After a while, Erica woke up very confused. Liliana explained everything that had happened and showed her her new mark. Erica was not very trusting of her new companion, which Liliana felt was understandable. After all, Brontes had tricked them in order to eat their souls. But the brika did not refuse to take him with them. Before long they were on their feet and prepared to leave, but Brontes stopped them before they got very far.

"If you want to get out, it will be easiest to head the other way" he indicated.

Although he was inside Liliana's body and they couldn't see him, she knew where he was pointing: towards a wall almost on the opposite side of the stairs.

—I don't know, it sounds to me like a trap to eat our souls— commented Erica.

"Maybe I should eat hers" Brontes grunted.

—Come on, you two, don't fight— Liliana asked them.

They went to the point where Brontes indicated. From there a tunnel led them a short way to a dead end. This was covered by a big, fat, almost cylindrical rock. From the sides they could see outside, barely illuminated by the afternoon sun, but the holes were too narrow to let them pass.

—Stay back, I'll push it— Erica offered.

She put both hands against the rock and pushed with great force. It began to move little by little, crawling along the ground. Erica bent down a bit to get better momentum, hugged the rock and pushed even harder. The mass of stone began to fall outward. Liliana, joyful, felt the first breezes of air for quite some time. However, as they exited the cave, she noticed an equally large rock that Erica was pushing on. As her partner's fell outward, the one above wobbled to the other side and fell right on top of her, but Erica was too busy to notice. Liliana didn't have time to react, in fact, she didn't even react: her body moved on its own. In an instant she pulled out her scythe, rested one foot on the brika's back and leapt over it to cut the rock in two.

Both pieces plummeted to the ground at the girls' sides, while Liliana landed smoothly behind Erica. The latter, bewildered, turned around. She looked to both sides in astonishment, then up to make sure nothing else was going to fall on her.

—What was that?— she pleaded.

Liliana looked at the scythe in her hand, not understanding either.

—"Brontes?" she called at last.

"I took possession of your body for a moment" he explained.

Liliana looked at Erica.

—Brontes saved you— she revealed.

—He? I thought he wanted me dead.

"Just because I want to eat your soul doesn't mean I want you dead" the spirit pleaded "after all, if you died, your soul would be scattered before I could devour it completely. It would be a waste."

—Anyway, that was great— commented Liliana— How did you cut that rock? You didn't even use much force.

"It's not that big of a deal. My scythe blade is as sharp as I want it" he explained "Why don't you try it?"

Liliana walked over to the same rock Erica had pushed, asked her to step back a bit, and then swung the scythe through the solid pillar. She didn't have to exert any effort; the blade simply passed as if through water. The top piece slowly slid off and landed heavy on the ground.

—What the hell!— exclaimed Erica —Lili, you're fantastic!

—Oh, by Father! How sharp!— she pointed.

She was beginning to understand why so many warriors had gone to ask Brontes to anchor himself to them; her munima was not only very sharp and easy to carry, but he himself could possess his anchor's body and fight for them.

—How did you do all that?— Erica wanted to know.

Liliana remembered that she had not been awake during her conversation with Brontes, so she went on to explain the details of how it worked. Meanwhile, they continued along the rocky path towards the exit. This time they were taking a guide who knew the terrain well.

It wasn't long before, in the distance, a large group of nonis appeared from a converging path. They were all stocky and well armed. One of them stood out because of his height and the enormous amount of scars on his body.

—Ah, look— said Erica —it's Ungrar and his friends... and that foul-mouthed asshole.

Liliana nodded.

—Maybe Ungrar wants to know what happened here— she guessed.

They decided to wait for them quietly. The nonis approached them, Ungrar and Cilo went ahead to talk to the girls.

—Hello— they greeted them.

—What are you still doing here?— Cilo, the boy with bad manners, asked them —I thought Ungrar told you how to get out.

—Oh, well, you see...— Liliana tried to come up with an excuse.

—We got lost— answered Erica, not ashamed to show her mistake.

Cilo didn't say anything or make any gesture to make her see that he heard her. Instead, he took out an electronic device he had in his pocket, pressed a few buttons and looked in several directions.

—Ungrar, the shakma should be nearby— he pleaded —Why don't I see it?

