I walked through the doors of the Sunshine Cafe and glanced around. There were a few people sitting at the tables; eating a variety of different foods. I scanned my eyes over them. Where was Gradin? He had said that he would meet me at this cafe at around noon but I couldn't see him anywhere.

Then someone waved at me. I approached them and then sighed in relief when I saw that it was the young man that I had met yesterday. I had thought that I would never find him and that I would be in debt for the rest of my life. "Hey, I'm here to pay you back," I said moving to stand opposite him. "I figured," Gradin said nodding. I reached into my pocket and pulled out around one hundred gold. I handed it to Gradin who smiled. Then he stuffed the last bite of food into his mouth and stood up to go. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Westlyn. I hope you have a good day. Also you can take my spot," he said gesturing at his chair. "Ok thanks, and it was nice to meet you, too." I watched him leave and then I wondered if I should order something but I realised that I was still feeling full from all of the griffin eggs that I had eaten the previous day.

I got to my feet as well and headed out of the cafe. I was walking down the main street in town when I thought I heard a noise. I glanced around but I couldn't see anyone. I shrugged and kept walking. After a while I heard something else. It sounded like footsteps. I stopped, turned and took a good look in every direction but I still could not see a single person. Quickly I turned and raced around a corner at full speed. Then I dove behind a building and waited to see the person following me run around the corner after me. "Who are you?" I murmured under my breath. I waited for about five minutes but no one came around the corner. Finally I cautiously stepped out of my hiding place and began quietly walking once more. I constantly looked over my shoulder but I didn't see anything suspicious. My mind was racing at this point. Who was following me and why? I was a stranger and I couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt me. Were there such things as robbers in Alyncia? I really hoped not, for my sake.

Then, without warning, I heard a loud shout. I turned and stared into an allie on my left. That was where the yell had come from. My instincts told me to stay away from such a dark creepy place, especially when I was certain that I was being followed, but I had to find out if everything was ok. I couldn't just leave someone who might be lying injured somewhere to die. I stood hesitantly staring into the allie. The walls of the buildings nearby cast long shadows into it and I couldn't see past them. Reluctantly I took a step into the allie.

That was when it happened. A figure leapt at me from inside the allie and dragged me into it. I struggled hard. I had done some training in Karate when I was younger and I tried to use the skills that I had been taught but that had been many years ago and my moves were clumsy and slow. After dragging me to the end of the allie the figure finally threw me to the ground. I narrowly missed smashing my head against a wall and I winced. I hurriedly sat up and glared up at the shadowy figure. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt nervous but I tried to appear confident to the figure. Then a bright light surrounded its hand and I saw that it was a man. He looked to be in his late thirties and he was wearing some green shorts and a matching shirt. However these details weren't important to me. What caught my attention was his hair. He had brilliant red hair, which highlighted his face even in the dim fire light. I stared at it. Could it be, was I, had I just been kidnapped by Sol Ignis? I crouched, staring up at the guy. He glared at me. "I know who you are. You are such an annoying brat, you know that? Stopping me from getting what I want," he paused and suddenly leapt at me. He grabbed my arm and jerked me upright. "Is not what you want to do," he finished. His hand felt like they were steadily getting hotter and I struggled to free myself from his grasp but his grip was like iron. My arm was beginning to hurt but I ignored it. "What did I do?" I asked Ignis. His grip tightened on my arm and I winced. "You saved Ash. I knew that there was something suspicious about that pocket watch he carried around everywhere the first time I saw it. Each time I came close to killing him, you just brought him back." My arm felt like I had stuck it into an oven for too long and I twisted it but that just made it hurt more. The skin around Ignis's fingers had turned red and I began struggling hard again. I did not want him to burn my entire arm off. Finally I kicked him hard in the side. He grunted in pain and loosened his grip by a fraction. This was enough. I quickly peeled two of his fingers off my arm and then broke free of his grip. I staggered backwards but before I could get out of his arms reach Ignis shot out a hand and punched me in the face. I gritted my teeth as pain shot through my nose and I threw up my hands in defence as I jumped away from him.

We stood around a metre apart for several seconds before he stepped forward again. I backed away but there was a wall behind me and soon I ran out of room. Ignis took step after step and got closer and closer. I tried to use that strong fire magic that I had used to defeat the basilisk yesterday but no blue light appeared around my hands. While I was focussing on my hands Ignis took his chance and grabbed me by the shoulders. Then he leaned close to my ear. "I will make you regret coming to Alyncia. You will wish you had never left the human world." His hands were scorching hot and I thought that my skin would melt off if I couldn't free myself in time. The pain had intensified and I clenched my hands into fists.

Then I saw it. I felt more relieved than I had ever felt in my life and I sagged against Ignis's grip. I had seen faint blue sparks around my hand.