ADARA

Dawn rose between the two stone kings, hands outstretched to the new day, the fresh tomorrow from the darkness of dusk and King Reyn had made his choice. He looked upon Fenrer and refused to abandon his people to the last. "As Storm Wardens protect the world, so long as I shoulder the responsibility my father squandered, I will protect my people so that they may continue on — no matter what happens to me." And that was that from the dragon king of Haneka. Yuven took the news well. Namely, he shut himself in Keeper Kalla's study and waved off her attempts to talk to him, to get Fenrer to talk to him, to create a bridge for the Oathbound to cross. It left her in the early morning, with Fenrer in a restless sleep beside her, tossing and turning at random intervals through the night. As the sun rose, she arrived with it to slip out of bed with a stretch, heading to the window to open it and let the breeze in, tasting of brine. The blinds trembled with the breath of the world, and she got her clothes ready for the day and the small trip Fenrer had agreed to. To stand upon the hands of kings and look out into the world they once lived in, breathed in, died in.

Into the small suite off the bedroom, a small granite basin sat with runes lining the edge, all the way to the faucet. Her hand twisted the handle and water burst forth. Fires from the phoenix bounced across her fingertips, and she traced the runes to give them power. As the basin filled, she put her clothes on the raised section. Her flames bounced out of the runes, to heat up the water to a good temperature, a luxury she didn't have back in Prunal. Not without risking being found out as a Magickae, but it was normal around her. In Sivaport, Haneka, Euros, all the places she had been, and the places she was sure she had yet to see. Magick truly was everywhere she looked — and people were still people too.

Blight. Plague. Bringers of ruin and rot.

In the center of a gale, the crystal cracked in her ears. Silver blood slipped between Yuven's fingers when he raised it towards the end, while Fenrer stretched his hand out to her with fervent belief. Stars bounced across twilight seas, scattering light into the shadows. Adara cleaned herself off, to get ready for the new day and a world of wonder. Out of the heated water once she had scrubbed off the last of the grime from their trip, she crawled out and dried herself off. Into clothes — a normality. As she tried to smooth out her hair, she peeked out the thin window to the streets below, loud and joyful even when surrounded by the darkness of Derelicts.

'There has to be more past this border, Addie.'

Adara lifted her head at the voice, then left the bathhouse. Her own hair tickled at her shoulders, but Fenrer remained in bed, undisturbed from her early start - of which she cursed Yuven for pushing the habit back into her and then some. Speaking of said white-haired nuglet, she crept her way to give Fenrer some more rest to head through the corridor, closing in on Keeper Kalla's study. If she was stuck in an Oath Song with Yuven, she was going to go the rest of the way and see the end of his bargain. As such, she refused to knock and entered the study. Several hefty monoliths to put her educational one to shame filled the desk he often sat in.

The ghostly Warden was nowhere in sight, but she was prepared this time.

In the moment a whisper of wind flowed down her skin to raise her flesh, she leaned to the side and turned on her heel when Yuven sent a swipe into the back of her head. "Almost too slow." Hand drawn back, he headed to the desk. "Why are you here this time?"

"I'm here to make sure you'll make good on the magick oath we both made." Adara followed in his footsteps, and he rested his arms on the back of the chair. "What happened to trying to talk to Fenrer?"

"I'm sorry, you must've missed it when I've been busy trying to preserve a king's life." Yuven flicked his feathers at her and gathered some loose papers to shove them into a binding. "I have a duty, you'll recall. I've been given orders and I mean to follow them. I gave King Reyn a choice, he chose to stay on a sinking ship." He tucked the binding into a small pack off to the side. "As for Fenrer..." He faltered, then straightened himself out and twisted to her, feathers raised. "I'll have you know I've been working hard at that since I didn't want you to be constantly hounding me about it."

"And not because he's your friend and you should do it anyway?"

Yuven picked up the pack to put it on the chair, rifling through it before bringing out a small piece of paper and held it out to her. "I took the liberty of handing Fenrer's particular measurements when it comes to non-Derelict magick weapons to the Warden Forgemaster. It should be ready in a couple days." With the paper in her hands, he continued, "I'd give it to him myself, but I'm going to be adjusting the patrols with King Reyn's inane decision making skills and making sure nothing slips through the cracks, so I'm going to need you to do it for me. It'll be an extra weapon in case he loses any of his other ones."

Adara put the paper in her pocket. "Why do I have to give it to him when you're the one supposedly trying to fix the mess you made. You do realise the point of a gift isn't to have a middleman?"

