Mage Hunt: Head Start


 * Hall of Twilight 


 * In contrast to the other rooms of the House, the Hall of Twilight bears little in the way of furniture, little in the way of anything. Rather, this twenty-by-twenty-by-thirty hall seems mostly to have been set up for the sort of training one might expect of the sort of masters who need nothing in the way of props or weapons.


 * The walls are, however, covered in mattresses. Which are themselves covered with leather treated to resist catching on fire. Light pours in from the windows, placed quite high against the walls, and at night from lamps that ring the hall round. Set at diagonal corners are two statues - both of the White Dragon.


 * Three doors lead away; one is marked with the six moons, one with the pattern of a sunburst, and one bears no markings at all.

The room is a flurry of motion today. Two have taken up either corners. The blonde glow of one woman's hair, radiant like the sun, leaving little question as to where she may stand in the Light. Her features sharper than that of the Valoria's, but one might even take them for twins. Across from her is a man dressed in dark leathers. His hand radiates with a glow of energy, and it is anyone's mind as to what he may be drawing on... but it wreaks of shadow.

Celeste stands off to the corner, near one of the statues. Arms crossed over the seraphite armor, her attention rests on the combatants.

In from the Hall of Six Moons wanders Kallyn, her armor smoking slightly as she hefts a battered target dummy through with her. Her steps start her towards the opposite hall, but upon seeing others in there she stops. The dummy is set down, a lock of fiery hair brushed from her face as she regards the scene curiously.

The two pair off, and soon the mage's hand blossoms into a ball of light that licks at his fingertips. It rests in his palm only for a moment before hurled at the cleric. Seraphim style wings wrap about the woman, staying off the initial blow. Smoke wafts up to the air, but the woman remains unscathed.

Celeste glances up as the doors open. Her gaze lingers on Kallyn for a moment, studious before looking back to the mirror blonde. The other cleric in the span having drawn out a curved blade of light.

"Impressive," the mage girl murmurs, before glancing back to the dummy. It is lifted again, and she pauses to concentrate, before rolling her eyes. Kallyn merely shakes her head and mutters rude things about the Shadow as she carries the dummy to the sunburst door, making sure to keep out of the way of the fight.

"Lady Lamaria is rather talented," Celeste comments as she keeps an eye Kallyn. Her repose remains poised against the wall, almost relaxed.

The sword swings wide and soon is knocked aside. The cleric reels for a moment as though stunned while the mage takes a moment to seek out the fire again.

"That she is," Kallyn replies, setting the dummy down beside the sun door and then looking back towards the action. A small smirk and a shake of her head as she picks a spot on the wall near Celeste to lean against. "He doesn't seem to be providing much of a challenge, though, to be honest."

Celeste looks over to Kallyn. "He's not trying to hurt her, only testing the resolve of one another," she comments. "Such is the way of training. Lamaria wishes to join the ranks of ordinators in time." The Valoria sends an affectionate smile towards the cleric begin discussed.

The fire is once more met with the resilience of the wings. The cleric's blade ducks underneath as though to strike at the man's arm. The blade stills just above his shoulder, rather than landing.

"True, but he can try harder without hurting her," Kallyn points out, tilting her head slightly, "That's an interesting weapon. Another Light ability, I assume? Didn't know Sunkissed could pull weapons out of thin air, that's rather remarkable."

Celeste glances to Kallyn again. "The Light stands at the counterpoint to Shadow, it always has," she comments softly. Her gaze look flickers back to the sparring combatants. The cleric's blade stalled as she pauses to check on the mage. His own petard bringing the duel to a closed. "You fought valiantly, my lord," Lamaria replies.

Kallyn nods absently, looking Celeste's way now that the fight has drawn to a close, "In more ways than one, yes. But I was under the impression that the Light provided mostly benign gifts. Ways to defend and resist and prevent Shadow rather than directly engage it. I find myself pleasantly surprised."

Celeste looks back to Kallyn. "Mages fall, when that happens... the Light plays a more active roll." She pushes away from the wall and studies the mage. "So you lied to me? Why?"

The mage girl blinks and sort of pulls away from Celeste, surprised. /Very/ surprised. It doesn't take more than a few seconds for her to put things together, however, and Kallyn lets out a sigh, "Why do I trust that woman with anything? I lied out of shame, and I told Milora that when I admitted it. How did you find out, from her or someone else?"

"Someone else," Celeste replies blandly. "I would not have judged you, Mistress Lake. We were friends, but you did not feel that you could trust me." She reaches up to tuck a lock back from her eye. Lamaria and the mage seem to have stepped off to the side, discussing in lowered toned.

"The issue was not trust," Kallyn replies, "Trust was only a problem in the first few minutes I had met you. But really, Celeste..." She lowers her voice to keep the others from overhearing, "How could I tell you what I had done? Through my constant problems, you kept being so... hopeful and optimistic and I couldn't..." A tear runs down her cheek and is promptly wiped away, "I couldn't bring myself to tell it, it was just too painful."

"It wasn't hopeful, Kallyn. You needed a light; a means not to fall back." Celeste studies the young mage and nods. "It was not her who told me though, I'm afraid. That came from the Cannoness."

"The...," Kallyn starts, going pale, "She... she told... the Canoness..." The mage girl looks about ready to be ill as she quickly turns for the unmarked door.

Celeste bites to her lower lip, watching the mage move to leave. "Light guide and protect you, Kallyn," she states before turning away to rejoin the cleric and mage.

Wordlessly, Kallyn slips out. From the next room may be heard the heavy footfalls of the girl running for the exit.

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