ADARA

The sun rose over the citadel spires, a bright white against the cloudless firmament. Storm Wardens moved with a sense of newfound purpose. Supplies loaded up onto carriages, a constant back and forth of boats as the days passed by. Preparations were abound for the Cleansing March, and she found herself at a loss, but with hope in her heart at Fenrer and Yuven's friendly approaches when it came to each-other. Friendly for Yuven. In the quiet Annex, where Pages put away the books and sorted them through, she found herself at the same table as before, with Fenrer and Yuven on either side of her. Books piled on the corners, and she pushed a stack out of her way. It spun in her mind with all the information the Warden Order kept painstakingly straight. Each little tidbit about Derelicts, the kingdoms, the natural order of Magick. Its very foundations, the give and the take. I'm happy they're getting along again. A smile crawled on her face when Yuven motioned at a book Fenrer was nose-deep into. But... Her hand rested on her stomach. This feeling...

Dissonant bells.

"We're not ready," Yuven mumbled across from her, his feathers perked up with a flick. Little puffs of down molted from the movement, but he brushed them off and unfurled the map he brought to their table. "I wasn't there the last time the Storm Warden's brought down the Goliath, and I've searched through the old Warden-Commander's journals."

"Find anything?" Fenrer questioned.

Yuven slammed the terrifying monolith of a book down. "I managed to find something... related to the Pact of Hundred," he replied. "Back when the Storm Wardens were digging out the ground to find the roots, no matter what." He tapped it. "Every Storm Warden who participated in that battle was named, along with their status afterwards. Many died. Thousands of our number." He folded his arms with another feather rustle. "Except Warden-Commander Faehariel and a couple others, though she wasn't Warden-Commander at this time."

Adara lifted her head from her own musings at the information. "Is that why your number seems so..." Her gaze drifted over the Annex, then to the window of the caldera courtyard.

"Small?" Fenrer whispered. "Yes." His gaze drew to Yuven. "We don't have those numbers for a direct assault."

"I know." Yuven rubbed the bridge of his nose with a huff. "But I have to bring something to the table for the Warden-Commander to consider."

Stop their advance.

Adara dug her fingers into the table, but held her tongue and understood the sacrifice ahead of her. Yuven tapped the map, then muttered, "Storm Spires run all along the Abyss, their power has weakened, and now whatever's at the bottom of it is waking up. Fast." He pressed his fist over the markings. "We can't afford mistakes, or failing." His fangs slid over his lips. "We'd need a huge confluence of power to eradicate it. We should be so lucky that it doesn't date itself at the Great Crimson Dusk."

"Are there even any Derelicts left that come from that time?"

Yuven looked at Fenrer, who then cast his glance to her. "We're not sure," he admitted. "Some say that the Dark Sea plays host to one of the Elder Ones. Whether that's fact or fiction, we can't say. Only way to tell would be to dive into its depths — and that's not advised." Fenrer pushed a book for Yuven. "Here's the one you were looking for, Yuv."

Adara leaned forward to investigate the title. The Otherworld: A Study on Life, Death, and its Echo. Her hand traced the thick bindings of a pale, wispy color. Yuven swiped it out of her reach to rustle through the pages, his beaded pupils scanning whatever laid within. After a moment, he put it on top of the largest codex. "What are you two thinking?" Uncertainty battled her heart when both men considered her, and she drew back when Yuven hovered a glyph over the map. Its ink shuddered, changed, and she snapped up to her feet when the Burning Abyss disappeared.

"This map has been redrawn and corrected from about the same timeframe," Yuven explained. "Here are the facts. One, the Storm Wardens couldn't kill it, so they created a prison. A canyon."

"I thought only Anima magick was—"

Yuven scoffed. "Give us some credit, Adara. The Storm Wardens have ancient magicks for situations such as this. Very few people are able to perform the feat." he threw a smaller notebook towards her. "It's glyphwork on a supersized scale. We call it the Golden Tenant, but it requires loads of preparation when not performed by an Anima. It is what created the canyon — the prison for this Goliath. There it remained when we built Storm Spires along the ridge." He returned the map to its current state, tracing the lines with his fingers. "Before now, the Storm Spires held... but interestingly, they started losing power even before the cult made their moves on kings." He brought a finger to his lips to tap it.

"So?"

"Do use your imagination, Adara. You read storybooks, surely you have that."

Good to see he's back.

Fenrer scooted closer to her. "It means that the Storm Spires losing their strength don't coincide with Hirishi's death, or Reyn and I's attack. Whatever their purpose for the blood of kings, it wasn't to take down the storm spires—"

"And by extension, not wake up what's at the bottom of it," Yuven finished. "You can call it a side effect." He narrowed his eyes. "Just like in Irimount... I was the side effect, what they really wanted was to wake up Evyriaz from his Corrupted slumber, set him loose to lay waste on Naveera as a whole. Instead, the Storm Wardens disrupted that plan by breaking the carapace of corruption, though the city fell in a single night, I was the sole survivor. So, we were spared some time until Evyriaz well and truly woke up." Yuven's feathers perked, and he sank back into his seat. "I wonder..."

"What?" Adara pressed.

Yuven tapped the book Fenrer brought, sliding his tongue over his lips. "Fenrer, have the Ancient Scriptures said anything on people going into the Otherworld while they are alive?"

