KEMAL

It took effort to map out the ruined site on a piece of parchment with all its cardinal points of power drawn out as he followed the border of where stone wreckage ended and the forest started. Subsequent visits to the ruined towns proved much the same when Julis pointed them out, the places concentrated magicks, tainted by Derelicts or otherwise. Lichen slumped across the ground, and roots tore apart information along the cracked walls outside of the main structure. Way too many questions and no answers for the ones he had. He sliced the rough map into sections with anything of note to share for Neven when his Oathbound deigned to make his return.

This is clearly a magick confluence — but I can't ignore the fact that during the initial survey this wasn't here. How did entire ruins get moved, and from where? He tapped his pencil against his lips as he walked. If I can find answers to that question, all the rest will fall into place. It may even reveal what happened to those villages. He stopped at the main structure again. Mosaic imagery fogged and cracked through the images stamped upon it. I wonder when this was built too... Julis had no answer for that one when questioned about it, apart from an uncertain, "Very old."

But being very old can mean a lot of things. Kemal traced his way to the massive, broken doors colored with silver ash. Good point to start though, figuring out if this was built sometime after the Great Crimson Dusk... or the other possibility... predates it. He kept all his questions he came up with in his personal notebook to refer to later, to ask Neven if he learned anything back home. Apart from that creature we ran into, I haven't seen any signs of crimson taint. No spread, nothing of the sort. At least with the villages there were traces of Derelict infestation. Kemal sighed and folded his rough drawing before tucking it in his leather strap. As long as I keep Neven away from the Obscura Text. He wandered onto the marble path which gave way into dirt and stone. Maybe comparing the images found here to the ones in the cove would be prudent, but every time I do my rounds I'm just left with more questions — and that drives me mad. I don't need an Obscura Text to do it for me.

Back in view of Asairai after a calm walk through the thick wood coverage and huge, thick tree trunks, he refused to relax even when he entered through the beach gate and voices broke the silence of the forest around the town. Harbor bells tolled when he passed through the marketplace, the smell of smoked fish tickling at his stomach, but he had work to do. Into the treehouse, he pressed his back against the secret wall and found himself on the other side when it twisted around. Down the steps, he compiled his findings among the rest, piling them high to keep track of the notes as he ran through them.

For a mercy, we haven't gotten any recent reports of missing townships. Kemal put the records down, dated by the initial report and when they were investigated by Neven or himself. But, I think that's because only Asairai remains in the area as a population center — that is to say, the only place with anyone living in it. He chewed on his lip and considered the map of the continent which took up one wall, with his homeland taking the other. It might be a target, would be prudent to lock this place down so if they do come, we're waiting for them. He tapped his brow with a goran of thought, trying to sort out the puzzle left to him. A prickle swept through his magick at a hushed, dark whisper. In the corner of the room, the lockbox he shoved the Obscura Text in and hid in the root foundations hissed out the crinkled pages.

I'm not dealing with you unless I absolutely have to. He made it a point to avoid books capable of driving others into madness and Aurus into the depths of agony, with the one in their basement far more potent than the other Texts they found among ruins and destruction left by Derelicts. Neven took a look through all those other ones and never switched the way he did with that one. Questions upon questions, he folded his arms and ignored the temptation deep in his magick. It turned his Oathbound into a rabid wyvern and forced to defend himself from his best friend. Some things... maybe don't have answers for a reason, and those 'books' are a prime example of that. The fact that Julis explained that they have an aura of all things tells me enough. Kemal glanced over at the lamp off to the side, where books piled underneath it. Each without an aura from when he had Julis look them over after Neven's Obscura Madness.

I needed to cover all my bases. Kemal tore himself out of reach of the dark influence contained within a simple lockbox. As he wrote down his acquired information, or lack thereof, its continued hum dug a burr into his questions, but he tapped his temple to push it out the other side. I'd be a liar if I didn't say I wasn't curious... but Neven always got on my case for my curiosity getting me into trouble. Would hate to get into some without him here. Arms folded, he leaned back into his chair and savoured what little quiet was left to him. Local maps filled the table, hand-drawn or otherwise from the constant surveying and patrolling of the area. So far, nothing's changed, nothing's disappeared or appeared. I've got a bad feeling. Kemal got out of his chair to gather up the map of Asairai and the immediate area.

He twisted around to the staircase at the distant harbour bells when the ringing shifted for an approach of a boat, the tones echoing instead of a dulcet melody to indicate danger. Out of the basement, he made sure the hidden door closed behind him and blended in with its wooden environment before stepping outside once more. At the docks, a familiar flag weaved the wind. Neven said we'd be getting some reinforcements in his last letter. Just... not as much as I'd like. He headed through the streets when the Elvkin crowd gathered in curiosity and welcoming arms — much more open to Storm Wardens than those who dread their presence and what it meant on the other continent.

The wyvern standard flapped against the wind. The tall sails pulled up and tied to the yards. An anchor fell out of the metal porthole to drop into the water, a heavy weight against the seabed when the ship drifted into port. It came to a full stop, where dockhands tied the rest of it to its chosen place on the pier. He writhed his way through the crowds to reach it for his answers and further questions. Storm Wardens descended from the gangplank, carrying boxes of supplies. Weary faces met him in return with quiet greetings as they moved everything off onto the harbour, and he frowned at the lack of a certain pale-haired Avaerilian among them. "How was your trip across the sea?" he questioned one of them when they passed.

A layered inquiry.

Is what's happening on land affecting the tides?

Their silent reply told him more than a spoken one. He frowned when they scurried out of view towards the Lodge.

