"But then… when do you think we should go to their base, Tyel?" asked Syrmax, adjusting his monocle. "Even if they use Catripple as the bait, they might always decide to kill her; we can't be sure about it," he added. Tyel slowly turned around so that he could face Syrmax.
"I know… but for now, it is out of the question; we can't pass through that hole," answered Tyel.
"Then you'll need help to create a new one, right?" said Vane as he got up from the sofa and clashed his fists together.
"I've thought about that…" said Tyel as he sat back down. "I'll use my power to search for the best thing to steal inside the prison… something that can be used to create a hole in the walls," he added.
"But are you sure you can find something like that there?" asked Lily. "I find it impossible that someone like Zrelekai might leave such an important thing in the prison…"
"You don't know Zrelekai… he has definitely created something like that and probably forgot that it exists too, right?" asked Darian as he moved his head towards Tyel, who was currently lost in his thoughts.
"I was thinking of where he could have forgotten it… but only a few places come to mind," answered Tyel as he remained stuck in his thoughts, wondering where it could be located.
"Doesn't your power tell you?" asked Vane, confused. Tyel shook his head.
"I can only see what happens in the current day, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow when I'm going to return to work…" answered Tyel as he got up from the chair and noticed that since the moment he came inside, multiple hours had passed, and the time in which all of them would be killed had already passed.
"Are you going now, Tyel?" asked Syrmax. The other man nodded.
"Exactly. I'll go and think of a plan so that tomorrow I'll be able to bring you information," said Tyel as he started to go away. Right before going up the stairs, Orechin stopped him by positioning his hand over his shoulder.
"And Tyel… do you think you could already give us information about this tomorrow…?" asked Orechin as he looked down, and Tyel recognized that look; it was the same expression Orechin had at the moment he had seen Catripple's head rolling on the ground.
'He must be scared for Catripple's fate…' thought Tyel as he smiled warmly. "I'll be as fast as I can… and I promise you, I will not let Catripple die." Hearing these words, a weak smile appeared again on Orechin, who nodded his head.
"Thank you, Tyel," said Orechin as he smiled warmly, watching Tyel go away.
"I'll give you information soon enough, everyone." Tyel waved back at the group before going out of the base.
"I can't believe all of this happened just today…" said Vane, surprised, as he fell back on the sofa, unable to believe what had just happened.
"But have you noticed? He seemed slightly tired the moment he used his power…" pointed out Syrmax, having noticed Tyel's face slightly changing as he was speaking. "It felt like he had already seen this scene multiple times…"
"Well, remember that he has got a power that lets him see the whole day… it definitely is a heavy burden for someone alone," answered Darian. "He has unlocked it just now; it's completely normal that he felt tired."
"I noticed it too… did you see his hands? He couldn't stop shaking as he spoke. To see our deaths and his too truly must have shocked him…" said Lily as she looked over everyone. The thought of everyone in this room dying made her hands shake in fear too.
"He spoke about Catripple like he had seen her dying multiple times… the scenes he described were too real," added Liro as he tried not to shake and remain calm.
Orechin didn't join in the conversation at first; he simply remained looking at the door Tyel had just closed. "He has always dreamed of being a hero…" said Orechin as he moved to return to the chair and looked at Syrmax.
"Do you remember the moment he joined the rebels, Syrmax?" asked Orechin. Syrmax adjusted his monocle and nodded. "How can I forget? He found our base all by himself, and the moment he presented himself at the front door, he begged to join the rebels so we could make him a hero…" answered Syrmax as he looked at the ceiling with some tears flowing from his eyes.
"How can we forget…" added Syrmax as he slowly wiped away the tears.
"Oh right, he never told us how he joined the group," pointed out Darian, as he was now curious to know how it went.
"Well, you see…" said Orechin, as he started to tell the story of the day Tyel joined the rebels.
The base was quiet. Only Eilwarin, Catripple, Orechin, and Syrmax were alive. A few days had passed since Ashikunz had killed most of the rebels, and the air in the base was heavy.
In those days, everyone remained silent, as they were too scared to talk with each other. Currently, they were all in the main room, and each of them was sitting in their chair, looking at each other quietly.
"We can't keep going like this… remaining in this base for the whole day will not help us." The first one to break the silence was Eilwarin. Catripple, next to him, tried to hold back her tears.
"But-but who is even willing to give us some help? After what happened, everyone in the city has started to ignore and avoid us more than they actually did…" she answered as she broke down in tears. Eilwarin started to hug her to make her feel safer.
"In the city, no one will help us… but outside? The other humans will definitely be able to help us," said Orechin as he tried to raise the mood in the room.
"But we don't even know if other humans actually exist… we can't be sure," said Catripple as she tried to wipe her tears with the help of Eilwarin.
"Uxar always told us that he knew there were three other huge cities in the world; we aren't the only ones," said Syrmax as he adjusted his monocle.
"Yeah… but if Ashikunz has killed eleven of us… how can we even escape safely?" said Catripple as she was able to calm herself down and slowly pulled away from Eilwarin's hug.