Fenrer raised his head with a tilt. "No, it's thought to be taboo. Not only that, some believe that's how the Echo Obscura was created in the first place. The living trying to incorporate the realm of the dead. Whether that's the truth of it..." His gaze fell to his knees. "I don't know, the closest knowledge we have is that Aurus such as I... we see the bridge, can even interact with it in some manner, but even we cannot change or cross it if we are alive. We can't even call the spirits on the other side even if they can call to us. Why do you ask?"

Yuven pointed at her. "You said Evyriaz was once a man."

"Yes. Your ancestor."

"Well, I'm not a wyvern."

Adara rolled her eyes. "You're an Avaerilian, aren't they related?"

"Half-fae, half-wyvern," Yuven muttered. "But to note, I can't transform into a wyvern."

Fenrer narrowed his eyes. "Yuv... what are you thinking?"

"Questions, many of them," Yuven said as he sat back down to fold one leg over the other. "One... now that Evyriaz is no longer corrupted, why hasn't he transformed back?" He pressed his hand against the book. "Let me tell you something about my people. Some Avaerilians are connected to our own souls — wyvern souls. It's not transformative magick. Think of it like a cloak of power. It heightens our senses, our abilities." He tapped his fingers against the cover. "But those souls which we call upon, would you say they're connected to the Otherworld? Our sole connections? Is that not how Familiars are brought to life?" He put both hands on the table. "I think Evyriaz switched his soul with his body, and it is his body that rests within the Otherworld, a living person."

Adara ran the idea through her head, but Fenrer snapped up to his feet. "Yuven, what you're suggesting—" He took in a breath. "If what you say is true... if Evyriaz cast his body to the Otherworld—"

"Avae'londu." Yuven pulled his hands off the book. "It's our realm of the dead in Naveera, but it's a bit more than that. It's the home of our forebears. I think what the cult was trying to do in Irimount wasn't just to wake up Evyriaz on this side... they were trying to corrupt him on that side — effectively opening a path for Derelicts into the realm of the dead. We need to close it again if it's been open since the Great Crimson Dusk."

"But you just said the living can't traverse the realm of the dead," Adara pointed out.

Yuven frowned. "I will have to think about this more. We still have the Burning Abyss to worry about, and the fact we lack the numbers to do this head-on. But we can take care of two birds with one stone. Fenrer, you're the Aurus, I want you to at least consider means. You know as well as I do if a path is open, the Echo Obscura will spread, and then any future deaths will be consigned to their feast." His gaze remained serious, lacking the condescension of before. "There might be a way to traverse it without making it worse... and without putting ourselves at risk. Besides, I don't like where this is going for us. As much as I hate to admit this, it wouldn't hurt to have Evyriaz on our side. He was there, the first king of Naveera, fighting against Derelicts during the Great Crimson Dusk. If he remembers anything... we could use it now."

Adara frowned at Yuven. "You think we're coming on another Crimson Dusk."

"I don't think it, Adara." Yuven took some of the books away to put them aside for sorting. "Everything is pointing to it. Someday, we're going to wake up to the sunrise, and it will be awash with blood."

Fenrer raised his hand between them. "Before we fall to the gloom," he cautioned with a smile. "We might have a chance. I'll look into it, Yuven."

"Thank you, Molvisaliz." Yuven's feathers drooped. "I wish I did not have to ask that of you."

"Why, because it was all a lie?" Adara tensed, but stopped when Fenrer chuckled with a smile. "All the more reason to see what's true, right? You do what you can. Deliver your information to the Warden Echelon." He grabbed Yuven's forearm, a sense of energy back in Fenrer's form. "We can still take steps to lessen any effects coming."

Yuven slipped his forearm out of Fenrer's grip with a steady nod. "I'll also be requesting that after this, we join Neven and Kemal over at Asairai. If we can't find information on the cult here on Orkaena... we're going to find it over there. Rest up. We have a lot of work to do and I won't have anyone slacking at this juncture. We can't afford it. We don't have time." He gave her a side-eye, and headed down the spiral staircase.

Adara waited for his quick footsteps to disappear before leaving her chair to stand beside Fenrer. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," Fenrer replied as his hand met her forearm instead. "Adara, I want to thank you."

"For?"

Fenrer's gaze softened. "I once told you that I believed in our enduring will to survive against all odds. In our ability to see the light in the darkness. I forgot my own words for a long time, the moment I let Yuven go on those cliffs," he whispered. "You brought it back to me though. I shouldn't have had faith in the Ancients, but that didn't mean I had to lose faith in what was right in front of me." He drew his gaze over her. "You've walked a dark path just like we have, and you came out of yours with your convictions intact and your belief stronger than ever. Never lose those convictions, or your compassion. It's the reason Yuven and I are alive."

Adara smiled and pressed her face into his shoulder. "I don't know about that, I wouldn't even had the chance if you and Yuven hadn't come to Prunal when you did."

"I'm sorry we couldn't save anyone else."

Adara dug her fingers into his shirt. "It's okay," she mumbled. "You did what you could. I couldn't ask for more than that. I'm just grateful I have the chance to make a difference." Away from the rain and the sharp axe to be brought against her neck. "Just don't leave me."

His finger touched her chin and he shook his head. "I have no intention of doing that." In a long moment, his lips met hers, and the stars of the twilight sea rippled underneath her feet.

I can only see what is right in front of me.