//------------------------------// // 22. High Home III // Story: Sunset in Azeroth // by RIPoste //------------------------------// “This is completely unnecessary.” Rhonin complained, frowning at Sunset as they waited for the area laid out by Anasterian Sunstrider to be cleared out for her duel with the elven noble, one Felomel Sunchaser. “I know that the elves love to display their skill and strength in such duels, but asking for a magical duel without consulting me first? This is outrageous!” “Duels are a culture deeply ingrained into High Elven culture as a method to display their skill and abilities on nonlethal grounds,” Modera explained when Sunset gave her a questioning look, “But to ask for a duel out of the blue…” She trailed off. “No doubt my father has an ulterior motive for this.” Kael’thas Sunstrider muttered darkly, causing the others to look at him. The distaste on his face was worn openly for all to see. “I’ll be having words with him later, but considering how he had riled up the crowd and given that announcement, it’d be hard to refuse the duel without insulting him.” He looked at Sunset, “my apologies, apprentice, but I’d have to ask you to focus on the duel. Rest assured that I’d have answers for you as to why you were thrust into such an unfavorable position.” “Understood,” Sunset nodded. “I’d just have to win, right?” “Preferably,” He nodded, facial features contorting darkly. “But at least try to make an impression. My people are long-lived and with a good memory. If you acquit yourself favorably with them, there will be no doubt that you’d be much better received by us in the years to come.” So win and glory and fame will be mine? Sunset suppressed a snort. It seemed simple enough. She turned to the prince, “Your highness, if I may?” At his nod, she continued, “what are the rules in which I must abide by? I confess that I had not studied all the forms of magical duel practiced by the Quel’dorei.” “This is a simpler one.” Kael’thas replied. “All methods are allowed, so long as they are not deemed lethal or barbaric. As it is a formal duel that will be held in front of royalty, I would suggest that you refrain from… distasteful methods.” “Yes, your highness.” The arena that had been set up was a simple dueling walkway. A rectangular, carpet that was fifty meters long and twenty wide would be the area upon which they would settle their differences. Sunset quickly ran over the slew of spells that she had available. She wouldn’t need them all, but considering the circumstance, she would need to find something appropriate. Sunset soon found herself guided to her spot on the arena, with Felomel standing about fifty feet away from her. The noble elf sniffed disdainfully in her direction, but his eyes were sharp and his limbs tense. He was taking this seriously. It appears that she would have to take this seriously too. Off to the side, Sunset noticed Anasterian Sunstrider nod to the one of his retainers holding a horn. The tall male elf nodded and raised the instrument to his lips, a single short blast silencing the clearing. Take your positions. Sunset shifted into a stance, one hand in front of her, ready to cast a spell, another hidden in her sleeves, a rune upon her fingertips. Felomel sneered, but assumed a similar posture, though he kept both his hands visible. Two short blasts.  The crowd held their breath. The two magi tensed, as they ran analytical eyes over their opponent, trying to understand as much as possible about the other. Watchful eyes trying to predict their opponent’s next move from even the smallest action the other made. Then three short blasts. The two magi burst into action, hands flowing as they traced symbols in the air, mouth chanting words of power as they prepared their spells. Sunset finished first, a massive water elemental swirling upwards from the ground as it answered her call from the elemental plane. At her command, it surged forth, bursts of water erupting from it at the offending elf in her line of sights. Felomel grimaced as he stopped his spell to throw up a shimmering purple arcane shield, upon which the water bolts broke upon. Still, from where she stood, Sunset could easily see her adversary preparing another spell from within the safety of the purple bubble. With a gesture of her hands, her water elemental smashed into the shield, writhing about it like a vengeful serpent. Meanwhile, her hands began drawing more symbols in the air before her as she prepared another spell. Drawing the moisture from the surrounding air, Sunset grinned as a lance of ice formed. She would had greatly preferred