Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (best novels to read in english .txt) 📗

near this pyramid. He was like a giant himself. He glanced at his arm. It was glowing. In fact, his entire body was. He glanced at the pyramid. A haze of energy joined him and the pyramid together.

Slade pushed himself off the floor, his hands in a ball, his body shaking in rage. He stomped and threw energy at Jaxx.

Jaxx moved out of the way and everything changed to slow motion, everything but himself.

A sensation came over him like a waterfall of energy draping over him. Inside, Jaxx traced his energy through his own DNA strands. His DNA was designed to open and close the pyramid network. He was the key. This he already understood; however, something was reminding him, whispering through every cell in his body, screaming that he was connected to each and every pyramid in the galaxy.

Slade rushed at him in slow motion, running with all his might, but Jaxx was an octave speed higher than Slade due to this pyramid giving off a wave of energy to Jaxx, and to Jaxx only.

And, as the DNA and key holder, he knew he was partnered with this pyramid.

“Pyramid,” he said. “Wake the giants. They’ll know what to do.”

Slade pulled out a knife, this one like none any Jaxx had ever seen. It was arrow tipped, jagged at the edges, and the hilt was made from ivory. Slade’s face screwed up in fury, his eyes like demons ready to burn some witches at the stake.

Slade lifted his knife above his head, ready to strike down and end Jaxx’s life.

Jaxx turned, his forearm coming up to block Slade’s action.

Slade lurched back, his eyes like saucers, and blood squirted out of his mouth. He was lifted into the air, a spear pierced through his abdomen. He dropped his knife and looked behind him, his face more stunned than Jaxx’s.

A giant was wide awake, his eyes determined, his body tensed with every muscle flexed. He held Slade up at the end of his spear, and the giant brought him closer to his eyes, looking the small man up and down.

The giant faced Jaxx.

“Let him down,” ordered Jaxx. “And take your spear out of him.”

Slade shook his head, his face twisted in pain. “I’ll die.” His voice was raspy, and blood dripped from his lips and down his chin.

“You’ll die either way. My way will be swift.”

The giant put his foot on Slade’s back and pushed Slade forward while pulling his spear backward. Slade slipped off the spear and fell like Jello to the ground. He took a few breaths, doing his best to turn over, to push up, to do whatever he could to make it to his feet. Maybe to do one more terrible thing to Jaxx before he saw blackness forever.

His muscles couldn’t bear his weight and he collapsed.

Dead.

The place was silent, but for Jaxx’s breathing.

“Jaxx, are you okay?”

Jaxx sucked in air, startled, his mouth in the shape of an “o”, and spun to his right. The President of the United States, Craig Martelle, was walking toward him, his face full of concern.

30

E-Quadrant, Solar System - Whitefish, Montana

“Turn those mother shields back on,” yelled Segarra into his battlesuit’s mic. He threw his helmet on and clicked his battlesuit’s mask in place. “Take Mya and find a place she can hide and do her thing.” He unclipped two phasers, one on each hip, and aimed them at the sky. “Die, die.”

Wapooo! Wapooo!

Segarra sent ion blasts at the incoming craft, hitting the first one in the cockpit window. It spun, slamming into another starfighter, and both veered off behind buildings, impacting the ground. An eruption like a volcano shot above the city skyline, quickly shrinking down a few seconds later.

“Go,” yelled Segarra. “Mya has to do her energy thing. Go, go.”

Several men in battlesuits much like Segarra’s came rushing around a corner. They targeted the craft and whipped weapon’s fire toward the heavens.

But what about Megan?

Drew grabbed Mya into his arms and ran into the bar, racing through the portion where a front wall used to be. “Can you do your energy thing in here, Mya?”

Krackowoooooosh! Krackowooooosh!

A ball of heat nearly tripped Drew to the ground, and he stumbled forward, catching himself against the bar. Mya screamed, her eyes looking out at the violence in the street. She pushed off Drew’s chest, squirming herself free, and ran after her father. Drew spun on his heels.

Two large puncture holes were in the street and crumbled asphalt lay everywhere. Segarra and several of his men were on their backs. The asphalt covered them and smoke rose from their battlesuits. Mya grabbed her dad’s armored leg and began pulling, getting nowhere. Drew dashed to Mya’s side as a rumble crackled across the sky, and booms rocked the city. More explosions lit the main streets, and a few small buildings went up in flames, others crumbling to the ground.

Drew gripped Segarra’s other leg and pulled, dragging him across the road and into the bar.

“Daddy,” cried Mya. Tears filled her eyes, and for a fleeting moment, Drew could see that Mya understood the pains of war, what death really was, and that her mother had indeed been killed. He didn’t know how he knew this, but he did. And she didn’t want the same thing to happen to her dad.

Segarra’s arm moved to his facemask and he flipped his visor up. Sweat dripped down the sides of his temples and he puffed out his cheeks, patting his chest armor plate. “And the congress frowned on spending trillions of dollars on black ops projects.” He put up a thumb. “They wouldn’t be frowning if they wore one of these black ops battlesuits while being bombed by aliens.”

Mya jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Let’s just hide, Daddy. Please.” Her tears came faster, her sobs deeper.

He pushed himself into a seated position, wiping her tears with his robotic suit hands, leaving black streak marks on her face.

Krackowooooosh!

Everyone ducked as another loud blast shook the