ADARA

The taste of brine on the air filled her dreams; full of warmth and the call of gulls, squawking over the harbor, where bells rang to the arrival of ships entering the gulf of Haneka. Sails billowed out in the wind, both real and a dream when she faced the dawn inching over the horizon through the window, whose blinds fluttered with the wind. Raucous, but cheerful sounds echoed from the city proper while she remained in the fortress that was Sivaport castle. Its towering battlements wound its way around the cliffs it placed itself near, granting the high-ground from attacks from the sea. Adara rubbed her eyes and sat up from the bed. In the wall across from her, the fireplace's old coals littered the pit, the fire doused.

Under the lamplight, Fenrer sat at the desk with his head against his hand and a thick parchment underneath his other arm and paid her no heed from the way he kept his attention on the paper and whatever he wrote on its surface. Her bare feet pressed against the carpet the bed sat on, while the stone floors remained clean but with a natural sense of dust. "Fenrer?"

He broke out of his mindless writings to twist his head to her. "Good morning."

Early starts she was no longer a stranger to, at least some stars still weren't out. Her memories of the journey with Yuven and Fenrer fresh on her mind and Yuven's penchant for waking them before the crack of dawn. Not that she had been a stranger to begin with considering her work at the tavern in Prunal. More memories — of the first time she met Fenrer after Gregor's attempts to come onto her. Adara rubbed her shoulder, then reached forward to grab her crimson shawl. "Have you heard anything about what King Reyn wants from you?"

Fenrer folded the paper with a drawn out huff. "He'll be sending me with a team of housecarls for added protection," he replied. "We'll be winding our way through the entirety of the Goldwood, stopping by Blackwater Pass to talk to..." Fenrer opened a book next to him. "Lady Valarma, who will send out my missive to the other side of the wood and try to get the news to the southern wall about the situation — which we can only hope the desert citadel will hear of it and send news of their own, but until then, we're on our own. We also need to stop by Sungrove to get details of the damages and what needs to be fixed."

"Are you sure about this, Fenrer?" Adara slipped out of the bed, slippers on as she wrapped the shawl around her shoulders. "If you're not ready—"

Fenrer tucked the folded missive into the leather strap of his armor. "I was never going to be ready, Adara," he replied. "I'm doing this so the people of the Goldwood have stability; and I challenged my father to a duel... to the death, I declared myself the Lord of Sungrove, and I sent him into the abyss." He set his hands on the desk in front of him with a shake of his head. "I'd rather be doing this than thinking about other things. Yuven can—" His voice hitched. "Yuven doesn't need us for what he's doing. What he's doing is Storm Warden business... what I'm doing is Hanekan business, politics, but I am still a Warden. My title won't change that anytime soon. I'm not a leader. I'm not my father." He sucked in his lips and scooted himself around the bed to head for the door. "And for now, Reyn doesn't need my protection. Yuven can protect him better than I can — look at what happened in Azahama."

"You did all you could back then, Fenrer," Adara insisted and followed him to the door.

"I don't know about that anymore." Fenrer left her inside and disappeared down the lamp-lit, stone corridors. On the retreat, away from his problems and bad habits.

Adara dug her fingers into the wood of the door, then went to her gathered effects to get changed into fresh clothes. Well, I'm not leaving until I make sure Yuven knows what exactly is happening. Boots on, she left the room and down the other corridor, to the quietest, darkest place in the castle. A couple of windows revealed the sight of the gulf, where the statue of Pyren held his hands out to greet the dawn. Her hand brushed along the walls, but she found the handle of what she sought and pulled it open.

A massive magitek table sat in the center of the room, its terrain formed with runes dug within the wood. Lamps swung on the hooks attached to the shelves, casting a soft, but no less uneasy glow within the darkness of the room. The smell of old parchment and ink struck her nose when she wandered deeper. "Yuven?" Her hand trailed one of the thick spines of the books. Multiple books with several, thick pages. Her finger traced one of Hanekan letters, trying to sound it out to herself, though she gasped when metal pressed against the soft area of her neck. Electricity slammed her to a stop when Yuven leaned over her shoulder, his grip tight on his seax's. The mist thickened in her view, but he said, "I recall saying I don't want to be disturbed. You are a disturbance."

"Can you let me go?"

