Page 128 of Scorching the Alien Empire
I stand amidst the slaughter, blood singing with unchained fury, silver-red smoke trailing from my eyes as I bellow into the chaos—
“I AM THE FIRE! I AM THE END!”
Chapter 25
Alexandra
Ascension
Soannoying.
More murder-bots continue to flood in from the intersecting corridors, their skittering limbs scraping against metal. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve crushed their creepy forms against the walls, their bodies folding and warping under my divine will.
It’s so easy, I can’t help but laugh—an angelic sound against the chaos, an amusing contrast to the roaring detonations. The high-pitched thrums of weapons fire and the bone-rattling impacts shaking the corridor. The rap-tap-tap of thousands of insectile legs—like an army of metal-booted Todds tap-dancing their way into oblivion—mingles with the furious grunts and barks of the space-knights struggling to keep up.
Dracoth really knows how to show a girl a good time. No romantic alien restaurants, no sunbathing beneath swirling nebulas, no exotic shopping planets filled with high fashion.
Nope.
Not my Mortakin-Kai. He takes me to war zones. And not even the fun, squishy space hobo kind—no, he drags me to disgusting, metal-infested, murder-bot hellscapes.
A fresh wave of machines swarms ahead, blocking my path.
Look at them.
Stupid insectile ironing-board bodies, their uncanny multi-jointed limbs, the way their tube-shaped cannons glow and hiss with building heat. A full-body shudder wracks me, a sickening ripple crawling from my scalp to my toes.
So. Disgusting.
Shimmering molten balls erupt from their weapons, but I’ve already summoned my barriers into existence. The blazing projectiles splatter harmlessly against the invisible surface, warping the air with heat before slithering down like spent candle wax, pooling and bubbling on the floor.
With a flippant flick of my wrist, fresh barriers materialize—silver-edged, glowing, perfect. The blood-red lighting catches their shimmering outlines, the sickly green glyphs scrawled across the walls twisting beneath their divine glow. A single pulse of my power, sends them crushing into the murder-bots, sweeping them from my path like overgrown dust balls.
I’m so over this, I don’t even spare them a glance as I storm past.
But the groan of twisting metal, the shriek of gears grinding into failure, the sharp pop of rupturing frames—all of it brings a smile to my lips.
My powers have grown. There is no doubt. The downpour of molten energy blasts slamming against my barriers barelyregister. A dull awareness tickling the back of my mind—direct messages from losers left on read.
I’m ascending to new heights.
Exciting!
While Dracoth... Poor, tragic, Dracoth. He’s sinking. Fast.
What am I supposed to do with him? It’s sad really. I’ve invested so much time, so much effort. I mean, obviously he’s helped me get this far, but...
Do you stick with your driving instructor just because they taught you how to drive?
No, that would be ridiculous.
Maybe I was too harsh on him... Sandra will yell at me if she finds out. I can already picture her freckled little face, the narrowed eyes of judgment. She’ll be like: “Lexie... how could you? Your magic boobies have gone too far!”
Ugh. Please.
The truth is, I’ve already outgrown him. What use is he if I can reach the top myself?
I married the chosen of Arawnoth, a fire-breathing Red Dragon. Not a matchstick-sputtering salamander. His little sparklers are cute and all, but Todd already has the cuteness quota covered.
