Arn winced slightly as the timbre of that strong sonic shield still made his ears ring.  The way that the woman used magic was not something he had seen.  The current understanding of the use of the Aether was tuning with it and using that mystical force to alter the existing nature of the world.  Despite the amazing results, most mages still followed some sort of rule and borderlines.  This woman however, seemed to use the Aether merely as a battery.  She seemed to be creating things rather than modifying or enhancing them.  That made things that much more challenging. 


The Master Mage snarled at her taunts and struggled to keep his cool.  This vixen was well versed in battle and as such, he need to be more tactical more precise.  His usual method of overpowering with power would not work here.  As if to emphasize that point, the woman disappeared from in front of him and appeared behind him. 

His back hairs stood on end, not out of fear but because her magic seemed to clash with his.  The ethereal silhouette that covered most magicians when casting, seemed to be repulsed and assailed by her own.  Using a move taught to him by the master who had gifted him his Daisho, his left elbow moved almost perfectly horizontal aiming to strike at the temple of the woman.  

The strike however met  nothing but air.  He kept turning until his feet pivoted until his body stopped looking at the dark haired woman.  He was about to launch another set of attacks when the noticed movement to his right.  A levitating and glowing Eilis made him loose the concentration of the Aether. 

There was something enthralling about her glow.  Something called to him but not in a familiar way.  It stirred some deep feeling inside him.  He was almost dumfounded until he noticed very faintly that there was a disturbance in the air near his protegees hands.  Too late he figured it was an offensive spell.  Had it not been for the shield that the black haired woman put it, he might have been blinded. 

There was something different in the flow of energy that connected him to Eilis. The bond was still there but it seemed it also held something else.  While a part of Arn tried to push against this feeling, another part of him seemed to welcome it.  A feeling akin to lust welled inside of him.  It was the strength of the feeling that drew him to Eilis that actually cut the connection.  

His mind came back to watch Tyrhallan bet impaled and the original assailant be the prey.  The master mage’s eyes connected with two black orbs.  They brought out a momentary sense of danger.  However, soon he started to feel sadness.  This was not Eilis.  No matter what his eyes were seeing, somewhere deep inside he felt that this was not the person he had connected with. 

As if to highlight this feeling, Arn’s aura projected the warm fire feeling that the two of them had shared in the hospital ship.  He reached out to her both in mind, spirit and action.  [color=0054a6]“Eilis.  Forgive me. I was not strong to protect you.  I am sorry that you needed to be strong.  I promise. I will be strong for you.  You don’t have to use that strength anymore…” [/color] 

His voice was apologetic.  If he were to die that day, he would deserve it for he had failed her.  His own dark eyes glowed as he dug deeper into the Aether trying to leverage their connection and sought her out.