YUVEN

It is always something. If I believed in the Ancients, I'd say they were mocking me. Yuven followed the Wardens, led by the hippogryph in the sky. Memories shivered through the tips of his feathers and released the loose down to the grass. A rider one with his hippogryph, working in tandem with shared magick and mind. Homesickness dug deeper into his throat as he kept pace with Fenrer. When I get home, I shall ride once more. I shall feel the wind and hear it sing. Its shadow whisked through the grass, circling them to keep track of the placement. To be in the sky, to see it all and know what I must do.

Fenrer floated three whittled spheres over his palm, tangled on a track of green vines. Adara, on the other hand, kept in their shadows without her ceaseless, endless questions; unsure if the idea of silence comforted him or bothered him, he reached out with a icy hook to grab one of the spheres off the track. It flew into his fingers, causing Fenrer to follow its wayward disobedience. He brushed his finger down the smoothened wood Fenrer worried and whittled in the wasteful moments. "You do not have to do this thing, Fenrer. We could find another entrance — anything to get down to Haneka." He dug his nail on the axis to study it. Magick rippled out from the focal cross, but Fenrer returned his attention to the two he had left to him. "As long as we get down Draken's Descent in my allotted time."

"We would more than likely deal with infestations. Here, we might have a better idea on the state of the descent," Fenrer mumbled with another press of his fingers to twirl the tracks of vines.. "I would much rather figure out the source of this wraith. If they do not have an Aurus Warden, it is hard to say whether it shall pass of its own accord to the Umbral Ocean." He closed his eyes. "If it is sourced to a Derelict, that could cause more problems down the line. It would take the same amount of time, Yuven."

Yuven huffed out excess magick layered in his lungs through his nose. It came out a misty plume. Their guards trotted along with horses to ward off curious animals back into their pastures. Adara tucked her fingers behind her shawl, an irritating sense of exhaustion creasing her brow. He balanced the whittled sphere on his finger, then used his icy hook to return it onto the track. Undisturbed with his interjection, Fenrer continued his mindless movements. Anything to return home to her. Too long, with a shortened time — the more time we take, the more I'm faced with the truth. This medication - it is not working as it should, as it used to. Yuven stopped when Warden Katau landed with a pulse of wind, with the hippogryph's wings stretched before settling against their sides. His own feathers fluffed out in an echo of their own, at the touch of the breeze coursing through the steppes as marble crushed the crass to lead up to an old monastery of black cherry planks and a foundation of curling stone. Lamps sat on the gables, lit with burning coals, smouldering different colours, but none doubted the silver at the very center. Massive steps led into the monastery dug into the hill, and he studied the stories.

"This is the place where the wraith tends to start its haunt of the area," Katau explained when they dropped from their hippogryph.

Fenrer ascended the steps and opened the webbed doors with both hands. Staleness dug deep into his feathers and spread the chill through his blood when it groaned with a rustic hinge. Inside, the light refused to touch the deepest corners. Spiders webbed their dens and gave no care to the wraith. "Sense anything?" Yuven asked, trying to flick his feathers free from the dusty wind. "The air in here..."

"Stifling, I know," Fenrer mumbled and moved for the back of the monastery while the Wardens sat by the door, on watch. He leaned across the floor basin. "Empty. For some time, it looks like. We might be able to use it for Anchoring." His gaze swept to the broken hinges before turning back to them with a tip of his head. "Might I ask when the wraith makes its appearance?"

"At the touch of evening," Katau reported. "It goes through the entire night and ends at the entrance into Draken's Descent."

Fenrer pinched his lips and moved from side to side in gentle motions. It was writ plain on his Oathbound's face, but nothing swayed Fenrer from whatever he set his mind to. All that is left to me is to make sure he doesn't hurt himself... Yuven flicked his ear to try and pick up any clatter or disembodied footsteps. Greyness filled the shadows when he focused hard to see through the shadows. "If we are to do an Anchoring for the wraith, we will need to do it at sundown."

