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29. Upon death

Till death does us part with its welcome embrace.
Till pillars turn dust in the awaiting chase.
We will see you again when the moon starts to rise.
Let the stars guide you with their everlasting light.

Till the end of all we will await your return.
Till bone turns to ash we will forever yearn.
Never forget that there is a blessing in disguise.
Look up to the stars as they worship our every demise.

Till the stars and the moon come back in their full might.
Till death brings us freedom and your everlasting light.
Until we return where we came from let us never leave your eyes.
Because should you leave us there would be nothing left for us but die.

Fharan stared at him for a little while longer and made his decision. There was little he could lose, neither did he particularly care much about the fate of this world.
He lifted his hand without much ceremony and grabbed the ring.

And.... nothing happened. He didn't feel any different either.
As he looked over to the blue haired man he saw the disappointment in Aeithalis eyes.
Fharan wasn't sure if he should be glad or worried about the lack of thunder and blinding light.
Aeithalis disappointment could represent his own loss or gain. He had no way to discern which of the two.

He didn't have time to lament about it as Aeithalis started to walk closer to the ruined tower, fearlessly stepping through its once magnificent gate.
Fharan followed close behind, wondering what would happen if he died here.
Would he simply return, would he be forever cut off from Afrit or would he truly die.
He carefully avoided the heaps of rubble and kept an eye on the cracked ceiling.

Fharan stepped next to Aeithalis who now kneeled in the exact centre of the structure, wiping off soot and rubble from the stone floor. He frowned a bit and formed a small ball of light over his hand, illuminating the cracked stone.
"Should still work.", he mumbled to himself. "The spell is still intact."
He stood up and turned to Fharan. "Stand exactly at the centre of this formation over here and put on the ring.", he said and stepped a bit aside. Without hesitation Fharan moved forward and positioned himself in the exact spot Aeithalis had pointed to. He stared a few more seconds at the simple gold band in his hand before carefully slipping it onto his finger. Nothing happened.

"Activate your magic. It should be blocked off, but the essence itself is still there."
He lifted a brow. He had access to more than just the 'essence' right now. Willing a tiny spark to the surface, he watched as a thin wall of ice started to form around them.
That seemed to do the trick. Fharan felt how something within him started to move on its own accord and the ring as well as the slightly battered carvings to the floor started to glow.
In the reflection of the ice and the growing light, he could see how his eye colour briefly flickered to one not too different from his bonds before returning to the usual ice blue.
Interesting.
But before he could think too deeply about it the light grew even stronger and he felt how the ground underneath him seemed to give way.
The light disappeared and he fell into endless nothingness.

After seconds or hours, one could never really tell, he could make out a faint light beneath him and before he knew it he was surrounded by what appeared to me millions of tiny sparks of light. Or should one say stars?
He could make out Aeithalis form not too far away from him.
But as soon as the spectacle had appeared it had gone again and he found himself standing on solid ground once more.
"Well, as interesting as always.", commented Aeithalis next to him.
Fharan surveyed his surroundings. They had landed at the far end of a huge cave. The stone was carefully formed and the ground was made of black stone, polished until it reflected the faint light from above. The ceiling was littered with small white lights, not too different from the space they had so briefly passed.
It was still as quiet as above ground and there were no living creatures in sight besides themselves.

"What comes next?", Fharan asked and Aeithalis pointed to the far end of the 'room'. "The corridor of stars. It is the entrance to every tomb in every city. It depicts the history of the whole continent."
They continued their journey onwards and indeed, as they reached the corridor the walls were painted in the most magnificent colours, describing the rise and fall of entire kingdoms. All of the pieces had one thing in common though. In every last one of them you could find at least one star.
Fharan observed them with great interest. He had found magic always quite a bit more interesting than history, but the latter was not without its charm, especially since it recorded the development of the former.
Sometimes it was essential to understand history to grasp the happenings of today.
There were many things he already knew, but even more that he had never seen before.

They walked on and on along the seemingly endless corridor.
This place was enveloped by a tranquility which Fharan had never encountered before. It was strangely clean as well. Not a speck of dust to be seen anywhere.
Aeithalis stopped in front of one of the next paintings. It depicted a beautiful city surrounded by snowy mountains behind which the sun was either rising or sinking.
"Activate the ring again and press it against the star at the centre. ", he said.
Fharan did as he was told and watched as the wall started to flicker before disappearing completely. There was only pure darkness on the other side, but as he stepped forward the lights flickered to life, revealing what had been hiding in the shadows for hundreds of years.