Chapter 72
Seventy-Two
Dante stood in the doorway of the Grand Supreme’s private chambers. The time had finally arrived. He swirled a goblet of wine in his scaly hand as he stared out the window, talons scraping against the metal of his cup. Spacecraft zoomed by while others burned from the inside out. Debris floated, tumbling through space. Rubble drifted past the glass.
For whatever reason, he froze. An uneasiness overcame him every time he was in his master’s presence. He was so utterly unpredictable, terrifying, and for whatever reason he felt small?—
Like a child all over again in a room with a giant.
Izzo gulped the remainder of his blood-tinted wine before setting the goblet down on the ledge of the window. He slowly turned around, tilting his head to the side. He inwardly flinched, refusing to show any sign of fear. His first instinct was to fall on one knee in a submissive gesture, which he was more than accustomed to, but he willed himself to remain on his feet as a sign of disrespect.
It took every last bit of energy for him to remain standing. He inhaled.
Izzo scanned him with his golden slit eyes that always seemed to glow. A solemn expression graced his beady little face. Izzo stood approximately sixty centimeters shorter than Dante, which wasn’t an intimidating height. The twisted crown of black horns on his head made him appear slightly taller but not by much. Why was he so afraid?
“So, it’s come to this now, has it?” His master flashed a set of razor-sharp yellow teeth, for a moment, seeming welcoming. He licked a dribble of crimson wine from his chin with his black forked tongue. “Come sit with me, I’ll pour you a cup.”
Dante remained quiet, watching on in disgust, assessing his mood. He refused to fall for his fake kindness.
“No, thank you,” he said abruptly.
“Suit yourself,” the Grand Supreme shrugged. “You were always such a good boy and dare I say, my favorite subject. I considered you family at one time. You weren’t self-centered like the others—you had something special about you, something they could never quite grasp no matter how hard they tried.” Dante folded his arms, as he continued. “You were cold and ruthless. Obedient to a fault. You never questioned my orders no matter how much?—”
Dante rolled his eyes then smirked. “Save me your pathetic tale. The others are dead. I killed them both with my bare hands. And now I’m here to claim your life.”
Izzo stared on in silence before he shrugged. “I figured as much, especially after you led Valdez around the universes on a wild goose hunt instead of going straight to Keyserike’s home world to interrogate his loved ones. It was the most obvious place he’d be. And Earth?—”
A dizzying panic swelled through him. Oh no, he couldn’t possibly . “What about Earth?” He managed to stay calm regardless.
His black forked tongue flickered through his cracked lips. “I know all about your haphazard plan and how you spared the planet for your human girl. Do you really think I’m that dense?” He paused for a moment. “Why do you think I sent you there in the first place?”
“Because I’m capable,” Dante said matter-of-factly. “More capable than the others ever were.”
“True, and you were the only one who could do what needed to be done.”
Dante crossed his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean? I purposefully failed. I made a laughingstock out of our operation.”
Izzo remained quiet, mouth splitting into a wicked smile. “Just think about it. If you don’t understand, you will.”
“You fear humans more than anything, so the jest is on you,” Dante spat back. For whatever reason he couldn’t comprehend.
The Grand Supreme grew serious again, shaking his horned head. “I don’t appreciate the insolent backtalk, nor do I appreciate being made a fool of. How dare you. When I’m done with you, and I finish scraping your remains from the bottom of my boots, and eradicating your home world, the very next place I’m heading is Earth. You and your entire race will be but a memory. A blip in time. A thousand years from now they’ll say Emperor Dante II who?”
The breath swelled in Dante’s throat. What had he gotten himself into? All he could do was hope Autumn had followed his directions and had gotten the hell off Surge. She should have been well on her way to Universe 25 if all had gone according to plan, where Izzo would never find her or his other loved ones.
How he hoped Izzo hadn’t achieved immortality, or his efforts would be for naught.
The Grand Supreme cracked his knuckles, long heavy tail thrashing back and forth. “Shall we get down to business? You served your purpose well.”
“I thought you’d never ask. This conversation has grown boresome.”
His master’s expression grew serious, hideous features straightening. His aura grew dark-purple, tiny fists trembling at his sides. Dante assumed a fighting stance. His heart raced as he anticipated his first move. Nobody had dared challenge the Grand Supreme in the last four hundred years.
He was the first. Perhaps he was a fool.
Autumn grasped the steering panel for dear life as she soared high into the sky, entering the rainbow atmosphere. The metropolis of Giarldinia and the palace of Sanguis had turned into tiny specks of dust far beneath her. The entire planet was cast in shadows thanks to the ongoing battle.
She had to be quick, only seconds remained until the forcefield reactivated. Then she’d be stuck and have to start the process all over again. Her heart slammed within her chest with anticipation. She closed her eyes for a moment as she continued up, up, up, sucking in a deep shuddering breath.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in the darkness of space. She gasped in disbelief at what she saw, cupping a black-gloved hand over her mouth. It was worse than she could’ve ever imagined.
Countless ships had been massacred. Too many to track. It was difficult to tell what side they were on. Steel and severed limbs floated through the black starry void of space; —a graveyard. Crimson blood pooled against the windows of her destroyer in splotches, dripping across the glass. Her stomach tied itself in knots. Thousands upon thousands of ships had been destroyed?—
All because of the Grand Supreme’s thirst for blood. How many others would lose their lives because of his cruelty? Her fists trembled against the steering panel.
Beyond the devastation sat the most fearsome ship she had ever seen. It was the shape of an octagon with sharp angles and sprouting horns. Circular windows surrounded it in layers like a hive. Its obsidian steel glowed amidst the chaos. If she took a wild guess, it had to be where Emperor Izzo was located along with Dante and her dad. Goosebumps prickled over her skin.
