This is for my beta-boo, GrimGrave. Happy belated, Grimmy! Better late than never... Eheh...
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Challenge ll
Karma had only been here twice in her life and the trip up the snowy side of the second tallest mountain in all of Ionia was just as difficult now as it had been the first time.
Though, she supposed, her reason for being here again was very different and therefore made the trip seem infinitely longer.
The mocha-skinned beauty tucked a dark brown strand of hair behind her ear and exhaled an aggravated cloud of vapour, emerald orbs lifting to the highest peak where a small, well-lit pagoda could barely be seen poking through a blanket of white, stooped as though the weight of the snow piled on its broad red roof was far too heavy and it had given up.
If only it had, she mused grimly. Then, the person who sometimes inhabited this little hideaway would have had to set up shop elsewhere.
The chill howled past the woman and she shivered despite the furs she wore over her usual attire, crossing her arms over her chest in a futile attempt to stave off the cold. Ionia got colder and colder every winter, it seemed; snow blanketed everything, erasing anything that had once been familiar and reducing it to a single, infinite stretch of white.
… Not that anyone in their right mind would be all the way up here.
So why was the spiritual leader of Ionia—a woman who was known by most as the Enlightened One—traipsing about the mountains anyway?
Karma paused outside of the wooden door, taking a steadying breath as she summoned patience from her innermost reserves. The mage who lived here, Syndra, had been a constant thorn in her side since setting up shop here, and she would need all of her years of peaceful methods in order to even hope to put up with—
The woman who flung open the door was a full head taller than Karma and, though she couldn't see them from beneath the gold visor of an ornate headdress, she knew that pale eyes stared balefully, unimpressed.
Sure enough, Syndra's voice was anything but friendly as she asked, "… What do you want?"
Why she had left her Celestial Fortress high above the clouds, Karma would never know. Just so long as she didn't set her power-hungry gaze on Ionia, the white-haired sorceress could do whatever she wished.
It had been exactly three years ago today that the mage had entered into a sort of peace treaty with the island nation she had once sworn to crush under her heel…
…
"Tch." The mage dug her fingers into the earth, her shoulders rising and falling with each ragged breath as black blood dripped along the curve of her jaw. The ground was scorched, ravaged to the point that nothing would grow there for centuries to come.
Karma looked to Irelia, nodding as the Will of the Blades stepped forward, her outfit torn in places and her lithe frame covered in grime. Through their combined efforts, they had bested her—somehow. The Dark Sovereign was incredibly strong, however, and it was only a matter of time before she was powerful enough to defeat them both.
Imprisonment would fuel her rage—her lust for power—and it was inevitable that she would break free once again. Releasing her was also out of the question because then there would be nothing stopping her from attempting to conquer Ionia a second time.
Irelia clapped iron shackles around Syndra's wrists, the cold metal glowing with powerful containment spells, and the mage hissed, her eyes glowing bright. The razor sharp blades that hovered around the woman's person went to the pale-haired sorceress's throat and the two glared menacingly at one another, each daring the other to move.
Either way, the nation would be in danger. Unless…
"Wait, Irelia."
The red-haired warrior looked to her companion, deep blue eyes curious, and she lowered her blades obediently, though they twirled around her in a protective orbit.
Karma approached her fallen nemesis, lowering herself into a crouch beside Irelia so that she could meet the other mage's gaze. Hatred burned in white orbs with an intensity that was unsettling, but she remained resolute. "I don't want to have to imprison you again."
Syndra spit bitter blackness onto the ground and Irelia took a menacing step forward, only to stand down at an imploring look from her companion.
"And I have no desire to return to that hole." Her voice was low with disgust, her eyebrows drawing together below her elaborate headdress.
"Then perhaps we can come to an agreement." She held her breath as Syndra tilted her head, luminescent orbs narrowing suspiciously. She didn't say anything, however, and Karma took that as an invitation to continue. "If you leave Ionia—and that includes every citizen and person seeking refuge within the nation—in peace, you may have your freedom."
A glance at Irelia revealed that the red-head didn't approve of this sudden turn of events, but her trust in her ally was so great that she held her tongue, choosing instead to hear the woman out.
Syndra seemed to notice this as well because she nodded slowly, her gaze flicking from one woman to the other. "… And in exchange?"
She was at least considering the offer—that was a good sign. Though Karma supposed anything was better than the hell that imprisonment meant for a woman who so strongly resented being restrained in any sense of the word.
"What is it that you wanted?"
Milky orbs glowed brighter still and the Dark Sovereign bared her teeth in the approximation of a terrifying smile. "You."
…
The terms of their agreement had included the sharing of any and all magical knowledge that the Enlightened One possessed. Old habits die hard, as they say and, though she had given her word that she would not use her powers to enslave Ionia, the Dark Sovereign still sought to become the most powerful mage in all of Valoran. That being said, the brunette had been surprised by the letter that had arrived by way of Spellbird earlier that week:
"Come to Mt. Bodhi."
That was all; the conjured creature hadn't even waited for her response as it normally did. It hadn't been an invitation so much as a command—one that the woman should have ignored completely. Their communications had been limited to the occasional ensorcelled avian creature and always from afar. This is was the first time in three years that Syndra had requested an audience with the Ionian. The mostly-empty scroll had sat on the desk of her study, the neat, sharp handwriting that interrupted the otherwise blankness of its surface seeming to mock the mocha-skinned beauty until, finally, curiosity had gotten the best of her and she had set out for the towering peak, much to Irelia's—disdain.
