Open Chronicles College of Elbion - Learning to Duel

[Maho 'Jerik' Sparhawk]

"Sparhawk, we're not so sure of this plan of yours."

"Maesters, please. We have to prepare our students for the real world. We saw what happened at the Dreadlord tournment!"

"Hmm...fine, Hawk. We will allow you to run your little class. But if anyone is grievously injured, the responsibility will fall on you."

"Of course."

_____________________________
​

This was a bad decision.

That was the singular thought going through Sparhawk's mind, as he sat in the conjurer's hall, moved about to serve the purpose of the duelling class he was about to run; it's high ceilings, long-length and reinforced walls were perfect to serve the purpose of using wards and offensive magicks.

What he was worried about however, were the students.

He hadn't been at Elbion for very long, but he'd noticed that some unsavoury characters could appear every now and then. Even back when he was studying, you always had a few students who were a little too interested in Necromancy, or a little too enthusiastic in Dark Magic. Of course, Sparhawk had had his own curiosities in those fields, at one point being very interested in Dark Magic. But no, the application of it was too dangerous, and if he'd learnt anything from all the Necromancers he'd fought, and all the Dark Sorcerers he'd faced, it's that these fields are not to be meddled with.

No, perhaps he was being too cautious. At the end of the day, most of the students were adults now, and knew what they were doing. From what he'd seen, most of the students of the current generation seem to be far smarter and more capable than he was at there age. Alistair Wren had shown incredible aptitude for summoning magic in that very room, and - even though the Dreadlords were a different situation entirely - he could see there was much potential yet to be tapped into. He hoped that this class could bring out some of that potential.

With permission from the Fifth Order, he placed posters around the school, advertising this extra-curricular activity for young Sorcerers looking to protect themselves. From the poster, it said Sparhawk would help with wards, protecting spell-weaving, offensive spell-casting, and counter-spells.

He had brought a variety of supplies to help him teach the class, including...

• A collection of dummies to cast spells on.​
• A selection of different casting mediums, including Staffs, Wands, Rings and Hard-gauntlets for medium-less magic.​
• Casting-armour, to protect another student if someone is casting magic on them.​
• Various weapons to be used to counter-magic.​

He awkwardly paced the room, stroking his beard, which had grown a lot in the past 3 months, longer than he had ever grown it before.

I hope some people come...

 

[Selina Della Altas]

They were talking about the importance of cosmetic magic again. Selina and her friends walked down the main hall together, and as always the girls always chatted non-stop about how nobles and ladies would pay handsomely for their craft and how famous they would become.

Selina began to look for a distraction, anything to give an excuse to... Excuse herself. She found such an excuse almost on cue as she passed by a poster advertising an extracurricular class on magical dueling, taking place in the hall of conjuration.
"Gottagoseeyouguyslaterbye!"
She hastely excused herself and made her way to the hall of conjuration.

Since the events of the tournament with the Dreadlords Selina couldn't beat the feeling of inadiquacy. She had plenty of knowledge but she simply didn't know enough spells.
She also felt the loss of her wand very strongly, having been bound to it its loss nearly cost her too much. She would need to make a new arcane focus soon, in fact that was an assignment given to her by one of her professors when she returned.

She arrived at the conjuration hall and entered. She kept her spellbook with her and had it clutched to her chest as she looked around, first seeing that she was the first to arrive and feeling slightly self-conscious about it, and secondly seeing the elaborate equipment set up.

She knew she could cast spells, that was one thing she was good at. But she really hoped this class will teach her new spells to expand her repertoire.
She nervously approached the teacher of the class. She recognized the professor, that was a good sign.

"Professor Sparhawk. Thank you for teaching this class. I look forward to learning from you."

 

[Phillipa Ebonheart]

Phillipa took a vested interest in the advertisement of a class for teaching possible spells and combat as well. After all, she did a fair bit of fighting herself and her magic could be put to use against shield. At first meeting for this however, she decided to observe rather than engage to make sure that what she had to offer would even be useful.

What one hoped to teach students and what another hoped to teach were two very different things. She arrived a little later after Selina, pleased to see the student had taken the initiative to learning more spells. From what she had understood from her associates from the games, Selina had ample potential, but a limited repertoire of spells to draw upon.

Perhaps learning from Sparkhawk would help with that. At worst she could suggest to Altas to come have a few private lessons with the Acquisition and Advanced Applications professor. She entered without knocking and waiting for Sparhawk and Atlas to finish speaking.

