War in the City Chapter 7

IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Davree ran as fast as he could, following the directions given to him on his hand held computer. It showed the location of Kialka on its screen, and also the location of the Harpies closing in on her. He was very close to her now. He just hoped he could get there in time. Davree leaped over a bush, ducked under a tree, and ran into the stream. He ran upstream a short distance, then turned the corner to see her, and two Harpies.

Kialka was being held by one. The other one had his laser gun pointed against her head. Davree had a laser gun beside him, but he didn't dare use it. At this range he might easily miss the Harpies and hit Kialka. Davree hastily threw his laser gun and computer pad in a nearby bush so it wouldn't get in his way or slow him down, and ran up the stream towards the three.

The Harpies heard Davree's splashing and looked over to see what it was. Kialka heard it too and seized her chance. While the Harpies were briefly distracted, her left arm shot up and knocked away the laser gun pointed at her head. At almost the same time, her right hand came in a sudden motion to break the hold the second Harpy had on her shirt. Before the second Harpy had time to aim and fire his laser gun, Kialka kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him into the water.

Suddenly, Kialka felt the fist of the first Harpy hit her, and she staggered backwards. He pointed his laser gun at her, and she pretended to accidently fall down from the force of his punch. The laser fire just barely went over her as she fell. Once on the ground, her leg flashed up to hit the Harpy in the stomach. He bent over in pain and she took the opportunity to kick his face from her position on the ground. His head jerked backwards, and the rest of his body followed, sending him to the ground.

The second Harpy had by this time gotten back on his feet. Davree was almost to him, but not quite. The Harpy hesitated briefly, not sure whether to aim his laser gun at Kialka or Davree. The hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second before he chose to aim at Davree. Kialka, still on the ground, swung her leg out to kick the Harpy in the back of the knee. The blow did not knock him over, but shook him greatly, causing him to miss his shot at Davree. Before he had a chance to press the trigger again, Davree knocked the laser gun to the side with his left hand, and hit the Harpy with his right. Before the Harpy could recover from the blow, Davree grabbed his laser gun and wrenched it from him. The first Harpy, seeing the two Watchers were now armed with a laser gun, flew away. The second Harpy soon followed his example.

Davree turned to Kialka. "Is that all of them?" he asked.

Kialka nodded, feeling as if she were in a dream because so much had happened so quickly. First she was just walking in the park, then she found out the city was under attack, then she herself was attacked, next she thought she was going to die, and now she was safe, for the time being at least. "There was a third," she said, "but I think he left as soon as they had me."

Davree glanced all around. "I don't see him. Let's hope your right. Come on, I've got another laser gun down there." Davree pointed to the bushes, and he and Kialka started walking toward it.

"You sure came right in time," Kialka commented. "Another second and I would have been dead."

"As soon as I heard about the attack, I had the teacher locate both you and Peter. I saw you were in Locom Park, and so I thought you might need some help. I grabbed a laser gun and got here as soon as I could."

Kialka smiled at him. "Well, thanks for being so concerned."

Davree smiled back. "You two are my best friends. I wanted to make sure you were safe. Turns out it was a pretty good idea that I did."

"So where is Peter anyway?"

"Well he was at the museum when the attack began, and if he's smart he'll stay there." Davree pulled his spare computer pad from out of his back pocket and punched a few buttons on it. He looked at the screen, sighed and shook his head. "He's outside now," Davree said in a soft but frustrated tone. "I don't know what he's thinking."

"Where at?" Kialka asked.

Davree put his finger onto the screen, and traced it across. "Oh about a couple blocks from the museum."

"Then we'll just have to make that our next stop," Kialka said, picking up the laser gun from the bushes, as well as Davree's other computer pad, which she pocketed.

Davree punched a few buttons on his computer, then looked at the screen again. "Keep following the stream," he advised. "There's an exit from the park a little ways down."
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Palzo paced nervously back and forth. He was less than two miles from the entrance where he had first entered the city, and he did not like it one bit. He was king of the great nation of Marram, possibly the most powerful nation on Fabulae. He was king of this great nation, and here he was in the city, utterly helpless. He had no bodyguards for protection, and no soldiers defending him. All the soldiers he had were out fighting. Even worse, the reports he could gather were that they were losing. And here he was just sitting here; a lame duck. The king of Marram, an open target for anyone who wanted.

Palzo could see a soldier approaching. At once he stiffened, and threw away all hints of fear, showing only his cold brave exterior. "Report soldier," he said, the fear in his voice expertly covered from years of practice.

