My welcome to the Agglomerate has been better than anything I could hope for. The doubts of the past few days on how my taboo might have morphed the other áed’s perspective of me seems to have been unfounded, if Yalun’s attitude is anything to go by.

I know that not all would likely react the same way, but two elders for two are pretty good initial conditions. Plus, Yalun says she’ll protect me from the other grand elders should the details of my taboo slip out. Hopefully, they’ll be as understanding as both Tanwyn and Yalun have been, but I know that is probably too much to hope for.

Regardless of my unawareness when I commit them, it doesn’t change the fact that I committed taboos which the grand elders have declared as prohibited. If discovered, it is assured that some would take issue with my capacity. Things will only get worse if they find out just how much I’ve been displaying my power over in the eastern nations.

“Now, I’ll need you to stay in my chambers until I can get Śuri to help suppress your presence,” Yalun says. Her flames still thread along my own, searching for any slight differences. “Don’t worry about others dropping in. They know not to invade my chambers without permission.”

“Is it okay to tell Śuri about my capacity?”

“Considering he’s been pushing the rest of the grand elders to abolish the restriction on accumulating energy for as long as I’ve lived, I’m confident he’ll be okay.” Yalun seems to ponder for a moment. “Actually, knowing him, he’ll probably try to snatch you away from me. Solvei, you’ll remain my student at least until we reach the threshold, won’t you?” Yalun pleads, her eyes begging.

I hesitate. As much as I’d like to say yes immediately, I’d still like to meet this Śuri first. Working with Yalun to bring my binding to the next level would be amazing, but if Śuri is the one she wants to guide me in my presence control, then he must be strong in his own way, right?

My binding has been undeniable in my survival until now, but it’s my capacity that lets me fight. If not for the immense capacity, I could never fight those who threaten my friends. Should I not try to improve that which can increase my battle capability? What if another Kalma level existence appears?

I belatedly realise that even knowing it is taboo, I’m still planning to continue my growth. This isn’t good. I want to stay in good relations with the rest of my kind, after all.

Before I can respond, we are interrupted. One of the áed eagles rushes in through the same entrance Yalun led me through. She screams my name as she crashes into me, sending me off the rug and sprawling across the glass.

I take a moment to realise I’m not being attacked, and the eagle is crying in an indistinguishable mess of rambled words and sobs as she buries herself in my chest. Her flames feel slightly familiar, but I can’t pick out where I’ve felt it.

Against my better judgement, considering I’m supposed to be hiding my capacity, I reach my flames into hers, looking for what is causing that nostalgic feeling. The eagle latches onto my flames with eagerness, freely welcoming me. I can hardly believe what I feel.

“Elder Enya?”

What? This is… this is impossible. How? She died. Along with the rest of the tribe back under the cliffs. I held a pyre for her.

“Solvei, it’s actually you,” Enya sobs into my chest. Her eagle form the same as I remember so long ago. “We never thought it was possible. How are you alive?”

“How are you?” I try to say, but my throat constricts around the words. “I looked everywhere, but there wasn’t a sign.” Leaning down, I pull her tight. “I thought you were all dead.”

Enya doesn’t reply. She wails in my embrace, and it does nothing to help my bursting emotions. Sizzling hot wisps escape my eyes as I try to stifle my own growing sobs. I grieved for them for so long, and they weren’t even gone.

Yalun slowly extracts her flames from mine. I glance back at her as she slowly rises to her feet. Her face is blank, hiding whatever emotion she feels. She steps toward us, clearly ready to say something, but is once again interrupted by an intruding presence.

An áed runs in from the other side of Yalun’s chamber and I immediately recognise Elder Cyrus. He looks at the grand elder with hesitance, but as soon as he sees me, any reluctance to continue leaves him. He dashes to our side and crashes to his knees beside us.

Both Elder Enya and Cyrus are alive. I can hardly believe it. This must be a dream or something. If these two are here, does that mean the rest of the tribe is fine? Is Uncle Rivin and Auntie Kay here?

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Instead of joining us in Kindling, Cyrus bows his head, staring at the ground. “I’m sorry Solvei.”

“For what?” what does he think he needs to apologise for?

“I… I assumed you were gone, along with the rest of the tribe. I should have protected you. If not for my weakness, we could have found you.”

“Ah, so nobody else made it then?” I really shouldn’t have, but I allowed myself to get my hopes up. It’s been a long time since I accepted their death. I should be happy that two of my tribe remain.

Cyrus shakes his head without looking up. The confirmation hurts, but again, it has been a long time since I’ve moved on.

I hate to see the Elder that always remained a pillar of our tribe so devastated. Unlike me and Enya, he doesn’t cry, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an áed look so exhausted.