Yuven pushed her in the back and she twisted around with her back to the books. "What is it, then?" he demanded. "I have a lot of things to do and never enough time to do them without someone hounding me."

"Do you ever intend on talking to Fenrer?"

Yuven gave a slow blink and grabbed one of the books behind her, tucking it between his arm and side to adjust for its ridiculous size and didn't answer her question. Instead, he went to the desk to slam it down. Dusty puffs echoed from the motion, and he flipped it open. "I would, but I've got a cult to root out before it gets more king's blood to feed whatever they're planning with the Burning Abyss." He tapped his thumb against his lips with a mutter of Navei. "I can deal with Fenrer after, and not before."

"If you keep pushing it back there might not be another chance. You have to talk to him," Adara insisted, but Yuven sat down in the chair with a flick of his feathers. "He is your best friend — hells, in a sense, deeper than that!" Adara shoved his shoulder, and he glared at her. "The least you could do is ask him what he plans to do with his day since you're so content to trap yourself in here with the 'workaholic' excuse, well, I know you better now and I'm not buying it." Hands on her hips, she returned the scowl.

"I know exactly what he plans to do," Yuven chittered. "His Grace—" Venom dripped off his tongue. "Will give him information of all the complaints of people who suffered under — might I point out — a monarch's rule. Fenrer will be at the forefront of this, having to deal with people who quite frankly have worked well enough on their own from what we saw in Wolford, but since this is Fenrer we're talking about and he can never ignore someone's plight for more than five seconds, I'm stuck babysitting so this world doesn't potentially end." He narrowed his eyes. "You don't get dark magick like some of us do, Adara. You have seen it in action once." He raised a slender finger. "Hope you don't see the full scope of what it really is. All you need to do is recall Irimount... and the absolute ruin that it had become in a single night because of it." One more huff and feather flick, he returned to his book. "I'm assuming you're going with him. You will be gone for a few days or so, depending on what route you take. The Dawn Road, I'd have to guess." Yuven grabbed a quill and wrote in his notebook. "Faster route, more well-traveled, but that might attract Derelicts, so try not to get your flesh chomped."

"Lovely."

"It's the truth."

"So, you're not going to talk to him at all today?"

"I didn't say that." Yuven tapped his quill against the paper. "I'm sure I'll see him before your little brigade leaves. You can tell him I'll keep an eye on King Reyn since he has a measure of care for him." His nostrils flared, and a plume of mist left them. "Sorry, Adara... some of us are trying to stop Derelicts and cults from bleeding the land dry in our own ways." He stretched out his hands.

"He is your Oathbound."

"I know, but are you going to tell me to forgo this work, which, might I point out is a bit—" Yuven tapped his fingers together. "Important, with world-changing consequences if left to fester? If what I got out of Neven is any indication, this is potentially bigger than most expect — but I'm not going to be a dumbstruck squirrel like all the rest when it comes upon us like a wave of blood."

"I'm not saying that, Yuven."

"He knows where I am, Adara," Yuven bit. "And even if I said I don't want to be disturbed, it clearly doesn't stop people, nor did I lock the door." He huffed with a mumble of Navei and turned to another page in the book. "The magickae lands are steeped in blood, Adara. If you think Tebora was the exception, that you thought these lands were gleaming cities and wondrous splendors you find in your stories... you're not going to find such."

On the ocean's horizon, a volcanic island pierced out of the waves, and a massive citadel towered from within the caldera. It set her heart on fire with wanderlust and imagination found in the words on a page. Golden warriors, blades in hand to fight and defeat evil. It echoed with Mother's voice though she barely remembered her face until the crystal weaved her memories back together. "Maybe when I first met you two," she replied. "I still think you're heroes."

Yuven's feathers thinned and he kept his gaze locked on the book. "Heroes. The Storm Warden's aren't heroes, Adara. You've seen it for yourself. It is thankless. We give our lives to this world, to prevent the contagion of Derelicts — but then people attract them. Dark cults take root... and we're all that stands against the abyss and others will so readily turn their backs on us as long as we keep the monsters away from them." His lips curled into a smile. "You don't see people falling over themselves to join our ranks. It takes a lot of convincing."

"I'll join," Adara blurted.

Yuven hesitated, then barked out a sharp laugh. "Right. How about we make a bet?"

