FENRER

Voices mingled in the obscure shadow of a strange dream. It drowned his throat, and he tried to cough out the crimson tendrils. He stood at the edge of the creek, where his parents stood side by side, both their backs turned to him across the bridge of starlight. "Mom? Dad?" he called them and came closer to the creek. He frowned at the tangle of shadowy burrs hooking into the mist of Father, but Mom shone brighter than the evening star.

"If you cross the bridge of Velteraiia, Little Wolf, there will be no turning around," a deeper voice said behind him.

Fenrer whipped around to investigate the intruder, but relief swept through his shoulders when Kon sat at the gap of the thicker forest, swirling with energy and breathing with life. "But..." He returned to the starlit bridge, but jolted when Mother sent a glance back at him, a soft smile gracing her face when she dissipated into the same shimmering flow. "Mom!"

Kon came to his side and sat down. "You must live, Fenrer."

"But..."

Kon studied him. "It is hard to let go, to release, I know." A deep putt escaped through his muzzle. "But your time to cross the bridge is not yet here, little one. Return to the world, the flow, and live."

Survive.

It wrapped around him in a blanket of darkness and rocked him to a gentle sleep.

"His fever finally broke. Thank the Gods..."

Air swelled into his lungs and he tore himself through the thick underbrush. Blurry, faceless shapes bustled around him with the rock of the ocean current. One held his bandaged arm in their hand to unwrap it to apply a mysterious poultice to the wound before replacing the fabric and putting his arm back across his chest. He whimpered when they put a damp cloth over his brow, and blocked out the swelling of his senses. Auras continued to dance through the fabric, able to pick out at least three individual colours.

Kon's presence persisted, a dim, but no less strong connection to that wondrous bridge of stars. He tried to slip back through the forest to see Mother and Father, but he lost his way on the unseen trail, and found himself back in the flow, the auras fluttering around the ship, but with the golden wind pushing them out of his view. Neven Lotayrin sat in the corner, his hands in his lap.

Fenrer groaned and tried to squirm out of his bed, causing Neven to raise his head.

"Fenrer," he said and scooted his chair closer. "You are awake."

"Uh-huh..." Fenrer eyed the window, where clouds crawled across a reflected sea, but seabirds cooed. "Where am I?"

"You're on the galleon," Neven reminded him. "It's been a couple days, but we're closing in on Euros. We'll be in port soon enough. We're far from Sivaport now."

Mom... Dad... Sungrove... Fenrer sucked in his lips and tried to nod out the empty clarity. "Yeah... I'm sorry if I screamed too loud. I hope I didn't give you a headache." I just didn't want to be stuck... I don't want to die. Tears dropped down his cheeks, but he brushed them out and tightened his lips between his teeth. "Thank you for hearing me, Warden Lotayrin."

"It's no problem," Neven said. "Are you hungry? Can you walk?"

Fenrer tapped the bandage, but feeling spread through his fingers. "I think so... and yeah, I'm a little hungry." He balked when Neven reached around to the table, then pushed a warm parcel into his hands. He tore open the package, and a loaf of bread fell into his hands. He tested its squishiness, well-preserved for a sea journey. "Do you have honey?"

"Honey?"

"Yeah..."

"That is what bees make, correct?"

Fenrer jolted at the odd question. "Do bees make other things?"

Neven lifted himself out of the chair. "I can check. Stay there and rest."

Fenrer obeyed and swung his legs back and forth, allowing the tempest behind his brow to pour forth and crack his cheeks. He set the plate on the table and dug his fingers into his temples, choking on the pain he left at the steps of starlight. Sapphire winter trotted outside his closed door, and Neven entered. "I couldn't find said honey, but we did have some jelly..." He hesitated, and Fenrer curled against the corner of his bed and tried to hide his tears. "Fenrer."

"I'm sorry." He gulped on water and tucked his head into his arms. Neven took the plate back into his lap, fiddling with the butter knife he left on the table. He brushed his wet cheeks with his sleeve as Neven opened the jelly jar. He spread it out inside the crack in the bread, smoothing out the mess before closing the bread, wiping the knife as he went.

"You want to know something interesting?"

Fenrer straightened out.

"Euros — it comes from a Navei word," Neven said and handed him the plate. "Eyrusha."

"Ey-eyerosha? How do you say it?"

"Eh-roos-sha." Neven corrected with a smile and nod at the bread, so Fenrer chewed on the preserved sustenance. "It means 'rose of the sky.' You see, the citadel of our order blooms out of the mountain spirals into the clouds, where hippogryphs take a sprint and launch themselves into the sky, and it spreads downward to create an entire city along the ridges and coast where water meets lands," he explained. "It truly blooms like a rose into the sky." Fenrer shoveled the rest of the bread into his mouth at the sound of the ship bell, and Neven grinned. "How about I show you what I mean? Are you sure you can walk?"

