The aftermath of the battle went smoothly. The pix soldiers help contain the fire with water and help from Emily’s servant. Thankfully, no one got killed, and thanks to Rebecca, she healed them all back to full health.

She was in the improvised tent, healing the new guy, Silvano. "There, that should do it." She finished bandaging the wound on his shoulder and gave him a small dose of painkillers.

Silvano was impressed. The moment this woman arrived, she started to heal everyone’s wounds; her power was better than the healing potions they took to stay alive. What was most impressive was her ability and calm demeanor. She was like a professional doctor, but she was too young to be one.

"If there is any problem, you can ask me to check on you later."

"No, it's perfect; it’s like I never got hurt in the first place. did you study medicine or something about health before all this happened?"

Rebecca didn’t answer, but he saw her eyes looking far away with a sad expression. It only lasted for a moment before she made that small emotion disappear. "No, is just the power the System gave me. How about you? Are you the one who made that portal?"

He got tense, as he thought the others who helped him had seen his ability. He didn’t want to show it since it was a very valuable power, but he was alone here in the middle of another world different from the desert. Before he could think of an excuse to change the subject, someone entered the tent.

"How is our guest feeling?" It was Silas with Cink at his side.

"He should be fine, and didn’t I tell you to not move too much? Your lung is still recovering."

"Sorry, but I think talking with another human is more important than me staying resting."

"Everyone else is here too; you don’t have to push yourself to do everything." She knew all about his relentless side and how he tried to take all the responsibilities when something happened.

"Calm down; let’s not show our ugly side. Let me introduce myself. My name is Cink. I’m from a race called Pix." He extended his hand, and Silvano took it.

"I see, there are pix here too. That means this is one of the worlds of the System."

"Oh, you know my kind?"

"Yes, I was living in the desert world after the System took me. I've been living with pix in a hidden village."

Cink's eyes changed. "Those pix were part of an empire or other organization?"

"No, they were living alone inside the Rock until the attack."

Everything Silvano said generated more questions. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain, so Silas started by asking the most important question.

"Are you the one who made that portal in the sky?"

He couldn’t answer, but it was obvious. The tolgar followed him here, and they could interrogate him about the situation. Playing dumb was useless, but still.

"I can’t talk about it; please just let me go back."

"Go back where?"

"To the Rock, my companions could be still alive. If that bastard captured them to use as slaves, I need to save them, and the tribe is in danger too."

"Who are your companions? And how is the tolgar related to you? We need information. We save your life; don’t you think being honest with us is for the best?"

"I know! You’re strong, but you saw how strong that bastard was. He’s not alone; his group is probably looking for him. Getting involved is too dangerous; forget about me coming here."

"You can’t expect us to let you go. You know about us, and if you get captured, anyone could torture you for the information. You could very well sell us to save your own skin." Silas went straight to the point. "If you can’t give us information or refuse to cooperate, we don’t have any reason to keep you alive."

"Silas, you don’t have to threaten him so much." Rebecca interrupted him. "We need to prove we’re trustworthy to him. Give him a warranty; we aren’t looking to cause damage or take over his land."

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It was understandable; taking him to the capital could be effective, just like the negotiations with the pix tribes; that should be proof enough of their cooperation and interest in building a civilization. The problem was, what would happen if Silvano refused? They would reveal their position and capital without gaining anything.

In that case, the best thing would be to kill him before he could use his power to escape, but they had no idea of the conditions or the way his power worked. He could activate by just thinking about: what if he recovers enough energy to escape far away into the forest, and then he uses another portal to escape back to the other world? There are too many variables, and if we torture him for the information, we’re abandoning any future attempt at cooperation.

Snapping him out of his paranoia, Cink proposed an idea. "It is clear to me that all of us aren’t looking to start a fight. Since you’re at a disadvantage, Silvano. I’ll tell you the name of our group. We are the Pix-Dawn alliance. I represent the pix side as the head of the council, and like you, I was taken from my world thousands of years ago."

"Wait? You’re saying you have powers too! I didn’t know pix could have powers!" He couldn’t hold back his surprise.

