The door hissed shut behind Rixie as she entered her guest quarters aboard the Gyfjon and sat down on the edge of the bed with a heavy sigh. She opened her palm and deposited Alex onto her thigh before laying back against the mattress.

“Alex… why are you here?” She asked exasperatedly. “You’re supposed to be back on Avalon.” 

“Yeah. Nice try.” Alex responded, just a tad bitterly. “I can’t believe you tried to leave me behind.” 

“I wasn’t lying when I said this was going to be too dangerous.” Rixie sat up and looked down on him. “So yes, I left you behind for your own safety.”

“You don’t get to decide that Rix!” Alex growled, turning to face her. 

“No, Alex. I do get to decide that. Not because I ‘own’ you or any silly nonsense like that. I get to decide that because this is a military operation and you are not military personnel.”

“But…” 

“We’re going after Trell, Alex. Trell. The woman who was literally a swallow away from killing you. I don’t want to see you in that position ever again, you hear me? I care about you far too much to let that happen.” 

“I…” 

Rixie sighed and slumped back onto the bed. “Having said all that… there is a part of me that’s glad you’re here.” 

Alex laughed softly. “You know you almost stepped on me.” 

“I did not.” 

“You did. On the transport, when you were drunk.” 

“No. I didn’t.” Rixie smirked. “I knew you were there.” 

“What?” 

“I always know where you are Alex.” Rixie responded softly, stroking him gently with a fingertip. 

“Because we’re so close?” Alex asked, leaning into her caress. 

“Because you had a chip put into your back that gives me your location.” 

“Oh.” 

A moment of silence passed between them. 

“So what happens now?” Alex asked with a sigh. “Are you going to punish me? Confine me to quarters like Izzy?” 

“No.” Rixie shrugged. “It’s not my place to punish you. I’m not your owner, no matter what the tracking chip database says.” 

“In that case, can you do me a favor? I’d like to apologize to Lemm. We shouldn’t have gone into her quarters… can you bring me to her at some point?” 

“Of course.” Rixie nodded. “She’ll probably want to meet you properly anyway.”

“And, speaking of Lemm… why does she have the same last name as you? I thought you were an orphan.” 

“I am. So is she.” Rixie scooped Alex up and brought him up to her face, setting him on the pillow by her head. “In the Empire, orphans become wards of the State, and are given over to a group -a subculture, really- of people called the Hoplite. They raise our orphans and give them training to serve the Empire. Each Hoplite child is sent into a caste and then into a specific branch of Imperial service. The Tams, like Lemm and I, are military. For example, the Ro are for civil service, the Shan manual labor and trade skills… each caste has a specialty” 

“Oh, so the two of you aren’t related?” 

“Genetically, no.” The Titaness responded. “But we went through the program together and became very close. She’s like my sister, really.” 

“So Tam is the military caste… you’re telling me you could have been, I don’t know, Rixie Ro?” Alex asked. 

“Civil service? Politics? Not a chance. That’s for people like Pryvani.” 

“Yeah… no offense Rix, but you’d make a terrible diplomat.” Alex laughed before he yawned and felt his eyes grow heavy. He hadn’t slept well the last couple days and all the adventures since they’d left Avalon were finally starting to catch up with him. 

Rixie’s gently roving fingers weren’t helping him stay awake either. 

“You look exhausted Alex.” Rixie observed, whispering soothingly. “It can’t have been very comfortable in my bag these past few days.” 

“No…” Alex muttered sleepily. “It wasn’t.” 

“Go to sleep, okay?” Rixie suggested softly. “Get some rest.” 

“Sounds like… a good…” Alex’s sentence trailed off and soon his breathing was shallow and steady. 

Rixie smiled gently down on the little human. She hadn’t been lying when she said there was a part of her that was glad he’d stowed away in her bag. These past few days… she really had missed him. 

Alex was snoring now, having fallen from a light doze into a deep sleep. 

Rixie gazed down at Alex as he lay on top of one of her pillows. She stroked him gently and, as she often did, she paused for a moment to watch him sleep. 

She’d never tell him she did this, because she was afraid he’d be upset at her… but a part of her couldn’t help it. He just looked so… peaceful.

Quietly as she could, Rixie carefully worked her fingers underneath him and gently rolled his sleeping form into the palm of her hand. His body twitched in his sleep, but then he settled back down again, curling up into a ball. 

She gently cupped Alex in her hand and ran her fingers along his back. 

Rixie felt a warm fluttery feeling in her chest as she stared down at his sleeping form. It had been several months since that day when she’d slipped him into her pocket and every day he continued to amaze her. 

Her thoughts followed a familiar path as her heart pounded. For a moment she was afraid the sound of it would awaken him, but he slept on. Blissfully unaware.

Rixie gently ran her finger across his body again. She enjoyed these moments because it was the only time she would allow herself to feel the full extent of the love she had for him. 

And it was love, she knew that. The little figure she held in her hand had stolen Rixie’s heart in a way she’d never thought possible. 