My flames spread over his, asking to mix, but he doesn’t immediately grant me access. He looks up in question. His eyes and the flames hidden deep within are almost hollow. Only when I nudge him again does he reluctantly allow me in.

The heat is intense, bordering on the threshold between clear and blue. His eyes widen upon feeling mine, but I don’t care to hide from these two. Enya has shown no awareness of what lies in my flames beyond recognising me, but Cyrus doesn’t hide how much my changes startle him.

“Just what… Solvei, what did you have to go through because of my failure?”

“Failure?” I give him a wry smirk, trying to lift his spirits. “What do you think anyone could have done against a Titan?”

Looking at Elder Enya and Cyrus now, I realise that neither has changed at all since I last saw them. Comparatively, I’m a completely different person than who I once was. Not even regarding my strength — although that has exploded from before — I am no longer the innocent child they knew. I’ve gone through impossible challenges. Fought in wars. I’ve killed… so many more than they could comprehend. And yet these two have not changed.

“My sole responsibility was to protect the tribe and our child, you. We should never have been so close to the coast.”

Before I can reassure him he did nothing wrong, Yalun interrupts. She grabs Enya around the throat and pulls Cyrus up by the collar of his armoured vest. They both hang in her hands like children in trouble with a parent.

“While it’s great that you get to have this reunion, have you forgotten where you are? It seems I need to reemphasize just how little I enjoy unexpected visitors.”

Cyrus’ flames snap away as Yalun drags them away, but Enya does her best to keep her flames linked with mine. I scramble to my feet as Yalun takes them to the opening everyone but Cyrus entered from. Yalun’s flame enters Enya’s before forcibly destabilising it, severing our link and reducing her wings to non-physical flames.

Neither of my elders fight her, apparently having expected this kind of reaction. Enya still reaches her flames for me, but she looks happier now. Not so engulfed in emotion.

“Solvei, you stay in there,” Yalun says before holding both of my elders over the long drop on the side of the mountain. “You two can expect to enjoy nothing but slag for the next six months. Do this again, or look for your own meals, and expect it to drop to rock.”

I watch from behind Yalun as the two hang suspended above such a long fall. Is it really so bad that they came uninvited? I wouldn’t have known they were alive if they hadn’t found me.

“Don’t worry about us, Solvei,” Cyrus says. While still looking exhausted, there’s a light in his eye that wasn’t there a few moments ago. “We’ll see you soon.”

Yalun drops them.

I dash to the ledge, but the grand elder holds me back.

“They’ll be fine,” she says. “Just watch.”

As she says, their fall gradually transitions to a slide along the side of the glass. Enya’s clipped wings prevent her from flying until she regenerates them, but there is no need as they don’t slam into the ground rather than skid away from us. There’s nothing to worry about. At least that’s what I think until they both collide with the base of one of those glass pillars.

Enya scatters into flames for a moment before bringing herself back together and standing up without issue. Elder Cyrus takes a few moments longer to rise, but he does so, even if he walks off with a slight limp that disappears after a while.

“You can speak to them once we get a hold on your presence.” Yalun steps away from the ledge, walking back into her chambers. “Wandering around as you are now will only attract attention. Each of the grand elders will notice your presence without difficulty, as you are. Odqan only missed it because I masked yours with my own.”

“What did you mean by slag?” I really want to go talk with them and ask what happened all those years ago. How I couldn’t find them and where they were. But I don’t know if doing so is worth screaming to all the other grand elders that I’ve committed taboo. Yalun figured it out from my presence, so there’s no reason they can’t, too.

“Leftovers from glass production. Tastes absolutely horrid, but good enough to live off.”

I should stay up here and wait for that elder Śuri to arrive and teach me so that I can safely see them again. It would be best to stay with Yalun and follow her guidance so I can reach the threshold of binding. There are also her clothes that change to flame along with her body that I need to ask about.

So much to do, and so much to be wary about, but I still jump over the edge.

“Damnit kid,” is all I hear behind me, but regardless of how much smarter it might be to stay cooped up in Yalun’s chambers until everything works itself out, I reject the idea. I may no longer be held back by the knot, but staying there feels too much like I’m being locked away.

The glass beneath me now slopes enough that my momentum is going sideways rather than down. I could have flown… but, well… it looked fun.

Regardless of whether Yalun goes forward with her threat of telling the other grand elders, it’s still better than letting myself stay prisoner, even if that’s not how anyone but me sees it.

Also, having to wait to talk with my tribesmen that I’ve just found are actually alive would be unbearable. It may be just Elder Enya and Cyrus that survived, but that is far better than what I’ve believed all these years.

I slam into the same glass pillar and dash after them.