Page 38 of Tears of Tungsten
Stolen by Flame
Jar’yd
When I’d come to Terra, I’d known finding Selene would take time. Here in the depths of The Ural Mountains, I was safe from the reach of The Grand Judiciary, but also far away from her.
The settlement nearby had grown since the last time any of the Heliads had been here. A group of rebels had decided to settle down in what had once been the ruins of my home. It was no coincidence, but I had not approached.
I’d stayed underground, knowing none of them would be able to see me. Regular Terrans couldn’t perceive the light I emanated with the naked eye, so even if I was there, affecting the terrain, they’d walk right past me, none the wiser.
All that changed when I felt her. Selene. I knew she was here from the moment her foot first made contact with the ground.
She could feel me, hear my call and see my light. She needed me as much as I needed her. She hadn’t forgotten our kiss, the moments we’d shared on Mercury.
Compared to her intimate relationship with those bastards, those stolen seconds should have been meaningless. But they weren’t, because she could see me.
I didn’t know what had brought her here, but it could have been a million different things. Either way, it was a chance I couldn’t waste. I would steal them from those undeserving assholes if it was the last thing I did.
The Great Mother had already told me Selene was to be my female, that I was to breed her and make her mine. This was a sign. Helios was finally on my side.
My connection to Selene remained in place, although she didn’t completely understand it. It made her uncomfortable, and I made a mental note to ensure that problem was fixed, as soon as possible.
I’d have to break her bond with the Sphinx first, but it was doable, with the Great Mother’s help. Selene’s cooperation would be harder to secure. Or so I thought.
I didn’t expect everything to fall apart as spectacularly as it did.
The chimeras came out of nowhere. I should have felt them long before they landed, but I must have been distracted, because their attack took me by surprise. One moment, I was reveling in the knowledge of my imminent reunion with Selene, and the next, the ground started to shake. Everything turned into bright flame—and not in a good way.
Selene and her companions left the crag where I’d made my shelter. Unseen and unheard, I followed. She was too horrified and distracted to spot me and the others didn’t have the ability.
By the time we reached the village, at least half of Gaia’s Haven had already been destroyed. A pang of anger and sorrow rushed through me. Some things never changed and the forces of The Grand Judiciary had always been efficient in wiping out their foes.
Was this my fault? Had I accidentally drawn the government’s attention to this refuge? It was a possibility. And yet, the explanation didn’t quite fit. The Grand Chimera Unit had made no attempt to track me down, and they would’ve had a chance to do so through the specialized sensors of the mechas. The humans of Gaia’s Haven must have been their target.
I understood the reason when I saw Scylla start to eat. Ah. So that was the problem.
Grand chimeras weren’t built to exist in times of peace. Left without a regular food source of the Heliad variety, they’d been forced to turn to other expendable beings, Terrans.
This was probably not very pleasant for Prince Brendan and the rest of his team. I might hate him, but up to a point, I respected him. I knew this sort of attack wasn’t his style.
But at the end of the day, the chimeras took precedence over Terran life, and he’d made a choice to sacrifice these innocent people for the sake of his creatures.
It would’ve been hypocritical of me to claim I’d mourn these Terrans. I didn’t know them well enough to care about their lives. I experienced some fleeting regret over their fate, but nothing deeper than that. I had another, very serious problem and that was Selene.
As expected, Selene didn’t take the appearance of the Grand Chimera Unit well. For a few seconds, she stared, as if unable to believe what was happening. The grief she emanated was almost as bright as the sunlight that had birthed me anew.
Her lovers’ cruel action broke her heart and, because of that, I hated them even more than I already had.
When I saw the Sphinx in the distance, I flinched. It had been bad enough that the rest of her unit had come here to massacre these people. The fact that her chimera had joined in was an even bigger betrayal.
But Selene had never been a person to just stand by and watch. The moments of horrified shock passed and she rushed forward, disappearing into the crowd.
She must’ve done something, because the Sphinx jerked and dropped like a rock. The sight distracted me for a few seconds, and I paid a dire price.
She vanished in the chaos in front of us, swallowed by the smoke and death. If she was trying to communicate with her lovers in some way, I couldn’t hear her. Neither could anyone else.
Sphinx had known Selene was here, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to inform the others of her presence. If they’d known about it, they likely wouldn’t have continued their assault. Right now, they weren’t holding back, doubtlessly wanting to get this whole messy affair over with. But this wouldn’t be something they could sweep under the rug like they had with countless other attacks. The price they’d pay for their callousness would be high. It would be so easy for Selene to get herself killed like this.
As the poisonous green of Typhon’s toxic breath swept over the village, I tasted terror in my mouth and desperately followed Selene. Distant memories flashed through my mind, of a different time, when I’d lost other people to the chimeras—when The Grand Judiciary’s cruelty had killed me, my existence wiped away like it was nothing.
