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Outside, the streets were already filling with people. They looked dazed and shocked, fearful yet also hopeful. “Is it true?” someone called to them as they ran through the streets. “Is Demetra...?”
“Yes,” Katerina called back, “she is dead!”
It was quite a distance to where Eva would claim the throne. To get there they ran through areas with huge houses behind big fences, smaller homes crowded together, past parks and shops, many of them closed and boarded up. Even alongside a massive complex behind evil-looking barbed wire fencing. “A prison,” Aaron nodded at it on the way by.
“Full of people that have disappeared; people we need to free,” Eva added grimly. Neither she nor Aaron were puffing, running as if they were merely on a leisurely stroll. Katerina on the other hand was already winded, wondering how much further she could go.
Noticing she was starting to lag, Aaron dropped back to encourage her, “Nearly there. We’ll slow down to mingle with the crowds shortly.”
A few minutes later they rounded a corner and Nico said, “We need to walk now. Follow me...”
He led them at a rapid pace until they could hear a growing ground-swell of noise; the sound of many voices. They rounded another corner and there ahead of them was a huge town square rapidly filling with people. It was rimmed with large, ancient-looking buildings with a stunning clock tower the center-piece of one of them. There were balconies on every building on the second and third stories, all empty.
“Hurry! Riga will be coming here,” Nico urged, leading them towards the nearest building. He pulled a key from his shirt pocket to unlock the door, holding it open so they could enter one by one. Karim, Alice, Noah and Katerina had all ducked through the low doorway when Eva stiffened, “Riga must be here already. I see his men.”
Nico and Aaron exchanged glances. “We’ll stop him,” Nico offered. “Follow this building to the rear, go up the outer stairs onto the roof then across towards the tower. Once you are one building away there will be a trapdoor to take you down a level and from there a door into the clock tower.”
Eva paused a moment looking at Aaron. “Go, it will be alright,” he said urgently, giving her a small push through. When he closed the door behind them, the five were left in near darkness.
Outside, Nico held a gun out to Aaron but the man shook his head, “I won’t need it.” Then they waited, flanking the door, trying to blend in with the growing crowd.
Inside, Karim led the way rapidly through the building to the rear as Nico had instructed. He cautiously opened the back door and they exited into an inner courtyard with metal staircases rising from every building to the rooftops. They started climbing immediately; Karim first, Katerina last.
The first roof was relatively flat, but the next one sloped dramatically and they had to move more slowly, for fear of slipping. “What are we trying to do?” Noah asked Karim, as he helped Alice across a particularly steep part.
“The first to claim the throne has the right to rule and the best chance of being accepted by the people. To claim the throne we need to get Eva to the Suzu Tower, the one with the clock. It’s the oldest building in the land. It’s considered a place of great power and authority. Unless a ruler is dead, no one is allowed to set foot on it.”
As they started quickly across the third roof Eva added, “My ancestor, a woman named Olyvyia, took a stand there many years ago. She was trying to win freedom from the oppression of Velcharn. The final stand was here at Suzu Tower. Olyvyia used oil and fire and flaming arrows to hold her attackers off.”
“She sounds impressive,” Noah commented.
“She was, particularly as the forces against her were far greater than her own. But there was such a strong wind that night that none of her attackers’ arrows could fly high enough to reach her. The people saw it as a miracle. It’s the place where freedom was won; that’s why Suzu Tower holds such significance now.”
Eva had paused to navigate a difficult ridge. She was standing upright, her slight form silhouetted against the dusky sky, an easy target. “Eva, get moving,” Karim warned.
He was too late, as a flash of light preceded a hail of bullets from across the roof tops. One slugged Eva in the arm and she fell, screaming as she slid awkwardly down the roof. Noah leapt for her, grabbing her shoulders before she could tumble right off the edge while Alice leaped for cover.
