The silence that followed was heavy, almost suffocating.
The Holts weren't just meddling with something dangerous, they were crossing lines that should never be touched.
They had taken control of a realm created by the Nagas, the strongest race in our galaxy, and were now using it to carry out experiments, sell beings of that race as slaves, or worse, kill them. It was insane.
A part of me began to wonder, was the world of Peanu involved in this? Or, more specifically, how deep did their involvement go?
Because the Holts were not strong or gutsy enough to do all this alone. But even Peanus were not strong enough to go against the Nagas and that meant there were more people involved in this mess.
Ana's voice broke the silence before I could follow that thought further.
"As for how we were captured," she began, her voice lowering, "that's still a mystery to me."
She paused, her eyes distant. I stayed quiet and listened.
"We were traveling to a nearby planet, one of our allied races had invited us for training. It was supposed to be a safe and routine mission. There were ten of us in total. I was with three other Redscale youths, and we were being led by Elder Roger. The Frostclaw tribe had sent four young warriors too, led by Elder Dravik."
As she said the elders' names, her hand clenched into a fist on her lap. Her tone grew colder.
"Midway through the journey, there was an explosion on our ship. We don't know if it came from inside, some kind of malfunction or if someone attacked us from the outside.
Everything happened so fast. The alarm blared, the lights went red, and before we could even react properly, we were forced to crash-land on a remote planet."
Her wings twitched slightly behind her, and she took a breath before continuing.
"Just minutes after landing, we were ambushed. Rogue outlaws. Dozens of them. They moved fast, like they were waiting for us. Our elders tried to fight back, but they were outnumbered. Two against ten, maybe more. It wasn't even a fight"
She looked down, eyes burning with the memory.
"We were captured. All of us. And after that..." she shook her head slowly. "I woke up here, inside this realm. I don't know how we were brought in or why."
I narrowed my eyes, trying to piece it together. Something didn't add up.
"Then how did you find this pocket realm?" I asked.
She let out a soft chuckle, the corner of her mouth lifting.
"That was actually a coincidence. Elder Roger used one of his techniques to send me out of the main prison area. The goal was to reach the outside world and get help... but instead, I ended up here, in this hidden realm."
I raised an eyebrow, and she continued.
"There was a teleportation circle inside the old hut. When I activated it, I appeared inside that giant tree—the one you climbed down into. From there, I found the tunnel, the beasts, and everything else you've already seen."
Steve leaned forward slightly, curiosity flashing in his eyes.
"What about the beasts, the apes, the bear, all of them?"
She smiled, this time with more warmth.
"They're my friends. They were traveling with us before we were captured, King Ape, Black Mamba, both the Sama Bears. The others, like the rats and the crab beast, were already living in this realm. I just… befriended them."
She glanced out toward the door, maybe thinking of them.
"You could say that's one of the perks of being Feran. We don't just speak with the beasts—we connect with them. Understand them. That makes it easier for us to earn their trust."
I nodded slowly, quietly impressed. That explained a lot.
Steve said, "Then the other Ferans….they're still imprisoned by the Holts?"
She nodded, her expression dimming. "Yes. They're still held somewhere, but I don't know the exact location. I'm sure they're in this realm, though. Just… hidden."
I leaned back slightly, frowning as I thought about it. Where were the Ferans being kept? In the section of the facility where Steve and I had been imprisoned, there were no Ferans—only humans, a few Nagas, and those Abominations. Not a single Feran in sight.
There was one area, though… the one my Psynapse couldn't reach into. A dead zone. A perfect place to hide high-value prisoners.
That alone raised red flags.
And then there was something else—something Arkas had told me before I was sent here: that no Master-ranked individuals would be inside the secret hideout of Holts. That the Holts' known forces had all been accounted for.
But he was wrong.
This place wasn't just crawling with Master ranks. There had even been a Grandmaster-level presence.
That wasn't just a small oversight.
It was a complete intelligence failure on the Empire's side.
Either the Holts were hiding more than anyone realized… or someone, somewhere, was feeding the Empire the wrong information.
I leaned forward, placing my hands on my knees as I decided to share some of the truth.
"Ana, there's something you should know. We didn't end up here by accident. We got captured on purpose. It was a mission from the Empire—our goal is to find and help the Ferans escape from this place."
Her eyes widened immediately.
She stood up, voice urgent. "Wait, did the Ferans from Feradros reach out to your Empire? Who else came with you? Are there other Ferans with you?"
Hearing the rush of questions, I coughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head. "Umm… we're the only ones here."
She blinked. Once. Twice. Then again.
"What?"
Steve rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed. "Yeah… it's just me and Billion. No reinforcements. No Ferans. Just us."
Ana took a slow step back, then sat down again, her wings drooping slightly. Her eyes were distant, unfocused, like the weight of disappointment had finally caught up to her.
Steve and I exchanged a glance.
I shrugged, silently saying: Well… it is what it is.
After a pause, I walked up to her and gently patted her shoulder. "It's going to be all right, Ana. I know we're not Grandmasters or even Masters, but I promise you, I'll get you out of here."
She slowly raised her head. Her golden, slitted eyes met mine, and I saw it, quiet sorrow wrapped in days of built-up frustration.
She spoke softly, her voice trembling with a thread of doubt.
"Billion… they have too many people. Eyes everywhere. And there's a Grandmaster. I want to believe you, but I don't know how to keep hoping anymore."
I grinned at her, letting a bit of fire enter my voice.
"That's where you're wrong. It won't be just the two of us for long. We'll gather the others. There are a lot of prisoners—humans, Nagas… and if we're lucky, Ferans too."
I paused, then added, "If the Holts think this place is unbreakable… then they're about to learn otherwise."