 

[Amailia daughter of Eve]

In came a young girl,

"H-Hello? Is this Sparhawks class? T-The one where you learn to duel."

Amailia looked almost exactly the same as Steve had at her age. The hair colour, eyes, and freckles were uncanny, though her hair was longer. She eyed Sparhawk with a fearfulness in her large grey eyes, but there was also some fiery determination.

from looking at her it was obvious she was recently enrolled, from her new robes, her age, or any other number of reasons. She did however have a gemmed staff already strapped to her back just looking kind of out of place. The wealthy tended to be able to afford such a tool for just entering, but also tended to have other objects, jewellery, makeup and trinkets.

 

[Kara Orin]

Kara entered the room. She wore a student’s cloak. The pacing Sparhawk caught Kara’s attention first. Then, she noticed Amalia, Selina, and Phillipa in that order. Kara frowned the moment she saw Lady Ebonheart.

As she took several steps into the conjuring hall, Kara glanced toward the dummies and magical equipment Sparhawk had gathered. Anything with runes would gain her notice.

Beyond that, Kara stepped up to the right of Amelia. She looked to Professor Sparhawk – awaiting instructions.

 

[Maho 'Jerik' Sparhawk]

Woah.

People came...

He was very surprised when he found, one after the other, no less than three students walked into the hall, and a fellow professor! Professor Ebonheart too, who had earned more respect from the college than he had as of yet. It was a relief to find that she, at least in some small way, was interested in what Sparhawk planned to teach, or attempt to teach.

"Ah, of course, Selina! Absolute pleasure. I'm surprised you have time for this class, the amount of subjects you're studying at the moment. Well, only more to add to your repertoire!" He said, gleefully. He'd heard good things about her from Alistair Wren, about how she was taking a large amount of majors, hoping to have a strong, broad knowledge of many different fields of magic. A difficult feat, but when looking at all the greatest Sorcerers who'd ever walked Elbion, they all studied the deeper mysteries in all fields of Sorcery. She was clearly going to do very well for herself.

"Professor Ebonheart! It's lovely to see you wish to oversee my lesson. I hope I do well under your watchful eye." He had to show respect. Though she was ten years his junior, she'd boasted greater feats than him in many schools of magic. Of course, in Pyromancy, practically no one in Elbion, or even Arethil could challenge his knowledge, but it didn't mean anything if you can't defend yourself, or counter an attack. And that was something Lady Ebonheart knew how to do very well.

"Yes, yes, I am indeed Professor Sparhawk, and this is indeed my... class..." Odd. When he looked into those large, grey, timid eyes, and that freckled, pale complexion, it reminded him of something. Something from his past. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. No matter.

Then, walked in Kara Orin. He'd been briefed about her. Not many Students were allowed into the College on Scholarship programs, but she was one of the few. Even in his day, he was the only student of his year to be allowed on a scholarship, and the fact he was allowed in 2 years early made him an even greater oddity. She was clearly going to go places with skills like that.

"Of course, Kara Orin. Pleasure to have you with us." He said, calmly.

They all stood in a neat-enough line, gazing at him, except for Amailia, that looked as if she was not trying to avoid eye-contact with him.

"Well, before we get started, i'd like to state that, for the first part of this lesson, we're going to test your aptitude for Offensive magicks, so we can all work at a level we're comfortable with. So, in turn, you're going to duel me." He said, still keeping his calm tone. Before they could do anything, he had to know what they were capable of.

"So, Any volunteers?"

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina nodded and stepped back as more people arrived. She was confident in her magic casting abilities, it was her lack of spells to cast that held her back. She had some rather dangerous attack spells and an adequate defensive spell, but as always for practice she would have to modify how much power she put into the attack spell.

If she had a wider array of attack spells of varying power she may find herself having an easier time. She looked at the rack of arcane focuses, they were no replacement for a fully bound arcane focus like the wand she lost, but they would certainly take off a lot of the strain from casting spells unaided.

She looked at the others who arrived. Kara Orin was a prodigy in her own right with rune magic even before she came to the collage, Selina heard she got in on an extremely rare scholarship and somewhat admired her even though Kara was two years younger than her.
Amailia was obviously a newer college addition than even Kara or Selina. All things considered, Professor Sparhawk had a class full of first year students.

