#LyrenFlarewind

[firemagicked]

A Note Left on Darnath's Office

On Atlas Island, in the headquarters of Atlas Company, on the door of the Commander of all of the above was a small note. "To any Atlas Employee or associated person that sees this,

Lyren Flarewind is offering a bounty on all blank, unused packets of sticky notes found on the island. You can choose between coins or a favor, the magnitude of both increasing depending on how much you bring me. Please deliver all you find to the Flaredere-Winwind house before the first Friday of next month. Thank you for reading this very serious message, Lyren Flarewind Keeper of Paperwork, Second-in-Command of this Company.

P.S. No Darnath, you can't participate in the bounty. The end result is all yours anyway."

It was magically adhered, and only Darnath or Lyren himself was going to be able to remove the message without setting off some extra spellwork.

[lisaerys]

Preparations

Almost everyone had the opportunity to have their own space. A research lab, an office - Lisaerys needed no additional space for her medical studies and the med bays didn't have any free space anyway. So she had made a forge out of hers. A small one - if she ever really committed to it she would need a larger space. But her projects were all small scale - she wasn't exactly trying to mass produce her armor.

It was time for a change. She had been walking around in this place for the better part of a year. In basic armors. Well made enough but it wasn't hers the way it could be. The way it would need to be. She needed to get her weapon back, and soon. As that apparently meant sneaking into a dragon's lair and possibly facing an infinite down with only a small handful of people… She needed more than basic.

 It wasn't just about the metal itself. That had been a consideration enough - Leystone was incredibly versatile and what she ultimately went with but its peculiarities made it difficult to work with. She kept a large amount of foxflower nearby while testing what metals she could mix with it besides the corrupt felslate.

But there was a step she wanted help with. She didn't need the help… but someone else could do it better.

"You want me to what?" Lyren blinked at her, standing right next to the glowing forge without a hint of discomfort. She was sweating, covered to protect herself from sparks. Lyren was in robes still heavier than he had worn a few months ago and didn't appear to notice the heat at all.

Her brother could be incredibly obvious when he wasn't paying attention. When everything had become so normalized he didn't even notice. Of course, considering she had called him in specifically because of that particular skill he was treating so casually she couldn't very well complain.

"I need the armor enchanted," she repeated, "while it's still in the process of being shaped. While it's still its base metal. And then again later."

He cocked his head, the quizzical peering look birdlike in its curiosity. "The same enchantments?"

"What - oh, no," Lisaerys waved a hand. "Different ones. One needs to be to the metal to… when you enchant something in its base form, especially when its a metal so magical in and of itself, and then you reshape that, if you do it right - "

"You change the nature of what you're making," Lyren finished the thought, frowning. "I suppose I do the same thing a bit with… but the process is much different. And the metal is already basically enchanted just by being mostly leystone."

"Exactly. What the base metal once was has been changed by the arcane energy in Broken Isles," she said triumphantly. "So. I want you to change it again. And the easiest way to change a metal is when its state is already changing. I heat it up, you infuse it, carve the runes while it's hot. We let it cool. We keep doing it until the process takes… and then we reshape it into armor."

"What, exactly, are you hoping to get out of this?" Lyren asked, his voice flat but his eyes glowing bright, flickering hotter than the glow of her forge.

She smiled at him, full of teeth. "You know, I love Star. She's a darling. And our new brother - he might not be so bad despite what you think." She paused and reached for his wrist. The left one, the one wrapped up. He stiffened beneath her fingers, frozen as she pressed down where she knew there were scars.

"But the Void is full of monsters," she said, keeping her gaze level. "Monsters that have hurt people I care about. I can feel it, the mark its left on you. And somewhere out there is another. It has something of mine. And when its gone there will be others trying to hurt people that can't protect themselves. But I can."

She dropped his wrist, leaned forward and up to kiss his forehead as he started breathing again, the only apology she could offer. Turning, she took down the protective metal covering part of the wall - and the drawings there. She was never quite the artist her brother was but she had learned to be accurate, for the purpose of her armor making. For a moment, she watching him absorbing the drawings, the notes she had left - the schematics to things half remembered.

She knew when he realized and grinned as he leaned forward, double checking everything before leveling her with a look that she knew meant he was all in. "I'm a paladin," she said, shrugging. "I don't need to wear the Silver Hand's tabard but it's high time I start acting like one again. You going to help?"

"Yes," he said, smile just as sharp as hers had been earlier before it softened, settled in to something else, "But we're warding the door to keep any of the damage in. We're definitely going to have some accidents with this first and I can handle keeping the heat off of us - but the Light is a different story."

"Whatever you want," she said cheerfully. She assumed at this point the more fel-tainted of the population knew to stay away but if he wanted to put in the effort she wasn't going to say no.

"And we should probably have a discussion about what you've been teaching Arenlia," he said, a little more grim as he swept a hand over the door, feeling it out.

"Eh," she said, unconcerned. "Let's leave it until after the first explosion."

He huffed a breath back at her and then shrugged one shoulder. "Works for me."

[wanderingraincloud]

Morning People

Random thought as I was poking through ask memes to self fill someday and after seeing one about waking up it got me thinking about some of my characters and one question.

Are they a morning person?

Rain

Such a morning person. He grew up in an Inn so it’s not really a surprise but he really likes the morning. He loves watching the sun come up and listening to the world wake up.  He usually actually wakes up a little before dawn so he can get started on his preparations for the day so when sunrise hits he can take a break to enjoy the view. 

He’s also a little baffled by the fact other people aren’t morning people. Anyone that found themselves around him would probably get woken up be a very cheerful redhead because of course they want to see the sunrise and listen to the birds and get an early start and - 

Look, he’s a great cook. His breakfasts make up for it. Maybe.

Lyren

Verse A - He was always kind of in the middle on this but he’s actually less of one now. Staying in bed later means staying in bed with his husbands. Therefore, mornings should be ignored. Not that it matters - between multiple pets and a kid and hunting down magical objects he doesn’t often get to enjoy sleeping late very often.

Verse B - Demon Hunter Lyren tries not to sleep very much at all once they’ve all escaped. I suppose that counts as being a morning person. Somewhat.

Lisaerys

Not really a morning person. She’s been trained into a schedule that usually gets her up at dawn but she doesn’t really like it. She much prefers the days she can laze about in bed until its nearly noon. In the mornings she tends to be grouchy and is extra prone toward hitting people for making too much noise. Definitely the needs coffee kind of person. 

Calientos

In both verses he gets up without complaint with the sun - but this is through self-discipline. He gets up quickly, as alert as ever so in one way he could be considered a morning person but... truth be told if he had a little less self control there would probably be a dead bird every morning to stop their infernal chirping. He’ll never admit it but he hates mornings.  Which is one of the big reasons he makes himself get up early every morning so as never to show a possible weakness.

[firemagicked]

Bastion gives you wings. And awesome chest pieces. @darnath

[firemagicked]

Icecrown - Distraction

Crunch.

Crusted iced over snow folded and held. Lyren breathed out, peering out from the crest of the hill into the valley of stone and ice. The howling windows and storms might start up again at any moment and for now, they had a few moments. As Darnath's attention was taken up in engineering, Lyren had offered his help to strengthen the enchantments around the tournament grounds. It helped to keep busy.

But when there was a moment of quiet like now where Darnath was still distracted and he had a sudden spare moment there was nothing to do but think.

Snow and ice and howling winds, nothing but rocks for color. Even he dressed in more muted tones to blend in. It made sense then, that everything, everyone was just a little bit colder. That was the reasonable argument his mind brought up to explain away growing oddities.

It was also absolute bullshit. He knew it. Darnath knew it.

