Quiet footsteps resounded in a darkened hallway whose walls were studded with glowing yellow crystals that radiated light. A tall, dark-haired young man in silver-highlighted dark clothing strode up to a doorway, held his hand up to a keypad, and waited a moment for the security system to disengage. The door chimed once and opened, allowing him to move on. "Coming, Eterna?"
"Coming," a voice called as a brown-haired young woman in a knee-length purple dress with bluish leggings underneath walked after him, a brilliant staff of purplish metal in hand tipped on each end with a crystalline violet blade. On either side of the blades extended short dragon-wing like protrusions with heliotrope-colored webbings. A faint starry nimbus surrounded the weapon, humming quietly in the darkness.
The young man waited until his companion passed through the doorway. Then, with a click he shut the door. "Would you like it if the hallway were lit?" he asked.
Eterna sighed. "Aeric, I could do it myself you know," she told her friend in a mildly irritated tone of voice. "The question is whether you want it lit. I'm perfectly fine either way."
Aeric shrugged. "Suit yourself." He uttered a short phrase as they passed a crystal on the wall. A moment later, all the crystals in the hallway intensified their glow, illuminating the entire hallway with a brilliant white light. Neither person was bothered by the sudden change in lighting.
They passed through doorway after doorway until they finally came to a stairway. "After you," Aeric said, motioning for Eterna to go on ahead. Eterna smiled faintly in amusement and obliged, heading into the stairwell before Aeric followed closely behind, manifesting a darkened silver staff with a silver-edged black blade on either end out of pure darkness as he kept a careful watch behind them.
They came to the top and opened the door to reveal a rock with a pale green sword planted squarely within at its top. Around them was a forest clearing, tranquil with the sounds of nature.
Aeric and Eterna walked up to the rock and stood facing the sword. Lying around it were a number of bouquets, evidence that other people had visited before them.
Etched in the rock in a continuous circle were the following words: Here stands O'tora Stomr, the Eihrisingrr of Aeron Solo.
Eterna sighed. "How long has it been now?"
"Six years," Aeric replied.
"Feels much longer than six, doesn't it?"
"Mmm," Aeric agreed, putting an arm around his friend and hugging her close, allowing his staff to disappear in a flare of shadow. Eterna planted her own staff in the ground next to her and rested her head against Aeric's chest, her eyes on the sword.
"Did you bring anything?" Eterna asked.
"Only my memories. You know I travel light."
Eterna tutted. "This is Aeron we're talking, you know."
"I know. But he wouldn't have wanted me to shirk my duties."
Eterna smiled playfully and flicked a lock of hair out of Aeric's eyes. "Oh, so protecting me is still more important than remembering a fallen friend?"
Aeric said nothing, but Eterna still saw his cheeks grow slightly red from discomfort. Laughing softly, she turned away and reached into her pack, drawing from it a wreath and resting it against O'tora Stomr's blade. Murmuring a short phrase under her breath, she fed the budding flowers on the wreath her energy, nurturing them until they blossomed and swayed gently in the wind. Their golden petals spiraled in a peculiar pattern around the stamens and pistil, reminiscent of the environment they had been raised in.
Aeric looked at the flowers. "He loved Gildervinds the most, didn't he?"
Eterna nodded. "Why else did you think I took us to that place?"
Aeric sighed and allowed a wry smile to escape his lips. "Well, I hope he appreciates them, since we're not Skyborne."
Eterna laughed softly, remembering how difficult it was for them to get the seeds. "It wasn't too easy, no."
"They happen to only be grown in environments where surrounding winds are 150 mph or higher," Aeric recalled. "And the best ones were grown in 300 mph wind environments."
They allowed a moment of silence to fall in between them. Then, "If they can only be grown in extremely windy environments, how did you get them to bloom so easily?"
Eterna pulled Aeric's head down towards her and whispered in his ear. "Magic."
Aeric rolled his eyes as Eterna danced away, laughing at him. "You too, huh?"
"Well, it's the truth," Eterna said innocently. Aeric growled as Eterna burst out with laughter, frustrated at being so outmaneuvered. "Come on, Aeric, it won't do you any good to brood about it. What is will always be, until somebody comes and screws it up. Now let's get going, the others will be waiting if we don't leave soon," Eterna said as she plucked her staff from where it was planted in the ground.
Aeric vanished in a blur of darkness and reappeared right next to his companion, manifesting the bladed staff that was his weapon. "Well then, we ought to move quickly."
The two faded away into the stairwell they emerged from. Aeric closed the door, leaving behind no trace of an exit upon a large rock formation.