Phillipa Ebonheart, the head of acquisitions, also joined them in the conjuration hall. Professor Ebonheart had been extremely helpful to Selina during the tournament, especially when she provided Selina with a spare focus to help her cast her spells during the maze challenge.
Selina smiled and nodded her recognition to Miss Ebonheart.

She returned her attention to Maho Sparhawk. From what she had learned from listening to idle conversation he was a very talented magic user, and his magic was very close to her own. Having intensely studied every form of magic without an actual genetic affinity towards magic. She related to that, no magic flowed through her blood or body either.

 

[Phillipa Ebonheart]

"I am sure you will do alright, merely here to offer some opinions. I am sure your own combat experience along with my own should offer unique input for the students." Phillipa waved a hand at the admission of Sparhawk hoping to do well under her supervision. She knew of his previous affiliation, and while she wasn't exactly happy about it, she had no room to speak. Besides that, it very well could be of benefit for the students to have two experienced mages as their mentors.

Kara entered, and the girls frown appeared quickly at spotting her least favored professor. She had done well in the show the college had put on, and Phillipa was glad to have pushed her to attend, if the reasons for it were not altogether clear.

Sparhawk addressed another student, one that seemed fairly new to the college. Phillipa's lavender eyes did not linger on the girl, and the professor moved to check the focuses and other arcane items in the room. Her attention somewhat divided as the other professor suggested dueling to determine ability and setting the bar for their lessons.

 

[Kara Orin]

“Pleasure to be here,” Kara replied to Professor Sparhawk as she stood toward Amailia’s right.

When Sparhawk asked for volunteers for a duel, Kara again looked at the students in attendance. Both Amailia and Selina remained silent. A soft sigh from Kara followed during a long blink. Someone’s got to be the canary.

Stepping forward, Kara lifted her right arm and told Sparhawk, “I do.”

From the moment Kara volunteered, her eyes locked onto Maho. She attempted to take in as much detail as she could – what he wore, what might be his weapon, how he kept his hair, how much of his lanky frame was revealed.

“What are the rules?” Kara asked.

 

[Maho 'Jerik' Sparhawk]

“I do.”

Not surprising.

If anything, young Kara had more to prove than any of them. To be allowed on a scholarship, she must show true promise. Some young Maesters have even defeated Professors in duels. Of course, this was extremely rare, and those who achieved this went on to become incredible mages and Sorcerers. Most of them died quite young however, mostly being battle-mages. Shame.

"The Rules... Of course!" He said, gleefully. He stepped backwards, motioning Kara to follow him into the centre stage. She stood across from him.

"So, no holds barred; if you have an incantation of some sort of Sorcery, feel free to use it. At your age, I wouldn't worry about you killing me!" He laughed. Then again...

"You can use a staff, wand, whatever suits you best. I will not attack, but only ward your attacks, and attempt to counter them. Feel free to use whatever is at your disposal." He stated, calmly.

He fastened his staff to his back, and readied himself.

"Whenever you're ready."

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina dutifully payed attention. Kara had volunteered first, but if she hadn't Selina would have volunteered. Both ways would provide invaluable information and an opportunity for research. She looked back at the rack of arcane focuses and selected a staff, it just seemed right that a wizard should have a staff, perhaps when she made herself a new fully bound arcane focus she will make it a staff.

She tapped the staff on the floor a few times, getting a feel for it. It wasn't bound to her, but it was better than nothing.
She turned her attention back to the lesson. Kara was certainly no stranger to magic, she probably knew more about magic than Selina did when she was seventeen, or even younger. Selina definitely admired her for her magical abilities, more so than she would admire any of the other mages who cast spells far more easily than she did. Kara was a rune mage, and that required a command of magical runes and their language that was no easy feat to accomplish. Selina knew some of them herself as an extracurricular, but Kara was much farther along.

She listened to the rules of the combat lesson. Professor Sparhawk would allow them to attack him while he defended himself with wards and counters. She wondered if he actually put any meaning behind the word 'counter', a class she took on the subject of wards had mentioned countering spells by casting the same spell as your opponent in an attempt to cancel out both spells. But this was just as likely to result in the spells clashing in a contest of power, or increasing the power of your opponents spell. Such a counter required absolute and flawless timing and form of spellcasting.
Or perhaps he intends to counter spells by a simple dispelling of magic, which was far easier to do.

Her experience with her own shield spell is that while it protected the caster from every direction, it couldn't take as much damage as a focused ward could. The memory of the manticore unhinging its jaw in an attempt to swallow her along with her cracking shield was an unpleasant one at best, she was surprised she hadn't frozen at the time.

