Ch. 7 Blood Beasts

"Lyra!" My father hissed behind me, as he thundered through the trees on my heels. Branches whipped past me as I ran, stinging my cheeks and bared arms whenever I failed to block them.

"We need to save her, dad." I shot back in a loud whisper. "We can't lose another one," I said, feeling panicky. The thought of us losing another life, just a single one if I could possibly stop it was too much. I pushed my legs to move faster.

We paused, listening for Carmella's call for help again. "Carm?" I asked, tentatively and keeping my voice just above a whisper so as not to alert the nearby humans. I was hoping we could find her fast enough. Find her before they did.

"Help!" Another scream, she still sounded far enough off that I knew she hadn't heard me call for her.

"I don't think she knows a hunting party is nearby," my father rushed out as we took off again. I nodded in response, not wasting my breath with more words.

I was already pulling my fire forward when we broke into a clearing, Carmella, up in one of the tallest trees on the outer lining of the small open field, was dangling from a branch that had broken, but was still being supported by a few fibrous splinters that I could tell were just barely holding together. If the Oracle kicked her feet a little too much, she'd surely fall. My eyes darted down to see-

"Blood beasts," my father breathed out beside me. 

"They'll rip her to shreds." I gasped out, panic threatening to set in completely now.

The larger than life creatures, their skin blacker than coal and tougher than chain mail paced beneath Carmella, as she held on to the precarious branch. Luckily for us, they were so focused on her they hadn't seen us burst into the clearing before we'd caught our bearings and crouched down. Assessing the best plan of action, my father and I took in everything we could. 

"No weapons?" My father asked me in a whisper, worry in his eyes. 

"Just my magic," I whispered and he grimaced, nodding slowly.

He unslung his bow, notching an arrow in a fluid motion, and took aim. "We need to put as much of our fire into this arrow as needed to pierce that hide. You focus on heating the tip, it needs to be just hot enough that it doesn't melt the metal. Got it? I'll focus on heating the path it'll take and setting one of those trees over there on fire to distract them. If we do that, we should be able to take down the one quickly, but that other one will be on us before I could even notch another arrow."

"Why can't we just boil their blood?" I asked, pulling my fire forward, it roared within me. 

"They're impervious to magic, a wicked side effect of the dark magic that creates them. Their skins just abosorb it, temporarily making them stronger. That's why we use magic around them. On inanimate objects and then use those items against them," he instructed.

"So, what if I put up a wall of flames as soon as the arrow leaves your bow," I asked and my father nodded, thinking hard. "I could possibly encircle the thing with flames if I can act quick enough." I offered and he clenched his jaw, thinking. 

"Help me, please!" Carmella's voice rang out again and I tried not to flinch at the terror in it.

"Let's do that, but you need to make sure you're burning the grass and just helping the fire flourish. You can't just blast pure magic fire towards them, then we'll be in huge trouble," he warned.

I nodded, setting my shoulders to ready myself.

"And Lyra, if this fails. If we don't contain it, you run. You leave me to deal with it, and you run, you got it?" He asked, a commanding tone to his voice.

I nodded my head to pacify him, but I'm pretty sure we both knew I wouldn't listen.

"Ready?" He pulled back on the bow and I concentrated entirely on the arrowhead, watching it as it began to glow a deep cherry red glow, like an ember. Then I reached out with my mind, finding the path of grass I planned to scorch, feeling along it mentally, ever so slightly heating it already, I nodded.

"Now," he said as his bow made a twang. I didn't see the arrow lodge itself in the beast since I had already thrown my wall of flames into place, blocking our view from the beasts. But the otherworldly scream of pain that sounded right after the initial thunk of the arrow lodging itself into the beast confirmed that it hit its mark. There was another roar, this one louder and angry as it ran into wall after wall of my flames, desperately looking for a way through.

I felt every blade of grass as it charred and turned to ash beneath my flames. Every oxygen molecule in the air as I reached my flames towards them for food. Dad had just grabbed another arrow off his back when suddenly, a sharp pain lanced into my neck. "Let my beasts go," a low, gravelly voice commanded.