"Yeah... my arm even feels better." Fenrer let Neven take the plate from him to set it aside before following Neven out of the room. People clamoured on the deck, and he grabbed the back of Neven's armor to find his strength with each step. Storm Wardens raced around, their colours jittering with excitement. Kemal, the one from Sungrove, stood on the railing with a wide smile on his face as he gripped the ropes.

"I see it!" his voice boomed across the ship with the continuous hum of the bell.

Fenrer looked at Neven, who pointed with a nod over the railing.

It turned out words could not describe Euros, the rose of the sky.

A massive citadel burst from the caldera in molten golds of one purpose; one goal. It grew from the depths of the coast, the roots of a massive tree. Spires grew out of the juts and twirled into outer staircases. Hippogryphs took flight from the peaks and soared downwards, out of sight. Ports of stone stretched from the base into an open embrace for ships.

One colour. One dream. One aura.

It soothed into his mind. Golds swept over the rock and left ancient indents, a molten cascade of a fiery flower. Peace rested beneath the powerful force of nature the mountain held deep inside its belly.

"The Storm Wardens live in a volcano?" Fenrer exclaimed.

"We share the space with it," another voice said, and he turned. Warden-Commander Faehariel stood there with her arms crossed, her horns twirling into pitch black, painted with gold. "We're taking you to the top. We'll keep an eye on your recovery there."

Jolted fear pierced his heart. "You-You won't make me go back, will you?" He slipped into Neven's shadow. "There's... there's nothing left for me back there... nothing but shells."

"No, I will not force you to go back," Faehariel said. "Euros is open to all who pledge service to the light, or to find serenity within its embrace."

Protect the light... Fenrer stared at the crescent blade on her hip, and on the hips of all the Wardens on board. "Do I have to be a Storm Warden?"

Faehariel chuckled. "You're a little young to think about that. Focus on the moment, and your time will come. Your only duty as of now is to learn, rest, grow and survive."

Survive.

Kon's words howled in the back of his mind with the rise of dawn. He dug his fingers into his bandage and the boat slid into port. A giant anchor slammed through the water to trap them in place. Fenrer bounced between Kemal and Neven as the two guided him down the gangplank. The rest of their entourage scattered into the huge markets, full of laughter and the joy of home. People raised their hands when Faehariel passed, towering over them all. Unable to tear her attention away from her, she motioned for them to board a strange pulley system beside massive steps which went straight to the entrance of the caldera. Runes lit around the open compartment, and Fenrer held on tight to Neven when it rumbled, then moved along the steps, taking them faster to the opening into the caldera.

He ascended into the mountain heavens, the blooming golden rose.

From ports to markets, to crafters and artisans. Their journey continued past a lift on the other side, with the stairs as their guide. Towers dug into the stone, and he held a gasp at the giant wyvern cupping the edges, their wings wrapped around the towers to cast a shadow arch with its body. Wardens waved down at them.

Everything pulsed one colour, and he found himself able to focus. Waves danced and flowed with happiness in a sun-filled sky. Magick pulsed through the air and never opposed itself. At the top, arches of etched stone led deeper into the caldera, and they came to a stop at the peak. Off the strange lift, he patted himself down, but gasped when Neven nudged him forward, and he basked in the pool of gold.

The citadel touched the heavens and wound around the grassy knolls of the caldera. White marble pierced into spires and wrapped around their home. Fields weaved emerald, and he gazed at the stable and paddock in an indent of the mountain. He crept closer to it when a hippogryph chuffed and slammed its claws into the ground. Grey curiosity flitted its aura as it leaned closer to investigate him in turn. He continued to move along with Faehariel and Neven across the grounds, closing in on the citadel proper.

Another aura drowned out the molten gold.

He gasped.

An icy maelstrom calcified into a massive bubble around a walled garden. It pulsed and heaved with despair, layered with crimson torment. Fear bathed in pure power. Space distorted and failed to cling to the time of reality. Fenrer scrambled to view the energy, causing Faehariel and Neven to follow him.

Snowroses shivered in the flowerbeds, underneath a blanket of frost, spreading the white pollen higher to join the calcified flow. He tugged on Neven's arm to point his attention to it.

"What is this place?" he asked.

Neven raised an eyebrow in confusion, but Faehariel tipped her head.

She can see it too.

He tried to dig past the maelstrom of snow, but loneliness pierced his heart.

Reyn... Reyn felt this way, but there was less crimson... and... it's so big.

"Lotayrin," Faehariel spoke. "There is something I need your assistance with."

Fenrer turned to her. "You can sense it, right?"

