Silas still had his laser rifle; he aimed at the crazy musician and shot. The interval between the drum attacks wasn’t fast enough to block the attack.

With a swift movement, the baton sent a violin to block the laser, and now he was vulnerable to a counterattack.

"I applaud your determination, but I can’t let my performance be interrupted. The dead need peace." He looked down at Silvano, but he wasn’t there; he only saw a small portal closing.

Hendrix didn’t have time to look as he felt a massive spear striking his right side.

"Aaaahhhh!" He vomited blood and tried to grab his right shoulder. His whole side was impaled by the shadow. "What? How?"

His mind reached the most probable conclusion: the shadow spears could be stronger. The dragon waited for a chance for him to drop his guard.

"No, this only occurred because you attacked me... Were you under the influence of the shadow too?"

Silas was on the ground with both legs pinned with spears. "No, I just decided to use him to take you out. I knew he wanted to keep me alive for torture. I was just warning Silvano to get out of the way."

Silvano managed to use the last of his willpower to open a portal and dodge the spear.

Hendrix couldn't keep his focus, the instruments vanished, and he kneeled in the dirt, attempting to stop the blood loss. He was losing consciousness; his fine clothes were bloody, and the small pool was getting cold.

"Ah, this is… death. How unfortunate that I couldn't even hear the song I desired... I’m sorry, Basil. I failed to overcome this trial. I guess this is the extent of my potential…"

With that, several spears turned him into mincemeat. Silas watched the gruesome sight; not a single spear attacked him.

"You give yourself too much credit, human. I was the one using you. I knew you would go to save your friend. This annoying fight is over; I’ll take my time breaking you." The dragon smiled, but a cut in the neck sent his head flying.

It was Sesius; he got close and slashed the neck with one cut.

"How? My rain is still active. You should be impaled on the ground!" The shadow spoke from the headless torso, and the rain stopped.

"He was telling the truth; you were the one being used." Sesius’s body was covered in black goo with only a few scratches, and the shadow spear lost its sharpness. "He did it; while he was charging at the other human, he told me to look above. He made me a path using your power, weakening the spears so I could reach you."

He slashed through the torso, stabbing the heart of the shadows and revealing the true form of the Rak. A small core of darkness crawled across the floor.

"Stop, you have a chance to gain knowledge that you could never imagine. The secrets of the System and its worlds. Power beyond anything you have ever seen."

"How predictable! The first thing they teach us about your kind is that all the Rak are scheming cowards that would offer anything to save themselves."

"Will you keep being a servant, Sesius? We can work together. I won’t even take over your mind; I'll tell you everything I know. We can find him, the murderer you have been looking for so long." The core made a small hand of shadows trying to reach Sesius’s leg. Not to beg, but to take over his body.

He slashed the hand and stabbed the core. It felt like a mix of flesh and stone being broken.

"Don’t you dare look into my memories. I'm a captain of the Valein army, not a puppet."

The remains of the shadow core turned into dust; this was the final death. A rak can regenerate and recover from any injury, but if the core is destroyed, it's the end. There were no second chances for these creatures; maybe that’s why they were all so egoistic and paranoid.

The fight ended, and the winner was the Valein army.

***

Silas opened his eyes again, looking at the white of the medical tent. Right by his side were two doctors. He was too exhausted to move this time. No, it was something else keeping him tied. He looked at his side and saw that his arms were cuffed to the sides of the bed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Call the captain. He’s awake." One of the doctors went outside, and soon he saw Sesius' familiar face.

"It didn’t take you more than a single day to wake up this time. I guess because you aren’t infected anymore. The original shadow disappeared, as well as the infection. Luckily, we didn’t have to use your power."

"That’s nice, but why am I handcuffed to the bed?"

"According to protocol, I should have you in stasis. I'm actually going easy on you."

"Really, I did help you kill the dragon."

"And you also disobeyed my order and didn’t learn about the other human powers. You took a risk to save your companion."

"So, I’m getting arrested?"

"That depends. Leave us for a moment." The doctor left the tent so they could talk alone.

Sesius took something from his uniform.

"I was looking at your belongings. The first time we found you, my men reported that you didn’t have anything special other than the green ore sword. Some inventions, like lanterns and flashlights, intrigued me, so I decided to take a look. I found this inside a notebook in your backpack."