"We… we will figure something out." The moment Orechin finished speaking, a knock could be heard from the boxes covering the entrance.
"Impossible… they found us?" asked Eilwarin as he was the first one to get up from his chair to go and see what happened.
"It's impossible… I'll go and check too. You two remain there," said Orechin as he got up from his chair, and together with Eilwarin, he went up the stairs to check.
"Shhh," said Orechin as he signaled to Eilwarin to remain silent. He nodded, and the group waited silently at the entrance to hear something else.
"Maybe he went away?" whispered Eilwarin after a few seconds. Orechin looked at him, confused, not knowing either, when suddenly a voice was heard from behind the boxes.
"Rebels… please let me join your group."
The voice spoke with a serious tone. Normally, the group was always open to having someone join, but the fact that someone arrived directly knocking at their base to ask to join—it had never happened.
Catripple positioned herself in front of Syrmax, as she knew that Syrmax currently couldn't defend himself. "Hey, don't worry, it will be alright," said Syrmax with a calm voice as he positioned his hand over Catripple's shoulder. The woman was able to slightly calm herself down.
"Alright… but I wonder what happened… can you hear what they're saying?" she asked as she turned her head back. Syrmax shook his head. "Like you, I can't hear anything either," answered Syrmax as he fell silent again. Catripple in front of him did the same.
Orechin and Eilwarin remained silent. If this person intended to kill all of them, they couldn't afford to make a mistake; any word would reveal that there was someone behind these boxes.
"I know that you live there. Some days ago, I noticed that woman with the wings landing there… but I promise I'm not someone bad! I'm here to help you!" said the voice. Eilwarin and Orechin, realizing that Catripple had been spotted returning to the base after the fight against Ashikunz, realized that it was useless trying to hide, as this person could expose their base easily.
"And why would you want to join our group?" asked Orechin with a serious tone as he slowly moved the boxes. Eilwarin didn't even try to stop him, as he realized that if it was a bait, it was over for the rebels.
The moment he moved the boxes, Orechin saw only one person in front of the entrance. This guy was a bit chubby, and he couldn't see his face. The thing he noticed made him surprised and made him laugh softly, too.
In front of him was a guy who was dressed as a hero—someone who was dressed as Timehors, a hero from a tale of the old world who saved everyone by going back in time.
"Please… let me be a hero," said the guy, older than both Eilwarin and Orechin, with a serious face.
"Look, you probably know what happened recently against Ashikunz. It isn't that we don't want you…" said Orechin before being interrupted by Eilwarin with a small clap on his back.
"If you're actually someone willing to help us… why would we even let you join our group?" asked Eilwarin as he found this guy extremely interesting and smirked as he looked over him.
"I'm a guard of this city," said Tyel, extremely serious. Hearing these words, both Eilwarin and Orechin had fearful looks on their faces.
"And—and why would someone like you even want to join a group that is the enemy of the emperor?" asked Orechin, as both he and Eilwarin had started to sweat in fear.
"Because I'll never kneel in front of an enemy. Timehors hasn't done it either, and I will not do it either," answered Tyel, and in his eyes, it was like he was full of hope.
"You're a guard… but I've never seen you around. Do you work in a specific place?" asked Eilwarin, as he was starting to feel more curious about him.
Tyel nodded his head. "I work in the prison… and I have access to most information that a group like yours will never be able to get their hands on."
"We don't have much choice… he can literally tell everyone where we are…" whispered Eilwarin into Orechin's ear, but he wasn't listening anymore. Orechin was now completely focused on Tyel and how useful someone like him would be for the rebels.
"So you're really willing to save this city?" asked Orechin as he looked Tyel directly in the eyes. The guy nodded without hesitation.
"I'll do everything it takes… you see, I've always dreamed of working with the rebels. That is why I joined the enemy, so that one day I'd be extremely useful to your group. Until a few days ago, I wasn't able to get in contact with you, but now that I have… I want to work with you! I want to be a hero for this city! I want to be the one that will be able to save everyone… even if…" Suddenly Tyel's voice drastically dropped, and rather than looking at Orechin and Eilwarin, he moved his eyes to the ground. His voice got stuck as he couldn't speak anymore.
"Even if?" asked Orechin with a calm voice as he tried to reassure Tyel, who was visibly stressed, his fists clenched hard.
"Even if I don't have an actual power…" said Tyel as he raised his face. Orechin and Eilwarin were both surprised by his statement, as they had never met anyone who didn't have a power.
"Man, I will never forget how I felt when he told us that his power hadn't awakened yet…" said Orechin as he stretched himself, leaning back in the chair.
"That surely must have taken you by surprise, eh?" asked Lily. Syrmax nodded.
"Yeah… but now we're both extremely happy and proud of him. Since he joined the rebels, he has helped us so much… it's thanks to him that we were able to get you out of the prison," said Syrmax.
"I fully trust him… I can't wait to see how useful Tyel's power will be for us," added Orechin as he looked at the door where Tyel had gone out a few hours ago, with hope in his eyes.