After ten days of navigating half lost through the landscapes of Nudo, getting lost in valleys and mountains and resting in a few villages and inns along the way, the children finally arrived at the capital of the noni empire: Primanoni. The city was built in a huge valley, the terrain was a bit arid, but there was so much concrete and artificial blue areas that it created its own climate. The land in that region was a violet closer to red than blue, which reminded anyone passing by who was in charge there. The buildings were more solid and showy than in other cities. In the distance, in the center of the city, stood a thick castle with a huge tower in shades of red and black in the center. When they saw it from a distance, even before entering Primanoni, all three thought the same thing: that it looked like the lair of a fictional antagonist.

—It's a good thing he's your friend— commented Liliana.

Erica remembered the time she met Tur, in Santa Gloria. She hadn't managed to hit him, but fortunately he didn't answer her affront. The nonis fought to show their respect, she thought it would be a good idea to attack him on sight. She wondered if now that she was a forteme she could land a hit.

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

As soon as they entered the city they immediately headed for lunch. From there they tried to go straight to the castle, but in that huge city, hundreds of distractions crossed their path: craft fairs, ancient buildings with thousands of years of history, street artists, street merchants, theaters, cinemas, brothels, statues, clothing stores, game stores, bookstores and libraries, parks, squares and bars, all vying for their attention and attracting them.

They were surprised to see that there were also many species gathered there; in addition to the nonis there were humans, sirivis, winged beings like Alastor, Mr. Ghost's munima, and several others. Some were blue and tiny, others were large and had slime-covered skin, others had three large eyes and six skinny legs. There was even a lumini floating around.

Walking and walking, all at once the street gave way to a big open area, with no large buildings or anything blocking the sky. There stood the ruins of an ancient temple in the shape of an arch. All around was full of people; there were artists creating holograms with devices on their fingers, clowns, young people playing strange instruments for coins, dancers, a lot of passers by who stopped to watch the various shows and small animals barking, running and playing contentedly with life.

So as not to stand in the middle of the passing, the children stepped aside and planted themselves next to a work board. From there they looked at the huge place in all its splendor.

Erica, out of sheer habit, looked at the jobs offered on the board. As usual, there were several monsters to hunt, as well as a few requests to collect specific plants and other more personal jobs, such as finding a lady's lost ring, walking a pet, acting as a bodyguard and capturing Pol'kar...

—Oh, look, he's here too— she pointed out to her friends.

They both turned around.

—If it isn't Pol'kar!— commented Liliana.

—When do you think he's going to do his you—know—what?

They both understood that she was referring to the coup d'état.

—That's right, we forgot to ask him when— said Erica.

—I don't think he would have told us— stated Liliana— after all, we turned down his request. It would be foolish to give more information to people who are not on your team.

—Erica folded her arms as she looked at Pol'kar's portrait. She wondered when she would see him again— Do you think he's around?

—You mean here in Primanoni?— asked Arturo.

Erica opened her mouth to say yes, but at that moment an explosion in the distance interrupted her.

As they turned around, they saw a column of smoke rising into the sky above the trees. The people around them began to whisper. A couple of soldiers started to run towards the smoke.

—Don't tell me...— Erica muttered.

—There must be a lot of terrorists looking for Tur's head— inferred Arturo.

—It's true, the noni empire has many countries and billions of people living in them— agreed Liliana.

—If they kill Tur, we'll run out of clues!— growled Erica.

The three of them stood for a moment, thinking about what to do. Erica sighed.

—All right, I have to go check it out— she told her friends— I need Tur's information before they kill him. This could be a dangerous thing, so....

—We'll go with you— they both answered at the same time.

Erica smiled at them with hope.

—Really?!— she exclaimed.

—We are not going to let you go alone to a coup d'état— Liliana demanded.

—But once we have Tur's information, we'll leave— claimed Arturo— Staying longer will only make everything more complicated, don't you agree?

—Perfect!— exclaimed Erica.

She went around them to stand between them, bent down, grabbed them by the buttocks and sat them on her biceps. With the help of her timitio she held them without too much trouble so they wouldn't fall off. The rest of the parasite took to her feet to start skating towards the periphery of the castle.

