The Flight

“This isn’t when you’re supposed to help her!” Timoteo snapped. “Now take your stupid librem and run! RUN!”

That’s what they did: RUN! They didn’t have a choice. Epinephrine had taken over.

Sympathizing with the excruciating pain of Lithuania’s savaged spine or wondering about how Timoteo knew about the librem – did they talk too loud? he couldn’t have seen it – and what on Coralende was going on with Lithuania and her blue dots – was she divining? but she didn’t seem to be in control and if that were divining why didn’t winfry and isa glow blue? and what was she going to say about her sisters? –and why was Timoteo such a douche to them? …

All that cerebral activity, given the dire circumstances, would have been absurd. So their brains switched off and they booked it. winfry didn’t hear the thunder of the tunnel caving in around him let alone the screeching of the Assmachestani forces above. He didn’t even realize how much the floor was shaking, later recalling only a light tremor underfoot. He just ran like mad and kept track of isa.

With longer legs, winfry could have easily outrun isa but he kept her in front in case something happened. And of course something did. One of the more violent tremors jerked off a pipe from the ceiling. isa wasn’t quick enough and the metal beam struck her across the shoulder sending her face first into the floor. Without any hesitation, winfry swooped down, scooped isa up like a track baton and kept on running. It took a punch in the chest for winfry to realize that isa wasn’t unconscious and could run by herself.

While both isa and winfry had seen the North Tower through their divining, they had no real idea of how far it was and their muscles were approaching oxygen debt. But the tremors had diminished in force and frequency and it seemed as if they were distancing themselves from the Assmachestani strike. So they let themselves let up.

And then they heard it. Rattling down the tunnel came the cry of an Assmachestani assassin. Given the trauma those devils put them through before Lithuania found them, they would remember that sound even after Alzheimer’s. At least this time they knew it was coming. While winfry pulled out the librem from his jacket pocket, wrote in a rock and illuminated the tunnel, isa divined a 2 foot diameter ball of fire. After their first attack, they planned out how to deal with the monsters. And although their plan was only minimally effective in the woods, this tunnel was a different story. With the passage illuminated they could see the black blur 100 meters away hurtling towards them like a bat out of hell. As it narrowed in, winfry launched the rock and the assassin easily swooped to the left, right into the 573 K sphere of flames isa sent moments after winfry threw the rock. The charred remains slid past winfry’s foot. That was easy. It made isa and winfry look like a pair of bona fide adventurers instead of just an oddly romantic and bookish couple. At least until the rest of the assmachestani force charged through the tunnel.

Throughout their blunderings in the woods, winfry and isa had discovered quiet a few of the agents of Assmachestani: the toxic deep purple fungus that set off heat-triggered explosions, the reptile that moved and looked like a small wolf that spit sparks that torched whatever they landed on and left burns that were nearly impossible to heal even with divining, the creature that left ostrich sized bird tracks throughout the woods and of course our dearly beloved winged assassins. This time, storming up the tunnel were a trio of assassins, a pair of the wolf-lizards and a woman in an odd military sort of outfit.

The woman shouted in a foreign language and the three assassins shot out in front of the group while the wolf-lizards closed in just in front of her. Not even a miracle would help winfry and isa defeat this Assmachestani force; it was time to fly. With the monsters still 70 meters away, isa triggered an explosion that brought the ceiling down just in front of their attackers, grabbed winfry’s hand and ran. But before they could get much of a head start they heard another explosion and the assassins swooped out of a path cleared through the rubble. Heart rates must have hit the turbo boost, when isa and winfry looked back to see the woman emerge from the clearing aglow with a halo of blue. This time, winfry grabbed isa’s hand, pulled her forward and shouted through gasps of air, “On three… we turn … and give them… everything we’ve got… trust me… 1… 2… 3!”

A wave of blinding light stunned their adversaries followed by a shower of rocks. It was the best isa could muster and it wasn’t enough. Their hunters were thrown off guard and bruised but even without full eyesight they continued to advance. When they regained their eyesight, the Assmachestanis received an even greater shock. Their prey was gone.


“isa, are you ok?”

“Yes dear.”

isa and winfry were satnding in a dark narrow hallway.

“Are we in the…”

“North Tower. I hope so.”

“But how did you get use here?”

“I’m not really sure myself but we don’t have time for that story right now. We need to find Latvia and Estonia immediately. They are Lithuania’s only hope.”

And the two dash off down the hallway as fast as their fatigue would carry them but you and I don’t have to hurry so lucky you get to hear the story: while the light-rock storm occupied the hunters and isa all but collapsed, winfry scribbled down a word in the librem: safe.

But back to our other story. Not far down the hallway, isa and winfry ran into a room with Felix Sombrero and two women they shouldn’t have been able to recognize.

“Thank God we found you three.”

“Latvia and Estonia, your sister needs your help now. We don’t have time to explain. We have to act now.”

The sisters were deer-in-the-headlights-dazed times ten but they somehow knew, as they unconsciously slipped into a quilaire-induced high, exactly what to do.