As the fire horse ran ahead, Fu Hua chased it with all his might. The fire was starting to catch up with the dry parts of the forest now, and it was bound to spread in the next few hours if it was not stopped.
The worst part of the ordeal was the smoke which showed no sign of stopping at all. The dry leaves were causing the black smoke to rise faster than it could be dissipated by the wind. It would not be long before it would start to become an obstacle for Fu Hua to see.
He distantly felt the spike in power and knew it had to be Xiao Lan who did that. It brought an unconscious smile on Fu Hua's face. So the other still thought with his fist and not his brain. He didn't even try to find an opening in this dense forest, did he?
But Fu Hua had not expected him to.
And now the heavy work of leading Hinoe uma back to the clearing fell on top of him. With a flick of his wrist, water struck the ground near the fire horse startling him to change directions. Good, he was no longer heading to the Xi village now.
A few more whips made of water striked were how Fu Hua aligned the deity back to its original path. The water would not have hurt the divine flames of the horse anyway, there was no ordinary water that existed capable of dousing those divine flames.
However, that did not mean it was the divine being that did not fear water at all. After all, legend said that Hinoe uma had been an ordinary horse before his rise to divinity and that part of his never went away.
His instincts and fear were natural, as was his habit of trying to find his owner by going to the human village every day. It was just too bad that the original owner was no longer on this earth and the summoner generally ended up dead before he could lay a claim on the horse.
The chase was relatively short on Fu Hua's part. Once the horse had entered the vicinity of the clearing, Fu Hua had to concentrate to raise a barrier. It was delicate work he could not leave to Xiao Lan currently and General Yuhan had never been good at those works.
The only other one he would have trusted in this position was Detective Song but he had ditched out which left the work to Fu Hua.
"Xiao Lan, Hinoe uma is coming" Fu Hua used magic to make his voice travel ahead of the horse. The other needed to not be caught off guard at all right now.
The shift in magic told him that he had been heard and he could relax a bit now. This body, as good as it had been, was still from the illusion. Even if it had lingered sometime after the array had been destroyed due to his magic being active, it was bound to run out.
He could already feel his powers being locked up but he had to keep the barriers up at all cost. So he let his power be drained by the barrier which caused his body to go back to the present one.
Fu Hua collapsed on the top of the charred tree, his back to the trunk and his legs swinging down the branch he was on. He could see the incoming fight from his position but he would not be able to move for quite some time.
Thankfully, he was visible from his position as well and he believed that Xiao Lan would help him out should the need arise. After all, the other had not yet changed so much that Fu Hua could not read him.
And Xiao Lan wanted him well and alive right now. Who knew why, the other had decided that Fu Hua was better alive than dead right now.
So he would trust the other as well and he would look after the other right now.
...…
"Xiao Lan, Hinoe uma is coming" Xiao Lan could feel the heat from those flames himself but the message made him aware of how close the divine horse had come. The flames soon entered his vision, no longer pristine in their colour.
The green of the deceased had already penetrated its colour and the horse seemed to be in pain from it all. He was an unfortunate victim that had been bullied into this position after all.
The barrier around the clearing went up as soon as the horse had entered the viscosity, so it had to be Fu Hua who did that. How did the other still possess this much magic? What else was he hiding under his sleeves?
The horse charged at Xiao Lan without any provocation but it was easy to dodge for the young teen. However, the intention he got was not to maim but rather test him?
Was the horse testing Xiao Lan for something?
"Young master" Commander Yuhan roared out, seeing his young charge in danger. Xiao Lan gritted his teeth to stop himself from snapping at the other. Commander Yuhan was just concerned for him, as pointed out by the way he had decided to call out to him.
The calm fire horse seemed agitated all of a sudden at declaration and his non-threatening aura changed to a cautious one. It did not like the interruption in his attempt at all.
"Yuhan, go outside the range for a bit" there was a theory in Xiao Lan's mind he wanted to test. If he turned out to be wrong, then it would be a big problem for his health.
However, if he turned out to be right then it was an opportunity to learn more about the whole situation. Not to mention, an opportunity to get a divine beast at his side.
This was no longer a fight but a trial now.
"Come at me. Do you want to test me? Then I'll oblige you with everything I have." It might have been rather irresponsible of Xiao Lan to dismiss his guard to fight this battle alone but he wanted to do this.
He wanted to forget for a bit and just lose himself in the senseless white of the battle. The more the battle raged on, the clearer it would make Xiao Lan's head feel.
The horse charged away at Xiao Lan and he dodged at his side. His real weapon was a double-edged sword quite literally. He had tried hard to master it but his current body so he had to make do with the spear he currently had.
Which was not a good choice for this fight evidently because it was getting difficult to hold for long durations of time. The metallic part got heated up which made it impossible to keep a hold of.
His magic was still coming off as irregular, his body not used to that much-extended practice at all. It was lucky for him that Hinoe uma seemed interested in him and was not actively trying to hurt him.
The flames had given Xiao Lan burns to remember but the horse was behaving for now. If he broke out into his true form, then Xiao Lan would be in immediate danger.
The next time Hinoe uma charged at him, Xiao Lan forced his magic to take the shape of a rope. He dodged the incoming body and threw the rope around the horse's neck. Since it was made of strong magic, it did not immediately dissipate but it did not hold out for long either.
The horse shook off his assault very easily and charged once again. It was an amusing game of cat and mouse where they kept on changing positions but Xiao Lan was getting tired of this chase now.
His stamping was not going to hold on for any longer just because he had the will to. His body had limits now which he should not challenge for his th.
"What are you doing here?" Commander's Yuhan's more than loud shout distracted Xiao Lan enough to get another burn right at his abdomen where the divine horse collided with him. It hurt terribly and would leave a mark for sure in the future.
However, since his face was turned that way, he was able to see the small jar the other was waving at him. It had a seal on it which meant it was likely important.
"D-Divine water. They h-had some to c-capture that" detective Song yelled from across the grounds and somehow his voice carried over.
Divine water? How had they come across it? That was able to purify anything and be able to contain any flames, including Hinoe uma. Was the other serious?
The horse senses the presence of the water as well and lets out a scared shout. He seemed frozen looking at the jar.
"T-They were planning it for a long time. I d-don't know how they had it but -" commander Yuan decided there was no time to explain right now. He took the jar and made his way inside toward Xiao Lan.