A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

After a few minutes, Viljar sighed. "Well, I think we both need some time to let this all sink in." He looked at the duo in front of him. "Before I leave, though. How much can I tell the other four about you?"

Erik and Elora had already prepared an answer to that question, so Erik shrugged. "Just leave out the parts about traveling to another world and the specifics about Elora. Let them draw their own conclusions about what she is and where I've been the last seven years."

With a nod, Viljar stood up, "Fair enough." Then he looked at Erik with a warm smile. "It really is amazing to see you again, Erik. You don't know how good it feels to know you're still alive."

Erik chuckled in response. "I have some idea, Uncle. I feel the same way, after all."

Elora fluttered from Erik's lap, changed into her fairy form, and placed herself on Erik's shoulder, allowing him to stand up as well.

Viljar laughed boisterously. "I'm glad to hear you still enjoy seeing this old man!" He spread his arms wide. "Now come, you're not too old and powerful to give your uncle a hug yet, are you?"

The amber-eyed Erik chuckled, "Never!" and walked to his uncle to hug him. Naturally, Elora was playfully yet domineeringly smiling at Viljar to ensure he avoided her perch on Erik's shoulder during this time.

Which he did. Carefully.

Despite their sizes now being much more similar than in the past, being encased in his uncle's signature bear hug still brought back a lot of good memories and made his reunion with the man seem all the more real.

When they separated, tears glimmered in the ginger-haired Viking's blue eyes. "You've turned into a man, Erik. I think your father would be proud of you, even if he would regret the loss of your innocence."

Then he chuckled. "As for your mother… I think she'll laugh happily for the rest of her life when she finds out what kind of man you've become."

Erik chuckled warmly in response. "Thank you, uncle. I can only hope you're right."

Viljar said goodnight and was just about to leave, already in the door post leading to the outside, when he suddenly smacked his forehead. "I can't believe I almost forgot!"

He turned around to look at Erik with a slightly guilty expression because he had almost forgotten something important, "Your mother gave me something before she left and told me to give it to you in case you showed up."

Despite his curiosity about what this something could be, Erik smiled warmly at the fact his mother continued to think of him. "She really was sure I was alive, huh?"

To which Viljar shook his head somewhat mournfully. "She wasn't as sure as she wanted others to believe. I think she mostly tried to convince herself, but I could always see some doubt in her eyes."

He grinned happily, "Anyway, I'm glad she was right." Then he reached into a carefully hidden pocket on his bodysuit and pulled out a small, flat medallion made from some kind of copper-colored metal. Various symbols were carved on its surface, which Erik and Elora immediately recognized as a sigil.

He handed the item to Erik. "Here you go. Although I never really believed you were still alive, it comforted me to keep something that connected me to my past close to me."

Erik took the object and inspected it closely with a frown. It was about the size of his palm, heavier than it looked, and felt a little warm to the touch. Despite the color, Erik felt pretty sure it wasn't copper, though he had no idea what it was actually made from or what the sigil was supposed to do.

After discovering nothing special about it, he looked at Elora on his shoulder while holding the medallion in front of her. "Care to take a look?" he asked.

The fairy nodded with curiosity burning in her emerald eyes before leaning over and touching the medallion. Dark green magic flashed, and the sigil on the medallion lit up for a moment before going dormant again.

However, the fairy didn't say anything yet and kept touching the object with a concentrated frown.

Sensing Elora had discovered something interesting and was currently exploring it, Erik turned to Viljar with a grateful smile while continuing to hold up the medallion to his shoulder. "Thank you for keeping it all this time, uncle. Did mom say anything else about it?"

Viljar stroked his beard in thought, trying to remember everything Runa had said that day. To be honest, while he did keep the medallion with him all this time, he didn't think he would ever need to repeat what she said that day.

After a few moments, he seemed to remember something and said, "She didn't say what it does, but she did mention that you should take it to the 'pillars in the forest.' Whatever that means."

Erik's eyes lit up as he knew exactly what place his mother was talking about.

Seeing Erik's expression, Viljar quickly concluded that his nephew knew where to go, so he simply nodded with a smile and turned around. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Erik. See you tomorrow."

After bidding his uncle farewell, Erik watched Viljar step into the early evening air and leave for his old home. Despite looking a little lonely, there was a spring in his step. Clearly, no matter what else, finding Erik alive had done him good.

Closing the door, Erik looked at Elora, who was still touching the medallion he was keeping up for her. He smirked at her. "Not to rush you or anything, but if this is gonna take much longer, I'll put you and the medallion down somewhere."

Elora grinned playfully without losing the concentration in her eyes. "Aw, is this tiny thing becoming too heavy for your idiot strength?"

Erik grinned back at her. "You know, you can just say, 'Master, please be rough with me later,' instead of trying to rile me up, right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said innocently despite the lust flickering through her eyes. "Now shut up, I'm almost done."