Episode 13: Trial of Balance

The trial of balance is at hand. Two important challenges await Peter and Lidya. They each have to defeat a master of light magic and a master of dark magic. Doing so will unlock the final component of the transmutation spell that will allow them to change their weapons into elements outside their mastery.

As the two challengers make their preparations, the first match is already set. Lidya will face off against the master of light magic, Kaltan. Meanwhile Peter will have his own battle shortly after. Before entering the arena Lidya is asked to successfully transform her weapons into the light variant, a staff or in her case twin staves. Lidya held her axes crossed in front of her. Energy flowed into the weapons and began transforming them. While turning them sideways the blades began to shrink and hilts of each ax merged together. It was an unusual feeling, Lidya had only used her twin weapons so far. Having a single staff felt off for her, but regardless she would continue. She stepped into the arena where Kaltan was waiting.

Kaltan – “Greetings. I see that you have successfully transformed your weapon to be aligned with light magic.”

Lidya – “Easy. What’s next?”

Kaltan – “Confident are we? Let us begin then.”

Marx and Lorenzo were curious about how Lidya would fare, but they had to discuss their experiences with some of the council members. The rest of the members watched the arena intently and signaled the start of the match.

Kalyan readied his weapon. He moved slowly towards Lidya and began a series of attacks. For her part, Lidya was matching the attacks blocking them with the staff. Despite being adept at blocking she couldn’t get a proper grasp of her weapon to make attacks of her own. She felt restricted. For a few minutes the match continued without much progress from either side. Kaltan started to step up his attacks by interweaving light spells. Beams would occasionally shoot towards Lidya. In response she would have to either dodge the attack or try to block it with the staff. This was driving her to more vulnerable positions than she would like.

Kaltan – “My lady, are you holding back? Is this truly the extent of your power?”

Lidya – “I’ll show you power!”

By now Lidya was annoyed at not being able to make any progress. She focused her light magic into the staff and noticed it reacted. The Twins of Power were giving her a hint on how to proceed. So she went on the offensive. Strike after strike, Kaltan met every blow with a swift and decisive defense. What he didn’t expect was Lidya to begin interweaving her own light beams to her attacks. She was pushing him back, but he could still defend very well. On one occasion Kaltan lost his balance and Lidya was able to hit him on his right shoulder.

Kaltan – “Very good! Now things get more interesting!”

The master of light magic felt a rush. Recent challengers had not managed to hit him at all. The match continued. Kaltan created image echoes that could hit with light energy basically multiplying himself. Lidya had to be quick to respond, but some of the attacks pierced through her own defenses. She could feel how her energy was slowly lost. In her desperation she channeled even more energy into her staff. After repelling some of the echoes, she began to attack Kaltan himself. This caused the images to fade, as he needed to focus in order to maintain the spell. Then, to his surprise, Lidya split her staff into twin short batons. They are an extension of her mastery of the Twins of Power and the true form of their light alignment. This change allowed Lidya to gain an unexpected swiftness. Kaltan was having a very difficult time keeping up with Lidya, so he blasted the ground and pushed her away. Lidya wanted to finish the match. She used one of the batons and threw it with great force towards Kaltan. To counter he used a powerful light beam. The might of such a spell was great, it easily threw off the baton. What he didn’t expect was that the spell blinded him from Lidya’s follow up attack. She disarmed him. Energy was gathering around Lidya, she was preparing to unleash a barrage of spells. Before the spell could be cast, a bell rang and the match was declared over. The energy dissipated and Lidya used another spell to call the baton that was thrown back to her hand.

Kaltan – “What incredible mastery! My lady, you have done what few before have been able to. Not only have you shown me your great combat skill, you also have shown that the light can be blinding to all. Well done!”

Lidya – “I think I’ll be sore all over after this. That was a great challenge, thank you master Kaltan.”

Kaltan – “You’re welcome, master Lidya. Light be with you. Go get some rest.”

Lidya bowed and left the arena. The audience there was impressed with what they saw. Such was the intensity of the match that, for a moment, Marx, Lorenzo and the council members stopped their conversation to have a look at the combat. Most of the council was impressed.

Marx and Lorenzo remained with the council after completing their briefing. Soon, it was Peter’s turn to combat the master of light. He would not face Kaltan though, as the master of light was still recovering from the battle against Lidya. Another master of light magic stepped up for the match against Peter. It was another intense battle. Peter showed his mastery of spell casting, though he was not skilled in close combat. Early in the fight he was disarmed, but with the help of a series of spells he was able to overpower the master, earning him the win.

A new weapon transformation challenge was set for Lidya. After spending some time resting in a room she approached the arena once again. Before she left the doorway she started channeling dark magic into her weapons. Using her previous experience she quickly turned her weapons into small scythes, more commonly known as kamas. The judge at the doorway bid her to proceed. As she walked her focus was unflinching. At the center of the arena was a hooded figure that held a very large scythe. The weapon seemed unwieldy from Lidya’s perspective, perhaps it was more of a tool for intimidation, she thought. To her surprise, when the master removed the hood and threw it away, a woman stood there twirling the scythe as if it were weightless.

Lidya – “You sure you can carry that weapon?”

Master – “I can more than carry this. I will also deal with you here and now. The names Eliza and by the will of our lord Damien, you shall fall!”

Lidya – “What?!”

Before Lidya could do anything else Eliza lunged at her. Lidya sidestepped the attack and moved away, she was shocked that anyone with ties to Damien would be able to make it to the trial and infiltrate it. The council still watching from their balcony was confused, they didn’t recognize this master of dark magic. They began to talk among themselves, unsure of what was happening. Meanwhile the sounds of battle could be heard outside the arena. Marx and Lorenzo rushed outside. Damien’s forces were attacking the village. Peter heard the commotion as well and ran out of the arena to aid the guards. As the battles unfolded, Eliza unleashed a powerful dark magic spell that created a protective dome, sealing her and Lidya inside it.