As she stared in awe and horror at the massive spacecraft, a blue spark zapped across her line of sight. When she glanced, three destroyers headed her way at an impossible speed.
Holy crap, they were firing straight at her.
Autumn whipped her ship around in a one hundred and eighty degree turn and flew as fast as it would take her. She maneuvered around dead bodies and debris, twisting and turning through the battlefield.
Oh no, she panicked. If she got hit there would be no hope of her rescuing anyone. The key to the 25th Universe would be lost forever. The marble sized portal rolled around in her pocket. She had to keep it safe no matter the cost.
She approached the mothership at top speed when she heard the crunching of metal. She flew forward choking against her harness before slamming against the back of her seat. A burning smell filled her nostrils. One of the spacecraft had collided with her rear, knocking against her ship again and again. Her teeth gritted together as she spun out, screaming at the top of her lungs before steadying the direction of her destroyer.
Her adrenaline pulsated as she approached. She grew so close to the horizontal sliver of light peering out of the Grand Supreme’s ship. It opened wider like a mouth that seemed to grin, creating an entrance.
Like he was expecting her.
When she slipped inside at the last possible moment, her ship came to a rocky landing. Autumn bounced around, finally steadying the destroyer. Her jaw fell to the ground. To her shock and horror, the other three ships had followed her inside. The door shut airtight behind them. The rear of her ship dented toward the control cabin.
She was trapped, unsure of whether she’d be able to fly again. A swell of panic raced through her body. Her senses went numb.
After her spacecraft had stilled, three of the most frightening lizard-like monsters she’d ever seen approached the outside of her destroyer wearing onyx uniforms. They put Valdez’s scrawny Zexian soldiers to shame. Their bloodshot eyes appeared slit like a cat’s. Their skin ranged from a translucent dark gray to the deepest shade of toxic obsidian. Their muscles were stacked. She hit the control panel, desperately making sure the entrance of her ship was locked.
Autumn didn’t want them anywhere near her.
She unbuckled her harness, sliding down to the floor and into a fetal position. She removed her glove and threw a nail in her mouth. Holy crap, what was she supposed to do?
Sure, she’d been training for months and months, but suddenly she felt like she hadn’t learned anything at all, like she was back at square one again.
Amidst her panic attack, she felt the hot pull of breath running across her hand. She glanced into her travel sack which sat beside her half-open. A long purr came followed by a wet pink nose. Mr. Hiss crawled out, rubbing his head against hers, licking her cheek with his rough tongue. He blinked his large indigo eyes, rolling on the cold metallic floor. His magenta and black striped tail swayed. His muzzle smiled at her.
“What are you doing here?” Her eyes widened. She had to protect him too.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Her stomach flipped. Crap. She looked at her pet before looking at the door.
“Come out, come out, little empress, wherever you are,” a gruff voice said in Ivarkian. She could tell he was smiling like a fool by his tone.
“We know you’re in there,” a second high-pitched voice chimed in. When she glanced, a slit eye peered back at her through the window. She screamed, covering her mouth.
Cruel laughter erupted from outside.
“We can always smoke her out,” she heard.
“I have a better idea.”
Long talons scraped against the exterior of the door, creating a dent. She crawled back, holding Mr. Hiss in her lap as an eye peered through.
“There she is,” a pair of inky upturned lips spoke through the hole in the door. Jagged teeth clicked, chattering together. She screamed.
The metal door dislodged, flying across the room, smacking into the wall at the opposite end. It crumpled, falling to the metallic-tiled ground.
She came to a shaky stand, resuming a fighting stance. She couldn’t hide anymore.
A round of laughter erupted. “Come here, little empress. Let’s make haste, our master is expecting you.”
One of the creatures nudged the others with his spandex-covered elbow. “He was never specific about the state he expected you in. He left that open to interpretation.”
Mr. Hiss rolled to his feet, stalking closer one paw at a time. His tail puffed, mouth curling in a snarl. He released a long angry hiss followed by a mini roar.
The three creatures glanced down, their red-slit eyes widening.
“It’s our lucky day, boys. Not only have we captured the wanted empress of Universe 13, the pathetic specimen that she is, we’re about to be rich beyond our wildest dreams,” the monster knelt trying to lure Mr. Hiss to him, but he stayed put, claws scraping against the metallic floor.
“This baby ling will fetch a fortune,” one of the soldiers rubbed his long taloned hands together in a greedy gesture.
“That is, if our master doesn’t choose to keep him for himself.”
“Who says we have to tell him?” the creature licked his scaly lips.
Mr. Hiss roared again, no louder than the last, but this time, he put more effort into it, opening his mouth to capacity.
They chuckled looking down at him. “Come here little guy, don’t be fresh.”
Suddenly, their wicked grins faded, and they stopped. Their eyes bulged in their heads as they jumped up and turned, pushing each other through the door, making a run for it.
Mr. Hiss’s jewel-toned eyes glowed with a deep latent fury, lighting up the dark ship. A silver beam of light erupted from his mouth, zapping and twisting through the air. The energy swirled through the cabin and across the dock with such force that it turned the frightened soldiers to heaping piles of black dust upon impact. Their screams vanished into the void.
After vaporizing the intruders, her pet snapped out of his daze, yawning and stretching as if nothing had happened. He rolled over onto his side and entered a deep sleep, purring. His fluffy belly rose and fell as he entered a dream-like state. His tail rested against his leg.
Holy crap, Mr. Hiss.
Autumn walked over to him. Who would’ve thought a cub could possess such untapped power? She was beyond grateful for his help.
She knelt and kissed him on the cheek before coming to a stand. His muzzle curved upward again. All she had to do was find Dante and her dad and get the heck off the ship.