They continued to climb, unstoppable. Between the three of them they wiped out several groups of armed nonis. It took them quite a while to climb, but suddenly, at a certain floor, they had to open doors to make their way to wider and more ceremonious stairs. Further up they came upon the violet sky of Nudo, visible through the access to the top floor. They stood for a moment, perplexed. It took them a few seconds to realize they had reached the top. Liliana and Arturo let out a sigh of relief, while Erica hurried cheerfully up the last few steps. She didn't think they would make it that far, but there they were.

—Now I just have to talk to Tur— she thought.

She emerged on the top floor. Before her was a lavishly landscaped front garden, with a small fountain in the middle, stone pathways, statues of ancient naked noni heroes, and bushes cut in the shape of animals, some of them monsters Erica had faced.

After the front yard there was one last piece of building: a big old house, with a beautiful facade, cozy colors and a terrace on the second floor. That was Tur's office, a small mansion on top of the world. From there he controlled his empire.

However, occupying a large part of the front garden was a numerous group of terrorists, armed to the teeth.

Liliana and Arturo emerged behind her, celebrating their arrival, when they noticed the nonis stationed in front of the gate. Then they turned to the children. Everyone was silent for several seconds, not knowing what to do; the humans had not expected even more enemies at the end and the terrorists believed to have the building under control.

The nonis quickly pointed their guns at the children and began firing. Arturo immediately picked up a piece of rock to shield the three of them and form a strategy.

—There is nowhere to hide— he observed— there are too many of them for us and the terrain does not favor us.

The boy looked at Erica hoping that she did not have the idea of going and confronting them directly. If she tried, there was a chance she would be thrown from the tower down. But then the brika nodded.

—True, we are at a disadvantage— she agreed.

Arturo looked at Liliana, surprised, she smiled at him.

—Of course... then we'd better go back and...

However, at that moment a flying ship appeared in the air at the height of the platform. It stood still like a helicopter while two machine guns emerged from its hull. The children could only stupefied stare at it while the cannons aimed at them; it was a ship controlled by the terrorists, they were trying to kill them. Erica wanted to react, to grab her friends and take them downstairs, but she knew it was too late. She tried to think of something, but although she was relatively calm, nothing came to her mind. She thought at least one of them was going to die, when suddenly, a mass of fire the size of a house hit the ship and exploded in front of her eyes.

The children stood frozen in place, not quite understanding what had happened. Then another huge flame attacked the terrorists behind them. The terrorists screamed and fired into the air. Bewildered, the children turned to the garden and watched as the fire formed an incandescent swirl in the air. They noticed that at the center of the swirling fire was a person; a noni, tiny by comparison. He moved his raised arms in a circle and the fire followed his movement like a rapt animal. None of the terrorists could get close to him.

Finally the noni in the middle closed his hands in a wide, confident gesture. The heat from the fire dissipated into the air around him, it rose and the fire was extinguished in a few seconds.

The children stood watching the scorched garden; the bodies of the terrorists lay prostrate on the black ground, charred. It had been a massacre.

Then they looked up at the noni who had done it; the noni in the middle. For a tense moment they wondered if they should defend themselves against him, but it was not necessary. Suddenly dozens of guards emerged from the stairs, in formation. They quickly surrounded them and pointed their rifles at them. They had been taken by surprise.

—Stand up— ordered one of the guards.

The humans obeyed and stepped out of the protection provided by Arturo's improvised wall. The guards instructed them to walk in the direction of the burned area, so they did. The noni from the fire whirlpool went to meet them.

At that instant Erica grabbed the rifles of the nearest guards, hit the respective soldiers with them and then threw them into the faces of two others. She then slid towards the noni mage at high speed to ram him. However, when she was halfway there, a small protrusion emerged from the ground and tripped her. The girl fell flat on her face, rolled and collapsed next to the noni.

She then looked up. The mage was an old man, long horned and dark skinned. Unlike ordinary nonis, he was dressed from neck to toe. He even wore more than one layer of clothing; a sort of elegant robe and a trim cape that covered his large noni back. In his hand he wore a patterned black cane, very elegant and surely expensive.

The noni looked down at her with a smirk, which made her angrier. From the ground she braced her hands and feet to leap to his face and headbutt him in the nose, but mid-leap, two claws emerged from the concrete of the ceiling and held her tightly to the floor.

