Aura

Guerrilla

Aura runs away under cover of fog until she is on the outskirts of town; then she calls forth her magic broom. 

"Revenite!"

It traverses the distance from its hiding place back to her. It takes several minutes of sheer tension, but then it arrives.

"Phew, I thought it was out of range."

Riding her magic broom, Aura flies away from the Sun Sect City.

"I need to get some allies for such a dangerous task as to stop that madman the high priest. Simply showing up at his door and blasting everything won't do."

Flying aimlessly for several hours, Aura finally is sighted by something that can give her pursuit - some kind of giant flying bird. It comes flying very close, looking at what else is in the skies today.

"Hello, birdie bird! What's your name?"

The bird screeches.

"Oh, you can understand but can't talk?"

The bird screeches again.

"I'm trying to find people to help me stop the sacrifices by the Sun Sect. Do you know anyone who could help me?"

The bird screeches for the third time, then flies faster than Aura's broom.

"Oh, you want me to follow you."

Aura follows the giant bird for several more hours, until it stops at a big stone tower.

"Thank you, birdie bird!"

Aura descends from the sky in front of a windows of the tower. An old man is writing somethins and is startlet.

"Good gods, at least say something as you approach. I thought it was a monster."

"Sorry, old man. I'm seeking help to put an end to the Sun Sect."

"Well, then you arrived at the right place. I have been trying to end this crazy cult myself for quite some time, but they have a strong group of warriors and their leaders are powerful magicians. What can you do besides flying around and scare old men?"

"I can cast ice spells."

"Oh! That's rather fortunate. I have been fighting fire with fire for awhile, but ice spells might be just what we need to defeat them."

"I tried my best ice spell on the high priest, but he defended himself with a fire spell. It produced a lot of fog, but little harm to either one of us."

"That was to be expected. Coming toe to toe with a highly experienced magician as their high priest was very bold of you."

"I think I have killed several warriors, but I am not too sure. I didn't stay to check."

"A suitable test of your magical abilities. Say, why did you specialize in cold magic? It is harder than fire magic."

"I didn't have much choice on the matter. My village was razed by an evil coven and I was put to cast ice spells again and again in their dungeon. Only recently I learned an advanced ice spell, I spent years casting the weakest spell again and again until I became way too good with it."

"I don't think you should bother learning other schools of magic if that is the case. You should just double down on your strengths. Learn how to use ice spells defensively."

"Can you teach me that?"

"Of course. But it will require a degree of control you may not be familiar with, and it would largely be used as a reflex, so you need to train it until it becomes automatic."

"Training until it becomes automatic... I have some bad memories of this concept."

"I understand, but that's what it takes. It is a spell called 'Obice'. I will show you the theory."

The old sage brings an old book and shows Aura the theory behind the Obice spell.

"It is very straight forward."

"Yes, and it works very well. You just need to remember the basics so you can cast it fast enough to block incoming fire."

"I think I will train it for a few days."

Aura starts training the spell.

"Obice!", she says, as she motions her hands and creates a cold breeze that propels itself forward and solidifies as a wall of ice.

"Very good, very good indeed. You are a natural at cold spells."

Aura keeps training casting ice walls for about a week.

"I feel ready."

"Then it is time to meet the other rebels."