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Her Father had once told Alessandria mobs were pretty stupid. At the time Alessandria had moaned saying that it was unfair to treat criminals as stupid. Even now she stood by that but when it came to mobs, her Father was probably right.
Laying down on a beam of ancient smooth black marble listening to the call of birds and crash of the waves hundreds of metres away, Alessandria stared down on the rest of the historical site.
But she was a little unsure about the marble she was laying on because whilst it was a thick marble beam. The massive marble pillars it rested on had definitely crumbled over the years.
Trying to ignore that fact, Alessandria looked out on the amazing historical site. For hundreds of metres around her large yellow and grey stone structures laid in ruin. Like an earthquake had destroyed a city. Leaving homes, churches and castles half standing.
The smell of the fresh salty sea air made Alessandria sneeze which tens of metres off the ground meant nothing. That wasn't going to attract the mob. But she did fancy some fish and chips as the taste of salt covered her tongue.
Looking back at the ruins below, Alessandria remembered reading something about this place in her Procurator Times magazine. Apparently some drug dealers had used the site as a lab. And apparently there was a secret chamber somewhere still filled with the toxic fumes.
Alessandria knew it would be cruel but if she could find that chamber. Her mob problems might go away.
Turning her head slightly, Alessandria saw a massive twisted oak tree with dark yellow leaves and as she looked at it. She thought she could smell something chemical nearby.
Alessandria smiled as she noticed something cracked on the bottom of the tree. From this height it was impossible to tell what it was. A door? A gap in the tree? But it was still a lead.
The sound of a stick whacking stone made Alessandria frown as she knew Hellen was warning the mob were entering the ruins. Alessandria just hoped Hellen would be safe.
A few moments later, Alessandria saw a massive mob of black and white tunics walk into the ruins. Running around searching the destroyed buildings for them. She needed a plan. She couldn't fight all of them.
The sound of something moving next to her made her turn to see her beautiful Nemesio crawling up next to her. His blue and red fiery armour dusty and covered in dirt.
“What now?” Alessandria asked.
Nemesio shrugged. “I don’t know. This was Hellen’s plan,”
Alessandria knew Hellen was a loyal reader of the Procurator Times (mainly because the hot drawings of some of the criminals and the male Procurators) so Hellen must know about the lab with the toxins.
“I need to reach that oak over there but I need a distraction,” Alessandria said.
Nemesio smiled. “Leave it to me,”
She gave Nemesio a quick kiss before Alessandria crawled along the marble beam towards the pillar closest to the oak.
As she moved, feeling the warm marble pressing against her body, Alessandria heard Nemesio’s distraction.
“Mobsters!” Nemesio shouted.
Alessandria shook her head. She was almost at the pillar.
“Over here stupid!” Nemesio shouted again.
The mob started to shout and scream at him. At least their attention was on him and not Alessandria. But Alessandria knew she didn’t have much time.
“You are all traitors!”
Alessandria cocked her head, not the most original of Nemesio’s lines but the mob seemed to hate it.
Approaching the pillar, Alessandria could see it clearer now. The massive pillar was oily black with massive chunks taken out of it. Presumably because of it breaking over time.
Hopefully, she could use the broken chunks to climb down but Alessandria was hardly the best climber.
“You are all silly little puppets. The Queen is innocent. You are all wrong!”
Alessandria tapped her head against the top of the pillar as she started to climb down it. Why Nemesio wanted to make the mob really mad was beyond her.
Climbing down, Alessandria’s hand burned as the pillar released its heat from the sun. The rough texture and constantly having to look where to place her foot wasn’t making this easier.
Alessandria heard voices.
She looked down.
Three mobsters were at the bottom of the pillar.
Someone shot out.
Whacking them with a stick.
Blood squirted out of the wounds.
They didn’t even get a chance to scream.
Alessandria finished her climb and nodded her thanks to Hellen.
Walking over the massive oak, Alessandria knew the chemical smell would be stronger here and even the odd patch of grass looked diseased and dead.
Hellen walked ahead of Alessandria and pointed to the crack Alessandria had seen earlier. The large black gap in the oak tree looked like some kind of door.
Hellen tapped it.
Green gas came out.
Alessandria threw Hellen to the side. This was definitely the place.
“Alessandria Fireheart,” a deep male voice said from behind her.
Turning around, Alessandria was surprised to see a little girl no older than 8 standing there. Her skin youthful and her clothes posh, expensive.
“I have no idea who this girl is but I thought you would hardly kill a child,” the male voice continued.
Alessandria pointed her sword towards the child.
“Probably for the best Alessandria. I probably killed this child when I entered her mind,”
“Fateweaver?” Alessandria said quietly.
The child smiled wider than was naturally possible.
“Fateweaver. You have heard of me. That is excellent. Killing you will be even better,” the child said.
Alessandria heard the mob getting closer.
“What do ya want?” Hellen asked.
“Darling Hellen, I want what we all want. Alessandria to die. The Firehearts to die. The Ordericousians to die!”
The mob started laughing.
Alessandria spun.
They were metres away.
The child walked towards Alessandria.
It whipped out a blade.
Alessandria couldn’t kill it.
It was a child.
Hellen whacked the child with her stick.
It fell to the floor.
Hellen nodded.
Alessandria looked at the child. She knew such a young life would be killed as soon as Fateweaver entered its mind. But still.
Someone grabbed her wrist.
Alessandria tensed.
Raising her fist.
It was Nemesio.
The mob were advancing.
Alessandria and the others ran back.
The mob were about to walk past the oak.
Alessandria stopped.
She ran towards the oak.
Nemesio tried to grab her.
The mob charged forward.
Alessandria slashed and lashed her sword.
Chopping through flesh and bone.
She reached the oak.
She thrusted her sword into the gap.
Green gas poured out.
Alessandria held her breath.
She ripped out her sword.
The mob started coughing.
Alessandria fled.
When they were at least twenty metres from the mob, Alessandria stopped to see the mob coughing to death. They were all choking. Some were even vomiting black bile and their guts.
So many people died for nothing. Fateweaver would answer for this. That wasn’t a threat. It was Fate.