298 The Emperor and his Dogs

Hephaestus's expression couldn't have been more ugly. Make the Titans his Guardian Pet? The mere idea turned his eyes red, blinded by a rage that seemed to burn with the flames of the Third Rite. His chest ached, his skin stretching tightly across his clenched knuckles. 

"What I think,' he said, trying to stave his fury, fooling no one. "Is that you will fail. The titans will not listen to some boy." 

"Athena? Do you share his thoughts?" Altair asked, turning an eye toward her to her astonishment.

"Well…" she began uncertainly. "They have been locked up for many chaos cycles. They'd been nothing more than prisoners and slaves for longer than they'd been alive, though Titan's Pride still lives within them. It still burns each time I see them chained to the dungeon walls like common dogs." 

The Emperor grinned. " Pride is good. But I wonder what's better? Pride or Freedom."