With staff in hand she took out her spellbook and returned her attention to the practice. Her pen and quill ready to take note of any spells that she could copy into her book.

 

[Ezra Archiva]

Ezra sprinted through the elaborate maze of halls that was the College, pausing every few steps to peek his head through a door only to quickly close it and return to his original pace. His eyes darted to the window. To his dismay, it was noon. He bit his lip, scanning the doors for the one that lead to the conjurer's hall. How did he manage to get this lost? After a few months of attending, he would've assumed he'd have managed to grasp the layout, or at the very least attained a map to make up for his deplorable navigation skills. At least out in the fields he could see everything...

His train of thought was halted as he saw a familiar patterned door: the conjurer's hall. According to the posters, that was where the class was. He opened the door, a loud creak emanating from it despite his attempt at doing it silently. Judging from the fact the teacher, Professor Sparhawk if he remembered correctly, was already speaking to the gathered students, he was correct in his fear of being late. "Sorry, got a bit lost along the way," he said quietly, answering the stares of his peers.

He shuffled over to the group of students, trying not to draw any more attention to himself than he already did. From the sound of it, it seemed like the duels had just begun, and if he was to hazard a guess, it was the student standing closest to the professor. He remembered her from some of his classes - Kara, he believed. Young and exceptionally skilled from what he's seen. Selina, another first-year he's seen quite a few times, along with the more quiet Amailia. Finally, there was Professor Ebonheart, who he's seen little of but nonetheless heard much about.

He directed his attention to the beginning duel, his hand opening the spellbook tied to his hip in the hopes of being able to pick up any of the spells used.

 

[Kara Orin]

Kara followed Sparhawk to the center stage. She stood on the other side as him.

“No holds bar?” Kara questioned.

When told she could start, Kara stood still for a couple seconds. Then, she drew a runic dagger from beneath her cloak. The crack on it revealed that it was the surviving dagger from the maze challenge against the Dreadlord Academy.

Kara examined the runes on the blade to take note of which ones were damaged and which ones could be used. The most important part for this moment remained intact – an array containing runes for “mind” and “etch.”

Chance was that the runic dagger would not survive even a few uses in the duel. However, it could no longer serve as an actual weapon in an actual fight anyway. Kara intended to just retire it with the mock fight. She had a replacement stored elsewhere.

“I’ll be starting,” Kara told Sparhawk as she placed her unarmed hand upon her right shoulder.

Magic activated. Enhance Strength – a spell Kara frequently uses if she needed more physical power or speed.

Kara also took in a heavy breath of air through her nose. The noise that reached her ears deafened slightly. It would only slightly mitigate the pain that might come. She also placed her hand over her brows as if she was looking at Sparhawk from afar.

At the same time, Kara pointed the dagger toward a spot on the ground several feet away. The runes on the dagger activated.

CRACK

An array would materialize at the spot Kara pointed at. Runes for “light” and “sound” could have been seen in the split second after it appeared. Several modifying runes had appeared as well.

Kara closed her eyes and lowered her hand to cover them before the floor rune fully activated. Once it did, a blinding white light and deafening, high-pitched noise flooded the conjurer’s hall. It lasted for a split second, but anyone unprepared could be blinded for five seconds. The sound was enough to cause pain and make it temporarily difficult to hear.

Kara uncovered her eyes to see Sparhawk’s condition before taking her next action.

 

[Maho 'Jerik' Sparhawk]

“No holds bar?”

Don't love the way she phrased that.

She pulled a dagger he was not familiar to, the only familiarity being the symbols etched into it; although he did not know what they meant, he thought he'd seen similar carvings on the Academy's doorways in Vel Anir.

But no matter, for now, he had to see what she'd do with it.

“I’ll be starting,”

He smiled. It'd been a very long time since he involved himself in a formal duel, mainly being isolated to small dueling halls in the East, and in Elbion's tournaments, which were few and far between. It was always exciting however, and got his blood begging for a fight.

As she placed her hand on his shoulder, he noticed what seemed to be some sort of enhancement charm. He was likely wrong, as it could've been to alter speed, lighten her own body, or any other litter of things. But seeming as the challenge was to hit Sparhawk, he guessed it was to enhance her physical capabilities. Then, almost from out of nowhere, she pointed the dagger towards the ground, and - for a split second - runes appeared. He was quite the famed Linguist at Elbion, but in that short time, he could only make out the symbol for 'light'. Before it activated, he quickly covered his eyes with his forearm.

