No Time to Sleep [Brenton]

[Capricorn]

It was raining heavily outside. Most of the soldiers were inside, with a rare few being brave enough to practice. Auduriel, an Elven Rider, was one of those few, but she would not have gone out there if it was her choice. Her black-scaled dragon was outside, but she enjoyed it- never before had she seen rain with her own eyes, and she was enjoying the sensation on her wings and scales. The dragon was around three to four months old- she still had a lot to learn about being a dragon. Auduriel, on the other hand, was already quite skilled in areas that the Riders valued- she had been practicing magic and swordplay since the day that she could walk. Her mother had been a Rider- one of the Forsworn- and her father had taught Riders how to use swords.

The dragon flapped her wings and looked up at the sky in wonder. Auduriel glanced at her like she was crazy. "How can you enjoy that?" The elf asked her partner through their connection.

The dragon paused and glanced at her Rider. "How come you don't? It feels so nice. You know, we could come up with some fun games to play in this weather... Maybe we could find some other dragons around my size so that we can have some fun before the battle."

Auduriel shook her head. "Not now, though. Maybe the dragon and Rider we're going to be practicing with will be interested in playing, but we need to practice first. I think the dragon's quite a bit bigger than you are, anyways."

The dragon could certainly use training in aerial combat and navigating the skies when it was raining or the weather was otherwise poor. Auduriel didn't need any training on how to do anything, but a bit of practice, especially with another Rider, was more than welcome. As long as they wouldn't get into an actual fight, Auduriel was more than happy with it. And she'd like to watch her dragon if she had a chance, too, as well as discuss the war with this Rider. The elf had never fought from dragonback before- tips on doing so would be more than welcome.

((Would you be able to use Kelocias and Istven? I think Konner and Talon and Auduriel and her dragon would get into fights, and I'd rather not RP that out right now.))

[Brenton]

((Lol Konner gets into fights with just about everyone. He's a very hot headed person. Sure I'll use Kelocias.))

The sky was releasing torrential waves of rain down toward the already mud strewn fields below as a dragon labored through the air. It was windy enough to cause such a being issues but not enough to whip the rider off or ground both of them. As they finally made it to their destination, a camp of soldiers based outside of Ilirea, the rider laughed in joy. She would relish in the sight of this once fair city being taken back under freedom's name.

For now, though, it was still the accursed capital city of the Empire that had been renamed Uru'baen. Such a despicable act of injustice to all who once lived here back when the rider and dragon flew these skies last. Kelocias felt the wind tear at her platinum blonde hair as Istven landed on the ground next to another rider and dragon. They were supposed to train together and that would actually help the elf rider as well. As she thought all of this, the rider slid from her perch on the large grey dragon Istven. She had to jump from the saddle to several spots along Istven's leg before she could get to the ground without sinking into the mud.

As Kelocias landed she looked up and grinned at Auduriel with a playful tilt to her head. So I'm going to be training with you then? My name's Kelocias, daughter of Andume and Vrael, and this is Istven. Don't worry, Istven may be large but she is quite careful when training with younger dragons. Kelocias' hand slid along the hilts of Garjzla and Sundavar. Perfect for today's training really, to use blades named Light and Shadow or Life and Death, if she chose to use Esterni and Freohr.

[Capricorn]

Auduriel nodded in greeting. She hesitated for a moment- should she greet the fellow Rider in the traditional elven fashion?- but then she spoke first without initiating the greeting, and Auduriel decided to follow around. That was one big dragon- they must be an older one. "I'm Auduriel, daughter of Eduniel." She answered, with a bit of guilt as the fellow Rider introduced herself as the daughter of Vrael. She hoped that he wouldn't recognize the name of her father- it wasn't well-known in the history books or anything, but he had worked with the Riders quite often and it was known that he had defected to the Empire. It would be odd if Auduriel hadn't included at least one parent, anyways, and she could not lie, as she was speaking in the Ancient Language. "My dragon has not yet selected a name for herself."

Auduriel glanced to her dragon, who then spoke. "Atra esterní ono thelduin." She said to Istven, followed by a respectful bow of her head, as she waited for the next part of the greeting.

"I am well-trained in swordfighting and other skills, although I am a new Rider- my dragon, on the other hand, is quite young. She needs to be trained in aerial combat and navigating harsh weather conditions- no dragon has yet to assist her in learning that. Perhaps Istven could?" Auduriel suggested respectfully. "What do you think that we should do?"

The dragon was clearly quite excited, evidenced by the way she moved. She looked like she could hardly stand still. Auduriel glanced at her with amusement, and ran a hand along the dragon's scales, resulting in some of the rain drops ending up on her hand. The dragon covered her tail in mud and proceeded to gently slap Auduriel with it. "Oww!" The elf said, more from pain than surprise. "It's time for training, not playing. There will be plenty of time for that after the war."

