"I hope that tomorrow Tyel will tell us something more about his plan," whispered Liro, in the room with him, Vane had already fallen asleep, and his snoring was covering Liro's voice.
"I'm sure he will. I just wonder if the plan will happen tomorrow or another day…" Lily didn't even need to whisper, as no guards were around and Vane's snoring covered most of their conversation.
Before speaking again, Liro suddenly sat up on the bed and started to kick his feet in the air as he fiddled with his fingers. "But what if we're too late for Darian?"
"Hey, we've already talked about this." As she spoke, Lily got up from her bed and sat down as well. "We all know it's selfish, but we will think about ourselves first and then Darian. At first, I didn't trust Tyel… but as time passed, I realized that he is our only hope, and I fully trust what he is doing." Lily noticed that Liro was still a bit unsure, so she raised her voice slightly.
"Listen to me, Liro. You have to believe that everything will be alright. We will be able to save ourselves, Darian, Snowy, and Catripple too. Tyel will not leave Catripple in the hands of that stupid scientist, and I'm sure he wants Darian to be free too." Luckily, no one was able to hear Lily, but they heard metallic footsteps approaching.
"Now rest. I'm sure that tomorrow everything will be alright," she added before turning around and falling asleep. The robotic guards noticed Liro sitting on his bed, not sleeping, and immediately pointed their rifles toward him.
"You're not allowed to stay awake!" spoke one of the two guards in a commanding tone. "I'm sorry!" he said as he lowered his head and immediately lay down on the bed with his eyes closed. 'Please… don't let it be too late…' With this thought in mind, Liro slowly fell asleep.
Down in the city, the rebels were currently having a meeting. The same people as last time were there, and Tyel was standing next to the table looking down at his notes. He had just slammed his hands onto the table and was sweating.
"I... I actually think this might work," said Tyel, as he couldn't believe the plan the other two rebels had just told him. Tyel slowly moved his eyes to face the man with the multicolored hair. "Orechin… but doesn't your crystal have a sort of range? Will I be able to make them work even if you're not there with me?" asked Tyel as he slowly grabbed one of the blue crystals next to him. The moment he touched it, he felt dizzy, so he slowly put it back.
"I will need to remain near the building, and I can do that without any problem…" As Orechin started to speak, the other man with orange hair interrupted him.
"But you already know who will find you if you stay in front of the building for too long, it will not take much for him to spot you."
"Tch, that stupid Corvinus… but will he not come for you, Syrmax?" asked Orechin. Syrmax shook his head and adjusted his monocle. "There will already be all the guards. You know he wants to take all the glory for himself."
"Tch, right…" With this, Orechin smashed one of the red crystals in his hands. The moment he destroyed it, the room suddenly became hotter. "Are you sure you will be able to counter him alone, Orechin?" asked Tyel, worried.
"Hey, who do you think you're talking to? Remember that these crystals were able to keep Ashikunz occupied," he said as he created some blue crystals over his hands.
"But we know how it ended…" said Syrmax as he slowly looked away, remembering that the last time he took care of Ashikunz, the enemy was still able to kill Eilwarin.
"Don't worry. Corvinus is a lot weaker. I won't have any problem taking care of him." With this, the three men in the small room all nodded their heads.
"Then Tyel… tomorrow you go and tell the plan to the others. We must not lose any time, we don't know how much time we have left," said Orechin as he smirked wildly. Tyel gave him a warm smile and grabbed a small mask next to him. This mask had some clocks on it, and Tyel had created it because it reminded him of one of his favorite heroes.
He was called Timehors, and with his power, he could turn back time to save everyone. Tyel had always used this mask for these kinds of missions; thanks to this cover, no one was able to recognize him, and he could help the rebels without any problem.
'Let's hope that my power will awake soon…' Tyel grabbed the mask and looked at it while holding it tight. "Soon we will work together again," he whispered as he looked at the mask happily. The other men looked at him and smiled warmly.
The following day, Liro and the others were already outside and immediately spotted Tyel in the same spot, smiling at them warmly. "C'mon, we should go there," said Liro as he slowly reached the place Tyel was guarding. The three of them leaned against one side of the same tree, and Tyel, to give the impression that he was listening to what they were saying, did the same on the other side.
"Let's start by saying that the plan will start tomorrow, which is another day off for me," said Tyel as he began to speak while looking toward the corner of the prison, ensuring no one would see him talking.
"Oh, so you can help us from the outside? Are you sure this is worth it?" asked Lily, confused.
