A few minutes later, Sarah finds herself cornered in the courtyard.
Behind her a high wall prevents any retreat. On the right, a concrete wall. And on the left, another wall delimits the space. In front of her, cement tables and benches shelter hunters lying in wait.
They approach.
Sarah watches them in silence, searching for an escape route.
All of them lead to almost certain defeat. Only one seems viable.
Her hands rest on the wall behind her when one of the boys approaches with light steps, ready to strike. Sarah watches him with a fixed gaze. In a sudden action, she threatens to dash to the left. The boy reacts by reflex and throws himself at her, while the others move to the same side.
But she retreats.
For a fraction of a second, both of her feet press against the wall. The boy crashes against the gray and hot ground. Sarah propels herself forward, jumping over him and rolling until she reaches near one of the tables.
Shadows surround her.
When she raises her gaze, more enemies.
In her peripheral vision, an empty table to the right reveals itself. There it is.
Sarah dashes.
"Don't let her escape! Today is the day of the King's fall!" shouts a boy from the top of a table.
The horde advances, as if they were monsters coming out of a dungeon.
Her right foot steps on the table.
The body projects forward.
A jump.
Fingers scrape the concrete.
For an instant, almost falling.
Then she grabs the edge.
Silence.
Standing on the wall, she looks at the boys devastated by yet another failure.
A soft breeze hits her from behind, throwing her hair forward.
Sarah opens her arms.
Closes her eyes.
Smiles.
And lets herself fall.
"Run! Run! Leeeet's gooo!" one of them shouts.
The boys rush down the stairs that lead to the other side of the wall. When they arrive, they find Sarah lying in the sandbox, arms open and eyes closed, as if she were sleeping.
"There she is! Advance to Atlás!"
The arena is taken, the clashes begin, chaos reigns. The biggest of the boys picks one of the smallest up and carries him outside. The little one even tries to struggle, but without results.
"This is unfair!" the small one grumbles, defeated and with his head down.
Moving away, he sees Bernardo and Marcela sitting on the swings, they laugh while watching the battle.
"She is crazy!" Bernardo comments.
"Hey Carlinhos! Don't get discouraged! You tried. Sit there." Marcela invites him.
"How does she do it? She looks like a warrior who has already fought in Atlás itself." Carlinhos sits on one of the swings. "Could it be that she is not using one of those new magical artifacts?"
"Dude, you know that is forbidden at school. Only adults can use them." Bernardo reminds him of some rules.
"I heard that rich people can buy them illegally." He continues.
"Nooo. Sarah is not like that. It is as if she were one of those androids that rule Ayda." Bernardo adds and Carlinhos agrees in silence.
"Every day, everywhere, she is always pushing herself as much as she can." Marcela adds to the conversation.
"It is almost as if she trained every day. Maybe she is getting stronger like that." Bernardo gets lost in thought with his gaze downward for a moment.
"I hope it is like that..." Marcela whispers to herself.
In the center of the sandbox, Sarah remains surrounded.
To escape, she runs toward the two tallest and thinnest ones. They smile confidently.
Until she jumps between them and ends with a roll. When they try to grab her, the two crash their heads together and begin to cry. The others start to laugh. Embarrassed, they run away.
"Hey! Where did she go?" one of the boys asks into the air loudly.
In the next instant, he feels hands resting on his shoulders and feet pushing him from behind. Off balance, he begins to stagger until he bumps into something. When he regains himself and lifts his head, he realizes that he has just thrown another boy outside the sandbox.
"Aaah!" the boy complains in pain while lying on the ground. "Come on Cleber! You need to work out! This doesn't work!" he shouts while beginning to get up.
Then Cleber turns around with a furious face searching for Sarah. But to his surprise, another boy approaches at full speed.
"Damn!"
The two fall outside the arena, landing on top of the boy who was finishing getting up.
"You too Cleiton! Today I will talk seriously with Mrs. Claudia. You need a gym. This can't continue! You are going to end up killing me!" he complains again while once again getting up from the ground.
"Oh no Maike, this story again?" Cleiton grumbles while his brother Cleber helps him up.
"Forget it! Today it ends! If we want to become master trackers, we have to focus more." He exclaims with conviction already walking away from the place.
Only Sarah and a boy of her height remain. One faces the other with rigid bodies ready for the clash.
"Hey Sarah. Are you going to play soccer at the dirt field today? After class." the boy asks her.
"What? There will be a game today? No one told me anything!"
"I think they don't want to invite you anymore. That's what I heard." he answers. "But if you want to go there with me, I will back you up."
"You will back me up?" Sarah begins to tease him while approaching.
"I'm not nicknamed Romário for nothing you know."
"I know, thank you! But if they don't want me there... I won't bother. Let them miss my nutmegs!" She looks at him with a slight smile while rubbing the back of her neck under her hair.
For a moment he becomes embarrassed and without reaction.
The bell rings.
Bernardo and Marcela approach the sandbox.
"Hey Sarah, let's go! It's physical education!" Marcela urges her.
Sarah's eyes shine.
"Sorry Rômulo." She runs toward the faucet to wash her legs.
"Romário" lowers his head, resigned, and heads toward the bathroom.
Bernardo and Marcela approach Sarah, who is sitting beside her sneakers while letting the water run over the sand stuck to her skin.
A silhouette that watched her during the entire recess finally moves.
Her steps are too silent for such a noisy environment.