ADARA

Like a rose, Euros bloomed across the crags as far as the eye could see. Waves crashed against the labyrinthe shoreline, where beautiful beige sand beckoned those to rest upon the superheated surface and take in the rising sun. In the caldera, grasslands flowed with the swooping hippogryphs.Towers of golden beacons rose from the highest peaks, becoming nothing more than a blur as the caldera wrapped around the once volcanic basin. Stables formed out of the rock, nature's assistance without impeding on it as a couple of younger Wardens argued as they stood beside a pile of dirty saddles. Another Warden groomed a hippogryph which shook out their thick feathers and chomped down a slab of meat with a hard crunch of bone, with them dropping the biggest bone at their talons, crushing it with swift aim.

Among the grasslands, she found herself enraptured at the silver spires of the citadel, with tall, glimmering windows and columns along the pathways. It held a sense of tranquil noise, but she continued to wait outside after a couple days of waiting for the Storm Warden leadership to summon her. It dug into her spinal column with the same sense of fear the Elder Conclave gave her when she stood under the navy spire, crushed under its shadow. Where is he? Adara peeked around, but Euros went on forever, even within the caldera itself. She brushed her hands to chase away the mountain's inherent chill. Anything for a familiar face — or her forged in fire friends. Her boots tapped along the carved marble walkway beneath her feet, where the lampposts swung in the gentle wind caressing her cheeks. Beauty in every form, it stole her breath away like her first kiss by a moon-scattered lake, blooming with sunfire lilies.

A home I had never known, that I missed, but never been. On the tide of my wings... where I find a place where I belong. Adara tasted the words of the Dragon Knight, the last of their kind and clung onto the fleeting hope life wrought. In the warmth of the beacons, she accepted the sun and the road she walked. Magick pulsed the flow at the edges of her fingertips, but she found herself with the peace of a long couple days with Yuven and Fenrer both taking their well-earned rest. Jolted out of her daydreams when someone poked her on the shoulder, she whipped around to a violet-eyed wyvern.

"What have I told you about getting distracted?" Yuven said, back in grey, chained leather armor with his crescent blade strapped to his hip. "We're ready to talk to you and discuss what is going to happen going forward. Follow me." His fangs twisted over his lips when he pulled them back, but he twisted on his heel in one clean motion, and headed for the main entrance of the citadel, where a single wyvern reached the tips of their wings to the frame. Adara tucked her hands onto her own belt as Yuven took her inside without another word, into the calm silence of the giant corridors. Wanderlust tugged at her heart, but she folded it in her heart when Yuven led her yet deeper. Architecture of glass spun across to form skylights, where a smaller tower loomed, hidden in the center of the citadel. A question formed on her lips, and Yuven sighed.

"There is too much to this place," he said. "Let us focus on the matter at hand."

A couple of Storm Wardens left the doorway, thick scrolls in their hands when they departed in another direction from them. Right to the end, Yuven stopped them outside a large door, where the moon rose on the hooks of two, criss-crossed blades. Nervousness spiked, and she shuffled on her heel, and Yuven faced her with his hands behind his back.

"This is not like the situation with the Elder Conclave. You are not being interrogated, I will be answering any and all questions they ask, you are simply to present yourself, who you are, what you are," he said, concise and to a consistent point. "You may be asked a few things, but we are not searching for trouble nor to bring harm onto you, or else I would've killed you earlier. We are simply going to tell you the plan moving forward when it comes to your magick."

"Thanks." Adara scoffed at his candid words.

Yuven shrugged his slim shoulders. "I shall only deliver what I am expected to tell you now," he said with a tilt to his neck. "Fenrer and I were sent to the posting in Fallholt to keep an eye on Derelict resurgences — which is when we got news of an Anima confluence, which is you. We were given the duty to retrieve you, protect you — yes, with our lives, if it came down to it, including from the Elder Conclave, against their bias. You know the rest." His feathers flicked. "Ready or not, let us go in."

"Wait." Adara held out her hand when he turned to the door, but he stopped halfway. "I just... I want to thank you both... for all the effort and the trouble you went through for me. I know we got off on the wrong foot, Yuven, but..." Lips sucked between her teeth, she said, "I appreciate what you've done, so thank you."