to use her fire spells in these sort of scenario, but considering that they were dueling in the garden, she had to compromise. Not that she was any less proficient with the ice spells, of course. Another gesture, the ice lance flew at the shield, sending ice shards and purple sparks flying everywhere when it impacted. Sunset frowned as she inspected her handiwork. She was doing damage, that was for sure, but it was still not enough. Not for long, though, considering how Felomel was grimacing as he brought his hands together and continued chanting from within the safety of his spell. Considering how long he had been taking to cast that little spell of his, Sunset kept a wary eye out, one of her more powerful spells at the tip of her tongue should it be required. While she might have stolen the initiative on her opponent and also held every single possible advantage over the elf at the moment, there was no reason for her to let her guard down. After all, in a battle between mages, all it took was one proper spell at the proper time to claim victory. One of Antonidas’ quotes, if she recalled correctly. Her water elemental smashed itself into the Felomel’s shield once again, cracks spreading through the entire artifice this time. Sunset smiled grimly, victory was in sight, but still she kept her guard up. It wouldn’t do if she was defeated because of overconfidence. Cracks continued to spread across the purple surface of the arcane shield until it broke, lining the gardens with the sound of breaking glass. That was when Sunset noticed that Felomel was no longer wearing a grimace, instead smiling cockily at her as he raised his glowing hands. Instinctively, Sunset thrust her palms forward, shouting a single word of power as a great wave of freezing air crackled through the arena, swirling violently towards Felomel. What the spell touched, it froze, leaving a thin sheet of ice when it passed. It would have frozen Felomel within her water elemental, if her summon did not suddenly leave her adversary, rushing forward to meet her spell head-on. “Shit.” Sunset swore when she saw Felomel gesture and her water elemental mimicking his movements, splitting itself into two, one of its halves forming a wall of water which met the freezing wave head-on. She was ready for a lot of things, but she was not expecting that. “Ready to surrender, little human?” Felomel cried. “In your dreams,” She replied grimly. That was unexpected, she thought but in the end, it was no matter. She had not heard of such magic which could steal the control of another’s spells before, and cursed the lack of time she had to study the elven history. Still, he had to have used mana for that, no? That would mean that this fight was merely going to devolve into a contest of who had a greater mana pool. Well, thank the princess that she had another little trick up her sleeve. “A spellbreaker.” Rhonin cursed. “That lad’s a bloody spellbreaker!” Kael’thas paid him no mind, but already, his mind was awhirl with worries for the apprentice. Of all things that he had imagined Felomel Sunchaser to be, a Spellbreaker, elite elven warrior-mages who could turn the magics of other spellcasters against their masters, was among the last few choices that he would have entertained. He was still a fledgling though, an apprentice at most. However, even a fledgling Spellbreaker could prove to be more than a match for even the most experienced mage. Kael’thas frowned, his graceful features drawn into a disapproving expression as he watched the elf-boy pull another arcane shield about him as the water elemental he had stolen from Apprentice Shimmer turned on its mistress. To her credit, the apprentice merely glowered before freezing her summon solid with a gesture, then shattering it into a dozen pieces which she then pelted Felomel’s shield with. To his surprise, the apprentice did not let up, hands rising into the air as a dozen purple projectiles formed above her. A twitch of her limbs, and the arcane missiles launched themselves at the shield, though one doubled back at her, no doubt caused by Felomel. “She’s losing.” Vereesa Windrunner commented quietly. Kael’thas quietly agreed with her. Apprentice Shimmer had been tossing spells about left and right, almost as if she had no regard for her own mana pool. Felomel, on the other hand, had been conserving his mana, turtling behind his shield spell while taking control of the occasional spell to aggravate his opponent. “Yeah,” Rhonin grunted disapprovingly, “she’s not conserving her mana. Rookie mistake.” “At least she’s making a good show of it.” Kael’thas