The sight of the man ambling over to her at such a slow pace was quite eerie. For a brief moment, Laila considered turning and running away. After all, what would those two dark mages have had to do with him? Perhaps he was a dark mage too. What if he purposely was luring her in as some sort of sacrifice? These thoughts raced in Laila's mind, causing anxiety to bubble up and twist her stomach into a knot. His harsh voice startled her out of her own mind, and she froze.

The first words that danced at the tip of her tongue were intended to be spoken with just as much venom, saying [i]I thought maybe it was [b]I[/b] who could help [b]you.[/b][/i] However, she hesitated, rightfully so. She stared at the man for too long of a time, trying to take in his appearance and judge his intentions and character by that. Her purple eyes glowed slightly in the moonlight, which struggled to break through the branches of the trees overhead.

"I just wanted to know if you were alright," she finally found herself saying through a pained, hoarse voice. She winced and wondered why on earth her father had let her spontaneously chase after this man like this. He was normally more cautious than that.

[i]There must be a good reason, then,[/i] she decided. For if her father agreed to her doing something so risky, there was a reason. A logical, purposed reason.