The rain continued to drizzle down softly. The mossy path beneath Elyonari and Narisva's feet was darkened with moisture. Neither of them had spoken for a while, save for the occasional breath or the rustle of their outfits dragging over low foliage. Their boots sunk slightly with each step and their hair clung to their faces as the rain soaked them completely. Still, they didn't mind. The forest had grown familiar and for a moment, it was just the two of them, walking side by side.
Eventually, they stepped past the trees and onto the edge of another towering cliff jutting high above the land below. From their vantage point, the full majesty of Nyramith Island sprawled beneath them. Rolling hills, rivers, stone houses glistening from the storm and distant lights flickering in the town below... it was beautiful.
Soaked to the bone, Elyonari didn't flinch as she stepped toward the edge. Her lashes shimmered with raindrops and her siover hair clung to her shoulders.
"My First Sacred Trial was supposed to be a simple one, at least by their standards. I have to control one element for more than a minute but not just control but completely dominate it, shape it, bend it and unleash it enough to cover the entire island. I couldn't do it."
Narisva didn't say anything. She let Elyonari speak, knowing this was something she had held inside for far too long.
"I've always had trouble with my elements because I don't have just one. I have all of them. Air, fire, water, earth, lightning, ice, all of it. And they… they compete inside me like a raging crowd, each screaming to be heard first. But I could never listen to just one. I could never calm them all long enough to give one the focus it needed. And then Veneri…"
Her lips faltered. She raised her face to the clouds, her eyes fluttering closed as raindrops trailed down her cheeks like tears.
"I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even begin to try. Every day he was in that bed, it felt like my own soul was in chains. I smiled. I joked. I scolded Adelasta and kept moving forward but... I never had the calm I needed. Not until today."
She turned to Narisva.
"Today, for the first time in what feels like an eternity, I feel peace. I feel calm. I feel… relieved. And I want to use this moment before it disappears again. Before I lose this stillness."
Narisva furrowed her brow slightly. "So why am I here?"
Elyonari gave her a small, bittersweet smile.
"Because I'm going to finish it right here, right now. I'm going to complete my Trial."
"And?"
"And I'm going to be too weak to walk afterwards. So I brought someone strong enough to carry me."
Narisva sighed, the sound exasperated but also strangely fond.
"You knew I wouldn't let you do this alone."
"You always show up when it counts."
Elyonari slowly stepped forward, her hands rising slightly, her fingers twitching as the air around her began to hum softly.
"Watch me, Nari. Watch me take the first step I should've taken long ago."
And Narisva, though her arms were folded, watched her like the sister she never had.
Elyonari stepped forward, her soaked robe clinging to her skin. She reached into her inventory and summoned forth an instrument. A white lyre, no—a lyros, materialized in her hands, its frame carved of whitewood, strings glistening like moonlight spun into thread. The second her fingers touched it, power answered her.
She walked toward the edge of the cliff, her bare feet brushing the moss-slick stones before she stepped off the edge. She walked in midair, the wind caressing her face and curling through her rain-drenched silver hair.
Then, Elyonari plucked the first string.
In that singular instant, the rain halted mid-descent. Thousands upon hundreds of thousands of droplets were suspended in the air, frozen in place. Every single drop hung motionless, suspended in reverence to the sound. The clouds above began to slowly recede, parting in wide arcs. Through them spilled the evening sun.
Elyonari's eyes fluttered shut she turned slowly, her fingers dancing along the strings of her lyros. Each note sent waves of warmth spiraling outwards. She began to move, not merely walking now, but gliding, her form swaying with the music. As she danced, the green flames of her element burst forth, wrapping around her body. The flames evaporated the rain from her hair first, letting each strand float free. Her white robe dried second. She twirled and arched her body with every rhythm of the melody, letting the song guide her.
Then came her Divine Transformation.
Her body shimmered and in a cascade of green and white brilliance, she grew. She was four meters tall now, her Divine Transformation emerged in full. Her eyes glowed with emerald luster. A black crown of thorns hovered above her head. Her lyros expanded, growing with her, now large enough to match her stature. But her robe didn't expand that much. It remained light, leaving it draped like a short ceremonial tunic upon her tall figure, revealing the soft skin of her inner thighs.
Around her, the elements awakened. Flames curled at her feet. Breezes danced around her fingertips, carrying each pluck of the lyros in a spiraling crescendo of sound. The raindrops suspended in the air began to spin and shimmer, reflecting the light and orbiting her in a grand sphere of music and motion. Ice cracked and reformed, electricity hummed faintly in the horizon and even the ocean stilled in a worshipful hush.
From the sky, an emerald beam fell, striking her from the clouds. It felt like a spotlight and in its warmth, Elyonari laughed. Her melodic, free-spirited laugh rang like bells through the cliffs. She spun again, barefoot in the air, the lyros on her hands as she plucked another string, then another, and another.
She had passed the First Sacred Trial.
From the cliff side below, Narisva stood frozen, utterly speechless.
Her eyes shimmered, the usual cockiness and swagger replaced by sheer awe as she gazed up at her friend. There were no words. Watching Elyonari become something transcendent that made the world pause was so beautiful.
Above them, the raindrops began to fall again.