[open quest] In the fires of conquest, you will be reborn [ROUND THREE]

[Aela]

There is a moment where Aela breathes and releases everything.

The Kraken continues to wrap its multiple appendages around Carcinus and the crab manages to scream as the giant octopus wrenches him apart. The sound of his cracking shell reverberates deep - down towards the depth that Aela's new companion had risen from - and the palomino lets go of the fear that had been holding her in place.

She reeks of seawater. The salt sticks to her skin and her pale mane has started to curl against the elegant curve of her neck. Tired and feeling as if the bottom of the ocean still lingers in her step, Aela wearily manages her way up the beach. The striped mare lets the water lap against her legs; she lets her hooves sink into the sand. Her blue eyes lift towards the distance, looking towards the encampment. The men have dissipated. The legions are gone, returned to their tents and their comforts.

Even Castor and Pollock fade into the back of her mind, much like the stars they had become.
Rest is all she wants.

Looking towards the horizon, something shimmers to the forefront of her mind. It shimmers much like the light had refracted off the waves but Aela knows immediately that this is different. This is strange and wonderful and terrifying; this is something terrible and she shivers in anticipation of it. Magic prickles against her spine. The crab is nearly devoured but the goddess fixes her Immortal gaze on Aela; she is drowning again.

Never relenting in the face of fear, Aela fixes the Goddess with a stare of her own.

The battle, the crustacean - they all fall away by the message that the powerful entity gives. The two stare at each other - Hera and Aela - and as understanding occurs. Slay the beast, the deity commands. All it takes is a blink of magic and Aela is restored. Her energy is restored and had her Magic been, the palomino would have glowed. The beach is gone, swept away, and replaced by a stalking lion. Aela watches it, moving as the creature does so that she doesn't linger too close. The message from Hera had been clear: kill this monster and return to Beqanna.

Her gilded ears flick, catching what little light remains and Aela continues to study the beast. She takes note of its stride, its claws, and the jaws that snarl a warning at her. The palomino keeps attempting to feel something from the feline; trepidation, desire, hunger. But there is nothing. No matter how Aela keeps tugging and trying to bait the creature like she would any other prey, it is like before with Carcinus. There is no emotion for her to find and Aela knows that she will have to do without.

Glancing around the pit that she has found herself in, Aela keeps surveying her surroundings.

It's bare and almost spartan in its construction. Trees line the outskirts of this supernatural grove. They circle around the pair and the young mare can feel Immortal eyes boring down on her. Hera is no longer in sight but she is watching. A feeling that Aela is familiar with and she continues to move away from the pacing predator, careful to keep her distance from him. She keeps looking. Kill this beast, but how? Aela has no claws and with no way to pierce his skin, what can she do?

But Aela has come too far to die here.
There is still a grand plan for her and it doesn't involve her ending in this pit.

The lion increases his chase and Aela spirits away, taking advantage of all the stamina and grace of her storm-summoner ancestors. Her hind limbs kick up and towards the beast, only resulting in pain for each time she strikes him. The lion snarls again, ready for the hunt to be over. It leaps and she screams, a whinny that echoes against the trees and... Aela looks for a way out. There, in the farthest corner, lingers a pile of boulders. Perhaps it will take her back to the blood-soaked beach. Perhaps it will lead her back to Beqanna.

Kill the beast, Hera had commanded.
(Nobody commands Aela.)

She wants to run but she is no coward.

The skin couldn't be broken but what of its bones? At the very least, what of its jaws?

At a breakneck pace with the lion on her heels, Aela kicks and squeals and then makes her way towards the rock pile. It is out of place in what feels like a sacred place but she asks no questions. She begins to climb, up and up and up while the lion protests her efforts behind her. It's only the sight of a tree limb jutting out from the rock pile and Aela sees the benefit twofold: a place to step and if she pushes hard enough, perhaps the rocks will tumble.

And as she goes higher, braces against the trunk of the dead tree, she pushes.

Pushes and pushes until the wood groans and the rocks stir.

They suddenly all fall away, Aela bleeding and a leg trapped under the rubble. Her head spins. As the dust cleared away, everything is still. Even the lion.

It lay with its maned head bent back at an unnatural angle, teeth still bared for the kill.