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

a vast forest from here and turned and faced his crash site, then dove to the ground. A craft hovered over his site. Black smoke billowed. A beam blasted from the craft’s belly, extinguishing the fire beneath. It spun, its nose in Jaxx’s direction.

Jaxx crawled behind a tree, branches full of needles and leaves. Strange combination. He rested his back against it. The craft purred overhead and slowed into a hover.

He eyed the sky through the breaks in the branches. The craft hummed a hundred feet above. It ascended higher and sped toward Rivkah’s crash. Jaxx stood. He eyed the craft as it reached Rivkah’s crash site and extinguished the expanding fire.

The craft moved south and lingered over the canopy two klicks away. Did Rivkah escape to that area? Shit. Maybe.

Jaxx hiked hard and fast. Down the hill. Over rotten wood. Around mushrooms taller than him that were covered in fluorescent red and green colors. He rushed by flora and fauna that would make his university colleagues mad with jealousy. And he’d barely gave any of it a second glance. At this moment, only Rivkah mattered. And he gasped when he saw her. He ducked low behind a line of tall shrubs that resembled rhododendrons in bloom and surveyed the area. He didn’t want to crash into her hideout and give her away, if she hadn’t yet been found.

She positioned herself under a small, low outcropping. Trees and fern-like plants surrounded her. They concealed her well. He crept toward her, lifting one foot over a golden-hued shrub and the other leg over a gooey, green puddle. No telling what might fight and what might flee.

Rivkah clutched her leg just below a tourniquet she made. She winced as if pain consumed her.

He took another step, then abruptly stopped. Movement on the outcropping above her. He lifted his IPG and went to one knee. His stomach hardened. He slipped his finger through the trigger guard. “Don’t move,” he yelled.

A figure stood on the ledge directly over her. A man with long black hair. Asian in appearance, black pants and a blue coat that flared into a cape. He jumped from the outcropping and onto the forest floor. A Roman scutum-style shield materialized in his hand.

Rivkah let go of her leg, cringing in agony. She moaned and toppled to her side and out of Jaxx’s line of sight. The man took a step toward her. Jaxx pulled the trigger.

The guy crouched and held the shield out. Blue electricity spun at the shield’s center, absorbing the shot. A whirr sounded and the electricity vanished. The man peered around his shield. He dipped his head at Jaxx as if in respect.

Odd.

Jaxx lowered his weapon. The guy stood straighter and the shield disappeared. He slapped his fist in the palm of his other hand and held it at his heart. He gave a short bow, then dashed off and through thick foliage and out of view.

Jaxx rushed Rivkah. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned in pain. Opening her eyes, she lurched back. “Jaxx?” She reached for him. He’d never see her so vulnerable, so pale, so...scared. She was losing blood. They needed to get their butts off this planet, and now. Or she wouldn’t make it.

He slid in next to her. “Rivkah?”

Her eyes fluttered closed. He gently slapped her cheek to keep her awake. Her eyes opened. Vacant. He touched her forehead. She burned like a stove. He placed his index and middle finger on her neck and to the side of her windpipe, checking her carotid artery. Her pulse was slow, barely noticeable.

“Rivkah, can you hear me?”

She nodded.

“Stay awake. A rescue team is on its way.” He didn’t know if there was any truth to his words, but wanted to keep her hopes alive. “Stay with me. They’ll be here soon.”

“They...won’t.” Her voice was as weak as her pulse.

He checked her leg. Below the tourniquet was a large gash. Blood streamed, pooling on the ground. The tourniquet was too loose and she was bleeding out.

Jaxx reached down her leg, untying the tourniquet. He slipped it off and rolled it tighter, then retied it around her leg, making sure it tightly squeezed. The blood now dripped. He didn’t fix it, but the slower the bleed the better.

He looked around for something that would cauterize the wound. Maybe he could hold up a broken branch and shoot the upper portion with his IPG. That would get the branch scorching hot or disintegrate the targeted portion of the branch altogether. Didn’t matter. He had to give it a try.

He scanned the leaves and branches, the shrubs and grasses, for something that would burn hot enough to staunch the bleeding. He caught sight of a silver, oval pouch lying on the ground just out of reach. The man he attempted to kill must have dropped it. Hopefully, not on purpose. If so, it was probably dangerous. A bomb, perhaps. Or could be a chemical device. Heck, it could be a phone for all he knew. But, they were running out of options and his curiosity was piqued.

He approached the pouch, IPG in hand. He poked it with his gun.

The pouch shot up a few feet. Jaxx dove for cover. He went into a ball and covered his head. No explosion. He lifted his gaze. The pouch sat upright. A neck extended from the body of the contraption, a cap atop the neck. The pouch popped into a flask?

He hopped to his feet and walked, almost cat-like, toward the thing. He lifted it carefully, turning the silvery flask over in his hand. His intuition said it was safe, though when had his intuition ever done him any favors? Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He twisted the cap open, closing one eye and looking inside.

Gold flecks stirred in a clear liquid. He repeated the same questions he had just moments before. Did the guy accidentally drop this? Did he leave it on purpose, thinking Rivkah and I would drink