FENRER

Red cascades fell from the darkness in thick, clogged motions. It lapped at his knees when he stood in the visceral muck. Embers burnt holes into his hands, and he raised his head to find the light again. It floated downwards from nothing, a blaze of glorious dawn. It carved itself into a sword, forged in the heart of sunlight. What? He tried to speak, but it came out noiseless as the dawnblade hovered in front of him. Brighter. Furious. The amber which acted as the guard's ornamentation stirred, a flashing pupil moving about the magma within. It raised over his outstretched, bloodied hands, the heat comfortable, but intense. It spun on its edge. Over and over. Splashes of light formed shapes in the darkness. One after the other. Men and women with their own dawnblades, a misty version.

"Twicefold summoned. Furyborn, thine oath shall be answered in kind," a deep voice said in the darkness. "Forged between blood and sun. Son of Pyren." Fenrer jerked when the source centralized over the dawnblade which hovered in front of him. "Harbinger of the Dawn. Purge the darkness within the tiniest echo. Bathe it in the light. Set your soul to the pyre of thine name." It struck downwards, creating cracks. Beams of sunlight raised out of it, its tendrils whipping and tossing — a terrible reflection of the beasts he hunted. Voices, tried and true, reverberated through his skull, until one overpowered the rest.

"Fenrer. Fenrer!"

Shockwaves went through his stomach, and he lunged out of the blankets trapping him when a hand touched his brow. Adara's brow furrowed at him, and she lowered her fingers away from his hair. "You were having a nightmare."

"Ah..." Fenrer touched his own face to make sure it remained whole, slipping his fingers to poke at the edges of his eyes. He paused when Adara's face withered and turned ashen. Thumb pressed into his eyelid, he winced at the surge of pain, a strike through the temple, but he waited for it to subside before finding the strength to speak. "...how long have I been out?"

"A day at least." Adara set her hands on her lap.

"Where's everyone else?" Fenrer forced his hand away from his eyes.

"Yuven's with Neven. Maria has been back and forth between here and the apothecary. We're all waiting for the transport boat to arrive from Euros." Her fingers tapped her knees in time with her next breaths. Her silver aura shrunk, quivered in guilt and shame. Extra pressure set itself on his eyes, but he held his tongue where none experienced his pain. "Neven is—"

"Dead?" Fenrer braced himself for an outstretched hand. Cracked bones and a rumble of agony in a single moment. Dad... One of the shapes from his dream became all the clearer, a giant of a man who wielded the dawnblade and created the spark of a civil war.

"N-No," Adara stammered. "He hasn't woken up yet, but, n-no. Not dead. You can go see him if you're feeling up to it. I'm sure Yuven would be happy to see you."

"Is he the only one?" Fenrer whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Could anyone else have been saved?"

Adara's head lowered, eyes squeezed shut when she shook her head. "Everyone else was dead when we found them, Fen," she said, her voice and hand soft against his. "I'm sorry. We need to know what was done to you but... that can wait until you've recovered from it." A smile drifted across her lips, hopeless.

Fenrer unfurled his fingers, then sidled himself out of bed and found his footing on the floorboards below. Furyborn. Adara supported him from underneath the elbow, but he found the strength to stand. "I need... to talk to Yuven." It shuddered through his throat, and he pulled himself away from Adara, though stopped when she pointed at the desk.

"Maria... left something for you."

His destination changed to scoop up the parchment, but he slid it away to focus on his goal. It pounded his mind when he left the silver blooms which followed him in concern. Out of their fiery grasp, he hurried to the room on the floor above. Into the frozen maelstrom of ice. Hesitation bit at his fingertips when he dared to set them on the handle, but he pushed through. His heart dwindled its beat at the sight of Neven laid underneath the covers of the beds, his legs elevated. Yuven raised his head to him, but lowered it again. Fenrer approached Neven's side, reaching out to the colourless winter flutters. So far away. On the cusp of death. His hand touched Neven's brow, to try and pull the gale to the surface, but he drew it back at the noiselessness of the thoughtful river.

"Well?" Yuven whispered.

Fenrer mumbled, "I can't... hear him. Or, I can but it's too faint to..."

The softest scoff left his Oathbound's lips. "What else was I expecting?" he mused, then dragged himself out of his chair. Fenrer locked his arms together when Yuven approached from around the bend. Arms wrapped around him, and he gave a start at the ice which turned to rain in an instant. "I don't know what to do anymore, Molvisaliz," he sobbed into his shoulder. "I can't keep sitting here waiting for him to wake up. He can't keep his promise, I don't know why I bothered." His sob turned into a pained laugh. "I just want him back."

Fenrer let his gaze drift to the fallen Warden. "He's alive," he drew off his tongue, sinking deeper into the melancholy left to him after the desecration of Sungrove.

"Molvisaliz." Fenrer dragged his attention to the childhood nickname when Yuven dug his fingers in. "Something happened to you, didn't it?" White feathers raised higher. "What was it? What did they do to you? Do you remember? If there is anything at all we can use — to rectify the issue—"

His thoughts dwindled. Spiderwebs filled his periphery, red with blood. He blinked it out of his eyes when they expanded, breathed and pulsed akin to veins. He shut his eyes tight, but the auras persisted, clearer and far more intense than before. He gave a slow shake of his head, a failure to the last. "I don't... I'm sorry. Last thing I remember is..." Many shapes. Many faces. Each one nothing more than a shadow. Each one dismissed the Warden Oath. "Them taking me somewhere, and then nothing after."

"You don't even remember us escaping?" Yuven straightened himself out, eyes widening in uncertainty.

