Still lighter than air, Unda raced out to the courtyard, free of the confines of his formal wear. Behind him, the tail ends of his pale blue scarf billowed in the wind, and the edge brushed his chin—warm and soft, save for the silver pin that kept it in place. His skin was buzzing with restless energy as he changed and stuffed his knapsack. He had never left the palace, and he could almost taste the unknown. He was going on a goddess-given quest. He was going to catch a unicorn.

And what of Vivian, the elf woman? a small voice whispered, one with claws that tried to crush the fluttering of his heart. She brings danger and isn't afraid to flaunt it. The emblem on the back of her cloak flashed through his mind along with the muttering of the dragonborn council: she was a threat to the peace they had established.

Selini wasn't sending him to goof off with his siblings, no matter how giddy the promise of adventure made him. The moment he let his enthusiasm get ahead of him...

Sunlight enveloped him as he stepped out into the courtyard, squinting until his eyes adjusted. The dim candlelight of the library seemed so dull in comparison to the sun, or maybe it was that the underground library absorbed what little light was given. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm. Maybe he had spent too much time in the temple and had grown unaccustomed to the sun.

"There he is—Selini's shining star." Stellae sneered with a note of disdain in his voice. His glare was hot on Unda's face. "So, where is this hint you found? In a puddle on the ground, iiea un azune draconnit?"

The insult rang in his ears, echoing endlessly: little blue Dragonborn. Weak and insignificant and useless. Unda looked away. "No," he answered curtly. "Ahkirel Aurum has it with him. He went to find a spell, then he'll meet us here."

"Him and his spells," Stellae scoffed, cupping his chin in his hands. His mouth opened again like he had more to say, but nothing ever followed. When a purple glow traveled through his scales, and his eyes glittered with flecks of silver, his mouth closed and his frown deepened.

A shudder raced down Unda's spine, and he wrapped his arms around himself when the ice in his chest begged to be released.

Stellae didn't have to say anything to explain the subtle drop in pressure in the air, or the glow in his person. They all knew what it meant. His powers of future sight had granted him a vision.

Ignis stretched and yawned, unbothered by the potential of what Stellae had seen. She kicked a stray pebble in her path and laced her fingers behind her head as she gazed up at the sky. "This is a waste of time. We should be out there hunting. I could find us a unicorn in no time, then we could kill it and be done."

"We aren't on this quest to kill it," Foliis snapped, nostrils flaring. She folded her arms. "And need I remind you that unicorns are elusive, practically extinct. You can't hunt them the way you would any ordinary beast."

"Stop correcting everything I say." Ignis rolled her eyes, but the twitch of her lip betrayed how close she was to losing control. A fire flickered in the depths of her ruby scales. "You wonder why you drive everyone away, but it seems pretty clear to me."

Foliis flinched, jerking her chin toward the garden. Her jaw shook as she clenched it and, defeated, her arms dropped to her sides like a puppet whose strings had been cut. And yet, there was no gleam of satisfaction in Ignis's face, something she usually wore when she managed to shut down her older sister.

Cold air crackled around Unda, mirroring the growing storm beneath his skin. He slid his fingers together before pulling them apart again. Frost crystalized on them, and his chest tightened. "I know you're upset, and I can't stop you from fighting, but please try to work together. That's what Selini expects of you, right?"

This time, Stellae bristled, his shoulders tensed beneath his rich violet cloak. "You don't know anything about Selini's expectations for us."

The frost hardened as Unda balled his fists. "I know she doesn't want you to squabble like children."

Stellae growled, silver eyes flashing, and snatched the front of Unda's tunic, hauling him in until the black dragonborn loomed over him, teeth bared. "Do not forget your place," he spat. "The goddess may find your tongue amusing, but I do not. You will not act like you are equal to her and privy to her knowledge."

"Stellae." Foliis grabbed his shoulder, her face steely and her jaw set in a way that turned her soft edges into harsh lines. "He's not trying to put you down."

He held her gaze for several heartbeats before he let out a breath and dropped Unda. The little dragonborn stumbled, shaking as Foliis tucked her arm around his shoulders. His throat tightened as he tried to fill his lungs with air, to ease the rattle of panic in his bones. The ice deep inside him had crawled to the surface, turning the edges of his sandy hair a deep, dark cerulean and hardening the frost on his fingers into thick crystals. Stellae glared down at him, unmoving, but seething even more the longer the silence dragged on.

Unda gritted his teeth and dipped his head into a low bow, one that exposed the back of his neck—vulnerable, fragile, and supposedly a show of respect. "Forgive me, ahkirel. I spoke out of turn."

