Far from any of the surprise fires, Oli eagerly waited inside the shadows of that dead-end alley.
Fifteen minutes passed by quickly, in reality. But it seemed to take much longer due to Oli's curious mind attempting to deduce what his mom and the others were planning.
Eventually, Oli's mind was finally able to discover what came next when his wait came to an end.
Oli reappeared inside the makeshift shelter in his drake form. He questioned whether he needed to keep hiding inside but decided to continue doing so, just to be safe.
*Mom said to throw it on the ground,* Oli mentally surmised. *It looks and feels like a teleporting orb. But I doubt it's for me. They wouldn't send me inside just to teleport me back out, would they? No. Otherwise, they would have me crush it in my hand like we were told back during the qualifier.
*So I guess I don't need to break it on the ground under me… Let's try there.*