Of course, she would never tell him that. How could she? How would it be at all fair to him? 

If Rixie ever told Alex just how much she cared, she was certain he would “return” those feelings… but only out of a pure sense of self-preservation. He would pretend to love her back, because he would be afraid she’d harm him otherwise. 

Tears welled in Rixie’s eyes. She would never do such a horrible thing to him, of course, but how could Alex know that? 

He would pretend to love her, but in secret he would see her as a monster that kept him trapped. A giant creature that had to be appeased. 

No. She couldn’t do that to him. She would keep her feelings to herself, locked away where he would never find them. And when a human woman inevitably caught his eye and he wanted to leave, she would let him go. It would kill her inside, but she would be happy that he was happy…

That was just the way it had to be.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Nick leaned up against the glass wall of his enclosure, staring helplessly across the room at the small bed where Sophia was tossing about in a fevered hallucination. She was getting worse. Her body was thin, unnaturally thin. She seemed to be wasting away right before his eyes. She wouldn’t eat. Couldn’t, in fact. Every time she tried it was expelled within a few minutes. They’d taken to giving her an IV drip of nutrient solution.

She was dying. Nick knew it and all he could do was watch it happen. 

He began pacing about the box they were keeping him in. He knew, intellectually, that it was for his own safety, that they didn’t want him to catch the horrible disease as well… but still. It felt like he was a pet again, unable to change his fate. 

The door to the lab slid open and Brinn entered, followed after by another Titaness. She was shorter than Brinn, but not by much. Her hair was also red and shoulder length. She wore a lab coat over a plain shirt and black pants. 

“This is what we’re dealing with, Dr. Selil.” Brinn motioned toward the sick young woman. 

“Horrible.” Selil murmured, bending down for a closer look. “Have you made any progress in synthesizing a cure?” 

“Not a lot.” Brinn sighed. “The symptoms are similar to a class of human diseases they call ‘influenza’ but so much worse than anything I’ve ever seen in a human. “ 

“And the city?” 

Brinn shook her head. “The casualty rate is mounting. It’s hard to get an accurate count, but there has been at least twenty cases by this point, almost a fourth of them fatal. But more than that… the citizens are panicking. They’re almost to the point of killing anybody who sneezes, just in case they might be infected. Dahntnee is doing all he can to calm their fears but… It won’t be long before they’re burning the sick alive.”

“Well, then the sooner we can cure this plague, the better.” Dr. Kharee Selil set her datapad on the table. “Let’s get to work.” 

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Khalin looked at the men and women that surrounded him as he stood upon the hillside, overlooking the unsuspecting town that would soon be the home base of his army. 

As soon as he conquered it, anyway. 

The lands around them had been soaked in the blood of dozens of farmers and their families as Khalin’s followers had ransacked their homes and left most of them dead and the rest wishing they were. They’d taken weapons and supplies and anything else they’d needed. 

They’d also managed to recruit some followers. Vagabonds and drifters, mostly. Men and women who’d been cast out of regular Avalonian society, often for committing crimes. 

Not that Khalin cared, of course. He was hardly going to be squeamish around murderers and thieves, after all. 

He glanced down at the short blade that he held in his hand, the dull grey metal already stained brown by dried blood. 

He smirked at his own reflection, and then looked up into the eyes of his beloved Cara. The pale dark haired woman flashed him a feral grin and he nodded. 

“Let’s be off then, shall we?” 

And without another word, he turned and stalked down the hill, his followers gathering behind him in silence save for the rustle of piecemeal armor and weapons. 

As they drew closer, Khalin heard an alarm ring out from the town and their small contingent of guradsmen gathered in the square, falling into formation and turning to face the oncoming threat. 

Unfortunately for them, they numbered roughly a third of what Khalin’s followers did. 

Briefly, Khalin considered opening a parley with them, a mock-negotiation. But this fleeting desire was over ridden with a need for bloodshed. There had been enough talk, he decided, now he needed there to be pain. 

So Khalin raised his blade above his head and slashed the air, roaring fiercely. He charged ahead into the town square and with a tumultuous shout of animal fury, his hoarde followed closely on his heels. 

Like a tidal wave breaking on the shore, the group of death cultists slammed into the formation of the guardsmen. 

Khalin barreled into the man directly in front of him, driving his shoulder into his adversary’s chest and knocking back a pace. Before the young man could recover, Khalin raised his sword and drove it straight into his windpipe, sending a warm wave of blood over his arms and onto the pavement below. 

With a feral roar, Khalin pulled his weapon free and raised it above his head, fresh red blood splashed across his chest. 

He grinned savagely. Death and destruction were at hand. 

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Zhan rubbed his forehead in frustration. 

It had been three days since they’d made their way to the fishing port of Wanderer’s Bay, and he was really starting to regret the journey. 

He, Lysis, and the other six members of the Watch had entered the city in hopes of raising a militia to oppose the bloodshed and chaos Khalin and his followers were committing, but so far… it hadn’t gone exactly according to plan. 