Katerina risked looking across the ridge and saw the head and shoulders of the shooter. He was getting a bead on Noah. Unable to think what else to do, she leaned out and yelled inanely, “Hey! Over here!”
The shooter swung the gun towards her immediately, still looking down its scope. The seconds blurred into one as she looked frantically around. Karim was reaching for Noah and Eva. She saw the gun hidden at his back as his shirt rode up. She grabbed for it, flicked the safety off, swung it up and fired in one smooth movement. The bullet went wide but it gave their attacker cause to hesitate, long enough for her to aim more carefully a second time. The next bullet hit the roof beside him, the third hit him in the shoulder as he started to move, spinning him backwards and out of sight.
“Hurry, there’ll be more!” Karim yelled. He and Noah were pulling Eva up the roof between them. She was white, blood drenching her top.
Somehow they made it across another two rooves without interference. They were one building away from Suzu Tower now and Karim started looking frantically for the trapdoor. “There,” Alice gasped, pointing. She helped Karim get it open and went through first. Karim half-pulled, half-carried Eva through with him, heedless of her injury.
Noah was waiting for Katerina to go next when a body flung itself across the roof and tackled him. As Katerina watched horrified, the two bodies went over the edge and out of sight.
Aaron had no idea how much time had passed but he, like Nico, was growing restless. “Riga should have got here by now,” Nico said finally.
“Could he have used another entrance?”
“We have no access through any other entrances that I know of, not without breaking a door down.”
“Then I think it’s safe to assume they’ve broken a door down somewhere. Come on, we need to find them.”
They moved fast into the crowd, sticking close to the buildings, looking for any sign of forced entry. Aaron spotted it first; a door open just a fraction and two men guarding it. He nodded at Nico and they went in fast, slamming the men into the side of the building ruthlessly. Nico used the butt of his gun to knock out his man, Aaron his fists for the other one.
Inside Nico led the way at a fast run to some interior stairs. They climbed rapidly through the spirals but had to stop just before the third level at the sound of something shifting directly above them. In the pause, they heard the crack of a gun even further up and Aaron mouthed grimly, “We can’t wait.” They continued stealthily on until Nico, in front, waved Aaron to a halt, aimed his gun carefully and pulled the trigger. Above them his target collapsed with a cry, shot through the ankle.
Distant gunshots sounded abruptly. “Go, go, go!” Aaron urged. Up on the next level, Nico knocked their injured opponent out with a blow to the head. A piercing scream sent Nico scrambling up again onto the roof. Aaron burst through onto the balcony, gun ready, but the balcony was empty.
Below him, the crowds were quieting. Looking across to the next two balconies revealed why. On the nearest one he saw Riga stepping forward, arms upraised. On the next balcony along there was Noah climbing back over the railing he had obviously fallen across. One of Riga’s men was on that balcony too, looking ready to attack Noah.
Frantic for a weapon now, Aaron could only watch as Riga began addressing the crowd and Noah started fighting for his life.
Karim was studying the three men guarding the door to the Suzu Tower balcony. He was looking through the keyhole of an adjourning room. Riga had just stepped through the door onto the balcony to address the crowd below.
“We need to distract them,” he decided. “Get them away from there.”
“How?” Eva asked. She was pale with blood-loss but determined. They had wrapped her arm as tightly as they could but had nothing for her pain.
“Let’s lure them out into the corridor and get back in through a side door. If we’re quick we can lock them out in the corridor and buy some time.”
Both women nodded bravely. He wasn’t so sure it would work but they had to do something before Eva collapsed and it was too late.
When he started pounding on the tower-room door, two of the three guards reacted immediately, racing towards the disturbance. He sprinted back to the women and they burst through the side-door into the tower-room. Alice ran and locked the guards into the corridor; Karim launched himself at the third guard, knocking the hapless man out with one swing. They dragged a heavy chair across to jam the corridor door shut.