"If it ends soon." Auduriel added to herself.

[Brenton]

Mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr. Istven spoke the next words in the greeting straight to the other dragon, yet to be named. Must be a really young one for it to not be able to call itself anything. Still, Istven was used to training younglings of all ages and that included hatchlings who could hardly walk much less speak a name.

Kelocias frowned at Auduriel's greeting, trying to place the name of the father with a face. Yet it was no good. All she could remember of Eduniel was that he was a great rider according to her father. It might've helped if Kelocias had paid more attention or been around towards the end of the riders but she wasn't and she hadn't. I am pleased to meet you, Auduriel. It is good to know of another born from an old rider. Although, I can't remember much about your father, I am sure he was a brave man who fought hard for all he believed in.[/b]

The female rider glanced over at Istven who nodded her massive head once to show she agreed. Istven has agreed to train your dragon in the skills of flying through strong winds as well as heavy rain. Be prepared to heal any injuries that may befall them. As for you and I, let's see how your sword combat is on the ground before we take it to the air. Kelocias' eyes blazed for a second as she drew her swords Sundavar and Garjzla. Let the light and shadow coalesce into these blades and bring forth the power of the sun and the moon. Bring down the heavens above into my blades and lend me your strength so I may learn how strong this rider truly is. Kelocias' heart pounded as she took up a stance and remembered a time when she had seen Vrael do much the same thing before he died.

[Capricorn]

The dragon nodded at Istven, but didn't say the last part- it was just training, not a special meeting or anything. "So you will be teaching me how to navigate this weather... Will you explain it to me before we take to the skies, or shall I learn as I fly?" The dragon paused for a moment before adding, "I apologize for any awkwardness that my lack of a name may cause, I'm just a bit... Indecisive. I want to make sure that I like it." She was already three months old, and a bit bigger than a horse, she was far beyond the age that most dragons would pick a name at.

"Yes... I miss him. He wasn't a Rider, though, although my mother was- I don't like talking much about her, though. She died not long ago." Auduriel said, faking a look of sadness. She was still speaking in the Ancient Language- although she could not lie, she, like many elves, knew how to say one thing and mean another. She didn't name her mother- although Eduniel could be confused with Enduriel of the Forsworn, they were different, and the other Rider would undoubtly recognize the name of one of the Forsworn.

Auduriel drew her sword from its sheathe and glanced at the fellow elf, scanning her up and down to see if she could identify weak points. She stopped after a few moments, however- if she was too blatantly obvious when sizing up her opponent, she'd catch on, especially if she was clever. The elf shifted into a position as well- she wasn't going to make the first move in a spar like this, when her opponent was already ready for her.

[Brenton]

Istven nodded at the thought of wanting to like a name before choosing it, since she quite enjoyed being called Istven. Still it was rather difficult to talk to someone without having a name to say to get their attention. Finally the gray dragon spoke in soft tones that hid the true strength of her personality and body. The best way to learn is to go into it at first and then correct while you are doing what you should and shouldn't be. So I will simply say that you want to stay relaxed and don't tense up when a strong wind comes at you. Other than that, you will figure it out as we fly.

The dragon shot into the air and circled for a few seconds, getting the feel of the air currents and severe updrafts that tore at her wing membranes. One wrong move up high and she would be maimed badly so they would stay lower where the wind wasn't as bad. Then once the other dragon had gotten the hang of it then maybe they would fly higher and test the knowledge of both of them.

Kelocias saw the slight tilt of Auduriel's sword and angle of how it exposed her body just slightly. An inexperienced swordsman would take advantage of that and go straight for a stab to the chest. Yet that was dangerous considering it could be a ploy to draw in just such an attack. If the other person was prepared then the swordsman would be disarmed and left open to injury. So she looked further and saw the set of the other rider's feet, a little unbalanced but not enough to where she could take it any further without opening herself for an attack.

That left just an attack to the blade itself to try to knock it aside so she could land a blow on the body. It was risky business no matter what happened but it would always be risky in a battle. That was why you trained day after day to find these minute flaws. So Kelocias stretched a bit and yawned slightly to see if any reaction would come from the other rider before she struck like a cobra. Her twin blades shot out at speeds only a rider or an elf could reach. Both were aimed at the sword about halfway down and if they landed then she would slide the blades down and try to disarm Auduriel.

[Capricorn]

The black dragon beat her wings and took to the skies, and was immediately overwhelmed with the strength of the wind. It didn't feel like it could harm her, not yet, but she still didn't go any higher. She had soon forgotten that the other dragon was beside her as she spent all of her focus on keeping herself aloft despite the rain and the wind. Shruikan could have been below her and she wouldn't have noticed. It was difficult to control her tail and keep flying in the correct direction.

