In a quiet forest, bathed in the soft light, two small beds of stones lay side by side, carefully arranged by hand.
Amelia knelt before the stone piles, placing one last stone on top with care. Her movement was filled with a quiet reverence, as if she were paying her respects to something sacred.
Her normally composed face showed a rare display of emotion—grief mixed with a deep sense of responsibility.
Standing a few steps behind her, Spark watched silently. His aloof demeanor was unchanged, but a hint of curiosity flickered in his eyes as he observed her actions.
After a moment, he broke the silence, his voice calm as ever.
"Why are you piling up these stones?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Amelia paused, her hand lingering on the smooth surface of one of the stones. She didn't answer right away; instead, she took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts.
Finally, she turned to face Spark, her eyes reflecting the seriousness of the moment.
"These stones are a gift, a sort of grave for the two seniors. It's the least I could do for them," she said, her voice steady but soft.
Spark tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
"A grave? I didn't know that," he remarked, a touch of amazement in his tone.
Amelia smiled faintly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I wanted to leave something behind for them here, in this world. A marker, a reminder that they were here."
Spark's gaze shifted to the stone beds, and for a moment, he seemed lost in thought.
The idea of creating a grave for those who had passed hadn't occurred to him. In his mind, death was the end, yet he could see how much it meant to Amelia.
After a brief silence, he spoke again, his tone more reflective. "It's a kind gesture, I suppose."
Spark continued to watch her, his aloofness softening slightly. There was something about the way she honored the dead, acknowledging even the smallest debts, that struck a chord with him.
As Amelia finished piling the stones, she stood up and brushed the dirt from her hands.
She took one last look at the stone beds, her gaze lingering on them as if saying a final goodbye. Spark remained silent, respecting the moment.
Finally, Amelia turned away from the graves. "Let's go,"
Spark gave a small nod and began to walk alongside her, his usual calmness returning.
But as they moved away from the graves, he could not help but glance back one last time, a thought lingering in his mind.
Amelia had shown him something he had not considered before—the significance of small acts, of honoring those who came before, even in the simplest ways. It was a lesson that, despite his detached nature, he would not forget.
"Honoring the dead, hmm..." he mused quietly to himself. Continue your story on m,v|l-novelhall.net
As they walked away from the stone beds, the forest around them grew quieter, with only the occasional rustling of leaves breaking the silence.
From their vantage point, they could just barely make out figures surrounding the crater.
Even from a distance, their imposing stature and the sharp precision with which they moved suggested something far from ordinary.
These figures were tall, with tan skin and muscular bodies that stood out against the barren landscape.
They moved in perfect unison, their arms raised as they unleashed a relentless barrage of spells toward the smoke-filled center of the crater.
Arrows cut through the air, massive boulders were hurled with incredible force, and countless spells lit up the sky, all aimed at an unseen target hidden within the smoke.
"What are they attacking?" Amelia muttered, her voice laced with confusion.
She had witnessed battles before, but this was something entirely different. The sheer intensity of the assault was overwhelming, yet the target remained obscured beneath the thick veil of smoke.
Just then, a thunderous roar erupted from the center of the crater, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
The sound was disturbingly familiar, a chilling echo of the one they had heard earlier in the forest.
Amelia's heart raced as she focused her gaze on the center of the crater, spreading her senses to see through the smoke and dust.
Suddenly, something shot up from the center, moving so fast it was nearly impossible for those tanned figures to track.
However, Amelia, in the distance, managed to follow its movement. She held her breath as she watched the giant creature ascend into the sky, a blur of motion that disappeared in an instant.
For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath, the only sounds being the distant crackle of flames and the low murmur of the wind.
But the silence didn't last.
In the next moment, screams of agony filled the air as the tan-skinned figures surrounding the crater withdrew in horror.
Amelia's eyes widened in shock as she saw what had happened—several of the figures had been reduced to nothing more than splatters of blood and gore, their bodies torn apart by some unseen creature.
The ground around the crater was stained with the gruesome remains of the fallen, their once-imposing forms now reduced to mere pools of blood.
One of the remaining figures, who had been preparing to cast another spell, suddenly froze in place.
His body stiffened, and his head slowly turned as a large shadow loomed over him.
His eyes widened in terror as he stared up at the enormous being that had appeared behind him.
The creature was a towering four-armed monstrosity, its massive body battered and dripping with the blood of its recent victims. The creature's presence was overwhelming, its aura radiating raw, primal power.
The tan-skinned figure, now fully aware of his impending doom, seemed paralyzed by fear.
His mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound came out. The creature's shadow engulfed him, its sheer size dwarfing everything around it.
Without a word, the creature raised one of its bloodied arms and, in a swift, brutal motion, brought it down on the helpless figure.
The impact was so powerful that the ground trembled, and when the dust settled, all that remained of the figure was a crimson stain on the earth.