Novels2Search

Liberation: 31

From the bleachers they watch how the slavers take Chester inside the dome. Nadjela gets up with the intention of rushing to his aid, but Erika, foreseeing his reaction, grabs her shoulder and covers her mouth.

"We're not on friendly ground, honey" she whispers. "You want to save your man? Very well, but we'll do it with our heads"

Nadjela, with a sorrowful countenance and nervous eyes, wanted to tell him that Chester is not her man, but Erika keeps her grip on his lips, until they are outside the coliseum.

They stay at an inn where they spend the afternoon. Erika hatches a plan to save Chester late at night, when the settlement is dark and the guards tired, or drunk, or asleep.

"But they could be torturing him right now!

"Maye... But let's hope not"

The German woman scratches her temple and looks away, not knowing what else to say, and trying to be realistic. Nadjela lies down on the bed, sinks her face into the pillow, and with one hand clutching her mother's necklace, she sobs.

At the gates of the rescue operation, Erika goes out to get instruments. She returns with what she needs and places it on a table in the room. Nadjela spies her from her pillow, her eyes red from crying.

"You won't believe how many blowjobs I had to promise, and how many people I had to beat up, to get all this..." She says and from a bag he unfolds: an AK-47 rifle; a belt of grenades; a roll of dynamite; titanium lock picks; a pot of tear gas; a pair of survival knives; high-intensity flashlights; a remote-controlled kamikaze drone; and two walkie talkies.

Nadjela sits on the bed, her shoulders slumped and her gaze bitter.

"Will we use all that...?" she asks. Most of those things she doesn't even know what they are, but they all look dangerous.

"Of course"

There is a knock at the door. Both Nadjela and Erika tilt their faces in the direction of the knocking, which is repeated, soft and shy.

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"Did you order room service?" She asks quietly enough for only Nadjela to hear.

The little pig, picking up on the bad vibes originating beyond the threshold, runs and hides under the bed. Erika asks Nadjela to imitate the animal, grabs the largest knife of those gathered on the table, and heads for the door. Nadjela heeds the advice and hides.

The huntress positions herself shoulder-first against the door, with one hand she keeps the knife hidden behind her back, and with the other she turns the knob and opens it. When the opening has enough space to see, she suffers a small heart attack.

Deathmask beholds her back, wearing his usual metal mask, also a bouquet of roses in his hand, and a box of chocolates under his arm. It's hard to know who is sweating more, Erika or Achú.

"Is Nadjela available? Can I see her?" He asks in a high-pitched voice, a sharpness he notices, and embarrassed, he clears his throat, recovering his brusque tone to repeat the question.

"How do you know about...?" The first thing that comes to his mind is that he got Chester's name.

"Please, I know she's here..... I gave the order to be notified of any free tribal-looking girl, and the owner of this inn complied. I understand that you doubt me, but I come in good faith. I even bought chocolates"

Erika is still dumbfounded. Achu frowns after not getting a positive answer to his urgency.

"I have my men across the hall. This can be done the easy way, or the..."

The sentence is half-finished.

Erika buries the knife up to the pommel, entering through the left socket. Achu sputters and collapses with the blade wedged in. The flowers are crushed under the body, and the chocolates are scattered. Erika locks the door and runs to the bed.

"Get off your ass and help me pick up!"

Nadjela gets out from under the mattress, dusts off the fabrics, and helps to put everything that might be useful into the satchel, although many gadgets end up being left behind. As she picks up the princess asks what happened.

"I panicked, it happened!"

Girl, woman, and sow, get out of the lead and go running across the rooftops, jumping over the narrow alleys.

In the hallway of the inn, a handful of armed guards surround the body of the warlord. They exchange glances, and a tremulous question hangs in the air: Who will notify Shura of the death of his beloved brother?

All the slavers agree that life is too precious to lose in a fit of hysteria, and rush to their homes to gather all they can and flee.

The inn owner goes upstairs after seeing the guards fleeing in panic, and upon finding the corpse of the slave leader, he sanctifies himself and hurries to find his wife to pack up and leave. The same happens with the tenants who come out of their bedrooms and see him, or the couples who, while cuddling, almost stumble over the corpse.

Achu lying there was as frightening as in life, even more so, because his death promised to be the key to Shura's emotional breakdown.

Throughout the length and breadth of the dome, the rumor of the king's fall spread like a plague.