The silver corruscating light that bursts from her and soars to the moonless firmament surprises her as much as it does them. 

Strange and fey patterns swirl through her anima, tigers and dancers melding into one another in a dizzying parade - and a tiger of silver light forms over her, and silver filigree traces across her skin - 

She doesn't raise a hand even with the violant rush of energy through her, doesn't attack, but the sword glances off her shoulder like its wielder hit a statue and he stares at her, terrified - before collapsing, eyes wide and fixed and unseeing.

That routs them - of course it does - they fall to their knees or flee or collapse -

But Shine looks afar into the dark night, and realizes she's drawn attention - that this was but a tiny raiding party split off from the main force - and there's something darker than night looking at her - 

"Stand," she says, voice resonant and firm, "And protect this temple from those who would threaten it."

The cavalry, when it arrives, will find a rather different battle than the one it feared - they'd been warned of a large group of undertrained warriors potentially supported by a necromancer or something darker - they find a young Lunar Exalt and a handful of once-attackers defending the temple against a small horde of walking corpses, many of them clearly recently slain. 

They're surviving surprisingly well, given that they don't even have a wall to shelter behind. 

They won't survive forever, though. 

The temple was always her goal. The village can be rebuilt but without the temple, there would be no will to do so. The argent flash that split the sky only reaffirms that choice.

Her lieutenant gives the order when they're within range, and Sapphire Elegance and her hundred and fifty soldiers charge as one. She stays in the middle of the pack until she feels the spell she's been building catch, and she pushes a rush of colorless flame ahead and the first ranks of the undead burst into white fire just before the soldiers hit, helping to scatter their lines.

She stays away from the press of melee, launching crackling golden orbs against the enemy that draw from the halo of anima building around her.

The Lunar doesn't seem to be particularly skilled at fighting in melee either - but she's keeping her men together well, leading them with a strong voice - and she directs them in a push to pin the undead against the Solar's forces - and she doesn't let her lack of skill in close combat stop her - she's doing a pretty good job of convincing the undead to purely attack her even though their blows do no damage whatsoever.

She keeps a significant fraction of that attention even as the Solar's forces slam into the undead.

It's not a long battle, after that. Sapphire's forces are trained well enough to make the most of the temple defenders' anvil, and without further undead reinforcements (the necromancer has fled, perhaps), the horde is soon put to rest.

Sapphire directs her lieutenant to see to the wounded, and have the soldiers begin collecting the bodies to be disposed of properly. She herself goes to find the Lunar on the other side of the field, her anima a cobalt nimbus fading into gold around the edges and a bright sun-shaped disc on her forehead.

Her own caste mark cycles with a languid slowness through the phases of the moon, the dark shadows whirling through her anima growing as the mark wanes, the silver brilliance rising as the mark waxes. It was waxing throughout the fight, and it begins to wane as the Solar approaches - her anima isn't any lesser though, maintaining that same ludicrous brilliance, and the silver glow is reflected in her eyes. 

"Thank you," she says, taking a deep breath as she comes over to meet the Solar partway. (She's had her own ad hoc forces set down their weapons, and has given them a speech about the sancticity of Luna's protection and then ordered them to follow the priests' commands for now.)

(Prettttttyyyyyy.)

She's maybe seventeen or eighteen, in fine dress of local make with a filigree necklace holding a golden crystal at the base of her throat, and is entirely unstained by dirt, sweat, or blood.

"You're quite welcome."

(She's maybe a year younger than the Solar, dressed in a pilgrim's simple clothes, road-worn and mildly grungy beneath all the silver light.)

"Are you - the Solar from that city near here?"

"That's me. Sapphire Elegance, very much at your service." She flourishes a bow. "And you are?"

She laughs and folds her hands in front of her before bowing back, in a style very reminiscent of dynasts Sapphire has seen. "I'm Shine at Night, at your service in turn."

"It's wonderful to meet you."

Grin!

"You're pretty," she blurts out. 

She laughs. "It's very kind of you to notice. I've been putting a great deal of effort into my appearance. It helps to make up for my youth, when dealing with some people."

"A lot of people are easily led astray by a pretty face."

"Speaking from personal experience, Shine?"

Giggle. "You think I'm pretty?"

"I do."

Tiny wiggle. "Good."

"Are you a new Exalt? I saw your banner from over the rise."

" - Yeah. I... Wasn't expecting that, at all."

"I don't think anybody does, really. Except some dragonbloods, I suppose."

"Eesh, yeah, and it makes them obnoxious."

"I haven't had to deal with too many myself. But I've heard stories."

"The system is - unpleasant."