"The goddess should not have agreed to send you with us."

You have all made that quite clear. Unda kept his head down, ears flattened, until the scuff of Stellae's boots on the stone told him it was safe to stand up straight. It took everything he had not to snap back, to tell Stellae that the goddess had plans that even he did not know. She wanted Unda to go for a reason; he was her eyes, after all, and it was his duty to observe and report.

He wriggled out of Foliis's touch. "Aurum should be here soon," he murmured.

She took it as a sign to step away with one last lingering look.

The sun had sunk in the time that they were inside, and only a handful of clouds glided lazily across the open azure sky. No servants tended to the gardens at this hour, leaving the temple grounds eerily empty—save for the four of them. There was no one to spy on their disagreement and whisper it into Aurum's ear, which lifted a weight from Unda's chest.

Foliis sat in the grass with a sigh, folding her legs beneath the pool of her skirts. The grass glowed faintly as her fingers brushed across the surface, and it too seemed to sigh in her presence. Flowers bloomed beneath her touch, an array of colors and kinds he couldn't name. Stellae stood aloof, a permanent scowl on his sickly face, his arms crossed as he tapped one finger impatiently against his arm. Ignis crouched and picked at a scuff on the toe of her boots.

Without Aurum, there seemed to be little reason for any of them to come together. Even their opinions on each other and the goddess seemed torn. Unda's gut twisted painfully. What are we to do if we lose Aurum one day?

He twisted one of the ends of his scarf, letting the soft fabric wipe away the stain of his uncontrolled magic from his fingers. The ice cracked and fell away easily, as fragile as he was. The ends of his hair darkened further, now an indigo blue that betrayed the knot of anxiety that had formed. How could he be of use to the goddess and to his siblings if they only saw him as an obstacle or a thing to be pitied?

He swallowed thickly, locking his gaze on the toes of his boots. The world seemed to fall away as ice crawled across his face, his mind heavy and his thoughts circling each other endlessly.

What am I to do if I lose Aurum one day?

"The city!" Aurum burst outside, startling Unda out of his reverie. His golden eyes and scales glowed from his recent use of magic, shimmering in the afternoon sunlight as he joined the four. He beamed at them and beckoned them forward as he held out the scrap of paper. A magic aura swirled around the paper, whispering in an older form of Draconic than what Unda knew.

"There's another piece of this scroll buried in the city of An Deuii." Aurum gathered the magic surrounding the scroll into the tip of his finger. He traced a line through the air, shining with the same spark of gold as his scales. The line of gold formed into a map of the largest city in Khaliahstikae, An Deuii. Aurum's eyes flicked over the map for a moment before he drew another circle of gold around a large, empty section in the northernmost part. "Somewhere around here," he said.

Ignis snorted and waved his map away, her lips curving up in a smirk. "For all that power of yours, you couldn't get anything better than somewhere around here?" Her voice dropped into a gruff imitation of Aurum's, though greatly exaggerated as she stretched each syllable until they muddled together. She laughed. "Honestly, Aurum, you rely too much on your spells."

Something flashed across Aurum's expression as his fingers curled into tight fists. "I'd like to see you try it, Ignis. With or without magic."

"Is that so?" Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she turned away and scoffed. "Let's just head that way. The quicker we get this over with, the better."

Aurum smiled a bitter smile, and a humorless chuckle tumbled from his lips. He stood still until Ignis marched out of the courtyard. Foliis and Stellae begrudgingly followed her. When they were gone, Aurum took Unda's hands and pressed the piece of the scroll into his palm.

Unda startled, staring up at him as ice squirmed beneath his scales. "Ahkirel?"

Aurum held on a little longer, squeezing Unda's hands. His expression darkened and his smile faltered. Pressing his lips together, he ducked his head in an attempt to hide the expression in shadows.

"Someday," he murmured, "Someday, I'll be more powerful than this."

His hand slipped from Unda's, and he walked away.

Unda watched him go, his chest tightening and his fingers closing tightly around the scrap of paper. Ice cold magic stirred in his core, swirling with his discomfort. Pale turquoise spread through his sandy hair and curled around the tips beneath his horns before vanishing again. As it always did, the turquoise left a lingering smell of saltwater in the air.

Even Aurum fears what lies ahead. Unda swallowed thickly as he dropped his fists to his sides. There was no time to argue with his siblings or to soak in the world waiting for him. He shared a weight with Aurum, one that would break him if he wasn't careful.

Somewhere out there, Vivian was waiting with the other restless elves, and she would turn their unicorn hunt into true punishment if they couldn't come together.

~<>~