Fight or Flight | Aurra Maudelyn | Chapter 1
Preface
This chapter is written from the perspective of a rather traumatized Priestess Aurra Maudelyn and takes place in Ra Minol some months after The Battle of Ancora and about three days after she returned Rikkomus to Alastor and began work to repair his mind. Aurra, at this point, is still missing many of her memories.
An explosion reverberated through the air as Aurra's radiant emerald eyes slammed open with a start, followed swiftly by disorientation and confusion as her ears began to ring and she felt stone fragments pepper her torso, bouncing ineffectually off of the custom fitted leather breastplate she suddenly found that she was wearing. Aurra blinks, finding her thoughts slow as she slowly forces herself to rise off of her back, a single confused thought crossing her mind. "Wha...?" This thought however, is swiftly cut off as the ringing in her ears abates and she hears the terrifying sounds of blade clashing against claw and claw ripping through armor and flesh all around her, followed swiftly by another explosion that rocks the ground she lays upon and sends shrapnel all about and deafens her once more, leaving her with only the image of hundreds of armored soldiers in a desperate fight in front of her and several more about to trample her in their desperate bids for survival. These images shake the Priestess from her confusion and she swiftly falls back upon the small amount of training she received before venturing to Ancora. Knowing well that to lay here any longer will mean death in short order, she rolls to the side, out of the way of a soldier's steel encrusted boot and forces herself to her feet. She pulls the golden sword focus from her belt as the man beside her falls, shot through twice with The Silver Tribe's terrifying monstrosities, once in his armored chest and once more in his much more vulnerable neck. Aurra moves with trained speed grabbing the falling soldier as she rises and, in a flare of emerald light from her eyes and markings, constructs a targeted gravity spell to make him easier to pull from the battle even as the logical portions of her mind vehemently rebel against the cacophony of sound and chaos that surrounded her "Where am I? This is... I... how did I get here? What's going on?" Running on instinct alone as her mind desperately tries to make some sense out of her environment, she grabs the fallen man by the side of the neck and his arm, clamping off the wound that was spewing the majority of his hot blood all over the ground and pulling him back with her, away from the front line some. She then pulls the man to the ground with her and finally manages to get a look at her charge and the injuries that he has endured as she casually drops the gravity spell and attempts to construct a healing spell within her mind, targeted directly as the wound upon his neck. As the healing spell takes effect, healing the wound upon the side of his neck, her mind is sent reeling once more however as she looks at her charge and finds that she is staring down at the powerful form of her friend Kiernan. Aurra's eyes go wide and she gasps as Kiernan himself gasps and opens his own green eyes, staring up at her's and finally able to breathe once more as the confused Priestess speaks to him in a telepathic message "Hold on, I am here..." Aurra looks around her at the chaotic battle, terrified and desperately trying to ensure that she isn't going to be hit from the back or side and grabs his hand awkwardly while still holding her sword focus. "You're going to be alright Kiernan. You've been badly injured. Apply pressure here while I..." She moves his hand to rest against his... clothed chest? "What? Where did his armor go? This isn't possible..." Aurra blinks and gasps as twin aches begin to burn on her stomach and back, her recently acquired scars burning slightly even after her healing. Aurra then looks around at her environment in confusion as she forces herself to ignore the pain, frowning and raising an eyebrow as she finds that the environment has suddenly shifted around her. The sounds of battle are gone, as is the oppressive heat that surrounded her, both replaced with the dark wooden cabin of a Daoine ship and cooled by the sea breeze. It is lit only by the light from a porthole and a single candle. She then looks down at herself and finds that even her clothing has changed, leather armor and a simple shirt and trousers replaced with the simple white and purple dress that she typically preferred. "By the Stars... what is going on? Where am I? Was... was I just in a battle? Kiernan what's..." As she looks down, she finds that the injured form of her friend and Captain are gone and now there is a blue winged Alatash, Serran, lying on his face in a hammock in front of her who seems to be very much unconscious. She starts to scan the room again, speaking. "Kiernan? Where did you go? Where am I?!?" As Aurra speaks these words aloud, she feels a presence in the back of her mind. A dark presence, powerful and oppressive crawling forth into her consciousness. Fear and dread flood her mind at this and her breathing starts to speed up as she goes rigid in fear and desperately starts putting up barriers in her mind, trying to restrict this being's access, drive it out, force it down or simply do anything to drive it away. This proves to be all for not however as the being simply bashes her barriers aside as if he were simply snapping his fingers and then inflicts a jolt of searing white hot pain across every inch of her body for her troubles. Aurra screams out in absolute agony as every inch of muscle seizes up at once and tears start to flow from her eyes as she's knocked to the floor, unable to move or breathe and desperately wishing to simply black out from pain but being unable to as the being - Ryence - speaks to her in her mind in a mocking tone. "Hello again 'old friend.'" The voice takes on a air of mock pity as it continues "Oh... I'm so very sorry. Did I hurt you? Do let me know when you're done sobbing and writing in pain. Maybe you'll learn to simply accept the inevitable." As the pain fades some, Aurra manages to speak through her gasps for air. Her voice weak and almost pleading. "No... no... no no no no... this isn't possible... Sharna and I killed you! How... you can't be... YOU'RE DEAD! