They went out into the street at a fast pace. Arturo looked in all directions, nervous. Erica was doing the same, but she was completely relaxed.

—And what do we do if someone recognizes us?— said Arturo.

Erica smiled at him.

—That's my idea.

—What?

Then Erica ran into the street and jumped over the first car she saw. The driver braked immediately, then the brika jumped over another car.

—Erica!— exclaimed Arturo— Careful, you're going to hurt someone!

But Erica ignored him. She continued jumping from car to car until they reached an intersection. The brika stopped right in the middle and opened her arms and legs to act as a barrier to all the vehicles passing by. Most of them got away from her, but she managed to skewer the engine of a pickup truck with a harpoon made of timitio. The van stopped and began to spill gasoline. The nonis inside, frightened, got out and ran away. The driver approached Erica to confront her, but she just grabbed him and threw him towards the sidewalk.

—Come on, who else?!— shouted the brika.

Arturo approached her at the same time as she managed to stop another car with a thud.

—What are you doing?!— said the mage.

—I'm drawing attention— she replied, fixed on the next car she could stop— Are you gonna help me?

Arturo looked around. Some cars had stopped preemptively, other drivers seemed to want to move forward, but they were not sure how to do it without encountering the same problems as the previous ones. A truck headed toward them at full power. Erica prepared to jump straight at the driver, but Arturo beat her to it and forced on the brakes. The truck decelerated rapidly while emitting a horrendous noise and finally stopped a few feet away from the teens. Erica looked at Arturo in surprise.

—I don't like hurting people— the boy said— and neither does Lili.

Erica ran a hand over her head. She didn't like people bossing her around, but she didn't mind being asked for favors, as long as their tone was humble. On the other hand, it wasn't that she wanted to hurt people, she just didn't care. Worse, they were surely going to need to hurt a lot of people if they wanted to rescue Liliana. It was complicated.

—I'll do what I can— she told him.

She watched his face. She waited for his displeased reaction, his insistence that she was wrong and that she should do as he said, that she had no right to use her strength so selfishly and the like. It was the normal reaction, what she had always seen in her world, the tipping point where people stopped thinking her strength was a blessing and began to understand that they should tread carefully around the girl who could kill them if she sneezed too hard.

Nevertheless, Arturo smiled at her hopefully.

—Thank you.

Erica was stunned for a long time. Arturo continued to riot; he erected roadblocks so cars couldn't move forward and bent some traffic lights until they were broken. Erica snapped out of it when some of the nonis approached them.

—How do I defeat them without hurting them?— she asked the mage.

—Throw them to the ground, I'll immobilize them.

Erica didn't know how he intended to execute his plan, but she listened to him anyway. She quickly made her way to the noni in front, slipped under his legs before he could grab her, turned around, grabbed his heels and yanked him up. Arturo formed a ring from the asphalt at his waist that trapped him and prevented him from moving. The noni kicked and flailed, but didn't manage to move a bit. Erica threw the others off with ease, while Arturo followed close behind, making sure to catch them all before they could get back up. Finally, the last few saw what was happening and fled before the same thing happened to them.

After checking to make sure there were no more enemies nearby, Erica turned to Arturo.

—We did it! she exclaimed— We defeated all the nonis without harming them!

For a moment Arturo had feared that his plan was not going to work. He was glad that wasn't the case.

—Good job, Erica.

She walked over to him and held out a palm. Arturo high fived her. They both smiled at each other.

—Now we just have to wait— she said.

—Your idea is that the cops will come to take us prisoner, right?

Erica nodded.

—Do you like it?

Arturo sighed.

—How do you know they'll take us to prison and not to a police station?

—Heh, what police station can they lock me up in?— she pleaded.

Arturo adopted a thoughtful pose.

—You mentioned that brikas are a race, didn't you? Then there must be methods to capture them and keep them locked up. They don't seem to be very common, though. Maybe the major cities have countermeasures. As for the mages...

But the sound of sirens interrupted him. Five medium-sized militia ships appeared from the sky and landed in a circle around them. From these emerged several soldiers who pointed their weapons at them.

Frightened, Arturo thought for a moment about fleeing, losing sight of the authorities, looking for a safer way to rescue Liliana. However, as he turned to Erica, he noticed a defiant smile on her face. It was as if this was all a game to her. The girl's assurance made him reconsider: if they managed to survive and defeat those soldiers, they would have a chance to see her again. Arturo clenched his fists, nervous.

—Let's try it— he said to himself.

—Take cover, I'll attack!— Erica exclaimed.

The policemen began to shoot. Erica threw at full speed, evaded the laser beams and rammed the first soldier with the force of a rocket. He flew backwards. The girl moved on to the next without stopping for a moment. She kicked guns, punched torsos, bent arms and threw them at each other. After knocking out the first five, she noticed that the one in front of her sank into the ground up to his armpits. He tried with all his might to run away, but he was stuck. Erica looked at Arturo, who was concentrating on blocking the shots aimed at him and Erica. Then he ran to the soldiers on the other side to plunge them into the ground and disarm their guns piece by piece with his magic.

—Very good!— exclaimed Erica, before taking a good swing at the next noni.

At the end of the fight only one soldier remained conscious. Arturo removed his weapon to turn it into a steel ball, while Erica held a timitio sword to his neck.

—We are looking for the prison where my friend is being held— she told the noni— she is short, has green eyes and long black hair. She was accused of assaulting Cilo'non Rialal, do you know her?

The noni nodded reluctantly.

—I know who you mean.

—Where is she being held?— asked Arturo.

The soldier grunted. Erica gave him a punch in the stomach to make him talk.