"I can," she affirmed. "One little tip I can give you for Aurus magick. You must sort what is important — and never let the illusion of perception fool you."

Faehariel walked through the wall of a blizzard with little difficulty, and Neven followed suit. Fenrer hesitated at the border, but pushed through. In the eye of the blizzard, the air eased. Heart trees swirled and shielded the flower beds. In the middle, a huge stone of obsidian. Names carved into its surface with careful precision. Behind the stone, a moderate-sized garden shed tucked underneath the shade of a large tree.

"What is the job, Warden-Commander?"

"Hold for a moment." Faehariel knelt to the stone. "Yuven?"

Her next words came out the same melody Neven instructed him in for the rose.

The stone didn't respond.

Fenrer came to her. "Is there a sad spirit here?"

"No, there is no spirit." Faehariel returned to the stone and continued to chant the song.

I don't think the stone is going to answer... It's a rock.

He froze when a shadow molded behind it. Tiny hands clutched the side of the standing stone, as if it was their only shield. Fenrer frowned when a boy about his age crept around the rock with a cautious shiver. A wavy mop of hair, white as snow. Frozen violets pierced through the world. Downy feathers stuck out at odd angles around his pointy ears, which flicked when Faehariel said the melody. Fenrer approached to investigate, but the young boy hopped backwards with a fearful jolt.

He's so small, but his aura... it's so huge... almost too big for him.

Yuven, the young boy, looked between the three of them with wide eyes and a mumble of the melody before keeping his attention on Faehariel. He whimpered and took shelter in the shadow of the standing stone.

He's... afraid? Fenrer checked on Neven, whose feathers thinned in stricken disbelief. He's afraid of me and Neven? He looked down at himself, ragged from his journey.

Terror filled the violets when Yuven mumbled and pointed at the two of them.

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

Faehariel broke her attention from the white-haired boy, who grimaced and pressed his cheek against the stone. Neven frowned deeper at the motion, and his winter aura pulsed with warm concern.

"He doesn't do well with strangers," Faehariel explained. "This is a delicate matter, Lotayrin."

Without waiting for an adult's direction, Fenrer came closer to Yuven. "I'm-I'm Fenrer," he forced out and held his hand out to the boy. "Your name is Yuven?"

Yuven stared at him.

"Can he not understand me?" Fenrer asked.

"He can, but he hasn't yet learned to speak Common," Faehariel said, then said something to Yuven, who drew out of the protection of the stone with a point at the garden shed. "I need to show you this, Lotayrin."

"Can I come?" Fenrer asked before they both left him at the stone.

"Of course, then we'll take you to the citadel." Faehariel followed Yuven's trail through the flowerbeds to the shed in the gentle, whispering shadow of leaves. Yuven fluttered into the distortion, and through the closed door without them. Faehariel opened it with a smile, urging them inside. Pottery and seeds rested behind glass, but a thin layer of dust matted the floor. Yuven trotted to the next, smaller door, reaching up to open it. It swung with the wind, and he scrambled up the tiny step to enter the room. Fenrer rushed forward to follow him.

Yuven took a book out, and Fenrer turned when Neven hissed with a hard clunk.

His hand went to the top of his head, and he rubbed it, with Faehariel almost out of sight of the doorframe. "He refuses to sleep in the citadel," she explained as Neven knelt down and took an unimpeded corner in the haphazard bedroom. "He said he likes it here better."

Fenrer stepped back when Yuven eyed him, then opened the book across his bedspread. Complicated glyphs filled the pages and margins, and the power swelled when Yuven held himself straight, facing Neven. He held out his hands, and Fenrer gasped when moisture collected across his fingertips, carving itself onto the flow with a distinct glyph of piercing white. Neven's eyes widened when Yuven clenched his fists, and the glyph rested on the floor. Crystals of ice formed from the tips to dance in the room, before bursting into snowy sparkles. It glimmered the auras, and Yuven dropped his hands with an expectant gaze at him.

"Um... that was nice," Fenrer bleated.

Yuven gave him a blank blink, then pointed at the page.

His head spun at the words and twisting drawings, but he got the message. He set himself on his feet, planting himself to the ground to feel the pulse beneath him. It shuddered the dirt, but he groaned when numbness swept through his arm. He brushed his fingers along the bandage, then shrugged. "Maybe next time?" he asked.

Yuven glanced at Neven, his downy feathers puffed.

In the continuous silence, Yuven continued to stare at the older Avaerilian, and when Neven turned to Faehariel, a question on the wind, the spikes in the maelstrom tightened.

Fenrer frowned when Yuven shook and clenched his small fists.

Gentle knocks skittered along the wood of the shed, and Yuven's knees trembled. A soft, strangled whimper left his mouth. It stifled the shimmering air and choked him with pain and confusion. Fenrer trembled with the torrent of empathy when Yuven whined with a small shake of his body, and tears burst forth from his eyes. He held out his hands to create yet another glyph.

