Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

Rivkah stood more erect. “Where?”

“You’ll see them soon.”

33

J-Quadrant, Solar System - Flood of Dawn, Callisto

Fox had his fingers around Jaxx’s neck, squeezing, lifting Jaxx off the ground and above his head. Jaxx imagined Fox as Darth Vader.

The thought quickly changed when he couldn’t take a breath. He felt the blood drain from his face and his eyes bulged in their sockets. He brought his hands up, scratching and tearing at Fox’s steely grip, trying to break it lose from his neck. It didn’t work. He kneed Fox in the chest with all his might. Fox moved an inch, but squeezed tighter.

“Where the hell are we, Jaxx?”

Jaxx wanted to shake his head, but in his current predicament, he was bound by the law of physics and the law of someone choking him. All he could do was shrug.

“You don’t know?” He threw Jaxx across the room.

Jaxx landed with a thud, his back hitting hard on the floor. He rolled and took in much needed air, then coughed.

“Where have you brought me, Jaxx?” Fox kicked Jaxx in the ribs, not waiting for an answer.

Jaxx let out an “Oomph!” and curled into a ball, covering his head. Another kick landed on Jaxx’s stomach and Jaxx gasped for air. The wind knocked out of him, he scrunched into more of a ball.

Fox tittered, widening his stance, then brought back his leg for a more intense blow.

For the umpteenth time, Jaxx’s emotions gathered in his belly and welled. The kick came swiftly and he caught it, shaking with frustration and anger. Enough was enough. He transferred all of the energy he had and threw it outward. Fox flung head over heels onto the floor. The guy’s face took the brunt of the fall.

Jaxx stood, hands in fists by his side.

Fox wiped his lip and spat out a tooth, then stood slowly. “You made me bleed Jaxx. I like to bleed.”

Jaxx lowered his gaze. “I’m not a weakling like you think. If you come any closer, you’ll understand the power I yield.”

“You act like a pussy, Jaxx. I’m not scared of pussies.” He took a step forward, then lunged. He reared his arm back and swung for a nice fist to Jaxx’s face.

Jaxx crouched and brought his hands up, grasping Fox’s punching arm and spun Fox off his feet, throwing him across the room again. Jaxx ran toward Fox and took a flying leap. His knee landed on Fox’s chest. Curling his fingers, he threw a fist at Fox’s nose, hearing the snap of a broken bone penetrate the air. Fox’s nose shifted to the side, clearly broken in a couple of places. Blood covered Fox’s mouth and cheeks.

Jaxx lifted his hands in fighting position and heaved like a race horse after the Kentucky Derby. “Don’t try anything else, Fox.”

A door slid open. The smell of roses filled the room. Startled, Jaxx spun on his heels, readying himself for whatever else was to come. A woman stood at the door.

Jaxx dropped to one knee, clutching his hand to his heart. Rivkah was near. He used his mind to find her and caught a glimpse of her at the base of a ship. A ship he’d never seen before.

The woman at the dome’s opening was his height, toned, and wore a white dress with a metallic rose pinned at the shoulder. Trees, purplish-pink in color, were behind her.

He narrowed his eyes. “Where is she?”

The woman motioned with her arm to somewhere off in the distance. Somewhere he couldn’t see. “She’s here.”

“Take me to her.”

“As you wish.” She gestured to Fox. “But first, you must find a truce between you and your brother.”

Jaxx tilted his head, his jaw slack. “My brother?”

“You are blood.”

Fox wiped the blood off his face. “No. We’re not. I met this son of a bitch in the Secret Space Program.”

“You had two different parents who weren’t your blood parents. You aren’t who you think you are, Jaxx. You and Fox aren’t human.”

34

Charlotte, North Carolina - Earth

Drew about pissed his pants. The tank’s turret turned, the cannon lowered, aiming directly at Drew and Mya and the car they were stopped in. He glanced in his rear-view mirror. For a second time in this car, foreign troops were behind them, running in their direction, getting closer. Buildings were on their right and left. No escape.

An enemy troop took aim.

“Duck.” He threw an arm over Mya, pulling them both below the dash.

A shot rang out. Cannon fire. Machine guns cracked the air. Another cannon. His car shook. He looked at his hands. He was still alive. He looked at Mya. She was still alive too. Leaning her head against the door’s armrest, she blankly stared at the sky through the windshield.

Half-expecting his car would be riddled with bullets or a hole through it from cannon fire, it hadn’t been touched. He peeked above the steering wheel. The tanks turret had shifted and shot another round over their car. He looked behind him. The man who had aimed at them was on his side, the rifle resting against his body. Blood oozed from his head. Foreign troops raced to take cover.

He put the car in reverse and put his foot on the gas. The tires spun, then took hold, and he gripped the wheel, veins bulging on his hands, his knuckles pale white. He steered the fastest way out of here—the only way out of his predicament—straight through the battle.

A thud and his car bounced up and down, driving over the dead soldier that tried to make Drew “dead” only moments before.

His heart raced, something he was getting all too used to without the weed soaking through his body. He hadn’t had a bong hit in days.

He turned the wheel and pressed the brakes. The car spun. Drew shifted the car into drive. Mya closed her eyes and a tear streaked down her face. Drew wanted to console her, tell her everything was going to be