Page 257 of Scorching the Alien Empire
Shelives.
I want to scream. Want to weep. I need to do something! I can’t just stay on the defensive. I raise a trembling hand—Todd clacking above like a tiny war drum.
Shields snap forward—divine chains slamming into Krogoth like an angry bear trap.
“Yes!” I shriek, triumphant. “Got you!”
He snarls. Gray armor creaks beneath the strain. Then—he lifts a single finger. One. Giant. Finger. It traces the edge of mydivine shield like a toddler smearing finger paint made ofcosmic rage.
My shields slough apart. Then shatter. Like my pride. Like the dream that maybe—for once—I wouldn’t lose.
Why? Why do the Gods always abandon me?
I scramble backward, breath hitching in ragged gasps. I nearly trip over some whirring murder-machine. Krogoth’s sneer splits his face, his fangs glinting like goddamn guillotines, eyes burning stars of hatred.
He stomps forward—each step a thunderclap. A titan on the warpath.
I throw up more shields—frantic, trembling. But they’re weak. Hollow. Just like me. Almost all my power went into stopping that first attack.One.That’s what my divinity amounts to—a one-hit wonder before obscurity.
He smashes through my fresh barriers like wet tissue. A flick of his wrist sends swirling lattice orbs slicing through divine light like hot knives through cake.
Then he’s on me.
Shadow looming. I can hardly breathe. The intensity of his swirling purple-hazel gaze forcing me to avert my eyes.
He yanks me to my feet—rough, brutal. I gasp at the pressure on my shoulder.
“You DARE harm myPEBBLES?OUR UNBORNCHILDREN?” He spits the words in my face. I twist in his grip, straining—but he might as well be carved from two-week-old brioche.
His arms move. The world spins. Fast. Sickening.
“No!” Sandra shrieks. That’s nice of her.
I think I’m flying. Like a Lexie-moth. A beautiful, sad Lexie-moth. It’s hard to tell, everything’s so fuzzy. Then reality strikes with brutal clarity. Pain erupts through my spine. My neck whips back like a ten-car pileup. Everything blurs.
He threw me. Like garbage. Like a bag of leftover chow mein and broken dreams.
“Rude... prick.” The words scrape out with the metallic tang of blood on my tongue. Metal clangs around me like an earthquake as Krogoth’s massive clown shoes stomp closer.
“Go Todd...” I croak, tears stinging my eyes. “Mummy messed up. Go find some jelly sticks, okay?” I reach weakly for him, but Todd clings tighter, vibrating like a plump rage grenade.
Then I’m hauled up again. His wind-tunnel breath assaults my blood-swooshing ears. Face-to-face with cosmic rage.
“I should END you!” he bellows, showering me in spittle.
“Eww...”
He shakes me. Like a rag doll stuck in a turbo spin cycle. Bones creak. Teeth rattle. Limbs flailing like I’ve been turned into a jelly stick.
Maybe Todd can eat me after?
Then the ground rushes to meet me. It crashes into me with brutal force that knocks the wind from my aching lungs.
“You tried to kill her,” he growls, voice cracking under the weight of fury and grief. “The mother of mychildren.”
I lie there, broken. Dizzy.Done.The guillotine of shame and failure falling fast. It’s okay. I just wish... I could feel Dracoth’s heat. One last time.
My eyes flutter shut.