Which was exactly why the death knight distracted him every time he started expressing alarm over a growing number of things Lyren had noticed. And most likely there were several things he hadn't noticed.

Surreptitiously trying to ask the other death knights about… anything, really, related to their health and physicality did not normally get him anywhere. The new dragonsworn were a bit more polite about it. But their newer loyalty was more like - Dragon, Ebon Blade, Darnath, with a strong possibility of the latter two being flipped if Darnath spent enough time around them.

Not that Lyren was advertising he was asking because of Darnath either which was as much the problem. No, no, he was a mage, it was perfectly natural magical curiosity! If any of them guessed otherwise, well, he was stubborn on his point.

And so he wouldn't give away a possible weakness of Darnath's, and they wouldn't give away theirs.

He snorted, quietly, exhaling heavily to watch the air steam with heat and disappear.

Below, the scourge teamed and grew and with every push the Argent Crusade made to contain them, more dragged themselves up from beneath the ice. Or worse, if someone fell on the battlefield they need not await broken snow and dirt. Not to mention the creatures that looked like dark val'kyr that came down from the broken sky and brought forth long dead enemies that needed crushing waves of the Crusade forces to bring down again.

Behind the tournament grounds held strong, but never not in danger if too many slipped up, if anyone weakened. Spellcasters threaded defenses and early alarm systems that Icecrown's very nature worked to disintegrate. It had taken days even to get a stable enough grip on everything to create anchored portals.

And above… above Atlas' Aurora hovered, usually hidden out of view. It was exactly where Lyren should be right now, having eked out a tiny break of time. He should curl into the warmth Darnath provided for them with the wonders of engineering created heat and rest.

One of them should.

If not rest, then call the kids. Call Javinth. Call Sunsoul.

He did every day. But usually with Darnath. There were things he couldn't mention or even hint at in front of his daughters. Star was especially sharp and Arenlia still remembered when he had disappeared for a month. Either of them would pick up on the slightest hesitation in tone.

He wished they could be with them, that it was safe. He wished they were back with them. He especially wished Darnath was there, back on the island. If he thought there was any way Darnath would leave, he would have tried to arrange it. At this point, he would rather accept one of the teenagers being out here instead of the death knight.

Because something was wrong with Darnath. And it was now, in these moments of quiet, that he could let it terrify him.

Not the snow, the ice or the cold. All of them could hurt him, if he wasn't careful to keep his temperature up, if he let ice magic into his core. But he wasn't frightened of that. It was a known issue.

Darnath wasn't. It was something growing worse the demonic death knight didn't want to talk about. Because clearly that would only have worried Lyren.

Problem: Lyren was already worried.

Solution: Distract.

It was easy to say he shouldn't let himself be distracted. But the other problem was the distractions weren't always normal Darnath distractions. The problem was there were very serious problems in Icecrown.

The newest problem was the longer something was wrong with Darnath the less Lyren cared about the giant hole in the sky. The backup dream of gathering everyone up and getting off this insane planet was getting more appealing by the moment.

Crunch.

Snow shifted beneath him. Too close. Snow was melting around him before he had fully acknowledged the ghoul that had been crawling its way up an incline of snow toward him.

Flames curled at his fingers, swirled into a dense ball of yellow and orange. He let it get hotter, larger, as the ghoul came closer, snarling now like it knew it was doomed.

It was a flick of his fingers, not a throw that rolled it out of his hands. The ghoul was close enough the ball of fire dropped more than it flew, engulfing the ghoul in bright warm tones for a brief moment before there were only flames.

The crackle of fire was louder to Lyren than the ghoul's death screams.

He stared behind it as it burned. No one had been posted up here. No guard. ...The storms had piled snow and ice on the other side of what he thought was a "hill" and should in fact be a cliff. And now they were coming up this way too.

It was tempting to try melting it away. He probably could. But fighting Icecrown's nature would have him down and out for likely the same amount of time it took for the storms to fill it in again.

So, here it was. Another distraction. Something else to figure out. And as tempting as it was to try and drag Darnath out of Icecrown altogether until he knew what was wrong, in a battle of wills about this -

(The mark on his back was a warm comfort beneath his skin and in his mind and why would he want to fight Darnath on it anyway?)

- he knew he wasn't coming out the victor.

Maybe the next conversation would go better.

@darnath

[firemagicked]

Ardenweald: Remember to Forget

"Why did you do this to me?"

It was Darnath, whole and hearty again. Horns and dragon arm and all - his face twisted in a familiar murderous rage.

"I told you I didn't want this… I was going to let you go. But you thought you knew best."

A flash of Cul'tarin beside Darnath, staring with such abject disappointment Lyren wanted to get down and beg forgiveness.

"You dragged me through the Maw, broke me apart, then you forced me to be someone I didn't want to be. Never again."

Being pinned down beneath Darnath's bulk was familiar. The hand around his neck, fingers digging into his skin until it bruised, until things broke - that was unfortunately familiar too.

This time there was no magic to pull on. Shadowlands had made him too weak. He struggled and pulled and gasped out breaths until his vision faded and all the while Darnath loomed over him. His eyes weren't senseless like back then. He stared down at Lyren dying by his hand. And he smiled.

Lyren woke up. He woke up gasping, clawing for air. He reached for his throat, struggled to sit up.

There were arms around him, pulling him, surrounding him. Suffocating him. Hands on his, trying to hold them down.

"Sparky, it's okay, you're fine, it was just a nightmare." The voice was familiar. Soothing. A few weeks ago it would have been absolutely all he needed. He would have just known he was safe.

His efforts to get freed redoubled. The sensible part of him was too quiet to be heard. He was going to be crushed and maybe, maybe he deserved it but he didn't want to die. He was just wanted, "Off," he managed to rasp. Had he been screaming? "Get off!"

In moments, there was no longer a body wrapped around his. No hands holding his. No fingers at his throat.

No, no, that had been a dream. Hadn't it?

He hunched over, form shuddering as he panted for breath. It had been a dream. It hadn't happened.

Except all the parts that had.

"Lyren?" He jerked his head up at his name and he stared at Darnath wide eyed. Perfectly normal, worried looking Darnath. He was sitting down, body language so purposefully relaxed Lyren knew it was for his benefit. "You back Lovely?"

Lyren took a breath. Deep, slow. Another. Shoved as many of the emotions into the boxes they belonged in as he could forced his own posture to relax. "Yeah. Sorry. Did I - anything on fire?"

"Everything's fine," Darnath told him, which - was pretty much what he had told him when things were absolutely going to shit in his own body in Icecrown. "C'mere."

It was perfectly natural, after a nightmare, to offer cuddles. And perfectly natural Darnath would let him come to him after he had responded badly. There was absolutely nothing strange about Darnath reaching one hand out toward him, palm up for him to choose to grab on to.

Lyren flinched.

Darnath dropped his hand.

There was a moment of quiet, where Lyren could see Darnath's brow furrow. The questions that were about to be asked. It did not escape him exactly how hypocritical it would be to answer them with a lie.

"Water," he blurted out, because he was not half so good at Darnath as thinking up distractions on the fly. "I'm just - going to splash water on my face. At the stream. Five minutes."

He bolted out of there as swiftly as possible. A wasteful pull of arcane brought his sword to him but it was - it had been near Darnath.

He didn't lie either. They were camped out near one of the gentle, glittering, swirling streams of Ardenweald and Lyren used a gigantic curved leaf to dump the equivalent to a pitcher of water over his head.

Not lying. And now wet. And cold. With water made of death running down his skin.

What was new? The entire place was made of death. So different from necromancy, a magic of decay. He hadn't quite realized the full difference. Death magic could be wonderful. It could be amazing. It could even help renew. In Ardenweald the closest to Life existed.

