A Shield of Faith (BOOK 4)

Chapter 31

ADARA

Stories unfolded in a beautiful collection of language, a bloom of ascension into a truth in understanding — the lines on the map revealing themselves on trails of ink and careful description. Places with names, held in their parchment existence, adjusted for time's changes as she examined the map of their continent, from the farthest, northern reaches and suspected sky islands of Naveera, to the desert stretch of the southern half, with Haneka tucked itself with a thin strip of road which wound along the blackmetal river. Her finger traced the wall which connected the Warden citadel in Tebora to the other piece along Haneka's border. Lakes followed the ocean's intent as rivers swirled, and she found the dawnroad, connecting at a middle point with the duskpath.

Sungrove, the town which hid itself in thick woods and natural, rocky knolls, and yet it hadn't stopped the terror which befell it. In the end, the world wasn't that small, as Jisa predicted, dreamed and imagined. Bigger than we ever could comprehend, full of dangers like Derelicts, like people — with incredible amounts of magick but no less of people's judgment on what they don't understand. Adara gathered her chosen books, along with the notes she made to get started on Hanekan the next chance she got; to speak his first tongue on a level of connection. Books clasped into her bag, she left the map behind to head for the western wing.

Water dripped into a continuous, cyclic fountain in the small courtyard, the heart of the shrine which set its roots around the wall and spread leaves across the swirled windows. Her footsteps faltered at the clatter of a bowl and a soft hiss of frustration when she came closer to Fenrer's door. Phoenix fire jolted into her knees and spurred her closer and through the entrance.

Neven Lotayrin sprayed his knees in awkward angles as he held on tight to Fenrer, pushing him back into bed as he mumbled, "Aiya... shoot." His feathers fluffed out as he twisted on his hip as he threw a thin blanket over Fenrer, whose eyes remained closed from the commotion, his bare chest rising and falling in tortured waves. Neven put a hand on his hip with a grunt before pushing a glyph of thick water through the spilled soup seeping into the rock, then turned to her with wide eyes as he picked up the bowl. "Ah! Miss Sazaka!" He threw his attention back on Fenrer. "Kah..." He drove his fingers into his scalp before coming closer to clutch Fenrer's shoulders. "Molvei'saliz?"

His lack of a response sent a jolt of terror through her heart. "What's wrong with him?" She tossed her bag underneath his desk to come closer, with no ability to be of any use.

Neven lowered his slender fingers to Fenrer's brow. Icy mist sprinkled into woven threads, but burst into rain. He went silent with no words of assurance, a wave of Naveeran cold filling the silent space between them as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and revealed the tips of his fangs. "I do not know," he said after a momentary emptiness. "It is his fever. It is beyond what is normal, Maria warned me that something like this might happen, that his body would shut down to fight off what plagues Yuven on the other side." Neven squeezed his lips together with no small amount of concerned dismay, then faced her. "He was asking after you before he ended up in this state." His entire body stiffened, and she found herself swallowed in the intensity of yet another Avaerilian. "I will have to go get Maria once I have cleaned up my mess..."

"He was asking for me? Why?" she whispered as Neven shuffled around her to gather the dirtied soup.

"He did not get a chance to say," Neven mumbled and slid a covering over the bowl. "He stopped responding afterwards."

Does this mean Yuven...? Adara shoved her teeth against the tip of her fingers and tried not to chew the quicks of her own hand. No. Fenrer was exhausted and his fever was draining him. No, we do not think that way until we hear anything from Maria. Rosa's bones crunched underneath her heel in the light of a crimson dusk. Adara chewed on her lower lip and came closer, causing Neven to examine her, once more reminded of the terrifying beauty of the Avaerilian people — their movements intentful, the motion cautious, lost in deadly delicacy. "I'm here now." Adara scooted onto the edge of Fenrer's bed, sinking deeper in the sapphire study when Neven's pupils thinned. This world keeps reminding me of that one simple fact. I can be there, but I change nothing. Hesitation drew her hands into her lap when Neven sat on the edge beside Fenrer's legs. In the silence, she squeezed her knees then shifted her attention to Fenrer's face, whose breathing remained ragged and weak — weaker than the trek across the frostlands.