NEVEN

After months in Haneka I'd have hoped to get used to the sweltering heat.

He didn't, so when a letter called them back to Euros for a change of Wardens inside the post, he was all too happy to leave Haneka's melted heat behind — though it hadn't been the cause of his discomfort. Instead of the curiosity he experienced when he first left the carriage, harsh distrust replaced it. More often than not, he found himself on the receiving end of the Hanekan's ire, with Kemal solidifying himself as a shield. Better that I keep to myself and my duty, but Kemal seems just as confused as I am... Neven tucked one hand on the hilt of his crescent blade. I can only hope the Lord of Sungrove isn't as opposed to my presence, I do not want to cause further strife... and attract Derelicts. The town of Wolford hadn't cared for Naveerans anymore than the other towns they patrolled through, but they respected the Storm Wardens well enough.

On the path Kemal called the dawnroad, he found comfort in the clear sign of use and the runeposts with lamps where lamps hung off the hooks. Paved stones guided carriages to destinations with ease, but their little group continued onwards without the assistance of wheels. Deeper into the misty forests, Kemal pointed out a sign, which split in two to direct back to Wolford, or Sungrove. Neven frowned when Kemal took the lead once more. "You said you haven't been here."

"I haven't, but I know the map of Haneka well enough."

"Are we going to get lost?"

"Not if you stay behind me, Nev," Kemal grunted, then turned to Evani. "We're going to stop for a little bit up the road. Sungrove shouldn't be too far from here. Once we see the knolls, we're on the outskirts of its heart."

Evani shuffled his feet against the eroded dirt. "Anything we should watch out for? Last town we were in, I thought Neven was going to get strangled."

Neven shrank into his shoulders at the shameful memory. In the middle of a fight he hadn't wanted in the first place in an attempt to explain his presence, he shook his head. "I... must've offended them. It wouldn't be the first time. I tried to apologise." HE rubbed his arm and bit his lower lip with his fangs.

"You didn't do shite, Nev, you had no reason to apologise, you said nothing that would've offended them. You explained that we were there to head to Sungrove and needed supplies, you asked nicely and had you not reacted in time you would've gotten a fist in the face for it," Kemal argued and prodded him in the chest before flicking him in the brow, then led them onto a beaten track. "No... something must be going on that we don't know about, and I want to figure out what."

Golden leaves shielded them from the lowered sun of evening. Thankful for its beautiful cover, he brushed the tips of his fingers across the bark to feel the differences to each sharp edge, to pick out the differences between each tree. It proved a pleasant distraction as he brushed his cheek against one, where the flecks tickled the base of his feathers and the tingle warmed the tips of them. As dusk approached, Kemal gathered them near a stump. "A river runs by Sungrove," he explained. "It's what connects Sungrove to the heart river of the Black Bridge. We find that, and we're in the clear. We should get there by nightfall."

Course set and a drink from their flasks and a meal from their bamboo containers they continued on, and Neven guarded their backs. As he moved along, he stopped at the sound of what sounded too much like a person screaming. The energy it sent through his feathers stood them on end when he whipped around to the source. "Did you hear that?"

Kemal and Evani stopped. "No?" Evani mused.

Maybe I'm just on edge... He listened further, but the forest sang out its birdcall. Imagination lost to its unease, he continued to follow the path Kemal set until Kemal checked on him once more with his own, concerned frown.

"You've been quiet."

"Are you sure we won't have any issues with the Lord of Sungrove?" Neven rubbed the nape of his neck to scratch out the sharp anxiety.

"We shouldn't, or I'm going to have an interesting talk with the Warden-Commander," Kemal said and stomped along. "Don't stray too far behind, Nev."

"Do you know how impossible it is to lose track of me?" Neven asked and bounded after them. "We are Oathbound, also, I am super noticeable." He tickled the tips of his feathers and shivered them at Kemal as their group shuffled along in calm quiet. "I stick out like a sore thumb here."

