Erica was in Mother. She never thought she would be back.

In a few seconds Liliana and Arturo were regurgitated from the bridge and fell to the side. Then they stood up and looked all around them, gaping.

—How...?— wondered Arturo.

Liliana looked at the brown earth under her feet, the orange sky, the green plants, and began to cry. Then she hugged Arturo to drown her tears, while he pouted with teary eyes. Seeing them like this, Erica was surprised to realize that her friends had missed their home world. She couldn't understand them, she could never be fond of that world that had rejected her, but she preferred to keep it to herself and grant them that moment of joy.

 

Before them stretched a city they knew very well; Santa Gloria. It was a little cold, it had rained a few hours ago, they could tell by the clarity of the sky. The ground and pavement were wet. Several debris had been cleared from the streets, but the city remained in ruins. They did not need to strain to remember that the invasion had occurred in summer.

—Why did Tur come here?— Erica asked the air.

She received no answer; her friends wondered the same thing. Papel was nowhere to be found, but they were sure that sooner or later they would see him again.

Still dismayed, they descended from the hill they were on to the streets. The cars were all smashed, the pavement cracked by heavy pounding and the constant passing of the imposing tanks of the nonis. Half of the buildings had been collapsed by impacts, the others were barely standing. They saw no people, only a noni soldier who moved strangely, as if he were drunk.

—Hey, you!— Erica called to him.

She wanted to ask him about Tur's whereabouts. The noni looked over his shoulder, but when he identified them, he ran with all his might and got lost behind a tank.

Erica slid at full speed, jumped over the same tank and planted herself in front of the noni, or where he should have been, but there was no one there. Soon Liliana and Arturo caught up with her. They looked in all directions, but could not find him.

Puzzled, they continued towards the crossroads, but there was not a soul there either. They thought the city was deserted, when suddenly they saw the soldier running to the right. Again they tried to catch up with him and again he disappeared as if he were an illusion.

—Agh! What's going on?!— bellowed Erica.

—Could it be a hologram?— Arturo wondered aloud.

Liliana doubted that was it; she thought it was something else, but she didn't dare to tell at that moment. They met him three more times, always with the same result. Finally they arrived at a crossroads of several important streets, one of the busiest neighborhoods in the city.

At that spot a big hologram lit up, attached to one of the sturdier buildings in the vicinity. It showed an orange face, with large horns and a mocking smile. He was dressed in formal robes of the noni empire, with thin layers of a silk-like material of golden hues.

—Mother's people!— he greeted with cordial superiority— this is Tur'non Rialal, supreme emperor of Nudo and your conqueror. As you well know, for the past eight months I have dedicated myself to conquering your world, with almost no oppression on your part. Today, that conquest will come to an end.

The First then panned his space to the side, indicating to the camera to look that way. As he did so, the camera showed a group of old people tied to chairs, some dressed in robes, others in turbans and elegant suits from countries far removed from that of the children.

—As you can see, I have here some of the masters of this world— Tur continued— the leaders of the eight most powerful countries. In exactly thirty minutes I will begin to execute them, one by one, myself. When I am done, I will have become the ultimate ruler of Mother and annex it to my vast empire. And all the humans who are still free will be captured and sent to Nudo to be sold into slavery! Isn't that great? Enjoy your last 30 minutes of freedom.

The transmission cut out. The children stared at the space where the hologram had once been, gaping.

—In half an hour?!— cried Liliana— That's too short! Why is it so unfair?

—We just have to stop him before he does it, don't we?— proposed Erica.

—I see it difficult— judged Arturo— we have no idea where he might be... although the timing of his announcement was too precise.

The boy crossed his arms to think for a moment.

—What are you thinking about?— asked Liliana, anxiously.

—It's just a possibility, but I think he transmitted that message at that moment for us. He wants us to go and stop him, although I see no reason to do it here and not in Ramnusia.

—I know!— declared Erica— because that fucker loves drama.

Liliana put her hands to her head.

—But it's no use if we don't know where to go! And time is running out!