The old noni laughed, then offered her his hand.

—It's all right. I'm not your enemy, little brika.

The rock hands withdrew from Erica's body to return to the floor. Erica stood up on her own, though she gave the noni a chance to speak and explain himself. Liliana and Arturo approached them. Arturo felt something different coming from him, as if his presence tickled the back of his neck. That was the second individual that caused him that sensation.

—It is a pleasure to meet you, young humans— greeted the noni— my name is Kan'fera, I am the Third and also the head of the special magic corps of my boss, the First.

The children stared at him with different reactions: Erica was grumpy for what had happened, Liliana was attentive to all the ways he expressed himself in order to get a quick image of him, and Arturo was completely fascinated.

—Are you a mage?— asked the latter.

—Yes, and I see that you are too.

—How can you know that I am a mage?

Kan'fera laughed.

—Do you feel that tingle? It's our mind extensions rubbing together.

—Wow, that's amazing!

Kan'fera smiled, pleased with the boy's attitude.

—You look a little young to be a mage. What's your name, boy?

—Arturo. It is a pleasure to meet you.

Then the old man looked at Liliana.

—Ah, my name is Liliana, sir... thank you for saving us.

—Haha! You're welcome, cutie— he fluttered his head as a gesture of nonchalance— I'm glad to meet you at last. When you entered the castle, Tur asked me to wait for you three here.

This came as quite a surprise to them.

—The First knew we were coming?— Liliana wondered.

—Of course, there are cameras all over the castle and the surrounding area— pointed the old man.

—But what about the coup d'état?— asked Arturo— We approached when it had already begun, how is it possible that the First paid attention to us?

—Well, it's not that complicated. We already knew this attack was going to happen, we had a few spies infiltrated, it just didn't seem like a big deal to us. Tur seemed much more interested in the three of you, especially you, Erica.

Erica frowned, growing increasingly tense. She didn't like it when someone else had cards up their sleeve, she didn't like being taken by surprise, she was usually the one who did it.

—We came because we have questions for Tur— she explained— that's all.

—And I'm sure he'll answer anything you want. Come in.

Kan'fera indicated that she could continue to Tur's office with a wave of his arm.

—However, your friends will have to stay here.

The children stood where they were, a bit wary. Erica prepared to jump on him again.

—Why?— she pleaded dryly.

—The First's orders— the old man clarified— You can all talk later, but just now he told me to let only you in... and that if you decided not to, he would never receive you again.

—What?!— the brika shouted.

Then she looked at her friends, trying to come up with a solution. Leaving them both with the nonis smelled like a trap, it had to be a trap, although she saw no reason for it to be, but it was certainly a trap, it couldn't be anything else.

—Go, Erica— Liliana told her.

—What?— she asked surprised— but....

She was about to mention the trap, but stopped herself. She risked being attacked if she started talking about the nonis as enemies.

—I know, but I don't think anything bad will happen. Lord Kan'fera doesn't look like someone evil.

This made the old mage laugh, though he said nothing.

—Yeah— Arturo added— we've come this far, I couldn't bear to leave without you seeing the First.

Erica smiled. She didn't like the idea of leaving them alone, but she trusted Liliana, and Arturo was right. Ready, she marched to the last point of the castle tower and went through the door.

Then Kan'fera clasped his hands together.

—Very well, now we will kill them.

Liliana and Arturo took a step back, stupefied. For an instant, hundreds of options crossed their minds. They were about to run away, if it wasn't for the old man burst out laughing.

—I'm sorry, it was a joke— he said with a chuckle— I'm sorry, it's just that... Oh, what a laugh...— He needed a few seconds to calm down— Ah, very well, who wants to eat? That flame used up a lot of energy and I'm starving.

Arturo needed a moment to recover, but he wasn't going to turn down an invitation to lunch.

—Yes!— he exclaimed.

Liliana put a hand to her face, tired and relieved. She only hoped that the rest of the day would hold no more surprises.

As she, Arturo, Kan'fera and a handful of guards withdrew, Liliana took one last look at the charred bodies on the ground. She had lied to Erica when she told her that the old noni didn't look like someone bad; it was true that she hadn't sensed bad intentions towards them, but no one who killed so many people without flinching could be someone good to her. Erica was the only exception.

