[center][sub][h3]Kayla[/h3][/sub][/center]
[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPOuE7ogpCA]♪♪♪[/url][/center][hr]
When the Hound brought it's paw down, Kayla desperately attempted to do what she could to shield the blast, but she would need another few minutes before she could do something like that again. She wouldn't be able to dampen in incoming shock wave on her own.

Thankfully, she didn't have to.

Molly had appeared, summoning a wall of earth before them both and diverting the force away from them both. 

[i]"Whatever you have planned, I would hurry."[/i]

Respect surged through Kayla in that moment. Not even because Molly had been blind or appeared powerless up until now, but because she had taken it upon herself to defend her while she was downed. Kayla nodded, wiping her bloodied nose on her sleeve and clearing what was left of the hemorrhage away from her face. She breathed once in and once out and spoke. "Molly," she began, forcing herself to her feet. The pupils of her eyes already glowing a dull red like molten metal. Kayla peeked out from the side of the wall. At quick glance, it appeared that Madison was clear. Kayla turned to Molly, and with practiced glace gave Molly her shoes.

"Take these, get Jess and Madison, and run. Book it to the car. I'll be right behind you."

Kayla didn't give her any time to fight her on it. This was her ace in the hole, her eject button. It was truly all or nothing now, for this was not a foe they could best. Kayla's whole body began glowing a dull red, like when one held a powerful flashlight under the hand, except it was her whole body. Her bones shone through her clothing as her core temperature skyrocketed, casting skeletal and angular shadows. Her hair danced, changing from her natural brunette to brilliant yellows and reds and blues as it became flame. She pushed her sleeves up, revealing flames that danced across her forearms.

The forest was alight, it was like she was one enormous light bulb. It was so hot near her that the ground beneath her feet began smoldering and catching fire. The rain that made it through the trees above didn't even make it to the ground, evaporating into hisses of mist as soon as it came within ten feet of her. Her shoes, if she hadn't given them to Molly, surely would've melted. She cracked her knuckles, each eliciting a supernatural crack. Like each bone was a supercharged firework. The Hound's attention was shifted to Kayla.

There were no words exchanged, no insults or clever taunts that were so typical of Kayla. The woman wasted no time, and with both the Aether and Oblivion whispering in her ear she drove her hand into the overturned earth and [i]roared[/i].

If the power she had released earlier had been empyrean, a the will of heaven above... then this was the chthonian wrath of hell. The cracks in the earth created by both Kayla and The Hound began [i]glowing[/i] incandescent hues of reds and yellows. It held for a moment, Kayla's eyes flashing to Molly and Madison as they made it behind her and away, and then Kayla let loose for the second time that night.

The earth beneath and around The Hound [i]erupted[/i] in a hellfire that consumed everything it touched, uncaring of the rain. It split the beaten earth, throwing it up and away with explosive, concussive force. The flames climbed higher, consuming the destroyed forest in a primordial torrent of fire and rage. It was a [i]wall[/i] of fire, climbing up and above the tree tops- which caught flame and spread uncontrolled in the blaze. The forest was alight, scorching the the earth and turning everything it touched to ash in its rage.

With The Hound at the center of the inferno.

Kayla directed the holocaust like a conductor of a runaway train, unable to stop the spread but capable of aiming the apocalypse that was unfolding. She couldn't stop it now that it was going- not this much fire, but she could aim it. Waves of fire crashed in The Hound's direction as the forest became an [i]ocean[/i] of fire, fueling her onslaught to an almost unprecedented degree. In that moment, Kayla didn't care about self preservation, or thirst, or hunger, or air, or sex, or guilt, or Madison and Molly and Jess. She let go of anything that made her human, and her body erupted with the fire.

It felt [i]good[/i].

But she was dying, and even if she didn't know it and didn't care, the passenger within her did. It tugged at her psyche, pulling her out and away from her high and forcing her back down to earth. [i]Run, Kayla.[/i]

Her body's internal temperature dropped, and her body extinguished even as the forest fire's flames licked at her body- the devil on her shoulder encouraging her to come back to them, except it was all around her. The visibility was so low and the fire so loud, and the smoke so thick that there was no way The Hound could track them. She was tired, she knew this, but she was dehydrated now. More so than she felt she had ever been. She felt the heat of the forest around her, burning at her clothing and attempting to make her one with it once again... heat had stopped affecting her a long time ago but er dehydration dragged her psyche, making her sluggish and confused. She couldn't remember which direction was safety, and while the heat of fire was no longer dangerous, the smoke that came with it could still kill her. She had completely forgotten about The Hound, her addled mind more focused on not suffocating to death in her own flame.

The smoke in the sky hid the stars above, darkening what had once been the canopy of treetops in a thick, soupy smog. She could see the dark, skeletal shapes of tree branches that had yet to burn. [i]Come on, Kayla![/i] that voice hissed in her ear, urging her up from her hands and knees and onto her feet. Her legs shoved her forwards in a direction, pushing her forwards every time she stumbled or fell, unwilling to let her own flame go out in the dark.

Kayla didnt know how long she walked, but when she stumbled out of the woods and her feet hit the gravel of the parking lot, she collapsed. She hoped she wasn't far from Madison's car now. She hoped that they had seen her, that they would help her, and that they hadn't left her. "[i]Help-[/i]" she choked out. The rain felt good against her still unnaturally warm skin, hitting her body and disappearing in a hiss. Her clothes were singed on all areas, some of her jacket had been burnt away. Her feet were bloodied and dirty from stumbling barefoot through the woods. Blood still lazily oozed from her nose. And she was dehydrated and confused.

She could hear the echos of firetruck sirens in the otherwise quiet night. The fire in the distance lit up the night, unconcerned with the rain up above.