"Did I not just say I would do it myself if I didn't have other things I needed to attend to?" Yuven hauled up the monoliths in his arms, two at a time to put them back among the stacks. "You're going to be with him most of the day, yes? Fenrer can barely be in the same room as me without grinding his teeth."

"That makes two of you."

He ignored her to return to the desk, twisting at her to bare his fangs into a smile which accentuated the shadows under his eyes. "I have things on my plate that have dire consequences if I am not meticulous since you're so keen to ignore the obvious even when it smacked you in the face multiple times already," he pointed out, hooking his fingers at her. "Fenrer should understand that — it is his old family friend I'm protecting, after all, much to my chagrin. Reyn isn't my friend, and you'd think someone with king's blood could use it to take care of themselves but evidently not." A low hiss rattled out of his nose when the tension in his body eased out and she took a step back. "Just give him the infernals damned sword once it's finished — and since it bears repeating, do try to leave it as a surprise until it's finished."

Adara gave up at the abrasive wall and made good on her opportunity to excuse herself from the roundabout conversation. Morning ascended further and spread beams of light down the corridors when she returned to the Pyren suite. Fenrer sat on the edge of the bed in loose-fitting clothes meant for the more humid, warm weather of Haneka. "Ready to go?" he asked as he affixed the wolven pin into his braid. "I told Reyn where I'd be if anything came up." He flicked the wolven pin and it bounced against his cheek. His arms settled on his knees, he mused, "What were you up to?"

"I was trying to talk to Yuven."

"Hm." Typical response. Fenrer got onto his feet — the one person who could crack the walls Yuven put up over and over again. Adara withdrew out of his way when he headed for the door. "I wouldn't bother him. He's got a lot of work to do."

"He said something similar." Adara slid in front of him when they left the room, to prevent him from avoiding the issues all around him. "Fen... I am trying my best, but both of you are making this difficult. This is your friendship, not mine. Yuven doesn't even consider me a friend. All I've ever been to him was a saddled annoyance." Her arms dropped to her sides. "I don't like acting like a little carrier pigeon between two people who should know each-other better than they know themselves if I'm understanding Oathbound magick correctly." Hands on her hips, she stepped out of his way, and he continued on. "I've always been the third party when you two saved me from Prunal — when it was you two who did everything they could to make sure I was prepared for what being in these lands entailed... even the ugly parts." Once more into the fray, she stopped him. "When it was you two who saved me from the Iceshards and Keeper Blackwall. When you two knew exactly what you were supposed to do without even having to communicate it." Her hands found his when his head lowered. "You have to believe me when I say this: Yuven doesn't hate you. I don't even think he's capable of hating you of all people."

He withdrew his hands at that. His gaze drew across the floor and to the black iron wall sconces. "I'll take your word for it," was his only, disbelieving response.

Out of the castle and into Sivaport city, the taste of salt in the air filled her lungs. The crash of the waves against the coast echoed underneath the dulcet tone of the harbor bells as it drew closer to noon. Fenrer guided her through the crowds and the thick streets of collected market stalls. Shoulder to shoulder, they squeezed themselves through the alleys, they reached the harbor gate, the outside path twisting off to the farthest point of the gulf. Harbormasters carried long planks together, where the skeletons of boats sat on flat slabs of granite, starting from the keel. Adara wrapped her hand around his when they left the gate and the crowds thinned.

At some point, the well-tread path turned into haphazard gravel, the slow, angled climb sending a burn into her legs as the distant statue grew bigger than life itself. Until she found herself in its shadow. Adara turned back to the city, tucked within the slopes of the cliffs with Sivaport castle the closest landmark, with the giant lighthouse at its center to pierce its light through fog and night.

"Come." Adara turned at his voice when he revealed an unmarked door, holding a lantern in his free hand.

Into the hollow of the statue, Adara peeked around when Fenrer closed the door. At its base, several supply crates sat around, protected by runelocks. Ahead, a lift sat within a platform, worked on magitek circuitry and pulleys. Fenrer motioned for her to take the lead, and Adara stepped up into it. Fenrer followed her in and set the lantern on a hook. Airy embers gathered along his fingers, and he sent it into the small panel. It hummed with energy, and Adara held onto him when the lift groaned and followed its set track.

It took a long time for them to reach the top. Fenrer opened the door of the lift, before tilting his head to her with a point at the arch ahead. Adara stepped through it, ducking between the carved stone before slamming to a stop at the sight. Haneka, with its thick forests, the rivers which carved itself back to the sea and Sivaport, so much smaller as she stood on the shoulders of giants. Adara clung onto the railing, but she let go when Fenrer tapped her shoulder with another tilt of his head. Her fingers drifted along and she followed him around to the other side.

