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

surrounded him, keeping him captive, surging ambient blue light and flashing every so often as if zapping a bug.

A screaming terror ran through his ears like fingernails down a chalkboard accompanied with a cat screeching bloody murder. The sounds filled his body, jolted his nerves, and squeezed his heart with a vice grip.

It was unbearable.

He wanted to vomit, anything to get this feeling out of him. If he’d had a knife, he’d have slit his own throat just to be away from this sensation for a few seconds.

He turned in a circle in his crouched position, seeing dark humanoid shadows in the room, coming toward him, wanting to suck every inch of life from him. They melted, oozing into a thick, black mess, reminding him of gallons of spilt black ink. They slithered his way.

Were they real? He shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. He slapped the side of his head. Opening his eyes, the shadows were gone.

He dug into the implant behind his ears. He pulled, twisted, and scratched at it. It wouldn’t budge.

Fight this, Jaxx. Fight this, he told himself. He was caught in Okbak’s grip by way of the Kelhoon mental implant.

If he could just doze off, sleep for a few hours, then he could concentrate better. Every attempt to fall asleep ended the same way. He was electrified, thousands of volts surging through his muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

Why didn’t he let his friends help him? Why did he think he could do this all on his own? He shook his head, and slapped his cheeks again.

Okbak, on the other hand, wasn’t so bad, wasn’t so negative. He felt the thought sneak into his consciousness; it had a different feel, a different mental taste to his own thoughts, and yet it marched forward as if it had been invited in. These Kelhoon have a right to commit genocide on the Atlanteans, and to use humans as food and slaves. It is just the nature of life. Life is cyclical. Some must die so others might live.

“No,” yelled Jaxx. He contorted his face, then whacked his ears. “Do not fall for their tricks.” The implant was doing its job, placing new thoughts—positive thoughts—about the Kelhoon in his mind. It was lying to him, convincing Jaxx to lie to himself. And in time, Jaxx would believe those lies…unless he could rip this implant off his skin.

Use the Chi. Use it, he chided himself. But how? He could barely think on his own, let alone bring up energy for his benefit. For all he knew, the Chi would backfire and cause mayhem, even penetrating deep into Callisto’s core, blowing the moon to shit.

He shook his head violently, almost laughing. The implant was putting more dangerous thoughts into his brain. The last thing it would want would be Jaxx channeling Chi.

“Screw it,” he said, clenching his jaw. He let out a growl and threw his arms in the air. He took in a deep, forced breath. “I can do it.” He stood and widened his stance.

You can’t do it.

He fell to the ground. “You’re right. I can’t.” He groveled on the floor, tears pouring out of his eyes, the side of his face smashed against the concrete flooring. “I’m hopeless.”

He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “No. I’m Jaxx.” He pushed himself up.

Don’t be silly.

He bounced his head up and down, pulling his hair, agreeing with his own thoughts. He was being silly. In no way would it be intelligent to use Chi. It’d kill the entire galaxy in minutes if he wasn’t able to contain it, channel it, put it to its proper use.

“What? That can’t be.” He paced in a circle.

He crouched and put his head in his hands. “Stop.” Screams ran through his mind and he rubbed his legs frantically. If he just let go, let the implants control his emotions, his movements, his very opinions, everything would be fine. No more pain, no more screams.

It would be easier.

Jaxx liked easy.

“No, I don’t like easy.”

You do. Easy takes away suffering. Easy gives you patience. Easy helps your friends.

He stomped the ground. “No more.” Okbak would not win this. He brought in all the energy he could muster, pulling it up from his solar plexus to behind his ears. He squeezed his fists together, veins popping out of his forearms and forehead. “You will not win, Okbak.”

The oval device sparked, then fizzed. The internal screaming inside Jaxx’s mind died, the pain searing every facet of his body diminished, and the darkness faded.

He took a deep breath, gathered himself, and wiped the sweat from his brow. He smelled something burning. He looked around, trying to find the source. He glanced up. A trail of smoke wafted toward the ceiling. He checked the ground. It wasn’t coming from there. He looked at the energy bars surrounding him. There was a steam that rose from them, but that wasn’t it. Where was it coming from?

He turned his head, feeling a stream of smoke touch the back of his ear for moment. He brought his hand up and touched the oval device behind his ear. It was warm and definitely the source.

Not good. The trauma of short-circuiting the device had stupefied him, momentarily. How could he have not known the smoke was coming from him?

Boots clanked against the ground outside. Someone was coming.

He took a step back to bring himself close enough to the electric bars that by chance the smoke could be hidden in the singeing and sparking electricity around him, and perhaps in the steam rising. If anyone saw the smoke, they’d know he’d sabotaged the device. He couldn’t let that happen.

The door clicked.

Kreeeeeeeen!

In stepped Kajka Okbak. He slammed the door shut behind him.

Jaxx stood straight. “Ready for orders, sir.”

Okbak dipped his head. “Good. You will stay in here until I deem it necessary that you are completely under my control. Do you understand, young human?”

The device’s language translator still operated with perfection, yet the mind-controlling aspect was either out