Warlord Conquering (The Great Insurrection Book 3) by David Beers (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📕

was what farmers used to kill the massive cow-like creatures bred on these moons. They put it against the beast's head, and a ten-inch stake shot out and obliterated the animal's brain. Somehow Appius had crept behind this Titan and used the weapon on his neck.

Appius stepped out of the dark corner. "We've got to hurry. They're everywhere."

"You're a fool," Servia said. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

He ignored her and stepped over the Titan into the crisp night. She grabbed his shoulder, honestly pissed at what he'd done. "Why didn't you get to the pods?"

"Because I fucking love you." She saw that he meant it. He loved her in a way her parents didn’t, and in a way she could probably never love him. At that moment, despite the death all around her, everything was clear: who she was, who she would be. Appius had shown her who she should be.

He started moving again, heading to the fields, where it would be too dark for the Titans to see them. Hopefully, they wouldn't look that way, and there would be pods left when they arrived.

The small group moved across the field, though one of the girls was starting to lag. Appius turned to help her, but Servia shook her head. She said nothing else. They both knew the rules. Get to safety. Get to safety. Get to safety.

That was all that mattered.

They ran. Eventually, two of the other girls fell behind. Servia never found out what had happened to them.

"There they are." Servia came to a stop, putting one hand on her knees while pointing about a half-mile in the distance. The launches were stealthed, but from this distance and angle, she could see them. "We're almost there."

They ran faster than they had before. Faster than Servia thought possible. They ran for their very lives, knowing death could grab them at any moment. They had closed half the distance when it happened, and everything moved in slow motion for Servia.

She heard the noise first, a high-pitched whistle that suddenly stopped.

Next, she felt the blood. She didn't know what it was at first, only that something warm and wet hit the side of her face.

She looked to her right, where the noise and blood had come from. One of her roommates lay on the ground, the back of her head caved in.

"RUN!" Servia shouted. She had no doubt what had caused the girl’s death: a Titan sniper.

She took off, and while Appius could have run faster than her, he didn't. He stayed with her.

Servia saw he was slowing down and getting behind her. "FUCKING GO! SPEED UP!" she screamed, but he said nothing, just ran behind her, almost on top of her but not quite.

She knew what he was doing—trying to stop the next shot from hitting her.

Servia heard the whistle and did the only thing she could think of: she fell forward, spreading her hands out in front of her. Her face hit the grass, and she felt something lying on her leg. Not something, but someone. She knew who it was and that the projectile had killed him.

Appius was dead, and if she looked at him, she'd see his head caved in like her roommate's.

Moving would mean death for her, though. Her only hope for survival was in lying still in this grass, hardly breathing. They had to think the single shot had killed them both.

Practically in shock, Servia didn't move for hours. Sometimes she heard shrieks from afar, but she didn't flinch. She didn't know if anyone was watching. She didn't know if they were walking across the field now, ready to stab those legendary Whips through her back.

The sun was rising when someone finally came for her. They weren't dressed in MechGear but ripped clothing, and they had dirt covering their faces and bodies.

"Hurry," the woman said. "There's one pod left. The directive was we can’t leave until we find you or your body."

Servia didn't understand what the woman was saying. "Get down," she whispered harshly. "They’ll see you."

The woman grabbed her hand and ripped her off the ground. Servia desperately turned to look at Appius, and what she saw was forever burned into her brain.

He was dead, his head caved in and dried blood on the grass around him. She saw bits of bone and stuff that looked like brains. His beautiful dark skin was much paler.

"COME ON!" the woman shouted in her ear, breaking Servia out of her trance.

The two sprinted to the last remaining pod. As they lifted off the rock, Servia stared at her first love. There would be no burial, not even one into space. His body would rot there until some beast came and ate him.

He'd died for her.

Chapter Eight

“Prometheus doesn’t understand what he is to become.”

—The AllMother

Servia sat with one leg crossed over the other, almost as calm as she'd been when the story started. Softer, perhaps. Pro was still leaning forward and looking her in the eyes. "If he'd done what he was supposed to, he'd probably still be alive today. Maybe we'd have broken up, or maybe we'd have stayed together, but he'd be alive, and that matters to me because Appius made this universe better."

Pro was quiet for some moments, then he looked down at his boots. "What about when you came here to rescue me?"

"You gave us no choice," Servia responded. "It wasn't out of love for you. It was in service of this mission. Her mission. The thing so many people have already given their lives for. If you weren't crucial to this movement, I wouldn't have come."

He nodded, still staring at his boots. "Do you remember on Pluto when I found you trying to make it to the portal? I had the AllMother over my shoulder. They were about to burn the whole place. Do you remember that?"

"I do."

He raised his head and met her cool gaze. "You were helping an injured person walk to the portal. I don't know who that