NEVEN

Foam crashed against the side of the galleon as he waited for the moment of truth found in the night. Mist rose off the oceanic waves. Magick pulsed down his feathers as he toyed with droplets and broke them apart in crystal ice. It rolled across his knuckle when he set it into the dance of the flow, bouncing it off his fingertips until Kemal's voice broke him out of his blurred thoughts.

"His fever broke, Nev," Kemal said and his hands wrapped around the ropes. "Julis is with him now and we're off the coast of the archipelago. We're going to be home soon."

Neven hopped back onto the deck and went down the stairs to the cabins. Inside Fenrer's, Julis smoothed out a damp cloth over his brow. "How is he?" He slid into the corner with his ultimate goal, the chair on Julis' other side.

"Tough kid, he'll be alright," Julis said with a huff, rolling down his blood-spotted sleeves. "All that's left is to let him sleep. We'll get him some actual help at the citadel. I left him some bread in that package, if he wakes, make sure he eats it." He squeezed past him to take his place at Fenrer's side while the Aurus rejoined Kemal outside the corridor. "I'm going to tell Warden-Commander Faehariel he made it through the night."

A soulsong pound against his heart as he touched the cloth on Fenrer's flaming brow. Kemal's heavy footsteps left him alone with the sickly child as he slumped into the chair once more. Wind whispered through his feathers and along the sails topside, but he straightened himself out at the small noise from the child in the bed. Fenrer's brow squeezed in pain when he squirmed in his blankets, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Fenrer." Neven brought his chair closure to make sure he remained in bed. "You are awake."

"Uh-huh..." Green spirals spun when Fenrer looked over at him and then drew it to the porthole. Sunlight burst through the glass, and Neven relaxed his shoulders into the warm radiance. "Where am I?"

"You're on the galleon," Neven explained. "It's been a couple days, but we are closing in on Euros. We'll be in port soon enough." Closer, and the melody clarified on its own notes when he drew into the truth. "We're far from Sivaport." There are no monsters which can hurt you now.

Fenrer sucked in his lips with a whimper. "I-I'm sorry if I screamed too loud. I hope I didn't give you a head-ache." Neven raised his hands when tears slid down his clammy cheeks, but he said with too much strength for someone his age and in his condition, "Thank you for hearing me, Warden Lotayrin."

"It's no problem." Neven lowered his hands to his knees. "Are you hungry? Can you walk?"

What can I do for you?

Fenrer tugged at his bandage, and Neven reached over to stop him short of opening his wound again. "Itchy..." he mumbled and tugged at the black band across his other forearm instead. "I think so... and I'm a little hungry."

Neven reached around the table to grab the parcel Julis left and pushed it into the child's hands. Fenrer tore it open with his hands, and leaned back when a warm loaf of bread fell into them. His fingers dug deep into the risen wheat, and he glanced at him. "Do you have honey?"

"Honey?"

"Yeah..."

Neven ran through all the food he had been introduced to since his arrival to Euros, but Turns passed and he failed to keep track of it all. Honey. Honey... isn't that a sort of sweet jelly from apiaries except... Ancients, what was the word in Common... jam? No, that doesn't seem right.Neven ran through what he knew, then found his term. "That is what bees make, correct?"

Fenrer tilted his head with a soft, confused sound. "Do bees make other things?"

"I can check." Neven hauled himself out of the chair and his feathers shuddered when Fenrer followed him with a sense of fearful dismay. "Stay there and rest." Out of the sickroom, he hurried his pace into the storage hold of the galleon, where Evani helped move crates to the side and locked them down to prevent clattering and spreading contents. "Evani," he called his friend over. "Do we have... er... honey?"

"Say again?"

"Honey."

Evani pursed his lips. "I really hope it's not in one of the crates that are below so many other ones." He overturned tags one by one, Neven followed along while he worked. He reached a small crate and opened the tag, then unlocked the lid. Jars of a purple substance filled them, but he scoffed and shook his head. "Nope, we do have jam." Evani hauled out one of the thick jars and passed it to him.

