Takes an Acolyte to know an Acolyte [BP/Darth]

Takes an Acolyte to know an Acolyte
- Judith Vilcaron, Priestess of Nayru (1/5/2 Hylian) [Darth Slaverus] Reward: Bottomless Bottle, Circle, +5 Rupees.
- Lamia, Acolyte of Din (3/4/1 Gerudo) [Blonde Panther] Reward: +50 Rupees until further notice.

The sun stood high in the sky, with not a cloud in sight. Fortunately, there was a stiff, cool breeze, making walking outside bearable even now that there were no shadows to take advantage of. Lamia was grateful for it. She wasn't very comfortable in extreme heat because of the nature of her magic; logic dictated that fire became more dangerous in heat, right? But of course, she could not be certain... The person she was about to visit on the other hand, probably could.

The Order of Din was a versatile organisation, harbouring both mages and warriors, but the fact remained that magic was not its primary focus and their understanding of it was rudimentary, with the more esoteric applications or, in her case, complications, unknown territory that required outside attention. Lamia's highly volatile and hard-to-contain Fire magic was no exception, and instead of staying in town to learn to control it on her own, she was sent to several corners of the continent, but usually with little luck. Finally, a little grudgingly, the council of High Priests had decided to invoke the help of a source they would normally try to avoid getting involved with.

Sighing and deciding she wasn't going to get anywhere just standing in front of this place, Lamia raised one hand and gave a solid knock on the door.

Today was going to be an unusual day.

Try as she might, Judith found herself unable to banish her misgivings about her upcoming appointment. She was so close to making a breakthrough in her studies... But the final component of the spell eluded her in her distressed state. A true priestess of Nayru could not afford to be distracted, especially when it came to matters of the arcane. Chiding herself for her weakness, Judith heaved a sigh, set her tome down, and stood up from her desk, pacing to-and-fro.

A missive had arrived from the capital last week, signed by none other than the Archcanoness herself. Judith remembered her heart skipping a beat as she broke the seal on the envelope, honoured to have been acknowledged by such a divine authority. The actual contents of the letter, however, had profoundly shocked her. The Cult of Nayru had been petitioned for aid... by the Order of Din.

The Order of Din were a band of obstinate fools that venerated Din, the Goddess of Power, as the greatest of the three Golden Goddesses. Not only was this an affront to Mother Nayru, but it was demonstrably untrue. Had Nayru not blessed all living things with Wisdom, they would not possess the intelligence necessary to worship their inferior goddess. Nonetheless, the Order attracted its fair share of followers despite its twisted teachings, and was one of the Cult's primary religious rivals. Judith couldn't help but wonder what had motivated the Archcanoness to answer their plea. Was she simply being charitable and sporting? Or was this a calculated attempt to humiliate them?

Even stranger was the nature of the Order's request. Apparently, one of their initiates was having difficulty controlling her magic, and required the intervention of an expert. At first, Judith had been baffled by the fact that one of Din's servants would even bother with sorcery, but upon further reflection she supposed their ilk would probably approve of its more destructive applications. How very Din-like, to use magic without first mastering the basics! Teaching her would undoubtedly be a daunting assignment.

That, of course, was the crux of the matter: Judith had been tasked with assisting this initiate. She couldn't deny the logic of the Archcanoness' decision; the Cult's senior personnel had better things to do than tutor a wayward priestess of a rival faith, and even the lowliest of Nayru's acolytes had a solid grasp of the arcane. Volunteering a novice like Judith was the most efficient choice. For her part, Judith had resolved not to betray the trust the Archcanoness had put in her. She would perform her duties without complaint, regardless of her own feelings.

Praying that her patience would hold in the face of someone whose beliefs were the antithesis of her own, Judith was about to sit down again when there was a knock at her door. This was it.

Steeling herself, Judith hurried out of her private chambers and down the aisle of pews, before reaching the great wooden doors of the abbey that marked the threshold between it and the outside world. As she opened the portal, she came face-to-face with a pale, yet attractive Gerudo.

"H-Hello," Judith managed, "Are you the..." she trailed off for a second as she searched for an appropriate word. 'Din-worshipper' was a little too brusque. "... Acolyte?" she concluded lamely, keenly aware of the irony.

