Page 209 of Scorching the Alien Empire
“Wait!”
Her voice—raw, breaking. She grabs my hand.
“Todd.” Her lips tremble. “Our Chug Bug.”
Todd clings to my shoulder, croaking in soft protest as I pry him free, careful not to crush his squishy body. His bloated form wiggles as I place him onto her shoulder with care.
“Your... creature,” I growl.
She pets him absently, raw eyes fixed on the floor. “Th... thanks.”
Then—suddenly—she lunges.
Her arms wrap around my waist, clinging tight. Desperate. Shaking.
“Don’t go,” she pleads, voice cracking. “Not you too. Everyone leaves, Dracoth.Everyone.”
Her grip tightens like I’m the last tether keeping her from being swallowed whole.
Sobs vibrate through my armor. This is no trick. No game. Her pain screams louder than any divine proclamation.
“My friends. My mother. A father I never met. No matter how hard I tried...” Her breath shudders. Sobs ripple through her. “Then I found you. Arawnoth. Aenarael... things got better. And for the first time, I felt alive. That people cared about me. Like I wasn’t invisible anymore.”
She buries her face into my chestplate, voice muffled, broken. “And now it’s all gone. Even the Gods have abandoned me. And you...”
Her shoulders quake with sobs. Raw. Guttural. A torrent of emotion that crashes over me like a wave. I expected more rage. Defiance. Not this.
“My beautiful, flawed Princesa,” I murmur, unsure of the words, unsure of myself. My warrior’s mind falters before this storm of chaotic sorrow. “Is it this fear that drives your fire?” I ask, brushing wet strands of hair from her trembling face.
“No,” she chokes, the sound a rasping wail. “No, Dracoth... worse.” Her voice breaks, cracked open. “I thought I didn’t need you anymore. I thought I was better than you.”
She presses her fists to her eyes, sobs wracking her frame. “I’m so fucking sorry, Dracoth. You were always there for me. Even when I tried to push you away. No matter how hard I shoved, you wouldn’t budge—my big red mountain.”
She lets out a strangled, wet laugh. “You were different. You stayed. I need you, Dracoth. I need your heat. Please... please don’t leave me.”
She crumples at my feet, arms wrapped around my legs like a lifeline, her frame trembling, her voice broken.
“You promised we’d rise to the top. The respect—I need it, Dracoth. As much as I need you.” She lifts her face, blotched and ash-streaked. “I know I shouldn’t care. I know I’ve failed you. I can’t pretend to be a better wife, not like you deserve. But when you lost your powers... I panicked. I thought I could be the strong one. Thought I had to follow the Sacred Words and drag us there myself. You. Me. And wee Todd too.”
Her fingers rise—not to seduce, not to provoke—but to reach. To connect. Tobegfor something real.
And I see it. I feel it. The aching truth in her touch. The weight of her longing. The burn of ambition still flickering in her chest like a dying star. Maybe she is right. A promise was made. We were meant to rise. Arawnoth demands it.
But not like this. Not through more blood. Not by killing one of our own.
“Arise, my Mortakin-Kis.” I take her hand gently, raising her to her feet, letting her stand with dignity once more. “We’ll rise. Together. But Krogoth falls by peace... or not at all.”
“Okay,” she breathes. “Okay, peace. I’ll try.”
Then quieter—
“Just don’t leave.”
Chapter 40
Alexandra
Velvet Fist
