"Then what’s the plan?" Nadine asked. "Are you serious about playing a bet with those guys, or are we trying to get the jump on them?"

"Both. If they can keep their word, then it is better to play by the rules, but if they try to cheat or refuse to give us the things we won, then we need to have everyone available."

"Pretty dumb, letting them choose all the games."

"If they lose, they are more likely to accept it. They have the advantage after all; they don’t expect to lose to a small, unknown guild they've never heard of before."

"What are you going to ask them to bet?"

"I need time to think about it, but one thing is certain: the material for the gate is the most important one. Maybe the others have an idea or need something."

"Yeah, if I get my hands on that material, I could make a real portal instead of depending on Silvano’s power."

"First, we need to secure the wall. Captain: Have the soldiers reinforce the walls, and repair the damage. Jacob, can you stay on guard in case they try anything?"

"Sure partner. How did the talk go?"

He took a while to explain, but after that, Silvano and he went back to the base of Dawn to talk with the other members. Fighting or playing games they were going to need the whole guild present.

***

Meliae moved his massive roots and moved across the valley. He was carrying the remaining members of Dawn on his back, along with the prisoner.

Silas explained the situation to them and Cink. The council always wanted to question him about more things, but there was no time. They had to take all the pix outside and back to the temporary village in case the Crimson Dawn betrayed them and tried to attack.

"What are we going to do if they ask for slaves in the bet?" Nora asked.

Silas looked below and made sure that Se’ky couldn’t hear them. "We just need to win that game, but if we lose, we’ll have to run."

Like most important decisions, they put it to a vote, and everyone was against giving them a single pix to use as a slave. "I rather make enemies of those guys that have Cink and the rest of the tribes turn against us here."

"And what if they asked us for other things like weapons or materials? Are we just going to give up without a fight?"

"I don’t want to, but fighting those guys is not something we should do. Emily, you were there; support me a little."

"Yes, we could win, but the losses on our side would be too great. Besides, they have more caravans. Losing objects or weapons is better than losing people."

"Then we just have to win those games or whatever. Let's do it." Franco was ready.

They arrived at the entrance of the village, where the pix were entering across the portal. Silvano was sweating after having to transport so many people, but it was all part of the preparations.

"Sorry for having you work so much, Silvano. Don’t worry, after this you can rest and wait for the result of the games."

"I know that if things go badly, I'll take us all back here. I'd like to help more, but I'm struggling to stand right now." He was gasping for air.

"You already did a lot, leave the rest to us; we are going to win these games three to zero!" Nathan was full of spirit.

After evacuating all the civilians, Silas and the others crossed back to the desert.

"Captain Karkus, are the forces ready in case of a battle?"

"Yes, sir. We have 100 pix ready for battle among the tunnels. We’re all standing on the paths leading to the central village. Chief Puy is also there with a few of his personal guards."

"Why didn't he evacuate?"

"He says he wants to stay until he can see that the Rock has been lost. It is his responsibility as the chief."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Tch, what a dumb old man. Whatever he refused on his own. Let's go outside; the sun should be about to come out."

The outside of the Rock was filled with small tents all around. They were from the Crimson Caravan. The white and red clashed with the sand, but they didn’t care about it; they were too busy celebrating the games that were about to begin.

It was really similar to a carnival. They were cooking all kinds of meat and vegetables. drinking from wooden cups while singing songs under the moon with joy and laughter. Some of them were making circus tricks by running around in balls and juggling knives at the same time. The animals were jumping through fire hoops, and the sand elementals built statues of the leaders of the caravan.

"They have been doing this all night. It's mostly the low-ranked members; the guy named David and the leader went inside a long time ago and haven’t come out." Jacob informed them; he spent the entire day watching over them from the wall.

Even during the party, he could see the slaves working for their masters by moving food, carrying barrels of drinks, and making dumb tricks to entertain them.

"It's not only pix, there are a lot of other creatures they use as slaves. They whipped them for any mistake and sometimes juts hurt them for fun. Do you see that barrel filled with water? A small creature, no bigger than a pix, was forced to stay inside for ten minutes with the cover closed, holding his breath. I thought it was a common thing for that race to live without air, but they almost drowned it."