“What business is it of ours if the famous Atlantean City Watch can’t be bothered to keep a few rabble rousing ruffians under lock and key?” The speaker, a portly man by the name of Grathet was saying to the assembled crowd. “Why should we risk our necks? What has Atlantis ever done for us, besides look down their noses at the ‘poor country folk’?” 

His speech was met with more than a few murmurs of agreement from the assembled populace. 

“You don’t understand.” Lysis spoke, not to Grathet, but to the assembly. “Khalin and his people are not just some band of ruffians. They are a bloodthirsty cult who believes they worship a death goddess. They have already ransacked a number of farms and homesteads in this area and they leave a swath of blood and murder wherever they go. And mark my words, they are growing more powerful. They may have left Atlantis a disheveled lot, but they’ve acquired weapons and provisions in the days since. And followers. Every crazed murderer, thief and thug between here and the City has pledged loyalty to him. Because he gives them the one thing they crave most… The freedom to indulge their darkest ambitions.” 

She glanced around at the faces of the crowd. “You believe he will leave you alone? That his fight is with the City, and no one else? He will not. He will run over your quiet little town and leave a smoking bloody crater behind. He will take whatever he wants by force, including your very lives. There will be no stopping him. He’s done it before.” 

Lysis paused to take a breath. “Unless you join with us. Us all, together and with the people of the nearby farms and villages… we can have enough of a militia to put an end to his carnage, to wipe the threat of his cult off of Avalon forever. Or you can sit here and wait for him to come to you- and believe me, he will- the choice is yours.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

Khalin sat at the large wooden table that stood in the center of the dining room in the mayor’s house. Or, what had been the mayor’s house. After making enough raids to arm themselves, Khalin and his followers had swarmed the small farming town, killing most of the population and imprisoning the rest. It hadn’t been an easy fight, he’d lost a number of his people to the town defenders, but it hadn’t matter. Their sheer bloodthirstiness had won the day, in the end. 

The cult leader took a drink from the mayor’s silver goblet and put his feet up on the table. He happened to glance out the window to see a group of his followers congregating around Jonus. 

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. He didn’t trust Jonus, and was certain that the man was plotting against him. Their victory in taking this town had quelled the rebellious murmuring, for now, but Khalin was certain that Jonus was bidding his time. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike. 

He would just have to strike first, and that was all there was too it. 

“He wants to dethrone you, my love.” Cara appeared behind him and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “His insolence must be punished…” 

“All in good time, my love, all in good time.” Khalin lifted the goblet to his lips, savoring the iron tang of the mayor’s blood as it ran across his lips. 

Meanwhile, just outside the mayor’s home, Jonus looked about the carnage that he and the other worshippers of the Death Goddess had wrought on the poor defenseless town they’d chosen as their target. After a bloody campaign to secure the weapons and supplies they’d needed, the death cultists had descended on the unsuspecting hamlet and had completely over run the meager defenses. 

“What did I tell you all?” He spoke to the crowd that had gathered around him. “I told you that Khalin wouldn’t lead us wrong. Didn’t I tell you that? And now look! A whole village, ours.” 

“Yes Jonus, you were right.” One of the other men replied, nodding. 

“With the blessing of the Great Lady, Khalin can’t possibly steer us wrong. Death herself is on our side!” Jonus cried, raising his arm emphatically. 

The men around him cheered.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

“Beginning final descent, please brace for entry.” The computers monotonous voice spoke up and Trell quickly clipped the harness. Normally entries into an atmosphere were fairly painless, but she was going in dark, with barely any inertia dampening to make the transition to atmospheric conditions smoother. 

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the console in front of her, her entire ship buckling under the strain of pushing through the moon’s atmosphere. The ride seemed to go on forever until suddenly the ship stopped quaking and she found herself flying through blue sky. 

Fingers flying across the control panel, she quickly deployed flight control thrusters and drift wings to control her descent, which was still mostly unpowered. 

She hit some turbulence and dropped like a stone for several units until Trell was able to regain control of her descent. Outside the windshield of her ship, she saw the ground approaching fast. 

“This will not be fun.” She muttered to herself as she angled the nose of the ship upward to minimize the impact.

The entire shuttle lurched as it made contact with the ground, plowing into an old growth forest and mowing down the trees in front of it like they were twigs. 

Trell pressed a button and deployed drag chutes from the back of her ship, further slowing down her vessel. Eventually there was enough drag to cancel out the momentum and the crazy ride, finally, stopped. 

There was a series of loud bangs and sparks flew from her engine, followed by a cloud of black and white smoke. 

“Great.” Trell muttered. “When this is over Fand owes me a gorram ship.” 

Trell quickly unbuckled the crash webbing and jumped from the cockpit. 

She stood on the Avalon and adjusted her gravity dampening equipment, gazing around at the carnage her landing had caused to the local landscape. 

She couldn’t help but smile. That was just the beginning.