"Um... yes." Lamia lowered her hand, subconsciously clutching one of the swords around her waist with the other. There were tensions between the Order of Din and the Cult of Nayru; not so much between their leaders, but between individual followers. Lamia herself didn't care much -honestly, her magic was a threat to her surroundings. She had better things to do than worry about who venerated who- but she knew that being associated with the Order could make her a demon in the eyes of the wrong priestess of Nayru. This one wasn't that much older than Lamia herself was, setting her at ease a bit.

Letting out the breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding, she composed herself and took a step forward, holding out her hand to the priestess. "My name is Lamia. Did my mother -I mean, High Priestess Latifa- tell you of my situation?" She hoped so. It would save them valuable time if she didn't have to explain her problem all over again. Additionally, it would be a lot less distressing if she didn't have to talk about it. Which in turn meant they would be a lot safer.

As Judith gingerly reached forward to grasp the proffered hand, her eyes darted toward Lamia's other extremity, which had firmly wrapped itself around the hilt of a sword. Forcing herself to remain calm, the young priestess considered the facts. A scholarly woman by nature, Judith was aware that Gerudo culture placed a great deal of importance on martial ability, and therefore Lamia might have simply been reacting out of nervous habit. But much as she wanted to believe it was mere unease that plagued her guest, she couldn't help but feel she was being threatened. After all, Din's faith practically catered to short-tempered brutes...

Deciding that it would be wise to complete the exchange of pleasantries before jumping to conclusions, Judith clasped Lamia's hand and gave it a polite shake. "Judith Vilcaron. Actually, it was the Most Holy Archcanoness, blessed be her name, who sent word of your... condition." The Gerudo's slip of the tongue had revealed an intriguing tidbit... So, Lamia was the daughter of a high priestess? Small wonder the Order had been desperate enough to seek outside help. It must have been quite the scandal.

Not wanting to prolong what promised to be an awkward conversation, Judith released the woman and stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter. "Oh, but you must be weary from your journey! Please, come in, come in! Can I get you something to drink? Water? Tea?" She hoped that the prospect of a beverage might diffuse the tension somewhat.

Even if she WAS inviting a wolf into her midst, it never hurt to be courteous. At any rate, she could not disobey a direct order from the Archcanoness. To live among the Cult of Nayru was to live a life of sacrifice. If the absolute worst-case scenario came to pass, she could always call the guard.

When Lamia followed Judith's gaze, she realised her hand was on her weapon and she took it off as if she'd been bitten. Her weapons were comforting to her, and she knew she often reached for them as a means of calming her nerves, but she wasn't stupid enough to not know how it came across on others. Gerudo culture was very heavily based around martial prowess and thus it was natural to her people, but even amongst Gerudo the gesture could be taken as a threat or a provocation when read by a particularly edgy individual.

Upon release of her hand, Lamia tucked both firmly under her arms so she wouldn't reach for her swords again. She was dependent on this priestess and antagonising her would serve her no purpose. "Water will be fine," she said. "Could you make it cold, please?" As she followed the priestess inside, she indulged her curiosity and looked around. The abbey she found herself in was in a decent enough state, although it was obvious that it had only recently been restored. Decorations were few and far between, and evidently chosen with a focus on blue and white- colours she knew to be associated with the Goddess of Wisdom.

"This is quite a nice place to live," she remarked. "Do you live here with many other priestesses?"

Glad that her hospitality seemed to have mollified the Gerudo, Judith put on her most welcoming smile as she ushered the woman inside. First impressions were everything, and dispelling any concerns Lamia might have had about a curt reception would be a good start. It would make teaching her so much easier if they could converse without fear of accidentally offending one another.

"Certainly. Make yourself at home; I'll be back in just a moment..." If nothing else, they were alike in their drink of choice, Judith thought as she retreated to her room, which doubled as her kitchen. Rifling through her cupboards, she picked out one of the fine porcelain cups her father had sent her, then turned to the large jug that currently sat on her desk. She had made a daily habit of heading down to the river every morning to collect fresh water with the sizable container, for it had many potential applications to an aspiring priestess. It could be used to fuel her Rejuvenation spell, clean the abbey, perform holy rituals... And on a sweltering day like this, there was nothing better for slaking one's thirst. Mother Nayru had chosen Her sacred element well.

Removing the lid from the jug, Judith filled the cup, then reached for the candlestick she had left on her bedside table. She kept a number of candles lit by her Blue Fire spell throughout the abbey, which served the dual purposes of lowering the overall temperature on scorching-hot days and creating an otherworldly atmosphere with their eerie azure glow. This particular candle, however, was unique: a metal "arm" had been attached to the side of the candle holder, culminating in a circular platform suspended directly above the tip of the flame. The priestesses of Nayru were an industrious lot; Judith had personally assembled this peculiar contraption in order to efficiently chill tea. She had since discovered that the glasses of cold water it produced were extremely refreshing.

