Arella awaited the pain and sensation of being bitten.
But nothing like this happened. Instead, she felt a comforting warmth caressing her. Startled and confused, she opened her eyes and saw red.
Huge red flames were dancing in front of her. The protective circle that she had created was now blazing with fire. The height of the flames reached her head. She could see nothing but a sea of red. She heard nothing but the cracking of wood.
It should have been dangerously hot, but she found it very comfortable as if she was back in a safe embrace. Entranced, she raised her hand to touch the flames.
Her fingers should have felt a burning sensation but nothing like that happened. She could easily touch the flames with her bare fingers. The silky texture was soft and smooth to touch. As if showing happiness, the flames started swaying.
Among it, a string of flame mischievously wrapped itself around her finger. Amused, Arella took back her hand. The flame stayed on her finger for a while, swayed a little as if bidding goodbye, and then went to its original position.
As soon as the fragment of flame reached its origin, the blazing, raging fiery flames started subsiding slowly.
The height of the flames lowered, and Arella could take in her surroundings once again.
As the flames lowered, outside sounds started reaching her.
The most piercing was the sound of howling.
When Arella could see again, she found that the Hound that had lunged towards her was still in front of her. But this time, it had a similar circle of fire around it. And the flames had trapped it in.
Unlike the flames of her circle, which had started to lower and subside, the flames around the Hound were still blazing like a tornado. Arella knew that the flames were angry. It was as if she could feel the emotions of the fire.
She knew it was impossible, but it was a strong feeling she couldn't deny.
Both Arella and the Hound had a circle of fire around them. The circles were interconnected at one point, making it a sign of infinity.
It was more like the sign of ouroboros. A circular symbol that depicts a snake devouring its own tail. A sign of death and rejuvenation. For Arella, the circle was life, but for the Hound, it was a circle of death.
After a while, the circle of fire around Arella died down. But the fire around the Hound refused to abate.
Arella shifted her focus from the fire and moved towards the unconscious fox. Its breathing was very shallow. But fortunately, it was still breathing.
Then, she ran towards Anne. She had passed out by now. Her breathing was even. The marks on her arms and neck were recovering, but her leg had a gaping wound. It had stopped bleeding by now, but it looked extremely painful.
Making sure that Anne was fine and only unconscious, Arella took her baskets from there and then, ran back to the fox.
Compared to Anne, Devon was in an extremely precarious state. No skin on its body was intact. Blood was seeping like water from it. It had marks of being bitten all over its body. Even its tail couldn't avoid the catastrophe.
Arella took out the remaining herbs and grasses and started giving it a first aid treatment. Only a few minutes had passed, but to her, it was nothing less than an eternity.
She busied herself in treating the wounds.
After a few minutes, she heard the flap of a bird. She looked up, it was a Hawk. At last! Help had come.
The Hawk was huge. It could easily carry people. When the Hawk landed, it transformed into a man. He had a layer of feathered rob on him.
Another Hawk landed right after him. It was smaller in stature but could carry people too. Unlike the previous Hawk, it remained in its beast form.
The man moved towards Anne first. Checked her condition and instructed the Hawk to carry her. It swiftly grabbed Anne's one hand and one leg in its legs and took off.
Though this position wasn't comfortable for the injured person, it was the fastest way to get them to a nearby healing facility center.
Afterward, the man moved toward Arella to check on her. She hurriedly shook her head.
"Treat him. Devon's state is more critical." Arella spoke her mind while her hands were busy trying to stop the bleeding.
The man looked at her and shifted his attention to the miserable and unconscious fox.
"His core is in chaos. It's changing." The man spoke dejectedly.
Normally, a core change was a thing of celebration. Because it meant that the aptitude of the person was changing for the better. But the condition Devon was in, didn't look very promising.
Arella's eyes widened at the news. Devon's core was evolving! He had fought with the Hound with his entire strength to the last breath during the battle. Maybe that is why, he could unknot the bottleneck of his lower aptitude. He was An E ranked beast, and he could become a D ranked beast.
Arella should have been happy. But the situation didn't allow any celebration. Because she too, knew, that evolving a core needs a lot of energy. And Devon was already exhausted from the battle. He had bled a lot and was at his weakest.
If at this time, his core evolved, his body wouldn't be able to handle the pressure and would give up in between.
The man knew that this fox's life was in danger and its death was inevitable. But years of practice told him that, he shouldn't disclose it to his loved ones.
He carried on to check her wounds. All she had were skin injuries.
"I…I am a tamer. I can help him." A soft whisper escaped Arella's mouth.
The man heard it but didn't comment. He knew all efforts would lead to the same conclusion. Even if they had a high ranked tamer with them right now, the chances of the fox's survival were near to zero.
His body wasn't in any position to handle a tussle. The chaos inside his core was fatal. And if a tamer used the powers on him, his body would simply explode.
"He is very weak. It is better to leave him like this. If we tried anything, it would only bring him more pain." The man tried to convince her. In his mind, it was better to let him die in peace.
"No. I said I can help him. I have to try!" Arella spoke decisively. A glint of determination crossed her eyes.