Sahel and Dr. Diallo went towards the fire wall. Dr. Diallo helped with the digging until the tunnel because the ground of Midara was thicker and heavier than both had expected. Digging took nearly half a day which made Sahel nervous that they would be late. It took a lot of courage for both of them to go through with this plan because they both knew that Dr. Diallo would surely die once he was in King Silas’ possession. They both kept digging until finally the reached the Midaran City.
There he saw Midaran soldiers on top of each building eyeing him down. One wrong move meant death. He pulled Dr. Diallo out of the tunnel and promptly Frida and Duval came to carry him back to the tower. Duval turned around and told Sahel to return the Human side and to cover up the hole on that side. The Midarans would handle their side of the tunnel. Sahel nodded and returned to cover up the hole and leave no trace of any tunnel.
He went back into the hologram room to find Dr. Bravo there waiting. Neither said a word to each other. They both already knew about Neema and Dr. Diallo. Silence filled the room as they waited to see if King Silas would send a message or not.
When Frida and Duval returned to the tower, they presented the King with the assumed assailant.
“Here he is,” Frida said, “How do we know if he is actually the one who murdered our soldiers though?”
“Would it matter?” Duval asked. “Whether or not he actually is the assailant, we can use him to make an example of what will happen if the humans try to wage war against us.”
“Take him to the cells,” King Silas ordered. “We will hold a public execution tomorrow. First thing in the morning.” It was already nighttime.
Dr. Diallo couldn’t understand what they were saying but he was still scared out of his mind. Once he was in his cell Duval removed his gag spoke to him.
“You will be killed tomorrow morning,” Duval stated, “Would you like something to eat?”
“Just some water,” Dr. Diallo said.
“You’re too modest to be a murderer,” Duval explained, “I don’t believe you actually killed our soldiers. I don’t think the King believes so either. Your death will be painless.”
“How will I be executed?”
“By drowning. Just don’t struggle and it will be over before you know it.”
With that Duval left to get Dr. Diallo some water. He came back with a grey colored cup that looked like stone. The cup was more like a bowl with wide it was, but it was deep and full of water. Duval had to open the cell door to slide it in. After that, Dr. Diallo was left in the darkness of cell with the only light being a torch on the outside of his cell. He could see it through a small slit through the wall that was probably there so that the guards could see him without opening the door. The cell was empty with no real bed and the toilet was what seemed like a bottomless pit one corner of the room. Dr. Diallo wasn’t able to get any sleep because he kept thinking about his execution tomorrow.
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Back in the Human city no one knew where Neema was or what he was planning. Sahel had multiple squads looking for him but to no avail. This didn’t mean much to Enzo; he was still training and practicing his fire powers. Everything that had gone on in recent times, the meeting with the leaders, communication with Silas, had all been secret so Enzo was oblivious. All he knew was that Neema was missing. Enzo was already hanging out with Dante at the time of the transfer. Once the sun began to set, Enzo returned to the Human side and closed the hole in the wall. When he turned around, he was frightened by a familiar face.
It was Neema and his whole squad that surrounded Enzo. They dumped buckets of ice-cold water on him and Neema aimed his pistol at Enzo.
“You shouldn’t be able to use fire that much cold water on you right?” Neema asked with a sly grin on his face. “Now, you’ve been a bad boy, haven’t you? Does Sahel know you sneak off to playdates with the prince?”
Enzo didn’t know what to say and tried to use his powers, but the freezing water dulled his flames. Even if any fire came out, another bucket of water would be dumped on him.
“I won’t kill you,” Neema said, “As long as you open up that door for me and my friends. If you don’t, well, maybe next time you try to visit Dante, my friends and I will tag along.”
Enzo was terrified at the thought of Neema entering the Midaran city. He knew Dante was strong, but Neema has proven to be clever in battle.
“Man, this is getting boring,” Neema complained, “I might as well tell Sahel about you visiting that boy and then he might put an even tighter leash on you. Then you’ll never meet him.”
This was Neema’s ultimate bluff. If Dr. Diallo’s plan was a success, then Enzo being able to be so friendly with the Midaran prince is nothing but a plus. Neema was hoping that Enzo was ignorant to the present situation between Midarans and humans.
“Why can’t you just dig under the wall?” Enzo asked. “I don’t think it goes that deep into the ground.”
“Because digging takes time and leaves evidence.” Neema answered. “I need to be there now and without proof.”
Another reason Neema didn’t tell Enzo was that he hoped this would create a rift between Enzo and Dante. He was hoping that Dante didn’t know about digging underneath the wall so that he would assume the only one who could get in was Enzo. That way, when Neema’s plan was put in to action, Enzo could be framed as an accomplice. However, Enzo still didn’t budge and wouldn’t let Neema through.