Placing the cup upon the metal disc, Judith waited for the blue fire to work its icy magic, carefully monitoring the liquid to make sure it didn't freeze, before snatching it up again and returning to Lamia. The whole diversion had taken only about a minute, the potency of the blue fire greatly expediting the process.

"Here you are! Be warned, it's quite chilly." Judith adopted a cheerful tone as she handed the cup to her guest, before seating herself upon of the pews and inviting the Gerudo to do likewise. "To answer your question, I live alone, but every once in a while one or of my Sisters passes through town. Naturally, my home is their home." She almost added that because the capital was so close by, the Cult had no plans to expand into Lon Lon in bulk just yet, but reconsidered when she remembered who she was talking to. The last thing she wanted was for the Order to swoop in and turn her birthplace into one of their bases! Not liking where Lamia's query was going, even if it had been harmless in intent, Judith quickly changed the topic.

"S-Speaking of homes, you have very fair skin for a Gerudo... Were you born in the North?"

"Thank you," Lamia smiled as she took the glass from Judith and took the first sip. It was a good deal colder than she was used to, but not necessarily unpleasant. Over the years, she had developed a liking for extremely cold beverages. She might have to ask how Judith had gotten it like this. As she took her second sip, Judith asked about her -for her race- rather pale complexion, and added the suggestion that Lamia was born in the North.

Setting the glass down, Lamia shook her head lightly. "Not in the strictest sense of the word, no. I was born in Gerudo Fortress like any other Gerudo, in Tantari Desert." She hesitated, but decided that if she divulged this information she might seem less secretive and more trustworthy to Judith. Besides, what was the Priestess of Nayru going to do with it anyway? "My parents felt it would be better to raise me in the North. Mind you, back in the year of my birth, travel between North and South was still entirely possible and freely accessible. So we moved North, and I've lived here all my life. But I still identify as having been born in Tantari Desert."

Thinking herself finished, she took the glass up again and drank more of its contents. She was used to questions like this; she didn't look as overwhelmingly Gerudo as most, with her Hylian heritage clearly suppressing some prominence of her mother's race. "What you're seeing is the natural tan of the Gerudo race, as unaffected by the desert sun," she then added, setting the glass back down. "But enough about me. I'm sure you don't want to hear the life story of someone who just came here for your aid in a very dangerous matter."

"I see... How intriguing!" Judith commented as Lamia concluded her story. It was no white lie, either. The Hylian priestess had long harboured a keen personal fascination with the exotic, monogendered Gerudo. The beautiful warrior women of the Tantari had cultivated a unique civilization independent of Hyrule in the arid wastes, eking out an existence where few others could. And while they had clashed with Judith's species more than once, they had proven to be an honourable people during Ganon's invasion of Southern Hyrule, offering asylum to the poor souls displaced by the fighting. They were a wise, powerful race... Judith hungered to learn more about them. How they lived, how they interacted with their chosen Hylian mates...

Unfortunately, her sacred duties came first. Stifling her curiosity as best she could, Judith refocused on the task at hand. As if on cue, Lamia voiced a desire to hurry the proceedings, dismissing her small talk as needless rhetoric. Still, Judith felt that her inquiry had not been entirely irrelevant, and she couldn't help but chuckle at her guest's insistence that her tale was of no import.

"On the contrary... To know the past is to know the present. I have studied various accounts of problems similar to yours, and I may have to ask you some questions about your private life." That, too, was the truth. Her reservations aside, Judith had made an effort to research possible causes of unstable magic over the week prior to Lamia's arrival. The Cult's reputation had to be upheld.

"For example, it would help to know when you first began to use magic, as well as how much formal training you've had."

Lamia sipped her water once more as she mulled over Judith's words. Much as she disliked talking about herself and was uncomfortable divulging personal information to a person who was for all intents and purposes a total stranger... Judith was her one hope right now. She had approached other mages, and none of them had been capable of helping her. Giving Judith the information she wanted -or needed- was a small price to pay in order for her fire to no longer be a threat of immolating everyone around her at any given second.