"You're losing, King." The words were in a disrespectful tone, and did not sound like the words of an obedient Marramiane soldier at all. Palzo took a step back and carefully examined the soldier.

"I don't remember you. You're not one of my soldiers."

The man took off his helmet. "You are correct. But I can still help you."

"How did you get that uniform?" Palzo asked in a voice that demanded to be answered.

"I took it off from one of your dead soldiers," the man answered, as he took off the armor.

Palzo looked the man over skeptically. "How can you help us?"

"Not just me," the man explained. "There are many more like me, thousands. We are willing to help Marram take over the city, but we have certain demands."

"You? Make demands? Of us?"

"If you don't want our help that's fine. We can fight against you just as well as fight for you."

Palzo considered this for a moment, then asked, "What are your demands?"

The man handed a list to Palzo as he recited them. "Number one, once Marram has control of the city, it will make no decision which contradicts the charter of the Watcher Idealistic Nation." The man handed a book over to Palzo. Palzo glanced at the cover, and saw that it was the charter the man was talking about. "Number two, once Marram has control of the city, the existence of the city will be made known to all the nations of Fabulae. Number three, once Marram has control of the city, any who want to enter it from the outside world may do so, regardless of their species or nationality. Number four ..."
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Both Kialka and Davree were feeling very worn out, so they did not run to find Peter. They did, however, keep a good pace on their journey, and used the super elevators to help them get to the location. They found Peter standing outside with a large crowd of people.

"Peter!" Davree called out. Peter turned to see them, and ran over to them.

"Davree, Kialka. What are you two doing here?"

"We came to get you," Davree answered. "What in Deka's name are you doing outside. For Deka's sake, get inside now. You'll be safe inside."

Peter shook his head. "Not now, I've got to help evacuate the school."

"Evacuate it?" Kialka couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why in the world would you want to evacuate it? Inside is the safest place in the world for those children to be right now."

"Not anymore. The Harpies are figuring out these buildings, and attacking them now. They've attacked this school twice already. Each time so far they've been repelled, but two children have already been killed, and if they return we don't know what will happen."

"They're attacking the school?" Davree asked.

Peter nodded. "One of them even broke a window and flew inside the school last time. They're going inside all sorts of buildings now. We're evacuating the children to the nearest super elevator at the end of the block. From there, they're brought downtown, to an old building. They'll be safe there. It doesn't have any windows, and only one steel door. It's also guarded heavily by Watchers on the outside, to defend against any attack the Harpies might try and make."

"And you're helping to do this?" Kialka asked.

"I help supervise the children, make sure everyone gets from the school into the super elevator, and I make sure it's done as quickly as possible. I also keep a look out for Harpies. There's not that many of us here. We've got two teachers left in the school, and myself and Demetrius," Peter pointed to his associate, who looked over briefly to wave, "are the only ones outside here, and we've got a couple people downtown helping the children get into the new building. Everyone else left a long time ago." Peter was suddenly distracted by a young boy who fell down while walking, slowing down those behind him. Peter quickly picked him up, dusted him off, and pushed him forward again. Demetrius had gone down to the super elevator by this time, so Peter took over his post at the school door.

"Anything we can do to help?" Kialka asked.

Peter nodded. "Go over to the other side of the school, there's a large-"

Davree cut him off. "Did you hear that?"

Kialka didn't understand. "Hear what?"

"That screeching sound. There it is again." All three listened in silence for a moment.

"I hear it too," Peter said, the next time it sounded.

"I could never forget that sound," Kialka said. "It's the Harpies."

The screech was again audible, this time louder. "It's coming closer," Davree said, panic creeping into his voice.

"Stay calm," Kialka advised, "they might not even becoming this way."

Soon they could hear more screeching. "They're coming this way," Peter determined, "and they're not far off either. We need to get those kids back inside immediately." Kialka wasted no time, and immediately started turning back all the children who were heading outside. Davree got some a little further down the line, and Peter hollered at Demetrius at the end of the line.

"Demetrius! Demetrius!" At first Demetrius did not hear Peter's cries, but then, just as Peter was about to run down to the end of the block himself, Demetrius heard his name and turned around to see what Peter wanted. Another volley of screeches came, this time loud and sounding very close. The Harpies were making great time. Demetrius heard the screeches, and began hearding the children back towards the school. Then, the Harpies appeared.