Trell stood upon the ground of Avalon, her shuttle a smoking hunk of metal behind her. That had not exactly been the most graceful landing she’d ever performed, but she was in one piece. 

The Titaness stretched and rolled her neck, absentmindedly adjusting the grav-inhibitors on her wrists. Aft taking a second to recover from the landing, she reahed back into her shuttle and removed the case that Yvenna had given her. 

She examined the strange metal box but decided against opening it just yet. First things first, she would need a base of operations. 

The Titaness scanned the horizon, looking for somewhere she could lay low for a while… figuratively speaking. 

Unfortunately, she seemed to have landed in the middle of a heavily wooded area. Most of the trees weren’t any taller than her thighs. She was able to spot what looked like a system of caves in the distance, a few hundred units to the south. 

She frowned and picked up her equipment. It would figure that she’d land on this rock in the middle of nowhere. She mused to herself that it would have been interesting to drop down on top of one of the pathetic vermin’s tiny villages, but that might lead to Pryvani discovering her. And she didn’t want that to happen. 

At least not yet. 

*.*.*.*.*.*

Syon Fand smiled imperiously down on the holographic image of the sniveling little spy she’d left on Avalon. It had been a contingency plan, a seed she’d planted on the moon in case of emergency. One that would either bear fruit or would be forgotten if it turned out she didn’t have need of it. 

And then, she’d had need of it. 

She honestly couldn’t even remember the little vermin’s name, nor did she particularly care about it. The creature was a tool, like so many others she held in her possession. She would use him until he broke or had no further purpose for her. 

At that particular moment the human was updating her on the status of her daughter Pryvani’s little civilization… if it could even be called that. The plague was spreading and even the healthy among the animals were becoming nervous and distraught. The whole city was becoming one big time bomb just waiting to go off. 

Which was all to the good, as far as Syon Fand was concerned. 

She had no particular designs on the moon itself, or the vermin that infested it. She’d played the part of their ‘goddess’ to appease her former husband and his family… but beyond that, it was just another rock in space as far as she’d been concerned. 

Pryvani, on the other hand… And that was where Avalon did retain some usefulness to her. Fand knew her estranged daughter had a rather unhealthy obsession with the savage little animals, so any harm to them would keep her distracted, unfocused and off balanced. 

Precisely where Syon Fand wanted her. 

Pryvani styled herself a Mistress of the Great Game, but the young cub was about to learn not to mess with her intellectual betters. 

The mewling creature whose image was projected in front of her had finally stopped prattling on. She shook herself out of her idle thoughts long enough to murmur vague words of praise to it, (which was far more than it deserved, frankly) before cutting the transmission. 

The dark haired Titaness leaned back in her chair, her mind carefully working through the intricate steps of the many schemes and plans she had running simultaneously. It would be a lot for a normal titan to handle, but for someone with a keen brilliant mind like Fand it was fairly- 

“Mommy?” 

Syon Fand blinked, having been startled out of her idle musings. Irritatedly, she looked up to the door of her office. In the opened frame, she saw a little girl of about five, with dark black hair and big expressive blue eyes. She was clutching a small stuffed shaar toy and appeared to be dressed in bedclothes. 

“Yes, what do you want?” Syon snapped at the little girl, causing her to jump, just a bit. 

“Had a bad dream…” The small child mumbled pitifully, as she shuffled her feet nervously with her eyes downcast. 

“That’s all?” Syon sighed. “I’m very busy, please don’t bother me with such nonsense, Thyllia.” 

“But… I’m scared!”

“Oh please.” Fand snarled. She pressed a button on her intercom. “Yvenna, would you come in here for a moment?” 

After about ten seconds, the tall brunette woman appeared in the doorway behind the small child. 

“Yes Ms. Fand?” 

“Please take my daughter out of here and put her back to bed.” Syon sighed, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the screen of her computer. 

“Of course. Come, Thyllia.” 

“But…” The little girl squeaked. 

“I said come!” 

