CHAPTER 74 Hunted

A/N: If you want to donate or read up to 35 chapters ahead, you can visit my p-a-t-r-e-on/kurowashi 

If you see grammar errors, please let me know so I can fix them. I'm always open to constructive criticism. 

I would like it if you guys left some reviews.

Thank you for your good words and support.

------

CHAPTER 74 Hunted

As the man's arm was cut off, he lashed out with a Diffindo charm towards Elmi. Elmi was too tired to utilize his winds of magic properly. He shouted, "Protegus Repellus," and a blue shield appeared around him. The shield and the spell clashed, and cracks appeared on Elmi's shield. It couldn't resist the power of the spell because he couldn't put up the shield properly and got destroyed. The spell created a big gash on Elmi's chest; the pain was unbearable. 

The last one of the wolves used this opening and bit the man's neck, instantly killing him. Elmi was on the ground, bleeding out, as Harry ran towards him. Harry was crying as he didn't know what to do. Elmi didn't even have the energy to reach into his pouch. With a weak voice, he said,

"Wigg...weld Potion..." and tried to open the pouch, but his hand was not working. Byakko walked up to Elmi and started to lick his face and rub against him.

Despite the wound not reaching deep into the bone or damaging any organs, Elmi continued to bleed profusely. With a sense of urgency, Harry delved into the pouch, his fingers fumbling as he grasped one unlabeled potion after another. 

As Harry displayed each potion to Elmi, the latter could only muster a weak shake of his head, his energy waning and vision dimming. Finally, when Harry presented the Wiggenweld Potion, Elmi nodded faintly in approval. With trembling hands, Harry administered the potion to Elmi, yet the wound persisted in bleeding profusely, defying the potion's intended effects.

In a state of desperation, Harry resorted to unconventional measures. With Elmi unconscious and bleeding continuing, Harry reached for two more grass-green potions from the pouch and poured them over Elmi's wound. As time passed, the wound appeared the same, yet miraculously, the bleeding began to slow down.

Desperately, he summoned clean cloths from Aermir's pouch and applied pressure to Elmi's wounds, mimicking what he had seen in a TV show. Hoping against hope, Harry prayed that this makeshift first aid would be enough to staunch the flow of blood. After a few seconds, he managed to stop the bleeding.

As Harry tended to Aermir's wound, he heard distant noises approaching. Hastily, he draped the invisibility cloak over both of them, concealing their presence beneath the shadow of a nearby tree. Just as the cloak enveloped them, a young man stumbled into the clearing. His face contorted in pain, and blood seeped from a wound on his left arm. It looked broken.

Upon seeing the mauled body the man released a pain filled scream. "Irmão, não, não! Eu não posso perder você também. Não! Eu-eu vou matar todos vocês, eu sei que vocês estão aqui em algum lugar..."(Brother, no, it can't be! I can't lose you too. No! I-I am going to kill you all, I know you are here somewhere...)

Right at that moment, he realized he was talking in Portuguese and promptly switched to English. His English was fluent, contrary to his brother, "I know you are hiding; I am going to find you two and kill you slowly!"

The man had used Homenum Revelio (Reveal humans) and knew there were two humans in this clearing a few seconds ago. However, their disappearance from the spell's effect didn't feel like Apparition, leaving the man to deduce that they were invisible. 

Despite attempting other revealing spells, there was no response, suggesting that whatever method they employed was capable of eluding detection magic from many kinds of spells. He thought they might be utilizing a powerful artifact.

He cast a shield around himself and bellowed, "Ever seen the effects of the Cruciatus Curse? Your nervous system will fry, and I won't end your lives swiftly. Death for you will be slow, perhaps lasting hours, maybe days."

Harry huddled into a tight ball next to Elmi, his heart pounding with terror. The man persisted in casting a barrage of detection spells around them, paralyzed with fear and unable to move. Harry was at a loss; he didn't know how to cast the Muffliato charm, and even if he did, he couldn't carry Elmi by himself.

The man cast the same detection spell as his brother did, causing a great amount of ash to burst forth from his wand. The swirling ashes began to sweep around the clearing, scouring every inch in search of any hidden presence. All Harry could do was sit there, paralyzed with fear, hoping against hope that luck would be on their side.

As the ash cloud moved around, Harry's heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest. The man continued to shout profanities and threats as he meticulously swept the area. Harry felt a momentary relief as the man moved away from their location, but it was short-lived. Soon, the man began a circular sweep, bringing the ash cloud closer and closer to their hiding spot. Panic surged through Harry as he realized their precarious situation. In a minute or so, he would be on top of them.

As the ash cloud drew nearer, Harry felt desperation mounting within him. He glanced at Elmi lying on the ground, and a surge of courage swept over him. Elmi had sacrificed himself to draw the enemy's attention away so Harry could escape. Now, it was Harry's turn to protect his friend.

The man and his ash cloud were just a few meters away from them. With a swift movement, Harry emerged from the cloak and cast a spell, "Stupify!"

 Blue light darted toward the man but was blocked by his shield. Harry continued to run among the trees as spell after spell came towards him. The spells were exploding all around him. As he ran, he sent Stupify and Expeliarmus spells toward the man, but most of them missed. When they were going to hit, either a shield stopped them or the man deflected them with his wand.

A crimson light charged toward Harry, and he knew he couldn't dodge this one, so he erected a shield. A dim blue light formed around Harry, but it wasn't a perfect sphere like the man's; it was smaller than half a sphere.

The spell hit the weak shield, and it exploded like glass, throwing Harry back with the force of the blast. Harry's back slammed against a tree, knocking the wind out of him. His vision blurred momentarily as he struggled to regain his bearings. 

He tried to get up, feeling a dull ache spreading across his chest from the impact and not being able to breathe easily. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he frantically cast another spell, his hands trembling with pain and the adrenaline.

He sent another Expelliarmus, but the man easily deflected the spell as he stood in front of Harry. Although the man had stopped the bleeding on his arm, he still looked a bit tired from all the blood loss, but his eyes burned with hatred as he looked at Harry. With a voice filled with hatred, he said, "Who did this? Who did this to my brother?"

He looked at Harry with a contemptuous expression. "It is not possible for you to even touch his sleeve. Who else is here?" As he said this, he was on guard and looked around the area for any movement.?