Kemal considered his options, but then let his arms fall limp at his sides at a quiet, but no less melodic, "Miss me?"

Neven Lotayrin, no longer an ashen wreck tortured by masked jailors who spoke Navei. Some of his feathers remained frayed down to the base of the natural down. His longer ones cut off, halfway through a new growth. Neven pushed a smile on his face, a plume of mist escaping his nose with his exhale. "I hope you did not get into too much trouble." Shoulders raised to hide the remnants of gaunt mistreatment along his jaw, he showed his fangs. No more tears fell down his cheeks, from pain and agony.

And I'm not buying this.

"I did not miss you, that's why I sent a lot of letters. Possibly not nearly as much as Yusari, I hope you actually answered hers. Unless you want your arse kicked." Kemal headed up to his Oathbound, the Avaerilian who cared too much about everything to the point of driven obsession. "I got some stuff done while you were gone if that's what you're really asking. Things I will be sharing with you once you get adjusted to being here again."

Neven's smile remained, a frozen statue of the truth when he tilted to his side. "Good to hear. I have much I must discuss with you going forward. I've learned quite a bit during my stay at the citadel. I think I have some new fruit for us to chew on." He nudged past him, and Kemal followed to try and pry out the truth from him. He came to a stop on the road with another turn and smile, but he carried the same weariness as the crew. "I am... sorry about Kayal, that I could do much else for him. Fenrer managed to get through to his mind." His smile died into a weak, ashamed curl of his lips. "He experienced his death."

"It's still not your fault, Nev," Kemal argued. "I told you before, Kayal understood the risks when he became a Storm Warden. At least he was somewhere safe and comfortable. I wish it hadn't happened, but it did." He sighed. Such is the risk of asking questions. He went for Neven when he refused to look him in the eye. "How are the two midgets?"

"Yuven survived the Expulsion Event," Neven reported.

"Why do I have the feeling there's more?"

Neven released a sigh. "There's a lot we have to talk about, Kemal, but first, I want to set the record straight with our findings. I'm assuming you still haven't heard about Azahama?"

"No?" Kemal quickened his pace when Neven sucked in his lips and rushed his way to the treehouse. Through the doors, Neven threw his magick into the hidden entrance, and the two rested their backs against it to steady themselves at its turn into the hidden bunker of a basement. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Several." Neven rushed over to the table to flip through papers. "Tell me first, what of the recent activity here?"

Kemal indicated the pins on the continental map. "Nothing you haven't seen already. As you said, Asairai appears surrounded by these abandoned towns and villages." He narrowed his eyes when Neven grabbed some pins to head to the continental map of Orkaena. He put one pin on Irimount, then the one on Azahama, the capital city of Asairai. "Nev?"

"You were right to tell me looking in the Obscura Text wouldn't give me the answers I sought," Neven admitted and pointed at the pin of Irimount. "Irimount fell because of a cult using Yuven's bloodline ability and turning him into a Corruptor. I have yet to figure out the reason... until Azahama." He switched his hand to said pin in Dyrin. "There was a massive blood confluence building under the surface — and Sovereign Hirishi is dead. The Warden-Commander suspects those with potent bloodline magicks are being targeted for some sort of sacrificial ritual, but I don't understand how any are connected, I just know Irimount and Azahama were related in the fact that it was the same cult, if by different people involved." He dropped his arm and sapphire steel toughened his weak stance. "We're so close, Kemal. If we dig deeper here, we're going to find the answers. We'll find what and who murdered Kayal and so many others and for what reason." Hands tucked together, he pressed. "Have you investigated the ruins while I've been gone?" Neven swept his attention over Kemal's shoulder to the other map.

"The cult has specific targets in mind?" Kemal threw back when he stepped up to the map of Orkaena, tracing the singular connection Neven achieved. Still so many missing pieces. "We still don't know their movements or what they plan to do next. How is Azahama?"

"It did not turn into another Irimount, but many are dead."

"What of the Elder Convocation?"

"From my last correspondence with Yusari, there was a bit of division between the upper Elders after the attack." Neven retreated from the map to grab the fresh papers to sort through them. "She had sent a warning to Hirishi... it was just a little too late by the time she realised how bad it was." He flattened them out across the table. "But you've had no activity here?"

"Not recent."

Neven chewed on his lip. "The Dark Sea is spreading."

Kemal squeezed his fists. "It could be a reaction to the heightened Derelict presence from the dark magicks. It often goes through periods of waning and waxing. It wouldn't be the first time."

Neven nodded. "I can only hope it is simply another period and not something else."

"Nev." Kemal grabbed onto his shoulder and forced the tired Avaerilian to face him. "What happened on the continent?"

"I just said..."

Kemal dug his fingers into his collarbone. "You know that's not what I mean, but let me clarify so you can't avoid it." He prodded the center of his chest. "What happened to you?"

Neven tucked his gaze between his feet. "Nothing of great importance, what's important is I have more answers than I did previously," he said and waved him off. "We need to get back to work. I want to look through all the information you've gathered and add it to my new notes. I'll find a connection to all of this, Kemal. We'll find this cult. We have to." A hint of the same rabid desperation thinned his pupils into beads. "I won't rest until I do."

Neven's birdlike shriek tore through his eardrums while magick seared his skin with teeth, but his Oathbound ignored him to overturn the papers and write more down without cease.

Right, but you should know who I am by now. I don't give up that easily when I have questions. He left Neven alone for the time being, but held onto them until he found an opportunity to ask and get an answer.