Ryland stood on the boardwalk facing the North Sea, watching as the reds and pinks of the sunset faded to navy blue. At this time of year, the sun sets later everyday. While it was winter on earth, it was early summer in Stellara. The warm air sang with the sound of crickets and magic being used, a pleasant, sweet sound. The coastal town in which he spent the day was still bustling, but this time with people there for the nighttime activities. All the children and families had gone earlier in the night, leaving the adults to enjoy the music, shows, and firework show signaling the start of summer. The fireworks were a spectacular thing every year, explosions of every color burst across the sky the whole night. Some years, there were enough fireworks that you could not see a good portion of the night sky. The people of the town of North Coast love the fireworks, most of them flooding the streets just to see the bursts of light over the sea. The boardwalk however, was rarely filled, a place that no one thinks to come to during the the start of summer. Ryland happened to be one of the people who thought to go to the boardwalk. He went there every year during the celebration since he was a child. Although ever since he met Iris, Elias, Cyane and Violet, we brought them to the spot. So, earlier that day, he went back to the mansion to ask the others if they would join him for the celebration. He knew that with everything going on, his friends would enjoy a night without worry. All of them said they would meet him, and they each seemed happy to get away from work. They agreed to meet at eight o'clock, just before the start of the show. Ryland looked out to the sea, his eyes trained on the horizon now getting darker and darker. His gaze them drifted to the ship floating on the water, the ship holding all the fireworks for the celebration. Men scurried about the ship, preparing for the night full of color. One man waved to him, and he realized how long he must have been staring. Ryland reached into the deep pocket sewn into his coat, and brought out a little pocket watch. The time on it read exactly eight o'clock. So Ryland returned the timepiece to his pocket and turned his head to the left. He looked at the place right next to him, waiting for one of his friends to show up.
At thirty seconds past eight, water from the North Sea flew up and formed a sideways whirlpool next to Ryland. Elias walked straight out of the water tunnel along with Cayne, who was apparently Elias's passenger through the water portal. Elias walked out of the portal perfectly dry, while Cayne appeared soaking wet. He looked down at his clothes, then up to Elias.
"Why?" He asked, knowing that it was Elias's doing. Elias only waved his hand and the liquid soaking Cayne, along with the portal, flew back to the sea with a splash. Cayne thanked His friend and walked to the railing of the boardwalk to watch the start of the show.
Elias finally turned to Ryland and said, "Evaam." A word for both hello and goodbye on Dianthri.
"Evaam." Ryland replied with a tip of his head.
He smiled, thinking of how Elias could never manage to arrive anywhere without a spectacular entrance. The Agui, as water magicians were called on their planet, was a natural at controlling the element. He crafted portals of water as easily as waving a hand though air - and he certainly did not live down the fact that he was probably the best water magician in all of Stellara. In fact, he enjoyed displaying his power. Elias raised a hand to display another trick, but was interrupted by a burst of laughter. The two men turned to see Iris walking down the boardwalk to them, along with Violet. The two girls laughed and smiled at their friends. They ran over to Elias and Ryland, Violet looking as she just got a new puppy.
She stopped in front of Elias as she joked, "Behold: Elias, the greatest Agui in all of Stellara!"
Elias played along and replied with a proud voice.
"Why, thank you" he said with an over the top bow.
Violet put her hands on her hips and looked Elias right in the eye. "Elias, we could see the whirlpool from the end of the boardwalk.
Showing off a bit, are we now?" she joked.
"Yes, I was actually hoping you'd see it." A childish grin spread across his face.
Iris took a step over to him and draped an arm across his shoulder. With the other, she poked him and said,"Hmm, I think I might see a bit of that arrogance coming through." she teased. Next to each other, Elias and Iris looked like they could be siblings. Though Elias's dark tan skin was lighter than Iris's, and her eyes were silver with gold specks while his were amber, they acted like brother and sister. The way they joked with each other, the way their thoughts were almost always in sync. They had been friends ever since Ryland could remember. Iris now took her arm off of Elias's shoulder, walked back to Violet and waited for the show to start. Iris still wore the white top from earlier, the fabric still flowing in the wind. It was strange to Ryland to see Iris in the same outfit as that morning, because the meeting felt like days ago. Time is clever thought Ryland. It tricks your mind into re-writing memories, it warps the idea of things happening in one day, a week. Sometimes a year can feel like a day, a day like a year. Now, as Ryland thought of how unfair time is, he wished it would leave the mind alone. That it would just run it's course how it's supposed to. He also wished that he and his friends would appreciate it more. He knew that this night of calm would go fast, and he would wake up in the morning to more trouble. So, as he took that thought and stored it away in his mind, he said hello to his friends and smiled. He smiled because he was happy. Because he did start appreciating the time he has.
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