The sun.

Stone hands stretched out to cup it and the horizon, and she turned around to the carved face of Pyren, gaze devoid of emotion and life, a being made of rock as he stared straight ahead into nothingness.

Fenrer leaned on the railing and looked over the gulf.

The wind howled without disruption, and Adara kept stray strands of brown out of her face when she joined him. At his side, the dawnblade, glittering with the light. A soft hum of flames ripped underneath her skin, but she ignored it to gaze into his face when he spoke, "I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that my ancestor was real." He straightened himself out. "I saw his bones for myself when I opened his tomb." Head tilted back, he turned around to stare at the giant in question. "I want to believe Yuven doesn't hate me, but over and over again I've been shown that my faith doesn't amount to much if it just isn't true." Adara slid her lips between her teeth at his words. "But I'm still going to take your word for it."He sighed. "It doesn't matter either way whether I believe you or not. Until I see the truth, it might as well not be."

His words weighed heavy on her mind, the sun twisted red in her memories. "That's all I can ask of you," she admitted. "Because Yuven doesn't do a very good job at showing he cares."

Fenrer leaned forward with a weak smile. "He takes his duty more seriously than most, for better or for worse," he repeated the words he once told her when she doubted Yuven's intentions and desire to protect her life. "He'll bulldoze through obstacles instead of trying to climb over or finding a way around them. It's all he knows how to do. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on him for it. He doesn't know any other method and I won't deny the consistency of such a method working."

"Until it doesn't and he damn near threatens a king."

"The one time it doesn't work." Fenrer released a soft laugh. "I'm at fault too for that. I knew he was out there, participating in the tourney, and the moment he opened his mouth during the Summit meeting I could have silenced him, berated him for it... but I instead let him go on."

"It's not your responsibility."

Fenrer shook his head. "Not like that, Adara. Yuven will always make his choices, but if I had spoken out, dragged his attention out of the tunnel he finds himself in when it comes to monarchs. I've been told I'm one of the few people he would listen to... if I had said something, even if it was just to tell him to shut his mouth for once... would we be here? Would we have suffered as we had, would my best friend been tortured because I stood back and didn't correct him on his behaviour?" He drew his teeth over his lips with another slow shake of his head. "If such is true, that he would listen to me of all people... was my silence damning that day?"

Her arms rested across the railing as she listened to the waves crash against the cliffs, whose paths remained destroyed from the distant cracks. "It shouldn't always be up to you to tell him when he's being an idiot. I think that's been the problem."

Fenrer turned around to lean his stomach against the railing, before drawing himself up to full height to pull out the dawnblade. "Yuven's decisive whereas I am not," he remarked as he lifted the blade to the sun rising in the sky, following it with the molten tip. "When I was younger I really believed a man could split the heavens in two." He dropped the sword against the railing with a metallic clunk, the weight echoing in her eardrums. Its fire pierced her throat when the light reflected off the sunstone on the guard. It shivered her blood at the pressure it built within her own phoenix flames, in the ashes it created. "Now I'm just left wondering how he found the strength to even lift this thing against the odds they had back then." He slid the dawnblade off the railing into a resting position.

Adara let go of the railing and wracked her brain for her stories until she found the words, tasting them in Hanekan on her lips. "As I stand upon this edge of the end of all, the end of everything, where all had begun," she recalled in the language the story birthed from. "Full of guilt and doubt. Darkness spread. Hearken to me, pyretic flames... I shall pierce the heavens with the sun of mine, for I am the silver light which heralds the dawn." She brought her arm down, then smiled at him when he stared at her. A blush crawled up her cheeks at his silence, and she drew her shoulders closer to her neck. "I... was practicing Hanekan and what better way to do that than through stories? Maybe not a perfect translation considering my not quite fluent ability at it."

Fenrer took in a small breath, then smiled. "We always did love our oral traditions," he muttered. "Every time it's spoken, the story changes a little... you've just added your own interpretation while still keeping to the spirit of the tale." He holstered the dawnblade on his back and headed to her with a warmer expression. "You've gotten better, though, even if you didn't have to go out of your way to learn my language."

"Of course I did," Adara said and reached her hand out again, which he took of his own volition. Warm upon her skin, she squeezed it. "I wanted to."

I love you.

Auric flames danced along the spirals of the galaxy when Fenrer closed his eyes for a moment, then smiled once more. After a moment, he pulled her close, but she bridged the rest of the gap when he kissed her, then hugged her close in his arms. Unspoken gestures. Her thought transcended words.

Adara clung onto him back, feeling the immense heat of the dawnblade close to her fingers.