Auduriel knew that her trick wouldn't work- still, whether Kelocias went for it or not was a good indicator of how she fought and what she might do later on. When the other elf lunged forward with her blades, Auduriel immediately recognized that trying to deflect them probably wouldn't work. This elf was probably much more familiar with what people did when fighting against wielders of twin swords than Auduriel was fighting against them, and she'd likely know an excellent counter if Auduriel attempted to deflect them.

The elf rider stepped to the side at the speed that only an elf or rider could, and swung around so that she was facing Kelocias's back. The elf aimed towards Kelocias's right shoulder- Auduriel made a guess and decided that there was a good chance that the other elf was right-handed, if only because of how many people there were who were right-handed. Her sword's blade had had the dulling spell applied to it, but it would probably still hurt if she hit. She hoped that the other elf would be a bit disoriented by her quick movements, but still, she made sure that she could move her sword quickly enough to deflect at least one of the blades if the other elf turned around in time.

[Brenton]

Kelocias dropped to the ground as Auduriel spun around her, and she rolled forward while spinning on her back so she'd be facing the rider again. As she stood up, the rider grinned and dropped her sword blades so they pointed toward the ground while she waited for an attack from Auduriel. It was all well and good to make the first move but if it didn't land then it would be time to see where the match went when the opponent attacked.

From the stance that Kelocias held, her blades angled toward the ground and her body loose but not fully relaxed, it would almost look like she was over confident and not in an easily defensible position. Yet that was far from true. If Auduriel rushed her then she could step to the side and raise both swords to slash towards the other rider. If she came from an aerial attack then it would be dropped and roll while slashing upward, from the side would require a step back and a kick to the stomach before a sword followed. Each direction was covered unless she came from a slide toward Kelocias. Those were rather hard to counter against.

Istven watched the black dragon labor for a bit before she moved closer and with her own tail, corrected the position of the wings and tail. It would make it easier if the wings were bent slightly at all times to form a parachute shape and the tail was straight but relaxed.

[Capricorn]

The elf observed Kelocias for a moment to decide on the best move. There was no way that an older, experienced Rider would leave herself open to an attack like that without a trick up their sleeve. Still, just standing there and waiting until Auduriel was confident that it was safe to make a move wouldn't be a viable strategy in any real battle, and she knew that. How would she be able to attack without the other immediately counter and rendering her efforts worthless? This was why creativity was be important.

The elf opted to use magic. Was magic allowed in a spar? It was certainly allowed in battle- there was no such thing as "unfair" when it came to war- and a spar was supposed to be like a fight after all. Auduriel could have probably managed to avoid a counter, but just barely, and if this was real it would be best to follow the safest course of action. "Sverdar." She murmured as quietly as possible, in hopes that Kelocias couldn't hear her. The spell was meant to snatch one of the other elf's blades, partially disarming her and making the situation more familiar to Auduriel. She could stop the spell if it took too much energy, but she didn't have time to say a long string of words so that the spell could determine that without her.

Istven's touch surprised the young dragon, who couldn't see her over the rain. The dragon whirled around with surprise, and instantly moved forward to lunge at the unknown dragon before she realized that it was her mentor. She had gone a bit higher, too- the wind here was a bit too rough for her. With a panicked screech, she began falling, but frantically beat her wings to stay aloft.

[Brenton]

Sundavar was suddenly ripped from Kelocias's hand and thrown across the field where it landed blade down in the mud. With a sigh, the elf thought the words she needed. Deloi moi. Risa sverd. Gath sem sverd un lam iet. The earth shot up into a pillar underneath her feet and grew to the height of fifty feet above a normal elf's height. Kelocias stood up there and held out her hand as Sundavar suddenly pulled from the ground and flew back to her hand where she caught it with ease born of someone who had used that spell many times before.

A grin grew on Kelocias's face as she motioned for Auduriel to come at her. A spell had been unexpected but perfectly reasonable in that situation. Unfortunately for the female rider, Kelocias had counter measures for such a situation. Now it was her on top of the world and Auduriel having to climb up to get to her. This spar was almost over. Yet to make absolutely certain, Kelocias spoke softly. Thrysta deloi. Adurna risa. Deloi moi. The earth around Auduriel for a good fifteen feet starting at the edges of her boots suddenly hardened and the water rose into the air where it disappeared. Next the earth shifted and soon became quick sand. Now she would have a whole lot of fun getting through their. Moi Stenr. Stones grew up into walls all around, making a maze from Auduriel to Kelocias. As the final spell finished, the older rider fell to her knees and clutched the gems on her sword pommels. Energy started to flood her limbs again but only slowly.