In fact, the Ionian Captain of the Guard hadn't relented over the years in her disapproval of their agreement from the very moment they had made it official—despite Karma's assurances that a mage's word wasn't something to be taken lightly.
The brunette shook her head, returning to the moment at hand with pursed lips.
"… You're the one who summoned me here." Ironic word choice considering their place on the Fields of Justice.
"Hrm."
The mage was half-dressed despite the weather and Karma caught the rude comment that nearly left her lips, swallowing it and saying instead, "May I come in?"
Syndra remained still, blocking her guest's entry. Her mouth thinned into a disapproving line and, for a small, freezing eternity, the mage only stared. At last, she heaved a sigh and stepped aside, allowing the Enlightened One into the warm interior of the pagoda.
Syndra had created a little haven up in the mountaintops using a combination of her magic and the manual labour of some easy-to-convince men from the sprawling village in the valley below whom had been helpless to her charms.
While her haughty, combative personality wasn't a particularly attractive trait, Karma supposed she was easy enough on the eyes to be able to pull off such a feat. Maybe.
"How have you been doing?"
"I would rather we skip over the bothersome chit-chat." As sharp and to-the-point as ever. "Though it's an honour that you came so swiftly, O Great One."
The sarcasm in her tone was nearly tangible, but the mocha-skinned beauty simply shed her coat, heaping it onto the already cluttered surface of a wooden work desk crammed into the corner of the room. She arranged herself gracefully on a cushion on the floor beside a low table, curling slender legs beneath her as she asked, "Aren't you going to offer me any refreshments?"
"You're not half dead from the trek up the mountain like most would be," was the droll response. "You'll manage."
Her surly behavior was unsurprising given that she loathed her guest and all that she stood for and Karma bit back a sigh, wishing that she had stayed in her temple rather than braving the elements in order to play nice with the one person in Ionia who had tried to destroy everything she knew and loved.
If there was anything Syndra respected it was power—anyone without it was useless to her. She supposed that was the only reason the white-haired woman even bothered to consult her on the rare occasions that she did.
"What was it that you wanted?" This was her second time asking the other woman that very question.
Syndra looked away, lowering herself into a seated position across from her guest and waving a hand, calling over a tray bearing a teapot and some finger-foods with tendrils of dark magic despite what she had said moments before. She took her time pouring the tea into ceramic cups and sipping contemplatively from the one closest to her before saying, "I want to fight you."
Karma nearly spat out her tea and she set the cup down, staring incredulously at the other woman. This wasn't the first time Syndra had expressed the desire for combat, but this was the first time she had given such a formal invitation.
"Your people claim that you are strong. Prove it."
"I would scarcely call them 'my people.' We are allies—"
"You are the most powerful mage among the wretches living in the valley below and are therefore their leader," Syndra said dismissively.
It was pointless arguing. In the Dark Sovereign's world, rank was directly correlated with one's abilities. She tried a different approach: "We've battled before on the Fields of—"
"The Fields of Justice, where there are rules and regulations meant to diminish our true abilities," the white-haired mage interrupted sharply. "That's hardly even an inkling of my true strength."
There was excitement in her tone and she sat up straighter, her attention piqued, as it always was, by the talk of power.
"I won't fight you." She maintained a strict code of non-violence—the Fields of Justice aside—and Syndra knew that. Everyone knew that.
The Enlightened One flinched, recoiling from the gold visor that was suddenly very close to her face.
"Are you turning down my challenge?"
Something about the mage's tone made the brunette bristle, but she hid the reaction behind a raised cup. She didn't know what it was about Syndra that made her so… so not herself. It was frustrating in a way that couldn't just be dispelled with some quiet meditation and that above all made Karma detest their little exchanges.
"I am—yes."
The corners of full lips turned downwards. "I agreed that I would leave Ionia alone. You, however, are an entirely different matter."
… What was she getting at?
"I believe we're through here." She had risen half-way from her seat when a hand that was far too hot against her skin closed around her wrist and she swayed, caught off-balance.
"Sit." Another command. Just who did the Dark Sovereign think she was?
The muscles in her arm tensed, but before she could even begin to pull away from the other woman, a tingling sensation zipped from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet and she staggered, holding her free hand to her breast.
She could feel Syndra's gaze on her as the mage relinquished her iron grip, muttering something darkly under her breath, but they both knew that this conversation would have to wait for another day.
The Summoners were an impatient lot who waited for no one.
Karma closed her eyes, bracing herself for the breath-robbing sensation of being jerked from one world and into another. Brilliance pressed against her eyelids as the howling winds stopped abruptly and she blinked a few times, her vision clearing in time to allow her to see brilliant purple lines of ancient runes coiling around her in a column.
"The Fields of Justice, where there are rules and regulations meant to diminish our true abilities…"
She flexed her fingers, the slight motion being one of the few she could manage without receiving a direct command from her Summoner. The realization made her frown contemplatively as the incantations dispersed, taking with them a portion of her strength.
The brightness of the world around her solidified into a cobblestone sort of base camp in which there were structures with magically glowing gemstones the same shade of purple the runes had been. Small, cone-hatted creatures began to emerge from the largest of the buildings, marching in resolute lines towards the other side of the field and the Enlightened One sighed, her mind still on her encounter in Ionia as she moved mechanically towards the kindly old shop keep to the north of her spawning point.
She wouldn't fight Syndra, no matter the mage's reasons. She couldn't fight Syndra.
"Welcome to Summoner's Rift!"