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Using all of her willpower, Aurra throws up another barrier, trying to smash Ryence from her mind once more and getting another flash of blazing, agonizing pain for her troubles that send her writhing about on the floor, sending her vision into a dark tunnel as her mental barriers are simply smashed away. "Oh come now Priestess... you know you can't fight me." Ryence charges forwards in her mind, seizing control of her agonized limbs and forcing her body to stand against her will as she starts to try to gasp for air, tears still streaming down her face. "Just accept it... it'll be easier. Here, let me help you. We'll kill this one and then move on to the rest." Aurra whimpers as her tortured body is forced to move forwards against her will and she is forced to look down at Serran's unconscious body and then hold her golden sword focus up her right hand that is suddenly bloodied... studying it... observing it... and then a curved, emerald blade ignites. "No... please... no... I don't want to... he's... he's my friend! Please. No!" As she says this, Aurra throws all of her will against Ryence's, desperately trying to seize control of something, anything. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk... Aurra... Aurra... how many times do I have to tell you that you can't win?" To accent his point, Aurra's hand suddenly jolts forwards, jamming the emerald blade into the back of Serran's throat as Aurra screams out and starts to sob as another jolt of blazing pain pulses through every inch of her body.
Aurra jolts up in her bed with a loud gasp and a yelp, finding herself in a cold sweat and gasping for air. She starts to desperately scan her environment, holding up an arm and creating a very small emerald ball of light in order to see in the pitch black room. At first, she scans the light across a small bookshelf and a wooden writing desk and chair, purchased at no small expense. Scanning around the other side of the room, her light falls upon the bed of her newly made Drimorian friend, Nia, still sleeping soundly on the new bed that has been crammed into the other side of the somewhat small chamber. She turns back forwards and allows her shoulders to fall and her pointy, outwardly swept ears to twitch slightly downwards in sadness as she recalls the dream and the events of the past two nights. She then looks up, sending up a small prayer as her breath continues to come in soft, fearful gasps. "Thank you for allowing her to sleep My Lady... I don't intend to wake her but these dreams... these dreams are dreadful. I've woken her far too many times this week. Thank the Stars she's understanding." Aurra turns her head back downwards, forcing her breath to slow and wiping her brow off as she tosses off the covers and shudders as the cool, desert air hits her nightgown covered form. She then forces herself to stand, despite desperately wishing to simply cower where she lay, which causes some emerald light to dance about parts of the small room and elicits a groan from Nia as she turns over away from the light and makes some senseless babbling in her sleep. Aurra hesitates for a moment and then takes a breath and closes her eyes, forcing her sleep addled, terrified mind to focus and squaring her shoulders as she starts to breath through her nose. "In 2...3...4... out 2...3...4" As Aurra repeats this in her mind, she stretches her marking covered arms up towards the sky as far as they'll go, working the kinks from her exhausted muscles and then lowering her arms back to her sides as she finishes the set, carrying with it some of the stress from the nightmares and forcing a second thought, a mantra, to run through her. "The fear exists... I accept that, but it shall control me no longer. " "In 2...3...4... out 2...3...4" Aurra then moves her right arm onto her right hip stretching out her leg before repeating the process with her left leg, the stretching feeling providing her with the comfort of normalcy as she follows part of her daily training routine. As she does this, her ears twitch back upwards slightly, out of their somewhat sad state as she regains some control. "I was injured, but I have survived my wounds. I am strong and I am brave and will only grow stronger." "In 2...3...4... out 2...3...4" With her final movement, Aurra moves her hands together in front of her breast and forces herself to stand up straight, prim and proper as she is supposed to. A polite smile crosses her face and then she clasps her hands behind her back as she repeats the final part of her mantra in a soft voice. "I am home, I am safe, and my mind is my own." Even as Aurra finishes her routine, doubt and fear begin to eat at the back of her mind once more. She looks over towards Nia and finds her control failing. "Who do I feel I am fooling? I know far too much. I am a danger to everyone I know." After a moment, another errant thought crosses her mind, one that she decides to pursue. Aurra steels herself and goes to change into her training apparel, a simple pair of trousers and a simple shirt, covered in a leather breastplate before moving out into the darkened Temple hallways. "If they are to come for me and my friends, then I will simply need to be ready to protect them. I will grow stronger."
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