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

“They’re breaking through,” said Bogle. She rushed to the entrance. “I’ll energetically lift more rocks and stuff the gaps.”

Abdu went to his knees and touched Rivkah’s stomach. “You’re losing life quickly.”

Rivkah moved her eyes to Abdu’s. She wanted to tell him to just shoot her in the head and get it over with. But nothing came out, no matter what she tried to say. Minutes ago she could mumble, murmur grunts when Abdu carried her on her back.

Now…nothing.

“I’m going to send healing energy to you, Miss Rivkah.” His hands vibrated. Rivkah felt the heat radiating from them. A rush of energy ran through her body. She twitched and twitched again.

A crash of rocks pounded through the cave.

“They’re getting through,” yelled Bogle.

Rivkah shook, her hands involuntarily jerking back and forth as if she was being electrocuted. Her energy was coming back, her lethargy diminishing. This Abdu—half, human, half-lion—was a kind of healer Rivkah had never experienced. How the hell was he doing that? He was breathing life back into her—life she desperately needed.

Krackakakracka!

A blast of rocks rained down on Abdu’s back, pushing him on top of Rivkah.

Bogle screamed and flew into Abdu, tumbling over him and onto her stomach.

Abdu pushed himself up and into a crouch. He grasped the rifle on his back and clutched it in his arms. He aimed and pulled the trigger.

Rivkah tried to get up. The power flowed down her arms, but her hands were still numb. She crumpled and fell, her vision shifting from double to triple. She wanted to throw up, but at least her body was working. She ought to be happy, but happiness wasn’t her thing. Especially at a moment like this. Was she going to get her life back, just to lose it to a damned Kelhoon?

A phaser zipped past Abdu and just above Rivkah. It hit a rock, echoing across the cave.

“Can you move, Rivkah?” asked Bogle, her hands outstretched, doing her Chi thing on the cave. Another rumble vibrated against the walls and the cave dimmed again.

Rivkah pushed up on the back of her elbows, shaking her head. “I see two of you, Abdu.” She shifted her eyes to the cave entrance. “I see two entrances. Good job, Bogle. You built a wall there.” It was the first time she had given the beauty queen any type of compliment. Rivkah blinked several times. There must be something really wrong with her to say anything nice about Bogle.

“Bogle rebuilt the wall at the entrance rather well, buying us a few more minutes,” Abdu responded.

“We need to hurry down one of the back tunnels,” said Bogle.

Rivkah went to get up, then sighed. “Son of a mother’s…” She shook her head. “I still can’t move my legs.”

The cave lit up and Rivkah’s eyes went wide. Did the Kelhoon burst open the entrance’s new make-shift rock wall? One look told her they hadn’t. It was Bogle. In her hand, she had a small fire flaming a few inches off of her palm. Two palms—Rivkah was still seeing double. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Bogle moved forward. “I’m not kidding you. You could do the same if you knew Chi like I do. It wouldn’t hurt for you to practice it as much as you can.”

“Hold still,” said Abdu, placing his giant hand on top of Rivkah’s head. A sting sunk deep into her skull and through her brain, then zapped down her spine. Her body jolted and shivered, then sat up straight, as if working on its own. A moment later, her vision corrected.

The guy was a real-life miracle healer.

“Again,” said Bogle off in the distance and deeper down a tunnel. “Chi isn’t just for fighting.”

Rivkah wiggled her toes in her boots. She twisted, ready to get up. It didn’t happen. “I still can’t move my Goddamn legs.”

Abdu picked her up and thrust her over his shoulder. Pounding filled the cavern. A rock fell from the entrance wall and a ray of light burst through. “Time to get moving, Rivkah.” Abdu dashed forward and Rivkah bounced up and down on his wide shoulder. The lion was moving fast, catching up to Bogle.

“This way,” ordered Bogle.

Abdu dashed left and ran through another tunnel vein. A cool breeze brushed against Rivkah’s legs and lower back. It meant an exit was near. It also meant sensation was returning.

More static blasted Rivkah’s hearing. She grimaced and pressed her hands against her ears. “What the hell—” Her vision tunneled and narrowed in on Bogle, even though Bogle was in front of Abdu, and Rivkah’s face was at Abdu’s furry back. To see Bogle would be impossible.

Rivkah’s sight moved up through the ground, seeing roots, red and gray rock, then ice, and snow. Her view lit up with natural light as her vision shifted from below the ground to above it. Her sight hurried forward, over the snowy terrain, around a hill, finally stopping at a Kelhoon transport ship.

Humans, bound in chains, were led out of the ship by Kelhoon troops with rifles. All the humans were young. There were dozens. Most were girls, no more than four to ten years old. A Kelhoon glanced up at the sky as a roar ripped across the atmosphere. An Agadon carrier zoomed across the heavens, lightning cutting into the atmosphere and surrounding the giant craft.

The Kelhoon lifted his rifle in the air, hissing in anger. He didn’t like this new Agadon threat. He then pushed a young girl to the ground in anger, taking it out on her.

That son of a bitch. “Where is this?” asked Rivkah. Her sight shot forward, heading toward a walled city with rounded structures inside, along with glowing sticks that rose above the walls, much like street lamps.

“Kelhoon terraforming torches,” said Rivkah. Her time in the Secret Space Program, dealing with these Kelhoon assholes, hadn’t been a complete wash.

She moved over the walls. Green grasses and wild flowers were scattered across the land. In sharp contrast, human children connected by shackles and chains, walked in a