Eliza – “No one will interrupt me while I deal with you. They’re going to have to scrape you off the stone after I crush you!”

Lidya – “You can try as much as you want, in the end you’ll have to go back to Damien. You should send him my regards.”

The thunderous slam of Eliza’s scythe rumbled through the arena as she tried in vain to hit Lidya. Even if she dominated the weapon’s weight, she could still not swing fast enough to catch up with Lidya’s swift movement. Ghostly images started to appear and distract Lidya. They hounded her sight as much as they did her mind. A feeling of unease crept up upon her. It was followed up by dread and fear. Eliza had cast a spell to influence her emotions and Lidya fell prey to it. Without thinking too much on it, Lidya swung at the ghosts hoping to dispel them, but to no avail. They would vanish and return almost immediately. Eliza’s plan was to wear down Lidya’s mind and then strike when she was at her weakest. What she didn’t expect was that Lidya not only had a resilient mind, but a strong, unyielding will. Dark magic swirled around Lidya. She conjured her own shadow creatures to aid her. The apparitions were devious and horrifying to Eliza. A powerful dispelling force blasted away both the ghosts and shadows. When Eliza realized what was happening it was too late and Lidya was closing in fast. All the warrior could do was defend against the relentless strikes made by her opponent.

Lidya – “Clearly you didn’t plan this well enough.”

Eliza – “I will not be lectured by you!”

Their antagonisms seemed more of old worthy rivals than of deadly enemies. Lidya knew there was something odd about Eliza, but she could not identify what it was. Another wave of dark magic released by Eliza engulfed the arena. The entire dome fully darkened. No one on the outside could see into it. A new battle ensued, this time within Lidya’s mind. A powerful sense of defeat clouded her. Her body was frozen, knelt before Eliza.

Eliza – “This is where it all ends for you. A shame, I wonder what Damien saw in you to even suggest turning you into one of his generals.”

Lidya could not respond. Her mind was somewhere else. Little by little though she recognized the spell and slowly broke through. The world moved in slow motion around her. She saw as Eliza began to lift her scythe, ready to bring it down with full force. Lidya shifted the energy of the spell affecting her and absorbed it. The shadows empowered her kamas. Lidya rose to block the scythe and it was blown away by the impact. Eliza was disarmed, but not completely defeated. This agent of Damien still had a few more tricks, but so did Lidya. A chain of dark energy linked the two kamas and Lidya shifted her stance to a new one. Her combat was now a dance. Her strikes were non lethal, she knew that Eliza’s life was somehow worth sparing. Try as she might, Eliza’s spells no longer had any effect. Lidya had found a way to neutralize and redirect the energy. A beam of dark energy broke through the dome that covered the arena. When the energy dissipated, the council saw how Lidya was still standing and Eliza was barely holding on.

Lidya – “Give up!”

Eliza – “I’ll have your head for this…”

Her one last move was to slam her palm to the ground causing a dense mist of shadows to arise. When the mist faded Lidya found herself standing alone.

Lidya – “I guess that’s that.”

The council halted any further proceedings while on the outside of the arena Damien’s forces were repelled. A few hours later the council reconvened. They entered the arena along with Marx and Lorenzo. One of the members approached Lidya. He said his name is Genus.

Genus – “You and your companions have shown great bravery today. Lidya, despite Damien’s intervention I feel it would be unfair to deny you the title of master of balance. You defeated a powerful foe cloaked in dark magic. Now, one final task remains. Channel both dark and light magic into your weapons, use the transmutation spell.”

Lidya – “Thank you. Let’s see how this goes.”

Lidya did as council member Genus asked. She tapped into her magical energies and focused them on her weapons. The twin kamas floated just above her palms. Light and dark orbs flowed and transformed the Twins of Power. When the process was complete a pair of ringblades appeared. A unique and powerful kind of weapon that required a calm but focused mind. They cannot be easily held and require the user’s magical energies to be in sync to keep them aloft. Ringblades are also known as chakrams in some regions of Entralia.

Genus – “The trial is now complete. Come with me, we have much to discuss. All of you.”

Marx – “Yes sir. Well done Lidya.”

Lorenzo – “Indeed, congratulations!”

Lidya – “Thanks guys. Has anyone seen Peter? He was supposed to take the next challenge, but with the trial suspended…”

Marx – “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him for a while now.”

Lorenzo – “It is possible he is still outside. Perhaps dealing with straglers?”

Lidya – “Let’s go find him before we continue.”

Just as they were about to run out the arena, Peter arrived.

Lorenzo – “Are you alright?”

Peter – “Yes, I’ll be fine. A bit shaken to be honest. I’ll tell you more later.”

Marx – “Did something happen?”

Peter – “Let’s just say I saw an old friend that I thought was gone for good. She fights for Damien now.”

Lidya – “Was it Eliza by any chance?”

Peter – “How did you know?”

Lidya – “She was the one who battled me. During the fight I knew I felt an odd energy about her and it was not related to any of the spells she was using.”

Peter – “I see. You felt it too. Well, for now I am somewhat relieved that she lives. I must figure out what happened.”

Marx – “We can help you with that you know.”

Lidya – “Yeah Peter. Don’t think you’re alone in this.”

Peter – “Thanks for that.”

Lorenzo – “We should go on, the council is waiting.”

The group left the arena and made their way to the council chambers. There they would discuss any information the council could provide them about Damien.