Thyllia sniffed, then followed obediently after her mother’s assistant. 

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

Nick carefully mopped the sweat from Sophia’s forehead with a damp cloth. The cloth of his containment suit crinkled with every movement. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing he’d ever worn, and the mask that covered his face fogged up with every breath he took, but at least now he could help take care of Sophia. 

Her breath was ragged, and her skin was pale and clammy. She muttered indistinctly, constantly lost in fevered hallucinations. Nick had intubated her with a plastic feeding tube, because her thrashing had pulled out every other attempt at introducing nutrients into her body. 

Nick’s heart pounded as he watched her, lost as she was inside her own sick mind. He felt helpless. All the time he’d spent learning from Brinn, and there was nothing he could do to stop Sophia from wasting away in front of him. 

“…Nick…?” 

Startled out of his train of thoughts, Nick reached out and took Sophia’s hand in his. “Easy Soph. I’m right here.” 

“I feel horrible.” The young woman muttered miserably. 

“I know.”

“I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Her voice came out barely above a whisper, and she stared at the air above her. 

“No.” Nick said, rubbing the back of her hand. “You aren’t. Stop talking like that. Brinn and Dr. Selil are going to figure out the answer. You just have to hold on until they do.” 

“I… I don’t know if I can…” 

“You have to. You’ll feel pretty stupid if you die and they find the cure, won’t you?” 

That managed to get a weak chuckle out of her, which turned into a coughing fit. Eventually she managed to get that under control. 

“Why am I so thirsty?” she moaned pitifully. 

“You have a tube down your throat, Soph.” Nick reminded her. “I wish there was something I could do about that, but it’s the only way we can keep food in you.” 

She shuddered and curled into a ball. Nick noticed and tried to tuck her covers in tighter around her. “So… damn… cold.” 

“Do you want me to get you another blanket?” Nick asked. 

“No… I’ll just kick it off in five minutes. Are you sure I have a fever? I thought they were supposed to make you warm.” 

“Oh, believe me, you have a fever…” Nick smiled and wiped her forehead again, where a sheen of sweat had reappeared. 

“Never would have guessed…” She muttered softly.

Nick frowned as he watched her gaze become unfocused; she was slipping back into delirium again. 

“You know what I miss most about Earth…?” She muttered softly. “Root beer. I wish I had one right now…”

“Well, maybe Pryvani could get some for you…” Nick replied, not sure any more whether she could still hear him.

“Root beer floats… so amazing… so cold… cold… Why am I so damn cold?” 

Brinn watched the two humans from the other side of the lab, trying to hold back the lump that was forming in her throat and collapsed into a chair in the medical lab, utterly exhausted. She and Dr. Selil had been working almost non-stop trying to find a cure. They’d run dozens of computer simulations to test out various compounds, but so far nothing had worked out. 

She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand to watch Sophia getting worse. The human woman had fallen into a fevered state. She’d had to be sedated often to keep her still long enough for them to put nutrients into her body, since she was no longer capable of keeping food down, or feeding herself for that matter. 

It made Brinn sick to think that if Sophia was this bad, how much worse off were the afflicted in Avalon who didn’t have access to Archavian medical technology? Unfortunately, in order to keep the disease from spreading, she and the rest of the Titans were still stuck in the compound. 

Of course, there was a small selfish part of her that was only concerned with the wellbeing of Nick and Sophia. She was ashamed of that fact, but there was no denying that it was there. 

“Brinn…” 

The young veterinarian jerked awake, having fallen into a light doze without realizing it. She sat up and rubbed her eyes for a moment before turning towards the sound of the voice. It was Pryvani. 

“Yes?” 

“Get some rest dear.” Pryvani spoke gently. “You’ve been running yourself ragged. You can’t keep this up.”

“I’m fine.” Brinn muttered. 

“No, you’re not. Staying awake isn’t going to help you, it’ll make things worse. Now stop being stubborn and go get some rest. You’ll feel better, trust me.” 

