NEVEN

Too hot...

Another carriage picked them up from the train station, but the wind he readied himself to give himself the energy he needed instead beat down on his neck in volcanic ash. He sprawled across the other seat with a groan, desperately wanting a single pile of snow. Anaysa leaned on the chair without melting herself, having done away with her traditional Navee loops."'I did warn you."

"You might as well dunk me in lava." He tried to press his magick into his skin to cool himself off, but it dripped around his fingers and melted the moment it froze into ice. Humidity choked his feathers as they slumped into the tangles of his curly blonde locks. He blinked when a piece of down fell out with the heat. Ugh...

"It will take a while for your body to adjust," she said. "It'll be easier once we're out at sea."

With no other choice but to take her word for it, he choked on sticky air and fought for the expansion of his lungs with every inhale. Time drifted out of his fingertips, but he heard the light drizzle on the top of the carriage. ... rain? Is that rain?

"We're here," Anaysa said when the carriage rolled to a stop after an endless, burning ride. "Can you move?"

Neven dragged himself up by the arms to reach for the package of his old clothes; his fur cloak among them. Sweat plastered hair to the back of his neck as he hobbled out at her urging, but stopped when Anaysa leaned against the carriage with an expression of expectation.

"Huh? Aren't we supposed to head out?" he managed through his exhaustion.

"While you're adjusting, why don't you take a look around at where you are?" Anaysa gave him a knowing smile.

Neven tore his eyes free of the crusty heat, then lifted his head.

His grip escaped with the burn of the world outside the blizzard.

Shields of cerulean spread across the expanse to tangle through the soft touch of gray in the clouds, piercing a silver lining around the curves. Rays of light broke through the leaves of a thick canopy. So close yet so far away from his touch. Winter swelled at the chirp of the birds taking flight, cooing their songs to the wind-sheared clouds blooming across the horizon. Sunlight dripped over his shoulders, biting a wedge in his iceborn blood to melt it to its barest truth. It rolled across, never impeded by a neverending tempest.

He forgot with the very heavens spread out over his head.

His heart slammed into his ribcage, and his ears pulsed to tighten his feathers to catch every breath of the new wind, carrying warmth instead of killing cold. Trees. Thick trunks spun with scaled black, into the speckled leaves giving him shade from the sun. He crept closer to the nearest tree, and pressed his fingertips against its scales. It flaked against his skin and put pressure onto his palm when he set it against the trunk. Leaves rustled with the chorus of the birds. He pressed his cheek against the tree, trying to hear what rested inside it — a thousand lifetimes of his own. His feathers caught on the bark, taking some down with it.

"Are you okay, Lotayrin?"

Life scratched against his face when he rubbed it. Only in wild tales he imagined Naveera with the same, rainbow plastered views. Outside, an endless flurry awaited the Naveeran who stepped outside their houses, buried underneath mountains of snow. He twisted back to Anaysa when she scooped up his discarded package of clothes.

Bells rang on the wind, a different tune compared to the crystal cathedral of Evyriaz. Anaysa led him down the cobbled road, to a sprawling city lining across massive cliffs. Two giant statues stood at the entrance to the gulf, their hands set alight in synchronization, bright as the sun. A lighthouse grew out of the castle built along the ridge, carved with alabaster stone. Guards stood at the gatehouse to the huge city, but one look at Anaysa's necklace allowed them through with no trouble.

Discomfort replaced his swallowing wonder at the shouting within. People bumped into each other with chortles and smiles. Stalls nestled between the alleys full of unfamiliar produce — and fish if the tangy, thick smell assaulting his nose was any indication. He jolted when a couple hugged their goodbye in front of him, and he threw his attention in the other direction.

Too many colours. Too many people.

Too hot.

He stumbled on his confusion, but kept pace with Anaysa, who led him to a harbor. Salt struck his nose to push the fish deeper into his throat. Fishing nets hung on racks for maintenance or loading onto fishing boats. On a piercing rock, several mills carried water up and down in tandem. He scrunched to try and avoid the smell, listening to the howling of people and carving of wood. Boats of every size swayed against the piers, and fiery shards flecked off the foam. Against the largest pier, a giant boat lowered its plank. Tall sails woven with grey fluttered with the wind, folded with huge ropes.

Water lapped at the edges of the harbor in invitation.

His head swam, and he stumbled. Anaysa caught the back of his collar plastered with sweat. He puffed out a plume of mist, to equalize the imbalance in his body, to call upon the moisture in the air to cool himself off.

"It's so hot," he complained.

Anaysa nudged him to the pier. "I'll get you something once we're boarded."

A bunch of people his age stood at the pier, though one boy hung at the back, accosted by a gaggle of young children — all shared the same dark hair, though the oldest had his tugged into a small wolftail. One young girl clung onto his leg, and another boy hung off his arm with a wild grin when the oldest lifted his arm up and down to swing him. Neven frowned when one of the children wiped their wet eyes, causing the older boy to ruffle their hair with a firm word in the oceanic language of Haneka. Neven tried to peek around for parents, but saw none.

