ADARA

Gods, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss the complaining. At least it filled the silence.

They camped out at the bottom of a hill, but she heard the ocean waves in the distance. Against one tree, Fenrer whittled down his chosen block of wood and left its shavings among the grass. His knife glided with the grain towards the thumb holding it steady, careful never to strike his own skin as he stopped to examine his work. Across from him, Yuven, who rested his arms against his knees and stared at the small, empty campfire long lost of its embers. Early morning dew danced in the air, given moisture from the coast. Adara rubbed her fingers and studied the lines and angles Fenrer created with precision and focus. Each stroke, careful and firm to tear out an image unformed from the wood.

Bells tolled.

Fenrer stopped his cautious carving at the humming sound clashing with the waves and the sounds of gulls. It glittered through the air and sent a shockwave through her heart at the possibilities of what rested behind the hill.

A map never gave her the scope of what the world had to show, not inked on parchment, but close enough to see, touch, and experience in full. The truth in the fear of Prunal's residents — that though the world, infected with shadow as it was, could still be beautiful.

Adara got off her spot where she slept through the night without the visceral nightmares and the Derelict continuing to haunt her from its setting crimson dusk. On the wings of freedom at the edge of the cage Jisa opened the door for, she stretched underneath the overcast sky, pierced with the lances of light from the dawn behind it. Rise as the dawn, the Hanekan storybook spoke, and she followed it through to the end, to live and learn, to carry the truth with her to the end. "Are we ready? We're almost at Sivaport, aren't we? We're at the end of the road from Sungrove." Adara nodded at the smoothing path through the trees behind them.

Yuven glanced at Fenrer, who returned to his whittling. "It's right over the hill," Fenrer said and tilted his head upwards at another ringing toll of a bell, but his lip pursed in concentration when he nicked a large piece of wood shaving to the ground at his feet. "Go take a look. We'll be right here." He smiled at her. "Trust me, there's nothing quite like watching the ocean be set aflame by the descent of the phoenix of evenfall to make way for the sun." Another head tilt with another bell, he settled himself against his tree and continued to whittle with the flow of the wood.

Adara waited for Yuven's injected opinion, but he waved his hand at her with a huff and set the back of his head in his other hand to tangle his fingers between his feathers.

You know what? I don't miss the complaining that much. Adara turned her back on them to carry Jisa and Tara's dreams on her wings. A storybook held between them as she failed to replicate Tara's storytelling skills. Her every footstep pulsed with the harmonic bells of the sea to swallow the dissonant, groaning ones, until it disappeared with the call of Garren's oral tales to mix with 'The Dragon Knight'.

"On the cusp of a great ocean, a piercing light rises on the cliffs," Garren told her as she begged for a story without the death and grime of his chosen tales he told, when it surrounded her all the same and the glint of metal pushed against her neck with its reminder. "Throughout the air, it sings, it calls to the sons and daughters of the sea, underneath the hearth of home. We are a part of the waves, the foam that crashes against the harbor."

"Though I am the last of my kind," Tara's voice danced as Jisa leaned forward with wonder and awe, while she choked on her drained hope. "I will carry their dreams on my wings—"

One step up the hill to follow the bells.

"—I will not be alone, with their memories to carry me."

Two statues stood at the tips of the crescent carved gulf to the endless blue horizon. Flaked flames bounced through the crashing foam to slam against the cliffs with nature's unbridled power. Walls rose out of the ground, mixed with the limestone from the cliffs and spread farther across to protect the entirety of the city and the smaller lands around it. Runes embedded themselves at the strongest foundations to raise it upwards to shield themselves from the darkness outside. On one of the cliff peaks, a massive castle cast a shadow from the sun, where a lighthouse bloomed out of its center, to send a wave of light through the strongest storms, to never leave a ship to slam into the rocks in the water. Long piers crept out from the distant harbour, where boats, from small fishing vessels, to longships, to galleons rocked with the embrace of the water. Streets wound around through smaller alleys, where houses with scaled roofs sat on the corners to create a bloom from land to sea. One rock jut out, where lights danced in the carved hollow inside, where several mills rolled with carried water, dripping to return what it used.

