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I wish I’d had time to watch the latest holo-feed of the news. The universe is going to be torn apart in war, I’m sure of it.

I just need enough of the scorched universe to be left untouched for my triad and I to build a future upon it.

I bow my head to the three warriors. I don’t want the Elites sent here to resent me – to think of me as an uncouth brat, as they view many human females.

I need to remember that the majority of Aurelians might not practice the Old Ways any longer, but they’ve still lived their thousands of years of life surrounded by the human women who’d flocked to Colossus to become pleasure slaves. If that’s the majority of women on Colossus, why shouldn’t these men look at me with disdain?

But they bow their heads back, giving me the respect I’d given them.

These three don’t look at me like a toy. They meet my eyes with the respect of an equal.

It’s difficult to fathom. Three huge, deadly warriors – from the highest tier of Aurelian society, with thousands of years of blood and battle to their name – looking at me with the respect of equals.

“Please come with us.” The leader states the words in High Aurelian.

I respond in kind.

“Where are you taking me?”

But, I know the answer before I even asked.

“The Arena of the Gods. All must face judgement.”

All.

Not just the evil Lord Oblog.

My triad, too.

I sense in the Bond that my three warriors are being moved. They’re being flown to the Arena, where they’ll stand for judgement in front of Queen Jasmine and her triad.

She is to determine our fate.

It’s an ominous situation, but my three proud warriors are resolute. They’re in a meditative state, breathing in the moment stoically. I am their only attachment to reality.

I think back to Orb-Shifting – to when they’d forced that Toad to plunge the mothership into the void. Before we’d reappeared in the orbit of Colossus, I’d felt my triad circle around me forever – as intangible balls of light spinning in the endless universe.

Their son is in me – our first – and he needs a safe place to grow. I will not birth him here, on Colossus - where he’ll just be turned into a weapon. He must grow strong, but with more than just strength.

He must have wisdom. Mercy. Humanity. Everything Ling taught me.

With my triad around me, it’s possible.

But only if we can get out of here alive.If.

In the lobby of my penthouse, I nod to the Elites – then follow them out of the suite and up to the landing bay.

As we walk, my mind races.

If a third of the Aurelians left Colossus – how many of them left other Aurelian Planets?

With the Aurelian Empire shattered, a question must be answered:

Will Queen Jasmine choose my triad and I to serve as examples? To demonstrate her strength and control?

Weareat the brink of war. I watched warships take off from hangar bays. I watched Aurelian soldiers training down below. They practiced against other triads – training to fight their own brothers, not Scorp or Toad.

Soon, it will be Aurelian against Aurelian – something that has never occurred in all of known history. It will be a clash between Gods and Titans.