It was the card of the Crimson Caravan. It only had the symbol, nothing else.

"My men must have thought it was a primitive language or sign. They were going to take it back to the research team, but I recognize this symbol. I saw it on the wanted list of criminals. The Crimson Caravan, a two star bounty."

"You have bounties?"

"The army can’t be everywhere; the bounty system is to allow easy communication and assess the threat level of an individual or organization. We offer rewards to encourage collaboration with friendly parties."

"But those rewards only have value in the empire's territory, right? That way, you can convince them to join the empire permanently. It’s a good bait; if you find any strong bounty hunters with potential, you can persuade them to join the army."

"Why would you work with low-life criminals like this, Silas?"

"It’s a long story. I don’t feel like talking. My arms are still broken; can we leave this for later?"

"No, I need to know your answer."

"To what?"

"Join the army, Silas. Work with us, and all of your companions can do the same." He went straight to the point.

"You saw how weak I am. You don’t need me."

"You’re not the first ones. The Empire has taken a lot of humans as refugees across the worlds. Some of them joined the army and other positions, but most have chosen to stay as civilians. I saw it in your eyes when we first met, but you aren’t looking for an easy life. You want to use your power and squeeze it to the fullest."

"You don’t even know the rest of my guild."

"No, but I assume they have great abilities too. If they don’t want to, they can stay as civilians. Everyone makes mistakes, Silas, but the moment we choose to rectify them is when we grow." He looked down at the card in his hand.

The meaning was clear: If he joined the army, his relationship with the Crimson Caravan would be forgiven.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"The way you made plans in the heat of battle and your ability to copy powers. I sense great potential in you. I can recommend you as a provisional sergeant. If you do well, you can join as a permanent member of the army, and with training, you could become a captain in a few years."

Sesius wanted to train him under his wing, but he wasn’t opposed to having him in another company or even division. The most important thing was having Silas join them and use his power for good.

Silas wasn’t sure how to react; he already saw firsthand the rigid way the Valein army worked with a clearly defined hierarchy. He always had trouble obeying rules and orders he deemed dumb. On the other hand, this could be the best thing for the Pix-Dawn alliance. Working under the Empire and gaining their protection.

The thing that makes the most sense is for us to join them. Cink worked with them, and besides being rigid and asking for obedience, he didn’t say they were that bad. We can’t complain once we join; if they decide to act in one way, we have to obey orders.

He wasn’t willing to give up his freedom yet. They worked so hard for over a year to unite the pix tribes, and now they were about to hand them over to another government. Not a chance; he wasn’t the leader, so they had to talk with all the members. Everyone had to make the choice on their own.

"I’m sorry Sesius, I…" His words were cut short as he began to fall into bed. A portal appeared and whisked him away.

"Silas!" exclaimed the valein, reaching out his hands to grab him. He managed to stop the portal from pulling him inside, but then something broke his left hand.

It was a punch; on the other side of the portal, someone punched his hand. Immediately after a barrier pushed his other hand away, Silas got outside his reach, free from the handcuffs.

As he came out from the other side, Silas understood what just happened. He was rescued by Silvano, Nora, Nathan, and Franco.

"I knew he was there. I could feel it with my power."

"You guys, what are you doing there?"

"Did you forget what we talk before you left. If you took longer than a day, I was coming here with the cavalry." Nathan pointed to Franco and Nora.

"Nadine, Rebecca, and Emily went to look in another direction, but we found Silvano. He told us about what happened."

"Sorry if I had to get forceful, but I’m tired of having to punch everything that jumps in the dark. What were those hands holding onto you?" Franco asked.

"It's a long story." He was happy to see them, and he hugged Silvano. "We did it; the shadow is dead."

"Sorry for taking him towards you. It was my fault."

"It all worked out in the end, and that guy is also dead. We did it, we won!"

He would explain things later; now it was time to return home and party. Once the nine members of Dawn were together again, free from infection and enemies, they threw a party in the capital.

Later, they’ll talk about the rak, the Valein Army, and Hendrix. Today was the time to celebrate their victories.

But it wouldn’t take long for them to face their biggest trial until now...