"We'll see if you'll still be thanking me later," Yuven said with a stiff nod, then pushed open the doors with both hands. Magick twirled through the frame, and it groaned with an old power as it revealed the room inside.

Several pedestals sat above a carved map, glimmering with runes. Neven, the siren-like Warden stood on one of the dias' with his hands behind his back. Others she found herself unable to recognize, but all wore the star around their necks. Yuven nudged her inside before rounding the map and climbing up the pedestal to stand beside Neven. It glowed icy whites when his boots touched the rune. Its architecture pierced straight into the rafters, a rounded dome. At the head of the map, two larger platforms. Unease crushed her knees when the leadership of the Storm Wardens turned in one echoed motion for the farthest seats. A shadow grew above the steps, and Adara almost bit back a gasp when a woman of tall stature climbed onto the platform. Opal flames danced across the rune as their horns swirled with ebony hues. Foxlike ears twitched in her direction when the light glowed across them.

"Welcome to Euros, Adara Sazaka," she said. "I am Warden Commander Faehariel, and I am the one who sent Yuven and Fenrer onto you when we got word of a confluence." Hand against her chest, she bowed deep, where the oath necklace fluttered on the motion of life. "We call you here for a couple reasons, one, to get a picture of the state of Tebora. Two, to gauge the threat others may pose to you."

"Not the threat I pose?" Adara whispered.

"You're about as threatening as a squirrel, Sazaka," Yuven mumbled.

Warden-Commander Faehariel smiled, then said, "Captain Traye, if you would do the honors of delivering your report so that all present may hear your findings?"

He took one step closer to the edge of his platform over the glittering map. "Straight to the chase then — when we arrived in Tebora we landed at Lyzetiel citadel — Fenrer Pyren confirmed the presence of spirits, but was unable to pinpoint Derelicts." Yuven waved his hand. Glyphs of mist swirled across his fingertips, and Adara stepped back when the map glowed and rose higher with the click of magitek. Beams formed over specific points on the continent. "The only message was sent fifty turns ago — the last communication of the Sitting Commander of Lyzetiel — it is fallen, and we'll need to reclaim it to bolster the strength of the wall." Yuven's expression remained stalwart and unmoving. "We found Adara, along with a Storm Warden, Garren Tyronai — who was sent sometime later after Lyzetiel fell with another Warden... who ended up becoming the queen of Tebora. We learned Adara's memories were blocked by a crystal." Yuven tucked his hands closer to his back, and a scowl formed on his lips. "A sacrificial ritual to stem her flow, so that the Derelicts would not be able to find her. Fenrer has woven a protective barrier to stop a tide, which forced us to go the Elder Conclave for us to delve deeper into her memories." He nodded at her. "Tell us what you remember, Sazaka, if anything."

Adara nodded. "I'll try." On the edge of the map, she cowered under the heavy, darkness ridden gazes of the golden warriors. "I've only ever recalled bits and pieces. Derelicts started appearing when I was young... and Garren paid the price for me to not remember them." Pain crushed her throat, but she pushed on, "They descended upon Prunal, but I could not tell you of the rest of Tebora... I..." Adara tucked her hands into her chest. "I turned the..."

"Goliath," Yuven assisted.

"Goliath," she repeated. "I-I couldn't tell you what I did, but... I turned it to stone. It's not the first time that's happened either. Before I ran into Yuven and Fenrer I turned another one into stone, but it seemed to have freed itself and..."

Rosa, my friend who never judged me...

"You turned a Derelict to stone?" one of the Warden leaders asked, eyes wide in shock.

"Against the prevailing light, it reached a stasis against the dark," Commander Faehariel commented. 'I have only heard and read the power of Anima magick upon the flow. Thank you for the details, Adara."

"Can you... Could you help the people in Tebora?" she dragged out.

Faehariel looked at the Wardens closest to her. "We shall try as we retake Lyzetiel," she said. "For now, I wish for you to take your ease here. You are safe, the mountain can handle the energy you extrude.Is there anything else you wish to report, Traye?"

In the blizzards scream, Yuven closed his eyes. "We were waylaid over the journey," he admitted. "Fenrer Pyren almost lost his life for his duty, and me mine." His hands returned to his front, resting over each other as he glared down at the map. "I have nothing else to comment but this, I urge caution. With Derelicts, we understand their main goal — and even with her magick acting as a beacon, we can prepare ourselves and adapt around that." His gaze flicked over to Faehariel, a silent truth. "It is people we have to worry about."