"Thank you, Evani." Neven bowed and rushed back upstairs to Fenrer's room, entering it. "There was no honey, but we do have jam if that will serve..." Het slowed to a stop at the sight of Fenrer pushed into the corner of his bed, head in his knees. Feathers tight against his ears, he came closer to the bed. "Fenrer."

"I'm sorry," Fenrer whimpered and buried himself tighter into his knees, his arm wrapped in a thick, spotted bandage.

But why, little one? Neven sank into the chair closest to the little Hanekan. Knife in his hands, he cut up the bread to open its fluffy insides and slipped the knife inside the jar. In the corner of his eye, Fenrer wiped his clammy, tear-soaked face with his other sleeve. "You want to know something?" Jam laid out in an even, clean and proper spread, Neven closed the bread before handing it over to him with a plate. "Euros — it comes from a Navei word. Eyrusha."

A blooming rose of the sky.

Fenrer gulped and took the plate. "Ey-eyerosha?" He stuck out his pale tongue then asked, "How do you say it?"

"Eh-roos-sha." I forget how difficult Navei pronunciation is... Neven nodded at the bread, and tasted relief when Fenrer nibbled at it. "It means 'rose of the sky'. You see, the citadel of our Order blooms out of the mountains, spiraling out of the clouds." Irimount's Spire pierced the firmament of the endless distance while he surfed upon waves of snow. "Hippogryphs take wing around the peaks, where the roots spread downwards to create an entire city along the island ridges." Neven breathed out a new home's love and life at the sound of a familiar, melodic bell. "Are you well enough to walk? I can show you what I mean."

"Yeah, my arm feels better." Fenrer finished his meal, and Neven took the plate from him to set it to the side. The bell summoned those from below, and a small tug on the back of his leather armor alerted him to his small shadow. His hand found the top of Fenrer's head when they reached the deck where his friends and family jittered with excitement at their return to home.

"I see it!" Kemal's voice boomed with the ocean's power, hand pointed out to the volcanic white rose while he hung on the shrouds. His hand came to rest above his brow, a smile growing on his Oathbound's face, a sense of the true self on his face while the shrouds swung with the wind.

Hanekans... who have long since accepted who they are, where they came from...

A child's constant wonder filled Fenrer's face when he hopped a bit to peek over the railing, and Neven gave him added support to prevent him from wasting energy. "The Storm Wardens live in a volcano?" He gasped, eyes wide with jade curiosity and excitement.

"We share the space with it."

Warden Commander Faehariel's voice jolted him into attention and he grabbed Fenrer to keep him in place. Neven put a hand against his chest. "We'll be taking you to the top. You can recover there."

Neven relaxed, but frowned when Fenrer tucked closer against him and the child's excitement died in an instant into ancient fear. "You-You won't make me go back, will you?" A rumble shook his inner song when Fenrer clung onto him, and the icy surge of his unseen wings wrapped around them both. "There's nothing left for me back there. Nothing but shells."

Neven resisted the urge to latch onto him once more, to remind him of his promise and his oath. You'll be okay, I won't let anything happen to you. He swung his gaze to Faehariel, who raised both eyebrows, then smiled at him.

"No, I will not force you to go back," she assured. "Euros is open to all who wish to pledge service to the light or to find sanctuary, solace in its eternal embrace."

Fenrer's grip loosened on his belt. "Do I have to be a Storm Warden?"

Questions posed, and a Derelict cracked its teeth through ice and bone. It tore through everything in its path, relentless in hunger and depravity for its next meal. Neven winced, then lowered his head when Commander Faehariel whispered, "You're a little too young to think about that. Focus on the moment and you'll see if your time will come. Your only duty right now is to rest, grow, and survive."

Once the boat slid into port, Neven guided Fenrer to the runelift while the rest of their entourage scattered to take solace in their newfound, albeit temporary peace within the sanctuary of the Warden's light. It rumbled underneath his feet while Kemal leaned against the back while the lift ascended the main path of the mountain, straight to the top where the entrance to the caldera rested. Stone wyverns sat upon guard towers which grew out of the peaks. Alabaster struck through and created hollows in the volcanic rim. Home. He took in a breath of the sweet air when they departed the lift, with Fenrer clinging onto him, though he slowly let go when they neared the hippogryph paddock.