commented as he looked at the surrounding crowd. While most of the audience kept their face passively neutral as they watched the show, he could see the small glimmer within their eyes which betray their excitement. “Right, not a total loss then.” Rhonin harrumphed, folding his arms as he continued to spectate the duel. Still, Kael’thas raised his eyebrow as he continued to watch the apprentice smash the fourth of Felomel’s shield with but a single gesture. She should be running low on mana at this point, what with all the spells that she was tossing about. While the magic that she had been using was not remarkable by any means, they should still be rather taxing for a human of her age. “Curious.” He whispered, causing the other two magi to look at him. “How so, my Prince?” Vereesa asked, silver eyes wide with curiosity. “She’s not tired.” Kael’thas clarified as he studied the little girl. Curious indeed. How was she still standing? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Rhonin guffawed aloud, causing his two companions to look at him. “Clever little minx.” He chortled. “She came prepared!” “Master Rhonin, if you would care to explain?” Kael’thas asked, not exactly pleased to be ignorant of the situation. “Look closely, Prince Kael’thas.” Rhonin grinned, “look like Kel’thuzad’s pet has got a few tricks up her sleeves. Quite literally in fact.” Ignoring Modera’s glare at their colleague, Kael’thas took a closer look at the flame-haired apprentice. She looked perfectly ordinary for a mage, with nothing particularly outstanding about her. That was when he noticed it, and he smiled. A bulge within the sleeves of her robes, a hidden hastily sewed upon patch of cloth within her robes. The former was a favored tactic of experienced magi to store mana stones upon their body, the latter was a preferred method to hide seals and runes upon their clothes. He laughed softly, drawing the gaze of his compatriots, he ignored them, more interested in the girl who was carrying the equivalent of a magic battery with her. “Looks like we had underestimated our little fledgling, eh, Prince?” Rhonin grinned. “It appears so.” Kael’thas agreed. The difference between the two was apparent. Despite being born an elf and gifted with his race’s naturally greater mana pool, Felomel was still a fledgling mage. Sunset, on the other hand, was a human apprentice mage but she had the advantage of having backup stores of mana and probably more than a couple of prepared spells hidden on her person. The gap between the two was obvious. “Still,” Rhonin pondered, “it’s rather unusual that she would come to a peaceful environment so prepared.” “Probably Kel’thuzad’s teachings.” Modera muttered irritably. Kael’thas could almost swear that she was still bitter over the fact that she had to pass over the girl before them over to their colleague. Especially considering what they had recently learned about him. “At least she did not pick up his other… more questionable habits.” She flashed Kael’thas a meaningful look. Kael’thas nodded wordlessly and returned back to the match at hand, though it was noticeably less interesting now that he had figured out the apprentice’s little secret. Though he would admit that he was impressed at the roaring blizzard that Sunset used to send her opponent flying out of the arena, ending the match. “Well, that’s that.” Rhonin clapped his hands together. “Shall we go and raid the drinks table? I need a drink to get this whole sorry affair out of my head now.” “I wouldn’t mind.” Vereesa replied. “Though I would have thought that you would be more concerned for the apprentice who just won an official duel for your delegation.” “I’ll decline.” Modera replied. “I have another matter that I need to attend to.” Excusing herself, she strode off. “Huh,” Rhonin wondered, “she’s very attached to the girl, isn’t she?” “She did teach Apprentice Shimmer at one point,” Kael’thas pointed out. “She was probably hoping to groom the girl into her own successor when the apprentice graduates.” “Well, can’t say that I’m surprised. So how about you, prince?” “I’ll have to refuse your invitation as well, I’m afraid.” Kael’thas frowned briefly, but smoothed it over just as quickly so as to portray his usual passive face. “I have to go see my father, and check in with him about a certain matter.” “Ah,” Rhonin nodded, his tone slightly apologetic. “Well, I shall be seeing you on the morrow then, Prince Kael’thas.” “Indeed.” Kael’thas nodded before dismissing himself from their company. There were many things that needed to be clarified. Coming home never felt so tiring before.