"Yet you somehow lose your sense of direction when you don't have snow around," Kemal pointed out with a teasing smile.

As the path dragged on, Neven focused on the imperfections in the trees and knots in stumps. Each with their own story, ancient beings who had experienced many names. In the glitter of evening, he found it difficult to keep track of his friend's magelights through the undergrowth. He continued to walk, then grunted when he tripped on a gnarled root and went face-first into the dirt where the air escaped out of his lungs. A hiss escaped his nose when he rubbed the grime off his cheeks. Back on his feet, he brushed off his leather armor and followed the forest sounds, but came to a stop at the loss of his path. "Uh oh." He sighed, then groaned out his frustration at himself as he tried to stretch out his magick to cling onto the moisture in the air. He said we weren't too far from Sungrove...

He hopped over fallen logs and came to the bottom of the ridge instead of the top. He scowled up at the exposed vines. Nature's tentacles as he shoved his hands on his belt and released a plume of mist out of his nose. Kemal is going to kill me. Heat messed up his inner compass, but he came closer to the dirt wall full of roots and extensions. I could climb up pretty easily... He pinched his chin, but stopped when his feathers tightened against his ears, a deep pull in his blood, in his soul. A deep, habitual teaching to respect the way the blizzard moved and changed every second, and a forest demanded the same respect. Dusk brought shadows, and he found his feet drawing further away from the ridge.

I will never ignore you again.

Stuck in the approach of night, he bit his tongue at the eerie silence of the creatures who lived in the forest. Rot and decay spread through the roots underneath his heel and gooseflesh crawled up his arms and along the path of blood. He rounded a couple of gnarled trees, and peeked through the branches and split, wilted leaves. It let out a shivered hiss as the Derelict, formless and hungry, crawled its way closer to him, though its focus remained on the half-fallen tree which created a small cove of flimsy protection. In its shadow, two young boys quivered, with one taking the front with a brave, but no less spooked stature as the Derelict licked its tongue across the ground, before snapping its jaw shut with a widening, toothy smile.

No.

White twine surrounded his fists, and the pound of ice dropped weight into his hands, and he swung it over his shoulder to line up the shot as the Derelict stilled, and its tendrils curled into its own spine. It leaped with a screech, and the children's screams drove his arm forward to send his glaive of light into its target. On the wings of the sapphire storm, it exploded through another glyph to intake more energy. It hit its throat and wedged out of its back to slam it into a distant tree. One half of its jaw tore at the seams as Neven ran forward. It dragged its teeth across the magick, and Neven ran over the log on his own soul's fire as the Derelict whipped its tail to crack its own neck and free itself.

The same song as he stared into its eyes through the haze of snow.

He landed on top of its head when it sped forward for the two children. Its neck detached from itself, a bloody, blooming flower of despair. He drove the heel of his boot in what remained of its red bones, then held his hand out to the ice glaive to recall it into its hands as it slithered out of his reach. He twisted the glaive, then shoved it into its spine to spread ice deep into its core. Plumes of ice cracked his throat and escaped his nose as he glared down at the creature made manifest of the world's infection. He tightened the magick coiled around his fingers when the beast snapped its jaws for his chest. Each moment, life or death.

It curled and broke into pieces, but swung itself around to race for the innocent, easier prey.

He caught its throat with the hook of his shining crescent blade and dug it deeper, his feathers shuddering against his head as a deeper growl shook his vocal chords. He threw one palm into the guard, and then drove himself forward with a soft gasp of ice as he tore through the Derelict's true center. Stars of gold flew out of the tear he left, and joined the dust in the mist as he straightened himself out. Energy pricked at his skin, so he released it back to rebalance the flow, and the mist flew into the underbrush with a single breath, dissipating into the air.

