Chapter 13

“My leg…” the elderly woman said.

Aaron raced with her in his arms to a rhinoceros changeling with a turtle shell on their back. He laid the injured woman in front of the strange creature to see the changeling open its mouth and produce a red ball of saliva. The liquid bathed the woman’s bleeding leg for her to groan in pain. However, the scar along her leg receded and she bent her knee testingly.

“Oh,” the elderly woman said in relief. “That feels much better…I…I can almost stand.”

“Not yet,” the female voice came from the changeling. “You need to lay down for a moment and let the solution soak into your body.”

Rachel was a changeling who’s saliva had a medicinal factor that could speed up the body’s healing process by a factor of tenfold. The elderly woman who had been injured in the raid was one of the dozens lying around Rachel who was being cared for by her. Aaron had constantly replicated the crimson secretion to disperse it amongst even more of the injured villagers.

The entire Remnant Village was amok in the blood of the wounded and panicked from such an intense disturbance. It was divided into groups that had salvaged technology before fleeing and tuning it with the alien tools at their disposal. Some were attending to the various plants grown for crops in pots of soil. Everyone looked both bewildered and afraid, some too scared to sit down while others curled into a ball to cry.

Rachel then turned to Aaron with eyes surrounded by wrinkles.

“Can you copy the fluid again?” she asked.

“Pretty sure,” he said.

Aaron held out his hands as he willed his white wooden hands to become semi-permeable. Rachel dropped another dosage of red saliva into his palms that Aaron absorbed into his body. After soaking up the stuff, not a drop of the red liquid remained on his hands. As Aaron allowed his body to copy the substance’s DNA, he observed the remains of the people.

The survivors that weren’t injured were frantic and scared. There were far less villagers remaining, dozens missing. They had fled deeper into Seren’s bowels by fleeing into a vertically falling tunnel. The climb down was tedious, especially because they would have to plant suppression spikes as they fled.

Each time the group of more than fifty villagers raced deeper into Seren’s bowels, someone would have to stab the floor or walls with the spikes. This was to prevent their footsteps from being tracked by Seren’s sensitivity. They couldn’t run too fast because they’d have to stab metal pins into whatever area of flesh they came across.

Then, after crossing that area, they would need to stab them into the next territory they ran on. This process was repeated numerous times. Usually they could only spare two or three suppression spikes as they did not have time to plant all the spikes into Seren’s flesh.

Stabbing the sharp instruments into the walls of the descending tunnel while climbing down was irritatingly slow. The villagers who weren’t changelings or Armor Wielders had to be carried down as they didn’t have the physical prowess to scale the tunnel of flesh. Aaron held villagers in his arms to descend into the dimness while others planted the suppression spikes.

The villagers planted suppression spikes all over the place they’d stopped as well as tinkering with machines they salvaged. They carried the machinery and metal in bags. With tools that looked like spiral-tipped wands, half a dozen villagers tampered with the inside of the light post. Aaron didn’t know it was mobile. There were various other devices the villagers utilized but the young man was looking at Akemi too much to notice.

Once they had stopped running away from Kyle and the other changelings, Aaron’s world slowed down enough so that he felt guilty. He began wondering how many of the villagers felt he was a traitor. Soon after Aaron showed up, they were attacked and lost the majority of their village. It was only natural they thought he was a spy.

I have to prove them wrong. He thought. Prove I’m not a spy.

After nodding to Rachel, Aaron raced towards another group of injured patients. He found a changeling with the antlers and face of a deer, the body of an ape and tale of a scorpion lying on his back and groaning in pain. He had deep gashes along his torso, arms and legs. Half his face was covered in blood.

Aaron secreted the red saliva that his armor had now copied the molecular structure of from his palms and rubbed it over the changeling’s body. As the transformed human sighed in relief at the sight of his wounds closing up, Aaron heard the grumbling of someone else.

He turned to find Thomas Olier and his attendant, Christopher Reedan, in deep discussion. Christopher was a handsome man with blond hair and piercing green eyes who sat across from the chief of the village. By their expressions, Aaron could tell neither was happy with the other.