But the entire place was still made of Death.

And he could still feel it in his bones. With every breath of air and step they took.

The water didn't help. The cold didn't help. But at least he wasn't lying.

It would be easier to ignore it all again, when they were traveling, searching. Then for the most part - it was Darnath. It was putting him back together whether he thought he needed it or not. Even him nuzzling at his neck was fine. Good. Hands? Hands sometimes he couldn't stop the flinching. Sudden movements. But he could brush it off. He could ignore his fear, and he could ignore how every step in Shadowlands something in him wanted to throw up.

Maybe Bolvar had more than one reason to look at Darnath like that when he showed up with a phoenix.

But his magic still worked, which was all that was important. Darnath was getting stronger, more of himself every new piece they found. He might end up hating him by the end if he was wrong about this all, but at least he would be whole.

Now of course he just had to manage to find a way around the conversation of something Darnath never needed to know about. It had been his body that had done it, but he hadn't really been there. ...That didn't mean Darnath wouldn't blame himself anyway if he knew.

Or maybe he wouldn't. Maybe, some part of him whispered so reasonably, the fact Darnath upon losing control had immediately tried to snuff him out of existence was meaningful.

It was a terrible, disgusting thought. Darnath in his right mind would never.

But did he want to?

He scowled down at his reflection in the water, and slashed at it with the side of his hand, distorting the image for a few moments as he banished the thought from his mind. It wasn't true. Darnath was angry at him now, and he had every right to be. But their relationship was steady. The kids loved him. He was a part of their family and he loved the girls. There wasn't any reason to think otherwise.

Except of course Lyren had gotten himself into such stupid danger they were bound together. And being bonded in anyway was something Darnath had hated even the idea of, once upon a time.

Except how much time he'd had to spend babying Lyren back to health.

Except Lyren had been the one in Icecrown, watching him slowly lose himself and doing nothing about it.

Sure. No reasons at all.

And for a brief moment he could feel it all. Feel everything he was missing. Everyone.

Sunsoul-Star-Arenlia-Lis-Javinth. And… Darnath himself. He missed him. He missed his family. He missed the home he shared with Darnath and Sunsoul and the girls and yes Javinth who mysteriously never moved out.

There was an aching loneliness that wanted to eat him up inside. There was guilt, for leaving everyone behind for so long. ...There was anger, at himself and yes, at Darnath who could have said something.

And he missed him. He was right there but he wasn't. He was right there and Lyren could touch him and it wasn't really him. But it was.

It was useless to think any of this. His five minutes were up. Probably more than - though who could tell in this unchanging plane?

He breathed in. Breathed out.

They had to find Darnath's missing pieces. Anything else - everything else… would keep.

He was going to fix this. The consequences of his actions could wait a little longer to fall onto his head.

He just needed a little more time.

@darnath

[firemagicked]

Maw: Desperation

There was no sunlight in the Maw.

And death knights didn't eat.

There had been before him and since, other mortals into the Maw. The Ebon Blade even said some had gotten out again, but Lyren was less focused on that.

The light in the Maw was weak and pale, more shadows than light. And never changing. Nothing changed. It could have been days or weeks or mere hours. It could have been months. Time keeping devices and magics flowed too strange to be depended on.

Magic was in technical abundance… but it was that which came from souls. A literal river of them and Lyren hated it, hated every bit of arcane magic he needed to use that needed more than he could give it. So he rationed his own magic, and ate conjured mana buns and ignored the way his internal fire didn't like this place of Death at all, the his dependence had to be on arcane over fire because at least there was an outside source to sift through and transform into arcane if necessary.

At least he had brought his sword instead of using a staff as was more common focus when he had a companion that preferred throwing their face at the enemy. It was the one upside.

He was surviving. Not thriving. But he was surviving - and it was finding Darnath, the first time, that nearly outdid him.

The mark barely gave him any notice as two bodies dropped next to him, a furious and familiar death knight, and one of the winged beings who was paying for attempting to abduct him. The mark lit up with recognition - if it was weaker than it should have been, if other signals even now still felt stronger, it didn't compare to Lyren physically seeing him.

"Darnath!" For expediency's sake, now he used fire on the winged being.

He was hoping for a greeting. Even just his name. Any sort of words. Instead what turned toward him - was Darnath's body and none of his intelligence. Darnath's body gave a snarl, raised his sword in Lyren's direction - then paused.

"Darnath?" he asked it again, so, so hopeful. Not-Darnath strode toward him - but though there was a glimmer of recognition now as hands that had both once held his children and tried to strangle him came closer. Lyren tensed up, and swallowed. "Now would be a great time to say something if there's any part of you in there."

Instead, one hand left the sword to tug at Lyren's robes - still with enough magic in them they were recognizable, if dirtier. Darnath's head gave a nod, as if satisfied - and then just began walking off.

Lyren - stared. It was… There was no sign of improvement. Nothing. So much for the former Lich King's idea this whole adventure would "fix things". They had been better off on Azeroth. He should have - should have just dragged them back to Atlas. Fuck, what had he been thinking? Jumping into a death portal. Now they were far away from home *and* Darnath was still… gone inside.

Maybe if he brought him home, Alinith could have fixed it. Or Javinth, or maybe Mira would have had an idea. Any of them, a better resource that was more - … or at least equally trusted as the guy that had lost his very important Hat of Death that led to their world breaking.

(Mira was a little crazy but her heart was in the right place.)

(Javinth… was pretty good these days and knew some sort of soul magic he absolutely refused to divulge.)

(Alinith couldn't be trusted as far as Star could throw him but he seemed invested in Darnath's continued existence at least and had fixed Lyren's fuck ups before.)

Anything would be better than now and for a brief, brief moment Lyren closed his eyes and wanted to sob. The burn of moisture was there, the pit of despair, the yawning loneliness and guilt. For just a bare moment it seemed overwhelming.

He gave himself that one moment, before tucking all of that into a ball to deal with never and straightened up, and opened his eyes. "Wait up!" he called to what was left of the man he loved, and ran after him.

(Reaching for his shoulder was how he found out that not-Darnath might not be trying to kill him anymore, but he now bit. Unrelated, he now would have a scar on his right ear perfectly matching Darnath's teeth.)

-----

The first time he lost Darnath's body in the Maw, one of the Ebon knights grimly declared, "It may be for the best."

The subsequent fight was how Lyren ended with his magic chained and unconscious. When he was let go, he immediately left the camp, struck out into the Maw, and went to find Darnath.

Eventually, Darnath simply… wandered right back up to him. As if he hadn't been gone in the first place or in an entirely different area. He also tried to immediately bite him. Lyren was beginning to think Darnath was seeing it as a greeting now. Lyren did not approve, but he was so relieved to see him even the newly bleeding wound wasn't deterrent of his happiness.

His magic was stretched thin, his food had basically no true nutritional value, the lack of sunlight was possibly making him actually sick, they were cut off from all contact - but he had Darnath. It had to be enough.

The third and last time he lost Darnath's body in the maw was both the worst and the best. It was yet another rescue attempt of Azerothian denizens. Sometimes it was other knights, sometimes it was the original leaders stolen… sometimes it was new people that had come into the Maw since. Lyren had, honestly, stopped keeping track. They almost all failed except maybe to get one or two people through a supposed gateway to somewhere not the Maw.

They were over the river of souls when Helya herself popped up… and Darnath threw himself straight at her while the rest of them went flying off… on the opposite side of the bridge.

Lyren had felt the river of souls. It was impossible not to when he had first opened his senses up. But being in it - being in it the river was no longer like a singular piece of the Maw. Now he could feel each individual coursing through it. Some endlessly. Neverending in their rush onward - except - there was something -

"LYREN!"