The Gerudo picked up a tress of red hair that had escaped her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear as she mentally formulated her response. "I see," she said, "You raise a valid point... Give me a moment." She then dug into her memories. Could she remember a time when she had not been able to use fire magic? Yes, actually. "I first learnt to use magic shortly after joining the Order at the age of... tweeeeelve?" She hesitated, unsure of her exact age at the time. "I initially held control over other elements too, such as ice and wind, but over time I lost all ability to cast those spells while the fire only grew stronger."

As for formal training... "As you know, the Order of Power doesn't specialise in magic. We have a few magic users amongst our higher ranks, but they have no experience with magic as volatile as my own. We've tried to get it under control, but the only thing that yielded any results at all was the armour that I wear now. I've since sought out other mages, all of whom had advice and training routines to offer, but to very little avail." She stopped there, wondering if she'd have to elaborate or if that would be enough for Judith. As she awaited the priestess's reply, she drained the last of her glass's contents.

As Lamia recounted the details of her tutelage, Judith was taken aback by how young she claimed to have been when she was first introduced to the art of sorcery. There was no way to be certain of the Gerudo's age without directly asking, of course, but if her estimate was on the mark, it was quite possible Lamia had been practicing magic for longer than Judith herself! Still, while this revelation was somewhat unsettling, it did allow the Hylian priestess to devise her own theory regarding the Gerudo's strange condition. Youth begat exuberance and ignorance alike. Adopting a comforting tone, Judith chose her next words diplomatically, so as not to cause undue offense.

"If that is the case, then I suspect that your unbridled magic is the result of a hidden flaw in your casting technique... A subtle thing that went unnoticed by your instructors and was consequently never corrected. Given enough time, such a flaw could easily warp your abilities, especially as you began to use more potent spells." Magical theory could be frustratingly complex, and even the Cult of Nayru occasionally struggled to teach a student. It wasn't hard to envision the Order of Din having difficulties of a much greater magnitude in showing their disciples how to properly manipulate arcane energies. "Granted, this is mostly conjecture on my part, but I think that if the cause was due to an external source, one of the other mages should have been able to identify it."

She paused for a moment to let Lamia process her hypothesis, before continuing in a more reassuring manner: "Regardless, there is no shame in seeking to better one's understanding of the mysteries of magic. So long as you are willing to learn, I will do everything in my power to assist you, milady. I can start with a few pointers, if you'd like?"

Lamia hesitated. Everything Sister Judith said made sense, and yet... she had already seen a few specialised mages and they had caught on to nothing of the sort. "...do you really think it could be that simple?" she asked, unsure of what else to say. "I've... been sent to a few specialised magic users for training and education, but none of them seem to have seen any flaws in my technique, anything like what you described."

She clasped her hands in her lap. As time went on, she was getting increasingly desperate for relief. However, she knew she could not let that despair get the better of her. Shutting her eyes, she raised her hands to her chest and fiddled with the vambrace on her left forearm. "That being said..." she mused, composing herself, "I suppose that having another pair of eyes observe my magic cannot hurt. Do you have an area where I can demonstrate my technique?"

Lamia was understandably hesitant to accept Judith's assessment, protesting that it was improbable that all of the previous wizards she had consulted could have overlooked a fundamental flaw in her technique. Her argument was not without merit, but the priestess of Nayru felt that she was on the right track, and decided to provide an example to better illustrate her line of reasoning.

"Well," replied Judith, tapping her foot against the floor, "Why don't we try looking at it from a different angle, under new circumstances? Let's say you were raised all your life to pronounce a certain word incorrectly, and that this error in pronunciation was so thoroughly fostered within you that it became instinctive. And as you grew older and your vocabulary expanded, the error began to manifest in other words of a similar make. Soon, this error spreads, until you mispronounce hundreds of words. Let us say you are then introduced to the rest of the world, where the correct pronunciation is used. Naturally, everyone will realize you have a problem, but nobody will be able to solve it. Even the experts of linguistics would be befuddled. Certainly, they would realize that an issue exists, but they would be unable to identify its source. They would have no way of knowing which word was the initial cause of this rampant mispronunciation, because they did not share your unique experience, and it is unlikely that you yourself would remember it after so long." She allowed Lamia a few seconds to digest the thought exercise, then tied it back to her original point. "Now, if we apply the same principle to your condition, it shouldn't be hard to see how even an experienced mage might be at a loss when asked to pinpoint the root of your problem."