"I know this might seem crazy, but I have my ways of entering… and the others have a plan to save Darian and Catripple too. That is why I need to remain outside," answered Tyel with a serious tone.
Hearing these words, Liro's face lit up. The moment he realized they could save both Darian and Catripple, he became very happy and couldn't wait to hear the whole plan. "That's great! Then go ahead and explain everything to us, Tyel," said Liro, and with that, Tyel started to explain the entire plan to them.
Almost an hour passed, and the group had finally finished speaking about the plan. "In the end, this is the plan. Just to let you know, I'm not asking what you think because it cannot be changed. We don't have any more time; the situation is dire."
"Are things with Darian and Catripple getting worse?" asked Lily worriedly. Tyel nodded. "Sadly, yeah. Zrelekai hasn't left Darian's room for almost a day; he didn't even go to Catripple. When this happens, the experiment doesn't have much longer to live…"
"How long do you think Darian might resist?" asked Liro. Tyel thought about it for a moment before answering. "Hard to tell, but it won't be more than two days." The moment Tyel finished speaking, someone entered the garden who shocked everyone, even the guards.
The one to enter the garden was the most important general in the prison. He was followed by six swords floating right behind his back. He had his face covered by a crow mask, and the moment he entered, the whole prison turned silent.
"Who is he…?" whispered Vane as he looked at Liro and Lily, who both shook their heads, clearly not knowing either.
"Mhmm, I'm seeing too many people relaxing here," said the man as he walked threateningly into the garden. Suddenly, a newbie human guard approached him. "Sir Corvinus! As you can see, everything is going alright. There isn't anything dangerous happening with the prisoners!" he said, his voice too high. Corvinus slowly moved his face to look him directly in the eyes.
"And are you right?" he said as he looked around and noticed a lot of prisoners in the bushes who had been talking to each other before he arrived.
"Yes, I'm completely su—" The guard couldn't even finish his sentence before the blades behind Corvinus split into two pairs and cut the body of the guard in half. "You don't say everything is alright when there are people not working for our emperor Ashikunz!!" he shouted angrily. The newbie guard, who hadn't expected it, found the upper part of his body lying on the ground with tons of blood pouring out of it.
Many prisoners screamed in fear while others remained silent as they were used to this kind of stuff. The other prisoners who were hiding in the bushes got up and started to walk with their heads low toward the middle of the garden. Corvinus looked at them and nodded. "And this is how you act." Suddenly, Corvinus noticed that not all the prisoners had moved away; Liro's group had remained in their spot near the tree.
"Oh… and look who we have here. I've never seen you around," he said as he walked toward Liro and the others with the floating blades covered in blood. The robotic guards went to take the lifeless guard's body away.
"Guard Tyel, were you listening to their conversation without any trouble?" he asked as he walked threateningly toward them. Suddenly, Tyel stepped away from the tree and looked at Corvinus with a serious expression.
"I was listening to their conversation. They were just complaining about Zrelekai's bad food," said Tyel without any fear. 'What?! He will kill us instantly!' thought Liro, terrified. He felt that talking badly about anything related to the prison in Corvinus's presence was certain death.
"Mhm. Because I agree with them, I will let them go for now. But…" Corvinus slowly pointed the blades toward them. "If I see you here again, you'll not leave this garden alive." With that, Corvinus started to head back inside. The moment he left, everyone in the garden, the guards included, gave a sigh of relief.
"He saved us…" whispered Liro, unable to believe what had just happened. "How did that work, Tyel?" asked Lily, also in shock. The moment Corvinus went back inside, the prisoners returned to talking normally, and the guards looked sad that one of their friends had died by Corvinus's hands.
"You see, Corvinus is someone who totally adores Ashikunz. He wants to be his number one subordinate, but because of Zrelekai, he isn't able to be. That is why he completely hates that guy," whispered Tyel as he returned behind the tree.
"And you hope to bait him outside alone?!" Vane, who still couldn't fully trust Tyel's plans, remained shocked by what had happened.
"But as I've told you before, his way of acting is the thing that will help us. You don't have to worry about Orechin. As I've told you, he was able to survive against Ashikunz when he wasn't being serious at all."
"That shouldn't be a great feat…" whispered Liro. The moment he finished his sentence, the bell started to ring, meaning it was time for the prisoners to head inside.
"Tomorrow you'd better be ready, as it will be the day." With that, Tyel watched Liro and the others slowly head inside. "We'll be ready… don't worry." As all the prisoners headed back, Tyel watched them with one thought in mind: 'And now… we just need to hope that everything will be alright.'