—It is possible that we have mistaken the place, my lord— replied Ungrar —Not many people have come out of here alive.

Cilo looked at the girls to ask them if they had seen a black tower somewhere, but as he did so he noticed the black mark of the fang on Liliana's chest.

—No...— he muttered. Then he pointed an authoritative finger at her —You, human, how long have you had that mark?

Liliana looked at her chest, still not very used to having a mark in that place.

—It's funny you should mention it. I've had it for a few minutes— she explained, trying to play it down— Why do you ask?

Cilo frowned, turning from anger to rage.

—Ungrar!— he shouted, even though he was standing next to him —They stole my munima!

Ungrar put a hand to his face. Apparently he was not amused by the situation.

—It seems so, my lord— he replied, with a very slight tone of reluctance —Unfortunately, this was among the possible outcomes. I suggest that we withdraw and....

—No retreat— shrieked Cilo –First, bring me the heads of that thief and her friend! I will not stand for someone taking what is mine and getting away with it!

—But my lord...— tried to plead Ungrar.

—NOW!

The big noni took a moment to sigh. He really didn't seem to want to do that, but it didn't look like he had a choice either. He turned to the rest of the nonis, he thought about ordering them something, but he didn't feel he had the right to do that. He was the boss, he alone had to bear the remorse of killing two young girls.

So he stepped forward towards the girls as he drew a huge axe from his belt.

—Well, this is as far as you ladies go— he told them, not very cheerful.

Erica and Liliana looked at each other, calmly.

—Why are you following that asshole's orders?— Erica asked.

—That young man is Cilo'non Rialal, girl. He is the last son of the greatest leader of all the nonis: Tur'non Rialal, the First One, and I am his guardian.

—Tur?— Erica wondered, thoughtfully —Where have I heard that name before?

But she didn't have much time to meditate: Ungrar approached her, brandishing his huge axe as if it were a feather, and he lashed out with all his weight. Erica coated her hand with timitio and deflected the axe with a swipe. Ungrar looked up, stunned. The other nonis were also surprised.

—I'm sorry, Ungrar— Erica snapped —your master doesn't have a very good eye.

—Are you a...— the noni was about to ask, but Erica lunged at him and rammed him with all her might.

His body traveled several meters along the ground, crawling heavily until it crashed against one of the rock walls. The rest of the nonis stared at him, dumbfounded. Some prepared their weapons, others went to help their commander, but he stopped them with his hand.

—No, I'll take care of this brika— he said as he got up from the hole his body had made in the ground, —You guys take care of the other girl, quick, before her munima activates!

Erica noticed that the soldiers were heading towards Liliana instead of her. She rushed to protect her, but another group attacked her at the same time. She had to jump and run back and forth to repel them all before they could lay a hand on Liliana. So busy was she that she didn't see Ungrar coming, who rammed her with his huge body and smashed her against one of the walls.

—Erica!— Liliana shouted.

But there was little she could do and little time to worry, because at that moment several nonis approached her to finish her off. For a moment, she forgot about her munima, her first impulse was to cover her head. Then her arms took on a life of their own, she pulled out her scythe in one swift movement and sent a clean slash at the first line of enemies.

Five nonis fell unconscious at her feet.

"Leave it to me, Liliana" the munima said.

—Brontes!

"I'll need your whole body".

—You've got it— she assured him —Teach these thugs a lesson!

The nonis surrounded her, alert after she had put her companions to sleep with a single slash. Two of them attacked her from behind, but Brontes turned and cut them down in one fluid movement. Both nonis fell asleep. More nonis tried to attack her. Liliana deflected a sword, dodged a dagger, ducked to numb eight legs, hid in the back of one of them and slashed them quickly and precisely. In less than ten seconds, all her enemies were lying unconscious on the ground.

Realizing that she was safe, Liliana looked at the scythe in her hands. After the demonstration with the rock she had noticed how powerful it was, but she never imagined herself defeating an entire platoon with no other help than Brontes.

"You're still too tense" he demanded "let yourself go, I'll guide you."

—Ah, yes.

Cilo, in the meantime, couldn't be more furious.

—What are you waiting for?!— he shouted to his soldiers —Kill that damned human! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her NOW!!!