Of course, Judith also knew that her guess, while educated, was still a guess. Not wanting to come across as an arrogant know-it-all, she swiftly added, "But, again... As an addendum, I confess that I am merely speculating. I could be entirely wrong. I will have to see you in action before I can make a full diagnosis."

When the Gerudo suggested finding a safe area to practice her magic, Judith nodded. Given the nature of Lamia's powers, it would be unwise to do so inside the abbey. Judith had no wish to see her home burned to the ground. Fortunately, she had anticipated the need for a risk-free training area when she had first received the Archcanoness' letter, and had borrowed a few spare scarecrows from her father's fields to be used as targets.

"Yes, of course. I took the liberty of setting up some dummies outside before your arrival, for that very purpose. Shall we?"

Lamia nodded, getting up from the table. "Yes, let's. It's almost time for my normal training, anyway." Before Judith could take off, she reached for the package she had left against the wall earlier, picking it up and carrying it with her as she was led to the training dummies; which looked suspiciously more suitable to scaring robins and pigeons than absorbing sword blows. She put her package down and walked up to one, rapping her knuckles against it to test it. It didn't swing, but felt sturdy enough, and when she landed a strike with her flat hand, it actually hurt. "They'll suffice," she said, walking back and setting to unwrapping the package. She was used to higher-grade dummies, but it made sense that Judith had had to improvise; the Cult of Nayru was hardly the organisation most used to combat training, be it physical or magical. "You may want to take a few steps back."

She tore the last bit of wrapping off the weapon, catching the long pole in her hand as it threatened to fall to the ground. After putting the wrapping down and nudging it back with her foot, she held her glaive up, the full length of the weapon held in front of her so she could inspect it. It had not bent out of shape and the blade was in mint condition. Good. With it in her hands, she felt a lot more confident, and she looked over her shoulder once to ascertain that Judith wasn't in her way before performing a few practice swings. "Right... I have three spells under immediate control," she explained, looking at the dummy that she had pointed her glaive towards instead of at Judith. "I'm going to begin with a Gerudo Dragon-" it was the technique she had first learnt- not a spell in the strictest sense of the word, but if her error had began early on, it might be worth the time to show it to the priestess. "- follow up with a simple Fire spell-" it was simple, as she said, so spotting any errors should be easy enough during the casting, "- and finally, you'll really have to stand back, because I will finish with an Eruption spell."

She gave Judith a few seconds to process the information, and then exhaled, relaxing her arms and pointing the tip of her glaive down as she started to channel her fire into the weapon.

Wringing her hands out of nervous habit as she escorted Lamia outside, Judith couldn't help but give a start when the Gerudo ripped open the package she had been carrying, revealing a polearm that was both sizable and sharp. It should not have come as a shock that the woman would carry such a fearsome collection of weaponry, of course, taking into account her race and religious affiliation, but the fact that her guest was a walking armoury unsettled the young priestess nonetheless. Worse, it also presented a new set of concerns.

Those who successfully combined sword and spell were said to be the mightiest of warriors. Certainly, the legacy of the great hero Link lent no small amount of credence to that particular claim. Yet power always came at a price. To master two separate disciplines was the work of a lifetime, and doing so while retaining your youth was an extraordinarily difficult task, to put it mildly. It was only natural that the devotees of Din would try to integrate physicality into their combat style… But if Lamia had only practiced magic in tandem with a weapon, she might well lack the crucial amount of focus required of a mage.

Deciding to take matters into her hands, Judith shook her head as the Gerudo announced her intentions to launch a three-pronged assault on the dummies. She was the instructor here; she would dictate the terms of the lesson. “W-Wait a moment! Don’t rush it, pace yourself. Let’s take things one at a time, alright? Right now, I need to evaluate your spells individually, not as part of an attack routine.” Lamia’s enthusiasm was admirable, but she was being too hasty. Privately, Judith also didn’t want her to cast an Eruption spell until she was absolutely sure no harm would come of it. For a moment, the Hylian remained silent, then elected to go one step further, praying that Lamia wouldn‘t be angry with her for what she was about to say.

“Um… Is the glaive really necessary? It would be better to concentrate all your effort on your casting…”

Lamia did not break her stance, but her fire died down slightly as Judith spoke to her. She suppressed the thought that she was being patronised. "Sister Judith... I'm not like the mages from the Cult of Nayru. I need an implement to channel my fire into before I can mould it and cast my magic." She held up the glaive a little higher. "This is that implement. So yes: the glaive is really necessary. Additionally, I will take it slowly and perform the spells separately, with plenty of time for you to finalise your notes before the next attack. Now, if you'll let me focus..."