Larger buildings took the space between the house folds and the roads, with one flying the wyvern standard of the Storm Wardens, held up by a wyvern's wings.

It continued to ring with the call of the sea.

He always sounded so homesick...

This is what he left behind?

The bells stopped with the heralded dawn.

Pathways wound inside the cliffs to reach further parts of the city, protected with railings to prevent slippage into the inevitability below. Her nose scrunched at the salty tang of fish, and she jolted when Yuven moved past her with a huff, but Fenrer stopped beside her.

"It's..." Adara tried to find words for the wondrous sight, and storybooks never did anything justice. "Big." Ugh. I can't do it justice either.

"The capital of Haneka," he agreed. "And Heiise Reyn's seat of power." He pointed at the castle near the cliffs. "We'll be presenting ourselves there, then heading to the lodge for rest and recuperation. We have to wait for the boat from Euros to arrive, but we no longer have the ability to rush, unless someone wants to swim through the gulf and out to sea." He eyed Yuven's back, who folded his arms and said nothing, though his ear flicked to betray his ability to hear Fenrer's pointed tone.

"You do that," Yuven grunted. "I'll be heading straight to the lodge once we've gauged the state of the city. I do not want to deal with monarchs anymore."

"The state of the city?" Adara questioned when Yuven swung to face them. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I do not want to be held up by inane issues anymore," Yuven pointed out then moved down the slope. "Especially issues involving anyone with a crown on their head that sits in a complicated chair. U'lo grata'nex." He sent a hand into the air as if to wave off a fly.

"Huh?"

"No, thank you," Fenrer said with a tired blink, then sighed. "I wish to see King Reyn about the dawnblade, and if Keeper Kalla truly found it." He descended the slope to follow Yuven, and she scrambled to keep pace with their sudden movement, unable to take in the rest of the city from outside. As they came closer to the large, open gatehouse, guards spoke with people, but not without the force of Prunal's knights to the king. Seaborn words left their lips as they joked right along with the arrivals and those longing to leave. Some had axes on their backs or hips, while others carried swords. Each one wore leatherbound armour, forgoing metal and plate for tough hide gambesons. In the watchtowers, archers leaned against the stone, relaxed.

Her head spun at all the activity before the city itself.

Carriages followed the road when the guards waved them past after a quick check over the contents and a quick chat with the drivers up front. Smiles. Laughter. It coated the air and sent the warmth of the sun through her heart as they approached the great gates to the coastal city.

I will carry their memory with me.

In the shadow of the wall, she craned her head up to try and find the battlements, but it towered over her. One guard clucked at them, and she jolted when they approached. Fenrer met their stride with a quick bow and his own weaving words of the sea before motioning for her and Yuven with a smile. The guard tipped their head with a growing smile, then bowed deeper. "Storm Wardens," they said in a rising wave of Common compared to Fenrer's more lulling push of the ocean. "You will always be welcome in Sivaport. I hope the journey here was not too taxing for you and yours." They stepped to the side to wave them through the huge gatehouse, and Fenrer took the lead from Yuven, who sank into his shoulders and refused to meet the eye of the guards, though none paid him mind.

The brine taste in the air strengthened in her throat when they walked out into the sun breaking the clouds apart. A gasp left her throat at the myriad of colours dancing along the paths. Kids bounced and played outside doors, watched by adults as they spoke endlessly like the expanse they lived on. Adara smiled when a young child threw a magick ball in the air to make it shimmer into a shower of rain on the edges of embers, their chest puffed out in pride when some younger children clapped along with wide eyes. The biggest street curved into the city center, where food stalls delivered their stock to those seeking a quick meal on their day to day. One gentleman snapped bones out of the ribs of a fish with an expert hand and a filet knife as one individual loomed close, their expression ravenous as meat sizzled on runic flames.