—At the Bivifera penitentiary, southeast, almost at the edge of the city— said the noni— but even if you two make it there, you'll have to go over Fir'non.

—Good, then I'll be able to break her teeth— roared Erica.

—You're no match for the crivia, you damned human!— exclaimed the noni.

Erica punch in the ribs to left him breathless for a while. Arturo looked at the vehicles around him.

—If we steal a car, we could get there, but people will follow us. It will be hard to get there.

—Then let's take a ship— said Erica— Hey, soldier, give us a ride. If you stray even a little from the road, I'll kill you and I'll find the way anyway, understand?

The soldier looked at her, doubled over from the last blow. Defeated, he nodded.

Arturo opened his eyes wide in surprise. He considered himself someone very smart, but he almost always forgot that the people around him were a resource he could use. Liliana always kept that in mind, and apparently so did Erica. The three of them made their way to the soldier's ship. He sat in the pilot's seat, Erica next to him, always threatening him with her pointed timitio and Arturo behind. The soldier pushed a few buttons, the ship lifted off and they took off for the penitentiary.

Flying ships were quite fast. The one they were in crossed half the city in little more than fifteen minutes. Arturo sighed with relief at the sight of the penitentiary, for he was almost certain that the noni would try to lure them into a trap.

—I'll have to land outside. If I tried to land in the courtyard, the anti-aircraft missiles would destroy us immediately— he said.

—Do it— Erica allowed him.

The soldier landed on the street next to the big building. Then Erica patted him on the shoulder and took the timitio sword away from him.

—Very good, very good— she congratulated him— Thank you very much, you were very helpful.

—Die— grunted Noni.

—Haha, of course, champ!

Erica grabbed his head and smashed it against the steering wheel with such force that it shattered the dashboard. Arturo jumped with fright. The noni stayed where he was, unconscious.

—Let's go— urged Erica.

Both humans got out. Arturo turned to the noni to make sure he wasn't dead, but he was fine: he was still breathing, his wounds were not serious. He wondered if Erica had calculated the force of the blow or if she had just left him alive by coincidence.

—He's not dead, is he?— asked the brika.

—No, he is not— answered the mage.

—Ha! You see? I am a saint.

Arturo did not want to answer that for the moment. They both approached the wall. The penitentiary was an imposing building, with high, thick walls and not many windows.

—Hold on to my back— said Erica— I can climb this easily.

—I'd better carry you— said Arturo.

After saying this, he separated the segment of the path they were on from the rest of the ground. The stone platform rose a few centimeters before it started to ascend like an elevator, right next to the wall.

—Incredible!— exclaimed Erica.

Arturo looked around. People were staring at them. It wouldn't be long before the guards at the prison would find out, if they hadn't seen them already. Unfortunately, stealth had never been his forte and he very much doubted it was Erica's. The platform ascended several stories to the flat roof of the prison. The reflection of the blue sun on the metal roof blinded them for a moment.

—All right, where should we start looking?— Erica wondered.

—A control room wouldn't be bad— said Arturo— From there we could find out Lili's location.

—Right.

Erica formed a drill from the sole of her foot, kicked through the ceiling and slipped through the hole to the floor below. Arturo followed close behind.

Almost immediately they encountered a noni lady who looked at them in bewilderment.

—Hey, you!— shouted Erica, as she pointed a finger at him.

The lady shrieked, frightened. She turned to run away, but Erica jumped on her and grabbed her face to keep her from running away.

—Where is the control room? We're looking for an important prisoner!

—Don't kill me!— the noni shrieked.

—Tell us!

She pointed out the window to the next building in the complex. Erica let go of her and went to the window to get a better look. It was a sturdy building, like all the others in the penitentiary area. It was too far to reach in one jump from where they were, they had no choice but to walk.

—Hold on to me— said Erica to Arturo.

—Eh?

The brika broke the window. Without waiting for Arturo, she grabbed him by the waist and jumped to the second floor from where they were. The boy gasped for an instant he thought he was going to die. A moment later they landed safely. Erica set him down.

—Heh, I'm sorry.

—At least let me know beforehand— he pleaded.

—But I told you to hold on— she protested.

—How was I supposed to know you were going to do that?— he complained.

Erica put on a guilty smile to apologize, but Arturo couldn't blame her; he was also anxious to rescue Liliana. Every second was worth it. However, they had made a lot of noise. Looking around, the boy noticed a large group of uniformed nonis staring at them in astonishment. Then one of them pointed a finger at them.

—It's the humas who defied the crivia! Get them!

Half of them drew their weapons, the other half fled to warn the others and gather proper equipment.

—Shit!— Erica blurted out.

Arturo erected a wall between them and the nonis.

—What did you expect?— he pleaded— Let's go to the control room, quick!

—Right!

Erica took Arturo by the waist again, but before leaving, she approached his ear.

—Hold on tight, here I come— she said.

She lifted Arturo over her shoulder and jumped in the opposite direction, getting lost behind a wall of bushes. She ran at full speed towards the building, kicked down the front door and found a handful of nonis waiting for them. Erica jumped back and leapt to the side to take cover from the gunfire. She could survive a few shots, but she was worried about Arturo. At that moment, a hail of lasers burst through the doorway and began to damage the adjoining walls. Erica remembered that the lasers had enough power to shatter a few inches of concrete. They could not stay there for long.

—Can you think of where that control room might be?— she asked the mage.

—No, we'll have to look.

—Let's split up— suggested Erica.

—No! That will only take time— Arturo thought for a moment— the building isn't very big, we should find it if we look.

—Okay, you block the lasers, I'll take care of the rest.