Any second now…
What if they avoided it? What if they found another tunnel we didn’t know was there? What if—
There. Gunfire.
I wanted to head into the tunnel, to fire on the Changelings from both sides, but we might accidentally fire on our own team.
The light from the lamps illuminated the dust cloud and made it impenetrable to the naked eye.
I waited until the firing stopped. Then I waited a little longer.
But we couldn’t wait forever. Changelings were still swarming the base from other holes they had drilled into the mountain.
“Clear!” I shouted.
“Clear!” the other team yelled.
I stepped into the breach and tucked Hazel behind me. One step after another, the dust gave way to fallen Changelings lying in the dust. I was relieved when we came to the team on the other end of the tunnel.
“Well done,” I said to the young warrior I’d given the order to.
“We found more survivors,” he said.
I searched their faces. They were so young.
They saw me and nodded with respect.
I nodded back at them.
“Follow me,” I said. “We’re evacuating.”
Evacuation sounded so much better than retreat, didn’t it?
I stepped into the moonlight and was welcomed by a hundred plasma pistols and assault rifles. All aimed at our heads.
The Titan soldiers’ eyes glanced at our wrists and, seeing we weren’t Changelings, lowered their weapons.
The Titan chieftains approached me and took me to one side.
I tried to release my hand from Hazel but she maintained her grip. She was with me in this situation whether I liked it or not.
The chieftains glanced at her, then back at me, before continuing with their report.
“The Changelings discovered one of our entrances,” A’nshon said. “Maybe they followed a trail? Or captured one of our men? It’s impossible to say how they found it. They’re still drilling into the mountain, and flooding the tunnels with soldiers. There’s no going back now. It’s compromised.”
“What happens now?” Nus said.
“Now, we speak with them,” M’rar Thres said, his armor no longer shimmering the way it once did with its thick layer of dust. “We agree a peace deal and stop this madness.”
“Every peace deal we’ve ever signed with them, they’ve reneged on,” Qi said. “There is no talking to these people.”
“How many men escaped?” I said.
“About half our number,” A’nshon said.
“And the others?” I said.
The chieftains looked away from me. It wasn’t good news.
“Not all of them will be dead,” Nus said. “Some of them will have escaped through one of the other exits. They will be on their way here now.”
“Others are still in the base,” Qi said, “fighting the Changelings in glorious battle. We should gather the fighters we have and rescue them!”
“We’ll all die,” M’rar Thres said.
Qi got up in his face.
“And you’re afraid of death?” he spat.
“No,” M’rar Thres said. “My soul is prepared for the Great Rest. But I won’t throw my men’s lives away for nothing.”
“It’s not for nothing!” Qi said. “It’s for honor!”
“And what about the lives of the Titans who are left alive after we’re gone?” M’rar Thres said. “Forced to live as slaves beneath their evil rulers? There is little honor left for them.”
That gave Qi pause for thought. He lived in the moment. He rarely ventured much further.
“We must regroup,” A’nshon said. “Head to one of the other bases and prepare for the battle another day.”
“If we head to another base, they’ll only find us again,” I said. “And now they know what our bases look like and where to find them. They’ll drill into every mountain and hill everywhere. There will be no running from them.”
Changelings were merciless creatures. I’d seen that with my own eyes.
“Then there’s only one option left to us,” Hazel said.
The Titan chieftains turned to look at her.
Ordinarily, an emperor’s fated mate wouldn’t have been allowed to speak at a war meeting. It was not traditional. But then, she was not a Titan, and wasn’t that what I loved about her?
Hazel wasn’t aware of our traditions, so she gave us her opinion.
“You had a plan worked out last night,” she said. “To attack in the morning. Well, it is morning. You should carry out your plan. The Changelings are busy drilling into the mountain looking for you. If you attack the army they have at Okem town or the palace, you might still win, even with fewer fighters.”
The others gave it serious thought. I was proud of her for seeing what none of us could.
“It is possible,” Nus said.
“Our army will be much smaller than we planned,” A’nshon said.
“So will theirs,” M’rar Thres said.
“Qi?” I said.
He was unusually quiet. Normally, he would have been gung-ho with attacking the enemy head-on.
“A Titan warrior is worth ten Changeling scum,” he said. “We will fight, and fight to win. For the future, and all other Titans.”
He nodded amiably to M’rar Thres.
“I’m not sure they’re up for the battle,” A’nshon said, nodding to the Titan soldiers sat around the north exit.
They were caked in dirt and grime, their eyes downcast and heavy with a sense of hopelessness.
Our plan was doable, but only if the warriors were ready to attack with the vigor and aggression they were famous for. To not fear death and give it everything they had because victory was more important than life.
But these soldiers were not those men. They were well trained, battle-hardened, and ready for combat, but this loss had knocked them off their stride. They needed a pick me up.
As their emperor, that duty passed to me.
I strode through them and they watched me as I passed. There was a handy rock in the center for me to step on.
I looked at each Titan in turn. Their eyes looked at me with a faint glimmer of hope. I needed to spark it into a raging wildfire.
“I understand you’re tired,” I said. “I’m tired too. Of being burnt alive, of being hunted, of being forced out of the only safe place I’ve found in the past few
