Til Death Tears Me Apart Once Again [Discontinued]

IV: Invasion

Surprisingly, to my immense disappointment, I was not dead.

With equal parts of awe and hate, the blazing wave swerved away from our small group, rushing above, beside but never at us, as if an invisible force field surrounded us. The source? Dan Azeal, who was now standing, arms wide in a protective stance, in front of both me and Arius.

"Run!"Dan shouts and Arius flinches. "I'll hold them off!"

As if the Hellhounds understood that, which they shouldn't, fire surges from beside us. I probably would have been burned if not for Arius yanking me away in time (why) and Dan's quick reaction to hold that off too. Both hands are still raised, but in different directions where the sources of fire are. It was clear that the young and inexperienced Fire User was struggling.

"Don't be stupid!" Arius yelled back. "I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Now's not the time to be stubborn, you idiot!" The green eyed boy says through gritted teeth, hands starting to tremble. "Run and go get help!"

How though? I mulled it over in my thoughts. Unless Dan can clear a path, which I doubt he can because he's already struggling to keep the flames from overwhelming us, there is no way Arius can run. Even if he did, I am 100% sure the Hellhounds will give chase...

The heat continues to intensify as the two continue to argue, all the while I get this pressing feeling that more hell hounds are about to join in on the roasting. Not that I would mind dying, but it would be painful to be burned alive. Not how I want to go out.

To escape...to escape...something that holds them off, drives them away...

I look around. Fire, fire and more fire. Behind me, the cushions and bolsters has been reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes. However, my eyes catch on some things peeking out from between curls of fire.

What drives Demons away?

Talismans.

A whole stack of them that have been tacked onto my room's door and are repelling the hellish flames.

"Ahhri! Da!" I tug on the Prince's singed robes and his friend's shirt, trying to get their attention. Only Arius turned his head towards me with Dan having to focus. I jabbed a tiny finger at the papers inscribed with curly words. "Tali!"

"Camelia, you're a genius!" Arius scoops me up, giving me a gentle peck on the cheek before turning to his red haired friend. "Dan! Talismans are on Camelia's room door! If we can get in, we should be safe from the Hellhounds!"

Dan barely manages a nod, taking a small step back. Arius does too to allow him space.

The surrounding inferno wavers dangerously.

He stops entirely.

"Dan?" The Prince is evidently confused and worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Too...much..." Dan pants out. "Hot...heavy..."

At the mention of 'hot', Arius summons some water. For some reason, it doesn't evaporate instantly in this intense heat. A scarf of water wraps around Dan's sweaty neck. "That better?"

"A little..."

One look at the Fire User's trembling limbs and pale face and anyone can tell that he is at his limits, despite the water. Too much, heavy...it must require alot of energy to hold back the flames. Some stray wisps of fire lash out at us, leaking through, but they always swerved out of the way just in time.

Dan's expending a lot of energy to keep the flames away from us. More than what he can keep up with. It is probably worse with the heat, beating down heavily on all of us. At least there was no smoke, or we would be dead a long time ago.