He’d learned that Christopher was an elder in the Remnant Village who represented a portion of its people. There were apparently twelve chieftains who made up the people’s governing body. Christopher Reedan was apparently the one closest to Thomas.

“Did you know this man was a threat when he came here?” Christopher asked.

The tan skinned man gave Aaron a sideways glance.

“I’m not even sure he was not aware he was a threat,” Thomas said.

“Thomas,” Aaron said. “If-If I was aware that Kyle would track me here then I would have never, never, arrived.”

He sat down on the squishy floor of Seren’s and bowed his head.

“I-I-I-” he said, close to tears. “So sorry for what happened. Please…Please forgive me.”

“I-” Thomas was about to say.

“You cost us fifty-two villagers out of the one hundred and fifty-seven we once had,” Christopher said. “Do you know how many that leaves us with?”

“One hundred and five?” Aaron asked.

“An entire third of our people were lost today,” he said. “Either killed or worse…now being turned into changelings. I don’t know how you can live with yourself now that you led someone as dangerous as Kyle Ayer’s to us…”

“But I tried to help!” Aaron exclaimed. “Ever since I came here…ever since I came I’ve done nothing but try to benefit the Remnant Village! P-P-Please…please believe me!”

“It’s not a matter that we do not believe you,” Thomas said. “It’s just that…if you were being tracked by Fulir’s agents…more importantly Kyle Ayers…we would want you to tell us.”

“Well…” Christopher said. “That is true…you’ve helped us quite a bit. Growing food for us, defending our village, healing the injured…”

He groaned in frustration.

“It’s not like I believe you to be a spy or anything,” he said.

“Speak for yourself.”

They all turned to find Luis walking toward them. He was no longer wearing his armor to more closely reveal his hateful black eyes. He sat down near Thomas and glared at Aaron.

“I don’t see any reason we should believe he wasn’t sent by Fulir as an agent to sabotage us,” Luis said. “In fact…I think it’s pretty likely that he and Kyle collaborated to try and get to us.”

“Collaborated?!” Aaron shouted. “That’s nonsense! My family and friends were taken away from me just like yours were! Like all of us!”

“Speak for yourself,” Christopher said. “Some of us have lived in the Remnant Village our whole lives.”

“Really?” Aaron asked.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “Many of us, like Chris and I, have generations that go back to living in the tunnels of Seren and scraping by, trying to sustain a pitiful existence under the surface. As part of the Seshi clan we pride ourselves in providing for the Remnant Village so we can live lives free of Fulir’s influence.”

“Then how did you meet Kyle?” Aaron asked. “I mean…was he like…like the Seshi clan?”

“No,” Christopher said. “Originally, he was like you and many others who fled underground for refuge. He lost his family and life in one of Fulir’s many abductions and experiments and…and helped us in any way he could.”

“But then one day…” Thomas said. “He disappeared. Disappeared only to return one day and…sell us into the hands of our enemies.”

“That was how we lost every single Remnant Village except for number 12,” Luis added. “That’s us. And we’ve been living an even more meager existence than before his betrayal. Something I think you’re familiar with by now.”

“So then that means Fulir must have gotten ahold of him and warped his memories,” Aaron said. “Poor Kyle.”

Luis looked like he wanted to slap Aaron.

“You idiot,” he said. “Don’t you know that after becoming an Armor Wielder you become immune to Yeltael’s memory manipulation?”

“Yes,” Thomas said. “Notice how we call it a ‘betrayal’ and not a ‘brainwashing’ what Kyle did. Because Kyle decided to do this on his own.”

“Oh,” Aaron said. “Then how do they control Armor Wielders? I mean, if after they become an Armor Wielder and their memory can’t be manipulated, how do they make sure they follow orders?”

“There are two methods,” Christopher said. “ The first is still by memory manipulation. Even if an Armor Wielder is unaffected by memory manipulation after becoming a Wielder, they are still susceptible to false realities that Yeltael put into their head before putting on the armor. Usually, to get control of an Armor Wielder, they just make you believe you were always a deeply devoted knight of Fulir.”