It was his name. It was a voice he hadn't truly heard all this time in the Maw.

It was a soul. It was Darnath. Lyren was still spinning from that fact alone when Darnath came up with a plan and put it into action. `"Maybe Just...stay put. And. This, is going to be a wee bit uncomfortable."`

One of the souls was there, pushing at his mind until it penetrated his defenses and shoved inward and he knew it was Darnath but - `"Wha - Hey!"` - that was still his mind! And his body and most recently he was all too used to a close Darnath meaning he was about to get hurt. It was natural to resist and evidently Darnath knew that.

But they both knew it had to be done. Darnath's soul clung on but his voice was in Lyren's mind, soothing at the necessary hurts. `"I know I know. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, but if I don't get in fast and lock the path others might realize and try to follow."`

The mark on Lyren's back warmed, welcoming the new presence… and Lyren felt such relief he wanted to be able to just focus on nothing but the warm feeling of Darnath with him. Except he couldn't. They didn't even have time for the full explanation Darnath wanted as Lyren struggled out of the river of souls with one burrowed determinedly into him. Not a long term solution to be sure - but Lyren wasn't going to let it be a long term anything.

Somewhere in here, there was a body to find.

Unfortunately… they refound the Ebon knight before Darnath's body. A couple of them stared at him like they could see and Lyren ignored it, traveled with them on autopilot with a new murmur of Darnath banter in the back of his mind. It was wonderful.

It was distracting.

They were at the portal out before he knew it, surrounded on all sides… and there, out of nowhere, was Darnath's body crashing through the enemy.

`"...Am I really talking with just grunts and growls? No wonder he's not getting laid."` Darnath seemed less than impressed with himself. Which was a confusing sentence Lyren was never again going to think.

The thing was, the waystone portal was glowing. It was active. They had to go now if they wanted to go.

The problem was, last time he went through a portal he had lost Darnath. And right now his body housed Darnath's soul. If they went through again, there was no guarantee that this time, he would be able to find him again and soul and boy might remain separated. It was insane, and impulsive, but he knew it had to be done. `"Hold on a minute you two."`

He took a breath and stared at the body, empty of the usual soul occupying it. Occupying. A lot more made sense, but not all, and none of it was to contemplate now. He could only hope the feral death knight who absolutely was not really Darnath at all right now would give him a little leeway. `"Okay, we need to go through the glowy thing veeeery soon, but can you do something for me real quick first?"`

Disturbingly, feral death knight had learned to parrot some things… including a key phrase of the Ebon knights as he glared, full of wrath and a hunger wholly belonging to the undead. `"Get on with it."`

Notably, he did not give Lyren his hands. The phoenix stared before rolling his eyes and mentally going, 'fuck it'. It had to be done. Likely only from surprise, he was able to yank one the death knight's hands toward his back. He began struggling - and biting at him - almost immediately but Lyren still got one palm against his back where the demonic mark was anchoring Darnath's soul.

`""Lyren wa-!"` Oops. Evidently Darnath's soul wasn't quite ready for it to be suddenly connected to its more usual occupant as immediately after the soul left him… the big death knight slumped unconscious over him. He kept his feet, but only barely.

There was still fighting going on - fighting they were losing. Lyren couldn't risk it. He dragged Darnath's unconscious form over to the waystone step by step, aware with each breath how less and less blades rang out. He didn't look back. He could focus on hating himself later for it.

They made it through the portal.

But not intact. @darnath

[firemagicked]

Jagged Edges

Lyren wasn't truly surprised when he had to go pick one of the girls up from the holding area mere days after the wards had been put back up. He was a little surprised that it was Arenlia. It was turning out that Star might snarl and scowl and hiss at her sister and do her very best to incite her rage with her own temper - but Arenlia almost always was the first to start to get physical.

Or, in this case, magical. Physical they could have separated them fast enough to avoid the island getting involved. He hoped. And their primary weapon of fire was particularly ineffective against either of them.

But Arenlia had been spending a lot of time with Lis both while he was gone and when he and Sunsoul needed an extra hand. Lisaerys hadn't exactly expected she would be getting a niece that was void corrupted. She likely hadn't seen a problem with teaching Arenlia some simple meditations and guidance and lessons on the Light.

Neither had Lyren until Arenlia hurled a tiny jab of it at Star. Considering how much damage it could have done, Lyren was hardly surprised when the island had a fit about about it and yoinked her away.

Leaving Star with Sunsoul had been the most difficult decision. But one of them needed to get Arenlia  and Sunsoul had a much harder time being firm with what was technically his biological sister than Lyren did. It was never easy for either of them but Lyren had the experience to back up his knowledge that it was worth a difficult possibly teary eyed discussion today to avoid anyone dying in the future.

Perhaps he was being dramatic but honestly, times like these he wondered…

Much to his dismay, Arenlia did not look regretful when he came upon her. She looked stubborn and angry and her anger was not like his anger. It was loud, it was in your face and she was a hundred percent honest with her emotions. When she was angry - she was angry. When she was sad she cried.

( Star was, in some ways, easier to understand. As Sunsoul had been blunt to point out - she had learned to lie with her emotions in ways close enough to the way he did that their twists and turns matched. Her anger was fear, or sadness, or upset more often than it was anger. She wrapped up all of her emotions in a veneer of wrath to protect herself and Lyren understood so shockingly well it was outright uncomfortable to deal with her like that. Sunsoul, of course, knew how to handle it almost perfectly. )

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Was the first thing out of her mouth before he even opened the door to let her out, poking at the controls Darnath had said were there.

"Oh yes, you did." He was going to be clear from the beginning. He had to set down ground rules immediately now that he knew Light usage was an option. He opened the holding cell to let her out. "You can't throw Light at your sister - "

"She's not my sister. She doesn't even like me!" Oh, that was tears in her voice and he turned around quickly to step toward her.

"Sweetheart," he pitched his voice to soothe and reached for her. "It's only been a few weeks. She will like you. She just needs time and - "

"You always take her side!" Arenlia burst out as she hurled herself away past him. He was swift to grab her - except there was a bird just as soon as he had his arms around a girl-shape and before he could shift she was out of there, screeching her grief at the skies.

He stared after her a moment and took a deep breath. Shoved his hurt and confusion down low. That wouldn't help either child. "Just had to have a family lunch, didn't you Ly. Thought it might be nice to take a break from work, what could possibly go wrong? Fuck me."

He took off after his wayward bird daughter at a trot, flinging a thought toward Sunsoul to keep an eye out while he found the closest route outside - and hoped she had taken to the forest because Light knew there were a thousand nooks and crannies in the place for a bird to curl up in if she decided to hide.

He didn't regret either girl's existence. But between his entire family's assorted issues he did often wish he had the opportunity to kill Corandes slower.

[firemagicked]

Embers and Chains

((Warning for non graphic references to torture. ))

The cell was for the moment blessedly empty. The temperature was normal. He was whole. Lyren suspected this was scheduled downtime before the next event to purposefully give him recovery time and stew in his own thoughts. Or perhaps just the lack of sunlight, food, and sleep was the task for today. It wasn't because Corandes was sleeping - that didn't stop anything. No, Corandes was deliberately leaving him and Sunsoul alone right now.

And Lyren was obsessing over it. Which was probably part of the point. Since the moment he had been shoved into the cell… a week ago? He wasn't sure. He couldn't see the sun and the only times he could feel it were the brief moments after coming back to life before he had the band around his throat blocking  his use of fire. He hadn't even realized he could feel the sun that way until it was no longer possible.