The three of them tried to think where in the whole world Tur might be, when a loud bang made them turn toward a street. There they noticed the soldier they had been chasing, staggering along with a garbage can. The noni turned to them nervously for a moment before running into a nearby disco.

—He could tell us!— Erica said.

The brika wanted to sprint towards him to catch him once and for all, but Liliana stopped her with a wave of her arm.

—Wait, we'd better all go together.

—Oh?

Erica didn't understand why Liliana wanted to take such precautions, when moments before she had been so worried about the timing, but she listened to her. The three of them headed to the disco at a fast pace, destroyed the door and entered. Inside was a little darker than outside, since the building had small, sparse windows. From where they were, they could see the last rays of sunlight projecting the shape of the windows on the opposite wall, with elongated silhouettes. They searched everywhere with their eyes, but could not find the soldier.

—What do you have in mind, Lili?— asked Erica.

The girl took a few steps forward and pulled Brontes out of her chest.

—Nobody vanishes just like that. Besides, I thought it was strange that only one of Tur's generals tried to stop us. Where is Víkala?

Erica and Arturo's eyes widened like saucers as they realized they had forgotten about the naga.

"Lili!" exclaimed Brontes.

The girl knew at once what he was warning her about. In an instant she passed between her unnoticed friends and blocked a dagger aimed at Arturo. Then her attacker fell to the ground. She tried another lunge, but Liliana blocked it again with her scythe. She then counterattacked, but the soldier dodged, took distance and revealed herself.

Erica and Arturo turned around, confused. Only then did they notice the noni in front of them. She was looking at them with a grin from ear to ear, while holding her daggers aloft.

—Who are you?— barked Erica.

—What's wrong, Erica. Don't you recognize me?— said the noni in a familiar voice.

—It's Vikala, she's in disguise!— said Liliana.

—Oh, Lili, I wanted her to guess!— complained the noni.

Then the image of the soldier dissolved in the air like smoke. In its place appeared a woman with a humanoid torso and a huge snake tail instead of legs: it was Víkala. In addition to her daggers in her hands, carried strapped to her tail a weapon resembling a stinger, about the size of an arm, so sharp that it could pierce a skull as if it were paper.

The naga laughed, pleased.

—Very good, Lili. You caught me in time!— she congratulated her.

—What would you have done if I hadn't stopped you?— she asked.

Vikala's smile widened, her big mouth gave another meaning to "grinning from ear to ear".

—What do you think I would have done to them?— she asked— What do you think I will do to them, when I defeat all of you?

—Not in your dreams!— bellowed Erica.

She ran towards the naga. However, Vikala dodged her as if it was nothing and gave her a stab with her hand behind her neck. Erica rolled on the ground and ended up collapsing. She immediately wanted to get up and attack again, but was unable to do so. Besides her rib cage and face, she could not move.

—What did you do to me?— she pleaded.

Instead of answering, Víkala threw herself against Arturo. He erected a wall to block her path. At the speed she was going, he calculated that the naga should crash face first. However, she plunged into the solid surface as if she were made of paint. She dematerialized completely and inserted her shadow into the surface. Then her shadow surrounded the rock in an instant, materialized her body on the other side and attacked the mage.

Liliana jumped between the two and blocked Víkala with Brontes' blade. The naga made distance again and readied her daggers and stinger in a threatening battle stance.

—You think you can take me just because you have a munima? Ha! You lack years of training to be like me, girl!

Vikala lunged towards Liliana, so fast that she barely had time to react. Their weapons clashed loudly, the impact broke Liliana's guard and sent Brontes to the ground. Vikala raised her stinger to bury it in her neck, but at that moment a pillar of rock sprang at full speed from the ground and struck her in the face, knocking her back.

—Don't forget about me!— Arturo shouted.

The naga gave him a look of contempt, before plunging to the ground. Liliana looked at where the snake had been: only its shadow remained, or rather, Vikala had become a shadow.

—What kind of weird skill is that?!— complained the girl.

—She used the same thing to avoid the blow before— observed Arturo.

Liliana thought of the ability of the ghosts to fade, but that couldn't be the case. To fade meant to prevent the opponent from being aware of one's presence; what Víkala did was to completely dematerialize her body.

