Darius ran fast and took Talisa into the trees. Talisa didn't know where they were, but this was a forest. Darius jumped behind a big rock and brought Talisa crouched there.
"We…"
Darius immediately stopped Talisa from continuing her words by placing one index finger in front of his lips. His handsome face was visible now in the moonlight. Talisa was stunned to see such a beautiful face. She had never seen this kind of face and charisma before. His tall body and beautiful hazel eyes seemed to be hypnotizing. However, Talisa soon came to her senses. This man is very dangerous and Talisa does not know him at all.
Talisa then heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Darius hints that Talisa should be quiet because many people are looking for them.
"I think they went that way!" cried one of the approaching ones.
Talisa then heard the sound of footsteps running away, straight down the path in the thick forest. Darius then closed his eyes for a moment.
"It's safe," he said after a moment.
Talisa widened her eyes because Darius didn't even look around at all. How did he know it was completely safe? But Darius then stood up and helped Talisa to stand up too.
"You have to come with me," he told Talisa.
"What do you want? I do not know you! I-I… I'm going to scream!" Talisa exclaimed while taking a step back.
"I just saved you," Darius replied with a straight face. He walked closer to Talisa. Every step Darius took made Talisa step back. She gulped in fear. Seeing what Darius could do just now, Talisa could die this very second in his hands. Talisa continued to back away until unfortunately, her back hit a large tree trunk, so she couldn't back down anymore. Darius was standing right in front of her, so close that Talisa could feel his minty breath blowing onto her face.
"Th-thank you, but I don't have any money. I-I don't have anything," Talisa said in a trembling voice, almost as if she was cold, even though the air wasn't that cold tonight.
"I'm Darius Edmund," he answered.
Talisa swallowed. The man said his name. What does this mean? Talisa's brain was unable to think after experiencing the kidnapping earlier. All she wanted was to return to her humble flat and lie down on her hard, age-thin mattress. However, this man will not let Talisa go.
"You know me now," he said again.
"B-but…"
"Too much of a waste of time," Darius said again. He then quickly grabbed Talisa's wrist and pulled her to walk with him. Talisa was forced to walk after the man, but in her brain, she was trying to find a way to escape. While walking, Talisa saw an opportunity to escape. With all her might, Talisa pulled her hand from Darius' grip. Unexpectedly, Talisa's wrist was completely free from Darius'.
Talisa immediately ran without a second thought. She could see a path from here and Talisa was sure someone was there, maybe nature lovers or locals. Talisa ran towards them as fast as she could.
"Talisa!" Darius exclaimed in a half-whispered voice.
But Talisa was already running quickly towards the people she saw. The distance was still quite far, but Talisa was sure, the people can see her.
"Help! Help me!" Talisa exclaimed.
Talisa waved her hand while shouting. She ran as fast as she could until Darius was a few meters behind. However, the man ran very fast, Talisa was sure that soon she would be caught. With a loud voice Talisa shouted, "Help!! Help me!" she cried to the people.
Now the people on the path turned their heads and started running toward Talisa. Talisa hoped that those people would get Talisa first before Darius caught up with her. Talisa threw some tree branches she found on the ground at Darius to slow the man down, but the man kept running fast and he almost caught her.
"Stop, idiot!" cried Darius.
Talisa didn't want to listen, she kept running until she finally saw the approaching people. They were some men who looked like hunters in the forest. They brought rifles and Talisa hoped it would scare Darius.
"Help!!" Talisa exclaimed.
But when the people approached, Talisa's eyes could see that their hands were now burning. Talisa's heart felt like it was pounding her chest cavity because she had run in the wrong direction. These people had the same power as the kidnappers earlier. Within seconds, their smoldering red hand gave off flames. Talisa stopped running until she fell to the ground. Quickly, she tried to run back in the opposite direction, but she wasn't fast enough.
The men had already raised their hands to attack and Talisa could only raise her hands to cover her eyes, preparing to feel the heat of the fire touching her skin. But suddenly Darius jumped while carrying a fairly large log. He squatted in front of Talisa who was still lying on the ground. He uses the log as a shield so that the fire that gushes out does not hit Talisa or himself.
After the fire stopped spouting, Darius threw the burning log at the people.
"Quickly stand up!" Darius exclaimed as he grabbed Talisa's hand and pulled her up.
Darius' ears could sense that there were still many fire elemental masters around here, who thanks to Talisa's screams knew of their whereabouts.
"I told you to follow me if you want to live, you idiot!" Darius said. He didn't look annoyed, nor did he look happy, the handsome man was like an emotionless robot. Even the swear words that came out of his mouth didn't change his expression. But this time Talisa decided to run with Darius because she had no choice.
However, Talisa just realized that her leg was sprained when she fell earlier. She couldn't run fast because of it.
"Damn!" Talisa cursed while trying to drag her feet faster.
Darius grabbed Talisa's hand and carried her running, but now Talisa was running very slowly. Talisa's heart was pounding when someone managed to pull her leg so her hand was out of Darius' grip.
"Darius!!" Talisa exclaimed. She never thought that she would ask for help from Darius, the strange man she had just met.
"Use your power!" cried Darius.
"Power? What power?!" Talisa asked confused.
Meanwhile, the men who are now holding her body have raised their hands to kill Talisa.
"Kill her now. We can take her heart later," said one of them.
"Come on!" Darius exclaimed to Talisa.
However, Talisa was silent. She panicked, confused, and didn't know what to do while the fiery hand was already aiming at her throat.
"What an idiot," Darius hissed.
Darius then ran and jumped at the people, he quickly immobilized one of the men, by burning his eyes as usual. However, suddenly from behind the trees, more people came. Darius couldn't possibly beat them all. In his mind, he must somehow save Talisa so that the leader of the fire element masters cannot rule the world with the help of her heart.
Darius hit the person in front of him with all his strength and then jumped while reaching his hand to grab Talisa. At the same time, the man standing in front of Talisa almost touched her throat. Darius or that person who got Talisa first, that's what determines her life now.
Darius managed to touch her thigh. He was just about to pull her away from the fire attack, but as soon as his hand touched her skin, Talisa suddenly glowed with a bright green light. Darius widened his eyes as her power radiated strongly from his touch.