A white-feathered youngling bounced around a much larger mare in content and excitement. Kemal and Evani left them behind for the armory on the other side of the caldera, but he continued to follow Commander Faehariel to the garden of supposed ghosts, but housed nothing but an Avaerilian child. Fenrer rushed for the entrance with a tug at his arm. "What is this place?" he asked with an insistent point.

The garden...? He examined the area, but nothing had changed.

"Lotayrin?" Faehariel asked. "There is something I need your assistance with."

Fenrer peeked around him. "You can sense it?"

"I can." Faehariel approached the entrance. "Never let the illusion of perception fool you."

Neven followed her and a chill descended down his spine. Snowroses fluttered and bounced to the cold breeze. Faehariel led them to the obsidian stone, carved with names of Warden's past. Memories fluttered his heart, the solemn song he shared with Yusari traced his lips, but he broke himself out of the daze. "What is the job, Warden-Commander?"

"Hold." Warden-Commander Faehariel lifted a hand. "Yuven? Can you come out for me?" Her Navei remained perfect and concise, and Neven tipped his head at the name she spoke.

Yuven...

Fenrer rounded his other side. "Is there a sad spirit here?"

"No, there is no spirit," Faehariel explained, and Neven kept Fenrer at a distance to give her concentration. "Yuven, I have someone I wish for you to meet properly."

Tiny hands hugged the side of the smooth stone and revealed the same wavy mop of white-hair, the boy from moons ago. A shiver wracked his every step and his violet gaze trailed over all three of them. It rested longer on him, and Neven tilted his head with a smile when Faehariel said, "I want you to meet Neven Lotayrin, he is an Avaerilian like you are." Fenrer approached from his side, but Yuven jolted back with his downy feathers puffed out in fear.

"Hello..." A familiar melody.

He's... that sounds like an Irimountian dialect...

Yuven whimpered and dove back into the shadows of the runestone. His gaze flicked between himself and Fenrer, and he pointed at them both, "Why'd you bring them?"

"Why is he scared of us?" Fenrer pressed.

Rainwater froze against his skin when Yuven pressed his cheek against the stone, a self-soothing gesture of Avaerilian children.

"He doesn't do well with strangers," Faehariel answered and looked at him. "This is a very... delicate matter, Lotayrin."

Fenrer took one more step for Yuven, who stared at him in preparation. "I'm-I'm Fenrer!" He held his hand out to the boy. "Your name is Yuven?" His introduction trailed off at Yuven's silence. "Can he not understand me?"

"He can, but he hasn't yet learned how to speak Common." Faehariel twisted to Yuven and spoke in their song, "I want you to show Warden Lotayrin where you've insisted on staying." Neven followed Yuven's point when he indicated at the garden shed. "I need you to see this, Lotayrin."

"Can I come?" Fenrer asked behind him.

"Of course, then we'll take you to the citadel."

Yuven led them through the flowerbeds and closer to the garden shed. Leaves whispered out shadows when the young boy shimmered into a ghost until he disappeared in full behind the closed door. Faehariel opened it with a smile, and Neven squeezed himself into the small space. Dust blanketed the floor from disuse, but Yuven trotted to the next door, reaching to open it. It swung with the wind through the open windows, and he scrambled up the tiny step, and Fenrer rushed to follow.

Neven went to join them, but his head smacked against the top of the frame and both boys twisted to him. "Ow..." A hiss left his throat as he shoved himself into the small corner, but frowned at the tiny bed-room with no space for a child to play. He glanced at Commander Faehariel, whose smile died.

"He refuses to sleep in the citadel," she explained. "He told me he likes it here better."

