FENRER

Fallholt remained unchanged from their departure moons ago save for a couple of new faces within the Warden Hall in the center of the small town. Otherwise, the same people he recognized before his posting took him past what he expected when he first followed the trail of the silver lilies in the twilight sky. Hammer clanged against anvil outside the hall's windows, where the runesmith freshened and carved new runes upon blades and sharpened them on the whetstone. Meat sizzled within the kitchen area where the cooks handed Wardens their meals for their work before disappearing behind the thick, reinforced wall. The navy spire pierced the canopy, but he forced himself to relax from the bubbled concern in his chest, the haze in the flames lost on him when Reyn twitched and shuffled to protect him from the sight of the Elder Convocation. Dutybound, he allowed his shoulders to slump as he wrote down two reports. One copy for the Fallholt Hall, the other to intern in the Euros Annex — and he wasn't Yuven's level of particular thoroughness.

Yuven never left anything out when it came to reports. Fenrer started with the important points Warden-Commander Faehariel asked for, but he struggled to discern what else needed mentioning. Adara succeeded in their testing, which means we are free to continue training her at our discretion, though I can't say the Elder Conclave won't have words nonetheless no matter what we do — they just no longer have the jurisdiction. It'd break the pact otherwise. He heard Yuven's annoyed chittering beside him at his table, but the silence screamed louder than melodic words.

"Because that's all those powers do in the end!" Yuven snapped through tears after their rescue of Maria and Neven. "Steal away someone's dignity and peace of mind!"

Words drove teeth into his head at the cruel reverberation of the harsh truth.

"We don't realize which path we're on until we're lost to its temptation," Princess Hayvala pointed out, drowning in her auric entanglement with naught but pure acceptance of her fate. "The light and dark aren't so different to us."

What prevents you from using the knowledge at your fingertips for great good or for great evil? Incense smoke drove into his senses and reminded him of the world's constant flow and he let the quill pen slip out of his fingertips with his previous answer to the doomed Princess of Naveera. The Ancients put forth four creeds to battle against the darkness in other's hearts, to prevent the spread of Derelict mire. On that precipice... why would I ever use the power I have to harm another person? I would bring the monsters I have made an oath to destroy. How many people have experienced what Yuven has? Fenrer rested his elbows against the table and shuddered with the weight in his soul. Blackwall tortured him; damn near killed him... can I really blame him for the thoughts he expressed? He folded the reports and sealed them with magick. I risk imbalancing my soul if I walk that same path. Arm overturned, he considered the black band of Haneka's sparkled standard tucked snug with his vambraces. Or else... I wouldn't have to wear a band for it.

Fenrer allowed the sigh built in his lungs to escape through his lips and got out of his seat, one sealed report tucked into his leather armor and the other to hand into Captain Ineha.

Through the quiet corridors, he stopped outside her door and knocked. The pair of hushed voices on the other side faltered, and Captain Ineha said, "You can come in." Captain Ineha sat at her mahogany desk when he squeezed himself through the door to close it shut with his back. Against the wall, another Warden with thick, dark brown hair cut at her shoulders. Her gaze swept over to him, a flicker of recognition, but he failed to put a name to the face. "Warden Pyren," Ineha said as she sealed her own report and held her hand out for his. "I was happy to hear Adara Sazaka succeeded where many thought she would fail... where is she?"

"Library and bookstore," Fenrer explained. He hesitated when the two women eyed each-other. "Is something wrong?"

Captain Ineha straightened herself out at his question. "Warden Pyren, meet Captain Yusari Ovana of Azahama Lodge. Yusari, I don't have any Warden Aurus under my command at the current point in time, but Fenrer Pyren can help you," her tone came out authoritative.

Yusari flicked her hair behind her shoulder with a firm nod in his direction and a hand against her armor, over the heart. "Warden Pyren, you have experience of the area, right?"

"Yes. Myself and Yuven Traye investigated an attack on the road between here and Azahama a couple moons ago," he said with a glance at Captain Ineha for confirmation. In response, she sorted through a stack of scrolls to hand one to Yusari, who flipped it open with ease to read it over. "A couple days after that attack, Yuven Traye was sent to investigate a missing pet, and I was sent to investigate an Aurus issue in a town through the eastern knolls." Stones dug into his skin, painted with a sigil of judgment against a young, innocent child. "The townsfolk thought it to be an Aurus' doing..."

What prevents you from the temptation?

"And it wasn't," Yusari finished for him when she rolled up the scroll to hand it back over to Ineha. "You dispatched the Derelict?"

"I did, with Warden Isari's help."