Brinn blinked, and then nodded. “You’re right, Pryvani.” 

“Of course I am. I already sent Dr. Selil off.” The heiress smiled gently. “Now, come on. I’ll keep an eye on things down here for you.” 

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

“Did you hear that?” Zhan exclaimed as he and Lysis recovered from the sudden blow that shook the earth underneath them. 

“Yeah.” Lysis replied shaking her head and dusting herself off. “And call me crazy if I don’t think whatever that was is going to be good news for us.” 

Zhan glanced towards the East, towards the direction of the disturbance. “I’m sure I’m going to regret saying this, but somebody should go check it out.” 

“I assume you’re volunteering?” 

“Yes.” Zhan nodded. “I think I should go alone, too. In and out… it’ll go quicker if it’s just me.” 

“That’s stupid.” Lysis said flatly. 

“I know.” Zhan nodded. “But it’s true.” 

“No.” Lysis shook her head. “Take Brennar with you. Two isn’t going to make that much more noise than one.” 

Zhan opened his mouth to argue, but then noticed the steel in the eyes of his Captain. 

“All right.” He sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” 

“So glad you agree because it’s an order, not a suggestion.” Lysis replied wryly. She turned and yelled over her shoulder. “Brennar!”

A lithe young man with tanned skin and curly black hair, who was not much older than Zhan was ambled over and gave Lysis a crisp salute. 

“You’re going with Zhan to check out just what in blazes made that awful sound just now. 

“Aye Cap.” 

A couple hours later, the two of them were provisioned with supplies bought from the traders of Wanderer’s Bay, which meant a lot of dried fish.

“Now you listen to me Zhan.” Lysis said sternly. “You get in, find out what made that commotion and if it poses a danger to us… which it likely does… and then you get the hell out. That’s it. You understand me? No stupid heroics and foolishness.” 

“Aye Cap.” Zhan responded, saluting lazily. 

Lysis rolled her eyes. Zhan exasperated her sometimes. The young man had the makings of a brilliant officer of the Watch… he just had to get some sense knocked into him first.

Zhan looked at their supplies, double checking to make sure they would have everything they might need. 

“You ready Brennar?” He asked. 

“Ready Zhan.” 

“Good. Let’s be off.”

Hiking their packs the two men set off Eastward towards the source of the terrible sound. 

“What do you suppose it was?” Brennar asked Zhan in a hushed tone of voice as the two of them moved through the shadowy underbrush. 

“I don’t know.” Zhan muttered in reply. “But considering how well things have gone for us so far, I can’t imagine it will be anything good.”

They traveled for several hours due East, through the dense underbrush before stopping to take a rest. While Brennar took a long drink from his flask of water, Zhan dashed up the tallest tree he could find. 

Squinting his eyes, Zhan looked into the long shadows cast by the setting sun at his back. Unless he was mistaken, there was a long trench cut out of the center of the forest, where it looked like a huge swath of trees had been felled rather violently. 

“What could possibly have done that?” He muttered to himself, knowing in his heart that he probably didn’t want to know the answer.

“Come on.” Zhan said to Brennar when his feet touched the ground again. “We need to get moving, something is not right and we need to find out what it is… and fast.” 

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

“What was that?!” Cara turned her head to the sound of the earthshaking sound that ripped through their commandeered village. “It sounded as if a mountain just exploded.” 

“It came from the North.” One of the men commented. “Whatever could make a sound like that… I’m not sure we want to find out what it is.” 

“It could be trouble heading our way.” Khalin commented mildly. “Take a dozen of the men and find out what it is.” 

“Aye.” The young man sighed and trotted off to do his master’s bidding. 

Khalin stared into the Northern horizon contemplatively. What could possibly have caused such a cataclysmic sound as that had been? It seemed to shake the very earth underneath them. 

Well, he would know soon enough. 

Shrugging indifferently, Khalin made his way into what had formerly been the mayor’s home. He crossed through the parlor and into the kitchen where he made his way over to the trap door that led into the cellar. 

