed against the side of the boat as they sailed over the sea. Ice prickled his skin with a sense of returned ferocity when he sat in his cabin, trying to cram his head with as many Common words as possible in hopes to communicate with the other Trainees — and the Healer tasked with correcting his embarrassing display. He sipped at the phial of essence the Healer brought to him at the first light of the sun. Not that the structure of the language made any sense to him — stilted and without rolling notes.

The prism on the roof shone in the night with the sunlight it absorbed from before into its runes. Lamps in Naveera had to be relit lest the blizzard wind crushed the embers and froze them. Fire never lasted long enough for warmth. He put the book on the weighted stand when the boat swayed and twisted with the sea. He dared to stand up at the sounds of voices. Curiousness doused the flames of bile lodged in his throat, and he changed into fresh linens which hung uncomfortably loosely to allow easier passage of the breeze. He hugged himself and wandered out of the cabin he had been stuck in for a couple days. Maybe if I listen in on some conversation and get to know the others... maybe it'll be easier to understand.

Up on the main deck, he stretched out his arms. Storm Wardens moved about the ship. Anaysa leaned on the railing, speaking to another Warden.

Neven shuffled for the edge. Foam gurgled along the keel, and he frowned at his own swaying movements. Between the two steps to the helm stood the dark-haired boy with another young man with sun-kissed skin and the golden-ribbon girl without the others. He pinched the tips of his fingers and tugged himself off the railing to shuffle for them.

Just jump into it. "Hello."

"This is the first time I'm seeing an Avaerilian," the dark-haired boy remarked with his shoulders against the banister.

Ah, I should've expected this... "Yes... I am Avaerilian, from Naveera." It came out so stilted and webbed with no hint of a song on his tongue and he resisted the urge to stick it out in front of them.

"Well, I'm Kemal, from Haneka," Kemal said with a wry grin. "If it wasn't obvious."

"... was it supposed to be?" He studied him before switching to the other boy, who gave him a curious tilt. "You?"

"Evani, also Hanekan, but inland," Evani said with a small wave. "Hey, are those feathers real? What are they used for?"

His feathers flicked. "Yes? And... temperature regulation?" He pressed his hands into them to hide them in his hair. "Except it doesn't help with heat."

"My name's Yusari," the golden-ribbon girl responded with a sense of steady confidence and cold boldness. "I'm from Dyrin."

Neven mouthed her name on his lips and looked between the three of them. "So," he tried to test the words in Common and tangled them into Navei along his thoughts. "Are all of you... prospects?"

Kemal shifted on his feet. "Yeah, though I was expecting mainly Hanekan's and Dyrenji's... I was not expecting a Naveeran on this voyage." He gave him a warm smile. "Welcome, this must be really different for you."

"Yes." Neven nodded.

"What's it like in Naveera?" Kemal, the questioner, pressed.

"Very cold and very snowy," he joked. "I thought I had stepped into the Infernal Hells when I come here — sorry," he sent the Common apology to Yusari, who frowned, but said nothing. Such a weird way of expressing, maybe I didn't say it right...? Neven lowered his head to them. "It is very different," he admitted. "From what I'm used to. I hadn't even... seen a Derelict until recently." He jolted when all of them, including Yusari, widened their eyes. "Ah, what?"

"Most people see Derelicts early if they don't get experience through stories from people affected by them," Kemal pointed out. "You can't be that much younger than we are."

"Well..." Neven rubbed the back of his head. "We do not see them because there is... not much out in the wastes... probably not enough for them to feast on and thrive." He shivered at the slavering crimson, and he murmured, "So, that is why I have not seen one. Have all of you?"

Kemal hummed. "We get swimmers sometimes on the island where I'm from. You often hear about daring surfers coming back to the beach with lost limbs... or bloated but—" Neven glanced at Yusari, but Kemal continued on without care. "I think I have a cousin who watched a Derelict eat their sibling, but that could've been a deterrent since I ask too many questions. In short, not up close for me, but I'm sure that will change seeing as what we're on this boat to do, aye?"

"Eye?"

Kemal blinked at him.

Maybe that's a Hanekan thing...

"I think most of us at least know stories about Derelicts," Yusari said. "And we're here because we don't want more to constantly be created, you know?"