Further down before the harbour, artisan shops and runesmiths clanged. It bounced metal in her ears as a woman checked their work from the hiss of the anvil before carving runes on the fuller. A gentle breeze bloomed over the roofs and through the streets. Lampposts hung out of the way for the boisterous energy bouncing through, and she jolted at a raucous laugh from an outside dining area of a tavern, whose sign trembled with the ocean wind, with the runic Hanekan letters denoting its name written with a harsh hand, with a wooden flame to carry the name.

"There's so much," she whispered, but she found the lighthouse, the landmark among the activity.

"It'll get quieter near the castle," Fenrer said, but raised his head at another shout. Adara found herself with Yuven in his shadow when he twisted around to the card players, the largest man releasing a large guffaw as he swiped the pot. Everyone else downed their cups without much thought or hesitation, and the cards returned to the dealer, who shuffled them. Fenrer raised an eyebrow, then mused, "Your Highness?"

That's not King Reyn.

The large, auburn haired man turned around with a pout. "Who?"

"Oo," another man clucked with the same flowing accent. "They pulled out 'Your Highness', you're in trouble, Gustul."

"I ain't in trouble, don't look like trouble," the auburn haired man named Gustul turned in full, then examined Fenrer, squinting for a few moments. "Wait." He lunged from his seat, causing Fenrer to take a small step back into Yuven, who hissed. "Ancients damned, you're Fenrer Pyren. Gods, you're almost the spitting image of Soren." Fenrer hid his wince well, but the large man waddled over, and Adara tried to gauge the drunkenness, but found herself at a loss even with her practice at recognizing those deep in their cups. "My baby brother mentioned you'd be stopping by Sivaport at some point." He leaned closer, causing Fenrer to lean back, and Yuven retreated into a corner instead. "What are you doing down here?"

Fenrer raised his hands. "We were about to go to the castle to see His Grace. We just arrived. Then I heard your name mentioned and—"

"Mhm." Gustul scratched his stubble. "Of course."

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your game," Fenrer said.

"Aye," Gustul said. "Want to join?"

Yuven glared at Fenrer from around the corner, who finally glanced at him. "Uh, I apologise, Your Highness, we need to head to the castle—" Adara gaped when Gustul raised his thumb and forefinger, then flicked Fenrer in the head when he attempted to bow to the Hanekan prince.

"None of that, Warden, I thought your Order bowed to none," Gustul said with a beaming smile. "Come on, Warden, I'm sure swinging that crescent blade is taxing enough." He eyed Yuven, who dove deeper into the corner. "You two look like you waddled out of an ice pond. Take your ease. My brother will be at the castle."

Fenrer waved his hands and fell silent, and Adara gazed at Gustul. No... he's not even tipped over. There's something... observant there.

"Oi, Your Highness," one of Gustul's friends sneered, causing the large man to twist around. "Does His Excellency want to finish this game?"

Another at the table rested their cheek in their hands, garbed in leather armor with a sword at their hip. "I'm sure Reyn will be impressed that you've once again used your skills to swipe winnings from card games," he said, then dropped his own small pile of coins on the table. His serious expression shifted into a wry smile. "Apologies, Your Highness, for my misconduct." One more coin on the tower.

"Look at what you've started," Gustul said with a wave at the giggling table, far calmer than the tavern in Wolford.

"I'm sorry." Fenrer twitched.

Gustul poked him in the chest. "I take that back, you stand like a statue. I'm sure Storm Wardens need to let loose a little. I don't need Reyn getting it into his head that there are other statues like him. He also needs to relax a little." Gustul folded his broad arms and slumped into his hips. "He never wants to join me."

Adara studied the suits of the cards and breathed deeply into the spray. "I'll join," she blurted out.

Both Fenrer and Yuven stared at her.

"That's what I like to hear," Gustul said with a wave at the table and guided her to a free seat. "What's your name?"

"Adara." She tucked her hands between her legs. "This is a beautiful city."

"Only as beautiful as the people in it," Gustul said and took the deck to shuffle it. "Well, Adara, I like you, you seem to recognize the importance of stretching out the limbs a little after a hard day's work."

The armored guard scoffed.

