Journey onto the Storm (BOOK 2)

Chapter 49

ADARA

"You are estimating a delay of the Euros ship due to the shift of weather?"

"Yes, Captain Traye," the Storm Warden said in front of a noticeboard full of papers marked with ribbons, taking one off its corner to write names on the back before passing it off to the courier. "The recent surge will continue throughout the week — and any sailing outside the gulf will be delayed for about the same time at least. A fortnight at the least." One leg went over the other as they swirled their quill in their fingers. "As for the Euros bound vessel... that might shift depending on how the sea is between the gulf and the Euros archipelago."

I can't wait for him to blame me for that one. Adara leaned on her heels to check on the split staircases leading into the second landing of the Warden Lodge. As with the Azahama building, a door sat in the middle of the split and led into the records of the Storm Wardens of the area. Flat on her feet, she frowned when Yuven brushed his fingers down his nose with a soft, rippling hiss. He dragged her from the Warden and glared at her as they stood underneath the glass skylight, where waves spun around the gray dome. "I cannot summon storms, Yuven, so don't look at me like that."

Another brush of his nose, he swiped his hand through the air with a snarl of his pronounced canines, but not a hint of accusation for things out of her control — out of their control. Left alone with the abrasive mushroom of their pack, she folded her arms and waited for some sort of signal of release from the icy atmosphere Yuven brought with him in his intimidating stature. Clouds rolled in over the expanse of the day, but she savored the mouth-melting meal compared to the gruel she grew used to in Prunal. He shifted in the beam of light spinning a pale yellow colour in the yarn of moisture. One last quiet scoff left through his lips, and he brushed the line of his jaw. "Where is he?" His snow-flecked feathers caught the moisture with a flick, and he folded his arms. "I want to get to Euros as fast as possible. No hold ups."

"You want to sail into a storm?" she questioned. "Next you'll suggest we try and go past sirens."

"I thought I was the only siren here," he mumbled and sneered at her. It carved an artistic spread of unearthly beauty across the snow. Adara scowled in return, no longer fazed by his striking appearance when a mushroom was less sharp. "I won't disappoint, I'm sure I can sit on a rock and sing you to your death? Tell me." He came closer, then showed her his fangs, the truth underneath the beauty — a fierceness of a powerful being. "What strikes your heart? I want to say food. I can sing about food."

"I get it. You won't let me live my ignorance of the world down." Adara stepped out of the outer boundaries of a wyvern's reach of icy flames. "I know you're not a siren, Yuven. It was a prod. You wouldn't sing anyway..."

Harbor bells sounded outside, over the endless streams of musical drum beats. The doors groaned open, powered by air magick. Fenrer stepped through, where his deep brown locks weaved with the ocean wind of his home. He brushed the side of his head and tangled the small braid with the wolven pin through his fingers, his expression emptied out of the previous tight emotion from before. A softer smile touched the crystalline green spirals as he shuffled up to them with a slight acknowledgement of Yuven. "I'm back from talking with Heiise Reyn."

"And?" Yuven pressed.

His thumb traced his temple without a full response to Yuven's poke of a question. "Nothing of import, he wanted to talk to me about how our journey went and some other things," he replied in the threaded, smooth dance of the sea song ringing through his words. "Get any news about the boat to Euros?"

"It will be delayed due to a forming storm." Yuven shook his head. "Because of course, I should have expected as much. Kejha, we are stuck once again."