Connection

[Aazarah]

It wasnt just the stadium itself that buzzed with the unatural energy pulse. It was the very land that seemed to quiver. Nothing felt stable here, Aazarah noted. It was as if in a moment, the entire place could disappear and transport to another world entirely - for a place made of Earth, it was made of very little of Earth energy. That is what appealed to her and concerned her at the same time.

From the plaque at the front of the stadium, she had found very little information upon the place she now stood within. It seemed to have only be rediscovered in recent years and reached far beyond her normal sight. Deciding to put her curiousity at rest, she slid of her shoes and began to connect to the pull of the land.

[Kaden]

The stadium was one of the first things Kaden had noticed upon his return; a stadium that wasn't there the last time he was here. Granted, that was a very long time ago, but a stadium was never something he would have expected to appear in this city. Amused, he had made his way over to it.

That was where he currently stood. At the very top of the nosebleed section, overlooking the immense stadium. It didn't look like any game had ever been played there. There was no one. Well, almost no one. The wizard had felt the presence of magic since he walked in, but he couldn't see anyone. With a wave of his hand, he ice slid his way down to the next level of seats. The feeling got stronger.

[Aazarah]

Aazarah had begun to soak the magic deep within her body within moments of her feet touching the earth. Each pulse of her blood pumped the lands voice through her body, whispering memories and knowledge that only it had known and seen. Time moved backwards within her magical shell. At first it began slow, like it always had, and then it began to speed.

She watched as ancient tree`s returned to their seeds, as the sky switched from dark afternoon blue to icy morning greens. Flashes of light engulfed her buliding the static around her to its peak. 'Just a little bit further', she pushed through the warning signs of overload. The witch could almost taste the answers she sought of this space.

[Kaden]

There! Now he could faintly see a figure standing on the field. The magic force he was feeling undoubtedly was leading him to the center of the stadium, and his curiousity made sure he followed. Making another ice slide, he slid past more rows of seats until he reached field-level.

At this point he could see it was a woman. There was a...distortion around her. It was faintly visible, but he could feel it very strongly. She wasn't moving. The magic he was feeling since he returned to the town was all moving to this area, and to that spot. To her. She was absorbing it.

"An earth witch." He reasoned out loud. It was one of the only types of people he hadn't seen in this city before. Kaden had no desire to stop her; on the contrary, he wanted to see how much she could take.

[Aazarah]

'The minerals are wrong'. The sudden realisation accelerated her heart beat to a dangerous rhythm. It had been many years since the earth witch had been out of her depth, and a shock to understand she might yet be approaching that limit again.

There was always something she could draw on for stability during her Connections, yet not one of the thousands of minerals she knew surrounded her field now. It was eerily otherworldly.

And then she felt it. Faint... but definately there. Hydrogen Oxide. Her heart sang - somewhere in this stadium there was ice. She reached for it in a flash, grounding it into her core and empowering her fragile magical shield. The world around her swirled into a freezing maelstrom.

[Kaden]

He had felt the ambient magic begin to spiral. Worry gripped his heart. He had no connection to the earth; if she lost control of her absorption, he wouldn't be able to take any of the strain off her mind. She'd be lost. It was then he felt the pull on his own soul. It was so sudden and forceful, it was almost physical. Kaden felt his ice being...hijacked, was the word he came up with. Turning his head to look at the slide, it was gradually being reduced to cold molecules of water. Even if they weren't connected to him, the frigid storm in the middle of the field made it obvious where they were going.

The energy was still spiraling, but the woman in the middle of it all seemed to be better handling it.

"Well, if it's helping..." He decided with a shrug, materializing more ice in the air above them as she used up the entire slide he'd created.

[Aazarah]

Before her the world seemed to split in two, pulling her Magic into it as it searched for the Stadiums source of power. Aazarah steered the renewed energy through pinpoints of time, now running through her vision by mere microseconds. An intense heat tore through her body, barely sedated by the ice storm that continued to beat against her.

Within it she felt the presence of another, enveloping and strengthening her shields. Her mind swam with questions of where the energy source had arrived from. Was she even a part of the physical world any longer? Worry pierced the euphoria of her search. Who was this alongside her, and more importantly - why had they chosen to stand beside her on her Connection?

