Page 263 of Scorching the Alien Empire
“Unfinished? Please.” She snorts. “Thatwas supposed to be me. Riding you.” Her giggle is wicked and light. “You know—my red dragon. It was Divine Mother who gave me the idea. But of course, poor, bitter Sandra justhadto sabotage it.” She groans dramatically. “Jealous, obviously. She made my headhumongous. Like, grotesquely massive. Bigger than the dragon’swith demon eyes. Hair floating like evil spaghetti. Totally unhinged.” A chuckle slips from her lips despite herself. “What is shelike?Such a rude bitch. So yeah, I had to scratch that sacrilegious nightmare off. But don’t worry—I’ll find someone better to finish it. After you win.”
Sothisis the red dragon she speaks of. That’s how she sees me—an unstoppable, fire-breathing beast. Amusing. Apt.
“I shall treasure it always.” A smile curls my lips, her humorous story, the blemish only heightening its meaning and sentimentality.
“Gods, this thing weighs a ton,” she mutters, folding it with care before giving her shoulders a roll. “I’ll have to find a minion to carry it around for me.” She frowns, already lost in some private scheme.
I study her face—those inviting lips, eyes like pools of liquid mercury, fine-boned beauty crowned with gold-spun hair. Right now, like this—caring, clever—she is perfect. MyMortakin-Kis—powerful and deadly, witty, and graceful.
Something swells in my chest. A thing unknown to me—light and electric it spreads like wildfire.
My heart beats like war drums. Words gather on my tongue—heavy, necessary, burning for release.
“Before... Elder Ignixis’s death, there were words... words I should have spoken. Words I regret leaving unsaid.”
I take her hands in mine, eyes burning into her soul. Searing this moment into my mind so I can cling to it for eternity.
“I... I would not wish to rest with my ancestors without saying them now. The feelings that burn in my heart. The fire I can no longer contain.”
A breath. A pause. Every word a mountain moved.
“I love you, Princesa.”
There. It is done.
Silence. Thick and coiling. Like poison in the air. Like an axe suspended above the heart.
Her mouth forms an “O.”
Then, slowly, her eyes drop. A grin curves her lips. “You’re still nervous, aren’t you?” she says softly. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
My heart plummets, disappointment dragging me back to reality. To sanity.Love is a kind of madness.Or so the ancient fools claim.
“I speak the—”
“You’re not going to rest with the ancestors because you’re not going to lose.” She cuts me off—not angry, just playful.
Now, I’m the young fool, grasping for meaning, fumbling through the storm of emotions she invokes. Perhaps she’s right. Perhaps I conjure phantoms in fear. Nothing but smoke. And itreeksof weakness—weakness I must purge if I’m to face Krogoth as an equal.
She lets go. My hands fall to my sides.
“You’re my Red Dragon,” she says, pressing her palms against my chest plate. “No one can beat you. I’ve watched you smash through walls, bust down doors like they were—”
I stop listening. Words are useless now. Annoying vibrations. She repeats the same mantra. But only strength matters.
Mystrength.
Perhaps that was always the case. It’s only power that binds those who follow me—Princesa most of all.
Who I am beneath does not matter.
Only fire illuminates the path. I must become that fire.
“Scourge the weak. Embrace strength. Let the vanquished be reborn in his divine image,” she intones, stretching up to smear my forehead with ash. Her fingertip draws a crisscrossing circle in the air. “Now, you’re ready.” She nods, smiling.
“Yes,” I growl. The ash flares against my skin with unnatural warmth.
“Now it’syourturn, Chug Bug.” She scoops up more ash and turns to her pet. It squirms, mandibles clacking in protest.
