Whispers were finally becoming action.

Gliv and Skitar might have been the sparks that ignited the flames of rebellion but Kodos was the fuel that kept it burning.

Not only did he possess insider knowledge and access to valuable supplies, the zealot was the only one that had come up with a substantive plot with an actual end goal. He proposed that when the opportunity arose, he would use his position as an officer to lure Zhulong’s concubines out of the ziggurat and escort them to a building that the rebels would commandeer.

Once the hostages were secure, they would demand that Zhulong emancipate all of his slaves.

“What’s stopping the Worm from breaking his word the second we free his whores?” Gliv demanded.

“We force him to swear it under oath to Kanghui and the other tianlongs,” Kodos replied.

“What could a bunch of funny looking stars possibly do?”

“Have you seen what that mutant Tyto can do?” Una asked. “Whatever this Kanghui is, it has real power.”

Gliv was aware of what he was capable of. Most of Parabellum had initially been skeptical of deities and their supposed power. Their doubts were erased when Tyto handed a scroll over to a jumbo and instantly turned the clumsy simpleton into a master stonemason. The giant oaf now used his newfound artistic talents to chisel boulders into miniature mountains, or as he liked to call them, ‘The ultimate bouldys’.

“That still doesn’t guarantee he’ll keep his word.”

“The black blood will lose face with his zeraph followers if he were to go back on a sacred vow.” Kodos pointed out.

“They’re only a few hundred of them. I doubt he values them that much.”

“Given how generous he’s treated them, I’d say he does,” Zagdra chirped. She, Naidra, and Utakara were the only hellvetii present. Skitar had grown increasingly paranoid over the past few rotations and had delegated most of the planning to her lieutenants. Gliv was glad that she did. She did not know why the Hellvetii-Ski took orders from that brutish idiot.

“If we really don’t want to leave things to chance, we should try capturing that human Zargon brought back,” Spot the tokai suggested. “You know, the one that came with that freakish elephant?”

The other conspirators shuddered upon being reminded of that writhing nightmare.

“I refuse to go near him. Who knows how many diseases he is harboring?” Naidra hissed.

“Nobody has gotten sick so far,” Spot replied. “Sixteen has even given the two permission to walk around the city recently. If we capture him, the Worm wouldn’t dare risk launching a risky rescue operation. Not when he’s so frightened by that freak’s friends. Maybe we could even force his pa to make a pact with us as extra insurance.”

“I still wouldn’t risk it,” Zagdra hissed. “It might be holding one of those talisman things.”

Spot crossed his arms. “Well if you're that afraid of him, my crew can handle it. Don’t think there has ever been a time when a human disease transferred over to a tokai.”

“Capturing Luke is not just risky, it is unfeasible,” Kodos rumbled. “He and his companion are under constant guard. If anything suspicious occurs near them, the warmongers assigned to them will send out an alert.”

Zagdra nodded. “See, listen to him. Nabbing the wenches is good enough. The Worm might be an evil bastard, but he’s a sentimental one. Word is he keeps a piece of every one of his dead creations and pets in his room. He’ll cave. What we should do is kill as many zealots and unallied mercenaries as we can during the initial attack.”

“That would just enrage the Worm more!” Una protested.

“It might nettle him, but he’ll just have to bite his tongue and see the reality of the situation. If we kill enough loyalists, he won’t have enough people to control a slave population or keep the city running. He will have to negotiate with us in good faith.”

Gliv smirked. This plan was more to her liking, though it still wasn’t violent enough.

“I’d advise we avoid attacking the zealots,” Kodos suggested. “Even if we took them by surprise they would inflict many casualties on our forces.”

Gliv sneered. “Still loyal to your fellow brownnosers, eh?”

“Practicality is my only concern,” Dirge answered coolly. “A single zobaka or garja could best a dozen malnourished slaves.”

“Not if we spike their food and drink as we planned,” Gliv shot back.

Kodos shook his head. “I’ve only been able to pilfer a few bottles of tranquilizer fluid. Most of the zealot races are larger and more resistant to its sedative effects. Besides, the Worm is less likely to hold a grudge if we limit our killings to mercenaries. We must think of the long term.”

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Gliv snorted. “You’re one to talk! You think the Worm will forgive you for your betrayal?” Una elbowed Gliv, but she didn’t regret her outburst. If that outburst was enough to give the ammut cold feet, that just proved he never should have been involved in the first place.

“I cannot abide living under his capricious rule. At least this way I’ll be able to implement positive changes before I go. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am scheduled for a patrol.”

“We’ll be heading out too,” Zagdra declared.

Gliv glowered as she watched them go. She didn’t trust any of them. More than that, she viewed their plan as the foulest of compromises. She desired revenge, not freedom. Forcing Zhulong to give up his slaves would be a major setback but one he could recover from. Her hatred wouldn’t abate until she burnt Parabellum to the ground and shattered the Worm’s ambitions.

Una, guessing what her friend was thinking, placed a placating hand over her shoulder.