Aazarahs voiced croaked through the strain as she called out, "Who are you?!"

[Kaden]

It didn't register for a few moments that she was speaking to him. "Oh, me?" Kaden finally answered. "Just an ice wizard who seems to have been drawn to the same thing you were." His ice was reforming even as it vanished. "Though I don't have the same talents you do. Are you alright in there? Is there anything else I can do to help?"

[Aazarah]

She gave up trying to seek him with her eyes within moments of trying. Everything surrounding her was covered in ice sheets and bright flashing lights - to open her physical eyes was bordering near stupidity. The wizards questions boomed around her, echoing eerily around her.

"I have things under control", her voice cracked with effort. She let his other question rest for now and replaced it with one of her own."Are you from another world? What barrier have I crossed?"

[Kaden]

The question was very strange. It rendered Kaden speechless for a few moments as he tried to process it. After thinking how best to answer, he decided to just play it straight. "Um...not to my knowledge? As far as I can tell..." The wizard looked around the stadium. The only thing out of place was the maelstrom in front of him. His own power was keeping the whirling shards of ice from hitting him. "...We're still where we're supposed to be. You've not crossed any barrier."

[Aazarah]

"Damn", the earth witch clenched her teeth. Why did everything feel so... foreign? Aside from the Ice... which was being fed to her artifically by the wizard, there was nothing of the natural mineral kingdom surrounding her. 'Why isn`t anything happening?', she prodded further and found no answer surrounding her.

Maybe she needed more power? The thought hit her ego hard and she grappled with the next question that formed on her lips, "Maybe with some more magic from you...."

[Kaden]

"Well, unless...You've done this connection thing before, I assume?" His voice was raising to combat the din around them. "Maybe something happens here...but you don't look any different..." Kaden raised his arms in the air. He normally didn't need his hands for his magic, but he sensed she would need a lot more than he could give without focus.

His power didn't leave him in ice this time; he expelled it in pure, undistilled cold magic. A blue glowing mist wafted into the air around them, each molecule pulsing with an enormous amount of energy.

[Aazarah]

Aazarahs entire body tingled with power as the words slurred from her lips, "Thankyou". With one large and concious effort she channelled the magical storm deep within the earth, feeling the tell-tale crack that often revealed the secrets of the land.

She felt strangely comfortable in the wizards company as the story of the stadium began to play through her mind. "You should see this...", she reached out her hand to him through the maelstrom, "...take my hand".

[Kaden]

"I..." Kaden hesitated at first. But she'd no reason to harm him, right? With a deep breath, he hopped over the guardrail into the storm of magic and ice. Once inside, he could feel the soothing familiarity of his own magic fingerprint on the wind. It was mixed with other, more foreign magics that he could only assume belonged to the woman at the center. And they were strong.

Making his way through the blue, visibility low, he found his way to her hand and grasped it.

[Aazarah]

As usual, the story seemed to flow from the memory of a young man that had long ago stood on this earth. As it was with those of Earth Magic, they often left small clues within the mineral kingdom itself for others to later find. She opened her mouth to warn the ice wizard of what he would experience and found herself cut off by a catastrophic scene. She hoped a reassuring hand squeeze would do.

Around him, unwordly fire continued to erupt from the sky. Warmth filled Daobne`s lungs; he could barely hear himself wheezing beyond the noises of distruction that surrounded him. He had long ago lost contact with his Tribe and sought the last refuge upon Opora. The Arena glowed in the darkness with lost Magic, and he realised that it was not only he who had stumbled upon this last hope. Many forgot Magic was itself a persona, choosing to attach itself to the right weaver. It had known to come here.. somehow he had to do something to save the knowledge of his people.

A heart restricting roar came from behind him as he focused on magnetising all the Magic forms towards him. He could beat them, he knew. The demons would be no match for the combined Oporan energy. Opening his arms wide, Daobne embraced the memories of each Magic ball of light and sank them into compartments within himself. His vision began to blur from the overwhelming build of light within his body.

Through clenched teeth, he turned to face the army of demons, fast approaching the Arena. "You will never have your answers", he spat with a lopsided grin and let the entire Magic channel his body into an explosion of light. And then there was nothing.