13th day of Frost, 119th year of the Age of Steel
Riven sat down on the frozen ground, shirtless, trying to feel the soft touch of the wind around him, the cold crawling up his skin. He knew from experience that going into the mountains in Frost wasn't the best idea, but to be fair, he was still pretty close to Kalzasi. He just needed a quiet place; the magical feat he was about to achieve required concentration.
Riven had woken up startled; the past days with Taelian had been incredible, and he felt like he was floating on a cloud all the time. Their love was so strong, it practically washed away all of Riven's trouble when he was with the Siltori... but it also washed away real life, and he had been disconnected from his world for a while. Worth it, yes, but then he remembered Talon, who was enduring a hard recovery after the Archwraith's invasion. The Necromancer doctors he had entrusted Talon to had done an amazing job, but that did not heal the exhaustion, the overstepping or the severe bruising right away. He knew he should have been by his side, but after that battle... Riven had stayed in the Jade Garden for a while, but the moment he saw Talon again quietly sleeping on a hospital bed he knew there was something going on with himself. Too many feelings, to troubled to understand them. So he had stepped back and allowed him to rest... and he had only briefly seen Talon the next day, when he was strong enough to move back to the palace. After that, no sign of his Companion except for a strong jabbing pain via their bond. He worried, but it sort of... disappeared right away. He assumed it had been the bruising, some kind of wrong move. He wanted to assume, at least.
Thing was, the morning of Talon's birthday, Riven realized he hadn't been able to get him a proper gift. He had been awaiting his birthday for weeks, but then everything was messed up but so many factors that... he just got distracted. Taelian, Talon, the monster invasion, work... suddenly things were overwhelming again, so it was no strange that Riven found himself alone in the middle of a rock pillar, under the shade of a single tree, making Talon a last-minute gift... but still, the most significant and beautiful of the ones Riven had given him already, he thought. The idea was a meaningful stroke of genius; he was almost glad things had been like that. He would make him a lodestone; a reminiscent of the first day they met, and the first birthday party Riven attended. He smirked, thinking about it. One of the best days of his life; the fact that he had broken a wing and he still loved that memory so much was ironic. Inside the lodestone, a piece of Riven's own power: a spell to cushion a fall. He hoped Talon never needed to use that, but it was a useful spell for an Avialae to have in a tight situation. Avoid Riven's same fate seven years ago, just in case. Ultimately, the gift would be both a memento and a wish to keep him safe.
He focused; he could feel the wind around him and the rock under him, but this was the time to use his own inner potential. He tapped into the power of his rune and focused in a point in front of him, hovering over the ground. He summoned a piece of earth there, bringing it into the world out of sheer aether, and he started to make it spin, summonning more rock to push into it as the ensemble was compressed and spinned. The rock started to glow and heat; he was doing things right... but it was hard. He pressed more; he added more mass. He needed a perfect crystal. He pushed again, adding more material each time which compressed into a raw aether crystal that he would infuse later. It was a very tasking process, and one that needed a lot of focus. He kept going for a few minutes until he looked at the result; a rhombus shaped glowing transparent crystal.
He had to infuse it now; the wind gathered around him. The rune flared up and the air shot into the crystal like a wind drill, winds pushing against it in a hard blast. The crystal absorbed it seamlessly, perfectly attuned to Riven's natural energy, and started glowing as it was infused with an air blast, a cushion for a falling man that would allow him to survive it. The snow scattered with Riven's concentrated air blast and strange patterns appeared on the frozen grass's surface, but when he was exhausted... The crystal dropped to the floor, swirling patterns inside and glowing soft green. So exhausting process, but so worth it. He leaned back on the cold snow. It melted under his naked back as he stared at the gray clouds above, happy. It was a great gift.
