One hand held Alexander's and the other held a death grip over her protection spell. In a normal casting situation, the spell would hold for a brief period then fade. Clara couldn't afford for that to happen. Once she felt the spell weaken, she would cast it again keeping the spell in a continuous loop of protection. This excessive spell-work would have been a very poor decision if the situation were different. A continuous looping of spells could drain a person in a matter of minutes, but Clara had her powers combined with Alexander's, which allowed her to continue this dangerous process. Sadly, their shared candle was burning at both ends. The barrier was eating away at her energy filled protection spell and she was burning up energy in order to keep it in a loop.
The first strike made her cry out in pain. It had attacked them. It was not a reaction she had thought about. She had theorized that the barrier would simply try to eat away at them like some sort of acidic substance, but for it to strike them like that. It was almost like the dome had a form of consciousness. Her spell obviously could not block energy bolts very well. It was a feeling of white hot fire racing over them but not quite touching the flesh. That showed that her spell was still working properly.
Her mind cried out and her heart quivered, but she stood stubbornly against the attacks like on old tree weathering a horrible storm. Clara's lip withstood a hard bite from it's master then she repeated the incantation in shaky voice. Without it, they would be eaten alive by the barrier. More strikes came and each one seemed to pull away at her mind and body. She couldn't think, her arms felt like molten stubs of mutated flesh. She couldn't feel Alexander's hand in hers, but she could feel their connection still pulsating through them. Breathing deeply, she focused all her efforts to keep moving forward and continue to loop the spell, but fatigue was getting the best of her. Clara's voice grew weaker and weaker to the point were she seemed to whisper the spell like a sad attempt at a prayer to whatever deity could hear her.
The young mage's body felt like it endured some physical blows as well, but at that point, she felt rather numb. Clara's legs felt like wet leaves but somehow they continued to press onward almost like they no longer needed directions from her mind. Parts of her cried for her to stop, tried reasoning with her. They would live if they turned around, stop fighting this. It hurts. It hurts. Thankfully, she ignored those cries and bit her lip again with a sick grin spreading across her tortured face. The pain would eventually go away either when they successfully reach the other side of the barrier or it would end in their death. Quitting seemed like a ridiculous solution. This thought seemed to calm the voices and give her a better reason to push on.
It took Clara several minutes to realize that they had passed through. Her lips moved weak and wordlessly with incantations, while her free hand bled from her nails embedding themselves into her palm. She couldn't feel her crying body, but could only feel the torturous throbbing of her mind like a thunderous pulse. Trails of tears begun to dry on her cheeks though had wasn't aware of ever shedding them. It must have been a result of the pain they had endured. That's right, Alexander was with her. Unable to open her eyes, she felt him lean against her. His body, like hers was cold and sweaty with fatigue. They both seemed to sink to the ground, but continued to hold hands. At that point, Clara was so numb she wasn't sure she even had the ability to loosen her grip.