The Silver Chalice

Sunlight streamed through the trees and stretched out, illuminating the once dark lands. The leaves rustled as they blew in the cool summer breeze. Deep within the forest, a bird chirped. It glided to the first floor and caught a worm that had been wriggling on the damp earth. It hopped along the ground, soil sticking to its small talons.

Fynnton Ashtoyve and and Bex Bastille had traveled far to obtain the object that was now in their possession: The Silver Chalice. It would grant one wish, or so the legends said. They were now on their way home to use it to help their village.

They'd spent the previous night in the cave, the one that could only be found by those who had been there before. In order to get home quickly, they had set off just before dawn.

Fynnton groaned, "How much longer do you think it will be until we reach home? This whole 'rising before the crack of dawn' is getting old."

Bex answered exasperated, "As I've said before, if we can walk a bit longer after dark and rise a little earlier we will reach home soon. Besides, why are you still complaining? You're the one who volunteered."

Fynnton groaned again and threw his head back, "I didn't think it through."

"Obviously not, you didn't pack enough warm clothes for passing through the Buroghis Mountains. You did realize, they were known for blizzards, yes?" Bex scoffed.

"Well, I do now!" Fynnton argued indignantly, "I was so cold I thought my fingers would freeze!"

Shaking his head at his friend's foolery, Bex started, "So, when we got to the Doonic River..."

"You promised we'd never speak about that again!" Fynnton cried.

"Fine," Bex replied with a slight smile on his face. "What about when we reached the cave last night?"

"That was hardly my fault! How was I supposed to know those branches would burst into flame if I stepped on them?" Bex chuckled at the fact that the bottom of Fynnton's pants were charred from his encounter with ignis calami, otherwise known as fire branches.

After walking for a while together, Fynn reached behind and felt for the pack on his back, making sure the Silver Chalice was still there. After a second, he frowned and searched more urgently. Not feeling what he was looking for, he stopped on the trail and slung his bag to the ground.

"Fynn, what are you doing?" Bex asked with a sigh.

Still not finding it, Fynnton dumped the contents of the bag on the ground. He turned to Bex, "Where is it?"

Bex replied with a slight patronizing tone, "Where is what? Don't tell me you lost your lucky stocking."

"Bex, I'm serious. Where is the chalice?"

Upon hearing this, Bex furrowed his brows, "What do you mean? Wasn't it in your pack last night?"

"Of course it was in my pack last night! But it's not now!"

"Are you sure it's not there?"

Fynnton replied indignantly, "Yes, I'm sure!"

Bex countered, "Well then, what did you do with it?"

"Bex, this is serious!"

Realizing Fynnton wasn't joking, Bex thought back, "Well, I know we had it last night. Do you think you left it in the cave?"

Unsure, Fynnton replied cautiously, "I don't think I did."

"It was really dark when we left... could you have overlooked it in the dark?" Bex asked. When Fynnton did not answer, Bex let out a frustrated sigh, and helped Fynnton shove everything in the dirt back in his pack. They decided the best course of action would have been to backtrack to the cave. That was a setback they had not anticipated.