"But the Storm Wardens have been at this for... thousands of turns, have they not? We will be in training," Neven asked, then acknowledged her in full. "Did you not question this route? Are you sure?"

Yusari's brow furrowed. "Are you... talking to me?"

"I am looking at you."

Evani sucked in his lips and switched his attention to his uninteresting boots, and Kemal widened his eyes at him as if he grew several more feathers.

"Well, why would I not be sure?" Yusari asked. "I want to make the world a little lighter, don't you? For those that come before and those that come after. I mean, I know it's a big life decision, I don't plan on backing out of it. I know what I'm signing up for."

Neven gazed at her. "I just don't think it's a step to be taken lightly — Derelicts are dangerous."

Kemal looked at his boots too.

Yusari tipped her head at him and narrowed her eyes. "It's almost like they're a plague on the star," she said. "You don't need to look at me like that."

How am I looking at her? Oh no, did I do something improper?

Neven jolted at his realised staredown with her and allowed his gaze to drift over her left shoulder, but frowned when Yusari scoffed. "Great, no need to be condescending about it. I'm not an idiot. I know what Derelicts are. Probably better than you do, feather-boy," she said. "You saw a Derelict?" She came nose to nose with him, and he stepped back. "Try watching a whole village go out in the night, a flicker of fire and the howl of Derelicts." Her sharp gaze grew intense. "And then get back to me." Neven jumped when she pushed into his shoulder with a flick of her short hair, stomping to the other side of the boat to give him a death glare as she rejoined the other girls.

Neven looked at Evani and Kemal, who winced.

What just happened?

"I'm going to... return to staring out into the expanse and thinking about life," Evani blurted out and rushed from them.

Why is he running?

Neven looked at Kemal, hoping to make sense of the interaction he clearly bungled. "I am not good at Common, what did I say?"

"I don't think it's your Common that was the issue there," Kemal said with a cautious twist to his lips. "I'll see you at training, Neven. It was good to meet you and thanks for answering my questions." He left him at the bend to head below deck. Alone, he shivered at the cold touch of the blizzard, and frowned when Anaysa glanced at him. Someone who spoke his language. Homesickness clutched his throat, and he stomped below to return to his cabin, reading once more through his texts to grasp where he went wrong. Was it my approach to greet them? Was I staring too long? Is there some minute detail I missed in Common conversation? He resisted the urge to tear through the pages, holding it upside down as if that would make it make sense. He groaned and let the book flop out of his hands.

He was unsure of how long he sat there on the ground until the ship bells tolled and feet clamored above his head. He tugged himself out of his confusion to investigate.

A giant shadow swallowed them.

It dropped his heart into the coils of awe.

He was no stranger to tall mountains. Irimount itself crawled along a mountain range stretching across the northernmost part of Naveera. In front of him towered above the spires he grew accustomed to. A citadel of woven marble grew out of the peak; a rose in bloom. "Euros," he tasted the word on his tongue while the other trainees clamoured to get a better look. "Eyrusha... of course." He came closer, though noticed Yusari gave him a wide berth. "Rose of the sky."

It sounded familiar... but until now I couldn't figure out why.

Hippogryphs launched off the long stretches of piers resting against some of the tall juts and flew around the several peaks. At its base, a giant harbor put Sivaport's to shame.

"Rose of the sky?"

Kemal's voice made him jump around.

Neven curled on himself. "Yes, Eyrusha is the root. Who named?" He pointed at the distant island.

"I don't know."

Neven returned his attention to the winding pathways as Anaysa's sharp voice raised above the bells. He took in the man-made tree of life as they reached the marble piers. As they closed in, his heart fell at the weight of familiarity. No, I know why it is familiar... some of those spires... look like Naveeran architecture. He eyed the others for similar reactions, but awe filled their wide faces and bounced in place. He basked in its splendor, and choked on home. But... how is that possible? We've... We've never left the north. He ran his fingers along the ridge of his feathers, hoping for an answer.

Storm Wardens herded them into groups and dropped them on the pier. Elbows went flying for room, but he kept himself in the smallest space possible. "Welcome to Euros," Anaysa said in clear Common. "We will head up the caldera where we will take you to your quarters to get situated. Are there any questions?"

"I have one," Kemal said. "Are you expecting us to walk all the way up to the caldera?"

