The cart pulled to a stop.
The driver climbed off and began unloading it. He began with the injured and placed them inside a canoe waiting on the riverbank. One patient per canoe, and a couple boxes of resources.
I hated to think why they divided everything up this way. Perhaps because they didn’t expect everyone to reach their destination?
A nurse was placed at the back of each canoe, so they were paired with a patient.
I was placed in a boat with Fiath.
He looked up at me and our eyes met.
There was no happiness on his face to be found. Only disappointment.
I saw it on many of the fleeing Titans’ faces. They were disappointed they couldn’t fight alongside their brothers and sisters.
And die if necessary.
“Head to the Fallen Temple,” our cart driver said. “Do you know where it is?”
I shook my head.
“I do,” Fiath said
The driver nodded.
“Okay then,” he said. “Follow the others. If you get separated, listen to your patient’s instructions.”
He shoved my canoe off the bank and into the river.
Within moments, the current caught us and swept us along. I paddled hard with the half-oar I found under my seat and tried to keep up with the others.
It was no use. They were far stronger than me. The best I could do was keep them in sight.
We were moving. That was the main thing. It seemed almost calm on the river after the attack on the tribe. It was easy to forget what was happening behind us.
I peered back and saw the rising plumes of black smoke that rose into the sky.
They were fighting. And dying.
And I was running.
Wiiiiiing!
The blood fell from my face.
I could have recognized that sound anywhere.
Fiath faced the opposite direction to me. He sat up on his elbows and his eyes rose into the sky.
To the shuttlecraft I knew had to be heading directly for us.
“Look out!” Fiath bellowed.
The shuttlecraft was dented and broken. Multiple spears protruded from its broken windshield. But its plasma cannon was still in perfect working order.
Instead of whirring and winding up to unleash a powerful single blast, it unloaded chain gun style, spitting tiny bolts of plasma that hissed when they hit the water’s surface, beating a path directly for us.
I was frozen with fear.
Everything was happening so fast, I didn’t have time to react.
Fiath grabbed the sides of our canoe and tossed his weight to one side, throwing us overboard.
Bolts of luminous white, blue, and yellow struck the water and penetrated a yard deep.
I struggled to the surface. When I reached it, I threw my head back and gulped a lungful of oxygen.
Our canoe was demolished, punctured with a dozen holes, most of which were already aflame.
All those valuable supplies had been wasted.
But that was nothing compared to the devastation I saw ahead.
The shuttlecraft sliced a thick blast of plasma through the other boats ahead. I couldn’t make out other survivors.
The injured patients didn’t stand a chance.
And the nurses…
The nurses.
They wouldn’t leave their patients behind.
If I needed more evidence the Changelings were merciless demonic creatures, this was it. These things needed to be taken down. They needed to be punished for what they were doing to an innocent species.
They needed to be destroyed.
“Over here!” Fiath yelled.
He lay sprawled across the muddy embankment of the river. I swam over to him, my clothes suddenly soaked and heavy. When I drew close to Fiath, he grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me onto shore beside him.
Impressive, considering the extent of his injuries.
A thick bough of leaves hung overhead and hid us from view.
The shuttlecraft passed by, looking for survivors. Every few moments, it unloaded into the river.
The Titans didn’t stand a chance.
“Can you walk?” Fiath said.
It should have been me asking that question.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then let’s get out of here,” he said.
Together, we struggled up onto our feet. I supported him as much as he supported me.
We traipsed into the forest, into a dark and unknown new world.
Fiath
“I can’t keep going!” Hazel said.
Her legs shook and she fell to the ground on her hands and knees.
I checked over my shoulder. The riverbank was less than five hundred yards away. The water’s surface flashed as a Changeling ship passed a spotlight over it.
“We’re too close to the river,” I said. “It’s too easy for them to find us here.”
Hazel’s body shook.
I was pushing her too hard. She was human. She wasn’t used to these surroundings, and—
Her body shuddered and she began to weep. She wasn’t weary from the physical exertion, I realized. She was weary because of the things she’d seen.
She sat back on her ass in a pile of damp leaves and pressed her hands to her face. She wept, too loud for my liking, but I would not quieten her. We had a little time before the Changelings combed the area. Not much time, but some.
The silence pressed in on us, silence from the screams and the shouts and the plasma shots and the shuttlecraft zooming overhead. A foreboding silence.
I was focused on escaping and getting away from the danger zone. Hazel was still dwelling on the things she’d witnessed.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” I said.
Hazel shook her head and continued to cry.
“Why did they have to kill all those people?” she said. “They were innocent! There were children! Kids!”
Her face screwed up and the tears cascaded over her cheeks. Even now, she was beautiful.
I considered revealing who I really was, that I was the great and powerful Titan emperor. The Lord Of A Thousand Suns. The heart, hope, and dreams of every Titan in the galaxy…
Who had failed his people.
Who had failed in his duty to protect them.
Hazel was not a Titan. She would not be impressed by my accolades. With my current appearance, I wasn’t sure it would give heart to many Titans either.
I didn’t deserve to be the emperor.
I wanted to reach out and touch her.
Should I? Was it the right thing to do?
I wanted to calm
