The fire spread through the Great Lombati Forest with alarming speed. Haisen hurried through the woods, and the deeper he went, the hotter it became. It was as though he had stepped straight from winter into midsummer, and eventually into a furnace.
Between the smoke and the darkness of night, visibility steadily worsened. But Haisen was not worried about losing his way. He was heading for the center of the forest, and his direction was clear.
The center of the forest lay in a low-lying area, where there was a roughly oval lake. The fire might still have been so far away that not even the sound of burning reached this place, but thick smoke already billowed through it. No animal could survive in such conditions.
What had once been a paradise where animals drank and played was now deathly silent.
Haisen stood at the lakeshore, held out his hand with its back facing forward, and swept it sharply ahead, raising a fierce gust of wind.
Whoosh-
The powerful wind drove the smoke forward and up into the sky. In little more than ten seconds, visibility had returned to the area around the lake.
On ordinary nights, the lake lay still and peaceful, reflecting a sky full of stars. Now it reflected the fiery sky, its surface crimson.
Haisen was certain his target was at the center of the forest, very likely in the lake. While making his way through the woods, he had heard its cry again and even glimpsed a blue-green glow through the canopy at the forest's center.
He did not know why, but clearly the mysterious creature here had briefly revealed itself, and it had not left.
A pale blue glow appeared over Haisen's body, and rings of ripples slowly spread outward. He deliberately revealed the