Keeper Blackwall.

"I see, thank you for your analysis, Captain Traye."

Yuven dipped his head forward, the only bow anyone would ever get out of him, she suspected. "One other thing," he said. "I assume you received reports of the Burning Abyss?"

"Yes."

"Fenrer heard singing — humming."

Commander Faehariel nodded, then smiled at her. "And that is that, Miss Sazaka, thank you for revealing the pieces of the puzzle around you," she said. "You are free to take your ease now. Yuven Traye, she will remain in yours and Fenrer's charge for the foreseeable future. You are the one of the few who can spark a flare in the flow and can teach her how to wield her magick without bringing harm onto herself."

Adara half-expected him to complain.

"Of course, Commander." He bared his fangs in an eerie smile at her.

I wished he would have complained.

"What's going to happen?" Adara asked.

"You are to stay here and learn," Commander Faehariel said. "You are now under the protection of the Order." Her arms stretched outwards to every single Warden. "Everyone here has made a single oath to the world, to its protection and the light. We have made this vow with the understanding that we will risk our lives. We have accepted these risks, and I can safely say every Warden here would lay down their lives to this goal... and one has already shown that."

Adara eyed Yuven, who rolled his eyes. "You're welcome." His feathers shuddered when he closed his eyes, an odd stiffness overtaking his body. He bowed to the Storm Wardens, then descended the platform and took the icy white light with him. "Let's go," he muttered. "There's stuff they want to talk about other stuff unrelated to you."

Out of the dome, she hesitated when Yuven started to walk away. "Now what?"

"If it was up to me, we'd head straight to the training field and get started," he said. "Alas, I am still confined to relative bedrest, so do what you will. However, I would have you peruse the stacks of the Annex. If you thought that five-hundred page tome was too much, you'll find it a light read afterwards."

Adara jolted when he walked. "Wait! Where is the Annex? This place is huge!"

"The Annex spans several levels," he said with a scoff, but Adara jolted when he rounded back to her and grabbed her arm. Nausea flowed through her nose when he tugged her into the spatial distortion, and in a blinking instant of time, she found herself in front of a thick door of dark oak. "Here. I have solved one problem for you."

"And what if—"

He disappeared.

Some things never change.

Adara pushed herself past the thick doors, using her shoulder as support.

Her heart exploded at the wondrous sight.

Stacks lined the walls and in the middle of the high tower. Several layers of balconies wrapped around the giant Warden library. Below, a long line of tables while a librarian put books back into their proper places. Some of the books floated out of their hands and found their own way for the taller sections. Tomes of many shapes and sizes filled the stacks as she followed it around, then came to a stop after she passed between two stacks.

Fenrer huddled on a reading couch, with the window's covers fluttered with the breeze flowing through the open crack. Sunlight dripped into his umber locks as he rested his cheek into his free palm as he read a smaller book. Outside of the stagnation of Naveera, the greens swirled with stars, glowed with forest life. "Fenrer?" Questions danced on her lips when she headed for him, and he looked up from his book. "I thought you were still in bed."

"I've been tentatively released," he said and adjusted his sitting position. "I am sorry we haven't talked in a while — but I... was admittedly, not in a chatty mood." His smile brought the dawn as he scooted closer to the arm of the couch. "I assume you had the meeting with the Warden Commander?"

"Did everyone hear about that?" Adara sat beside him.

Fenrer shrugged his lean shoulders. "Only a little."

Adara smiled with his light, warm laugh. "The welcome was much friendlier than the Elder Conclave's."

Fenrer hummed and rested his elbow against the arm of the couch they both sat on. Though the silence comforted her mind, the questions of Tebora's fate still bounced through her ears. "They asked me about Tebora."

Fenrer lifted his gaze. "What did you tell them?"

Adara shook her head. "Not enough, I don't think, but... I don't know," she admitted. "There were some things I just... I couldn't bring up. Not yet, at least."

Rosa. Tara. Jisa. Three people whom I cared about... one dead for certain, the other two... Adara leaned on the other arm of the couch, legs tucked closer to her. "Even before the Derelicts I never felt safe Always having to hide who I am... not comprehending I was capable of so much." Fingers curled, she glanced at him. "You didn't sense me in the tavern."