“We cannot allow our anger to destroy this opportunity. Once we’re free, we’ll get another chance to even the score.”

Gliv jerked away.

“Even if this plan works out, none of us will actually be free. Do you think we could survive out in this wasteland on our own? No, we would have to stay in this accursed city! At best, we’d just become serfs instead of slaves.”

Spot sneered. “Do you have a better plan?”

“We stick with our original idea of taking all these bastards with us. We’ll still grab the hostages but only so we can divert the zealots' attention and give the rest of the group the chance to burn the food stores.”

The other tokai leader, Blotch, shook his head in disdain. “Haven’t you been payin’ attention? None of us are interested in payback anymore. Vengeance only tastes sweet when there's nothin’ to lose. I ain’t lettin’ you jeopardize our future just so you can get your petty revenge.”

“Petty?” Gliv’s rage was so all-consuming she scarcely got that word out. She snarled when Una held her back. “My son was lobotomized and killed!”

Blotch rolled his eyes. “My sympathy for you grows smaller every time you remind us. We’ve all lost family to that monster. But no amount of anger or bloodshed is going to bring them back. The only thing we can do now is look forward and you're in our way. So step aside or we’ll push you out of the way.”

“You better kill me then!” Gliv growled. “Because I won’t rest until I have my revenge!”

Una’s grip tightened. “Stop speaking madness!”

“No! Fuck all of you!”

Blotch drew a shiv. “Hold her tight, Una. I promise I’ll make it quick.”

“No!” Una shouted. Another neanderthal rushed to her side and pulled out his own makeshift dagger. Some of the tension bled out when Spot quietly urged his fellow tokai to settle down.

“We’ve gotten too far to kill each other now! Gliv was the heart of this movement! If you kill her it will die with her!”

“You heard that selfish bitch! She’s willing to endanger the rest of us over her fake fuckin’ son!”

Another neanderthal had to grab Gliv’s arm to keep her from thrashing Blotch.

“What did you say?”

Blotch grinned nastily. “You heard me. Neither of you are real people. Just a pair of shades.”

“What are you even blathering about?” Gliv spat.

“Blotch, enough! This isn’t helping!” Una urged.

“No, I've had it with this bitch. It’s time for her to hear the truth!” the tokai turned his head back toward Gliv. “The fact you don’t know what I am talking about just proves my point. You ever notice how me, Spot, and Una have these tattoos painted onto us?”

Gliv sneered, but her eyes hovered over the flame-shaped symbol that marked his shoulder.

“My bastard tribe gave me this mark before they kicked me out. It’s proof that I was a firescale—proof that I am real. There are only sixty-two natural tribes on Tannin. Anyone that doesn’t bear one of their marks was either kicked out before they earned, bred by the blackbloods, or sprouted out of the ground like a fuckin’ mushroom.”

Gliv was so flabbergasted that some of her rage dissipated. “That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!”

“Hah, again, just shows what you know! Just look around. Does it look like I am lying?”

To Gliv’s shock, the others avoided her gaze.

“Nobody knows why it happens, but it just does. Usually, the people will pop out by themselves with no memories in their heads, but sometimes an entire village will spring out of nowhere. These shades will swear they’ve been around for years and that they had childhoods, but it's all bullshit.”

“No. That’s impossible.”

Blotch shook his head in faux pity. “Tell me, where were you ‘born’?”

“In a forest near the floodplains.”

Blotch laughed. “That’s one of the Worm’s favorite hunting spots! You telling me he’s missed your tribe for years? Stupid fuckin’ shade. The blackbloods owned every speck of Tannin. Anyone that’s been alive for more than a week is bound to see one of them. Yet, you dumb shades will swear up and down that they lived for twenty or even forty damn years without ever seeing those monsters!" Blotch came so close that Gliv could feel his breath tickle her chin. “Your tribe probably crawled out the dirt just a day before the Worm came and scrambled your boy’s brain! All those memories you’re trying to honor are fake! You might never have even had a conversation with that son you keep going on about!”

“No. You’re lying!” Gliv shook her head, blinking back tears.

“Stop,” Una muttered. “She’s heard enough.”

“Let me just say a few more thing,” Blotch poked Gliv hard on chest. “If you want to believe your memories are real, fine. You do what you got to do to keep yourself sane. But understand that this ain’t all about you.”

Gliv lowered her head. All the fight had gone out of her. Una’s restraining grip became a gentle embrace.

“You’ve still got a lot of life left in you. Don’t be so quick to throw it away,” Blotch said. “If things go well, you might even get a chance to replace your son.”

Blotch didn’t get the chance to retract his poorly worded statement. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he fell backwards.

Gliv didn’t even realize she had cut her knuckles on the tokai’s teeth.

“My son was real! I’ll beat you to death if you ever speak ill of him again!”

The others backed away as she panted. It took all of Gliv’s restraint to keep herself from pummeling Blotch to death as the tokai groggily rose to his feet.

“But you were right about one thing. I was being selfish. I’ll never forgive the Worm for what he did, but I won’t let my hate burn the rest of you.”