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

The young brika came to a long corridor with several decorations: a beautiful bright violet carpet at and decorations of shields and weapons on the walls. Halfway down the hallway was a little fountain, and at the end, a large door with two guards posted. Both were orange nonis, they looked much more experienced than the normal guards. They watched the girl approach and pointed to the gate with broad gestures of their arms. She planted her hands to open it, when suddenly she heard a shriek. For a moment she wondered whose voice it could be. Then she remembered the only orange noni she had not seen that day besides Tur.

She quickly walked through the door to see what was going on. Tur's office was huge. Like Mother's, it had multiple sub-rooms for various functions, but at that moment most of the decorations were broken, the curtains were torn, the desk was in shreds, and the walls and floor were missing a few chunks of concrete.

Erica found two orange nonis off to the side; one was Tur, in perfect condition. In his hand he was holding someone by the neck, the other orange noni. Erica looked at his face, his horn cut off. It was Pol'kar.

Tur turned to Erica and smiled at her.

—Ah, you're just in time. Do you want to see this weakling die?

Erica gazed for a few seconds at Tur: powerful and imposing, holding Pol'kar, who was badly wounded and struggling in vain to free himself from the First's hand. The same noni who had treated her as a friend, the same one who had saved her from a rock golem, the same one who had taught her to move in Nudo, was dying. Erica shuddered.

Her first impulse was to go and hit Tur, but she remembered the previous time she had tried that and knew it wouldn't work. Powerless, she had to step out of her comfort zone and resort to an option she rarely used: dialogue.

—S... stop— she said— Tur, stop! Let him go!

The First glanced at Pol'kar, then turned to the girl and smiled like someone on the receiving end of a joke.

—Why? This guy came here to kill me, didn't you, Pol'kar?

The revolutionary leader did not answer, too busy clinging to life. One arm was hanging off him, most likely broken. Half of his face was dirty with his own yellow blood and he was breathing heavily. He would not last long without treatment.

—Because...— Erica knew Tur had no reason to let him go, so she abandoned reason and clung to emotion as much as she could— because he's my friend. Please let him go. He can't do anything to you anymore.

Tur's smile widened into a malevolent expression.

—Do you want me to let him live? Let me ask you. Have none of your victims ever asked you the same thing?

Erica swallowed. She wanted to say no, but she remembered several identical cases. There was no way she could convince Tur by that method. A moment passed when no one said anything, only Pol'kar's whimpering could be heard.

—He's killed a lot of innocent people too, you know— the First revealed to her— more than you, that's for sure.

He then separated Pol'kar from the wall. With a simple movement of his arm, he threw him several meters through the air until he landed at Erica's feet.

—Humans, so talkative— Tur snorted— We are in the Noni Empire. If you want to save him, defend him with your fists.

This took her completely by surprise.

—Defend him?!...from you?!

But Tur covered the distance between them in the blink of an eye and kicked her with tremendous force. The girl shot out, crossed the air in an instant and slammed into the back wall, cracking the concrete.

Next the First caught Pol'kar by the ankle, lifted him up and slammed him to the ground with such force that he broke a third of his skeleton.

Erica was in great pain from the blow she had received, but she still mustered all the strength she could to get to her feet. She ran at full speed towards Tur to ram him, but he threw Pol'kar's body at her, intercepting her in mid—run.

The girl fell backwards, but held the terrorist to prevent him from hurting himself further. When they stopped, she pushed him aside and threw herself towards Tur again. She jumped to grab him by the horns, but the noni ducked his head hard and impacted it against the floor. Without resting, Erica spun like a log, jumped up and tried to go around him to attack from behind. But when she tried to kick his neck, Tur raised a timitio—covered arm and punched her in the face, sending her flying into the wall.

Again she crashed and fell to the floor, breaking a few ribs. She wanted to get up immediately, but several sharp pains made her wince and stay where she was. Her arms were shaking, it was hard to breathe. Tur was too much for her, but she couldn't give up at that moment, Pol'kar needed her. She had to find a way to save him.

Wounded, she stood up. The noni was waiting for her in the same place, amused. It was nothing more than a game to him, something he could do because he was by far the strongest in the room.