A horrid thought filled Aaron’s mind as he recalled the dreams of his birthday that the other wielders commented on.

So…? He thought. Are those…? Those fake…? Did they never happen? How much of my life is just a fabrication?

“The second is control rings,” Christopher explained. “Which are essentially shock collars they put around dogs but for humans. They hit you with a bolt of pain whenever you disobey.”

“But neither happened to Kyle,” Thomas said. “So…he truly is a traitor.”

“Yes,” Luis said. “And I think it best to treat this man the same way. Many of the other villagers seem to think so.”

“Is that right?” Thomas asked.

“Of course,” Luis said. “The faction I represent at least.”

He gave a dark smile to Aaron.

“They believe you are at fault for bringing this new Wielder in with open arms,” Luis said. “Whether he is willingly in league with Fulir or not, they find him to be a Trojan horse meant to locate the last Remnant Village and make us captive.”

“Your faction?” Aaron asked.

“Yes,” Luis said. “I am an elder, just as Christopher here is. A bit young but I was still popular enough to be voted as such.”

“The term elder is just a title,” Thomas explained. “It has nothing to do with age. Just meant to represent a section of the Remnant Village.”

“And I believe that Thomas here has grown soft in his old age,” Luis said. “The faction I represent voted because they did not enjoy his leadership.”

“And my faction believes him to be a great help to our village,” Thomas said. “After all…look at all the food he has grown for us in the mere hours he has been with us. You cannot discount that.”

“And you think it’s a coincidence that as soon as this boy arrived Kyle did with a small army?” Luis asked. “Face it…he’s nothing but trouble.”

Aaron could not help but feel overwhelmed by guilt.

“Or is he?” Christopher said.

The young man perked up, feeling validated.

“I’ll admit I’m deeply disturbed at the events that transpired today but…” he said, sighing. “I’m at least glad that we have a living food factory with us.”

“Yes,” Thomas said. “It was hard enough growing crops without the other Remnant Villages’ help. But now…now that we have Aaron we no longer have that burden.”

Luis spat on the ground in disgust.

“You can’t be serious!” He said. “After fifty-two of our people were taken?! They’re all brainwashed by now and converted to changelings! How can you say that anything good has come from this?!”

“Yes,” Thomas said. “It’s tragic…but we have to move on from tragedy. Because if we don’t…we will all perish.”

“So we’ll just move on from the many innocents lost?!” Luis asked.

His body was contorting in anger, the anger in his expression becoming downright murderous.

“I’ve seen this happen too many times,” Thomas said. “The people encounter a hardship that causes them to doubt any hope for the future and they wallow in self-pity.”

“Well I’ve had enough with the hope that you give us,” Luis said. “You not only trusted Aaron here but Kyle when he came back. And I lost loved ones when Kyle decided to sell us over to our enemies.”

“Well I’m sorry to tell you this,” Christopher said. “But my faction rather likes having Aaron with us. Not just because he fought Kyle but because he grows a great amount of food for us. I’ve spoken with them and they agree we should keep Aaron. I’ll admit I’m not entirely sure I trust Aaron but…I represent my people and a leader does what is good for them.”

“So do mine,” Thomas said. “And I fully trust Aaron.”

“Fools!” Luis shouted. “Fools! That’s what you are! You’re so in love with Fulir’s Trojan horse you may as well just go to the surface and surrender now!”

“And what would you say to do?” Thomas asked.

He took his heated gaze off of Thomas, too afraid to look him in the eye.

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“I say we split up the village,” Luis said. “Into factions. My faction wishes to do this and dive deeper underground to the Underworld.”

“The Underworld?!” Thomas shouted. “You can’t be serious! It’s too dangerous!”

The underworld? Aaron thought.

“The Underworld is beneath Seren,” Helena said.

He turned to her to find the woman’s calm, pale-face looking back at him.

“We are very deep below the surface of the Earth right now,” she said. “And if we were to go even further we would reach the land of the dead.”