But the guards out in the corridor were already attacking it, throwing themselves at it so it began to open again slowly, the chair scraping across the floor. Wordlessly, Karim and Alice threw all their weight against it.
Eva didn’t pause. She ran to the balcony door and threw it open. Beyond her small frame, Alice and Karim could see Riga addressing the crowds below, arms held high and wide, as if to receive their adulation.
Noah had thrown several futile punches, all of which missed the man facing him. He had taken one to the chest and one to the stomach, winding him, no match for his opponent who was extremely fast and strong. When Noah did land a blow to the man’s face, it was as if he had not even felt it.
He swung desperately again but his opponent came in with an unexpected left hook that spun Noah all the way around. Through eyes filled with tears of pain he saw Riga advancing on Eva on the next balcony. Another punch, this time to the head, dropped Noah to the floor, where he lay helplessly trying to catch his breath. His whole body was seizing up with agony and he couldn’t move.
From the far balcony Aaron watched it all unfolding, as if in slow motion. The dark, intense Riga taking Eva by the throat and starting to squeeze and Noah’s assailant lifting a gun and aiming it steadily at Eva’s exposed back. “Eeevvvvaaaaa,” he cried, and she turned her eyes his way. She was clawing at Riga’s hands desperately, unable to free herself from his superior strength. Aaron could see blood all over her clothes and feared she had been badly injured.
Beyond her, he saw the man on the other balcony squinting down his gunsight.
Aaron did the only thing he could think of — he prayed for help.
Katerina saw it all from the roof. She was full of adrenaline and rage over what was happening below. And fear for Noah.
A noise behind her made her spin around. Nico was wrestling with a man who must have been sneaking up on her.
When she turned back, Noah was down and his assailant aiming a gun at Eva — who was being slowly strangled.
Without pausing to think, Katerina got onto the very edge of the roof. She took a deep breath, as if that might enable her to fly. Then she dropped down onto the balcony beneath her, straight onto Riga.
She landed hard, breaking his hold on Eva. Eva staggered back, retching with pain. Katerina fell to the floor and lay still, winded.
To his horror, Noah saw Katerina drop from the sky. He was still helpless on his balcony floor, his skull hard against the railings, his head pounding so hard he couldn’t think. Above him, his assailant was leaning on the handrail, his eyes fixed down the sight of his gun balanced there, aimed at the next balcony.
He was going to shoot Eva or Katerina!
Noah peered through the railings to see Katerina’s motionless form, crumpled on the floor. Eva was crouched down, clutching her swollen neck in agony, Riga just rising to his feet, fury on his face. The women were helpless before him.
The terrible thought galvanized Noah. He rose up clumsily and grabbed wildly at the man. The gun exploded and fell off the balcony. The man staggered back, caught off guard. In his fear and fury, Noah threw three fast, crazy punches. Two miraculously connected, dropping the man.
When Noah spun around again, Eva was standing very still looking down at her feet. He followed her gaze to see blood dripping through the railings into the shocked crowd below. Fear for Katerina flooded him. He screamed her name over the growing noise of the spectators, then waited, breathless and helpless.
After a few moments, Katerina slowly pulled herself upright. There was blood all over her clothes and splattered on her neck. She was deathly pale. But to Noah’s immense relief he saw a smile slowly spread across her face.
Then Eva stepped forward and began to address the crowd and he knew that Riga was defeated.
“I am Eva Adler, cousin of Demetra, rightful heir to the throne of Cereise,” her voice was husky and strained from what Riga had done to her throat but the listening crowd were both silent and still now, able to hear her every word. “I will not do to you what has been done to you for many years! I will not imprison, kidnap, torture or murder you. I will release those prisoners who have been taken without trial or reason. I will give you fair hearing and seek to restore what has been ravaged. Together, we will rebuild our land!”
She paused, clearly in pain. Before she could continue a noise erupted from below her, the sound of many voices cheering.
Clearly the people were going to accept her.
They had succeeded — at least in this.