“I guess we’ll start getting rough then,” Neema stated. Then, Neema and the other soldiers forced Enzo’s hands on the walls. They punched and kicked Enzo whenever he tried to resist.
“Keep his hands on the wall,” Neema continued, “He will either open the wall or his hands will burn off.” Neema knew this from Enzo’s training in the cage that was filled with fire. Now it was a test of endurance for Enzo.
Enzo lasted 10 minutes until he felt a burning sensation on his hands. He panicked and absorbed the fire wall and left enough room for Neema and his squad to squeeze through. He didn’t have enough energy to close it and just laid there on the ground.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Neema sneered as his whole squad entered the Midaran city. By the time Enzo had enough energy to get up it was far too late. He still closed the hole in the wall and cursed himself for being so weak. He hoped that Dante and the rest of the Midaran city would be okay. Enzo felt extremely guilty that he went to back to his quarters and locked himself in. He tried to sleep hoping to find out it was just a bad dream.
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Dante saw that same strange figure in his dream that night. The figure seemed to shapeshift from demon, woman, man, back to woman, man again, animal, then return to demon. The figure stared at Dante but didn’t say anything yet. Dante looked around and was dizzy. He saw red eyes and black shadowy hands surrounding him from all angles. As the figure approached Dante, all the eyes and hands retracted. The figure said, “Finally, the first trial is beginning. I wonder how you will manage, or if you will manage at all.”
“Who are you?” Dante asked. The figure looked at Dante with curiosity.
“I see. You don’t remember. It will all make sense with time. I wonder what you will do when you relearn the truth. Will you try to bury it? Or will you take accountability?”
Dante woke up after that and was confused. He didn’t know what to think; he was unsure if it was just another weird dream or if he should know who that figure was. He didn’t have much time to think about it because his dad entered the room and told him about the execution. Dante would have to be ready soon and stand beside his dad for the execution.
He was shocked that his dad had been talking with the humans again, but he agreed that murderers ought to be punished. Dante chose to swallow his complaints and got dressed for the execution. When he left his room, his mom and dad were waiting for him. King Silas and Queen Crimson smiled at their son and guided him to the large balcony where the execution would take place.
On the balcony, they met Frida and Duval with Dr. Diallo. The doctor was gagged and avoided eye contact with everyone. He just kept his face pointed outside as if he was looking for something or someone. Following behind the royal family was Hades, chief of police. Typically, he would be on the ground controlling the crowd, but the situation was different now. It was the first human execution, and they wanted no funny business. Once everyone peered over the balcony to let the Midaran city see them, the crowd grew quiet. From left to right it was Duval, Hades, King Silas, Dr. Diallo, Queen Crimson, Dante, and Frida. King Silas began to speak, in English. Human culture changed Midara to the point where public speaking was done out loud instead of telepathically. It was less brain power that way and felt more serious.
“Sixteen years have passed since the Humans arrived. A little more than four years ago, they killed two of our soldiers in cold blood.” The crowd murmured. King Silas continued, “The human we have with us today is none other than the murderer. He will be executed today.” The crowd stayed at a low murmur until some people started clapping. Then some more, then it was the whole crowd erupting into cheers. Human culture had changed Midara. King Silas ended by saying, “Let’s not waste any more time and get on with it.”
King Silas formed a ball of water in his hand that was bigger than Dr. Diallo’s head. He was going to cover Dr. Diallo’s head in order to fill his lungs with water and he would die a bloodless death. Queen Crimson removed the gag from his mouth so that he can drown faster. Before King Silas could do anything, Dr. Diallo had other plans.
“Now, Neema!” Dr. Diallo shouted as loud as could. On cue, a thunderous sound came from the crowd. Blood splattered onto Dante and his ears were ringing. He fell to the floor and had one hand on each ear. He looked to his right to his mother, Queen Crimson. Collapsed on the ground with a red hole on her forehead. He crawled to her and tried to shake her awake.
“Mom!” Dante cried out, “Wake up!” She didn’t. Dante looked into her eyes and saw no emotion. Just blank dark eyes that were once full of beauty, love, and life.
Hades took it upon himself to kill Dr. Diallo before he could escape. He burned him to a crisp and the only sound there Dr. Diallo screaming and begging for mercy. Duval attempted to take King Silas back inside, but he resisted and knelt beside his wife.
“How could this happen?” King Silas asked on the verge of tears while he checked her pulse. Nothing.
“King Silas, we need to leave now!” Duval announced but King Silas wouldn’t listen. Instead, King Silas grabbed onto the railing of the balcony and yelled.