But before Liliana could understand what the naga had done, Víkala's shadow disappeared from her sight, faded away in the blink of an eye and blended into the ambient darkness. However, the girl had an idea of where she was going. She quickly turned to the mage.

—Arturo, run away!

But before he had time to react, Vikala emerged behind and tapped him on the back of the neck. The boy collapsed paralyzed.

—No!— yelled Liliana.

Then Víkala stood in front of her and looked at her menacingly. Her mouth full of fangs and her long, thick tail didn't help much.

—Surprised?— she asked— I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve. Disappearing is just the beginning.

Then she put a hand behind her back.

—Entertain me for a while; I will only attack you with one dagger— she assured— my two hands are the lives of your friends, my tail is your life. If you force me to use two weapons, I will spare the lives of your two friends. If you force me to use my third weapon, I will spare your life as well... and if you defeat me, I will tell you how to get to Tur.

Liliana fixed her stance and changed Brontes’ position. Vikala’s conditions didn't affect her at all, she still needed to beat her to save the world. Víkala was just toying with her, savoring her before delivering the coup de grace.

Then the naga approached her in the blink of an eye and began to attack her with slashes of her right dagger, advancing with her body to drive her back. Liliana blocked the blows; from above, from the right, a rapier, diagonal slash. She didn't have much trouble at first, but the slashes got faster, much faster. Soon, though she saw the dagger approaching, her body did not reach in time to put Brontes in front of her. The blade grazed her shoulder.

Liliana stepped back, clutching the injured area. She was bleeding, it hurt a lot, but she couldn't run away or stop at that moment, Vikala wasn't going to wait for her.

—She's too fast!— she thought— And she's only using one arm! How is that possible!

"Couldn't it be because she has a munima?" guessed Brontes.

This surprised Liliana.

"I think you can do the same" indicated the spirit.

Liliana looked at Víkala. She had lost her smile, she looked somewhat disappointed, as if Liliana wasn't enough entertainment. She attacked again.

—I can't do something like that!— cried the girl, as she blocked Víkala's slashes.

"Yes you can, you already have!" assured Brontes "Don't you remember when you jumped to defend Erica in the timitio mines? You thought it was your doom, but you prevailed!"

Liliana received another slash, this time a horizontal one in her chest, just below the collarbones. She jumped back, alarmed.

—I thought I would have a decent duel, but you're nothing more than a normal girl— yelled Vikala— you don't deserve that munima! Now I'll kill you for disappointing me!

The snake woman crossed the distance between the two again, in the blink of an eye, as Liliana tried to understand what Brontes was referring to.

And suddenly she remembered: the timitio fountain, the bridge leading to the exit, Erica jumping to sacrifice herself for her and Arturo, then them jumping to defend her. But she didn't remember fighting the territi, at least not like she always did. On that occasion what came out of her was a black tornado that hit her enemies with a speed that was hard to follow with the eye. In that moment of desperation, Liliana had been able to handle Brontes as Vikala did with her dagger. For a moment, Liliana and Brontes had been one.

—That's it!

Vikala began to increase the speed of her slashes. But instead of concentrating on blocking them and using Brontes as a shield, Liliana made him melt with her arms. Then Vikala buried the tip of her dagger in her other shoulder. Liliana felt it, but Brontes pushed the pain away from her brain so she could concentrate. In one motion she removed the knife and counterattacked Vikala. The naga evaded Brontes and continued attacking, but Liliana deflected her slash and lashed out again. The naga drew her other dagger to block the blade.

They stayed like that for a second, until Vikala realized she had used her second weapon.

—Hehehe, looks like your two friends are saved— she commented.

She looked at Liliana, as if waiting for an answer, but the girl said nothing. Her face had lost all expression, her eyes glowed slightly in the darkness of the room. Liliana had stopped being distracted by fear or small movements and had all her concentration on the critical points of her opponent.

Both made distance and then attacked again. Their arms moved fast as the wind, their weapons clashed with such frequency that the impacts seemed more like machine guns firing than sharp blades.