Liliana and Arturo feared that they would fall backwards, but Erica held them tight. So far they had seen the brika running on her own, but they had never experienced the vertigo of going at that speed in the open air. In a second they were through the temple ruins, leaping over food stalls and tourist booths, in the next instant they took a huge leap to pass through a wall. Beyond emerged before them a crowd of people running from one side to the other. Liliana and Arturo thought that Erica would avoid them, but she simply continued as if nothing happened, dodging and pushing those who got in her way, without mercy. At the end of it all they found themselves in front of the first gate of the castle.

They stopped for a moment, Erica deposited her friends on the ground and stared at the gate in front of her.

—There are no guards— she observed.

They looked both ways, but there were no soldiers to be seen who wanted to block the way.

—Those who were nearby must have gone to investigate the explosion— Arturo guessed.

—I feel it's wrong to enter without asking permission— admitted Liliana.

—What are you talking about?— argued Erica— Of course it's wrong! But nobody cares now, so let's do it.

Without further ado, they entered through the open gate and walked through the gardens to the first building. In a minute they entered the main hall: a huge room with several staircases, carpets and large, symmetrical spaces. No one was visible from there, but they began to hear the sound of fighting and gunfire in the distance.

—A battle— Erica guessed.

—We should be careful, we don't want to get caught in the crossfire— Arturo told them.

The girls nodded. The three of them decided to avoid the fight while they could, so they left through one of the staircases. Erica was careful not to get ahead of them in case her friends needed her. They went up several floors, crossed a hallway and opened a large door. Immediately a dozen laser rifles were pointed in their faces. Looking at them, the children noticed the castle soldiers stationed in a weapons warehouse.

—The terrorists!— one of the guards accused.

—Shit!— exclaimed Erica.

Arturo immediately folded the rifles aimed at them with his magic. Liliana then put six soldiers to sleep with a slash of Brontes and Erica jumped to finish off the ones further back. The fight lasted no more than ten seconds.

At the end they gathered in the center of the room to check their wounds. They had none, quite an achievement.

—Let's move on— proposed Erica.

—Before we do that, we should establish a plan— demanded Arturo— we need to know Tur's whereabouts before we go after him. If we go through the whole castle it'll take too long.

—Ah, right— Erica stopped — Where do you think he is?

But they both shrugged their shoulders. Erica folded her arms.

—Damn, we should have questioned these guys— she cursed.

Arturo pondered for a moment.

—I'm not sure if all the guards are aware of Tur's position— he said— let's follow the explosions and see where they take us. We could also look for his office, although I doubt he is there at the moment. He is most likely hiding in a well-protected bunker.

—Following the explosions is a good plan— agreed Erica— Let's go!

They continued their way through rooms, corridors and courtyards. In two small rooms they encountered groups of frightened servants, in a corridor they came across a lost soldier. None of them knew where Tur was or where there might be a bunker, but they all knew exactly where his office was: on the top floor of the large central tower.

After running through several places, the children came to a large courtyard with a stone floor. From that roofless place they could see the middle tower of the castle. It was a huge building, so tall that to see the top they needed to bend their necks.

They were about to set off, when suddenly noises of gunfire approaching caught their attention. Out of nowhere two flying fighter crafts appeared in the sky. They were firing at each other with laser beams and missiles, at the same time moving erratically to dodge each other's projectiles, but the humans could tell that one was much better equipped. The one that was winning was painted in shades of yellow, the shades of the empire's militia. It was bigger, sturdier and had more weapons; the other looked good, even formidable, but it would not last long. Finally, something inside the small ship exploded, the systems failed and the vehicle fell spinning to the ground. For an instant it seemed to them that it was moving away in its fall, but then it came back towards the same courtyard where they were. It approached so fast that they barely had time to react. Erica quickly grabbed her friends and slid backwards in a hurry. The ship crashed to the ground shortly before their backs hit the wall. Several pieces of metal and rock shot out, some straight at them. Arturo raised a wall from the ground. They ducked against it to avoid the projectiles.

After the last of the boulders stopped bouncing, Erica peered out. The ship had been blown to pieces. Her friends looked out as well and noticed the ship.

—We should go and see if there are any survivors— stated Liliana.

—No, it's too dangerous— replied Erica.

—But someone may be suffering— she exclaimed.

Arturo put a hand on her shoulder.

