A dark cloud of smoke engulfed the horizon, sending a jolt of fear through my body. I pleaded with Beta Witto again, my voice shaking, “Please, let me go see what's happening!”
He gave me a cold look. “We've been ordered to hold this spot. We can't just bail on our duty.”
“But don't you see?” I said, my voice growing more urgent. “The Star Ocean pack isn’t attacking here like we expected. The real threat is at the west ridge. We need to send reinforcements to help them!”
While I was speaking, the fire in the distance flickered ominously. It was burning dangerously close to the midpoint between the southern entry and the west ridge—right near my cabin.
I forced myself to focus on analyzing the situation in order to take my mind off the panic over Matthew’ safety—this fire wasn’t an accident. Someone had started it. But who? And why was the fire set around the residential area?