They watch with a mixture of awe and horror from behind a tree and some bushes at the now scorched area, the fire inches away from burning the entire wooden tavern down.

Lancaster had gathered all the other three -- who were frozen in shock to even move a muscle -- to safety. None of them move away from their current spots, as they are still partly dumbstruck to do anything; but the main reason is because they are so intrigued by this turn of events that they are willing to stay to witness it.

"Really, it didn't have to come to this if you'd just listened," says a voice as a figure emerges from the ring of flames, perfectly in one piece. Kai is unscathed, with not a single burn. He doesn't even look like he's bothered by the scorching flames and the intense heat around him; fearlessly walking around the flames as if it isn't his first time doing so.

Though a huge radius is engulfed in flames, the men are unharmed. Scattered by the sudden attack they obviously did not expect, they shiver in fear, trying their best to back away from the boy who'd just produced the flames out of thin air. They cower away; some running off while they still can, some backing away and retreating to the trees deep inside the forest, while others just stand with fear and horror, their feet frozen to the ground.

Leaving the gradually dissipating flames in the dust behind him as he takes a few steps forward, Kai crosses the distance between him and the man with the dragon tattoo -- who is frozen with fear, leaning against a tree for support.

"W-what do you want?" he stammers, his hands reaching behind for the tree as if it is capable of helping him. Gripping whatever he can manage of the tree with shaking hands, he backs further away from the approaching boy. "Stay away!"

Somehow, at the words, Kai seems to grow angrier than he already looks. "Relax, I'm not going to burn anyone -- at least, not alive," he says in a deadly voice, glaring at the man and seemingly enjoying the sight of his fear -- the sight of the pathetic man lifts his anger slightly. "I want a deal."

"W-what is it?"

"Forget what you saw, it never happened," Kai says as if he's giving an order, and he slams a bare palm to the trunk of the tree the man is leaning on, just an inch away from his face for emphasis. The man turns to the hand fearfully, blood draining from his face; and he watches as smoke hisses from the place where Kai's palm had just slammed in to. "It never happened," he repeats, "and I'll bet you'd think twice before messing with me again."

"All right, all right!" the man surrenders. "I will not tell a soul!"

Happy with the answer, Kai sets the man free. The man composes himself and along with the remaining men they disappear deep into the forest to reunite with the others who have fled.

"No one would believe what you saw even if you told anyone, anyway," Kai says in a low whisper, once the man had left.

The fire has already vanished; as if it never was there in the first place, though the marks left are obvious -- the scorched grass are a pattern of where the fire had been.

Alaina and the others watch in the shadows of the trees quietly, not daring to make a sound, as Kai slips a pair of white gloves over his hands and picks up his small bag and the heavy sack of gold Alaina had spotted him fiddling with earlier.

However dangerous he may seem, he isn't really much of a threat, Alaina thinks; after all, he didn't hurt anyone, even with what he is capable of doing. The fire he had set to burn didn't touch anyone, wasn't even strong enough to cause a forest fire before it died down completely -- he only did so because he was being cornered. Such perfect control.

Alaina is snapped back into reality when she hears a soft yelp that stops immediately once it's let out. She turns around, and her face pales as she spots Rose lying on the ground, her body limp; Lloyd is at her side, frantically fanning her with one hand, gripping one of her weak hands tight with the other.

Had the fire hurt her?

Immediately at the sight of her friend, Alaina regrets all her previous thoughts -- however nice -- on the boy and his fire.

As soon as she rushes over to Rose's side, though, a surge of relief along with guilt washes over her; relief that Rose is safe and unburnt, guilt because she'd blamed Kai without any evidence.

Rose is barely conscious. Having difficulty breathing, her chest rises and falls at an inconsistent state.

"Does she have weak lungs?" Lancaster asks softly, still watching Kai from behind the bush just in case. He looks over his shoulder in concern.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lloyd snaps, still fanning Rose.

Lloyd gets his answer from Rose herself. She blinks weakly at Lloyd, and shakes her head slowly. But as soon as she does so, she lets out a small cough.

"How are we able to help you?" Alaina asks worryingly. She begins looking around for some water, asking Lancaster and Lloyd for it, but Rose shakes her head yet again.

She opens her dry mouth, stifling a cough. "Rose... no. F-flower..." Rose says with whatever strength she is able to gather, turning her head slowly to the right. The others follow her gaze to the bottom of an old oak tree to their right, where several beautiful red flowers bloom.

"Poppies," says Rose, trying to reach for them.

Confuse but glad that she is still able to find fun and joy in simple things like her usual self despite her current state, the three of them sigh in relief. But Rose doesn't stop trying to reach for them.

Not knowing what else to do, Alaina walks over to the poppies and picks one, then hands it to Rose. Receiving the flower, Rose beams brightly. She pulls it close, embracing its scent.

"I'll be fine now," Rose manages to say without difficulty this time. But before the other three can even give a thought about it, she rises to her feet in a quick movement, dropping the poppy -- which, to Lloyd's surprise, had already wilted -- in the process, shocking all of them.

Recovering from the second shock this day, Lancaster manages -- just barely -- to signal Rose to crouch again right before he sees Kai turning in their direction with narrowed eyes.

"Hurry, we must leave," Lancaster whispers to the others, still keeping an eye on Kai. When Kai starts making his way towards their direction, Lancaster quickly adds, "try to make your way slowly to that clearing ahead," he nods over to their left, only slightly behind them, at the clearing that is rather visible though shady deeper in the forest.

Lancaster need not say it, but the rest understand that they should move quickly but quietly. They definitely do not want to attract the attention of the boy who can ignite the entire forest and burn it to the ground if he wants to.

But as they begin to make their way to the clearing, Kai makes his own way -- unfortunately -- towards their direction, too. Though Lancaster is certain that he has no knowledge of their presence, he knows that they must avoid him to prevent any unnecessary conflict... or perhaps even casualties.

Quickly, he gestures for the others to follow him around a tree, but as they move, Alaina accidentally steps on a fallen tree branch that cracks in two immediately at the impact. And instantly, she feels a cold chill running down her spine as she braces herself for what's to come.

Kai turns immediately to the source, alert; and the moment he does, his glowing amber eyes meets Alaina's blue eyes. For an instant, all Alaina does is stare at his beautiful eyes, losing herself to the depths of the glowing amber. All the emotions she'd felt earlier -- shock, fear, horror, and worry -- vanish the moment her eyes lay on his.

Their eyes linger as if the world had stopped spinning.

Kai stands there, as still as a statue, as if he's the one who's frozen in fear. Alaina stumbles back; but instead of burning them, Kai does the unexpected: he runs away.