“The land of the dead?” Aaron asked.

“Yes,” Helena said. “Many cultures on your planet had myths of an afterlife being directly beneath its surface. There was truth in it as many of the dead gather there. When a person dies, there’s a good chance they end up in the Underworld. It is not a place the living were meant to set foot in.”

“That place is beyond dangerous,” Thomas said. “It’s foolhardy to go there.”

“It is dangerous,” Luis admitted. “But it’s more dangerous to stay within Seren and risk Fulir catching us. In the Underworld, we will have more freedom than staying within the tunnels of this giant creature.”

“Hmm,” Christopher said. “That…seems more reasonable than it first appears to be. I mean…the Seshi clan lived in the Underworld at one point in time before migrating to Seren. If they could live there, why couldn’t we?”

“Because it was too dangerous!” Thomas said. “I remember the stories passed down from my father and his father before him! It was cruel and unforgiving! You’ll find the Underworld a very hard place to grow crops as it is not a place fit for the living.”

“But you keep saying we have Aaron for that purpose,” Luis chided. “Isn’t that right?”

Thomas groaned in frustration, angry that his reasoning was being used against him.

“I’m beginning to think that’s right,” Christopher said. “The Underworld may be dangerous…but I’d rather risk it than have another raid from Fulir.”

“Agreed,” Luis said. “I’m sure I could convince my faction to flee there.”

“I could do the same,” Christopher said.

“If the Remnant Village decides this…” Thomas seethed. “I’ll be forced to follow their will…but I can assure you I’ll try to dissuade the other elders from this decision.”

“Not many left,” Christopher said. “Only seven of the elders remained. The rest were killed or abducted by Fulir. And I’m good friends with Tevin, the elder with the largest faction left. Remember Thomas…our factions have warped since the raid.”

“Quite,” Luis said. “Used to, we made sure they were as even as possible…but now with their unevenness, some elders have more power than others.”

“Our formerly reasonable village is rife with panic,” Christopher said. “It’d be easy to convince them of anything at this point.”

“I-I-” Thomas said. “My grandfather warned my father never to return to the Underworld unless we had nowhere else to go. Unless Seren was no longer inhabitable. And I’m not sure that’s true.”

“It basically is at this point,” Luis said. “The longer we sit around in Seren the more we become a sitting duck for our enemies. They wouldn’t send one of their strongest Armor Wielders and a battalion of troops all the way down here unless they were desperate to get their hands on us.”

“Of course,” Christopher added. “The frightening things of the Underworld will drive them off.”

Thomas was obviously frustrated, his hands balling into fists.

“Fine,” he said. “If you feel like that’s what you’ll do…then I have no choice but to lead our people. However…I assure you the Underworld has horrors that pale in comparison to Kyle Ayers.”

“But the difference is those horrors are not looking for us,” Christopher said. “There’s a wide gap between an aimless monster roaming the wilderness and a predator stalking you in the night. You can avoid the former while the latter is breathing down your neck.”

“Of course,” Luis said. “And Fulir doesn’t want to chase us down to the Underworld. Even they’re afraid of such a place.”

A painful thought struck Aaron.

“Wait…” he said. “Does that mean if we enter the Underworld…we’ll never return back to the surface?”

“Aaron we wouldn’t return to the surface even if we didn’t head to the Underworld,” Thomas answered. “It’s too dangerous to go to the surface. As much as I hate the Underworld…between Yeltael being able to mind control everyone not an Armor Wielder and the fact that we can be tracked as soon as we get there…it’s incredibly scary.”

“Why do you think we stay down here in the first place?” Luis asked.

Fear shot through Aaron. It was an old fear that had been covered by all the distractions between now and when his world flipped. The life or death fleeing and fighting, discovering people living beneath the Earth’s surface and the people inside his head talking to Aaron…all it did was obscure his greatest pain.

I’ll never see Elizabeth again…He thought. If I flee to the Underworld…as dangerous as they make it sound…I may never see her again.

“No,” Aaron said.

“No?” Thomas asked.