[Capricorn]

Auduriel cursed to herself and glanced up at the Rider who was now far above her on a pillar of earth. I should just put her to sleep next time. The elf thought to herself. That's earth, and she didn't remove the water from it when she made it into a pillar. I think I can destroy it without much energy- maybe even with my own sword. Energy isn't the issue here, it's size. Quicksand she could get around- "Deloi haror." She said. The quicksand hardened, but her energy was valuable, although she had plenty stored in her sword. She still couldn't get it quickly enough for it to be of use, though.

She looked at the walls. She could break them, but it was probably better to save energy for confronting Kelocias- and breaking the pillar, if she had to. She doubted that she could destroy all of them and have any energy left at all, really. So she slipped her sword in her sheathe and began running, at the speed of an elf. She could keep this pace up for a while, so she was confident in her ability to get through the maze quickly enough. In little under a minute, she had come across three dead ends. Once had had come across the third, the elf finally muttered, "Gata fram." A path lit up in front of her- warding against such spells would have likely taken too much energy. Still, the elf Rider felt the spell take energy from her- she raced along the path that she had found as quickly as she could, and muttered, "Letta." Once she was out of it.

The pillar was her next obstacle- Auduriel would have to find a way to get Kelocias down from there without hurting either of them and while not using too much energy. It's earth. The elf thought to herself as it dawned on her. Water. A tide of water would likely unbalance the pillar and cause it to come down, but slowly enough for Auduriel to get out of the way and for Kelocias to not be harmed. "Adurna." She said, and a tide of black water swept over the bottom of the pillar, carrying off some of the mud with it. The pillar would begin sinking, if Kelocias didn't do anything about it. Auduriel had spent a lot of her energy on the magic to get out of the maze, but actually forming all of that had definitely cost more energy than she had used. It had taken about two minutes total- was she quick enough or had Kelocias regained her energy in time?

[Brenton]

As the other elf made it through the maze, Kelocias was only at half of her energy, which wouldn't be enough for a fight. So in a mad scramble, the older rider started sucking energy from the very clouds above them. All of the lightning and heat above was energy in its purest state and as long as she stopped in time then it would have no ill side effects. Within the space of thirty seconds, Kelocias had her full energy back but the pillar was already half way to the ground by that point.

It was too late for saving that area but maybe, just maybe, she could pull off something else. Kelocias stood and vaulted backward flipping over the ground until she was on a while new area. Deloi moi, Adurna, Deloi haror. A new pillar grew just as big as the last but around it grew a wall that was twice as thick as the stone had been. This time though, she made sure to sap the water from the earth and harden it to the point that it would be able to take more than just a small wave of water to destroy it. With another muttered spell, Kelocias formed bridges from the pillar to the wall on four sides.

She walked across and sat on the edge of the pillar with a confident smile. Come on, this is a little too easy. Think about it for a second. Every rider draws energy from somewhere and there is only one way I could've regained my so quickly. The point is to cut off the source of energy from me and then continue on. While she said all of that, Kelocias topped off her strength once more and sat there waiting for the next move.

[Capricorn]

Auduriel was quite annoyed. "I'm not an apprentice, Kelocias, I've been doing this since I was old enough to hold a sword and mutter a spell. Don't treat me like one." Kelocias was her elder, probably by about a few centuries, so Auduriel knew that she'd probably get a lecture about, but as far as she was concerned, it was worth it. Sure, this elf had been a well-trained Rider likely during their pinnacle, but the newer Rider had been pretty well-trained too- surely she stood a chance. The elf decided stubbornly to prove that there was another way to stop Kelocias, possibly an even easier one. She'd need to be a bit closer to do that, though- spells cost more energy the further away they were cast, and it would cost an awful lot of energy to do it from here, even though the spell at a normal range cost hardly anything.

The wall was thicker- thick enough to stand on. Auduriel could use that to her advantage if she could find a way to get up there. The elf could use magic to get up there, and replenish her energy as quickly as Kelocias had using the same method- after ensuring that Kelocias couldn't cut her off from it, of course. The elf drew some energy from the opal in sword- enough so that she could get up there, put Kelocias to sleep, and a bit extra just in case something went wrong. "Deloi." She murmured, and put her hands on the wall- the spell was moving the rock itself, which avoided the issue of the rain, and it was a matter of perhaps fifteen seconds before she was on top.

"Styjda." Auduriel said, her voice obscured by the beating of the rain. She was careful not to move very much, if at all- this type of rock didn't get as slippery as some others, but there was always the risk of falling over if she wasn't careful. Her spell was designed to make Kelocias fall asleep. Hopefully she hadn't thought to have wards against it- from Auduriel's experience, most didn't think that an opponent would try to put them to sleep.