Liliana didn't understand what was going on, her eyes couldn't see Víkala's daggers, but she could more or less feel them as they approached her. Her arms moved with precition to counter her. Brontes had transformed her arms into spirits and merged with them to give her that speed. Liliana didn't even feel the brush of air.

Both attacked each other and blocked the other with their sharp weapons at several slashes per second. They were more or less evenly matched, though Vikala looked blissful.

—That's it, Lili!— she celebrated— You're getting the hang of it, but you're still no match for me!

The naga drew her stinger forward and thrust it into the shower of sharp blades with which she was attacking the girl. The girl was overpowered, but then, out of nowhere, Erica jumped at the naga at full speed and rammed her with a headbutt. She lost her balance for a moment, but before she could regain it, a pillar of rock shot up from the ground diagonally and hit her in the stomach with great force.

In that moment of distraction, when Vikala's body was reacting to the blow, Liliana noticed the tip of her tail in front of her eyes. She unintentionally snapped out of her speed trance, but did not lose sight of her target. With her muninma held firmly in her hands, she braced herself and traced a clean cut to slash the tail completely.

In a few seconds Víkala recovered and raised her tail to defend herself even before she knew what was happening, but as she did so she realized that the tip, which held her stinger, did not respond. Puzzled, she turned to look at it. She felt a strong tingling in the area. She noticed it was impossible to keep it rigid.

—Ah, it’s asleep— she noticed.

She realized that Liliana had put the tip of her tail to sleep, and with it, her munima. Before Vikala could pull herself together, a pile of rock emerged from the ground and formed a solid tower around, trapping her. The structure covered almost her entire body, except for her tail, which protruded from a hole underneath, and her head, which she could not fit through the hole in her neck.

Víkala tried to break free, tried to break through the rock structure and turn into a shadow to slip underneath, but she couldn't even do that. After a few seconds of struggle, she realized that those children had beaten her.

Puzzled, she looked at each of them. She was sure she had paralyzed Erica and Arturo, yet both had surprised her in the end. But when she looked at Erica she found her lying on the floor, just as paralyzed as before. Then she looked at Arturo, just the same.

—How did you two attack me like that?— she pleaded, dumbfounded.

—Hehe. Surprised?— said Erica— You didn't take into account that I can still move with my timitio.

And to prove it, she did a couple of sliding laps. She couldn't move a muscle, but her timitio could carry her and even make her jump, with some momentum. Then Víkala turned to Arturo.

—The same, the magic is in the mind, not in the body— explained the boy— the movements with the hands helps, but they are not necessary.

Finally Vikala looked at Liliana, who seemed to be having a conversation with Brontes at that moment. The girl noticed that she was being watched, so she focused on her enemy. But Vikala smiled at her.

—Haha, you'll make an excellent ghost, Lili. That was a great duel.

—Amh... thank you.

—Stopping my tail was a very clever strategy, for someone who doesn't know much about how munimas work. You were trying to do that from the beginning?

—What?! No, not at all! —she assured— it just came to me at the time... although I'm sure Arturo had it planned, didn't he?

—I thought it wasn't wrong to try— admitted the boy.

—What do you mean... you three had all that planned?!— guessed Vikala.

The children stared at her in amazement. Erica and Arturo tried to shrug their shoulders, but they were paralyzed and couldn't move them, so Liliana did it for them.

—We just know each other— she revealed.

—Awwww! You guys are so cute you'll make me puke. I couldn't kill you even if my boss asked me to— she admitted— Okay, I'll show you the way to Tur.

Liliana jumped in surprise.

—That's right, I forgot that the world leaders are in danger!

Vikala and Erica laughed at that, though Liliana meant it.

—But how am I going to get the two of them to fight with Tur like that?— Liliana argued.

—Vikala, can you unparalyze us?— asked Erica.

—Of course! Just get me out of here and I'll do it right away.

—No way!— yelled Liliana.

Vikala laughed again.

—Very well, Lili! You're right, if you got me out of here, I'd knock all three of you out... and I don't have the ability to unparalyze anyone, although a mage might.

The girls turned to Arturo, but he didn't look very hopeful.

—If I could do that, I would have tried long ago.

—Oh, no! What can we do?

