Malion: Up In Flames

Reunited

I sat out in front of Hero's manor and stared out onto the rockey mountain plains, imagining flying through the air for a moment. A cold breeze dusted my face while I thought about everything that had happened.

"Grezk, Decoda." I heard a familiar tone. I looked up to spot Elliott. He was packed in warm garments as he strolled towards me.

"Valvess." I returned. It had become a tradition to greet each other in our mother tongues. He had his hair completely loose, as opposed to his usual half-up/half-down style. His fringe parted from the middle and framed his face rather well. He gestured at the space next to me and I shrugged. He gave me a charming smile and sat down next to me.

"I'm glad you're alright, my dear. You look a lot better than when you returned." He said, resting his head on my shoulder. I smiled and sighed.

"Thank you. I missed you... it's such a weird feeling to go to a dimention for about 2 hours and come back weeks later. It's so strange. It's like I left the room to get my blade or something and came back to a completely different looking person." I explained. He chuckled and took my hand to squeeze it.

"I missed you a lot. The Burns' near suspected your deaths but I heald out hope. Kaylum was confident in your abilities and Anthony's been worried. Him and I have helped the Gods make a new house in the valley. Kaylum and Anthony felt like that would be a good place to start their new family once their daughter is fully developed." He explained. Only then did I remember the strange house in the Skladmir Valley.

"I could tell that you helped with that. You look stronger." I told him, leaning into him more. We stayed like that and chatted more about the changes before the sun set and we had to rush back to Nathaniel's cottage. The endoran were coming out sooner than in summer.

I entered the house and thought for a moment I had ended up in a completely different city. The entire interior was furnashed and lived in.

I brushed past a new workbench to my immediate left and skimmed over a sketch of a sword among other sketches, scraps and sawdust. Arrowheads and other unfinished tools lay in the organised chaos. A sword was suspended in its assembly. Sawdust avoided the carpet in front of a sizeable kitchen nook tucked under the new wooden stairs. The counters were fitted with cutting boards, bundles of herbs and pots.

I grinned, stepping back and suddenly felt the risidual heat of a burnt out fireplace that sat next to the kitchen nook. The cauldron that hung above it had been freshly washed out. The afterscent of stew hung delicately in the air. I turned back to Elliott, who grinned happily.

"Do you like it? Selvan and Anthony helped me build most of this. The table was my own handywork. Wood straight from The Beneath." He explained. I turned to see a black table equipped with deep hazel dining chairs ladened with crimson silk seats in the back of the room.

"It's amazing." I mumbled softly. He took my hand and lead my past the table and turned at a new, tall wardrobe then lead my up the stairs. The orange gleam of sunset filled the new room as it reached in from a large circular window above the giant bed. Elliott stepped aside, onto the shining cyan carped that stretched across the floor.

Dark side tables guarded the bed. They were made of the same wood as the dining table downstairs. I looked to my right and noticed a desk sandwitched between a bookshelf and a large cupboard that touched the wall paralel to the bed. On that wall was another workbench, filled with a few smaller tools. Another cupboard sat parallel to the other. Elliott wrnt to a small chair and sat in it. He leaned against the large desk that was cluttered with pages and notes.

"How did you manage all of this? We were only gone for a month. And has your hair gotten longer?" I asked him. He grinned at me and stood, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.