Enoria is preparing for war with Irithara, and the team sans Kaleth are doing the best they can to put a stop to it before it progresses even further.
Their plan? Find Mereria, get her help with killing Relioth, and save Kaleth in the process. They...
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Rayni knew it sounded silly, but it only really hit her where they were going and what they were going to do a mere half an hour before takeoff. They were all standing in a random field, although Rayni was sure Kaleth had chosen it for a reason, whatever that was, most Eternals having already switched into their various dragon forms.
There were so many colors and kinds it was actually amazing, but instead of being impressed or in awe of the sight, Rayni was just annoyed. She still didn't know how to change forms, no matter how much she tried. She was at full power now, she had been for days, in fact, but that didn't seem to change anything.
She'd asked Mel about it, but he'd just said he had no idea how he did it, so that was incredibly unhelpful. Though the fact that Kaleth didn't know how to do this either made Rayni feel a little bit better. The problem was that Kaleth had Mel to take him places. Rayni had no one.
"Nervous?" asked a voice next to her, and Rayni jumped a little. Edras was now looking at her, wearing Mereria's full armor including the daggers. The only reason Rayni could tell it was Edras was that she wasn't glaring or looking wistful.
"We're just going to Irithara. Why would I be nervous?" Rayni joked, even though deep down, she wasn't just nervous, she was terrified.
"I really get why Kaleth likes you," Edras replied with a smile, apparently completely unfazed by the fact that she could die in the next few hours. "I'll never forgive myself for never being there for him, but I am so grateful that at least you were. More than I can express. I know he's not the easiest person to get along with."
Rayni bit the inside of her lip. She wished she could say she'd always been there for Kaleth, but she hadn't paid much attention to him the first few years. She regretted it, of course, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Still, that didn't mean it didn't bug her.
"Yeah, well, I don't think he'll need me for emotional support anymore," Rayni smirked, looking over to a small cluster of trees a little away from them where Kaleth was currently being hugged by Mel's giant wings.
"That's not true," Edras said fondly. "He can never have enough people like you in his life."
Rayni wasn't sure what this conversation was making her feel, but she did know that she wanted to stop talking about this immediately. Fortunately, after having said this, Edras changed the subject. Unfortunately, it was something Rayni wanted to talk about even less.
"I know you're angry with Mereria right now, and you have reason to be angry, but please don't push her out of your life completely."
Rayni wondered if this was even Edras saying this.
"It's not like I can stay away from her anyway, since we need her," Rayni said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, isn't this weird-ass relationship making you uncomfortable?"
Rayni hadn't really thought about how this all must have looked from Edras' perspective. Sure, Rayni and Mereria hadn't actually done anything—ew—but it still had to have been weird.