"Warden Isari remains at the outpost between the knolls, but I am going to call them back for the celebrations. With that much emotion, we can't say Derelicts won't be attracted to the outer edges of Azahama," Captain Ineha explained and tented her fingers. "We'll be setting up some patrols and chokepoints to keep an eye out, but Yusari, if you would." Her hand shaken in his direction, Captain Ineha returned to silence while she sorted his report into the scroll rack.

"Since the King's Summit, the Storm Spires of the Burning Abyss have weakened considerably," Yusari admitted and detached herself from the wall. "We've had multiple reports of what appears to be Derelict activity, but we have been able to confirm their presence. I am aware of the village Yuven Traye investigated, abandoned by its last resident."

Fenrer furrowed his brow at her. "You think another Derelict has settled inside its emotional mire and created an infestation?"

Yusari folded her arms. "I can't say, when I did my own investigations there was no sign of anything, but I do not have your eyes," she pointed out. "I would rather have a second opinion before I set Storm Wardens in that village for a standard clear-out. While you're doing that, I'll check on the town with the Aurus and send Isari back here."

"Can you... tell me how they are doing if they are yet there?" Fenrer pressed.

"I can." Yusari tightened the frog of her crescent blade and nudged him out of Captain Ineha's office. "Best we get this done before the dark toll." Fenrer followed her to the stables, where a farrier leaped to their feet to grab, saddle, and pad up a horse when she whistled.

"I'll dispatch any Derelict I come across in that abandoned village," he told her when the farrier guided a horse to her, and she climbed into the saddle.

"That's not my main concern, but I'd be appreciative," she said with a smile down at him. "You've grown, Fenrer. Last I saw you... you were what, seven, eight?" The horse let out a puff when Fenrer patted its snout to reassure it.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

"I'm not that surprised you don't remember considering your age at the time, so no need to apologize." Yusari hooked the reins around her hands. "Next you speak to Neven, give him my regards and tell him to answer his mail more often." With a click of her tongue, she wasted no time in galloping out of the eastern sungate. Left with his instructions, he bit on the inside of his cheek and headed back to the main, double-walled entrance.

As he passed the bookstore, Adara shambled out with books tucked underneath her arm. "Fenrer?" He stopped to let her catch up with him. "Where are you going?"

"Got something to investigate while I'm here," he told her while she put the books in her pack. "I shouldn't be too long. I'm only going about... halfway down the road to Azahama. I'll be back before the evening meal."

Adara allowed her pack to hang limp against her hip. "Do you want me to come?"

"No." He rested a hand against her shoulder and savored the warm touch of the lilies in full, silver bloom. "You need rest after your trials yesterday." He checked on the Hall, then returned his attention to her. "Some of the Wardens are antsy. Have been since the King's Summit... and with what I have learned from Neven... I don't want you getting dragged into this as you are not a Storm Warden. So, take your ease, read through the books you've picked, and I'll come and join you as soon as possible." He let her go, but stopped when her fingers hooked into his sleeve and stopped him short even with his ancestor's unstoppable, half-giant strength.

"What if I want to be a Storm Warden?"

Fenrer smiled at her, and let himself chuckle. "That's a possibility... and a lot of training," he told her. "We'll discuss that once we're back home. I don't see why you can't be given some dedicated Warden training instead of the strictly magick teaching you've been through with Yuven. For now, I promise I'll be back." Freed from her own, subconscious strength, he waved at her then headed out of the largest sungate and onto the well-trodden path.

Leaves rustled high in the canopy with only his footsteps for company. Wrist against his crescent blade, he kept a quick pace to try and beat the day's whims. Ochre light spread across the dry dirt when he slowed to a stop at where the attack took place. Roots gnarled and crusted, nature struggled to heal from the drainage and pus Derelicts left with each kill. Chunks of flesh ripped from the unfortunate soul who tested their luck and met with their end, he continued on his way to the village Yuven went to. Missing pets... but when I met back up with him... his face...

Yuven clung onto a little pink collar with his fist, soaked in blood with fur stuck inside the tiny bell which clinked with Yuven's trembling hand though his expression remained tougher than stone and steel. He realised it was a Husk... but he'd know the signs of a Husk in particular. Fenrer forced his feet forward into the shadows of the forest, where that path disappeared into fresh, unpruned undergrowth. He made it a point to take jobs where Husk activity was suspected. He came across the metal gate and runefence whose stones sank into the ground without regular maintenance, and Derelicts never gave up. Relentless. Depraved. Always hungry for magick.

