The Demon Lord and his Hero

Rowan and Syryn left the scene and returned to their beach house. On their they, they came across the execution camp which was now empty. A few prisoners were still locked up in cages like animals and we're subsequently freed by Rowan. Their futures uncertain, the prisoners tried to follow the two men who had rescued them. 

"What do we do?" Syryn asked Rowan. They were ignoring the group of prisoners who were trailing behind them. 

"Nothing," Rowan replied. "They can follow us all they like and it won't get them anywhere but the shabby place we're staying at." 

Rowan couldn't pity them because they were hardened criminals acting pitiful. 

"So what now, Rowan?" 

The blond figured that Artemus would find them. They just had to wait for the dark-haired anti mage to show up. They would then depart from Coop together, leaving Robin, still undercover, to run the place for whatever covert reason that the Sanguine had seen to benefit from. 

"I never would have imagined that Artemus was working with Bella. I mean, you saw his injuries, didn't you? He even allowed himself to get hanged and then thrown to the sharks. That man fears nothing, does he?" Syryn said in awe. He was very impressed by the actions of the man. 

"He's one of the best hunters we have," Rowan replied. "I'm glad you saved his life, Ryn." 

"I did?!" 

"Mhmm. You're one of the best healers I know. You saved Artemus from certain death when you were still in school." 

"That explains why he came to Coop searching for me. I guess he thinks he owes me his life." 

"He does owe you his life." 

It wasn't long before the duo reached their beach house. If they weren't on Coop, Syryn would have wanted to stay awhile and relax in the beach house for a few days. He enjoyed the sounds of the waves and the warm gritty sand under his toes in the early afternoon. Syryn wished he had a home by the beach. 

Rowan waited for Syryn to enter the house before he himself went in. The prisoners that had followed them stood outside the door looking angry and lost. Rowan slammed the door shut and bolted it without a backward glance at the criminals. 

"What's on your mind, Ryn?" He asked the mage who was gazing out the window with a wistful look on his face. 

"I like the beach," Syryn replied. "It's peaceful here if I don't think too much about the people who were getting killed just a while ago." 

"You want to stay here?" Rowan asked, surprised. They'd been to beaches before. Syryn had never expressed any particular interest in wanting to live by the shore. 

"Yes. But I know we can't." 

Rowan was thoughtful as he received a hot cup of tea from the mage who had found a small pouch of tea leaves in his bag and thought it a good time to drink some tea. The water in the kettle was already heated up from before they'd left the house so it hadn't taken any time for the water to boil. 

"I can't immediately build a house for you at the beach but I have something you might like."

Syryn was sitting adjacent to the anti mage and taking small sips from his cup. 

"What would that be?" He asked, curious. 

Syryn watched Rowan fish out a key from his dimensional bag. The anti mage held it up to his eye level and glanced at the mage. 

"We once visited a place called the silent market where I spent a lot of money on this key." 

Rowan hadn't had any concrete plans for what he had purchased but he did so because of how precious it was. 

The mage stared at the key. It didn't look special to him at all. 

"What door does it open?" He asked Rowan. 

"A special door. I'd rather show you than explain." 

The anti mage set aside his cup and stood up. 

"What, now?" Syryn asked, placing his unfinished cup of tea on the floor because they didn't have a table. 

Rowan held the key between his thumb and forefinger. He pushed the key into the air like he was sticking it inside an invisible keyhole. Reserving his judgement for later, the mage waited for something to happen. Rowan turned the key and there was a shimmer in the air. 

"Okay...?" Syryn let out in surprise. A blue door painted with sunflowers appeared. It was transparent at first and then solidified in front of his eyes. "Wow." 

Rowan was pleased by Syryn's reaction. He turned the knob on the door and opened it. The room was immediately filled with warmth and light. 

"Come, let's have a look at what the waves will wash up today," Rowan said to the stupefied mage. 

Syryn came to stand before the door. He was beside Rowan, frozen from the surprise he was feeling. He looked up at the anti mage with wonder on his face. There was a whole sunny beach just beyond the threshold of the door. From what Syryn could see, the beach was covered in sand that looked pearly. It was as if someone had taken thousands of pearls and ground them into fine powder to be scattered over the beach. The color of the water was even more wondrous. It was a beautiful clear blue ocean whose waves glimmered because of the pearly sand underneath. 

"Shall I?" Syryn asked the anti mage who had been patiently waiting for him to take in the beauty of the beach. 

"Please, go ahead," Rowan gestured to the door with a smile.

Syryn stepped through and the first thing that he noticed was that the beach was a small sheltered bay surrounded by rocky precipitous walls. 

"Rowan, where are we?" He asked the blond. The fine pearly sand under his feet were grainy but not enough to hurt. They felt smoother than the sand from the beach on Coop. 

"Iniatra's cove," Rowan answered. "She's the one that found this place and created the key. Geographically, we're no longer in human territory."

"Whose territory?" Syryn asked. 

"The elves. But they won't find us." 

The waves slowly washed over and brought a shell to Syryn's feet. It was shaped like a conch and was entirely black in color. 

"A gift from the ocean to you," Rowan said with a smile on his face. "Pick it up, Ryn."