บท 32: Blood and Fire
Crouching behind a column of the Worship square, Nikodem was waiting for Mathilde's green light. Flora was at the other end of his chain again. She was to yank on it three times when the coast was clear. In turn, he would alert Fergus. The signal had to be transmitted this way because the visibility was almost zero. A thick cloud of smoke billowing from burning buildings was concealing everything and was stinging the young man's throat.
On Mona's advice, each of them had a piece of cloth covering their mouths and noses. They couldn't do much better, but they had to fight nonetheless. Fortunately, the weakest were still at the clinic. They would be safe there, especially little Clara who was fiercely clinging to life in the midst of this chaos. Nikodem had made eye contact with her at the clinic after the miraculous treatment by Doctor Sanders.
He was still a bit shaken: he believed he had perceived in the blue grey eyes of the infant a survival instinct and a stubbornness so strong that even Olek's obstinacy paled in comparison. Strangely enough, thinking about Clara helped him focus on the upcoming battle. Olek, too, had the will to live. Nikodem just had to trust him and hope that he would find him soon.
By the time the Shadow Girls arrived in the square, the fighters had already reached the stage of hand-to-hand combat. The numbers were in favor of the Outcasts who came relentlessly to join the fray. Their fury as well was frightening in Nikodem's eyes. Only the arkians' unwavering resolution to protect their God from invaders was a match for it. Without sharing the zealotry of one side or the other, the young man supported the Shadow Girls' stand in favor of Ark City's defense. If the Nukledeus were destroyed, all the wonders It protected would perish with It.
Mona had decided to divide the group. The Shadow Girls who accompanied her would try to block off the third door of the shadow through which the Outcasts entered. Mathilde led the rest in order to regain possession of the flamethrower guns and should the opportunity arise, sneak into the temple to look for Chloé. An assault under these circumstances was not possible, the Shadow Girls were not equipped to take the enemy head on. The arkian army would have to hold their ground with no hope of reinforcements.
The signal finally came. Nikodem immediately forwarded it to Fergus and began to climb the column that sheltered him. The heat of the blaze created by the flamethrower guns added to the effort of yet another climb made him sweat. He could not wipe his forehead and sweat flowed into his eyes despite his eyelashes and eyebrows. He felt sorry for the arkians who had no hair to hold all this water back.
When he reached the top, he could see that there were only two opposing factions left, the Outcasts and the Shadow Girls. The arkian guards had been utterly crushed and Nikodem felt an undeniable satisfaction. He would have loathed to fight alongside those who had voluntarily burned his friends when they were still all outside.
Mathilde had chosen two cannons on a corner tower. If they managed to take them, they had to send the flames in different directions to free as large a part of the walls as they could. Their positions also ensured that they were not on the same line of fire, should the invaders retaliate.
Naturally, Nikodem chose to lend a hand to Flora, who was fighting alongside Gili. Fergus joined Mathilde in the fight over the other flamethrower gun. However, as soon as they engaged their enemies, Gili caught a glimpse of Chloé, who was leaving the temple. She was making her way between the corpses that were blocking up the exit. There was no doubt about it, she was easily identifiable even from a distance.
Gili called Flora for backup, closer to their front line. The Shadow Girls almost had the upper hand in both fights for these coveted positions. The opposition from the Outcasts was about to be defeated but they could still turn the tables at any moment. It was truly the worst time for Chloé to emerge.
Nikodem was doing his best to block the blows of a particularly skilled Outcast when Gili ordered him to notify Mathilde. They had to send someone to look for Chloé while they still knew where to find her. It was a matter of minutes, she could be caught in a fight or she could go into hiding. In any case, it would be very difficult to rescue her in the middle of the battle if they let her out of their sight.
Nikodem freed himself from his opponent and bolted out of the reach of the next blow. In three strides, he arrived near Fergus and relayed the message for Mathilde to him, trusting his friend and leader with the precious report. He was unwilling to leave Flora's and Gili's side, weakening their defense, he feared his absence might tip things against them. When he returned to his position, Gili, sitting on the floor, was holding her wounded side with one hand while Flora, standing protectively in front of her, defended the arkian's life with unprecedented fury. The young man's return was a welcome respite and the fight on the narrow tower reverted to a somewhat balanced situation.