If he didn't obsess over why they weren't being tortured right now - instead of just being able to be glad he was just filled with ever growing paranoia and anxiety - then he had to fret over how things were outside. Arenlia, who would inevitably be brought in by Corandes if Lyren didn't manage to get out. Somehow. Darnath who probably hadn't exactly had the most positive reaction to Lyren going missing right in front of him. Mira - was she still lost? She had been nearby, according to Levi. Had someone found her when they couldn't find him?

And of course his husbands. Corandes had a lot to say about that subject. A lot that… Lyren couldn't think about too much. Couldn't think that beneath the sneers and manipulation his worst enemy had a point. He scratched at his left wrist, furious all over again that his marriage tattoos had been taken by the constant deaths and rebirths. To mock the loss, Corandes had put his own name there, over and over until it stayed through the cycles.

His wrist. A demonic mark near his left shoulder blade. Each time it was the first thing done. His skin crawled, wondering if the Faceless that sometimes loomed behind his tormentor would have its own mark on him before this ended. If it ever ended.

The ever darkening spiral of thoughts was stopped as the front of his cell went puzzlingly see through. He hadn't even know it could do that. He tensed, wondering what would be happening out there that he would have to see, have to watch.

There wasn't anything. Instead of Corandes, or Zargrius, or that much too big elf he had seen confusingly during one rebirth or any other adult - there was a child. She was small - smaller than Arenlia. Finely boned. Her hair was strange, like it tried to be black and dark at the roots but swiftly changed to shades of red instead. He didn't know what that meant - Sunsoul's hair went from darker reds to pale yellows but always stayed in the fire range. Arenlia's hair looked almost normal. Neither of them had a spec of black.

Then again… neither had been born elf. He wondered if, maybe, her hair should have been black. Because he knew who she was. Or at least, who she should be. Arenlia's sister. The one born as an elf. Corandes had only talked of her a little and he had thought she was… stashed somewhere. But evidently he just.. Let her wander around. Alone.

Then again, he doubted anyone here could exactly be worse for her than Corandes.

She was watching him, her eyes a peculiar electric blue. He wasn't sure why that startled him. Or why it looked familiar. His eyes had turned gold. Why were hers blue? And why was she just staring at him?

"You are a bad subject." He started at the words, projected into the cell. They were hers, a statement of fact. A puzzled statement of fact. "Why does Sir spend so much time on you instead of a good subject?"

Oh. Lyren struggled to throw his mind onto this different but at least somewhat familiar track. They had estimated Arenlia at the equivalent to eight - maybe a little older if her small size was from how she was raised. She had been growing like a weed - but she was still a little girl. And so was the "subject" in front of him. One seething with jealousy. It was absurd, to be jealous of what was happening to him. But that didn't matter to her, he was sure. If she even knew.

What mattered is she had been the center of Corandes' universe as far as she knew. When he was around her, his attention was hers. Now it wasn't and she didn't know that was a good thing.

"Believe me, I don't want to be any sort of subject," he muttered but that didn't help the prickling anger in her expression. "Look, don't you enjoy the.. Lack of tests?"

"No. The tests are beneficial. And they provide necessary stimulus." Her nostrils flared. "We have not had arcane workings lessons in nine days. If we don't cover the material I will not be able to reach the next level on schedule."

"And you'll be punished for that?" he guessed, his own anger stirring.

She gave him a look like he was particularly stupid. Unbidden, he had to suppress a smile. "If this subject does not reach the next benchmark this subject does not reach the next benchmark. Sir will merely mark it down and try again. And we will start over from the lessons that started at last benchmark. I do not repeat materials."

It took Lyren a moment to work that out - he had the bizarre mental image of Corandes actually teaching the girl, patient and almost kind and wanted to throw up. He should be happy it wasn't anything worse but all he could see was this was the only entertainment the child probably had. The only anything she had. Of course she was angry. "...What are you working on?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot? You wouldn't be able to help," she scoffed, shaking her head. She flicked her hair out of her face and the movement was so bizarrely familiar he nearly missed her next words. "No one could who is such a bad subject. If you were a better one, Sir would have time to return to his more advanced subject."

She spoke with such pride - despite referring to herself as a subject. Lyren opened his mouth, feeling somewhere between weirdly charmed and entirely horrified but was interrupted when she went suddenly ramrod straight. She sucked in a breath. "This subject was never here."

He blinked, raised a sardonic eyebrow - and then sucked in a breath as she disappeared from sight. Huh. There were plenty of scans in the area that read for arcane, elemental, anything else. For once he could see them and he watched them closely - nothing. She had learned to hide herself from Corandes' scans. Interesting. Sneaky.

But then just as he could start to heart the footsteps along the walkway, the cell's wall went back to being a wall instead of a window. He supposed that meant it wouldn't be long now, until the next event Corandes had devised.

But at least he had something else to think about now.

(( @darnath @mira-ashsong for mentions! With both of them having their own no good terrible months.))

[firemagicked]

Adrift

It had been shortsighted to go to Zandalar, Zuldazar in particular. Not because of the war going on, or the tree that had burned. It had been shortsighted to not think of who else, what else was in the city.

There was a memory of ice shivering through his skin, the bubble of a water elemental in his ear. Weapons of stone and magic sand in his memory. The thunder of war bears. His hands curled into fists. Only his training with Shimmer kept any sparks from showing. There was nothing other than orange eyes brightening a but farther, flecks of yellow and red joining the normal gold.

Sunsoul knew he was in some sort of distress but their bond didn't work in the way his others had. It was soul deep, but Sunsoul didn't have the context or the knowledge to understand and was a quiet comforting presence - but not an anchor.

Not against the sight of the Amani flags strapped proudly to the walls. He breathed in. Breathed out. There were Witherbark nearby scoffing at the thought of both undead and elves. But they just glared. Not like the Amani, who warbears dared any elf to try and make an incursion into their territory.

Even when the Amani had been "defeated" and their empire broken they had still been hostile neighbors. There had been skirmishes against them ever before they surged against their borders. Plenty of elven warriors could probably speak of getting their teeth wet guarding the borders.

It was one skirmish - a short little feud that lasted only a matter of weeks - that had been his worst battle the first time had had fought for Quel'thalas. He had been a typical warrior.

Neither had his sister.

She had been a healer.

They had gone for her first.

Fumbling, a little desperate, he reached for his comm. But the voices that answered were… well meaning. But well meaning Mira, mocking Nedriece - they only server to dampen the spark of common sense. Nothing shook off the storm of chaos in his mind - not even Leona wanting to join.

A twitch of an ear, a barely overheard conversation - the Amani were even giving their hosts trouble.

That was all the encouragement he needed to to call the flames.

(( @ava-mue-what @mira-ashsong for mentions. ))

[firemagicked]

Entering Firelands

Firelands. The portal the druids had allowed them access to was behind them, as were the watchful eyes of the guards on this side of the portal. Without prying eyes, Lyren felt himself loosening up. Near the portal there was little movement, only the most unaware of the elements daring to be close. But the farther they went, the more activity they began to see. Always in the distance, often watching them. But it existed, whether curious or hostile.

So far, they had seen none of the reported behaviors from when Ragnaros was alive. No waves of fiery enemies to crash into them, not even a hint of monsters part rock, part fire. And thankfully no three headed dogs - the beings of fire were little threat to the trio traversing the elemental plane. More physical ones however, could be a major problem.

Lyren kept the transmission booster close at hand, tucked into the bag until it was time to set it up. He didn't want to just set it near the entrance, not knowing how far they would wander. There had been no signs of phoenixes, not after an hour of walking, not after two or five - but they did then come across a river.