Carefully, he lifted the cover and made his way down the creaky wooden staircase into what had once been the mayor’s storehouse. 

Now it was a dungeon. 

In the corner, covered by several days’ worth of dust and crime, were the three children of the mayor… Or what remained of them, at any rate. 

Khalin smiled congenially as he approached them, enjoying the look of fear on their faces and the way they shrank back from him. 

“Good evening.” He said affably. “I do hope you’re well?” 

The son, a young man of about eighteen, found his voice. He spat on the ground a Khalin’s feet. “Murdering scum. You’ve no right to talk to us as if you were a friend.” 

Khalin glanced down at the wet spot on the floor, dispassionately. “My, my… spitting is such a nasty habit.” 

“As is murder.” The youth snarled, his clear grey eyes smoldering with rage even through his grime covered face. 

Despite himself, Khalin found himself chuckling at the bold young man. “Such courage. I suppose you’d like to kill me, would you?” 

“Aye.” 

Khalin nodded. “I suppose that I owe you that much at least. Very well, I shall make you a deal, boy. You fight me; I’ll let your sisters free.” 

The young man eyed him warily. “Even if I lose?” 

“I swear it.” 

After a moment’s hesitation, the young man nodded and Khalin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. 

“Jortan… You can’t do this, he’ll kill you.” The older of the two sisters cried. 

“We’re already dead, Leedya. If this gets you and Dia free, it will be worth it.” 

Moments later, Khalin faced off against the young man, both were armed with short blades. The two young girls, Cara and a handful of Khalin’s men watched. 

Khalin and his opponent circled. Jortan held his blade out, his arm trembling a little. The older man smiled maliciously. 

With an angry cry, Jortan lashed out with his blade. Khalin ducked to the side and the weapon slid harmlessly past his side, cutting only empty air. 

Jortan sneered and struck again. Again Khalin dodged, but this time he wasn’t quite fast enough. He felt a slight sting on his shoulder as the young man’s blade bit into his flesh, leaving a shallow cut that oozed bright red. 

Ha!” Jortan cried triumphantly. 

Khalin glanced down at the wound. Suddenly he was on Jortan like a thunderstorm. He blade flashed like lightning and the boy was desperately trying to keep out of reach of Khalin’s blade. 

He was running out of places to run, however. The sound of the blades striking against each other rang out and Jortan’s face became a mask of fear and desperation. 

And then, without warning, a bolt of pain ran through Jortan’s body as Khalin’s blade slid between his ribs, sending a crimson stream down his front. Dimly, he heard his sisters scream his name, but the only thing he could seem to focus on was Khalin’s grinning face. 

“Your first lesson boy:” Khalin leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “It takes more than righteous fury to win a fight.” 

And then everything went dark.

With a sharp tug, Khalin pulled his weapon free, and the young man’s lifeless body fell to the ground with a dull thud. 

Khalin calmly wiped his blade on the hem of Jortan’s shirt, before turning towards the two young women. 

“You’re free to leave.” He told them calmly. 

The older of the two, Leedya, eyed him suspiciously. 

“Go!” Khalin cried, pointing towards the road in front of them. 

Leedya hesitated for another moment, before cautiously pulling her sister towards the road. “Come Dia.” 

“But-”

“I said come!” She snapped desperately. “We must go… there’s no more we can do here.” 

Khalin and his men watched the two girls run down the road towards freedom. 

After about thirty seconds, Khalin calmly reached out and took a bow from one of his lackeys and knocked an arrow to it. 

He raised the bow up and slowly drew the arrow back, carefully sighting down the shaft. After aiming for only a second, he loosed the arrow which snapped into flight with a buzzing sound like an angry wasp. 

A moment later, the younger of the two girls fell to the ground, the arrow embedded in her thigh. 

Khalin chuckled to himself as he watched the older girl pull her sister to her feet, and the two of the hobbled out of sight into the woods.