Jinto and Lafiel went through the first door they saw.
It was another, smaller kitchen that appeared to be just for drink preparation.
The building rattled beneath their feet, reminding them that the enemy wasn’t going to give up. The fact that the foes kept firing from afar was fortunate. Jinto doubted he and Lafiel would be able to fend them off if they charged. For the time being, at least, the building kept them safe from long-range attacks.
Jinto deposited Lafiel on a countertop. “Sit here for a second.”
Ransacking the cupboards, Jinto procured a couple bottles of water. He handed one to Lafiel. “You’re probably dehydrated.”
Clutching the bottle with both hands, Lafiel guzzled the water. It dripped down her chin onto the front of her uniform.
In one continuous gulp, Jinto downed half a bottle of water. He felt as if the liquid never reached his stomach; rather, it evaporated somewhere along the way.
“If the Lartei’s Was Beikebreil saw this,” Lafiel said, wiping some of the water off her face, “I think he’d have a conniption fit.”
Jinto pulled two glasses (Suinyuuk) from the dishwasher. “Is that person a stickler for etiquette?”
“Yes. I used to get scolded all the time. But when the situation arises, I always act very elegantly.”
“Sure you do,” Jinto chortled, looking for anything else useful in the room.
“Shut up. I’m always elegant.”
He continued to snicker.
“If you don’t stop that, I will destroy you.”
“I’ll pass, thanks,” Jinto said. He placed the Suinyuuk into a crevice in the wall labeled “Grape-Flavored Sugar Drink Concentrate.” A viscous liquid plopped into the glasses.
Jinto took a sip. Pure syrup. True, it smelled kind of like a grape, but it tasted like a candy-coated sugar cube. Strangely satisfying.
He handed the other glass to Lafiel. “Try this.”
She took a slug and grimaced. With incredible resolve, she downed the rest of the goop in one chug. Shuddering, she washed the taste out of her mouth with some water.
“Okay, let’s go.” Jinto offered Lafiel a hand.
“I’m okay now. I feel better.” Lafiel staggered to her feet, leaning on the wall for support.
“Even an Abh can’t recover that quickly,” said Jinto, rushing to catch her.
Something exploded remarkably close by. The door to the hallway twisted in its frame.
They squeezed through the warped door and made their way out the back door of the restaurant. Pleased to find the back of the shop deserted, they exited the building onto a wide, gravel road.
Lafiel drank some more of the bottled water, then offered it to Jinto. He declined.
She tossed the bottle on the ground, and it rolled along the path.
“Littering is bad!” said a horse, as it leapt onto the path in front of them.
“Sorry,” said Jinto automatically.
“Travelers, do you want a ride?”
“Are you serious?”
“Well, I am a horse.”
“We’re in a big hurry.”
“I’m a horse. I’m very fast.”
“Great. Thanks!”
Jinto helped the Lartneir onto the horse’s back, then handed her back her Klanyu. He climbed up behind her.
“You’re very large children!” exclaimed the horse. “You weigh as much as adults!”
“Yes, sadly, we are both morbidly obese.”
“I’ve never given a ride to two children your size before.”
“Are you saying you can’t do it?”
“No. I can do it. I’m a horse.”
“Okay, great. Then, please, take us to the exit.”
“Shouldn’t we find your mother or father, first?”
“Our parents didn’t come with us,” Jinto said truthfully.
“Very good. Then off we go!” The horse trotted along the path, as fast as a person running at full tilt. Rather needlessly, Jinto grasped the reins as the horse ran alongside a rather long building.
Lafiel readied her Klanyu.
When they got to the edge of the building, there were about ten soldiers waiting for them. The soldiers were quite surprised to see them atop a galloping horse.
Before the soldiers’ jaws could finish dropping, Lafiel started firing. They ripped through the narrow gap and ran alongside another long building.
“Can you go any faster?” Jinto asked the horse.
“Yes, but you might fall off.”
“We’ll be okay, I promise.”
“Just tell me if it gets too dangerous.” And the horse picked up the pace to nearly five Wesdaj per hour!
It was more dangerous than Jinto expected. Unlike on Uusiya and Frelia, the horse ride was rife with jolts. Jinto thrust his feet into the stirrups and tightened his grip on the reigns.
“Jinto, lean back,” said Laf iel.
As soon as he did as he was told, he imagined he felt a laser beam graze his chin.
From his new, upside-down perspective, he saw the enemy soldiers, concealed in the shadows of the building, firing their guns wantonly.
Jinto’s heart tightened in his chest; it was a terrible feeling to know that he couldn’t do anything except hold on and hope to not die.
Lafiel shot back, temporarily silencing some of the soldiers.
As they passed more buildings, the enemy’s gunfire eventually ceased. Straining, Jinto sat back up to his original position.
The horse cut to the right, headed directly at a group of enemy soldiers. They were pretty far off, but probably not out of firing range.
“No, no, wrong way!” yelled Jinto.
“This way is the shortest,” replied the horse.
“I don’t care! We need to take a different route.”
They rode out onto a straight road lined with pink buildings. Up ahead, there was a large group of enemy soldiers, who began to fire in unison. Lafiel wasted no time shooting back. Proud of the fact that he still hadn’t dropped his gun, Jinto raised it and pulled the trigger a few times.
The enemy fire was all over the map, but at least one shot struck the horse. Luckily, it wasn’t a mortal wound.
Small explosions, showers of gravel, the smell of gunpowder.
“What’s happening? Running seems hard.”
“Faster!” yelled Jinto.
The horse tapped its remaining strength, and they covered two-thirds of the distance to the plaza before there was any more fire.
“Jinto!” warned Lafiel. “On the roof; four o’clock!”