"I'll need parchment and candles blessed at shrines of Ancient Evyriaz and Ancient Ojain. Any will do for this purpose," Fenrer whispered more to himself, but Yuven took note of his requirements all the same. "Silver candle for the anchor point. We also need to set up runes to try and direct the wraith here and prevent it from proceeding with its haunt."

Yuven frowned when Adara crept for him, a look of discomfort twisting her cheeks. "What's Anchoring?"

We have no time.

Yuven twisted to the Wardens, who stiffened. "You heard him. Parchment. Rune placements. Candles," he barked. "We may also need to set a patrol around the area in case this is sourced to a Derelict and it attracts it to investigate. We stop the possible infestation here. Warden Katau, you and yours know where the wraith drifts. Take your pick on the best places to set runes and grab what he needs. I want the rest back at camp to reinforce the defenses in case it agitates others in the area." He double-checked the tight quarters. Another cold, deathly breath shivered his feathers, but he ignored it and allowed the heat from her last touch to warm him deep in his blood. "Anything else you might need, Fenrer?"

"No, I think that's... it..." His voice drifted and he glanced at a broken door. "I do sense its presence, so we've piqued its curiosity."

Adara shivered. "I hate ghosts."

"They hate you too," Yuven grumbled when the Wardens scrambled at his demands. "Because you are alive, and they are not. Wraiths feed off their own hatred for the living. It makes them difficult for an Aurus to cleanse back into the path of Avae'londu. And if a Derelict is attached to it... it might be next to impossible," He scowled at Fenrer when he lifted his head to him. "You are still going to try though?"

"It is my job, Yuven. I trained for this sort of thing," Fenrer remarked with an amused curve to his smile. "Here. We should move the tables we're not going to use to the side. Leave a table and chair over at the basin though. I'm going to need them."

But then again, Fenrer looks no less alive in moments like these ones...

Table legs scratched along the stone floor as he helped Adara move ones to the walls, with Fenrer able to lift most on his own. Stale air continued to brush through the branches of his feathers, but he ignored the creeping sensation to push whatever he could out of the way. Adara lifted chairs on top of the tables, and Fenrer set a table and chair over the empty basin.

"You never answered my question, Traye," Adara said loftily.

"You have so many I can't keep track." Yuven used one chair to block one of the doors, shoving its head underneath the painted handle. He checked on Fenrer when he studied a corner of spiderwebs. "What is it, Sazaka?"

"What's Anchoring?"

"Why can't you ask me questions about magick for once?" he begged to nothing when it was clear she wouldn't listen. "Simply put, anchoring is when an Aurus opens themselves to a spirit, allowing them to cross the bridge of life to communicate their last wish. It's usually a last resort on account of..." He frowned at Fenrer when his staredown with the corner continued. "It takes a lot out of the Aurus. Things go wrong — but Fenrer knows what he's doing."

"He's going to let it possess him?" Adara asked, aghast.

"Channeling, technically." Yuven whistled at Fenrer. "Wolf Boy, mind telling us what's on your mind?"

Fenrer broke from the corner to follow the high rafters. Frayed ropes curled around the likeness of Pyvansomiir, stuck between the leviathan's teeth. It swung with an unseen breeze to spread through his feathers at the slow squeak of their movements. "It doesn't feel quite right," Fenrer said and folded his arms. "There's a layer of..." He sucked in his lips and studied the tables against the walls. "I don't wish to say aggression. There might be a slim chance the Anchoring will go without much issue or reaction, but we should take care either way."

"What do you mean?" Adara asked.

Fenrer opened his mouth, but Yuven took the short road. "It would be helpful for you to not panic — better yet, to stay at the camp while we handle this." He readied himself for an argument, but was woefully unprepared for Fenrer's interjection from the basin.

"It might be possible to suppress the area," Fenrer pointed out, but switched to Adara. "I know this might seem too much to ask, but all I'd really need you to do is stick around the inner rune placements. Your magick excess would trap the wraith without you having to actively pour energy into the air to create the cage. If this goes wrong, we can lean on that, if that is acceptable." He lowered his head to her.