"How did it manage to survive that long?"

"It made a hole in the cover for air, but they were too drunk to notice. Silas, I can’t stand watching them anymore. Tell me we’re not giving them anything." Jacob was serious, and his eyes were full of contempt for them.

"We’re winning all the games. If we lose, then we’re just running away and fighting them later. But I won’t let them take anyone alive if it comes to that; you have my word."

"Thanks, partner." It was all he needed to hear. Jacob trusted Silas’s words. Because he had already seen it so many times, he always stayed loyal to the guild. Even when his opinion was in the minority, he followed the decision of the others, giving 100%. That was what made Silas so reliable.

The sun came out, and the ashen-skinned leader appeared from inside the bandwagon. Silas went forward to talk and show him the list of things. The two met in the middle of the terrain.

"It's been a while since we had a carnival of games. Sorry if my men made too much noise in front of your wall."

"Don’t worry; let's start all this soon. I want to have this matter settled before the sun sets today."

"Hahahaha, so confident. You have no idea what games we like to play. I get that you propose three games to increase your chances of winning a single game, but you may discover you bite off more than you can handle." Grimdow had a mocking smile; he was clearly enjoying this.

Silas looked at the list of things to bet and the games they were going to play. From Grimdow side, they wanted rare items, gold or precious metals, and 200 pix slaves. From Dawn's side, they asked for materials to build a portal to another world, rare items or armor, and information about the current state of the other worlds.

"I see, good things to have in your position, but before we begin, I need to know if you have the things we ask for, as well as our dear Beast Master."

"Sure, Emily, bring him here!" He yelled to the wall, and they brought Se’ky in a metal box made of green stone.

Nadine was the only one who could build a way to keep him restrained; she had to use the last reserves of green stone they had found in the forest, but it was the better material they had. Anything of lesser quality, and Se’ky would have broken it from the inside with his bare fists.

"Green stone, and so many in a single cage. You guys came from the Bors jungle. How did you manage to survive among those monsters?"

"Sorry, you should have asked for information if you wanted to know the answer. You can take the cage as part of the precious metals, and in case you need special items, I can give you this." He pointed to his necklace.

"What does it do?"

"It can make you invisible, like this." He made himself invisible, but he could feel Grimdow’s eyes following him, but he wasn't sure if it was because he could see through it or maybe it was his natural perception. He became visible again. "Is it this good enough?"

"Mmm, I can take it, but I need to make the bet equal. Since you also want items from us if you win, you can only take a single item from our inventory, with a limit on the rarity of the object."

"Then let's decide the order of bets." After some deliberation, the order came out like this.

First game: The beast taming competition. Silas’s necklace vs. an item from the Crimson Caravan’s inventory.

Second game: The obstacle race. Cage made of green stone vs. information about the other worlds.

Third game: Last man standing ring. Materials to make a portal vs. 200 pix slaves.

There are a few more rules. Violence between the competitors in the game was forbidden, and the number of people participating in a game was limited to three per team. Also, one person couldn’t participate in more than one game.

They’re putting unnecessary restrictions on their side too. I guess they are more similar to a circus than a merchant group. They want to make this a show.

"Now I have to ask you to release Se’ky; he’s going to represent us in the first game."

"Only one person? You have two more spots and hundreds of lackeys to help him. Aren't you underestimating us?"

"Not at all. This is going to be his chance to redeem himself."

Nadine unlocked the cage, allowing the tolgar to return to his master.

"Grimdow master." He immediately knelt. "I’m deeply ashamed for failing to take over the Rock and losing to these insignificant creatures."

"Look at me, Se’ky." He grabbed his head with his hand. "Failure is part of life, but as part of the Crimson Caravan, we need to uphold the Baron’s name across the worlds. You’re going to clean up your mistake by winning the first game."

"Yes!" His eyes were full of inspiration. Grimdow didn’t threaten or hurt him, but Se’ky felt the weight of his master’s voice.

The Crimson Caravan doesn’t need dead weight.