Of lava. Once, such a sight would have been nerve-wracking, spells cascading around Lyren to keep him safe - and especially the girl beside him.

Arenlia however, was as abnormal as he was. Her ears flicked as she leaned forward, wide eyed in delight. "It feels…" she sighed happily. "I don't know. Since coming here Daddy, its like… the air is - is… all fire. All…heat. I'm…"

"Warm," he finished, rueful and a little sad. "It's warm here. And the lava is…"

He eyed Sunsoul, who fluffed his wings and gave him the mental equivalent of a 'shrug-curiosity-doit'. Lyren knelt - and put the tips of his fingers into the lava. 

He laughed, delighted. It was warmer - but not burning, not hot. It was better. "Its… thicker than water but barely, that's how hot this must feel like to anyone else." He waved his fingers over the surface to test the drag, then dipped his whole arm in.

He pulled it out dripping lava - and his robe, holding up well against so many fire spells, was proving even his most adept magics were not enough against the superheated rock in front of them. The entire arm disappeared in moments as the lava dripped down to his elbow. "Ah - maybe roll up your sleeves first Areni."

Sunsoul chirped low, clearly laughing at them as he simply stepped straight into the river. "Or, silly ones, take off your cloth and put on some feathers."

There was a considering pause as Areni looked at him and Lyren looked back at her before he sighed. "Okay, fine. You two win. We'll go with feathers on."

It was a…discussion they'd had more than one during planning. Lyren had admitted it was a good enough possibility enough he had quickly altered his bag to be able to be held in either form - and now they would see how it held up.

Clothes were folded and places in the bags seemingly endless pockets. And where one phoenix had been - now there were three.

Sunsoul far outstripped Lyren's size - whereas Lyren thought he was quite normal sized from the phoenixes he had seen and Sunsoul was the large one… that didn't quite explain Arenlia, who was clearly still in her growing stages but was already nearing his size. Lyren did not appreciate the amusement on either of their parts. He fluffed up his feathers at Sunsoul in particularly, feeling his wings start to spread, make him look bigger.

Arenlia didn't wait for silly father or uncle posturing to finish. With a delighted shriek, she bowled both Lyren and herself into the flow of heat. For a brief, fearful moment Lyren wondered what he would feel as his head went under the liquid heat. There was an expectation, like whenever he was in water too deep or stared at the deepest parts of the ocean too long.

But there was no sensation of cold flowing over him. And yes, he couldn't breath but it just… didn't seem important. He knew which way was up, could feel the thrum of it through his bones, through every feather. For a brief moment, fully engulfed in the river he thought he could feel across its surface where every bit of it touched ground - and sky.

It was only a moment, and then he righted himself and "attacked" his daughter with a low set of harsh chirps, splashing shallow yellow-gold waves of light right over her. 

Sunsoul could not bear being left and before long Lyren was being dunked back beneath the surface by the much, much larger bird and he didn't even care, simply grasped Sunsoul's talons in his own and attempted to drag him under.

It was likely only the fact they still remained close to the no-elemental's land of druid patrolled features that stopped them from being in any danger from the local wildlife. Certainly the cacophony of shrieks and trills, chirps and whistles would have called any predator that could have been interested in taking them down right to them - is such a thing even existed.

If it did, it didn't call on them as they wasted two hours first playing and then bathing in the river. It was strange if Lyren thought of it too long how natural it was to fluff his feathers and roll in the river one last time, making sure it got between each and every barb. The three of them came together once they had dragged themselves out and carefully preened over each other's feathers. 

They had never done that before but the thought of stopping was more uncomfortable than continuing so he left it alone for now. And the sense of pride and rightness when Sunsoul and Arenlia's feathers shone and glowed brighter than they ever had before was more than enough just reward.

"I'm so pretty now," Arenlia cooed, hopping over to particularly reflective and shiny rock - or gem, he had no idea - nearby. "And Dad, look at you! You should be named after the Sun, not Uncle."

He did consider himself - and them, for a moment, and the strange differences he had begun to notice. Considering his phoenix form should have been made from Sunsoul it was odd, to notice not just how much smaller he was but… slimmer built. His feathers were less thick and his color was much lighter, ranging mostly yellow-gold-white edges in oranges and faint hints of reds. He looked… more like a normal phoenix, or what he had seen of them, with some coloring differences.

Then again, Sunsoul and Arenlia were both darker skinned than him. Perhaps that affected the colors? Lyren spent a moment musing on it - it might explain the coloring, but what about the feathers?

To him alone Sunsoul gently flickered images and emotions across their sharing. It was best translated as a gentle admonishment and he was correct. They wouldn't learn anything just standing there. Or, as Sunsoul was quick to hammer out with images of birds awkwardly hopping versus much more graceful flying, by walking.

Snapping his beak playfully at his brother he went to gather their bag. It only took a moment to nudge the magic to flick the straps around to their other setting. He slipped his beak under neath and with a quick snap upward of his neck, the bag slid down until it nestled over his chest like the most bizarre pendant imaginable. 

"No more playing," Lyren snorted as he caught Arenlia side stepping slowly toward the river. She puffed up her neck and ducked her head down, cocking it as if to say "Who, me?" with those big red eyes. 

"None of that, either. Unless you don't want to fly after all?"

Her entire body lit up, quite literally. Fire and sparks danced around her with every hopping step. "You mean we're going to fly the rest of the way? ...You're not going to make me ride on Uncle's back again are you? I swear I can fly just as long as he can!"

It was true that Lyren had been hesitant to let his daughter go flitting about in an entirely different form and had given him momentary sympathy for his parents. They hadn't even been able to handle two highly magical but (relatively) normal children… but they hadn't made it easy for them either. And now here he was with a child that could do everything he had, had even more firepower… and could fly.

Even Mae'syr hadn't given him so many challenges.

"We'll see. If you get tired you'll take a break but as long as you're honest with me when you need one and stay close, you can fly by yourself," he bargained. He hoped she would keep to it but, remembering himself at her age… prepared to have to catch her out of the sky himself.

Sunsoul, who had gotten only a brief fledglinghood himself, seemed oblivious to the potential drama that was inevitably crashing toward them. "It will be easier if you stay behind and to one side," he advised and at Lyren's startled cock of his head explained, "Airships and dragons. It… should be the same. We'll find out!"

Considering Sunsoul had been unusually somber and subdued since Arenlia had come into their lives it was on one hand good to see a return to his optimistic brother's self. On the other hand - it made Lyren want to sink to the ground and hide his beak beneath his wing from everything that was wrong with that sentence.

This was going to be a long journey.

[firemagicked]

Leaving Firelands

((First, for those handful of you who want all the Firelands story and phoenix headcanons, this is the link to the full thing, which also explains who some of the phoenixes are. And a huge thank you to @kit-sunsoul for giving it a quick read through to get rid of my worst errors. <3 Any remaining are all on me. ))

----

There were in fact quite a few phoenixes that wanted to see them off. Sunsoul especially - while Lyren had been etching energy into his being apparently Sunsoul had cause whole legions of phoenixes to swoon. Said phoenix was shuffling talon to talon in abject embarrassment at Lyren's clear amusement.

Arenlia was chirping with a much smaller but probably similarly aged fledgling while Lyren triple checked the contents of his bag to make sure everything he and Shimmer had created was still there and he wasn't forgetting anything. That and… arguing with Traveler and Future while Pride and Seeker stood to the side, duller than everyone else… but with a small little flock of hatchlings darting around their talons and doing short flights around everyone's heads.

