by The Eurostar, Danny, T5 and Sonja
But the border was watched by something much more intimidating than policemen and security agents.
"Shit! What's that?" shouted Tobias, still vibrating.
Right in the middle of the road was a tall robot standing on what seemed to be four giant legs made of silvery steel.
"I heard about them," Velo explained. "The Mastiffs of War."
"What?"
"One of the toys of the Mandelovian Army."
The giant metallic dog was patrolling at the end of the road, near the barrier, through which laid safety for the heroes.
"Who cares? Just vibrate through it!" shouted Sonja.
But when the van arrived near the robot, it opened its mouth and began screaming.
"Ahhhhh!" cried Tobias. "The scream... scrambling my... I can't...!" He caused the vibrations to stop, and he and the van returned to normal.
The van made a U-turn, and after a crazy run, well inside Mandelovian territory, they finally stopped. No police or other forces were following them.
Everyone got out of the van. "It seems they have lost our tracks," said Tobias.
"Yes, but for how long?" replied Velo.
"We can't leave by road," said Sonja. "And that's the only road that joins Mandelovia with abroad."
"So?" said Mick.
Sonja looked at him and then said, "We have only three options: go through the mountains, through the desert or leave by the sea."
"Desert?" Tobias asked.
"Desert," Naecken said in reply.
"Yup," Mick added, nodding his assent.
Apparently we're escaping the country through the desert, thought Danny. The roads are guarded by the army and giant robot dogs. I get the impression from the reactions of my teammates that giant robot dogs aren't encountered that often in this time. I decide not to tell them that they're fairly standard military issue in 2083. "Why the desert?" he asked aloud.
Velo replied, "Sea would take too long. And the mountains are too..."
"...Mountainous?" Sonja suggested.
"Right. Mountainous," said Velo. "Walking constantly up and down is harder than walking along a flat surface."
"But... it's the desert. That flat surface is boiling hot and covered in sand," Mick said.
"Mountains wouldn't be any better," replied Sonja. "Freezing cold and covered in snow."
"Right. So we're decided. We head for the desert," Velo proclaimed.
Goodie, thought Danny.
"And M'xy can always provide us with shelter and water," said Naecken. "For those of you who need it, I mean. Do we have a nash-harr tsk-plk?"
"Excuse me?" said Mick. "What was that?"
Naecken looked at him innocently and said, "A map. Do we have a map?"
"That wasn't the word you used a few seconds ago."
"Wasn't it?"
"No. You said some thing like nasharr or something and a few clicks with your tongue."
"Hmmm. I'm sure I said map. Anyway, do we have one?"
Marv Velo looked through the van. "Ah, here we go, a foldable road map of Mandelovia. It recommends that we visit the Sheraton Hotel for more maps of the region. Apparently there are no roads through the desert, so we have to stay sharp, folks."
Tobias, now rather furious about the turn of events, said, "Maybe we should get going before they find us here, hmm? Right. C'mon, gang. Let's hike. The desert is only a few miles to the south. So, in the meantime, we'll have to stick to the roadside. And be quick to hide if patrols come along."
As the fellowship of metahumans moved, Sonja couldn't stop herself from thinking about the word Naecken pronounced. Nash-harr tsk-plk. "The picture of the right way," it translated. She knew that language. It was high demonic from the fifth circle.
Was Naecken really the demon she was assigned to find? What was his connection to the incident in Malaysia?
While all these thoughts occupied her mind, she and her nine friends arrived at the limits of the forest. The road slowly got lost in the dunes until they reached a point where only sand could be seen over the horizon, with mountains in the far distance beyond.