Then, as the Runes activated, a blinding light seemed to covet the entire room, shocking to see.

What he didn't anticipate however, was the unbearable screech which echoed forth from the rune, ear-splittingly cacophonous. Sparhawk fell to his knees once the sound reached his ears, near unbearable to listen to.

This is when she'll make her counter-attack... what to do...

He only had a split second to think, knowing she'd use this opportunity to attack him, whilst vulnerable.

"JOU'T ELO OMOTO!" He shouted. The language he spoke was derived from the Primordials, which created Arethil and the universe. They had a distinct language that only they and the ancient Dragons used. It was named 'Ren' by those in Amol Kalit that studied the art; knowing the true name of something gave you power over it. In this case, he shouted 'light is dark'.

And, as he said, the light that once covered the room was all but absent, including all other light. The room was blacker than the darkest void, the noise being the only thing filling it. He'd hoped it would give him the opportunity to move without her noticing. She would likely create a light of some sort, but this may give him a window to compose himself.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina saw the first runes of the spell that Kara was casting and protected herself similarly to Professor Sparhawk.
First blinding light, a deafening sound, and then pitch blackness.
This was a bad situation, if any of them moved they might be caught in the crossfire, but if they didn't take measures to protect themselves they might get caught in more Area Of Effect spells. Why hadn't the professor taken the appropriate measures? The Conjuring hall was certainly equipped with protective runes carved into the stone that are meant to contain magical effects and conjured creatures, as much a protection for the caster as it is for the spectators.

This was a magical darkness, so lighting a torch would be useless and she had no spell for casting magical light to dispel it. She regretted not paying attention to those basic spells of light and darkness, she won't make that mistake again. But for now action was required.
She closed her spellbook and placed it on the hook on her belt and called out to Phillipa, "Professor Ebonheart! Can you activate the halls runes? We're in a bad spot here!"

She knew two students were near by, so she reached out to take hold of them so that they don't wander away from each other or into the middle of the magical duel. "Stay together till we can see again."

 

[Phillipa Ebonheart]

Sparhawk explained the rules, and Phillipa turned around once he finished speaking. Leaning against the wall, she got comfortable as she watched Kara begin the duel with her runes. She recognized the first, but failed to prepare herself for the second part completely. The slight ring in her ears disoriented her long enough to miss the other professor casting the magical darkness.

Altas made a point to call out to her, and rather than activate the halls runes, she opted to put forth her own magic. Her hand slid to the pendant around her neck as she took the few steps necessary to close the distance between herself and the students. Part of her kinetomancy required mathematical calculations for precision when using the ball bearings as more than just weapons. It also helped to threaten people with an accurate but relatively harmless bounce off their chest.

The sharp clacks across the floor had her standing next to the group, one hand still on the black heart pendant while the other touched Selina.

"Ex nihilo scutum luceat." She spoke clearly in the old language of mortals from ages long past. Now left in dusty old books and rarely spoken outside of incantations. The air shimmered for a brief second in front of her hand, cutting through the inky black as it seemed to boil and burn away the darkness as it covered the students in a brilliant lavender bubble. A sharp inhale through the nose finished the spell before exhaling and giving Selina a smile.

"That should suffice." Phillipa nodded. The spell itself was a fairly simple combination of a warding spell and a light spell. The bubble itself would deflect attacks away from the user rather than absorbing them, while the light was limited to the inside of the ward. It left the two outside still trapped in darkness, while the students inside were able to see one another at least.

 

[Ezra Archiva]

His eyes traced the runes that appeared on the knife, searching his mind for their translation. Upon his realization, his hand surged to cover his gaze right as a blinding flash filled the room with a searing light. A crack of sound quickly followed after, as if a thunderclap had occured right in the room they were in.

His hand tentatively lowered, and to his surprise, darkness covered the room. Even the outlines of his fellow students couldn't be made out in the magical darkness, and the only way he knew they were still there was Selina holding them together. On one hand, he found the spell creative and effective. On the other hand, he preferred being able to see and hear.

He sighed with relief as Professor Ebonheart responded to their quadrum, blinking as the lavender bubble formed around them. "Thanks for that," he commented. The defense and light was heavily appreciated and necessary, judging from how the beginning of the duel was going.He directed his gaze to the duel still occuring outside in the darkness, waiting to see how it developed.

