Chapter 19 A Hero Falls
The Queen was dead.
Before she died she pressed the unique Controller.
She laughed wildly. "Fu Yanan, how could I treat you the same as those fools! This gift is only for you!"
Blood exploded like mist beside my ear.
I turned back in shock.
Fu Yanan's carotid artery had been blown open. Blood sprayed everywhere.
He smiled, teeth stained red. "You're safe. That's wonderful..."
Then he collapsed. His eyes turned gray.
I held him and cried. "I'll take you to the best interstellar hospital."
He smiled. "I've been wounded many times on the battlefield. You are the only one who ever cried for me. Don't cry. It hurts me to see you cry..."
Fu Yanan coughed violently and blood sprayed onto his clothes.
"I have been a war machine all my life. I have no regrets toward the Empire. I can die in peace." He struggled to wipe my tears. "If anyone rehabilitates me and sings my praises in the future, remember to tell the me beneath the nine springs..."
His eyes went completely dark.
This time he was truly gone.