"You three will be lonely there," Traveler tried, going on a different track. "Other phoenixes create a nice… safety net. You've talked of your island boss and the nether-dwellers. You could ask him if a small flock of…"

"Giant fire birds are an appropriate new species to be hosted on the island surrounded by water?" Lyren retorted. "You're not coming with us. You are definitely not coming to Atlas which is very much filled with dragon magic and arcane, and does not need elemental fire essence mucking about somewhere just fixed. Whether or not Darnath would say yes doesn't matter because I say no."

"So we settle somewhere else. We could still be a flock. You three… Pride, Seeker, their hatchlings, Future… that's not a bad start for a flock." Traveler looked pleadingly toward Future.

"We need to grow from here. It happens. Some of us just need something… different than the Aerie." Future was much calmer… and more stubborn about it. less desperate, more acting as it if was inevitable. "Smaller flocks break off from the few larger Aeries and go elsewhere."

"I am not saying you can't do that. I am not saying you can't come to Azeroth even. I am saying right now, with me, is the wrong time. I'm going back to a place where I have enemies. Enemies that have hurt Arenlia. And Azeroth… you must have felt it here. What happened." Lyren shuddered. He was barely connected - not like some of the dragons. But even for him it hadn't been fun.

"Yes," Future admitted, subdued. "We did. It was… worse than when Ragnaros was gone. Then it was only a matter of time before a new Firelord stepped up and began to balance Firelands. Now there is something still… wrong."

"Which could be another reason to leave! We could help!" Traveler chirped and Lyren was beginning to think their age equivalent might not be that far beyond Mae'syr.

"You could," a new, welcome mind interrupted. "But I think it is not time, young ones."

Shimmer landed and Future and Traveler both reluctantly sidled over to Pride and Seeker. Future however had words. "We will someday. Go out."

"Yes, I think you will," Shimmer replied, quite calm about it. "But not yet."

"How do you know? Are you sure?" Traveler protested, their and Future's feathers bristling.

"Yes. You will stay," Shimmer replied and stared them down until both turned their beaks toward the ground. Seeker and Pride  didn't, but only because it meant taking their eyes off the tiny flitting bodies for too long. Shimmer didn't seem to mind. "Now, that does not mean you may not find them showing up at your nest one day. Just not today."

Lyren fluffed his wings and gave a small chirp of agreement. "Hopefully not for some time. But when it happens… it happens. But not to the island. You burn down those trees playing and a big green dragon might use you as a snack."

"Fine, we'll find someplace boring to live," Traveler huffed. Lyren suspected they had picked that up from him. He felt oddly proud.

Shimmer leaned forward and preened Lyren's crest, nibbling gently at the feathers. "I will miss you three. But it is time."

It seemed lengthy good byes were not a thing with Shimmer, as that seemed all they had to say before going to Arenlia and murmuring something to her. A moment later his daughter fluttered over to him, snuggling up under one wing she barely fit under. "We'll come back one day, right Dad?"

"Yes," Lyren said, emotions thick in the mindscape. Part of him might always yearn to be here. But… he also missed home. His husbands. His sons. Part of his fear was contained… but he had found he was still angry, in part at his family. It was nothing they couldn't solve once they actually were back together and had time to talk.

And he missed Atlas. His sister, his niece, Darnath, Mira - even the brats that never listened to him. He missed the rookery. And green. He was missing growth and plants a lot. He would miss here too - but there was more out there. He would have a lot to do, both being second in Atlas and finding his daughter's soul sister. Of course the latter involved finding who had done this to him which… it was not Krev's style.

He suspected he knew whose it was. And whomever said the enemy you know was better than the unknown was flat out wrong. He would much rather an impartial enemy than one with an obsessed vendetta. Going back meant facing that.

They had prepared for it. His bag was practically a sun in and of itself to those phoenixes around that could sense the essence at that level. He had knowledge and power and something like a plan… it wouldn't last. Plans never did.

But it gave him the courage to stand still as Sunsoul approached, to not fly back into the safety of Firelands. Shimmer had spent much longer speaking to Sunsoul - but he looked at peace rather than troubled.

"Ready?" Lyren asked before Sunsoul could read too much from him.

Too late. The bird gave him a long look before  nudging him so hard with his head he nearly toppled over. "I am! Let's go!"

Before he could stop him, Sunsoul rocketed off the floor and straight toward the tunnels. Arenlia was after him in an eruption of feathers. Lyren watched after them a moment. it was never more obvious how different they looked from other phoenixes but similar to each other than now, in flight above the Aerie full of curious watching phoenixes.

"You had better hurry. Sunsoul is a much better flier than you," Shimmer chided.

"True," Lyren agreed. "But I still read the path signs better. And I know the short cuts."

He left before they could try and get in a last word, wings beating against the ground to dart toward the exits. He didn't, couldn't look back. They had their lives full of wings and fire.

He had his, with a much more uncertain future before him than before - and hope, the slim slip of it that had borne them here had grow into a full fledged storm inside him. They would survive this.

[firemagicked]

Gold to Black

"Why are we going elf right now?" Sunsoul asked, curious as Lyren led them forward, excitement thrumming through him.

"Not you. Just me. You notice anything different about me?" Lyren stretched his neck out and fluffed his wings, making each feather stand out.

Arenlia and Sunsoul glanced at each other. The latter winged at the fledgling whose amusement vibrated through the mindscape. "Nothing. You, Areni?"

"Sorry, Dad. You look the same to me," Arenlia said, all out giggling.

Lyren huffed, snapping his beak in Sunsoul's direction. "Very funny. I got the… etchings."

"Tattoos works, you know. It'll be what you have to call them when we're back on Azeroth anyway," Sunsoul pointed out.

Lyren ducked his head, one eye peering at the other two slyly. "Will I?"

He transformed before they could question him. It was… getting better. It was also the one thing he was failing at, leaving behind all phoenix bits and looking wholly elf. Like usual, he simply kept a bit of a tail instead of fighting it. He could practice that later. For now, he stood his back to them and with a secretive grin, wove energy from around them and through himself until it was a barrier around his waist, shining down. He whirled around as it settled and energy formed into fabric ripple around him.

"Dad, did you just put on a skirt because of me?" Arenlia asked, sighing. "We've basically been naked this entire time."

"Phoenixes also don't have genitalia, or sex organs at all so if I want to cover mine in this form I will - and so will you," he waggled a finger at her. "Now c'mon - wasn't that good?"

"It was impressive," Sunsoul said, definitely more in awe than his exasperated daughter. Someone was not going to be much of a mage, phoenix or otherwise it seemed. "I know you did it with metal in that cave… or something like metals but… did you actually… create each strand?"

"Have to, to have it work properly and actually look right. Believe me the first time trying to even do a few strands at the same time was - I wanted to hurl myself into an ice block. But watch my tattoos."

He extended his arm. Where on his wings the gold had glimmered in stripes and lines over where his energy had flowed most strongly, enhancing his manipulations with each line so they did the same on his body. Over each finger, down his arms, over his chest, his neck, his head gold flowed and cascaded down his body… until it began to fade from visible view.

Sunsoul chirped in surprise and hopped closer. "What are you doing?"

"Not me - it just happens. When I'm elven looking and I'm not actively using fire… it fades. I can make it stay easily but… seems like I can spare myself quite a few questions by simply… not letting anyone see it. And considering it just would feel like fire to any non-elemental…" Lyren considered. "Maybe the dragons will see it no matter what - they're a bit different. But for taking a walk through the average city…"

"You won't have to - "

"Dad?" Arenlia's tone snapped both their gazes her way. Her eyes were wide, the red of them darkening, black and purple swirling at the centers. " - It's - It's happening again! Dad, I - I need a barrier. I can't - I can't - "

The next moment she was shrieking, on every level. Her pain vibrated through the mindscape, through both of them. Lessons had helped them grow some immunity and kept them from being frozen by her pain. Both rushed to her side. Unlike last time, Lyren hesitated to put the useless barrier around her. Sunsoul was gathering arcane and didn't notice until Lyren was reaching for the screaming phoenix.