"No," Fenrer forced, then put a weighty smile back on his face. "It'll be okay, Yuven." He squeezed his best friend's shoulders. "As long as he breathes... there has to be a chance." He let him go and headed for the door, to escape with as much deft swiftness he had at Sungrove. Yuven's fingers hooked into his sleeve, but he pulled himself out of it.

"Fenrer, wait, there is something else."

"We can discuss it once Neven's better," Fenrer pushed and caused Yuven to stop at the door frame. "Stay with him." Out the door before Yuven got a second chance to needle him about his experiences within the mountain whose cave walls carved into veins and blood rushed through the stone, he left the treehouse, head low to avoid the curious eyes of other Wardens when he passed the lodge. Tingles swept through his fingers when he stumbled through town. Auras swelled into tsunami's when he moved past them, and he brought his hands up to his temples. Dark webs curled through every one he came across, an urge deep in his heart to reach out and grab onto the tendrils and learn their secrets. What did they do to me? He pushed a thumb into his eye again. It stung with the fury of the light. Hands overturned, they trembled in his lodged fear.

"Well well, Fenrer Pyren, it's been a while. Having problems, are we?"

Fenrer twisted on his heel to grab the collar of who dared to speak to him. Their back hit the alley wall with a grunt. Tunnels of apathy met him on even, unafraid ground. "You," he hissed, tasting the rage stuck in his heart. Keeper Blackwall stood there, arms limp at his sides. "You. What are you doing here? Why are you here?" He shook the Keeper.

Keeper Blackwall studied him. "Oh... Fenrer Pyren, what have you gotten yourself into?" he asked. "These dark streaks in your auras — the crimson in your eyes... someone's forced you to behold the truth."

Fenrer paused at his choice of wordings, loosening his grip, though he refused to fall into the honeyed words of a man who found every loophole. "You're going to tell me everything you know. I know you went out there looking for information on the cult," he hissed. "No beating around the bush, or pretending. You are going to tell me the entire truth. Right. Now. Am I clear?"

"Are you going to force it out of me if I do not?" Blackwall's eyebrow quirked.

A heavy silence settled between them.

"Your hesitation speaks volumes, Pyren," Blackwall said. "Remember when I told you we are on the same side. It is just our methods that are in conflict? If you're worried I'm a part of this death cult, you are mistaken." He raised both hands in surrender. "But, fascinating, isn't it? You might know more than I — especially if you were in their clutches."

Fenrer released him, dampness settling itself on his arms when Blackwall straightened himself out. "Do you know what they did to me?"

"That depends. Are you going to let me take a look? Or, are you going to suffer it out of stubbornness — when I'm probably the only one that can provide you the answers you seek?"

He drew his fingers across his eyes, then shook his head. "It's not like it will make a difference."

"It'll make all the difference." Blackwall raised his hand, and Fenrer drew away when an auric orb grew. "Don't worry, I have no intention of causing you pain. The only reason this would be is if you were corrupted... and surely you are not. You'd be able to tell. If you agree, I will give you everything I know. No further strings attached." Fenrer waited for the inevitable. Flaming migraines coursed through his temples, but he bit down on the scream when the world wavered. "Hm," Blackwall hummed. "As I said, you were forced to behold an old Obscura Text... the question would be the timeframe of which it was formed. Curious." Blackwall brought the orb closer, and the throb in his temples became a stabbing pain. "But then again, it couldn't have been. If it was as old as I suspect, your eyes would've exploded in their sockets long before you beheld the truth."

"Lovely," Fenrer forced through his teeth.

"You are either far more powerful than I originally estimated, or you were given a shield," Blackwall said and dismissed the orb. Fenrer stumbled when the pain in his head released. "I think we can help each other, Warden Pyren."

He rubbed his temples. "And why would I want to help you?"

"Mutual benefit," Blackwall replied. "I have a lot of information the Storm Warden's could use. You asked me why I'm here? Why... to find the Anima. Ah-ah-" He raised a hand when Fenrer went to lunge at him. "Not your Anima, not Adara Sazaka. I was studying the cult from afar to try and figure out their goal — and I think what you know might give me the answers, but I won't even force it out of you as I did with Yuven Traye. No... I want you to find it all by yourself." Blackwall tucked his arms in his sleeves. "It's all in your head, but you're powerful enough to try and chip at the pieces. Better that way, in fact." Blackwall smiled at him. "Ivara is on this continent."

"What?" Fenrer rasped.

"Ivara, the Phoenix of Evenfall."

"How would you know that?"

"Because the cult was trying to find her too... I'm just a little bit better," Blackwall said as he raised a hand up to his eyes. "But, that is all I shall share for the time being. I'll let you think of my proposal." He walked away with a confident stride, but paused with an 'ah' and turned back to him. "And, I will give you fair warning. What is in your head will eventually tear itself apart. When, not if. And the fallout of such on the people around you, I don't think I have to tell you. I think the Storm Wardens have suffered enough loss — and what is one life to the many?" Blackwall tilted his head forward then disappeared around the corner.

Fenrer blinked at his departure, then shoved his knuckles into his eyes to wipe at them before releasing himself from the darkness. Blackwall had all but disappeared, even when he left the alley and studied the near empty streets save for individuals going about their day. Flames burst across the edges of his vision, and he rubbed them again to try and stifle the pain.

What is happening to me? What did they do? He drove his thumbs deeper, then shook his head. He's up to no good, I can't just... He raised his head back to the distant treehouse, where Neven slowly lost his life. He knows something.