"I see..." Neven stopped when Yuven dragged out a heavy tome. Advanced Glyphic Theory and threw it open upon the tiny bed. Face to face with his fellow Naveeran, Neven sank into the corner when moisture gathered in his outstretched hands. It carved along the flow with a distinct glyph of piercing misty whites. Disbelief struck him at Yuven's advanced magical ability when he set the glyph on the floor. Crystals formed from the tips to dance within the room before bursting into snowy sparkles around him.

Yuven dropped his hands and turned his gaze to Fenrer.

"Um..." Fenrer hummed. "That was nice!"

Yuven pointed at the page of complicated glyphs. Ancients, at thirteen winters I struggled to get through that book...

Fenrer huffed and set himself on his feet. Magick rippled from the dust and layer of dirt. Neven drew himself to his knees when Fenrer groaned in pain, clutching at his arm as the flow stilled around him. "Maybe next time...?" he asked with a weak smile and shrug at Yuven.

Yuven pouted and turned to him, downy feathers puffed out.

Neven returned his stare, tilting his head in confusion at what the child wanted from him, but before he could question him, dissonant knocks cracked against the shed walls. Yuven shook and clenched his fists as the terror bathed in rage. Knees lost in an uncertain vibration, Neven held his breath when a soft, strangled whimper left the young Avaerilian's lips. Beside him, Fenrer shook alongside him while the auric swirls churned into a growing maelstrom. Neven got onto his feet when Yuven shook his hands out and tried to form another glyph through tears. Near him, he knelt down to reach out to him, "Yuven...?"

Yuven shrieked.

His ancestors screamed along.

Electricity swept through the ends of his feathers and the world fell into sharpened clarity around the young child. Another whimper from Fenrer, and his mind pulsed the moment Yuven burst into snow. Freed from the shriek, Neven sank deeper into his knees.

"We'll have to take this slowly, Lotayrin," Faehariel whispered, her voice laced with concern. "Wait here while I take Fenrer up to the citadel."

Neven shambled out of the garden shed with Faehariel and Fenrer, unable to move much further out of the flowerbeds while they departed from the garden. Lost in his thoughts, all alone, he sat down and stretched out his feathers and senses. He pressed his fingers into his temples and rubbed along the bone's edge. Crystallized pollen fell around him, and he jolted at a shuffle near the standing stone.

Yuven had returned to staring at him, cheeks stained with tears.

"Yuven," he said in their song, one to one when he came closer to him, and he bared his tiny fangs with his downy feathers puffed out in a threat display. "Little one... I will not hurt you. You've met me before." On his knees once more, he dared not tread any closer. "I'm Neven."

Yuven's fangs disappeared behind his lips with his frown. He hugged the stone with sharp, quiet breaths. "I'll do better next time..." he mumbled. "I'll make more consistent glyphs..."

You're a child... Neven made the next approach, and Yuven examined his movements through beaded pupils. "Whatever do you mean? Most children your age are just finding their glyphic signature... you don't need to do better at your stage. If you rush..."

Yuven released a soft cry and stared at him, a broken image. Neven held his arms out. "Let me help you," he said, urged on by a deeper soulsong screaming out through the blizzard around his heart. "I'm a Storm Warden... I'm not your enemy."

Yuven rolled his neck and a scowl formed. One foot in the light, another in the dark, his hands dug into the stone of temporary stability. Neven crawled his way through the snowroses to come face to face with Yuven. Across space and time, Neven held his breath when Yuven released the stone and considered him with wide eyes. "Are they my enemy?" He pointed at nothing, and then turned it on himself.

"What do you refer to?"

"The shadows," Yuven whispered through an empty, numb voice. "Are they my enemy if you aren't?"

Derelicts bled upon the snow.

"I protect the light," Neven managed.

Yuven's pupils expanded out of their beaded state and he took in a sharp swallow. "You're my enemy..."

"What?"

"I'm a shadow," Yuven mumbled. "A red-eyed shadow that brings more shadows... you're my enemy."

"Yuven—"

Yuven shook his head in one sharp motion, then disappeared into the air, leaving him in a broken song of home, underneath the mighty shadow of a monstrous wyvern bleeding upon a little stuffed toy.