Suddenly, they heard a stampede below them, just at the bottom of the columns that supported the tower. Then, Fergus appeared on the ground as well, his shirt red with blood and rushing as fast as possible towards the street running along the temple. Chloé had disappeared there. Fergus was chased by three Outcasts but Nikodem did not have time to worry about his friend: a terrifying roar drowned out the sounds of fighting. The heat was suffocating on top of the tower, Mathilde's flamethrower gun had burst into flames and the fire was rapidly expanding. The air became so hot it was hard to breath.
"Fall back! Everyone get down!" Gili shouted with all her might but her words were lost in the frightening crackling of the flames and deafening howls of the combatants burned alive. Flora rushed forward but in the wrong direction. Nikodem caught up with her and, wrapping his arms around her waist, tackled her to the ground. She was struggling. "Let go of me! My mother is there, she fell under the boards. Let me go!"
Nikodem was confused. Screams, chaos, fire everywhere. He could no longer think clearly. He heard a sudden explosion, and the tower and the whole wall began to shake. He could only lie down on Flora to shield her with his body, reckoning that the tanks of the flamethrower guns would probably ignite very soon. He felt powerless, unable to move as it was raining debris all over him.
Shortly afterwards, someone lifted him up by his shoulders. He looked up, bemused, and saw Gili who was busy searching the damaged tower to gather the group and rescue the wounded. She helped him sit down and issued orders to have him leave the unsteady structure as soon as possible. He looked around, the Outcasts they had been fighting had deserted the tower when their fellow tribesmen had fired, aiming at the flammable liquid. If they burned and tortured willingly, they did not want to suffer the same fate as their victims.
Still in a daze, the young man put his hand to his forehead. He remembered the rubble, with one piece larger than the others, falling towards him and hitting his head. However, he didn't feel any pain. He stared at his fingers, puzzled by their bright red color. Then he rubbed them a little, but the slimy liquid remained. Blood without a doubt, but whose ? Filled with dread and mad with worry, he looked around him to see if Flora was hurt. But she was nowhere to be found.
Gili had gone back to gather the wounded. Left to his own devices, Nikodem stood up gingerly and staggered towards the other flamethrower gun. Finding Flora was the only thing that mattered to him. She had directed him towards a heap of boards close to the wreck of the charred gun where the explosion happened. He believed the stubborn Flora would head there. However, his legs gave way under him and he collapsed. But he wouldn't give up that easily. He loosened the cloth on his face to wipe his eyes. Then he continued advancing, on his knees since his legs were still too weak, towards the sobs that could faintly be heard, now that the roar of the flamethrower guns controlled by the Outcasts was moving away towards other targets.
Flora was crying, sitting on the floor. She was moving slowly back and forth as if to rock a child in her arms and was gently stroking her mother's face. Nikodem came closer and saw the head of old Mathilde on the young woman's lap. The rest of the body was buried under the rubble. She was barely burned, she must have stumbled and been crushed before the flamethrowers started shooting at full tilt.
Watching the scene, his heart sank. He then noticed the fire still licking at the boards under which the oldest member of the Shadow Girls had died. Flammable liquid had started to leak from nearby tanks. Panic seized him and an adrenaline rush put him back on his feet in an instant. He lifted Flora forcefully and threw her over his shoulder, the emergency was increasing his strength tenfold. She screamed and struggled, punching and kicking, to no avail.
The young man's reckless actions revived the pain in his wounds and he nearly blacked out. He felt helpless once again but relieved when he sensed that someone was picking him up. Gili, herself, was carrying him while cursing at those No-lights who don't know how to obey orders. Nikodem managed to utter the word "tanks" and Gili nodded. She was fully aware of the danger. Once in a safer place, the injured Nikodem was attached to a stretcher to be carried all the way down to the ground. When he was released at last, he asked an unknown Shadow Girl, already leaving, where Flora was. The girl scoffed and told him with a wry smile that Gili had to knock her out in order to drag her out of here.
In the distance, Nikodem spotted Fergus who was walking as inconspicuously as possible, along with Chloé. The City gates were wide open and a flow of refugees, including the Shadow Girls, poured out of Ark City, towards the river. Meanwhile, the Outcasts were taking control of the ministries and were slaughtering all the arkians in their path.
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