Neven knelt down. "Yuven?"

Yuven squealed, causing a potent, visceral reaction in Neven, whose feathers stood on end at the sound and formed beaded pupils in the sapphires. Fenrer whimpered when Yuven burst into the snow and disappeared.

Faehariel's lips tightened. "We'll have to take this slowly. Lotayrin, wait for me here while I go get Fenrer settled."

That pain.

Fenrer followed Faehariel out of the garden, where Neven left the shed to sit among the snowroses in intense silence. "Who was that?" Fenrer asked.

"Yuven Traye."

"Why is he in the garden all alone?"

"He feels safe and comfortable. As he only responds to me, most of the Wardens don't go near the garden right now."

"Why don't they? He seems lonely. He's so powerful, Miss. Why is he afraid?"

"Because people often fear what they refuse to understand."

Fenrer slammed to a stop at the slap of a memory — Father said the same thing when he gave him the black band around his forearm. He trailed after Faehariel into the citadel. High stone walls oozed ancient stories and old magick fluttered through the lamplit corridors.

It never compared in intensity to Yuven's magick.

Faehariel led him into the western wing of the citadel, where a shrine door led into a blooming courtyard and a corridor branched out to form a circle. Paper ornaments hung off the branches of the tree.

"Here is a free room," Faehariel said, guiding him to the closest one and opened the door with a wave of her hand.

Inside, a desk with a basket full of unused paper sat beneath it. Books filled the shelves to the brim. Fenrer shuffled to the bed, where the window let in fluttered light from the shrine.

"I'm going to have a healer come check on you," Faehariel said. "And, Fenrer?"

"Yes?"

Faehariel smiled at him. "It is okay to cry and be afraid. To stand against the darkness, with your fear, is the strongest thing you can do," she said. "Tomorrow, I'll see if I cannot train you in your Aurus ability."

Fenrer shuffled his feet. "The... The Auro back home said I was the most powerful Aurus he's ever seen."

She considered him with her opalescent, swirling eyes. "Yes," she affirmed. "I agree with his assessment — but it is not about power. It is what we do with it."

Fenrer pressed his hands deeper into his chest. "Can I have a desk of Auric cards?" he asked. "I-If that's okay. I don't want to ask for too much."

"You aren't," she said. "I'll get a deck of cards, and listen to what the healer says when they arrive."

"I will."

"I'll come see you tomorrow."

"Can-Can I see Neven too?"

Faehariel grinned. "I shall send him your way when I'm done discussing an important matter with him." Her horns brushed the doorframe, and she ducked her head forward. "You can also visit Yuven. I think he'd do much better in contact with someone his age."

Little things sent warm bursts through his heart, so he climbed into bed and waited.

He glanced up from his staredown with the wall when someone knocked on the door, then opened it.

A man entered with a piece of parchment in one hand and a plate in the other, shadowed by a girl his age. Her golden hair shone in the sun as she held a colouring book of flowers close to her.

"You must be Fenrer Pyren," he said. "I'm Yuo, and I have a couple things for you." He hesitated and turned to the young girl. "Maria?"

Maria raced to his side to throw her book at the foot of his bed. Notes filled the margins when Fenrer leaned to investigate, but raised his hands when she held out an essence phial. "Don't down it all," she said before he could do just that the moment it touched his fingers. "Take it slow. Don't choke. Sleep afterwards. Don't use magick." She nodded.

Fenrer downed it all, guzzling it, then coughed, causing Yuo to shake his head.

"I just said not to down it all at once," Maria complained. "Don't be dumb."

Fenrer opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when Yuo chuckled. "I want you to eat. You need sustenance to get your strength back. Any pain at all?"

Fenrer waited a few seconds for the essence to slick through the rest of his body. "Not anymore, thank you."

"Well, the healing ward is in this wing of the citadel. If you feel dizziness or any pain, mental or otherwise, come see me and I'll check you over," Yuo said. "Our Aurus healer is called Ashein. You can ask for them if it's not an issue I can help with. For now, I think a couple days of bed rest will help."

"Sleep?"

Yuo stopped. "Difficulty?" He shuffled through his long coat. Liquid frothed in the phial he took out. "It's a bit bland, but it should ease you into the process of sleep."

I'll take a bland taste if it means I can sleep. He downed it, then coughed further, causing Maria to scrunch her nose.

"It's like you didn't learn your lesson the first time," she grumbled.

Ew... it tastes like stale bread... Fenrer stuck his tongue out.

He leaned back into his covers, and the two left his side, with Maria shaking her head as she went.

He fell asleep to the howl of a wolf.