"Are any of you unable to make the trek?" Anaysa asked back. "I can say that if you do not wish to, I won't make you. We have a lift system straight to the entrance, but I thought you all would want a bit of a warmup."

Happy to be on solid ground, it was nothing out of his reach when it comes to training regimes. Utuvar made them run around the walls with bags of snow across their shoulders. It burned him at the thought, and he dread having to go through it again, but he knew he'd have to start from the bottom when it came to the way of the Storm Wardens. He kept to the back of the pack at the hushed whispers of Common, but he dared not open his mouth anymore in the dread of making a mistake and causing offense. None took the lift to follow Anaysa to the first section of the steps straight to the top.

Each step got harder, some more than others from the lagging of a few of the prospects. Neven pushed himself to keep up, with snow harder to trek through on better days. Trees exploded out of the ground and shaded sections of the mountain. Many of the leaves boasted the colour of a deep, golden-orange hue. So much colour compared to the pale shades he knew.

It is... beautiful. Beautiful and not melting me.

It was an improvement.

Air embraced his arms, and he resisted the urge to stretch them as they crawled to the gates guarded by stone hippogryphs, whose wing tips touched the rocky claws. Well... whoever chose this name picked well. It proved an interesting trek. Kemal asked many questions, with Anaysa and the other Storm Warden's too happy to indulge the curiosity.

Neven's smile dropped when they reached the final stretch with the sun high in the sky. Arcs of stone wyverns sat on the juts to lead them into the massive caldera. One more reminder of home. Yes... this architecture... It is similar to Irimount, but there is something different to this place. It feels more alive.

Into a whole different world when they stepped underneath the stone arches, a world among worlds. Grass swayed in the wind into its own expanse. Training fields dotted around the lower levels of the citadel. A paddock used the natural shelter created by the rock outcroppings to give a home to the mighty hippogryphs, who jogged in their pastures and flapped their wings at their leisure to take off.

"This is Euros citadel, the heart of the Order," Anaysa said to them. "It will be your home, even when you are out on postings. There will be certain things we have to take care of — but first, I'm sure you're all hungry from the journey."

Neven's stomach complained at the thought. Shush...

Another language. Another dance.

I'm... I'm no longer the best in the class from the start, fighting to make my family proud — to uphold the family name. I may have training, but I am on even footing, there's no snow here. He grinned at his own joke, but stifled it before someone saw him smile.

No longer judged by his name alone.

"We will take you to the hall where the Trainees eat," Anaysa said. "From there, you'll wait. Warden Commander Faehariel herself will want to take a look at this new batch."

Uncertainty arose from the other prospects, and they were herded to the giant doors of the citadel, which swung open in the wind. Two wyverns split down the middle. Passages wound around familiar colonnades, and he almost choked at every reminder. It was a tinge of something new. Each corridor begged to be explored from top to bottom, to every wing of the citadel, to its highest peak where hippogryphs took off and into flight.

Warmth embraced him the deeper they went.

I'm ready.

Led into another spacious corridor of the obsidian halls, Anaysa nudged them through a lava-carved archway and into a giant dome. Round tables dotted the room with several fireplaces flickering their ember runes. Neven rubbed his hands and hoped to share a glance with any other Trainee, to not feel small in the belly of a living mountain.

"Wait here. Get to know each other," Anaysa said, then with a fist to her chest, she departed from the dome of obsidian glass, sparkling with gemstones.

Neven approached Evani and Kemal, but stopped when Evani bolted from him, and Kemal shrugged to follow. Yusari eyed him and joined another group. He rubbed his finger before taking one of the round tables near the fireplace, never dying in the wind. He plopped himself down, then imagined himself at the Knights of the Round instead, sharing tales of their exploits or seeking new ones. Their laughter. Their songs to share. He pushed his tongue between his fangs and rested his brow on the edges of his knuckles.

I am Neven Lotayrin.

The shades of the past disappeared around him, nothing but flurries of ancient, unknown history.

Only the wyvern with its wings wrapped around the star was left to him, a gift to Atoran Lotayrin, he suspected — of an ancient Storm Warden's promise.

One that I shall pass on by the strength of the song in my heart... so that none shall ever fear obscurity.

He dug deeper into his hands to feel the touch of rain.