“This means war!” King Silas yelled and then, more thunder. King Silas was shot in the neck. It all happened so fast; none of them knew the speed of a bullet or where the attack came from. King Silas choked on his blood but managed to speak to Dante one last time.
“Don’t be a foolish King like me,” King Silas said, “And definitely, don’t be a foolish dad like me.” He laid next to his wife with on hand on his neck which was gushing blood and with his other hand, he put it on her cheek. In that position, King Silas died.
Dante moved inside, away from the balcony. He hyperventilated and cried his eyes out. Hades looked out into the crowd and spotted suspicious movement around the fire wall..
“Over there,” Hades shouted angrily, “The bastards are over there! The ones that killed our King and Queen. I’m going to murder them as painfully as I can.”
Frida and Duval followed Hades. They jumped from the balcony and into the crowd. The crowd made way for them. Hades reached the wall and looked to his right to see a group of humans with what he was assuming were the weapons.
“Hey Enzo let us back in!” One of the human soldiers yelled.
“You dumbasses don’t even a way back?” Hades asked. At this point, Hades was hell itself. He made all the humans back up when he got close. “You won’t need one anyway. I’m going to kill you right here.” Another roar of thunder sounded off but Hades was unaffected. It was Neema with a .50 caliber sniper rifle.
“That shit won’t work on me,” Hades laughed, “I haven’t let my reaction time get rusty like the King and Queen.” Hades had thought that being a fire specialist allowed the bullet to pass through, which is possible, but what actually happened was that his fire burned with such intensity that the bullet melted before it reach him. “Well boys, who’s first?” Hades taunted.
Neema’s squad prepared to fight but then Frida and Duval appeared behind Hades. Some of the soldiers lost their courage and tried to run which made Hades more excited. Hades picked up a fistful of dirt, set it ablaze, and threw it at the cowardly soldiers. It burned them so much that they stopped running and fell the ground. He walked slowly towards the group; it was ten humans in total. They shot all their bullets at him but none of them worked. Eventually, Hades was close enough that their guns began to heat up which made them drop their weapons. The whole squad ending up running away except for Neema. He stood there and laughed boisterously. This made Hades stop for a moment.
“Have you gone crazy, Human?” Hades asked.
“My plan succeeded,” Neema stated, “I was the real murderer. That man up there was a fake. We both hate your kind enough to get ourselves killed even if it means that the rest of the humans will drop the pacifist act and battle in war. Your kind will never—”
Hades didn’t let him finish and simply reached his hand out and grabbed his head which burned instantly. The rest of Neema’s body got scorched too and he looked like charcoal afterwards. What a pathetic human, Hades thought.
Frida and Duval were already after the rest of the human soldiers. So, Hades followed them and within ten minutes all the humans that invaded were dead. The three of them order other soldiers and police officers to calm down the citizens and have them return to their homes. Once they returned to the tower, they saw Dante in the same position with his head buried in his knees. His dead mother and father less than a yard away from him. Frida handled the bodies and told one of the workers to begin planning a funeral. Duval comforted Dante and brought him back to his room. Hades followed and asked Duval to leave so that he could talk to Dante alone.
“We got rid of all the invading humans,” Hades said as if he was giving a report, “There is one thing that made me curious. I have a feeling you can tell me more.”
“Does it have to be right now?” Dante asked. He looked at Hades with puffy red eyes from crying so much. Hades ignored the question and continued.
“When they were at the wall. One of them asked for Enzo to let them back in.” Hades explained while ignoring Dante’s obvious discomfort.
Dante had a physical reaction to hearing Enzo’s name, but he didn’t bother looking up at Hades.
“I understand that you, Cassius, and Enzo shared a class. It may have been for one day but do you think Enzo could be responsible for this?”
Immediately, Dante responded with, “No! There is no way Enzo helped kill my parents.” Saying those last words made Dante sick. His parents were gone forever.
Hades nodded said, “I put my trust in you, King Dante.” He left the room and made sure to shut the door behind him. Asshole, Dante thought, he just died and you already call me king? The possibility of Enzo also stirred in his mind. He was furious, confused, and filled with sorrow. There was no way towards peace between Midarans and Humans; Silas had declared war as his last words. Dante missed his parents dearly and wished he could ask for their advice so that he would know what to do, but he couldn’t. They were dead at the hands of humans. All of the Midaran Kingdom saw it. Dante would be considered a weak king if he didn’t plan retaliation. He didn’t want to think about it but trying to do that was like seeing how long one could go holding their breath; he would have to breath eventually; it was time to take action unless he wanted to be stomped out by another sneak attack by the Humans. He ordered Frida, Duval, and Hades to meet with him in the Hologram room tomorrow. It was time to face the humans head on even if it meant having a full-on war.
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