—Erica is right, we can't jump without training and proper equipment.

Liliana bowed her head, frustrated, but resigned.

—They brought this on themselves, anyway— added Erica— they attacked this castle with the intention of killing people. When you're going to kill someone, you have to be prepared to die. That's the law of murderers.

Her friends looked at her, surprised. Erica wondered if she had said something she shouldn't have, but she didn't have a chance to ask; suddenly a burst of gunfire alerted them. Arturo formed a second wall for protection, the three of them took cover and the laser beams passed them by. From the angle and power, they realized they were coming from the sky: the one firing was the flying ship of the castle guards.

—Why are they attacking us?— yelled Liliana, frightened.

—They think we are part of the coup!— deduced Arturo— We have to flee!

He immediately opened a hole in the wall behind them. They escaped into the next room and ran from there, but then more laser shots pierced the walls and the sky. Then a wall behind them exploded. The flying ship emerged through the windows on the other side and aimed its laser shrapnel at them.

—No! Leave us alone, Mr. Guard!— Liliana shouted.

—We'll have to take them on!— shouted Erica— I'll distract them! You two get closer and destroy it!

—What?!— cried out Liliana.

But there was no more time to form a plan. Erica shot herself towards the window, passed through it and jumped straight towards the ship. The pilot shot towards her, but could not hit her. Then the brika cut the distance between them and smashed the ship with an axe made of timitio. The ship lurched and bounced and Erica landed on a roof a few meters below.

Meanwhile, Liliana clutched Arturo's arm in fright.

—That fool! She's going to kill herself!

—She's acting as a tank— observed Arturo.

—What?

The mage smiled, amused.

—Good strategy. We have to go help her.

—Ah... right.

The mage formed a platform in which they stood. Then they both flew towards the ship from behind. Erica jumped on top of it and dented its shell with blows, before it shook her off again. Then the soldiers sent a missile at her, but Arturo managed to parry it with his magic, deflected it past Erica and sent it high up to explode in a safe place. While Erica entertained the guards, he and Liliana climbed into the ship.

—Get rid of the pilots!— commanded the mage.

Liliana nodded and with some effort made her way to the nose of the ship. There she could see, from above, the militia nonis too focused on Erica to notice her. Then she cut through the windshield with her scythe. The two nonis piloting the ship looked up, dumbfounded. Liliana jumped down and put them both to sleep with a clean slash.

The guards were defeated, but then the ship began to fall. In an instant Erica appeared from the hole left by the missing windshield, grabbed her friends in her arms and jumped to the ground to protect them. Arturo, floating on a metal plate above the ship, slowed her fall as much as he could as she descended toward the ceiling below. The concrete walls and pillars creaked under the weight of the vehicle, but remained standing.

The three regrouped on a terrace next to it. They checked their wounds, none of them had anything serious.

—Well done, team!— celebrated Erica.

She raised a fist. Arturo and Liliana enthusiastically clapped their fists together. Liliana put a hand to her heart, still accelerated.

—I thought they were going to hit us with one of their lasers— she pleaded— Why did they think we were part of the terrorist group?

—It must be because we're not in uniform— Arturo guessed— we're strangers, they couldn't risk letting us free to kill their comrades.

—But hey, we beat them super fast, aren't we impressive?

—We wouldn't have made it without your quick reaction— Arturo pointed out— and without Lili's final blow, the fight would have gone on much longer.

Erica jabbed a finger into his side, which made him jump from the tickle.

—Hey!— protested Arturo.

—Don't be humble, you were amazing too— claimed Erica— you praise Lili and me and expect us to tell you something, huh? Well, you're great, you damn know-it-all mage.

She continued to tease him with her fingers, while Arturo tried to walk away. Liliana took advantage of those seconds to catch her breath. Then they looked up at the sky. There were several more flying ships, fighting each other high in the sky. Every so many minutes explosions could be heard throughout the castle and plumes of smoke rose and could be seen in the distance. There was no longer any doubt; this was not only a terrorist attack, it was a full-fledged coup d'état.

—We'd better move indoors from now on— proposed Arturo.

They all agreed, so they went through the first door they found into a building. To their surprise, they found a room with guards tied hand and foot in a corner, while two nonis with masks and laser submachine guns watched them. When the children entered, all eyes were on them.