Desert Magic
With some more practice, and more than a little coaxing, Bryidae was making a bit more headway on the magic front. Nyx was rather proud of her accomplishments, coming from a sheltered individual and showing her true skill with her magic. While she admitted being less skilled with the other elements, the bat winged vay hauled the fire out of her chest time and time again, showing a terrifying amount of power and finesse. The fire seemed almost alive with a mind of its own, but Nyx knew it was just the control of the puller.
Oki on the other hand was also improving, even if most untrained eyes wouldn’t have caught it. He adjusted marvelously well with very minor bits of guidance, Nyx’s own mastery of the arcanist magic showing through as all she had to do was give him the start of a nudge, and he figured out the rest on his own. Indeed, his tendrils were terrifyingly accurate, and strong as hell, working as both a weapon to control things, and like shields all on their own.
“Alright then. Since both of you have shown your skills through the various training sessions we have gone through, today is a test to show how much you have truly learned.” It was a cooler evening, the sun having gone down a while earlier, and within the night, Nyx held more power than anyone thought imaginable.
Nyx easily held the attention of both pullers, although Bryidae seemed more excited and Oki bored, even if his eyes were on her and he was clearly listening.
“We’re holding a battle session, and the both of you will attack me. Any questions before we begin?” Full on battle worked best after the sun had gone down after all, as it would easily build up a sweat, and Bryidea’s fire would heat them even further - Thedale was no place to be fighting with fire under the hot sun.
Oki shook his head, clearly far more interested as his eyes glittered - Nyx wouldn’t be wrong to say they shone with bloodlust.
Bryidae hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Are we attacking together or taking turns?”
The opalescent female just grinned. “However you desire.”
***
Oki didn’t wait any longer, and decided he would go first. If the bat winged puller wanted to attack with him, she could, but she better not get in his way.
He didn’t give the runner a chance to prepare herself as he drew on the magic within him, drawing forth the inky tendrils that he controlled and lashing out. A sparkling shield, starry like her hide, burst into existence, blocking most of the attacks, as she nimbly dodged the rest.
That was okay. He was just warming up, growing hotter in the desert air.
Bryidae also seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of his explosive attack. Her hesitation though was filed away, something easy to take advantage of and get the upper hand against the elementalist. She swung her staff expertly, making symbols and casting through the arcane weapon, shooting bolts of refined fire not unlike that which she breathed.
Nyx seemed to have an answer for everything, and was always one step ahead of them. It made her dangerous. Oki had no clue what sort of power she had, and was no closer to understanding it than the day he met her.
That didn’t mean he would let that get in his way. He pulled on his tendrils, shaping them around her shields, doding the bolts from Bryidae, weaving them in a dance to which only he knew the steps of. The black, inky strands of his magic did their best to get past the opal’s defenses, and when that didn’t work, they grabbed and pulled at her shields. The tendrils snatched debris around the arena, clumps of sand, bits of rock, and tossed them around. They even whipped up the ground, attempting to create a miniature sandstorm like those that often raged outside.
Oki held more than a few tricks up his sleeves, and he demonstrated a lot of skill holding control over so many tendrils individually.
***
Bryidae knew that brute force wasn’t going to get their way here, although Oki had the right idea. He was causing more problems than it should be possible to deal with. But Nyx seemed to shine with an inner light - whatever strange magic she had only grew stronger under the starry skies, and Bryidae hated to become her enemy. The runner seemed almost as if she was not made for this planet, her movements faster than the eye could follow, her shields popping into existence with a reaction time that seemed impossible.
Yes, Bryidae would be terrified if Nyx was doing more than just defending against their attacks.
Still, Bryidae was’t pulling her own weight, and while Oki was summoning tendrils left and right, she on the other hand was still slinging her staff. Sure she was extremely skilled at it, but it wasn’t enough.
She pulled on the fire in her chest and exhaled like a mighty dragon. The flames swirled in front of her for as long as she pushed out air, and her staff continued to swing and shoot bolts of pure energy. It was a dangerous weapon, if obvious, and even Oki had glared at it warily from time to time.
She of course had to stop to breathe, but the flames jumped forth again eagerly as soon as she could expel them. Theoretically she could expel them at any point, but it was more of an aesthetic thing with her, quite like the dragons she loved, or the gargoyles that she was nicknamed after.
Unlike a dragon, she controlled the flames once they left her maw, directing them under her guidance to wherever she desired. She wound them around the tendrils that Oki created to strike at Nyx, even if the runner was never where the fire ended up. It made shapes that shouldn’t be possible, and was directed with such finesse that it wouldn’t even singe any fur should she not want it to.
When the heat from the desert air grew too hot combined with the gray puller’s fire, Nyx called the fight to a close, somehow stopping both of the pullers from being able to summon their magic.
“Go forth. There is nothing else I can teach. You both have mastered your magic more than the average person.”
She smiled, and her pelt glittered like the stars that adorned it, and vanished.
The pullers looked at each other and shrugged. Bryidae would need to head back home to Warrenfall after all, and Oki had experiments to return to. All in all it had been a successful time training out in the desert. Who knows where any of them would go after that.
-End-
SCQ Warlock for Oki 8858, Bryidae 3544, CP for Nyx 15327
Draw or write your Reosean showing their mastery of the magical arts.
WC 1140 +11
Corresponding Land +1
Other Reo Oki 8858 / Bryidae 3544 +2
Magic Use +1
Total = 15 CP