“No?” Christopher asked with a bored expression.

“No?!” Luis demanded. “What do you mean ‘no’?!”

“No,” he said. “I’m not fleeing with you to the Underworld.”

“Why?” Thomas asked. “You want to stay within Seren?”

“I’m not going without Elizabeth,” Aaron said. “My fiance.”

“But if I’m not mistaken…” Thomas said. “She was taken by Fulir.”

“What?!” Luis said. “You expect us to go back to the surface just to take back one girl? That would endanger us more than anything!”

“Then count me out on going with any of you,” Aaron said.

A tense, angry silence followed amongst them.

“Aaron,” Helena said. “I told you…let her go.”

He refused to answer.

“Aaron!” she shouted. “Everyone here has lost somebody! Everyone! I already told you that it would be blindly selfish of you to demand they aid you in rescuing Elizabeth!”

Aaron paused for a moment, feeling the heat of her anger. It was permeating his Soul Chamber. The calm ripples flowing around her head had transformed into the angry waves of a stormy sea. They crashed around the borders of the wall she occupied. However, Aaron refused to be intimidated.

The other inhabitants of his Soul Room had different reactions. Owen looked down at him with a passive, but approving gaze. The knight was obviously wanting this so it could give Aaron a chance to be captured. Aaron could feel deception emanating from Owen’s expression, the knight too afraid to speak as it would even further reveal his true intentions.

“Rescue your heart’s desire,” Owen finally said. “I may consider you a traitor…but I understand the wish to free her comes from a noble desire.”

Gregor’s face also rose to the surface of the floor of the chamber. His twisted grimace hurt Aaron in a way he couldn’t explain. The closest thing he could compare it to was the laughter a person gains after listening to a dark joke.

“Yes,” Gregor cackled. “Find her…and your soul will be set ablaze with a new passion. Feelings you never knew will be discovered. And the truth of yourself will be revealed.”

“Aaron,” Christopher said. “We cannot do that. We can’t risk our Village’s safety like that. We need you here, where you can replenish our food supply and provide protection. If you’re captured in an attempt to do that…we’ll be set back.”

“Then come with me,” Aaron said. “You have strong soldiers. Help me rescue Elizabeth.”

Each of them gasped in offense.

“That’s asking too much of us,” Thomas said.

“Are you crazy?!” Christopher said. “Risk our strongest members to rescue one girl?! That’s beyond suicidal!”

“I knew you were just a spy,” Luis said.

“Then I won’t accompany you to the Underworld,” he replied. “Or anyone where else you decide to go.”

A pained, worried expression spread across Thomas. Christopher and Luis just looked more angry than anything. Guilt spread throughout the young man as he knew what he was forcing the villagers to do.

“Well we won’t be accompanying you!” Luis said. “You can go on a suicide mission by yourself. I don’t plan on wasting what few soldiers we have left just to get back your girlfriend.”

“Aaron, you don’t understand,” Thomas said. “She is most likely experimented on by now and become a changeling. Her memories are probably thoroughly warped so that she doesn’t even remember you. By now…Elizabeth most likely believes she’s been an agent of Fulir her whole life.”

“He’s right,” Helena said. “She’s long forgotten you by now. It’s time to move on.

Aaron felt like he’d been stopped dead in his tracks with such a statement. It was so obviously true that Aaron had considered it himself. But he refused to believe that what Thomas was saying was true.

“No,” he said. “There’s no one like Elizabeth. She–she’s too perfect for me to ignore. I’ve never seen a girl with such a beautiful soul before. Even if her memories have been tampered…I can’t live without her.”

“A soul,” Thomas said. “Do you really believe such a thing exists?”

“What?!” Aaron said. “Of course it does! Everyone has one! That’s what makes human life worth living is that we all have a consciousness! Memories of our lives and loved ones!”

“Yes but is that a soul?” Thomas asked.

“What?” Aaron asked. “Of–of course it is!”

“Oh no,” Luis groaned. “Not this again…”

“What do you mean?!” Aaron demanded. “These people’s essence…their lives…that’s their soul! I mean…how could it not be?”