"Too many auras at the time," he explained. "And I got momentarily distracted by..." His words faltered.

"Gregor." Adara rolled her eyes. "One of the biggest problems I was dealing with. I heard you beat the shite out of him." Fenrer shook his head, and she frowned when he avoided her gaze. "What is it?"

He rubbed his fingers together and snapped the book closed with one hand. "It's... difficult when you see the world like I do," he whispered, swiping another book on the table near him. "Hard to ignore the familiarity." He tipped his head in her direction. "Aye, I did."

Adara released the tension of one part of her closure. "It's over, at least..." Even if... I will never know what happened to Tara that day. I wish I could get an answer from at least that, but maybe I never will... because I never really tried to find out, did I? Her feet dangled off the pier, all alone, with Tara, without her best friend and the one she loved first.

Fenrer's gaze slid over the pages, a weary weight sitting underneath his eyes. "I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"You're not," he said with a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired, is all."

But more than anything... I shouldn't get too close, because you deserve an answer, you don't deserve to be abandoned again by me. Adara dug her nails into the couch, torn two ways and found herself unable to ignore a deep desire. Her mouth opened, for a question, seeking a response.

Fenrer stiffened.

"Fenrer," she whispered. "Can you tell me something?"

His gaze stopped on a single word on the page, no longer reading the words.

"If it's not too insensitive to prod," she added. "That day, did you... get something from Gregor? Is that why your reaction between the tavern and the tournament was so different." Adara scooted closer, almost shoulder to shoulder with him. "Did he say something to you?"

"It's not what he said," Fenrer mumbled.

Answers so close.

"Adara," he cautioned, as if sensing the intent behind her question before she could ask the next.

"Can you tell me?" she pleaded.

Fenrer gazed at her with a deep frown. "Will it help?"

I don't know, but I need something... something to make me feel less guilty for how I feel... "I want to know. What happened?"

Fenrer put the book down once more and brought his tented fingers to his nose. "First... I must explain, I do not know specifics. As I said, minds aren't like books, I can't read them as such... but I can read intent. I can read purpose, and most of all..." He sucked in his lips and shook his head at her. "I did not like being reminded of the Desecration when he mentioned you." Fenrer's shoulders shivered, and he sank into them. "Should I have acted so out of line, possibly revealing our act? No, but Adara..." He stared at her, sad. "You are asking me what happened to her? A reach for closure, are you really ready for that? Even if I cannot give you a satisfactory answer?"

So close.

Fenrer's brow knitted. "I can... only make a guess. I do not know for certain," he whispered the truth. "It is something his aura did that made me fit it together."

Her heart sank, and from the way his brow creased, he saw it too.

I'm not ready.

Fenrer dropped his gaze and shifted away from her as he rested one hand on his auric band. "Hold onto your happy memories," he mumbled under his breath. "The love I felt in that memory was true, strong, Adara. I am sorry for what you went through, not by the Derelicts, but by those around you." He held himself out of reach, but smiled at her. "Only when you're ready, I shall share what I can only assume, but I do not know with certainty. I cannot see into the past. Memories are fickle."

Adara released the tension in her shoulders. "Thank you, Fenrer, but you don't have to be sorry." Her arm touched his shoulder blade, and he gazed at her. "It's enough that I still have that memory to me."

I just...

In a garden full of snowroses.

Gods, I really am a mess, aren't I?

Tara's rose bled her heart.

Fenrer steadied her on a dance of glyphs.

Her heart fluttered on the edge of the pier, the future untold, the rising dawn.

Her hand rested on the solid form of the spirit's truth.

Fenrer's gaze softened, a spiral of examination when she found herself closing in on a gentle current and he leaned closer with the echo.

Tara came closer.

Adara froze, and Fenrer put his hands on her shoulders and steadied her once more with a warm smile, and then released her before returning to his book. "Take some time to get adjusted here, this must be such a violent change in your life," he said, and her heart filled with useless pain.

Adara chewed on inability. "Can I stay here, then?"

"Of course."

Adara scooted closer to read the book with him, shoulder to shoulder underneath the sunlight instead of a moon-shattered lake.