. (siri) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-05-04 01:58:00 |
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Madness seldom interfered when focused on spell casting; Siri had years of practice in focusing her mind and willing the element she was wielding to strike the target. And back in Reinberg, her mentor had not shied away from leaving her on the floor, exhausted and in pain; not an unkindness but a challenge of her skills. Aeren had always expected more from her than Siri expected herself, but when push came to shove, there was that little more that could be given. To match his fire, she cast water — unpredictable in her hands, as likely to strike her as it was to strike him. Drumming beneath her skin, out of sync with her pulse (racing) and she lifted her eyes to Theo, assessing his next move. All the while she had felt the upper hand had been given to her, all too easy and it was beginning to frustrate her. No taunts would leave her mouth, just open questions with underlining reproach. “Are you holding back, Den-Dweller?” Theo snorted at the insinuation (though clearly he was). “Aye, again,” he said, giving clear warning before his next attack lobbed in her direction. This was a safe space to practice magic, and certainly he need not have been so cautious about this duel of sorts--mages must engage their skills in this way all the time, after all. But there was some bit of broken chivalry lodged in Theo’s skin, and hurling assaults at Siri was not something he had quite grown comfortable with as yet. Practicing fire magic was something he was also not very accustomed with, but he had been learning more of late, and with enough instruction from Peony Min, had grasped enough basics of casting to prove adequate here (perhaps even more than that, if he actually went full out). With a grunt, Theo summoned up a ball of fire between his hands and tossed it toward the woman’s direction. Powerful enough for a novice, but sloppy, and easily countered. Siri liked the way he moved, the fire seemed to obey him with ease — like it belonged between Theo’s hands, before being hurled at her (and Siri could follow the path, counter it with Water before giving him a reproaching look). This time she aimed a quake at Theo to throw him off balance. Already she had in mind what else to cast his way; even if he was going to hold back on her, she would not on him. There was no desire to hurt Theo, but she didn’t want him to look at her like a frail thing to handle with gloves (she was broken but that did not matter because her magic was not). Theo made for an awkward mage, not accustomed to having the floor move from underneath him so suddenly--but his fighter’s instincts had him remaining on his feet, even after stumbling around the room, his guard lost momentarily. “Fuck,” he spat out in surprise, fumbling around for another attack of his own to counter-lob in Siri’s direction. The fire was wild, burst from both hands in a wide wave, more of a reactive instinct than a properly planned strategy. It was the berserker’s nature, perhaps, a conditioning which meant power before control, offensive before strategy. Whether this would serve him at all on a mage’s playing field, however, remained to be seen. Ice would not suit as a counter attack though it was the element Siri favoured — she casted water with a soft mutter, the water frenzied and explosive as it met Theo’s fire. The spells met and sparked, coiling together to cancel the other out — but not by much. Theo’s fire was powerful, Siri had seen now a glimpse of the raw power beneath and her mastery of water would require further study before she could purposely match the singular strength of his fire. Instead she went back to ice; blizzaga aimed at Theo to make him step back and allow her one step closer. Siri liked ice, it burned like fire but it could be tempered, trapped beneath layers and layers (like madness being coiled down, sleeping underneath the sheet-thin surface of sanity). Theo grunted and raised his arms up, an ineffective manner of defense against the biting chill of Siri’s magic. Blizzaga spread its way across his sleeves and shoulders, snapping its frigid jaws at his flesh and pushing the berserker backward. He shook his limbs and head as a hound might, the ice snapping and crashing against the floor below. He shrugged away the chill, but the anger bloomed in its wake and blossomed to another searing summon of fire. The flames lashed wildly across his arms and fists, wild and hungry as his rage--but again he stumbled. Hesitation leashed around him (a gnawing, familiar fear) and stifled his next attack. Theo took a ragged breath and allowed the magic to dissipate. “Hold,” he said in a growl, raising up a hand as sign of defeat. His motion was so wolf-like, the smile was unregistered in her mind but present — whose arm would he bite off today? Tomorrow? Would he let her live if she bared her throat in submission? The flames coiled back inside; it was not her who bowed in defeat but him — something of that she could not quite understand but then, Siri knew people acted in a myriad of ways that seldom made sense to her. There was something between curiosity and concern as she stared at Theo; Siri relaxed her stance and approached. “I’m sorry wolf, are you alright?” Theo’s usual frown came into sight again at the growingly familiar nickname, and he began to scratch at the back of his neck as she approached him--his usual ticks and habits reforming once again to replace the berserker’s rage. His body still stung with the aftereffects of Siri’s potent Blizzaga spell, but his anger was quicker to dissipate. “Enough for now,” he explained, or didn’t. Perhaps he was only winded from using his seemingly more limited amounts of manna. Privately, Theo could admit to being impressed by Siri’s magic, even if it had seemed as if he was going easy on her. A fighter trying to match a mage, spell for spell, now that was an odd thing even in his own mind. “Good work.” “As you wish.” Her eyes remained fixed on him, searchingly (a lone, black wolf — pale eyes and white teeth, he can open his jaw and swallow half a person but always cuts things down to size; don’t choke, just breathe). Her white magic had never had the same potential, but she could cast one simple cure. It wouldn’t fix everything but it should relieve the bite of the ice — against her own skin she preferred magic than the sword (but that in itself was not odd for a mage). “Your magic is strong,” her tone betrayed the surprise at that conclusion, “I like it.” Though like was perhaps the wrong term it was the simplest way to express her thoughts on the matter. This fire held promises and whispers, this one was not in her nightmares - it did not reach to pull her down. This fire was right; madness became him. “Aye?” Theo raised his eyebrows slightly at that, his frown lessoning. Allowing the cure spell to wash over his wounds and alleviate the stinging remnants of ice and chill, he wondered if he was beginning to improve on his use of fire magic. Like any other skill, spells took practice and learning and discipline--and thus was why he had agreed to the duel, and had spent more hours lurking about the Tower. Mastery over himself, Theo hoped, would aid not only him but also the city. Another weapon in his arsenal with which to fight against those who sought to harm Emillion. But he was still a long way off from perfection (and confidence that he could use his fire without harm), or even some moderate mastery--certainly he was not as good as Siri, but her help meant a great deal to Theo, and thus he considered himself obliged to her. He folded his arms across his chest, thinking. “Much to do today? Could go with me, out into the city.” There was a genuine desire to help and while Siri could not really feel the same loyalty Theo and others did to the city, she felt loyalty to the those around her. Not enough to trump her commitment to Faram but enough (still sane enough to tell apart some lines, a few had not been blurred yet). “Mm.” A tilt and she scanned him for any deeper injuries the ice might have inflicted, when satisfied she turned her smile upwards. And there was something happy and hopeful and human— they were friends (and how odd and charming and new, because friendship was a concept that was barely understood; there were people and anchors and Rictor and Caspar and family, snakes and a friendly wolf). “Please, I’d like that.” Theo shook his head, satisfied, and lead the way out of the casting room and the other trappings of the Mages Tower. And while his (somewhat odd, he admitted) friendship with Siri had been an unexpected change in his life, it had not seemed ever to be an unwelcome one. Her company would be welcomed then as he strove to devise some entertainment for them while out in the city. |