“I think what he’s trying to get you to ask,” Christopher said. “Is a person’s soul or their true nature affected by memory that much.”

“Well…” he answered. “Of course! They…they have memories that make them who they are. It…it forms their being because…because a soul is their being. I mean…it’d be weird if a person had no memories. Your memories make you who you are so…so…so that’s par for the course.”

“But what if Yeltael is given orders to completely rewrite a person’s memories?” Thomas asked. “It happens all the time on the surface. Their soul, their true nature as you said…is that affected?”

“Well…” Aaron said insecurely. “I mean…I guess not entirely. I mean…part of them has to remain the same. Not all of them…not all of them goes away. And that part that remains is their soul…I suppose.”

“So then you admit it,” Christopher said. “You don’t know how souls are formed. You don’t know what they’re made of, what part of a person they are. Or even how much memory tampers with it.”

“What does that matter?!” Aaron said. “It sounds to me like you're trivializing human life!”

“No,” Thomas said. “This is something we’ve openly discussed many times. Whether we all have souls, whether they’re affected by memory or whether human consciousness is memory and nothing more.”

“Well I don’t believe that,” Aaron said. “Because if our consciousness is just memories then that means we have no souls…and that can’t be true.”

“Why not?” Thomas said.

“Because that’s so scary!” he said. “It–it can’t be real! If our lives are just the memories that we accumulate over time then…then we’re not really sentient beings. We’re almost just…just material creatures.”

“That’s what I believe,” Luis said. “Just a collection of flesh and memories. Humans aren’t really special in any way other than they’re just highly intelligent animals. Monkeys that use electricity and high tech weapons rather than sticks.”

“But doesn’t the Underworld disprove that?” Aaron said. “If it exists…doesn’t that mean we have a soul?”

“I used to think so,” Thomas said. “But if Fulir can just change our memories on a whim and make us commit literally any action unless we have specific protection against it…what does that leave behind? Are the souls of the Underworld even their own person? Are they still influenced by fake memories? I don’t have the answer since I’ve never been down there in a very, very long time.”

“We’ve had this discussion before,” Christopher said. “Not only about how much we experienced on the surface is real but how much of ourselves is. I’m not even sure which memories of mine were fake and which weren’t. I can’t imagine not having a past.”

“And why are we bringing this up?” Aaron asked.

“Whether or not we have a soul,” Thomas said. “We aren’t truly ourselves because of what Fulir has done to us. Whatever kind of person Elizabeth was, she was only that way because Fulir wanted her to be that way. And if they want her to be a different person now…she is. You can’t say you know how beautiful her soul is if you were in love with the version that was most familiar to you.”

Aaron felt the urge to start fighting. He was losing the argument and he knew it. Thomas had backed him into a corner with precise logic. And now Helena was taking advantage of that.

“You need to let her go,” Helena said. “This is your family now. These are the people you need to protect now. Anyone you knew on the surface…discount them altogether. Help the people around you…like a doctor would.”

Aaron felt intense anger at her words, wishing to shut off her presence.

“Or go to the surface and rescue the woman of your dreams,” Owen said. “To know where she is and have the power to rescue her and not do so…it’s disgraceful for a person who wants to be altruistic.”

Aaron’s focus tightened and his grip strengthened at Owen’s words. He didn’t care if he was being manipulated or goaded into something dangerous. The emotion permeating from Owen was similar to shame. The knight was shaming Aaron into acting. The fact that Aaron was allowing himself to be influenced by the knight of Fulir despite his true intentions annoyed Helena.

“Aaron!” she shouted. “A doctor does not endanger the lives of others for his selfish intentions! You can’t-!”

He shut off her presence within his Soul Chamber. Her emotions no longer affected Aaron and her voice could not be heard. Once Helena realized no words came from her mouth, she looked down in surprise before glaring at him.

“You have two choices,” Aaron said. “Accompany me to the factory Elizabeth is most likely being experimented on and help me rescue her…or don’t and let me risk being captured by Fulir. It’s in Orange Grove, isn’t it?”