Scorch marks wrapped around the nearest cardinal wardstone when he opened the metal gate. Its screech echoed through the emptiness of the abandoned village. Wind rattled the old wood of the small houses, the chicken coop empty of poultry, their hen house collapsed from disrepair. Fenrer sent waves of warmth into the nearby sconces. Flames sputtered with morning embers, steaming in wolven jaws before settling with flickers of radiance. Shadows spread further from the fire's motion, but he continued on, to the center of the village. A well sat, its bucket clattered off to the side with dirt dug up into it.

Well... if there's any signs of taint... it'd be here.

Magelight in his hand, he let it fall into the depths of the abyss.

It floated deeper, a lone raindrop free from the clouds. Arm against the thick stone, he waited for it to trace the route of the well, but he straightened himself out when the shadows thickened and pulsed, the magelight sputtering out when it entered the formless depths. Fenrer leaned over the edge and listened, allowing his senses to open. Water dripped deep within, a constant tempo of the cave the well connected to. There was no hint of mold and decay which betrayed a Derelict's presence, no crimson to swirl across the pebbles.

Doesn't mean there are no Derelicts... Fenrer stood off his knees and traced a glyph along the well's edge before swinging himself over the edge. Glyph at his feet, he let go and cushioned his fall into the cave. It spread out with a hush and swept the lichen aside. His magelight remained, suspended in animation until he grabbed it back into his hands to try and pierce the thickness of the dark. His boots stuck to the damp platform beneath him, drying in certain spots from lack of substantial rain. He found the edge, and leaned forward at the clear, still water. Below its surface, several purification rocks remained unpowered. He cupped water into his hand, and raised it closer to his nose as droplets slipped between his fingers.

It's quiet... but not fatally so. Fenrer let the water drop out of his hand to send ripples through the freshwater spring. Still... something's not right, the air here feels... odd. He raised his magelight higher to the roof of the cave. Moss and lichen swung with the breeze of wherever the cave opened up in full, though the shadows remained thick and viscous. He swung the magelight around with his finger, but found no bulbous, crimson tumors of a resting Derelict infestation.

Bells tolled, a welcome to the evening.

He listened to the resonance.

It distorted at its lowest notes.

Crescent blade in his hands, he continued on through the freshwater cave spring with the golden light to pierce even the darkest clouds. Where have I felt this before... He traced the entire cave, where a tunnel broke to what he suspected led out of the well's spring, but he continued on to find what he sought. I can— He slammed to a stop when the water rippled with no feedback, and he raised his magelight at the film of mist hanging over it with no discernable shape, a small cling to the world, but not in full to keep it trapped.

Fenrer doused his magelight and let his eyes full of opal flames see the truth.

It remained an overhanging, melancholic mist.

"What is a phantasm doing down here?" he questioned the soul halfway crossed into the Otherworld. He came closer to the water's edge, but no jealous malice eked from its source. Not a ghoul or wraith... He withdrew when it broke apart into wisps, bouncing along on a trail towards a craggy wall of rock until the next part of the path broke away from the rest and slipped through the crevice. Head pounding at the connection to the world between, he followed where it guided him, pressing his hand against the crags. His fingers ran down the rough surface area, then shook his head. This phantom obviously wasn't here before... or Yuven might've said something, or the last individual before they abandoned this place after...

Fenrer stared at the wall as his own thoughts dawned on him. Glyph spread out from his clenched fingers, he broke apart the rock and forced it out of his way. He brought up his crescent blade, but the golden light failed to strike the darkness ahead. This... is not good. He pressed himself deeper into the corridor, his shoulders brushing the walls with his crescent blade at the ready. Free from the claustrophobic atmosphere, he tried to get used to the lack of light, but found himself unable to as he drew forward in the new part of the cave system, the magick in the air soaked and stifled sound.

The final part of the phantom wisps fizzled out and shattered into nothing when he went to stand underneath it. Something cracked underneath his heel when he took one last step forward.

Crescent blade lowered to the ground, he stepped off what he broke.

A bone.

Not an animal.

Fenrer traced the dark, drawn splotches on the stone with his blade, the trail of small bones continued, until he pointed his blade at the focal center. The thickness of the dark grew stronger and sent a wave of pain through his head, but he peered through the murk and frowned at the sight of a skeleton, ripped of its flesh. Straightened out, he took a step back.

How long was this down here? It had to have been after... Fenrer chewed on his tongue. This rune circle... it's a sacrificial glyph. He swung his crescent blade forward to cut the terrible connection, and the shadows dissipated with a low, rumbled moan and allowed the light to shine in on death. Stomach unsettled, but spirit released, he broke the circle to the best of his ability and left the cave with a quickened pace.

Someone's been doing sacrificial blood magick with other people's lives... I need to get to Fallholt. Fast.