(( Closed RP, guys. ))
Oh, the searing heat. How it burned her flesh beneath that robe with each threatening crackle and hiss of snow and ground. The smoke wafting from every tower of burning light threatened to choke off what little oxygen she could shakily inhale as she found herself caught in the storm of flames. One of her worst fears had sprung to life in the blink of an eye. She found herself trapped, stranded in a cage of magical fire so strong that its smoke alone was suffocating her. The heat was not helping in the least. So hot was her skin that she felt impeccable shivers running down her spine, warning her desperately that she was in danger.
She could hear their voices, but her energy was being sapped with each threatening lick of flame near her. Ogerawa, Fianna and Tihya calling to her, asking if she and Jorokar had gotten out safely. They seemed to be oblivious to the danger she and that man had been shoved into. Even as the other three escaped, she had been too slow. Her hesitation to cross the wall of magical flame only resulted in so much worse. Instantly, she found the fire advancing, closing around her, and even separating her from Jorokar. And in that instant, she froze.
Ironic though it may sound, she froze in the face of fire. Even as Jorokar spoke to her, she heard none of it. Even as the wolf walked, unharmed, through the flames, she did nothing but shy away from it. She was lost.
So weak, the fire made her, that she fell to her knees with a silent plea. Ayla could feel her body losing its strength as if literally being drawn from her. Desperation ensued. Never, had Ayla been so desperate to call out to the Gods above. But that moment, as she clutched her stomach in fear of the life she carried, she cried out silent prayers to the Gods. To Bragon, asking forgiveness of what she had done for such a fiery trap, to Ushara, for the hopes that the earth would give nothing for the fire to burn, to Tanora, wishing upon them a rain to settle the flames, to Findari, hoping upon a breeze to blow the fire out, to Eldan… To protect the souls of her, Jorokar, and their child, to the Five, she asked for whatever help they would loan.
And they listened.
Shortly after her desperate, though silent plea was given, echoed by Jorokar’s own desperate voice, the blessed rain of above coursed over her burning skin. The fires began to vanish, the walls crumbled. They were released. She felt herself picked up by strong, though trembling arms, carried from the ash of the fire. Spells were cast, words were shouted, yet she could not focus on any of them. Something refused to let her wake and feel the solid pain of what the fire had done. Something called to her in the tiniest of voices, warding her away from the torment of her helplessness for now. And so she remained, even as Jorokar carried her to the hospital, the others watching over silently. The entire time, even as Achae appeared and cared for her as well, Ayla never fully escaped that strange, oblivious state.
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Hours, it had been since that fateful ordeal. Even days, perhaps, Ayla was not sure. All she knew, as her eyes fluttered open, was that the pain she had so escaped before had certainly not left her now. With a wince, she shifts upon the bed, a sickened expression crossing her face at the still lingering pungency of smoke and ash. She smelled of nothing but that horrid scent and it threatened to make her even sicker than she felt.
With a sigh, Ayla lets her head fall back upon the pillow of the hospital bed, staring up toward the ceiling with unseeing, clouded eyes. Never, had she felt so scared in her life then she had that day. Surrounded, helpless, incapable of saving herself or others, she was trapped. Closing her eyes tightly, the elfess could not help the stray tear that suddenly found itself rolling down her cheek. She was at a loss as to what to do.
There had seemingly been no reason behind that strange occurrence, no lead as to why she and Jorokar had been targeted. No mage had been around, for she would have felt it. In her pregnancy, she had become sensitive to magic, yet nothing had alerted her of that threat.
Pregnancy. Ayla’s eyes flashed open again as if only then remembering what had so helplessly been put to risk that night. Through instinct, despite the pain, Ayla settled a hand over her stomach with an almost fearful touch. She did not know what the punishment to her own body would have done to the child she held. Her hand that settled upon her midsection shook lightly as she looked about, only finding herself alone within the hospital room. She had no one other than the Gods above to ask what might have become of her child. As her eyes gradually slid closed once again, the elfess found herself skeptical. Never, had she been the most religious elfess due to forever seeing what some would call the belligerent side of the Gods. Fear, too, settled within her heart.
Despite her hesitation and fear, slowly she allowed herself to fall into an almost semi-unconscious state. Her doubts and worries seemed to reveal themselves as she took a slow, steady breath in. A silent prayer, an unheard question… And then… She waited.
For the longest of time, nothing happened. Ayla was about ready to open her eyes and release a bitter laugh in point of her own foolishness. But it was in that single moment of doubt that the Gods apparently decided that they would beg to differ. Before her eyes were even open all the way, Ayla felt a sudden, at first almost cold sensation run up her spine. Then ever so slowly, as if wrapping about her like an unseen robe, indescribable warmth ran through her before settling where her right hand rested upon her stomach. The sensation seemed, for the most part, absolutely surreal. Yet… It comforted her. The warmth of that unseen embrace lulled her worries away and reassured her. All was fine, she was fine, the child was fine. The Gods, for once, showed mercy upon mother and unborn child.
With this reassurance of above, Ayla allowed herself to rest peacefully. Drawn by the gradually fading tendrils of warmth about her, the elfess soon enough found herself in the existence of dreams.
A God's Trap, A Goddess' Embrace
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