"Sure, how much gold?"

"Gold? I have no use for gold." Yuven got out of the chair once more. "No... you want a story? I'll oblige. I will warn you though, you should never make bets with Avaerilians. We don't bet with gold."

Adara drew her eyes to the ceiling. "Just lay down the terms, you nuglet. It's not like the Avaerilian's are fae."

"We're close enough. We're descended from wyverns and the fae. First warning." Yuven swirled whispered magick on the tops of his fingers, and her flesh raised at the hushed song which fluttered the lamps. "Here are the terms. You want to be a Storm Warden? Fine, I'll teach you how to do that too." Her blood curled when the magick swished through the air and left sparkled trails as it formed into a crystal glyph. "Second warning, Adara... once we set these terms... it's not pleasant to break them. For you or me. Once we make this little 'bet'... we both have to see it through."

Adara followed the magick as it sang. "Isn't that the point of a deal?" Light struck the shadows and her fire pulsed in response to the chorus. "What are your side of the terms?"

Yuven shook his head with a toothy smile. "Not so much terms on my end as... explanations. You once told me you don't want to die. Becoming a Storm Warden? You're consigned to it. Can you accept that?" His eyes narrowed. "Can you accept the reality that once you take up the crescent blade, you will more than likely die due to a Derelict? Forgotten to the annals of history? Can you accept that outcome? Third warning." He leaned closer to the glyph. "For once we swear on this particular song, there is no coming back. Do you understand that, Adara Sazaka?"

"Yes."

Yuven tsked. "And that was your final warning," he replied and pressed the palm of his hand against the center of the glyph. His pupils formed into beads against the violet irides. "Navei'al." His gaze remained rapt on her as the glyph twirled with his voice. "Zet'alna." Another sparkled twirl. "Xe'tana." It completed its third circuit, and he sneered at her and revealed his fangs. He pushed the glyph, and it wrapped around her, connected to him. "You should've just listened to me at the first warning, Adara."

"I'm not about to back down," she said. "I'll prove you wrong."

"If you prove me wrong, I'll give you what you so desire from me." He tossed one last ball of magick into the singing gale.

"And what's that?"

"I guess we'll both find out when the time comes." Yuven flicked his feathers as a reflection of the glyph hushed around his feet. "Listen to what the song tells you... and repeat."

Adara traced the music in the air. "What is this?"

"All that time in Naveera and you learned nothing?" Yuven huffed. "You are certainly not going to be a gatherer of information."

Adara went to snap, but stopped at the rippled hush and a flap of wings against her head. Navei'al. Zet'alna. Xe'tana. Three Navei words she continued to see over and over again, and the power of names. "I, Adara Sazaka... accept your terms, Yuven Traye..." Her hand shoved through the gale to stop its descent and her flames sparked in the symphonic colors. "On one more condition."

"What?"

"You will fix this with Fenrer and you will not complain about it."

Yuven flared his nostrils. He raised his hand, and his own gale rose up around him. "You have been a lot of trouble, Adara Sazaka — ever since we met you, you've been trouble," he said. Adara glared at him, and he huffed, before his words came out of the song around them, "Yuven Traye, d'lo mai. Xe'tana d'lo ul Navei'al." He tore his hand through the gale, and the song tapered off into a flourished finish, and the magic dripped around them. It went quiet, and he shook his head at her. "And here I thought stories would've taught you to not make deals with fae or fae-like folk. We're now stuck until we see the terms of our deal followed."

"I suggested gold."

"You can't put gold to a desire like that," Yuven replied and sat back down. "I will talk to Fenrer today, and try again before you leave."

"Thank you, Yuven."

"I wouldn't thank me." Yuven took up his quill again. "You never do an Oath Song with a Naveeran."

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"Believe it or not, Adara, I don't want to hurt you, and if it's a Storm Warden you want to be... I just said our numbers are dwindling." He curled his lips into a sneer again. "And we could always use more fodder." His snobbish air dissipated. "You better tell Fenrer what we did... and get ready for the reaction... because he'll know exactly what he did and he will certainly not be pleased."

"I'm not going to lie to him again."

Yuven huffed into his book and went back to writing.

Magick continued to tickle underneath her skin when she left him in the dark, the beautiful song gone out of her ears.