FENRER

Heat hammered against his brow. It stuck to his shirt when he pried open his eyes and found himself staring up at the sparkled firmament, its own twilight ocean; constantly rippling and moving when he groaned and tried to lift himself up into a sitting position. Tussocks weaved with a wind which brushed against his clammy skin. Across from him, a familiar bridge which burnt into his eyes. He dug his fingers into the misty dirt below, then jolted when a deep voice said, "Little Wolf."

"Kon?" Fenrer twisted on his hips to try and get on his knees before the massive direwolf. Shivers crawled down his spine when he forced himself to stand, though stopped when Kon bridged the distance, little tendrils of drained mist slipping off his body. Fenrer grabbed his haunches. "You're here? You're real? You're not a lie? Or is this just delirium from fever... from death?" He dug his fingers into the cold fur. Confusion sent waves of ice down his throat at Kon's blurry visage. "What's... happening? Kon?" Fenrer dropped his hands from the fur when Kon lowered his muzzle closer to his brow. He truly was nothing more than a little boy again, cowering in the shadows of giants.

"I expended a lot of my being once more, Little Wolf, to preserve your life," Kon replied. "I push the limits." He raised a paw to place it deep in the dirt, and Fenrer jolted when sunlit waves pulsed outwards from him, a rising, oceanic tide of the dawn. "A covenant forged by blood. I warned you once that this power you beseeched is not one you wish to call upon lightly. You've been soul-touched by its resplendent light." A breath left his muzzle, and he shook his head. "You are alive, Little Wolf. Take solace in such — there is an unsettling tension in the air." Kon looked over at the bridge, where some of its stones clattered into the starry river. Each splash sent droplets of crimson, and Fenrer frowned at the sight.

Velteraiia... no, it is real. The Ancients may be nothing more than lies, but... Fenrer gripped onto Kon once more. This is real. A laugh escaped his lips with an added sob of pain, grief, and catharsis. I didn't send Father to the abyss — to the Echo Obscura to be feasted by Derelicts and feed their depravity to continue this ruthless, hellish cycle. He rested his brow against Kon, trying to find his strength, his will to live. Voices bubbled out in echoes around him. Yuven. Adara. Maria. Neven. Kemal. Over and over again, lost in the heatwaves. Misty shapes loomed across the bridge of the dead, but he frowned when Kon prodded him with a giant paw, dragging his attention away from death itself.

"Return unto your life, Little Wolf. It is not time for you to join the halls of Velteraiia," Kon said. "The dawn's covenant rebuilt the connection between us. Call upon me in your darkest hour, I will answer."

"What-Where were you?" Fenrer fought to keep his childish demands out of his voice.

"Blocked by the darkness you compounded in your soul — the ones which you carried from others, until it was all you could see," he growled, a deep rumble to rock his bones. "Purged by the very light which threatened to burn you in turn." His muzzle pulled up into a snarl, but his eyes remained calm, weary. "In the ruthlessness of faith, you lost your sense of meaning, but Little Wolf." He inched closer, to cover him in his giant shadow. "Is it not an oath you swore under twilight stars?" His muzzle rested on the top of his head. "Under the sight of sea and storms? Is it not an oath you carry around your neck, fighting against the darkness as it swells?"

Damp trails slid down his cheeks. "I want to go home."

Home... Sea to sea... always home...

"Molvisaliz." Fenrer stiffened at Yuven's melodic voice, blinking open his eyes. Worlds blurred as several faces mixed and matched, with someone brushing back his hair through their fingers. Sunlight slipped through high, arching windows to glimmer over the open area of a familiar ward. Euros. Home. His memory of the trip failed him when he tried to gather the broken pieces. The expanse of water between the gulf of Haneka and the archipelago the Storm Wardens made their home and base of operations. As their faces became more than spots, he squinted when Yuven and Adara leaned over him. "Molvisaliz." Yuven gave him a weak smile, exposing his fangs. "You're home again."

Fenrer studied their faces. Adara's nose crinkled in concern, and the familiarity sent another wave of relaxation through him. "I see that," he joked and went to sit up, but found himself kept down by Adara's and Yuven's hands on his shoulders. "Hm, how long have I been out?"

"You've been in and out of consciousness the whole time," Maria said from the alchemic station, pouring out several phials of clear liquid. On a tray in her hands, she headed over to put it on the stand near his bed. "We moved Heiise Reyn into a more private room while he recovered. I didn't need him being hounded with questions." Her amber gaze flicked to Yuven, who folded his arms with a purse of his lips. "Give him time to gather his thoughts, he'll answer you then." Her hand tapped Yuven's back, who fluffed out his feathers. "As for you, Fenrer Pyren." He pushed a smile on his face when Maria loomed over him in turn. "It'll take about a week for you to fully heal. I expect you'll behave long enough to let yourself recover?"

"The answer should be an affirmative — there is a lot of work to be done with what I've learned." Yuven tapped his shoulder, and Fenrer dragged his attention off of Adara and to his Oathbound. "Our first step is to stabilize the Burning Abyss. Our Citadel Resonators have picked up a large, gathering confluence sometime after the ambush against you and King Reyn. I suspect the cult is about to show some of their hand, and I intend to meet it with my own wager." His fangs slipped over his lips when he whipped out his notebook. "We'll need a full army of Storm Wardens to cleanse the canyon. There are steps that need to be taken afterwards, but that is what we have so far." He pressed the notebook into his shoulder, and Fenrer frowned down at him. "Fenrer, were you aware that Reyn is in fact, not the son of the previous king of Haneka?"

