Raidha was in the passenger seat with her arms folded, her cheeks swollen, and her face red. I was driving in silence, with a mark of the same color on mine. In the distance could be seen what appeared to be a large city.
"Do we have to go in there?" I asked.
"Just shut up and drive!"
"That was not my fault! Is a reaction that I cannot control, less when I'm sleeping! Besides, it was you who fell asleep on me…"
"I told you to shut up! Ah, I can sense it clearly, there is a fissure right there."
"Great… we are screwed…"
There was no other option but to enter the city. Actually, what worried me was not going in, but the reaction of those people when they saw us. With our previous experience with them and the certainty that they would be looking for us even now, there was no doubt that we would have problems as soon as we stepped on it… We needed to enter without being noticed.
Soon we were close enough to the massive city to clearly see the buildings imposingly rising above the ground. Large skyscrapers of probably more than fifty stories overshadowed the more normal buildings surrounding them.
Diversity of color painted the city, although metallic gray stood out. Most of them were completely rectangular, with straight or slightly sloping roofs, filled with antennas of all kinds. Even so, the city did not lack eccentric buildings of artistic construction, with more rounded shapes or curling on themself in a spiral.
"We are too close now. It is time to decide how to sneak in."
I braked in the middle of nowhere and started to think. The car had bullet holes in some parts of its sheet metal and dents everywhere you look. It would certainly stand out from the other vehicles. Our looks and clothes were also a problem. We were too different from those people. A simple glance through the glass would be enough to be instantly discovered even if we hid our faces somehow.
"If only we could keep us from showing through the glass and hide the damage…" I murmured.
"Probably I can take care of that," Raidha quickly said, seeing me thinking of a plan.
"Really? Could you let us pass unnoticed?"
"Yes, leave it to me!" She pounded her chest, confidently.
Having no better ideas, I let her get into the driver's seat. She assured me that we would go faster if she was the one who drove towards the fissure instead of showing me the way. It sounded reasonable, so I let her...
***
"Is this your idea of going unnoticed?! You are crazy!"
Unnoticed my ass! Her brilliant idea to hide us was to cover the car with her magic. A dark layer painted the car completely black, thus hiding the holes and dents. The crystals were also tinted in such a way that nothing could be seen from the outside, while we still had a slight vision inside. Still, the damn car stood out more than ever among the other vehicles. Everyone was staring curiously at it. And that was barely passable… the real problem was that this crazy woman did not know how to drive!
"Shut up, you are disturbing me! Don't worry, we will reach the fissure right away. Once we cross it, we will no longer have to worry about anything."
"At least don't drive the other way!"
My heart beat faster than the car ran. My whole body was glued to my seat. I was holding on with all my strength where I could, to not be thrown off by the sharp turns Raidha made without warning. Beeps and screams of fear could be heard wherever we passed.
All the cars that we frontally met were trying desperately to avoid us, thus causing many to collide with each other or with other objects. One of those dodged us with a desperate swivel and crashed into the wall of a house… Hopefully, the vehicle would have a good security system...
'Nothing could be worse… How did I ever let this idiot drive?!'
I looked in the rear-view mirror at the mess we had caused, just in time to see a multitude of larger vehicles following us. Several of those people emerged from an upper window, with submachine gun-like weapons in their hands.
'Okay, this for thinking that nothing could be worse…'
They opened fire. Bullets flew straight at us. The sound of the bullets colliding with our car echoed throughout the interior, increasing my anguish and despair. Fortunately, the cloak of darkness and the car's own sheet metal seemed to be able to withstand the shots quite well.
"What's that?!" Asked the crazy princess after hearing the blows against the car.
"The police, the army, the same ones from yesterday, or what do I know! Idiot, did you really think that after creating such a mess the security forces would not appear? This is the right moment to run as much as possible!"
We went through the intricate streets of the city without a fixed course. Every crossroad we passed, more vehicles were added to the pursuit. After receiving countless shots, the cloak of darkness decided to give up and some bullets sneaked into the car. The glass in front of us broke into a thousand pieces, falling in large quantities on top of us. For a moment we lost control of the vehicle, a moment that our pursuers took the opportunity to catch up with us and push us directly with their cars in an attempt to stop us by force. Every second the situation was more terrifying.
"Raidha, you better defend us! Leave the driving to me!"
"Hey, wait a moment!"
I shook the glasses on me and kicked Raidha out of the driver's seat. That didn't fix the problem, but at least I felt safer driving myself. Meanwhile, she managed to block the most dangerous shots.
Another group soon appeared in front of us to block our way. I swerved and managed to get out of the way enough to not collide with them, but then two cars got in our way once more, completely blocking it.
"Do something!" I yelled at Raidha when I saw that it was impossible to avoid them.
"I'm doing!" She yelled back.
Raidha threw a black ball that quickly expanded between both vehicles, spreading them. Still, it was only enough to pass brushing both sides of our car with them. The screeching sound of the metal rubbing together made my hair stand on end.
"This had been dangerous… Oh, Shit!"
We had barely avoided colliding with those two but another vehicle charged us from the side. Our car began to spin until I managed to hardly regain control.
"Ehhhhh?! This is getting more and more complicated each moment!"
"And whose fault is it?!"
I tried to lose them as much as I could, but each time we seemed to be more cornered. The car was beginning to fall apart and Raidha was barely able to defend us from the shots and lunges. Our chances of escape diminished by every second. My ideas were also running out and I didn't even have time to think anything. I was using all my strength and concentration to avoid being crushed or pierced.
—Morons, don't stay here. Get out of the car as fast as you can!
"Raidha, let's leave!"
"What?!"
That distorted voice rang in my head once again. I don't know why but immediately followed his warning. I slammed on the brakes, grabbed Raidha by her arm, and jumped out the window with her without even waiting for the car to complete stopping.
We both hit against the ground with a tremendous force, ending up hugging each other while rolling without control a couple of meters, but thanks to that we got rid of what happened next. A white ray engulfed the entire area where our car had been seconds before.
"Fuck, no, now they are attacking us with laser satellites? What kind of threat have they considered us?!" I cursed with all my might.
"Wait, that is… That is magic, light magic! They are Katryde!" Raidha answered with a concerned face.
"What?"
I looked up at the sky. In the distance, I could see something bright, apart from the sun. That had to be what fired that light, although it was not clear to me what it was. Anyway, there was no doubt that it was little by little approaching us.
I wished with all my might that this attack was not repeatable. We got off by a miracle thanks to… him… or that… or whatever… For the moment I should be grateful to him.
"That is…" I murmured after having that object closer.
That light stopped in the sky, but immediately divided into little lights that began to go down even faster. I narrowed my eyes and covered my forehead to get a better view. When I finally managed to visualize its silhouettes I finally understood. That was a ship, and that little lights, a considerable amount of those Katryde coming out from it.