She breathed deeply again, feeling the glaive grow warmer and warmer in her hand. She shut her eyes, visualising her fire filling the weapon, flowing from where her palms wrapped around the pole and towards the tip of the blade. She knew it was slowly starting to glow red, radiating heat. Finally, as the pole became painfully warm to hold, she leapt forward, swinging the polearm behind her and above her head, bringing it down with a massive overhead swing on the nearest dummy.

Glaive and dummy burst into flames, thought the glaive remained undamaged as it had been the source of the explosion. Lamia ended her move in a low, almost crouching position, with one leg straightened far to her side to keep her balance. She breathed in again, waiting for Judith to take her notes or say something.

"Ummm...!" Judith had not counted on outright defiance from Lamia so soon, and consequently found herself temporarily at a loss for words. She understood the need for an arcane apparatus, of course, as she herself required her staff to weave a few spells. But a weapon? It was one thing to enchant a blade with elemental magic, permanently altering the essence of the item. That ensured it was suitable for magical purposes, as well as allowing the wielder to focus on the battle before them. Using a mundane armament to cast, however, was risky and would surely erode the will of even the greatest warrior.

While the priestess stewed in silence, the Gerudo began her assault on the first of the dummies, evidently interpreting the absence of any further protesting as permission to continue. Judith watched in awe as the exotic woman effortlessly cleaved the scarecrow in twain, her misgivings melting away in the face of pure astonishment. No matter how many times she witnessed them, the Gerudo combat arts never ceased to amaze her with their strength and grace. The young Hylian was always first in line to see Gerudo swordswomen perform feats of athleticism whenever a travelling carnival came to Lon Lon, considering it something of a guilty pleasure. To observe it so closely...

"W-Well, that seems to have worked out splendidly! That was the famed Gerudo Dragon, correct?" Judith called out to Lamia, gazing intently at the burning remains of the dummy before adding sheepishly, "Listen... I-I didn't meant offend you by asking you to abandon the glaive. I just thought that the physical aspect of your style might make it harder to isolate any flaws in the magical part... But if you truly feel most comfortable with the glaive, I won't force you." Preferring not to linger on such an awkward topic, she immediately changed the subject. "A-Anyway, I saw no problems there. That's clearly a technique you've mastered. Let's move on to the Fire spell, shall we?"

"Hmmm." Lamia understood Judith's concerns, and one thing that she said actually struck a chord in her. However, she'd always been a bit of a hybrid between physicality and magic, and it was too late to abandon that path and pursue another. "Well," she said to distract her thoughts, "The Gerudo Dragon isn't truly magical in nature, so it's no real surprise that there would be no magical issues there. But at least we've established it's not an inherent problem to my fire itself." She stood straight, walking up to the next dummy.

"Right, then... Fire." She breathed in, then out, and spun her glaive in her hand a few times to regain her concentration. "Here we go..." The time, she held the glaive loosely in her hands, lifting it from the ground a little bit but not assuming any sort of aggressive stance. Instead, she looked at the tip of the weapon as she poured her fire into it, forcing it to form a small ball above the blade. Exhaling consciously, she slowly raised the weapon higher and tried to keep the fireball stable. She normally did this much more quickly, eliminating the need for the fire to stay in one compact place for so long, but she wanted to be certain that Judith saw everything.

Finally, she swung the glaive down, hopping back a little to facilitate the backdraft, and launched the fireball at the dummy. It crashed through the air at a dizzying speed, trailing embers behind it, before impacting with its target and knocking it back. When it swung back into its normal position, it was aflame with magical fires. Lamia set down the glaive, satisfied, and looked over her shoulder for Judith's judgment.

"That's true. If the problem was that fundamental in nature, I doubt I would be of any assistance. Martial training isn't really my area of expertise." It was somewhat hard to believe that the Gerudo Dragon was not inherently magical, given that it conjured elemental flames when used, yet the desert-dwelling warriors claimed to have developed the technique through strength of spirit alone. It was times like these that Judith wished the South wasn't cut off from the rest of Hyrule... How exciting it would be, to study the Gerudo and their mysticism!

Of course, she was getting carried away again. Such was the curse of the scholar, to be an eternal slave to one's own curiosity. Firmly reminding herself to stay on task, Judith retreated a few paces and gave Lamia a thumbs-up. "By all means, please proceed. I am ready."

