The next morning Erica went out again, not knowing what to do. She no longer believed she could find the mage, who seemed more like a ghost than a person. No one knew about the Core or the Chainer either. Nothing, there was nothing where she could start. Every new day was another day her dad spent locked up in the Core, another day she wasted not knowing what to do. She couldn't believe that she was practically in the same situation she was in at the beginning.

Papel showed up to comfort her again. Erica tried to take him off, but the little animal scampered around her waist, her shoulders, her arms and her head until it made her laugh.

—At least I don't scare you— she said.

They continued walking without much hope, but with a little more encouragement. Erica reconsidered her situation from the beginning, taking into account what Arturo had told her; rather than looking for someone to tell her where the mage was and then for him to tell her how to get to the Core, she could cut the mage off the chain and simply look for another way to go there. Maybe she didn't have to consult anyone, maybe it was written down somewhere, in a forgotten book in some old library. Erica wasn't good at talking to people, but she was good at forcing her will on others.

—Maybe I could buy slaves to look up information for me— she thought, and although she had no intention of actually doing it, the idea of owning slaves didn't entirely displease her.

She was in the middle of that when she noticed people starting to stride one way down the street, without exception. The children looked excited, the men curious and the women quite interested. Puzzled, she decided to follow them. Soon she found herself off to the side in a wide avenue, behind a bunch of nonis who looked on anxiously.

—It's the crivia!— she heard a child exclaim over his sturdy mother's shoulders.

—What was the crivia?— Erica wondered. She knew she had heard that title before.

People were crowding around and blocking her view. She thought about going somewhere else to look, but then she remembered she had her timitio. She made it emerge from her heels to raise her height about ten centimeters.

—Wow! With imagination, this thing comes in handy— she mentioned to herself.

She looked down at her boots and found that, as with her clothes, her timitio could go through them without poking holes. How it did it was a mystery, but she guessed it was similar to the way it traveled through her body without hurting her.

When she managed to look down the street, she noticed a long line of large vehicles: some were cheerful, with platforms and dancers, while others were more serious and put on a show just by their presence, like a couple of tanks and warships polished even in the most unreachable corners.

—Ah, right!— said the girl to herself —there was going to be some kind of parade for someone important.

She amused herself by watching the parade participants. Then, she noticed that one of the floats didn't have much glitz, more than a series of platforms with a dozen burly nonis. However, at the top of this float was a noni that was different from the others: instead of being red, her skin was orange. Instead of being large and broad, she was small and thin, so much so that she could pass for a human girl. Her horns were small, her eyes bright red. In her hands she wore two thick black gauntlets that apparently didn't weigh her down one bit. Erica recognized her by the color of her skin and remembered what that parade was for; she was Fir'non Rialal, the daughter of the First noni and older sister of Cilo. Erica sighed. She thought that if it were her, she could easily send hundreds of soldiers to investigate the whereabouts of the Core....

That thought kept rattling around in her head for a while. Fir had power, more than that, she had her father. At that moment Erica remembered something Tur had said: that he and her dad were friends.

—And if my dad already knew the Chainer... —Erica thought— then maybe Tur knows him too. That's it! That girl and her family could be the key to find my dad! How did I not see him before?!

Without giving it a second thought, Erica made her way to the front of the crowd, passed the barrier that the militia had put up and jumped straight to the crivia float.

At that moment everything stopped; the music, the vehicles, even the cheers of the crowd. All eyes turned to Erica. Instead of flinching, she stuck out her chest and raised her arms to attract more attention. Immediately the crivia's bodyguards rushed to surround her. With just a glance at them, the girl noticed that they looked more capable than ordinary soldiers; their postures announced that they could attack at any moment, their bodies were tanned by years of experience, their response had been incredibly quick, and perhaps most importantly, they were armed to the teeth with all sorts of gadgets, among which were several laser weapons. She figured that perhaps she had gotten herself into a fight she couldn't win.

—But what the heck!— she said to herself, and with her timitio she materialized two long knives —Come at me!

The warriors prepared themselves. They had a numerical advantage and more experience than Erica. They could take on a forteme. Knowing what each one had to do, they stepped forward to throw themselves at her.

—Stop!— the crivia exclaimed.

The bodyguards stopped in their tracks and kept their eyes on Erica, ready to shoot her at the slightest movement.

The crivia calmly walked towards Erica. The human looked her over from head to toe: her orange body, no taller than Erica herself, reminded her of Tur and Pol'kar. She thought it must be a different breed than most, strangely, with greater strength. The crivia was also very thin for a noni, but despite this, her muscles were well defined. Erica could see them through the clothing she wore, while high quality and elegant, covered no more than her chest and pelvis. She was therefore surprised when she noticed that, despite her adult body, the features of her face were quite childish. The crivia must have been in puberty.

The girl stopped a few meters away from Erica. They both looked at each other for a few seconds.

—Tell me your name— ordered the crivia.

—Erica— she answered.

This seemed to surprise the young girl.

—Erica Sanz— she repeated to herself.

—Yes... Why?

Fir'non narrowed her eyes for a moment.

—You must be very brave to come here, being the one who assaulted my little brother, Erica Sanz.

—What?— Erica jumped up —Wait, no. That's not why I came here.

—Quiet!— Fir exclaimed, pointing a finger at her —Before you earn the right to speak, you must pay for your crimes!

—But I just...

—Silence! Prepare to face justice!

Erica gritted her teeth, angry at not even being given a chance to explain herself.

—So you want revenge? Fine!— she showed her a fist— I've got your stupid revenge right here!

—Silly girl— exclaimed the oldest bodyguard of the group— Don't insult our crivia! You should be thankful that she takes the trouble to punish you herself!