A sigh sounded from behind, and she jolted when Fenrer rounded the table to sit across from her, and Gustul beamed. "And he cracked! Reyn won't have anything to stand on now." He pumped his fist, then turned to Yuven when he slid against the wall to take a seat on a barrel. "You, Warden?"

"No. I shall keep watch."

"Keep watch?" Gustul shook his head, then asked, "You know how to play, Adara?"

"Uh..." Adara studied the way the cards dealt out, but didn't recognize any game from the top of her head and those she witnessed in Prunal's tavern. "No."

"It's simple," Gustul said and dealt out four cards to each player before putting the rest of the deck in the middle of them. "You're trying to create a 'wave' of suits with the cards at your disposal. You set it down one by one, and if there's a match by the end of the pass, those who matched have to duel."

"Duel?" Adara gaped.

"Not literally, Miss, though Gustul has tried to do that," the armored one said with a laugh. "You take three cards from either the top or bottom of the remaining deck, then the other takes the reverse. Whoever ends up with the highest card wins the duel." He rested his cheek back in his palm again. "Does that make more sense?"

"I think so."

"Also all losers drink." Gustul chuckled.

Fenrer raised his hand. "I'm afraid it's best if we do not — I think Sivaport brandy would be a bit much for her first time, and I do still need to meet Reyn."

"That's okay." Gustul took a tankard to fill his cups and those who held out theirs. "I'll take getting a Warden to sit down and play a card game. It kind of takes away the weight your Order carries for a little while off your shoulders." He tented his fingers to rest his chin on them. "So, you'll play?"

Fenrer studied the deck, then nodded.

"Good man. Your father taught me how to play this game." Gustul put the tankard away, and Fenrer perked his head up a little. "I guess we won't be playing for coins with newcomers. I'd feel bad."

"That also hasn't stopped you before," the armoured one pointed out. "You left Gyla seething in your direction when you pulled a fast one during that one game."

"Not in front of the Warden, Erik," Gustul hissed under his breath.

Adara found herself smiling, the weight on her shoulders slipping down her back with the pass of the cards. Every flip of the rounds caused her to dive further into the sense of peace at something normal. Matches made, she understood how duels worked after Gustul handily won through the force of luck against Erik, who rolled his eyes and drained his cup without fear.

Adara rolled a card out of the tips of her fingers — and fell into a riptide of a match when she grazed the hand of who dealt the clash of nature.

Green galaxies met her in confusion.

Gustul rolled a coin over his knuckles with a raised eyebrow.

"Looks like the newcomers matched," Gustul said.

Adara drew her fingers back to her paper hand. Fenrer smiled at her, then said, "You want to choose first, or me?"

Her heart thundered at the closeness of his voice, but he sat across from her, too far away, but unable to get too close. Adara bit on her tongue, then said, "You can pick."

Fenrer took the deck and drew his gaze to the sky before slipping the three cards from the bottom of the deck into his hands before passing it to her. Adara swallowed the thorn in her heart when she forced herself to look into the spiral of his irides. He glowed in the rising sun of the coastal city, a smile forming on his lips. Three cards off the top, she nodded to Gustul, then faced her opponent in the match.

Each card, flipped, and she won the first.

One after another. Fenrer won the second, his hands smoothing out the surface of a wood statuette he formed, the way he glided the knife down the length without driving it through with forceful brutality.

Gentle and certain, a warm wave against the cruel tide.

Until the last matched again, face to face with Fenrer.

Everyone stared.

"Uh, what do we do?" Adara questioned.

"Oh, a double connection, I guess it must be fate between you," Gustul joked, but his smile deepened. "You'd just continue until someone wins, but I think I've taken enough of your time only to end up with the same result. Thank you for the game, Warden." He dipped his head forward. "Tell my brother I said hello."

Fenrer nodded and stood from the chair. "Thank you, Gustul. I'll tell him." He rolled his shoulders. "Let's go."

Her heart slammed against her ribcage when he walked around the table to her, and she found herself standing up to continue gazing into the greens. He tipped his head, then returned to Yuven, who hopped off his box.

Adara waved to the table, then rushed to rejoin Fenrer and Yuven.