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

“Look, what I need you to do is get out of here before Okbak and his soldiers arrive.”

“You’re talking nonsense.” Fox pressed a few buttons on the console. “We’re getting out of here together.”

Jaxx took a deep breath and closed his eyes, bringing up a red, hot and angry energy. He opened his eyes and pushed his palms outward, sending scorching energy across the room and to the console. The console sparked, then lifted and popped off the wall.

Fox spun around. “You son of a bitch. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“You won’t understand,” said Jaxx, standing in the middle of the energetic cage. “We have another threat out there and it’s not the Kelhoon. This one is worse.”

“What’s worse than some bad breath, Kelhoon assholes?”

“The Agadon. That’s why I have to convince Okbak to join our side and fight them.”

Fox crossed his arms. “Those bastards are just a rumor. We heard about them in the Secret Space Program, but they don’t exist. If a race like that existed, we’d be shit for brains by now and under their galactic control.”

“We are just about under their galactic control and we will be if you don’t leave and let me talk the Kelhoon into joining our side.”

The entrance door clanked open. “Whata do we hab here-ja?” It was Kajka Okbak, leader of the Kelhoon. He stepped inside, then two other burly guards followed him. Okbak bent down and touched the streak of blood on the floor. He put his finger in it and brought it to his forked tongue, and licked. “Who-ja die here-ja?” And since when could he speak English?

15

J-Quadrant, Solar System - Nearing Namuh Farms, Callisto

Rivkah raced across the snowy terrain, the snow battering her head and shoulders. She followed Slade’s energy ribbon. It led her south toward him and his screwed-up, perfectly walled city.

She stopped and Abdu halted next to her. She felt something hit her stomach like a scream in the middle of a quiet night. She touched her abdomen as a burning sensation rose from the base of her spine to her solar plexus. The sensation was anxiety riddled with confusion and fear. She put her hand out, touching Abdu’s, then went limp against him.

“Are you okay, Miss Rivkah?”

Rivkah nodded, her eyes fluttering rapidly. “It’s Jaxx. He’s in trouble. He needs help, but he refuses to ask for it. He needs us.” She wanted to turn, to go after him, to find the man who seemed as impenetrable and unlikeable as he was stupid. It was a tough mix to love, but Rivkah couldn’t help but fill up with emotions she’d packed away for so long for that man. “We have to turn back. He’s going to die.”

She shuddered, then took in a deep breath, clasping her hand over her heart. A child, then another, and ten more appeared in her vision, bound in chains, no older than six years old and longing for their mothers.

Rivkah had never known her mother. All she knew was a person like Slade, her dad, who had hurt her to no end.

What Slade was going to do to these children was a lot worse than what her dad had done to her.

“I’m sorry, Jaxx. I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered to her heart. A tear streaked down her cheek. “These children need me…more than you need me.”

She wanted to tell Jaxx that it was over anyway, that any chance to fulfill the prophecy died when Bogle left this world. Bogle was the lucky one, the one that death grabbed. To Rivkah, there was no heaven. And after death, life’s shitty memories ceased. It was better that way.

Abdu lifted Rivkah’s chin.

There was no physical sensation, but she knew he was reading her thoughts.

“You have a lot to learn. Death is but the next transition in life. Your scientists have probably found that all is energy, even the snow beneath our feet here. This snow will heat up, turn into water and evaporate instantly into water vapor that rises and is sent back into the atmosphere. You see, energy never ceases to exist. It always recycles and is the constant loop of life. Energy transforms and moves from world to world, from dimension to dimension. Bogle has moved on.”

“I don’t have time for any of your babble, Abdu. I am grateful you are helping me, but leave me with my own thoughts, please.”

“Aye, I will.” He smiled, then grabbed a handful of snow. He sat crossed legged on the ground, and stared up at the sky. “Callisto, you give us vital energy and allow us to live in each moment, even if our moments are soon to be short lived. Just as Rivkah gives thanks to me, we give thanks to you, beautiful moon. Allow us a safe passage to wherever our next destination may be, whether it be someplace in this life or if we are soon to be in the next.” He put the snow against his forehead, then touched his heart and gave a loud roar.

“You about done there, Abdu?” Rivkah held her fists on her hips.

“Let’s go,” said Abdu, jumping up. He gave her a nod, then raced forward.

Rivkah dashed after him, seeing Slade’s energy ribbon in front of her, flowing in the wind. “We’re almost there Abdu.”

They circled the base of a hill and crested a small incline between two more hills. There they stopped. In front of them was a magnificent wall with towers every few hundred feet, a city with skyscrapers, domes, and big landing pads on thick columns that rose above the walls. A big ass castle sat smack dab in the middle of the city.

This was Slade’s new home.

Rivkah noticed movement inside the closest tower. She narrowed her eyes and zoomed in, allowing Chi to move through her and enhance her sight. A Kelhoon stood watch behind a large tower window. He had binocular-like glasses around his eyes with a band attached