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All those I had failed.
Hazel stopped crying and sniffing. She placed her hand on mine. Then she hummed along with me. The vibrations she sent through my body were a tiny tremor compared to my gushing river. So delicate, so beautiful. Her tune altered and we sang together, forming a duet of sadness.
I shut my eyes and images of the past hour or more fluttered through my mind.
The tragic deaths.
And the fallen.
Hazel sniffed through her blocked nose. Then she wiped away the tears from her eyes and nodded.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s those damn Changeling things. They came here and did whatever they wanted. Where was the Titan military? Where were the defenses? If the Titan empire is so mighty, so powerful, why did they sit by and do nothing?”
Her words stung. The truth was, this was my fault. I was the one who made the decisions. I was the emperor. I was supposed to protect the people.
And I had failed.
I had failed in my duties today as much as I had my entire life. Somehow, the Changelings slipped under the radar, somehow they had found a chink in our armor, and exploited it to full effect.
The emperor was supposed to protect his people.
Instead, I let them down.
But I would not let Hazel down.
Our mourning song came to a close.
How long did we sing?
Five minutes? Twenty?
I had no idea.
But when I opened my eyes, I felt a little refreshed. The memories would stay with me forever but at least now I could begin to mourn those that had lost their lives, and the countless others on hundreds of other colonies spread throughout the empire.
“That was beautiful,” Hazel said.
“The fallen will be avenged,” I said.
I was surprised at the certainty in my voice.
Hazel peered over her shoulder at me. When she looked at me like that, with that quirk to her lips and a gleam in her eye, I felt like I could do anything.
“Is that what we’ll do when we get to the Fallen Temple?” she said.
“From there, the tribes will meet up, and we’ll formulate a plan of attack,” I said. “This is our land. This is our home. They cannot take it from us so easily.”
Hazel’s smile broadened. She sniffed and wiped a hand under her nose.
“Then we’d better get going,” she said. “The sooner we get to this Fallen Temple, the sooner we can kick these Changelings’ ass.”
I released her and got to my feet.
She dusted off her pants and had grown in confidence.
“Lead the way,” she said.
We marched through the forest, on our way to redemption and light.
