Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (easy to read books for adults list txt) 📕

It was sick and Jaxx needed to end this, end this for all those who suffered under the Kelhoon rule and torment. They were savages, plain and simple.

Jaxx bared his teeth, anger piercing his eyes. “Rivkah is alive. If Rivkah is alive, then maybe Bogle and Fox are as well. There might be a chance. Those Kelhoon must die, if it’s the last thing I do. Abdu went in the right direction to find them.”

“A fine arrow separates a killer from a warrior, Jaxx,” said Zara. “One is swayed by reason. The other by purpose. A warrior fights to live and stand up for those less fortunate. A killer only lives to fight. You’re not a killer, Jaxx. Don’t become one. If you do, it will be like throwing you to a pride of starving lions. There’s no telling which lion will consume you first.”

Jaxx looked past Zara and toward the east, the Chi rising up through him, fire coursing through his veins. He thrust the energy at a dome and cracked it in half, the sound echoing across the valley. “Throw me to the lions then. And I’ll return leading the pride.”

Zara stepped forward, smacking Jaxx on the back, interrupting his visions of conquest. Her purple eyes sparkled. “Every day I’m liking you more and more, Jaxx.”

An engine roared across the sky. Jaxx dropped to one knee, glancing to the heavens. An Agadon carrier, along with their mechs and starfighters, came barreling through the atmosphere. Blue fire from their boosters glowed upon the darkened sky. It was a sight that had become too familiar. Rage burned in his chest. He harnessed it. Didn’t matter if the power came from good or bad sources; power was just power.

“They found us,” said Zara. “They ended planet Taiyo.” She gave Kiyo-zan a sorry look.

Kiyo-zan bowed his head, staring at his feet. “Watashi zo hitobito wanaku natta.”

“Yes,” said Zara. “Your people are no more but the spark inside your heart. Do not lose it. It will guide you strong.”

The Agadon had taken over Taiyo. They had taken over Leonia. And it was easy. Now they were here to take over Callisto, following Jaxx everywhere he went.

“Watashitachi za sorera zo tomeru tame zi inoru.”

Jaxx stood, eyes watching the unstoppable Agadon force. “Yes, Kiyo-zan. We must pray to stop them. Yet, I think we must do more than just pray. Maybe this is why we need the Kelhoon to help us fight.”

“It’s in the prophecies,” Zara said. “And they may have no choice.”

The ground shook as more ships entered the atmosphere, heading toward East-Rise.

If a Kelhoon camp was there, then they were about to get a rude awakening.

Jaxx searched the energetic waves that ebbed and flowed around him for Rivkah’s signature again, and gripped it tight when he found it. Bogle was close by and joined them in the ether with a smile. The three of them linked hands and let the song of the Universe dance through them, elevating them to a different plane. Only then did Jaxx understand what Abdu had meant about the space between. He opened his pineal gland as wide as he could, activating Rivkah’s third eye, and Bogle’s chakric center.

Between the three, they had enough positive energy to punch a hole through the center of the Agadon’s black-hearted plan.

There was a blip in a distant corner of Jaxx’s consciousness. Earth. She was under attack. He homed in on his beloved planet, the one that had given him shelter for so many years. He smiled. Earth was in good hands. A young girl, Mya, would protect. Mya could repel. Mya would lead the people of Earth from the darkness.

He turned back to his beloved, Rivkah. Her smile was radiant. She and Bogle were on the run, but her spirit was right here, with him. And Fox…

The second he thought of Fox, Jaxx saw him racing after Abdu, Bogle, and Rivkah, a weapon the size of a small country in his hand. He dropped to one knee and aimed for Rivkah.

Jaxx yelled to warn her, but it was too late.

Rivkah went down, hard.

Jaxx dug his energy into the soil, up to the stars, out to the firmament and sucked every ounce of love, hate, and everything in between he could find from any source available. When he pulled the trigger on his rage, empires would tumble and nothing—not Abdu, not Zara, not Kiyo-zan—would stop him. He was Kaden Jaxx, the one who brought death to Death’s door.

Epilogue

Jaxx eyeballed the East. He closed his eyes and sent out a blast of energetic waves in all directions. The cold wind buffeted his body. A sprinkling of snowflakes landed one after another against his bare arms, head, and neck.

Rivkah was northeast of his position, kilometers away, running in the wrong direction, and in big trouble. He homed in on her, zooming in closer and watching from above. A halo of etheric colors surrounded her—the way his third eye saw things beyond the veil.

Abdu ran by her side, prompting her along, urging her to move faster. Bogle too. They were panicking, struggling to break out of a Kelhoon camp.

Rivkah and Bogle halted and leaned against a domed building, their breaths fast and heavy. Abdu stopped in front of them and moved to one knee, raising his long bamboo weapon. He squinted through his bamboo rifle’s scope.

A hot, thick, purple energy blast shot outward, tagging a Kelhoon in pursuit. The Kelhoon’s shoulder ripped out of the socket and green blood spewed in all directions. The Kelhoon’s rifle flipped in the air and in one sweeping motion, the Kelhoon caught it with his remaining hand and continued his attack.

Fox rounded a building and rushed toward Rivkah, Bogle, and Abdu. He was in kill mode, his energy black, and enraged. Jaxx could tell his main target was Rivkah and he’d tear every head off to get to her. But why was he after Rivkah? Why was