She watched as Lamia summoned a fireball along the edge of her glaive, carefully observing her stance and the glowing sphere for any signs of abnormality. The woman's motions were slow, deliberate... A sensible precaution, under the circumstances, but she'd have to double-check whether or not speed was an important variable later. At last, Lamia drew her glaive back and lobbed the fireball at the target. Judith shielded her eyes as it hit the dummy dead-on, causing a bright explosion of light. When she looked back, she saw that the scarecrow had been utterly consumed by flames, rapidly deteriorating under the intense heat.

Well, at least she could now be certain that no army of scarecrows, no matter how vast, could repel the Order of Din if they came to Lon Lon in force. Mentally saluting the fallen dummies for their sacrifice, the Hylian priestess turned to Lamia.

"Well done! A solid casting. You have excellent control over your breathing. Not many novices can say that, I assure you! It's a very important skill for mages to learn." Judith let her praise linger for a moment, then pursued her next avenue of inquiry. "Nothing stood out to me as particularly wrong... Is this a spell you normally have trouble with?"

"It's not the spells I have trouble with per se," Lamia explained. "I can cast them just fine, and they have the desired effect, if a far higher power output than normal for one of my level. The problem is just that- the power output." She shook her head. "If I lose focus for a few seconds, my fire goes rampant, as if it's trying to escape my body. It... has succeeded before. Once." She shivered. She didn't want to think about what had happened then. "That is why my control over my breathing, as you say, is so advanced. My tutors have taught me these techniques to help me focus, to help me stay in control."

She took the glaive in both hands, turning it around so the blade pointed at the ground rather than at the air. "Next is my most powerful spell." She didn't add that Eruption was not so much a spell in the strictest sense of the word, but also a technique she had honed, similar to the Gerudo Dragon. "Please shield yourself and put some distance between yourself and the dummy." She then walked up to the dummy, until she was right next to it, and lifted the weapon, until it formed a 90 degree angle with the ground. Once there, she started to pour her fire into the weapon once more, raising it above her head.

Eruption was a terribly volatile spell, which was why Lamia had warned Judith to stand back. However, when she released the built-up power, she realised -too late- that her focus wasn't enough, and combined with the natural vehemence of the spell, the explosion was entirely unbound and overwhelming. Lamia attempted to draw most of the fire back into herself to minimize the damage to people and structures around her, but before she could assess to what extent she had been successful, she'd passed out.

"Third time's the charm" was a popular folk saying around Lon Lon, but it evidently did not apply to Lamia, for whom the exact opposite seemed to be true. In the midst of channeling her spell, the Gerudo woman had emitted a shockwave of heat, causing the surrounding patches of grass to catch fire. On their own, these miniature blazes would probably have died out in short order, but their demise was hastened as Lamia proceeded to collapse on top of them, smothering the flames.

"Miss Lamia! Are you alright?!" Judith cried out, dismayed by this sinister turn of events. No answer. Rushing to administer immediate first aid, the Hylian priestess knelt at the woman's side and checked for a pulse. Her mentors in the Cult had always said that the best time to treat a wound was within an hour of its infliction. It was an easy principle to remember: "The golden hour of mercy granted by the Golden Goddesses," her teachers had called it. Anything later, and the difficulties in carrying out a medical procedure increased exponentially.

Relieved to discover that Lamia was still breathing, Judith tried to stay calm as she assessed the Gerudo's condition. Aside from a few mild burns, she found no external injuries, which was good. Nothing she couldn't cure with her powers. The strain of that last spell must have been too much for Lamia, the overwhelming magic taking its toll on her body. Any damage would likely be internal, and hopefully temporary. Pulling out her hip flask, Judith concentrated, imbuing the water within with the healing energies of her rejuvenation spell. She then poured some of it down the fallen woman's throat, splashing the remainder across her face in an attempt to revive her. The Gerudo did not stir, but her burns did begin to fade.

Wiping her brow, Judith thought about her next step. The air and ground near Lamia's prostrate form felt uncomfortably hot. Was this what the Gerudo had meant when she had claimed to occasionally lose control of her fire magic? Well, whatever the case, it couldn't be healthy for either of them to stick around in the lingering heat. Seizing Lamia by the arms, Judith started to drag her unconscious charge back toward her abbey. She wasn't particularly strong, but she was sure she could manage that without help, at least.