Neven sheathed his crescent blade, but he jolted at the sound of a child's cry — a baby's cry. He whipped around to check on the two children, no older than seven or eight turns. One wrapped their arms around the larger one's middle. He knelt down to their level, but slowed his descent at the bigger child's, soft, strangled whimper as the swirls in his green eyes intensified when he swept his gaze around him. He held a hand out, then spoke a softer song, "Are you unharmed?" He smiled when the larger child relaxed and stared at his feathers. He sat in front of them. "You don't need to worry. It is gone. Maybe you can help me?" He found a chuckle escaping his lips, though it bubbled in his lungs, still brimming with magick. "I have gotten lost in this strange land of trees... and grass. You would not happen to know where a place called Sungrove is?"

His question appeared to blink the green-eyed child out of his fearful daze. "S-Sungrove?" he rasped with a tremble.

"Yes!" He nodded and fluffed out his feathers in show. "What are your names? Can you stand?"

The Aurus child crawled out of the protection of the tree, but remained on his knees as he stared up at him with wide eyes, though the smaller boy refused to let go of him, his face buried in his back. "I-I am-I am Fenrer Pyren."

Fenrer Pyren. Powerful name.

"Ah, rude of me," he said and got up. "Apologies, to ask for your name and not give mine first." He slammed his hand against his heart, and bowed deeper. "I am Neven Lotayrin. I am a Storm Warden. I will not harm either of you."

He waited for Fenrer to respond, and he tipped his head when the young Hanekan took in a breath, then smiled up at him. "We're-We're lost to," he said, and forced himself to his feet as the small waves in his dark brown hair matched the ground they tread. He nudged the smaller, black-haired child out of his shelter. "It's okay, Reyn. He means it when he says he won't hurt us."

"Do either of you need help?" Neven asked when he got a closer look at them in the last dregs of light, their clothes dirtied and faces smudged. "You two look like you took quite the tumble."

Fenrer rubbed his ankle with a soft grimace. "I'm alright. Reyn?" Neven checked on the other boy, then frowned when he stared at him in sheer terror. Fenrer frowned at him in turn. "Reyn?"

Reyn snapped his attention to his boots instead.

Neven sighed, then nodded at Fenrer. "You did good, little one."

"I did good?" Fenrer outstretched his arms to allow Reyn to borrow into them, so young, to be a shield for others when he twisted his head around. "With what?"

"You stood against a Derelict." Neven rolled out the tension in his shoulders. "Here, if you two can walk, I shall take point and you direct me to where you fell. If you stick close to me, no shadows shall befall you. Does that sound good?"

The moment Fenrer nodded, Neven let the two dive into his shadow. Taken back to the very ridge which proved Kemal's words, he measured the uncomfortable drop. "You two...?" He pointed to the top. "Fell from there?"

"Yes." Fenrer shivered at his knee. "Sungrove should be up the ridge. If we walk a little bit we'll find a creek and we'll be home." Neven jolted when his eyes slipped into the back of his head, and he went to his knees. "Ow..."

Neven leaned on his level, and when he rested a calm hand on his small forearm, he froze at the stiff band around it. Opals danced along the flag of Haneka, born in thoughtful flames. Fenrer winced when he met the child's gaze. "You're an Aurus..." To band a child so... for magick he did not choose. He folded his lips inward, then whispered. "It seems I'll have to make a way up."

He focused on the moisture in the air. Glyphs followed the roots paths to create stepping stones as he held up his palm to reveal a mirror. It formed a staircase in his mind's eye, and he grinned when both Fenrer and Reyn stared at it, with Fenrer reaching forward to touch the closet block. "Pretty good, right?" He straightened himself out, but frowned when Fenrer crawled onto the first block with a whimper, then dug his fingers into his thick hair. "Are you well?"

"It hurts..." Fenrer sobbed through his arms. He sank closer to the block and shivered.

Neven came closer to him. "Fenrer, was it?"

Fenrer peeked out from his forearms, where the spirals became a swirling torment of opalescent flames. He held his hand out. "I can find my way from here. I can help you two."

Once the child gave him a nod, he scooped him into his arms, then he held out his free hand to Reyn when he got Fenrer situated with his arms wrapped around his neck. Tears swam in the grays, but Neven let his own fear go when Reyn held onto his hands with a quiet whimper.

