Liana sat herself upright, and stared uncomprehendingly in the far too bright daylight at the almost unrecognisable Izabel before her.
"Marah, here she is!"
She repeated to someone who Liana couldn't see from where she was. Apparently there was a lot of chaos going on behind Izabel, as sounds that seemed to come from fighting were coming at her from all sides. For Liana, who had been completely sensory shut down for an unknown time now, it was all difficult to understand. She had forgotten how her cell had shut out even the loudest sounds along with more subtle signals. How long had there been a fight going on with her even knowing?
She stepped out, slightly numb, and hugged both Izabel and Marah.
“Is this the time for that.” asked Isabel, a bit taken aback.
“It might be the last time we have.” Liana said realistically.
She looked at fallen bodies on the ground. She had a very scary premonition about herself all of a sudden, but she chose to ignore it.
"Carefully. The battle is in full force now.” her classmate warned her, and Liana answered with another stare.
Why was it her, of all people who had come to save her from that cell? Even without telepathy Izabel knew what she was asking. “I came here with Gorr and Frest. Gorr arrived first at Inaya’s place, and he seemed urgent already before he knew you and Marah had gone to the STC base already. I had never seen a Drotniril before, and he was quite the surprise: civilised, friendly, and he spoke our language very well for some reason. A very small man, but smart and very handy. He came straight from a meeting of their own Drotniril council. They seem to be missing a lot of people and he had to look into that. The case with the Onnobolda has shocked their people, and far more of them have disappeared than they thought. His hope was that some of his fellows would still be alive, and it seems he was right about that. Those dwarf types immediately revolted when they heard his story, and attacked everything and everyone. The poor fellow couldn't control it himself and was clearly in shock too about how easily they were provoked…”
So the Drotnira here had risen up against the STC. That was good, Liana thought, but there was something else she'd heard.
“And Frest?”
Isabel nodded. “He sort of woke up suddenly when Marah was gone, and then talked to Inaya for a long time in a language I didn't understand. But when he heard where Marah had gone, and Gorr barged in and wanted to join you as soon as possible, he wanted to come too. He was suddenly certain that there were still fellow Onnobolda alive here, working with the people who had left him and Marah in the explosion to die. He was furious at that idea.”
Liana nodded. She would feel deeply betrayed herself too after going through something like this. But why was Izabel herself here all of a sudden?
"But what about you?" she stammered.
“It didn't feel right to stay in the oak wood while you were in danger here, fighting for humanity. Ellen and Derek annoyed me a lot with their shenanigans. Besides, I was worried about you, and I thought you probably could use some help somehow. And then suddenly there were plans that Frest and Gorr would come here to help you. I saw no option but to come along, and Inaya and Akhina thought it was a good idea.”
"You? But we were hardly friends until a day ago. And yet you come to another world to save me?” Liana asked in despair, and Izabel looked at her with amusement.
“Technically, I’ve just come to my own world now to save It from creepy enemies, and to save my own life for that matter too. You had already taken me to the other world to save me. And it’s true that you probably saved my life that way and then I just let you go alone on that dangerous mission… I hadn't even thanked you for saving my life. It felt wrong, and those two were very insistent that whatever they were going to do would be successful”
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Liana looked at her gratefully. She had long since given up hope that even one of her classmates would understand her, but she had apparently underestimated Izabel. “But there's no time to talk now. When he arrived, Frest started talking in that melodious language of theirs, and Gorr started talking to those other little fierce creatures in yet another language. Gorr also stopped them a few times from attacking me in the beginning. Apparently humans aren’t popular with them, but they listened to him. By now everyone from Nuanderra should know that the two human girls in Onnobolda garb are on their side.
When the uprising came I had no idea what my role was in it. Actually, I was scared, but I knew I had to look for you first and foremost before anything else. And then I ran into Marah, who seemed to be arguing with some professor person who wouldn't listen to her, even though there was clearly a fight on all sides going on.”
Liana nodded affirmatively. “I lost her when she went after some oakwood university professor that she wanted to talk to. I tripped and then one of the STC patrols appeared between us. I tried to hide but in the end they found me and then they locked me up in that thing here. I couldn't communicate with anyone anymore. That cell was made to switch off both all GSM radiation and wifi, and all telepathy of the Nummerfa. I couldn’t even hear the noise of the fight outside.”
Liana suddenly turned around.
“Ah, my backpack is still here.”
She bent down and took out her smartphone. “No phone thieves here thankfully.”
“If you speak of the devil...” Isabel said, while Marah joined them.
Liana looked at her, then at the chaos around her.
“Who is actually fighting who now, does anyone know?”
She looked at several Nummerfa fighting a band of Drotnira for some reason. Marah looked a little taken aback.
“The Drotnira are aware now of what happened on Kavanderra in the explosion. They want revenge on everyone and everything related to the STC, and that includes the leadership of the Onnobolda, especially the Nummerfa who once started the partnership. They want to smash everything to pieces, even though Gorr did everything possible to calm them down. Most regular Nummerfa are on their side against our former leaders. Apparently they had left Kavanderra too when the explosion came. But some of the Onnobolda leaders are standing on their own now without taking sides. I've seen them shoot both ways. And your friend here has dragged me everywhere to find you. You were really unreachable and untraceable in that prison box. It looks like a perfect copy of the one Andira had in Kavanderra."
“Yup, a complete Andira cell, with Andira herself in it too even, behind a panel.” said Liana.
Now Marah looked bewildered.
"What? Andira? Is she alive too?”
"Yah, and she wasn't really that happy with my presence."
Marah closed the door.
“Hmm, let's keep her there for a while. Maybe she can come in handy later in the battle. Although we have to be careful that she doesn't get lynched."
Liana and Izabel walked out of the room, and made their way into the next room. Huge exterior windows showed a lot of bright lights and a confusing overview over the chaos that was going on on the industrial site. The Drotnira seemed to be in control of this part of the building right now, and she saw also that Drotnira were coming from elsewhere, apparently fleeing something that was approaching.
"Look out!" Marah said to the two girls.