Lexie and her family fled the burning forest with the help of Arino. Both he and Lexie ran door to door warning everyone in their neighborhood about the approaching inferno, saving dozens of lives in the process.
However, what none of the citizens in District One could have ever predicted was what unfolded for the refugees from District Two, who remained locked outside the king's grand palace.
The abandoned crowd had stayed awake all night, paralyzed by terror at the thought of a dimensional portal opening directly above them, forcing them to fight bloodthirsty creatures with nowhere to run.
Screams of panic echoed frequently across the courtyard, though no beasts ever materialized, even when vivid red and purple auroras pulsed in the sky uncomfortably close to the palace grounds.
"I don't think the monsters are going to come anywhere near this place," Heigl observed quietly from his corner.