"I'd like to not feel useless for once." Adara gave him a side-eye. "If there's anything I can do to help—"

She's only going to get in the way. Yuven shook his head when footsteps clattered on the steps and the Storm Wardens returned with their bundles of parchment, with another carrying three candles of coloured wax. Fenrer helped sort the papers along the table, and set the candles at the cardinal points they belonged to, placing the silver in the center. Yuven eyed the roped roof before nodding at Katau, who set the inside runes along doorways, with the strongest at the northwest quarter. Fenrer placed a phial of liquid magic next to the silver candle before returning to them with a slight swing to his steps.

"This will cut our time, Yuven," Fenrer said before his own words and thoughts could drift between them. "Trust me."

I'll come back.

I'll figure it out.

Yuven set his hands on his hips and glared at the window. "You need not ask for my trust, Fenrer. I've long since given it."

Fenrer smiled, and a young boy's hand reached out. "I'm glad to hear that," he said. "We should rest outside and give the runes time to settle." Arm out, Yuven followed the silent indication to leave the monastery behind, and the unseen eyes crawled through his back. Feathers shuddered and tickled the sides of his ear. Adara bounced off the steps with her own shiver.

"Katau," Yuven said to stop the Warden. "What of the defences at your camp? Have you given ample warning to them?"

"Everything's ready to go." Katau eyed Fenrer, who listened to Adara's quick words. "You sure he can handle it, Traye?"

Any other time, he'd brush off doubts towards Fenrer's capability. Second to none, Fenrer peered into the flow with pinpoint accuracy, but it brought with it the weight of all emotions not his own. Yuven sucked in his lips to taste the rust, then nodded at Katau. "I will be there in case we have to slice its connection to the flow, but I defer to Fenrer's judgement when it comes to these things, Warden. He doesn't seem to think this is caused by a Derelict." But I can't ignore his behaviour, he is certainly sensing something. Something powerful enough to disturb him. He blinked, then questioned, "When was the monastery last in use? Would there be reports in the Euros Annex?"

"It's possible, but to answer your question, it's been in that state since I was given this post."

So, the wraith might be recent. "Sazaka."

Adara flinched and left Fenrer. "What is it?"

"Fenrer is putting his trust in you," Yuven hissed through his teeth. "Try not to make his job worse."

Her brow furrowed into a frown on her cheeks. "I don't try to make things hard, Traye."

"You barely have a handle on your magick," Yuven argued under his breath. "I haven't forgotten the state you put him in when we were in Tebora and the Summit. You have an effect on him, Adara, and I do not like it."

"That was—"

Fenrer turned to them from his lighting of the outer lamps. "You know arguing under your breath doesn't make me less able to see thoughts and aura clashing." He shambled over to them, breaking into their argument with the same ferocity of Adara when she gave Fenrer an escape from something he needed to hear. "As long as we push this wraith to follow the twilight stars, we can continue into Haneka without problem." His green eyes spun with a sense of desperation and no small amount of weariness. "If I have your trust, then at least have faith in me."

Faith...

Yuven left the two to stomp into the retreating rays of the sun guiding him home. Hard to have faith, when death follows me. He slammed himself onto an outside bench beside a broken, wilted garden, unable to be saved by the gentle touch of sunrise and sunset.

"I know it's hard to have faith." Maria sat beside him in the training field. "I can't ask that of you."

It is not my faith I'm worried about, he mouthed his fear on his tongue, in the words of snow.

"Don't worry about me." Yuven turned to the setting sun, set aflame by her golden hair. Her smile filled his heart with warmth. "I told you, Ice Knight. I follow the oath in a different way, but I shall excise the darkness with my blade." Her fingers wound through his, though she was far off in the distance, following her ideals and goal without hesitation or doubt. "I only ask that you wait for me for a little longer. I won't leave you to this fate."

Wait...

I'd wait the entirety of my short life for you, my love.

Yuven sat back to take in the soft touch of the sun-rays, carried on the wind of hope.