 

[Kara Orin]

Darkness enveloped Kara. With her ears ringing as well, she was deprived of any normal means in finding Sparhawk.

Kara heard voices. She could recognize the speakers, yet the words would require some thought to discern.

Unable to follow up with an attack in the darkness, Kara just pulled out a small, barely palm-sized runestone from one her pouches. She used a little magic to get it started. The stone illuminated like a lamp. It would provide some visibility for a few minutes. She spotted the outline of Sparhawk that had moved away from his original spot.

In addition, she spotted the ward enveloping Phillipa and the other students.

“Looks sturdy enough,” Kara muttered at the sight.

Kara tossed the lightstone toward the center of the arena. She then procured another, somewhat larger runestone from her belt.

Two left.

Then, Kara pointed the runestone’s symbols at Sparhawk’s general direction. None of the symbols were exotic, yet there were many: Quicken Contain Quicken Shatter Push Quicken Pull Cool Quicken

Once Kara activated the runestone, it immediately shattered and the pieces of rock exploded toward Sparhawk and anything else in that general direction.

 

[Amailia daughter of Eve]

When the darkness consumed the room a tightness grabbed Amailia's heart. She let out a small yelp as the light was erased, and with no light all that was left was the soft thumping of footsteps. She curled up into a small ball on the floor, flinching when a hand brushed her head.

What am I doing here? I am way out of my league, with a simple phrase everything was filled with darkness.

Then like a hero from legends Phillipa banished the darkness with a beautiful bubble. Amailia did her best to compose herself and soothe her breathing and heart, though remained on the floor not quite ready to stand again yet.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

They could see now, thanks to Phillipa Ebonheart . That was a relief at least, but so far they could only see within the bubble of magic she created, which meant they could only see each other and nothing outside. Magical darkness was strange like that, like a void is sucked light into its depths and never let it escape or reflect back. Their little bubble wasn't enough to dispel the magical darkness completely, which did well in not interfering with the duel, but Selina was a little put off that until the darkness wore off they wouldn't be able to witness the duel and take notes.

Selina looked out the bubble, trying in vain to see anything. A little magical lamp appeared, but that was only for a moment, while that magical light was in effect she saw Kara Orin's arm come into the light to cast another rune spell. Professor Maho Sparhawk was taking full advantage of the darkness, but evidently Kara was able to glimpse him while Selina could not.

She looked at the others around her. She didn't know his name, but Ezra Archiva seemed to be fine. The other student, Amelia, was huddled on the floor, Selina couldn't blame her, just by looking she couldn't have been much older than fifteen or sixteen, around the same age Selina was when she first began the application process for joining the college.

Selina tapped her borrowed staff on the floor in frustration. How were they going to learn anything about dueling when they couldn't even see the duel? She looked at the staff in her hand. It was a pretty simple sturdy wooden rod with an ornate head and a focusing crystal held in its clasp.
Selina set her jaw in determination.
She was a Wizard, right? Wizards solved problems, they don't just sit around and complain about situations. And she had plenty of time now to sit down and puzzle out this mystery.

Taking advantage of the light she opened her spellbook and sat down with her quill and ink. It was time to create a new spell. An easy spell really, she could easily come up with the formula almost on a whim. A weaker version of the spell True Seeing, that focuses on giving the caster or target of the spell the ability to see through magical darkness.
Even in its simplicity she was not lax in crafting it, she put in the time and care required to create the prototype spell that will be a great jumping point for building into a true 'True Seeing' spell.

She crafted it in under four minutes, and when it was done she stood up. She took her staff in her hand and began casting it. First, the verbal component: The activation words spoken in the language of Water Elementals, "Tayruo sooung". Second, the Somatic component: She raised her staff, focusing the magic through the rod and crystal.
She cast the spell on herself, Amailia daughter of Eve, Ezra Archiva, and Phillipa Ebonheart.

As soon as the spell came into effect it was strange at first. The darkness was still there, but their vision didn't seem to be hampered by it. If they focused on a specific point in the darkness they could see it just fine, but everything else would be as pitch black as before, and what they could see seemed to be tinted purple for some reason, a side effect of the spell that Selina would need to work out later. But for now they could keep up with what was going on.

Selina turned her attention to professor Sparhawk, her vision of him specifically cleared as she focused on finding him in the darkness. She wanted to see how he would respond to Kara's attack.