"Hehe, yeah most of the others with power have perished along the way. The other side is the guild; Dawn, Silas, and Rebecca are a couple of them. All the humans that save your life are members. We join forces to gain control of this part of the forest."

Now it was him whose head was full of questions.

"How about making a deal? You’ll come with us to a special place, and I and the other members of Dawn will answer your questions. If you still feel you can’t trust us, you can keep quiet, but if you feel like maybe working together is better to save the tribe and your companions, then we can discuss having you become part of our alliance."

Cink was smooth in his proposition; he explained everything, making sure Silvano couldn’t reach a wrong conclusion or refuse. In the end, he agreed.

After leaving him to prepare for the journey, Silas talked to Cink. "You cunning old bastard. You want us to take him to our secret base."

"As always, you are smart, Silas. You catch up quickly."

"I can assume that you’re planning to kill him if he refuses after explaining everything, right?"

"Don’t talk like I’m already sentencing him to death. I let you know that I and Jacob are masters of negation, hehe." Cink laugh but he could see beyond the silly old pix appearance.

Yeah, but if this doesn’t go your way, you won’t hesitate to kill him. You’re also going to see our secret base that I made for Dawn members. Taking two birds with one stone.

After a year of living together, he still felt the same admiration and annoyance toward Cink’s strategies. He didn’t have the feeling the alliance was at risk, and neither wanted to betray the other; it was more like a game between the two to gain the upper hand.

Silas smiled to himself, making sure Cink couldn’t see him. I’m learning from you, old man. One day, I’ll beat you.

With that small promise to keep their friendly game, he went to see the other members and prepared to go to their hideout.

***

The secret base of Dawn was built a few months ago thanks to the efforts of Nadine, Emily, and her servant. Silas proposed the idea of having a base for only them, far away from the pix eyes and the soldiers, a true place only for them to use as a safe haven in case the worst happened. If all of their allies turned their backs or somehow were pushed to the brink of destruction, they would still have one hope to live. One last chance to make it, even if it meant dropping everything they built and running away with their lives.

It was far from the borders of the territory of the alliance. In the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains and dangerous beasts, but thanks to Emily’s servant, no beast dared to come close. It stopped in front of a small cave hidden behind roots and vines.

"Thank you, Meliae. I don’t have any meat on me right now, sorry." She apologized, but the servant didn’t complain; in fact, it sounded like it was happy to be around her.

"Wait, Meliae?" Silas asked.

"Oh, you weren’t there. Calling him servant all the time was weird, so I gave him a name. Come on, tell him you’re grateful for riding all the way on his back."

"S-sure. Thanks, Meliae." Everyone else did the same.

Se’ky was unconscious at one of the roots. "If it tries to escape, break his arms and legs; but if he still manages to get away, tell me and capture him. You can kill him if you must." Meliae nodded.

"Hey, how are we going to interrogate him if he’s dead?" Silas protested.

"I don’t care; I already gave him a chance." It was pointless to keep bickering outside, so they entered the cave.

It was a dark passage with some torches at the entrance. This was the first barrier. A heavy metal door with a keyhole. There were only two copies of the key in the hands of Nadine and Emily.

Nadine took a step forward and opened it. They went inside, and after another long hallway, they arrived at a big space inside the mountain. In the center was a three-story building. The inside of the first floor was a room for discussion with tables and all kinds of supplies like maps and documents.

Silvano thought this was their base, but Cink shattered that illusion.

"This feels too small for you, Silas. Let me think, this is the guest room, and the real base is somewhere in these tunnels."

"Of course, you really think I’ll show you our real secrets that easily? This is the fake base if someone manages to get their hands on the key. The real base is much harder to find."

"Huh, I guess you win this one." Silvano had no clue what they were talking about.

After taking a seat, Jacob introduced the other members and explained the fight with Se’ky. Next was Cink, who answered his questions and explained the information they received almost a year ago in the same way.

The Valein and how they were the first ones being taken by the System. The other races, the beginning of the Fifth Age with the arrival of humans. How they can’t grow old and the foundation of their alliance.

He couldn’t believe everything they went through, but he couldn’t feel any lies. His heart started to accept it, and he wanted to take the weight off his chest.

"I’ll tell you about everything I lived in that desert."