Shorts V1

“So? What do you think?” Came a smooth, buttery voice, that sliced through the cold, still air. A man dressed in black robes with platinum plates protecting his most sensitive areas stood, invesigsting the walls. He had turned his head to face his partner, a knight, but she was as silent as the ruins they were exploring. She never spoke, but then, she couldn’t speak. Her silvery hair dangled from under her helmet, only her lower face visible. But he knew her silver eyes were scanning the ruins for their prize. Her full armor was highlighted by midnight blue hues, heralding her allegiance, much as his own robes did.

Working for the crown as a Starlight Magi was never easy, especially so when his partner was a mute, the Star Knight was always helpful, from swinging her massive blade, to looking intimidating, she was always able to get him through their missions. But this was the strangest. Sent to these old ruins in the middle of the damn tundra. Apparently, some relic valuable to the crown was to be found here.

Aiden admitted to himself that the tundra held many secrets, but the stars had been ordaining some strange fate for himself as of late. Nonetheless, these ruins were strangely pristine. Aiden hadn't been able to find a single speck of dust. A single door lead in or out from this old antechamber. It was filled with imagery he'd seen before. Signs of the Lady of Stars. Symbols of her influence were everywhere.

A loud knocking shook Aiden from his ruminating, and Sarah was standing in the doorway leading further into the ruins. She had been knocking on the stone with her gauntlet. He let out a loud sigh, covering his chest with his hand.

“I thought they called you ‘The Silent’ because you were quiet.” The pale woman across the room smiled, her tattoo shining from under her crown shaped helmet, the black olive branch signifying her love for peace. She shook her head, making her way down the corridor, which prompted Aiden to follow her quickly. It was a stark change from the well designed antechamber, statues of armored men on the left and hooded figures on the right of the hallway lit the path. The knights held torches, while fire spouted from the mages hands.

It was something from an era further back. Much farther back. Possibly from when the Star Knights and Magi first began to work together, rather than separately, for the good of the kingdom. As they walked down the corridor, Aiden slowly noticed that his own footsteps made no sound, but Sarah's tapped ever so lightly. The echoing clacking noise of metal upon the stonework soon became all he could focus on, and before he knew it, the two of them were standing in a void. There was no floor, and the only things that were visible were Sarah, and another woman, far in the distance, but somehow, he features were entirely visible. She was resting upon some kind of bed, something Aiden had never seen before. He moved a lock of brown hair aside to see her more clearly. She had white skin, and the air around seemed to stand still. She had white hair draped down to her shoulders, and was dressed as a royal, ancient crests adorning her. The heraldry suggested his own country, but more archaic.
Before he could examine the woman further, the tapping continued. Sarah had drawn that massive blade of hers, and a pair of black figures had begun to form from the infinite darkness. As they were materializing, Sarah held her blade in one hand, and dragged her other hand down the length of it, exhaling all the while. He form became shrouded in frost, her armor becoming icy and dark, while her blade became black, and dotted with stars, as if the blade itself were the void beyond the heavens.

The forms, once fully formed, mirrored the two of them, but they appeared to be much older, and the knight of the two of them was wielding a wicked looking scythe, which looked old and brittle, but more than capable of ending their lives. The Magi behind the knight began incanting some spell, and Aiden quickly began muttering a counterspell. Sarah, with her blade on her shoulder, ran to meet the scythe wielding knight head on, and the only sound that could be heard were the tip taps of Sarah's greaves on the void.

The conflict erupted as a tendril of starlight shot from each mage, curling around the melee combatants to strike at each other, but each tendril simply diffused as they reached their targets, counterspells already in place. Aiden began moving his hands in arcane motion, muttering his spells as quickly as he could manage, magic missiles flying past and from him as he struggled to both keep casting and defending. Explosions began to bounce off of his defenses and go off mere feet behind him as the conflict escalated.

In between the fierce magical battle, the two warriors struggled to find an opening against each other, as the scythe wielder made circling, dance like motions between swings of the scythe, most of which bounced off of Sarah's armor. The wide reach of her spinning greatsword strikes keeping the scythe user out of reach for the most part. That is, until Sarah stepped right into the other fighter's range taking hold of their chestplate and yanking them as she threw her head into theirs. The blow left them shocked long enough for her to throw all of her weight into the other fighter, while dropping her blade to the floor. Now with a good grasp, she exhaled deeply, frost spouting from her hands and into the other knight's armor. At least, it was, until she was thrown back to where she'd left her blade by a wave of force. The other mage had left his guard down in this act however, and was instantly felled by a lightning bolt that struck his chest and threw him to the ground, paralyzed or dead. Aiden followed by quickly conjuring a spike of Ice and hurling it deep into the enemy Knight's chest. Aiden collapsed to his knees, panting afterwards.

With a practiced motion, Sarah sheathed her blade on her back and made her way to Aiden. With a hard inhale, Aiden looked up to the woman, who hadn't even broken a sweat. She held her hand for him to take. He continued panting and waved at her. She snatched his hand however, and lifted him onto her back, deigning to carry him to the woman on the other side of the void.  After a few minutes, they still hadn't reached her, and Aiden looked backwards to find the corridor they'd entered through was certainly farther away. Looking back towards the woman resting, he noticed she held a scroll. That must be what they were here for.

“Sarah, she's holding a scroll. We need to get that.” He said, pointing over her shoulder. She nodded, moving faster now. It took several minutes of walking, but they made it to the woman. She was pristine, and her shallow breathing could be just heard. Sarah reached for the scroll, but as her gauntleted hand touched it, the woman stirred. When she opened her eyes, they were black, and full of stars. The void began to light up similarly with specks of light. She rose quickly.

“Visitors! It's been so long.” Her smile beamed at the two even brighter than her starry eyes.

“You must be strong to have defeated yourselves.” As she laid up on the strange piece of furniture, her white dress became more luminous.

“I am Poira, Daughter of Nirris, and this is my observatory.”  Aiden nearly fell off of Sarah’s back at this statement. A demigod was sitting before them, and this was a place most holy. He had to speak up quickly.

“We are Aiden Tara and Sarah the Silent, sent to retrieve an artifact of our kingdom.” The woman just kept smiling at him before replying.

“Well, you've found one. But I cannot leave this place.” Aiden sighed and looked at the stars filling the room. There was no time to waste, if he cannot bring anything back, at the very least, he must tell others of this place.

“Can I tell the other scholars you are here Milady?” She chuckled at him and waved the two of them off.

“If they will believe you.” And before he could even blink, they were back in the antechamber. Sarah turned about, rolling her shoulders and pressing the door open with her shoulder, ready to carry Aiden home through the tundra.