—I have to ignore the pain— said Erica to herself— If I keep stopping every time he hits me, I'll never end this. Come on, Erica, break his face!

She let out a shriek to give herself more courage. Then she ran with everything she had. This time she made a move as to punch his face, but turned at the last instant and ducked down to punch him in the ribs. Suddenly her hit connected, she felt the hot noni skin on her knuckles. His orange body shuddered and even shifted a few centimeters. However, this gave him room to counterattack. Before Erica could make distance, a powerful punch to the head knocked her down.

The impact was tremendous, so much so that it didn't even let her scream. But the girl ignored the pain and shock, and was up in a second. Nimble, she slid to Tur's back, jumped on his head and sent an axe kick to the back of his head. The noni blocked it in time with both arms, but the force of the impact caused his feet to crack the concrete a bit.

The brika spun backwards to land, a moment that Tur took advantage of to send a knee to her face. She blocked it with her hands, just in time, but it still sent her flying and took her away.

Tur began to laugh out loud, carried away by the ecstasy of the battle. Without stopping, he formed a hammer the size of a barrel with his timitio and launched himself at her. The latter, upon seeing it, formed a shield and raised it forcefully when she saw that her opponent was going to hit her. Both timitio weapons collided like two ships at full speed, the impact was so great that it made the girl's legs wobble. Then he sent another blow, with his body he pushed her a little to make her lose her balance. Erica noticed that he was taking space between her legs to make her fall. In response, she undid her shield, formed gauntlets with her timitio and tackled Tur's mallet with her bare hands. Her back bent dangerously, the muscles in her legs and arms bulged as never before from the pressure, but she stood nonetheless. Tur looked at her behind the hammer. Without letting off the pressure, he burst out laughing again.

—That's it, use everything you've got! Like that!

To the girl's astonishment, a layer of timitio emerged from Tur's body, covering him entirely and increasing in size. Slowly, without ceasing to struggle, everything in him grew until he became a four meter giant, with skin as black as oil and red rays furrowing him from head to toe.

—What the fuck?!— she thought.

Two more arms emerged from Tur's back, each with another hammer, making them 4 in total. One of these landed on the one she was holding. The blow caused her to arch her back more and strain her muscles further into an almost impossible position. Even with all her physical strength and all her will, she could not withstand such force. Then the third hammer fell, the immense weight brought her down and crushed her to the ground. Finally the last hammer fell.

Erica tried to shake them off. Then Tur removed them all and whipped her with a rain of timitio hammers, a relentless bombardment, a rain of accelerated blows that crushed her again and again against the ground.

When Erica could move no more, Tur stopped. He had won. Bleeding, barely able to breathe and with a pile of broken bones, Erica looked up at him as he left her to go to Pol'kar. Without further mishap she grabbed him and lifted him by the neck. The terrorist was grunting and trying to struggle still, but his injured body could do nothing.

Erica wanted to get up, to keep fighting, but her muscles no longer responded. With a trembling hand she held a boulder touching her palm and squeezed it. She wanted to think there was still something she could do. She could hear Pol'kar whimpering, but everything hurt intensely and nothing was responding.

Suddenly she heard something screaming in the distance, farther and farther away. Before her eyes she beheld a little black ball the size of a football rising into the air. It took her several seconds to realize that it was her timitio.

—What are you doing? Why are you leaving me?

She wanted to reach out and grab it, but she couldn't even do that.

—Traitorous bastard.

She turned to the nonis. She couldn't see them well in the position she was in. Suddenly there was a thump, then the sound of drops and squirts splashing on the floor. Pol'kar's whimpers faded away.

Her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't believe Pol'kar had died, even with her there. She cursed and blamed herself, but she didn't even have the strength to self-flagellate. She had fought with all her might, she had done everything she could, but it had not been enough.

—It's not fair!— she said to herself.

Between tears and remorse, her vision became blurred, her eyelids heavy, and although she didn't want to, she locked herself in her own mind.

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

After wiping off the blood, Tur approached Erica to examine her. He noticed her timitio hovering, but did not touch it, he had enough. He also noticed that she had fallen asleep.

He smiled, pleased to see her. Even asleep and ground down, that little human girl looked ready to jump into action.

—I waited eighteen years to have this fight with you, and you didn't disappoint. You're going to be phenomenal someday, little princess.