However, what she found the most confusing was the conversation between Shaquille and his courtier. It sounded like Shaquille was working for someone and it was not up to him to decide what to do with her.
Although he did kidnap her, he did not appear to be the mastermind behind all this. Who was he bargaining with? Who ordered him to bargain with the buyers? Although she had long suspected that more than one family were involved with the kidnapping, hearing such conversation just made her more confused.
She thought about all the possible kidnappers in her mind, but was unable to come to a conclusion due to the lack of information.
She bit her fingers in pain and groaned. Suddenly, she smelled a scent of smoke, prompting her to raise her head in fright. She looked out the window and saw smoke floating outside.
Before she realized that it was a smell of smoke, the guards outside had yelled.
“Wildfire?” asked one of the guards.
“It does not seem like it; it came from a workshop!” replied another.
—What was going on?
The girl got close to the window and saw raging fire in the dark sky and white smoke billowing up from all around. The flames spread and quickly moved in their direction. Before she could react, the door was swung open. Several Suha family soldiers grabbed her, ignoring her screaming and resistance as they dragged her out of the adobe. She soon realized that the fire had also caught the Suha family off guard.
“Where is the family head?” shouted one of the soldiers.
“Southside—”
They were now surrounded by a choking haze. The soldiers were in pain but dared not to loosen their grip. They dragged the girl forward and tried to meet up with the family head. Suddenly, a person rushed out of the dark alley between two houses and attacked them swiftly. The two lizard demihumans beside the girl made a quick and quiet sound and fell to the ground, fatally injured. Before she could identify who the person was, the person had reached for her, grabbed her, and ran towards the darkness.
Several soldiers noticed what had happened on and tried to catch up. The girl flicked her tail and threw a back kick twice, causing them to stumble. She then immediately fled with the secret rescuer. They bypassed the fire and ran towards another hill, stopping when the high temperature in the air gradually dropped.
They were now out of the Suha family’s reach. The girl, who was originally in shock, was now overwhelmed with joy. She finally saw her rescuer’s back, the familiar silver hair shining in the faint moonlight. It was not an illusion, Lazer really did come to save her.
She followed him to the top of the hill. The fire had not yet been extinguished and was terrifying to look at. Nonetheless, she had no time to worry about it and grabbed Lazer’s hand tightly. She finally shed tears of gratitude. She was safe at last.
