Dedicated to Vidya_Vahini, Sunny_Shumail and Mohammed_Mughal! Thank you for the votes!
....
"Ahhh!! Help me!!"
Anne's pleading voice reverberated in the forest.
Arella instinctively ran in Anne's direction. While running, she hurriedly sent a distress signal to her supervisor.
Her core was vibrating wildly. Her legs hurt, but she didn't stop. She had to reach Anne as soon as possible. In the moment of crisis, the thought of leaving her friend behind never crossed her mind. All she cared for was Anne's safety.
Sobs, loud cries for help, and pleading continued.
"Ahh! Stop! Stop! Someone, please help!!!"
Arella didn't have the time to think what could have gone wrong. She wanted to reach Anne without a moment's delay.
Her breathing quickened, her legs were in pain, and she could feel a heat pooling around her hands. Her temperature rose to abnormal heights, but at this time, she was unaware of it.
She was in the opposite direction to Anne. When she reached, she saw a fierce battle going on between two beasts.
A Fox was fighting for its life in front of a Hound. What's worse, is that the Hound had red eyes!
The Hound was not a beast but an animal! It gruesomely attacked the fox. It undoubtedly had the upper hand. But the fox, though weak, wasn't backing away either.
The Hound continued to attack while the fox tried its best to defend.
Arella quickly checked the surroundings and found Anne crying near a tree. Her leg was bleeding. She was shouting into her equipment and asking for help.
Arella hurriedly reached her and checked on her injured leg. Apart from her leg, she had bite marks on her arms and neck. Her face was smeared in blood and tears.
She took out some blood statis grass and tried to stop the bleeding with it. When Anne saw Arella, she started crying and speaking incoherent words.
Arella was focused on treating her injuries. The marks on her neck and arms were shallow. The bleeding instantly stopped with the blood statis grass in these areas. But the wound on her leg was very deep. It kept on bleeding. The blood statis grass had little to no impact on it.
Anne was blabbering something in her trance. Arella couldn't understand anything.
Anne jerked Arella's hand and frantically told her the same sentence over and over again. It appeared as if she was in a semi conscious state, half delirious, and half awake.
Being disturbed, Arella tried to listen to her words.
"De..von…Devon.. save him, please!" Anne weakly formed a coherent sentence.
Devon? Arella's pupil dilated! She jerked her in the direction of the battleground.
The fox was Devon! Shit! Arella had thought it was a battle between two beasts, and Anne was unfortunate enough to stumble upon them. But, no, it was Devon! Trying to save Anne!
Arella's mind churned at a faster rate. Honestly speaking, among them, only Devon was a beast. His attack power was the highest. But he, himself was at a loss in front of the Hound.
Arella wanted to help. But she didn't know how. Her thoughts ran amok. The situation was not favorable to the fox. Its leg had started shaking, and soon, it would collapse.
Arella was desperate! She had to do something! And she had to do it soon!
'An animal, Hound is an animal. It doesn't listen to logic. It works on its instinct and hunger. If it is threatened, it will go away. But how to threaten it? What is it afraid of? What is evering animal afraid of?'
Arella's temperature was rising sharply. She felt a warm sensation coursing through her veins. Hot, she felt extremely hot. She tilted her head and looked to the sky. The sun was burning brightly.
Warm, hot, sun…fire!
Animals are afraid of fire! She picked up a nearby wooden stick. Fire, she needed fire! She planned on checking her emergency kit. But before she could move, the stick in her hand started burning up. And within a blink, it was on fire!
She had no time to think of the cause and the effect. She rushed forward. The fox was already lying on the ground. Its breath was extremely weak.
The Hound was huffing around it. Its sharp canines were looming over it. The hunger was starkly visible in its red eyes.
Arella should have felt afraid, but strangely, her thoughts did not have any inkling of danger. All she wanted was to save Devon.
She lunged towards the Hound that was busy sniffing and salivating over the almost dead fox.
A circle, she planned to draw a circle around the Hound to trap it. After harming her friends, she did not want it to escape. She moved swiftly with a plan in her mind.
But to her misfortune, the hungry Hound that was gloating over its victory noticed her. It saw her coming towards it and bared its teeth in order to scare her off.
Arella didn't run or hide. She had to save Devon.
Looking at the steadfast girl, the Hound became more annoyed and jumped in her direction.
'Oh, Shit!' were Arella's only thoughts.
She swayed the burning wooden stick in front of it to intimidate. But the Hound showed no sense of meekness. It avoided her attacks and kept trying to approach her.
She, in a hurry, drew a protective circle around herself with fire.
She wanted to trap the Hound in a circle but here, she was the one who got trapped.
The fire burned around her, but to her dismay, the reach of the fire had no height. The forest was cleaned thoroughly, and its grasses were cut short.
Arella soon realized that this circle couldn't protect her, nor could it be used to trap the Hound. It could easily jump over and enter or leave.
The Hound was circling her continuously, like a predator evaluating its prey. For the first time, Arella felt that she was in danger. A tremor touched her spine.
And then suddenly, the Hound jumped towards her!
Arella closed her eyes instinctively.