“Aaron this is very selfish what you’re doing!” Thomas said. “Do you not even care how that would help us?!”

“I told you he was a double agent,” Luis said.

“Well there’s your choice,” Aaron said. “I’ve already made mine.”

“How do you know she’ll even remember you?!” Christopher shouted. “You admit she’s already had her memory tampered with but still want to take her back?! Why?!”

“I believe in souls,” Aaron said. “More distinctly, I believe in Elizabeth’s soul. Her uniqueness. I believe there’s something deeper to a person than just their memory. I believe that whatever Fulir has done to her, they haven’t truly touched the real Elizabeth. I still don’t believe the beautiful jewel she was can be marred or dirtied by whatever trick they perform with Yeltael or whoever. Now you can choose to join me in my attempt to rescue her…or you can stay here and flee to the Underworld without me.”

Another tense silence followed as the three elders looked at each other.

“Can we do without Aaron?” Christopher said.

“I’d never want to go to the Underworld without the Absorption Armor,” Thomas said. “There are so many chaotic factors to that place…feeding people there is a hassle.”

“But we’d have to fight!” Luis said. “We’re not just going to walk in there and see them hand over a changeling without prying it out of their hands. Someone’s going to die.”

“Yes, they will.”

They all turned to see the new voice that joined in. Kaitlyn was walking towards the gathering of them, the girl brushing her bright red hair off her shoulder. A sinister smile adorned her piercing blue eyes, showing that she was thinking of something rather dark.

“Do what you want,” she said. “I’ll accompany Aaron to the surface.”

“Really?” he asked. “Is-Is there someone you want to rescue?”

“Rescue?” Kaitlyn laughed. “No, no. It’s just that I’m tired of running and hiding. I want a challenge.”

She glared at Thomas.

“These cowards want to live here their whole lives,” she said. “On their knees, begging to be shown mercy. Not me.”

A collective, tense silence fell among the elders.

“I fled the surface because I wanted to fight Fulir,” Kaitlyn said. “I wanted to crush them with the Volcanic Armor I found. I love the idea of destroying them with their own technology.”

“Why?” Aaron asked. “Are you angry at how they messed with your life on Earth?”

She glowered at him.

“My life on Earth was boring,” Kaitlyn spat out. “Nothing but school, parents and the prospect of being a dull adult. But once I found out the truth of aliens, monsters and power armor…life got pretty exciting. And I learned a wonderful truth about myself.”

“Oh no,” Thomas said. “Not this-”

“That at heart I’m a warrior,” she said. “Someone who desires to kill and destroy because of the rush it brings me. Before becoming an Armor Wielder, I wished that I was born a Viking who raided villages and swung an axe into the skulls of the vanquished. I relish the idea of taking down a strong opponent, like Hercules thrilled at wrestling a lion to the ground.”

“Crazy as ever,” Luis said. “What a vile person.”

“So I’ll accompany you to the surface,” Kaitlyn said. “Do whatever you want but so long as we’re headed into danger…count me in.”

“See what you did?” Christopher said. “You got the witch here all excited.”

Aaron then turned back to Thomas.

“You have two of your five Armor Wielders going,” he said. “You want to bring more?”

He glared at Aaron.

“We’ll have to,” Thomas said. “I can’t risk losing two Armor Wielders. We’ll have to accompany you both to ensure safety.”

“But-” Luis said. “I refuse to go!”

“I order you to go with us,” Thomas said. “As chief, that is an indispensable request.”

“He’s right,” Christopher said. “The chief has power to do that in matters of the military. It’s in the rules set by the Seshi clan.”

“I’ll make you pay for this, Aaron,” Luis said. “Mark my words.”

Thomas stood up.

“I’ll have to get Robert,” he said. “He’s invaluable in battle. We’ll head out in an hour.”

“Will you need the map?” Christopher asked. “Orange Grove is a fair distance from here as far as we’ve traveled?”

“Definitely,” Thomas said. “And a few other things.”