He climbed up the rest of the ridge, where his feathers tested the danger left in the air, but he followed the voice deep in his soul until he came across the river, then crossed the small bridge as the knolls twisted into strong crag walls of natural defenses. He heard voices clamor through the warm woods as firelight came into view when he broke the undergrowth. Horses whinnied in agitation inside a nearby stable and slammed their hoofs against the ground.

Hah... Neven bit on his tongue and tried to keep his mind off the worst possibility.

"Why are you scared?" Fenrer asked right beside his head.

Neven continued on his path of protection, but smiled at Fenrer. "I... haven't been given the warmest welcome. It will be fine. You can rest." He slowed to a stop when a shape rushed off the wall which came into view from the forest's edge. He drove his fangs into his jaw when the Hanekans of Sungrove pointed at him when he came closer. Feathers pressed against his ears, he released his anxious hiss through his nose, only for fear to slam into his chest when a giant shoved his way through the crowd.

"Little Wolf, Prince Reyn! Thank the Ancient's you're both safe!" Neven held himself still when the giant scooped Fenrer from his arms and Reyn ran for his shadow instead. Neven winced when the giant came closer to him, but he held his ground as he craned his neck upwards. He jolted when the giant man bowed instead. "You have my eternal gratitude, Storm Warden, for finding my son and Prince Reyn. Sungrove will always be open to you. Dinner has been made and the rest of your team are waiting for you."

Neven clasped his hands together in the strained silence. "There is no need to thank me," he forced out. "It is my duty... by your leave, I shall rejoin my companions." He rushed away to give father and son some time, running straight into Kemal's waiting, angry arm.

"You," he hissed when he found himself trapped and Kemal rubbed the top of his head hard. "I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or impressed that your sense of direction can find people in trouble."

"Kemal," Neven wheezed as Evani laughed. "You're choking me."

Kemal ignored him and continued to rub the top of his head. He pushed both hands into his friend's face to free himself of the bombardment of Hanekan's idea of affection, smoothing out his armor as Kemal gathered the other Storm Wardens closer.

"Right, now that we're all safe here—" He glanced at Neven. "Warden-Commander Faehariel will be waiting for us in Sivaport—" Kemal stopped when a smaller shape stood between them.

It was Fenrer Pyren, the little Aurus boy.

"I'm sorry," he said, very seriously as he gazed up at him. "I want to thank you for saving my life and Reyn's. I-I've only ever heard about Derelicts in stories. It wasn't what I expected..."

Icicles grew out of its spine as its low moan awoke something deep underneath his own bones.

Neven gazed into the fire. Warm. Powerful. Full of energy and life which the blizzard stifled without fail. "It's no problem, Fenrer. I am a shield against the dark and a blade of the light."

"He should be thanking you for leading him the way here, little lordling." Kemal laughed. "I can't wrap my head around how you got lost."

"I'm afraid finding my way through a forest is a little different to a blizzard, Kem." Neven sighed, then knelt to Fenrer, bowing deep. "But, he is correct. Thank you, Fenrer, for without you, I'm sure I'd still be wandering that forest long into the night before someone found me."

Fenrer shrank into his shoulders. "Y-You're welcome," he whispered and twiddled his thumbs. "Um... I like your feathers, by the way."

Neven blinked, then smiled as he tipped his head and touched the tips of them. "Thank you for your kind words, little one. You should go rest." He nodded at the giant of a man who waited nearby. Fenrer nodded with a return of a smile, then raced for his father. Neven straightened himself out, and mouthed his oath underneath the light of evenfall.

A sense of pride, of accomplishment; and no tournament, no name or knighthood could match what it brought. Hope, and a certainty in his soul, and the call of his song which resounded through time. He had found what his soul had been trying to tell him all along.

I found it, Father, Mother... Our people spend their twice score lifetimes trying to find it... and I found it. I can hear it, and it's so beautiful.