The second squad surrounded Liliana to attack her from different angles, but she didn't need to see them. Just like Brontes said, she let herself go. It was strange to feel her body doing things she didn't expect; Brontes assumed a very tense combat stance, ready to pounce at any moment.

The noni's swords and rifles came at them. Brontes spun, and spun her with him; he deflected swords, slashed rifles, and struck nonis with grace and fluidity, as if dancing. Her body moved swiftly and accurately, never missing a step. Liliana began to understand what he meant by letting herself go.

At the same time, Erica punched Ungrar to get him off her back. She then made distance to get out of his reach and went around him at full speed. She jumped towards the wall and shot herself from there towards the noni's back. However, the noni turned around and intercepted her with a powerful punch wrapped in timitio. The blow sent her flying into the wall on the other side of the trench. Erica scrambled to her feet in pain, but Ungrar launched himself at her before giving her time to fully recover. The girl rolled to the side to avoid him, but the noni's timitio went from a gauntlet to a black whip that chased after her and wrapped itself around her ankle. Then Ungrar threw her to the other side, lifted her into the air and whipped her to the ground.

—You are agile, but you lack experience!— roared Ungrar —you are not worthy to be called a brika.

At that moment, Liliana jumped towards the warrior to help Erica. She attacked him from behind, straight in the neck. The big noni did nothing to dodge it, yet the scythe bounced off. Puzzled, Liliana looked at the point of impact: on Ungrar's neck a plate had emerged, like a piece of black armor.

—What the...— Liliana shouted.

—Your munima and my timitio travel through nearby planes— explained the warrior —you can cut through the hardest metal with no problem, but it won't be so easy to break through my defenses.

Liliana pressed her lips together and attacked again: shoulder, hips, legs, head. Every time her scythe approached Ungrar's red skin, a plate of timitio emerged to protect him. Liliana didn't even manage to tear his clothes.

Ungrar reached out a hand towards her, but then a foot in his butt gave him a slight nudge. Turning around he found Erica, standing uncomfortable. She was breathing heavily and holding her side with one hand.

—Hey, big guy, you're fighting me. You can take her after you kill me.

Ungrar snorted through his nose.

—Good. Let's continue.

Liliana prepared to attack him from behind, but Erica shook her head: she wouldn't accept her help on that occasion.

Ungrar jumped on Erica to punch her in the chest. Erica spun around to barely dodge it and jumped to punch him. However, the bodyguard grabbed her by the face and used the momentum to send her backwards into the ground. However, before he could do so, Erica grabbed two of his stubby fingers holding her and forced them to bend the other way. Ungrar released her with an exclamation of pain, a moment that Erica took advantage of to leap straight for his face and hit his jaw with her knee. Ungrar drooled blood as his huge body fell backwards, but recovered immediately. With his good hand he grabbed Erica by one leg, lifted her over his head and sent her with all his might to the ground. Only Erica's body did not fall, as she held on to the noni's horns and resisted his strength.

—What?!— shouted Ungrar, bewildered.

Erica sent a timitio-coated head-butt straight into his forehead. The old noni's body couldn't resist it any longer and fell, defeated. Erica landed and stood alert for a moment, in case the big guy got back on his feet. Fortunately for her, he didn't.

—Erica, are you all right?— asked Liliana, worried.

The brika looked at her friend, smiling. She was not perfectly fine, but she had won. Better yet, there were no enemies left.

At that moment she noticed that Ungrar's timitio gathered around her back and rose in the air, at the level of her face. She approached it and grabbed it with her hand. Immediately she heard screams, impossible horrors and an imposing sensation that she was about to die a terrible death. For a moment she regretted having taken that timitio, she wanted to take it away, but the moment passed: when she thought she was about to faint, she came to. Her eyes were watering, but she was not screaming, that was progress. What was more important: she had acquired Ungrar's timitio.

---------------------------------------

Suddenly Cilo found himself alone. He looked around: all his soldiers had been defeated. Even Ungrar, the invincible Ungrar. He had rarely seen him like that.

Liliana approached him from the left, brandishing the munima that must have been his. Erica approached from the right, with the timitio of her bodyguard. Cilo was furious and humiliated.

