Chapter 73
Seventy-Three
Dante leaned hard into a fighting stance. His boots sat firm against the metallic tiled floor; his navy-gloved fingers twisted through the air. He stared down the Grand Supreme who stood before him with his arms folded. His crusty little mouth curved into an arrogant smirk, and his crown of horns sat askew on his tiny head.
An unsettling sensation rocked through his stomach. It was almost as if he was mocking his attempt. A ball of fire crackled through his palm, and he threw the flame straight at his beady little face. He stepped to the side easily deflecting his attempt. The flames sprayed along the wall, lighting his chair and surrounding furniture on fire.
“Okay, did you get that out of your system?” The Grand Supreme cocked his head to the side. His golden slit eyes grew wily with rage.
Before Dante could answer, Izzo leaped into the air, feet kicking, and kneed him in the gut with such force the wind knocked from his lungs. He gasped for air as his back slammed against the steel wall, forming an indentation. The impact created a crater he struggled to break free from. He peeled himself out and fell to his knees trying to catch his breath.
“Good, that’s where you belong, on your knees like the meek slave that you are,” the Grand Supreme took his teeny boot and kicked him in the back, causing him to fall on his stomach. He balled his fists with rage. How dare he treat him with such disrespect.
Dante rolled over and uppercut punched him in the jaw, sending him flying across the room and into the opposite wall. The flames widened for a moment with the passing wind before shrinking again. The room smelled of thick burning blood.
The Grand Supreme plopped himself out, landing onto his feet. He looked at him strangely. “I’m curious as to why you’re wearing that uniform—it’s not your house’s crest or mine.”
“Believe it or not, I have allies that aren’t you,” he said as a destroyer soared past the window, zapping one of Izzo’s ships to fine space dust. The Zambarians had been most helpful, and Emperor Brumha’s fleet was as impressive as he had hoped.
“Who would want to be your ally let alone your friend after the atrocities you committed?”
“You mean the ones you forced me to?”
Izzo slid his tongue over his yellow jagged teeth, grinning. “Believe me boy, you had a choice.”
“I did—it was obey or die.”
“Exactly,” his master chuckled. “You were always a perceptive one, unlike your father.”
“What about my father?” Goosebumps trickled down his spine. His fist trembled with fury.
“He was weak, greedy, and hard to control. I thought I was doing you a favor by getting rid of him. You were always so obedient, but little did I know, you’d turn out just like him. I wanted you to be the emperor I was hoping for.”
Dante stared at him, unable to breathe. His father’s death was no accident. As much as he despised him, he didn’t deserve to meet his end the cruel way he did. The coward’s way. Izzo was going to pay dearly.
Dante teleported behind him and cinched his short stubby arms against his back. Izzo released an inhuman scream, his long razor-sharp tail thrashed back and forth. Using the full force of his leg, he stomped the appendage out.
His vision flashed red. Every word out of his mouth was utterly infuriating since he had discovered he was behind his father’s death. Something was strange about Izzo. They appeared to be neck to neck. He seemed no stronger than he was. His fighting skills were pathetic.
Could the rumors of his unfathomable strength be a myth?
“This is for my father,” Dante flipped him around and took his boot, kicking Izzo square in the face. It was the only way to wipe off his self-satisfied smirk, forever imprinted in his memory. The force sent him toppling across the room once more and over his metal jug of blood-red wine. The container spilled, the contents running all over Izzo’s body and between his boots, soaking the metallic tiled floor.
“For someone so strong, perhaps you should’ve seen that one coming. You fight like you haven’t trained a day in your life.”
“You dare disrespect me?” His eyes glowed golden yellow. A dark-red aura engulfed his whole body, piercing Dante to the core. Dante took two steps back as the floor trembled beneath them. His eyes widened as the Grand Supreme’s legs and arms stretched a few feet and his face elongated, somehow becoming more hideous than before.
His heart pounded in his chest. What on Earth did he get himself into?
Autumn placed Mr. Hiss on the control seat of her damaged destroyer. He slept, hot pink and black striped belly rising and falling gently. She jumped as the floor vibrated beneath her feet like tremors from an earthquake. She had to hurry up and find Dante and her dad and get the heck out of here.
She pulled on her full-face helmet and activated the forcefield on her spacecraft before she left Mr. Hiss, so he’d be safe while she was gone. Nobody would disturb him on her watch. Only a few hours of life remained on the destroyer after the scuffle she was in.
When she entered the dock, all that existed of the enemy soldiers were piles of fine black dust. She couldn’t believe her sweet baby ling had so much power. She glanced back at him and smiled as he slept, purring in dreamland, before she advanced into the ship.
Autumn stopped dead in her tracks when she came to the hallway, unable to believe what she saw. A wave of sickness twisted through her stomach. Her nose scrunched from the rancid smell.
The ship was alive, she pushed a fingernail in her mouth, chewing the cuticle down to a nub.
A pink fleshy film resembling wet human skin coated the walls and ceiling. The sticky substance pulsated in rhythmic strides, loosening then firming again like a heartbeat. She cringed. By far the most unsettling detail was the dead alien bodies piled around the hall. Some appeared half eaten like they were mangled by wild animals while others were burnt to a blackened crisp. The lights above her head flickered wildly.
She closed her eyes for a moment taking deep controlled breaths. Dante had to have come this way, judging by the char marks on the walls and ceiling.
As she stepped over a faceless scaly alien body, the sight and smell of black blood became too much for her to bear. She knelt, tilting her helmet up, vomiting up her guts. Gross. She wiped her mouth against her arm before another round hit her more violently than the last.
When she reached the end of the hallway, a loud rattle came, and another tremor vibrated through the hollow interior of the ship, causing her to stumble a step. The lights dimmed, going dark for a moment. Her heart pounded in her ears, breath catching in her throat.
She looked both ways through the hallway. All was still and quiet. Another loud scraping sound came again, ricocheting down a flight of winding steps.
Autumn descended the stairs and onto the lower floor. She examined her surroundings. On either side were pulsating walls coated with containers of thick glass like a museum.
She ran her black-gloved fingers along the glass as she made her way deeper into the room. The containers were empty all except for one.
A wave of dizziness overtook her. Tears sprouted from her eyes, pouring down her cheeks. She choked from beneath her helmet. Her body grew as light as air. She ran over and pressed her palms against the enclosure, sliding down to the floor. She couldn’t contain herself after seeing her dad.