A war was raging through her body. A blackened blood flowed through her veins. She could feel the infection spread, as each cell was contaminated. There was a roaring in her ears and her limbs began to thrash. Then silence.
"Magnus, we have to move now in order to save those people," Will barked over the roar of the flames. The building was about to collapse, and they had precious time. A fire elemental had escaped en route to the Sanctuary and while the abnormal had been contained its damage had not.
"I know! I'm going upstairs you evacuate everyone from below, Kate help him," Magnus finally replied, she dove headlong into the chaos and cautiously made her way up the compromised stairwell. Running from room to room, she realized most everyone had managed to atleast get downstairs before the flames became to severe. Her throat was sore from inhaling the smoke, and her eyes were watering, making her vision limited. There were two rooms left, quickly she discovered the first one was a closet which was empty. The second room also appeared empty but she scanned carefully just as she had done with all the others. That's when she heard it. A muffled cry was coming from a corner she searched desperately through squinted eyes trying to find the source.
Blonde hair was discernible through the thick haze of smoke. It belonged to a small frame, a child. As carefully but as swiftly as she could Magnus made her way to the corner. The little girl was five or six and she was barely breathing. The blonde head rested against her knees which were pulled tightly to her chest. Without much effort, Magnus swept the girl into her arms and made her way from the room, only barely making it down the stairs before they collapsed.
She could feel the girl's breathing become more and more labored against her chest. She turned to find the exit, but discovered it was blocked by fallen debris. Desperately searching for a way out she moved into an adjacent room and then another. There was a window in one of the rooms and she found that it was accesible, so with only a slight hesitation, she tucked the girl as tightly to her as possible and lunged through the window back first. She felt glass cut into her back and she felt the thump against her head as they hit the ground, the girl landing safely against her.
Magnus sat up and looked towards the house, she could tell most of the basic structure was about to fail and she knew she needed to move out of the way. Her back screamed in pain as she pulled herself and the little girl a safe distance from the impending crash.
Now that they were safe, Magnus layed the small figure on the ground, brushing blonde strands from the ashy face. Her heart began thumping in her chest as her eyes wandered over the delicate features. It was impossible.
On the ground before her, lie the seven year old body of her twenty three year old daughter who died months before. Magnus saw the same face everyday before she went to sleep. It haunted her dreams. Hastily she leaned down to make sure the girl, her daughter, was breathing. A deep sigh escaped her when she found a pulse and felt air from the girl's mouth.
Will and Kate came rushing over to where she was crouched immediately bombarding her with questions asking how she was and whether or not she was hurt. Magnus didn't respond, she gazed down at her daughter's face as the tears began spilling over. Finally she looked up at Will.
"Magnus, what's wrong? I think we need to get you back to the Sanctuary you look pretty beat up," Will moved to take Ashley from her arms and she immediately pulled the small body close.
"I've got her, go start the car," Magnus stood shakily, once again feeling a sharp pain course through her back. The flash of pain didn't go unnoticed by Will.
"Ok, what's going on? Give me the girl I'll carry her to the car, we'll go back to the Sanctuary and get you both checked out." Will was looking confused as he glanced between the blonde child and his boss.
"It's Ashley, Will just help me to the car," and with that Magnus slowly began walking back around the building with a shocked Will running to catch up.