—Well, don't you owe us an apology?— Erica snapped at him.

The little noni gritted his teeth.

—I'll never apologize to a human like you— he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Erica growled and advanced towards him, but was stopped with a wave of Liliana's hand.

—I don't care about your apologies. I just want you to answer my questions.

Cilo crossed his arms, stubborn.

—I won't answer anything!

Erica couldn't take it anymore, she came at him in the blink of an eye and slapped him so hard that she sent him flying against the wall.

—Erica!— reprimanded Liliana— He's a child!

—A very spoiled child— she said in her defense.

The girls approached Cilo again to check that he was all right. However, the blow had left him unconscious. Liliana was frightened for a moment, she hurried to check him. To her relief, she found that he still had a pulse. He had sustained a head wound on impact, but other than that he was perfectly fine.

—I wanted to ask him who he was and why he was after Brontes— Liliana pleaded.

—I'm not sure why he was after Brontes, but Ungrar made it clear who he was, didn't you hear him?

Liliana opened her eyes wide. She had been too busy studying the expressions and movements of Cilo and Ungrar to notice their words.

—Cilo'non Rialal— Erica repeated —Son of the supreme leader of the Noni, Tur'non Rialal. That is what Ungrar said.

Liliana opened her mouth in surprise.

—Supreme leader?

Erica put a hand to her chin in thought. The fight had reminded her of something important.

—I was surprised too. When I first met Tur, he didn't look like the leader of an empire.

—What?!— Liliana jumped out of surprise —You met the leader of the nonis?!

—Didn't I tell you about that? He is the dancing noni.

Liliana opened her eyes wide.

—The noni who made you dance?! He's the leader of the noni empire?!

But Erica dismissed it with a hand gesture.

—Never mind, now we should get out of here before these guys start waking up.

—Y... yes, that's true— agreed Liliana —But wait!

She walked towards one of the soldiers with big backpacks. She opened his backpack and began to look inside.

—We should at least take a look at your wounds— she said.

—Don't worry, I'm a tough girl— assured Erica.

—What are you talking about? We're just not going to a hospital right now because there isn't one nearby. I can't let you go through the desert like this— Liliana argued.

Erica was about to explain why it wasn't necessary, when Liliana pulled out a new first aid kit. They forced it timidly, but to their surprise, they found no bandages or ointments inside, only two small glass bottles with a bright red liquid.

—What is this?— Liliana asked.

Erica looked around, there was no conscious noni left to explain. She looked at the bottles again. She had a feeling she knew what they were, but she wasn't quite sure.

—Among the bounty hunters I heard about a powerful drink that heals your wounds almost instantly: a life potion— she explained —they are very expensive and they don't sell them to just anyone.

Liliana looked at Cilo. If those red bottles were the life potions Erica was talking about, it made sense that the son of the supreme leader could get a couple and take them on a dangerous expedition like that. Erica took one out of the medicine cabinet, uncapped it and drank it.

The three waited anxiously for the results. Finally, Erica burped, returned the bottle to the medicine cabinet and patted her side.

—How do you feel?— Liliana asked.

—Well— Erica smiled —I feel much better. Nothing hurts anymore.

Liliana opened her eyes wide.

—Really?! Did it work?!

—Ha! Wow, these things are very useful— she observed.

—Oh, that's good— Liliana let out a breath of relief— let's take this one that's left, it can be very useful.

—No, let's leave it here— said Erica.

Liliana looked at her, puzzled.

—But... But what if we get hurt?

Erica looked at Ungrar, who had been the most hurt of all the nonis.

—That Ungrar put up a good fight and didn't use dirty tricks. More importantly, he wouldn't have attacked us if it weren't for that meddling boy. I wish he had at least one left for himself.

Liliana looked at the potion longingly, already missing it. Erica tensed for a moment, expectantly. Finally, Liliana closed the first aid kit and set it down next to the unconscious noni's backpack.

—Very well— she agreed at last.

Erica smiled from ear to ear. Liliana noticed her, confused.

—What is it?— she asked.

Erica shook her head without being able to remove her childish smile. Without saying anything, she took her hand and they set off towards the exit of the fissure, ready for more adventures.