The Clutch

[CappnRob]

              "Light give me mercy for this!"

              These words kept running through Cristovao's mind as he sat silently atop the Aldor Rise of Shattrath city. Hands buried well into his cheeks, he let out a heavy breath of air and closed his eyes, lost in his thoughts. That afternoon, he had done the unthinkable.

              Holy fire spewed across the nests, the Light searing forth from the eart. The Arakkoa eggs sizzled and cracked in the consecrated energy, popping with a grotesque squish and squelch.

              "I'm gonna be sick."

              The blue armored paladin suddenly jerked, grabbing at his stomach with a violent coughing fit. He fell forward on his hands and knees, a knot growing in his stomach as his entire body flashed with a discomforting heat stirring from his heart.

              "Oh, Light... I can't believe that I've done that! That I've... I've...", he cries out with a pained groan, before suddenly stopping to gag harshly. He lurches forward, face shining with sweat, and he can hold back no more. With a loud retch, Cristovao vomits over the edge of the Aldor rise, then rests his forehead on the ground with a thud.

              "This egg is empty. And the other one is dead."

              There were two that had been saved, though. Grabbed by the elderly paladin in the mail coif, whom Cristovao did not even get the name of, they too were corrupted by this malefic power. Taken to the Aldor rise for cleansing, it was learned that one was not even fertilized, and the other? A stillborn. There was no silver lining for today's events.

              "I... I only hope... no. I pray, pray that this was truly the only way... that we only spared the unborn a lifetime of suffering... but even then... do not all have a chance at life? Can not the Light shine for even the darkest of souls...?!", he mutters to himself with his face toward the ground, spit and vomit dripping from his lips. The paladin coughs once more, eyes watering either from crying in regret, or simply the upset stomach.

              Cristovao stayed there at the edge of the Rise for now. Upset and disheartened, he remained on his hands and knees with only his quiet weeping to keep company. He had failed his duty to the Light this day, and he would no sooner forget it than he would forget the smell of the unborn eggs he personally destroyed. Light forgive his sins, for he shall not forgive himself.