—It's all right— said Fir to calm her down— It's true to a certain extent; I'll enjoy my revenge.

Fir parted her legs and assumed a fighting pose, without removing her black gauntlets. Erica assumed these would be her timitio, so she also covered her hands with her own and prepared to fight. She was already used to drawing the attention of the nonis with a good punch and would not hold back even with a little girl. For their part, the bodyguards lowered their guard and kept their distance to avoid disturbing the duel. Apparently, they were already used to their mistress taking certain matters into her own hands.

—My crivia— the same bodyguard called her— be careful, it is possible that this little girl is a brika.

—I know, Sikika— Fir answered.

—Will you listen to me if I beat the shit out of you?— asked Erica.

—If you beat me, you will earn the right to a hearing, yes... although for you it will be impossible.

Erica arched an eyebrow, she wanted to ask why, but Fir wouldn't let her; she rushed towards her and sent a fist to her stomach. Erica tried to dodge it, but Fir was much faster than she expected and ended up hitting her. Erica's body jumped backwards and fell outside the float.

The brika hit her back as she fell and rolled on the floor. She immediately noticed that the blow had been quite strong, but she could take it without much trouble. However, as she tried to stand up, the muscles in her abdomen refused to relax. They remained contracted, stuck. Erica couldn't move like that.

—A cramp?!

She knew perfectly well that she could cut off someone's breath by hitting them just below the sternum, she had done that blow dozens of times. However, she was sure that Fir had hit her even lower. She could breathe, she just couldn't move her stomach, precisely the area of impact.

The crivia got off the cart, ran towards her and sent a kick to her ribs. Erica jumped back into the air, fell to the ground and rolled. Only then did her stomach release and she was able to move again.

Erica got to her feet at the same time as Fir lunged at her again. She sent a hook to her ribs, which the brika blocked with one arm. But in doing so, her muscles locked up and cramped in that position.

—What are you...

But before she could exclaim, Fir punched her face and knocked her down.

After falling, Erica tried to get to her feet, but she couldn't. Her whole body froze in place. There was something wrong. Confused, she looked up at her opponent. She noticed that her thick gloves were not completely opaque like timtio, but had slight straight lines with a faint red glow, like Liliana's scythe.

—This can't be!

Fir'non raised a hand in front of her chest to show her weapon.

—Do you just now realize? You're nothing but a brute, human— the crivia shouted back— Yes, they're munimas, MY múnimas. This is Zack and Set, the war brothers.

Then she understood: just as Brontes put to sleep whoever he passed through, Fir's gauntlets paralyzed with cramps the area of the body against which they hit.

—But my stomach was released from the effect— recalled Erica— it doesn't last as long as Brontes does. There must be a condition to release me.

She tried to break free, to regain mobility in her muscles, but she couldn't do it. Fir walked over to her, grabbed her ankle and lifted her over the head to whip her to the pavement. The ground cracked from the blow. Her body let go, but the pain was so great that it knocked her off her feet for a few seconds.

The crivia lay still as she waited for her. Erica turned around to put her trembling hands on the ground and slowly stood up. She wasn't sure, but it seemed to her that Fir must have strength similar to her own. On top of that, she had her munimas. Puzzled, Erica turned around. Fir was waiting for her with raised fists. After Cromo and Ungrar she was the third person on her level; someone she could perhaps beat, but who might beat her as well.

Erica prepared to get back into the fight. After a lifetime of avoiding physical conflicts because of the dire consequences they brought, she was beginning to find worthy challenges. She was a little afraid of what Fir might do, she felt foolish for groping blindly to face her, but she also appreciated the opportunity to test herself against her. She wanted to feel her muscles rubbing together, she wanted to feel the pressure of her hamstrings, to press her arms against her small chest, to give her a hard fight that she would cherish for a good long time.

—Come!— she exclaimed.

Fir threw herself at Erica, Erica threw herself at Fir. Both raised their fists in the air and prepared to attack with all their might.

But suddenly, a thick pillar of rock emerged from the ground and rose two stories into the sky. The girls slammed into the rock and fell on their stomachs, each in turn.

—What the f...— Erica was about to say, when suddenly the ground beneath her opened up and sent her tumbling down.

She went down a dark tunnel, straight down a couple of meters until the skinny arms of a person stopped her. The person pulled her to her feet on a platform and covered her head with one arm. At that moment, several slabs of rock covered them, forming a dark capsule.

—What the...— said the brika again.

But again, the sudden movement interrupted her. Although she couldn't see anything, she felt the tug of the rock capsule as it fell and then as it hurtled at full speed in a horizontal direction. Through the walls she heard the sound of rock creaking and earth being fleetingly stirred. It took her a few seconds to realize they were escaping.

—We have to go!— exclaimed the man.

Erica recognized his voice.

—Arturo?

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

Silence filled the street again. Fir looked at the hole in the ground where the brika had disappeared. She understood that she had lost her chance to deliver justice and avenge her brother. Sikika, her senior bodyguard, approached her ready to act.

My lady, just give the order and we'll go find her. The twelve of us together can track them easily.

Fir stared at the hole for a while before answering.

—No, it's not worth it. Let the police do the search.

The bodyguard didn't seem to agree at all.

—My lady, we have the equipment and experience in....

—Yes, I know— she interrupted her, thoughtfully. Then she turned to look at her— Do you know how many people attacked my brother?

The veteran bodyguard was puzzled by the question, but answered like any good servant.

—Two young human women, my crivia.

—Yes, one was that brika, Erica Sanz, and the other took the munima with her... Then why did a mage come to help her?