The first week was strange.
The humans built. That was what they did—what they had always done. They cleared land, erected structures, laid down roads of synthetic material that glowed faintly in the dark. The forest fought back, of course—spores clogged their filters, roots undermined their foundations, curious creatures investigated their equipment with sometimes destructive results. But they kept building.
And they didn't attack.
"They're waiting," Anya said at the council. She was older now, her hair white, her movements slower, but her eyes were as sharp as ever. "They're establishing a base. Once it's secure, they'll expand."
"Then we should strike now," a young warrior named Jalen argued. "Before they're ready."
"Strike and do what? Kill a few hundred? They have thousands more on that ship." Kaelen shook his head. "We need to know their plans. Their weaknesses. Their leaders."
"And how do we learn that?" Jalen's voice was sharp. "Walk into their base and ask?"
Kaelen met his eyes. "Yes."
Silence.
"You can't be serious," Seri said.
"I'm completely serious." He looked around the circle—at Anya, at Tarsem, at the clan leaders who had gathered from across Verath. "I know these people. I know how they think. I can walk into their base—literally walk in, in my human body—and no one will question me. I'm one of them. Or I was."
"You haven't been human in five years," Seri said. "Your body is gone. Preserved, but gone. You can't just—"
"I can link. The equipment still works. Vance has maintained it." He held up a hand before she could argue. "I'm not proposing we do this lightly. But we need intelligence. We need to know what we're facing. And I'm the only one who can get it."
Seri's face was a storm of emotions—fear, anger, love, desperation. "You're asking me to watch you become someone else. To watch you leave me."
"Temporarily. A few days at most. Then I come back."
"And if something goes wrong? If they capture you? If they destroy the link equipment?" Her voice cracked. "I can't lose you, Kaelen. Not like that. Not to them."
He crossed to her, took her hands in his. "You won't lose me. I've survived worse. I've survived Thorne. I've survived the first battle. I've survived becoming one of you." He smiled—a small, sad smile. "I'm not easy to kill."
"That's not funny."
"A little funny."
She didn't laugh. But she didn't pull away either.