The Demon Lord and his Hero

Syryn stooped over and reached for the black seashell. It was the size of his palm. The color of the shell wasn't entirely black as Syryn had assumed. There were flecks of dark purple on it near the opening. 

"What do you mean it's a gift from the ocean?" 

The anti mage sat down on the beach and began folding the cuffs of his trousers. He didn't like the idea of wearing soaked trousers even if they were just wet at the cuffs. 

"I meant what I said. The water sends gifts when new people appear. I don't know why it does what it does but that's what I've been told." 

"By whom?" The mage asked as he placed the seashell to his ear. He had checked and it was empty. He immediately heard whispers from the seashell but they were in a language he couldn't understand. 

"By the person who told me about the key." 

Syryn offered the shell to Rowan. "Listen to it." 

The anti mage held the shell to his ear but he only heard the sound of waves. 

"What am I supposed to be hearing?" He asked Syryn. 

"Can't you hear the whispers?" Syryn asked the anti mage. 

"No, Ryn, I can't." 

"Give that here," Syryn held out his hand. He put the shell to his ear and once again heard the whispers.

"It seems that only you can hear it," Rowan said to the mage. "The gift is for you so I suppose it's only for your ears." 

Syryn tried to focus on individual words but he couldn't make head or tail of what was being said. 

"If I don't understand what they're saying then what use is it to me?" He murmured. He hoped that the shell's inhabitants weren't offended by his words if they'd heard him. 

"I don't have an answer to that, Ryn. Who knows why the ocean sends gifts and what they mean." 

Syryn looked at the shell in his hand. It had a beautiful symmetry to it. Even its curves were perfectly aligned and exact in shape. It was the most perfectly formed shell he had ever seen. 

"What was your gift, Rowan?" 

The anti mage was leaning with his hands on the sand, head thrown back like he wanted to absorb all the sunshine he could on every inch of his skin. 

"It gifted me a piece of rock," Rowan replied. "I'm hoping that it's not the gift intended for me because who wants a rock?"

Syryn laughed melodious and free. 

"A rock? Maybe the ocean knows how wealthy you are." 

"Money can't buy me what I want, Ryn. If I could exchange all the gold I have for a wish, then I would give it all away in a heartbeat." 

Syryn felt the somber mood that the anti mage had gotten into. Rowan looked sad. His bright eyes were the sky and Syryn wanted to dive into the blue. 

"Show me the rock that the ocean gave you," Syryn said to Rowan. He could have asked what wish the anti mage wanted so desperately but something in him was reluctant to. He wanted his memories back. He wanted to really know Rowan. Then he would be ready to delve into the blue. 

"It's just a piece of ordinary rock," the anti mage replied. He had stored it away in his dimensional space just in case he was wrong about its nature.

"Look," a piece of dark brown rock appeared on his palm. "It's just an ordinary rock, Ryn." 

Syryn made to pick up the rock from Rowan's palm but it broke in half when he touched it. 

"Ah," he let out regretfully. "I didn't do it on purpose." 

Rowan smiled, amused by the look of panic on Syryn's face. "Don't worry about it, Ryn. It's just a rock." 

The two pieces of the broken rock sat on Rowan's palm looking even more ordinary than it did when it was whole. Syryn picked up one half expecting it to break again but it didn't happen. The mage put the rock to his ear and felt stupid when he saw Rowan trying to hide a smile. 

"It was worth a try," he said with some embarrassment. The mage quickly dropped it into Rowan's palm and sat down beside him.

"Take one," the anti mage told him while holding out the broken rock. "We can each keep one half of it to remember each other by." 

Syryn stared at the lump of brown. 

"We already have these rings," he held up his fingers. The gold band gleamed in the sunlight prettily.

"We can never have enough tokens to remember each other by. Keep it, Ryn. Maybe I'll have the rocks embedded in our rings." 

Syryn wasn't sure if Rowan was joking. He hoped he was. 

"That's not necessary," he replied while turning the rock around in his fingers. The mage was hoping to see something special in it. "How about we just keep it as it is?" 

"Whatever you like, Ryn." 

The duo sat without exchanging any more words. Rowan was lost in his own thoughts while Syryn mulled over the sadness he had seen in Rowan's eyes. 

"Why would anyone part with the key? You can't just buy something like this every day." 

Rowan nodded slowly. "I had been searching for the key for many years. It was a combination of luck and much effort on my part to get the key to this place. The only reason it was on sale was because the previous owner had passed away. He sold it right before his death, not letting the buyer know how special the key really was." 

"Maybe he wanted the key to be bought by someone who wanted it enough to search for it," Syryn guessed. "Why was it so expensive though if the seller didn't know its worth?" 

"I don't know. Maybe he heard about how much I was willing to pay for it and charged me double." 

The mage let himself fall back on the sand. Hands clasped over his stomach, he stared up at the sky, noticing a cloud that was shaped like an eye. 

"Why is this place special to you, Rowan?" 

"It isn't the place that's special. It's the existence of the place that is." 

Syryn didn't get it. 

"We should go back, Ryn."