Though he supped on the happiness of normality and love when Adara rubbed his cheek, he froze at the declaration. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't even rightly say Reyn's a bastard," Yuven complained. "He's the son of the previous king's older brother — who died in a Derelict attack. Wonderful, more spilled king's blood." He sighed and shook his shoulders. "Plans are underway for the Cleansing March. You are to recover enough that you can move, if not fight. We're going to uproot this cult, and Miesero will finally have something to work with in Elvkana."

Fenrer sat up when Maria handed him one of the phials of clear sparkles. "We're no longer at a dead-end?"

Yuven grinned. "If the ambush did one thing for us — whatever you did, Molvisaliz, really put a dent in their plans."

"Whatever I did...?" Fenrer mumbled, trying to wrack his brain, but everything had gone dark the moment the pressurized crimson struck through his world and he went down into the mud. "What did I do?"

Yuven's grin died in an instant, and Adara furrowed her brow in worry, her finger tucking a stand of brown hair behind her ear. Maria shook her head and a hand pressed against his back to help him sit up. "You can't expect him to remember every detail," Maria pointed out as she brought the phial up to his lips. "You lost quite a bit of blood, I'm sure it will come back to you with time. What's more important is that you recuperate. We are in the calm before the storm, and we will need to hold fast to get through to the other side in one piece." Her hand bounced against his shoulder, though the stabbing taste dragged down his throat, and he slipped his tongue past his lips to try and free himself from it. It dug deeper into his stomach, and his side screamed in complaint — up until Maria pushed him back down into the bed.

"Is that all I missed?"

"About so," Yuven muttered, his brow scrunched in thought.

He found his attention on Adara, who smiled at him with her own nod of affirmation. Back on Yuven, he closed his eyes and breathed. Starry twine rustled in the darkness of the mind. The same folds which came oh so close to slipping out of his fingers. Until another hand grabbed onto his and threw him out the other side and into Adara's waiting arms, losing the wonderful colors of molten silver inch by inch. He winced when Yuven rested a hand on his side. "Can we talk?" he pleaded one last time. One more time for the broken pieces of his faith. One more time for all the things he failed to do. For Yuven. For Adara. For Neven, Maria, Kemal.

For himself.

Yuven remained where he stood instead of retreating as he was wont to do. "What do you wish to discuss?"

Fenrer tried to catch his serrated breaths, but the moment Maria activated the airstones within the divots of his bed, their soft scent overflowed him. Slumped into his pillow, Yuven came closer to him with a small shake of his head. "I'm sorry," he begged. "You deserved so much—"

"Better?" Yuven interrupted. "Better. Worse." He released a plume of mist through his nose when his eyes drew upwards. "I could not have asked for anyone else." His fingers dug into his sleeve. "That day on the cliffs, out by the sea. Let us settle it and agree to never do that again. To find every other alternative before resorting to becoming martyrs. We do that enough by the sole virtue of being Storm Wardens." He raised a hand up to his heart. "As you are a shield of light, I am a sword against the abyss... we made that promise by the runestone... I remember. I remember the day you reached out your hand after everyone decried me as a monster." Yuven's hand dropped to his side. "I would be dead if it was not for you, Molvisaliz." A breath left him. "You did not fail me by any measure. You succeeded even with me, sometimes actively working against you." He lowered himself once more, the man who never bowed to anyone. "I ask not forgiveness... just that you remain a part of this world... and yes, I will settle for less as long as you are alive."

Fenrer processed the words, tasted them on his tongue, then looked at the three gathered around him. Adara brought both hands up with a victorious, encouraging smile. Maria returned to the alchemy station with a pep in her step. Yuven raised himself again, a ghost of a smile crawling on his face. Humbled, alive and not drowning in his own blood at his hands, with him unable to tear out the imbalance of his soul, even if it meant upsetting his own. Fenrer sucked in his lips, then whispered, "I think I need some more sleep."

Yuven nodded. "Then I shall leave you to it," he said, tucking his hands on his belt. "Everything has been moved. Your personal effects are back in your quarters, but I'll let Maria handle you." He twisted on his heel, heading for the door, but then slammed to a stop with a hiss, then turned back with a passive expression. "I must thank you, all of you," he dragged through his teeth, but then let it go and said with far more melodic clarity. "Especially you, Adara."

Fenrer found a smile on his face once more, though Adara widened her eyes. "Me? Who are you and what have you done with Yuven?"

"Not that I care for you disobeying my order. Do not make that a habit," he bit, not answering her question as he swung himself back around and retreated out of the door.

A ghost.

Maybe... He found it hard to keep his eyes open when Adara shrugged with an exasperated, noiseless sigh. Maybe it was all worth it... the Ancient's aren't real... I must accept that as the truth of things, not as concepts at least. But, they were real as people. People with wants, desires, dreams, their own pieces of faith. And they sacrificed much for this world they had to have known they'd never experience. Fenrer sank deeper into the pulsation of the airstones. And it's up to us, they didn't win back then... but maybe we can change the tide, stop the endless cycle, here and now.