He turned to the front of the group, where a group of girls whispered among each other. Ahead of them, a young lady with her hair tied with a gold ribbon braid with metal jaws stuck through her brown tangles. Storm Wardens ushered them aboard, but he tried to wrap his head around it all. On the deck, he hung onto the railing. His head throbbed when he drew his attention to the girls, who spoke with an easy sense of confidence and examined the sailors without drawing their gazes downward. Improper in their attitude, he shuffled in his spot and tried to keep himself standing.

Anaysa returned with another Storm Warden, who carried a heap of damp towels.

"This should help your magick," Anaysa translated their webbed Common in full when it came out broken in his ears, unable to pick out the exact words even though he studied endlessly to grasp the basics of the webby language. "Go below deck to wait for Healer. There will be a washing basin to untangle your feathers."

Neven nodded past his exhaustion and let the Storm Warden wrap the damp towel around his neck. Ice bit at the heat and clashed against his sweat. It swam with new sensations, with both Storm Wardens steadying him by the arms.

"Neven, he's asking how you feel," Anaysa said.

"Oh." He shook out his head. "Toss me in the ocean."

Anaysa snorted and relayed his message to the Storm Warden. Ushered for the stairway into the boat, he shuddered at his shame. Disgraceful... This is embarrassing. He eyed the girls, who returned his stare. I need to hold myself properly... He straightened out his spine, but it cracked with heat. How are they not in worse condition than I am?

Heat washed into his cheeks when the golden-ribbon girl raised an eyebrow at him.

Shameful.

The sway of the boat coiled into his stomach. Words lifted around him as they nudged him into a cabin with a single bed. He threw himself at the washing basin to push his fingers deep into the water, to slick them through his feathers to open up the current of the flow. He ran through each fluffy point, pulling out loose down to toss to the side. One more brush, he sank to his knees and tried to breathe. He turned to the two when the Storm Warden with Anaysa spoke.

"What's he saying? I only heard something about a shirt..."

"He suggests taking off your shirt. You're an ice-based primordial. You need the extra air."

Neven almost sent the washing basin flying with his jump. "What?" He drove his hands underneath his shirt to protect his stomach.

Anaysa blinked.

Neven scowled and gripped onto the table, then forced out in webbed Common. "Towel... please."

I think I said it right, I can't think. It's garbled.

He held out his hand when the Storm Warden passed him the damp towel. He shoved it behind his shirt and tried to grasp at the moisture in direct contact with skin, to tug out the cold of his magick. Water dripped down his brow and tickled his feathers as he tried to find comfort with his new baggage. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"You should get some sleep," Anaysa said. "You can move once you're adjusted."

Neven climbed into the bed, swallowing bile as the distant bells rang through his ears. The Storm Warden tugged something out of a bag to push into his hands.

"Drink."

Such a simple word.

Neven took a sip and savoured the coldness slipping over his tongue to chase the fire attacking his body. Everything pounded until darkness swallowed him.

In his dreams, he sat in the center of Irimount. Snow brushed over his bare knees as he listened to the silence of the streets. The wind picked up with a moaning howl, and he reached out his hand to the rippling flow, tugging himself into its familiar embrace.

Voices spun him into reality, and he scowled when time hadn't passed at all from the angle of the sun. It crept through the circular windows to bounce off the prism on the roof. Outside his door, Anaysa and the Warden spoke, but they turned when he lifted himself off his pillow. Both of them returned to his bedside, but he found himself unable to listen to the words he said to him.

Anaysa translated, "Your magick clearly didn't respond well to the heat. He'll be watching you for summer fever. It just might take him some time because Avaerilian..." Her tongue slipped past her fangs, as if she was trying to find the right word. "Physiology is so different when it comes to temperature equalization. We are sailing on open water, but you should stay in bed and rest. If you start feeling queasy, let us know.Seasickness on top of summer fever is not a good match."

"I can tell," he rasped, throat dry. "Can I have water?"

He sighed when they pressed a mug into his hands. In one gulp, he tried not to choke on the fleeting safety when some slipped over his chin.

His focus dimmed.

"Avoid using magick to cool yourself down," Anaysa translated his next words. "It'll add to the exhaustion you already feel. He doesn't want to add magick burnout on top of your other problems."

"Okay."

"It'll get better on Euros. You'll adjust, and know that you will be given the option to turn back."

Neven dug his fingers into the towel resting around his stomach. "No. I don't want to turn back." I've seen the heavens. "It'd just... make all my suffering for this pointless," he pointed out, then said. "Also, I don't think the Obscura Realm is this hot..." He jolted at the tumble of his words, and he said, "Excuse my words."

Her smile died. "You need not watch your tongue for our brand of humour, Neven. I, and I'm sure others, can handle it." Anaysa folded her arms. "I would, however, take care with the ideas Naveera spreads within the blizzard... it doesn't reach so far out here. Just open your mind and learn for now. Get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us."

The heat pulled him under the melting layer of ice when both Storm Wardens left him in the cabin. An ocean song swept the foam into his heart.

He steeled his resolve.

Snow melted in the heat, but it came back when it was time for winter; with no blizzard to trap him, he experienced the painted sky, and the trees carrying the world on their branches.

I will get used to this.