—What if we use our potions?— the mage asked.

Liliana hit her head.

—Of course, I forgot all about it!

Quickly, the girl went through her friends' clothes to take out the potions and give it to them. In a few seconds Erica and Arturo were up, their small wounds and scratches dissappeared. Then the boy healed Liliana's wounds.

—Did it hurt?— asked the boy.

—Yes, but it's not that bad. Erica usually takes much worse.

Finally they were ready. They approached Vikala one last time.

—So, where is Tur?— Erica asked.

—Just go to the ladies room in this building, at the back there is a bridge that will take you straight to him.

—Okay. That better be true, or we'll be back— Erica threatened her.

Vikala laughed with her mouth shut, but said nothing. Then she watched them walk away, until they disappeared behind the threshold of the bathroom. The children went to the back, where a bridge turned in the wall.

—This smells like a trap— mumbled Arturo.

—We have no other choice, it's our only clue— Erica reminded him.

—We have to save the leaders of the world— stated Liliana.

Erica took a step forward and turned to her friends.

—Behind that bridge is probably Tur. Kan'fera and Vikala are no match for him in power. Are you ready to go and face him?

—Ready!— they both exclaimed.

The brika smiled.

—Alright!

Without further ado, Erica rushed headlong towards the bridge, followed by Liliana and Arturo.

 

When she came out on the other side, she saw a night sky stretching out on all sides, then an ocean curving across the horizon and finally the lights on the land, far, far, far, far away. Then they realized they were hundreds of meters up in the sky. There weren't many clouds, but they saw some below them, then above them. They were falling with nothing to slow them down.

Puzzled, Erica turned to look up at the sky, where she found a double spiral fixed in the air. The bridge was not attached to any surface, it was simply floating in the sky.

—DAMN YOU TUUUUUUUUUUUR!— she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The ground was still far away, but she didn't have much time to curse her luck. She started to think.

—We're falling, we don't have a parachute. There are three of us. I have my timitio My timitio!

Erica spread her arms and legs, and used her timitio to form membranes between her limbs to catch the air like a flying squirrel. The sudden change in speed caused a jolt, perhaps the most comforting she would ever experience in her life. She slowed down enough to get close enough to Liliana and Arturo, who grabbed her tightly. She held them both as well.

—Arturo!— she shouted in his ear— Any ideas?

The boy was about to shake his head. Nothing came to his mind, but then he saw Erica's timitio. He quickly pointed at her and made a parachute shape with his hands.

Erica understood and pulled her friends even closer so that they could hug her tightly by the neck. She then formed a parachute with her timitio, squeezing it to get the maximum area out of it. They immediately felt a tug upward that slowed their fall a little more, but they were still falling too fast.

—We're still going to die!— Erica cried.

—I have an idea!— asserted Arturo— I'll take care of the landing!

So they descended with a timitio parachute, no bigger than a car window. As they fell, the children identified some of the buildings and geography of the area. They were no longer in their home country, but in Brandia, a country on another continent with one of the headquarters of the United Nations.

Soon they descended to two hundred meters. From there they could see the streets and the tanks of the nonis. Suddenly, Arturo pointed to a large building, an ancient palace with modern repairs.

—Tur must be there!— he said, for he had recognized the room where the First had recorded himself with the leaders of the world.

Erica changed course toward that building. They were going at several kilometers per hour and if they slamed into the roof like that, they would be crushed to death. However Arturo took control of the solid surface and greatly increased the volume of a specific area to turn it into a rock bubble.

—Do you want me to land there?— asked the brika.

—Yes, there!

So Erica pointed at the bubble. The children fell down with a crash, so fast that they smashed the bubble and continued downward. They hit several planks and beams, but gradually slowed their fall. They finally broke through the ceiling and fell the last thirty meters on their own, but from that height they had no problem at all; Erica held her friends, extended her timitio from her feet and inserted the parasyte like fine nails into the ground. Then she slowly descended until her feet touchd the floor.

They found themselves in a huge room, with marble stairs leading up to an elevated area. At the top, a large-horned orange noni awaited them on a beautiful throne carved in stone.

There was no turning back now.