"Lyren, what are you doing? We tried that before!" Sunsoul protested.

"Maybe I can do more now. Its her soul and her elemental self they're using. We looked other avenues but I know more now." He reached for her darkening feathers, swirling with black. His fingers found her chest, could feel the spark of fire shining there, unchanged by what was going on in her body. "This isn't even her. She's just… a vessel."

His etchings came alive again, gleaming gold across his skin which turned a shimmer array of colors as well when he began to reach inside her. 

Sunsoul hissed at his brother's unplanned impulsive stupidity and slammed an arcane barrier down around both of them.Just in time as the void exploded from Arenlia, crawling across the ground, the barrier, filling every bit of space.

Except for Lyren. For a breathless few moments, Sunsoul was sure it was going to work. Lyren was focused, and that tiny spot on Areni's chest had feathers of orange, red, gold - normal.

Lyren flinched, just for a moment - and void surged, covered that spot and Lyren's own hand. He jerked back too late - black crept up his arm seeking a way in. In a dizzying prophecy Sunsoul was sure it would be the energy etchings on Lyren's very core that would let it in.

He was wrong. 

In a way that later they were both sure was mocking Lyren the blackness coalesced over his marriage tattoos - and speared through. It didn't penetrated his skin so much as move around it, in a different plan of space entirely bypassing the runic tattoo it was place over and burrowing into the mage's vein's.

As soon as it had a hold inside Lyren's skin, a tiny infection trying to grow - the void disappeared from Arenlia. She was left, gasping for air but unharmed. Sunsoul dropped the barrier immediately and rushed for them, bending his neck down to look over Lyren intently.

For his part, Lyren was desperately trying to track the infection, could feel it wriggling but not stop it. it knew his power, somehow. It was clear where it would go if it could. "Sunsoul - I can't stop it - "

The phoenix all out growled. He spread his wings and bent his head, touching phoenix forehead to elven. "Our spark isn't theirs to touch."

Energy slammed down in an inelegant mix of elemental and arcane - but the intensity, the power of it was clear. They couldn't quite catch hold of the infection to burn it out, not with the way it wrapped around and hid - not yet.

But Sunsoul's barrier around the core of Lyren's self would protect him from that much.

"...Dad? Are you - " Arenlia stood on unsteady legs, feathers askew, eyes her normal red. "...Something happened. I let something bad happen."

"Not you," Lyren said, reaching over to hug her and frowning. He felt awfully small right now. "It wasn't you - we've told you that. It's the bad men, okay?"

"I know. But - " Arenlia made a faint keening sound. "It's me, too."

Lyren grimaced. He could tell her all day it wasn't - but that wouldn't stop how she felt. "Then we'll figure out how to stop it. In fact - let's go talk to Shimmer right now, okay? They might have an idea. And… I'd like them to check me out."

He sent a guilty glance toward Sunsoul who merely sent relief in response. "I think that would be best. I am sure it will hold for now… but I would prefer an expert gave us some advice right now. On both of you - if they have left something behind in you we can barely feel and it is in you then - "

Lyren's gaze immediately snapped back to Arenlia and he scratched under her feathers, trying to preen with elven fingers. "You too, fledgling. I know they've wanted to make sure we knew how to help ourselves without their input but - "

"They'll help now or I'll peck their eyes out," Arenlia hissed, and took to the air before they could stop her.

"Areni!" Lyren groaned, transforming as Sunsoul shot after her. "Please don't peck their eyes out!"

They'd definitely end up getting kicked out of Firelands for something like that.

-

(( There will be one more of these that’ll be them coming back to Azeroth and I’ll include the link to the full gdoc with that one for those curious about the extended Firelands adventures.))

[firedemoned]

Recognition

There was great beauty in Azsuna. Fighting by the side of dragons was a thrill, but there were moments Lyren simply had to stop and stare. it was achingly clear his people’s own ancestors had gotten their unique sense of beauty from exactly these sorts of things. The unicorns especially made him wistful - so like an unlike the horses of the Eastern Kingdoms.

Deadly, too - or so he assumed. Crazed hunter of demons he might be but he wasn’t about to test it. Of course, considering they likely had magic of their own... he wouldn’t be surprised if others would. Where once his own people had striven to desperate measures to stave off a state they called wretched...

So now did their cousins have the withered. Their need for magic and mana was much too familiar. Addicted, dependent... willing to turn on anyone and anything nearby for the slightest fix.

Yes, he had seen this before. A new fury rose at his brethren’s careless attitude toward helping the natives of Broken Isles. Perhaps the kaldorei among them might not quite understand. But the sin’dorei would. Add on to their own unique wants as demon hunters, the ache for fel down in his very bones and they should understand very well.

Even the look of them was... familiar.

He had slept through the re-igniting of the Sunwell. But if they had done something for the Sunwell, then something could be done about the Nightwell. It wasn’t in him to usually feel so much sympathy for others - oh, he was helping, but knew it was for the best interests of Azeroth to collect their allies.

In the case of the Nightfall... their plight was too much like the sin’dorei’s. Even if they were of no help with the Legion, it could not be ignored.

[firedemoned]

Divide

Despite the united front they provided toward outsiders, things were not always so clear cut within the Illidari.

“We have no need of them.” The argument was new - they had needed people in the beginning, however reluctant. Or perhaps not new - certainly Altruis had cautioned against trusting anyone else. But it was certainly louder.

“Like we didn’t need the Horde? The Alliance? We help them with their problems, they help all of us with the Legion.” It seemed a simple argument. Lyren didn’t understand why they were even having it. The defenses were reignited in Azsuna. Surely some help could be granted to the dragons, the ghost elves.

“If they can’t deal with their own problems they are not worthy allies,” someone said stiffly and at that, even Lyren had to scoff.

“Are we worthless allies then? Hands up if you remember being stuck in a cage for years.” And like the brat he was he did in fact stick his own hand in the air - as did a few others. 

There was a low growl from the opposition. Lyren wasn’t well liked as it was. “What would you know? You think someone like you is any help? Your demon was a dog.”

“That is enough.” The firm command came from a female voice and they all cringed. “We are all Illidari. And we are not so few that we cannot both defend ourselves and let those who wish to go help others to go. But you will be on your own out there. If you get yourselves in trouble and we have the resources we will try and come for you. But I cannot guarantee we will be able to.”

“Fine with me. When you get yourselves killed,” There was a special sneer toward Lyren, who bared his teeth right back. “Don’t expect any help from me.”

Bad pack, the voice the wasn’t his grumbled and he grimaced. “Believe me, no one was expecting you to lift a finger to do anything that doesn’t benefit yourself.”

Deliberately, he turned his back. There was a snarl, a shift of movement and yes, he expected to get attacked at any moment. 

“Let it go,” someone whispered quietly - too quietly for most of them to hear. But he had.

Because he had, after all, eaten the heart of a “dog”. 

[firedemoned]

Turmoil

"One of us must be sacrificed," Sevis Brightflame proclaimed gravely. It should have been a decision of strategy, or morals. Something besides the ringing in his ears, his sister's voice a whisper etched into his mind.

"What have you become, Lyren?"

The reason he made the decision wasn't the right way to go about it.

But it was an easy decision to make. He welcomed the glaive to his throat, the expected darkness…

Illidan's curious words in his mind, intrigued, maybe a little proud. Those were not expected.

It turned out, he didn't get to run away from his problems that easily.