Page 35 of Chosen By the Dragon Alien

Cyprian’s grip on the controls tightened as he mapped out a path through the Vypex Belt. The asteroid cluster was unforgiving. Its ever-shifting debris created a labyrinth of death for anyone reckless enough to enter. “Keep it steady heading into this mess,” Cyprian warned. “Try not to get us killed before we get to the belt.”

“Your faith in me is overwhelming,” Kaelen quipped as he flipped the stabilization thrusters online. The ship leveled, its vibrations worsening under the strain of repeated evasive maneuvers.

Cyprian shifted his focus to their pursuers. The Axis ships gleamed sleek and menacing. They weren’t just trying to disable Kaelen’s ship—they were trying to destroy it. No prisoners, only ash.

The ship plunged into the Vypex Belt, weaving between hulking asteroids that tumbled and spun in bizarrely mesmerizing trajectories. The viewport filled with impervious shards of rock and metal, each one a potential death sentence. Kaelen gripped the controls with a steadfast intensity, his usually sarcastic bravado subdued by the precision required to navigate the chaos swirling around them.

“Hold steady,” Cyprian barked, though his own claws dug into the edges of the console. His wings pressed back againstthe chair, every muscle in his body coiled tight as Kaelen’s craft narrowly slipped between two grinding boulders.

“Steady is for amateurs,” came Kaelen’s irritatingly collected reply. He pitched the ship with what looked like reckless abandon, skimming the jagged underside of an asteroid. “This is art.”

“This is insanity,” Fivra muttered from behind them.

Kaelen turned into a sharp roll that tilted the entire cabin enough to make Fivra gasp. “The best art comes with a little danger, doesn’t it?”

Cyprian growled low in his throat. “I’d rather not rely on your ‘art’ to keep us alive, Kaelen.”

A whistle came from Kaelen as he banked the ship hard to avoid a cluster of smaller debris. “Shields are down to twenty percent and the right thruster’s barely hanging on.”

Cyprian glanced at the darkened edges of his own console. No power rerouting would save them now if the Axis dared to follow suit through the asteroids. The ship violently shook as a piece of debris clipped the hull, setting the emergency alert lights into a chaotic pulse of red.

“The field is dense enough to throw off their targeting scanners,” Kaelen continued. “But I have a theory about how they tracked us.”

Cyprian kept his gaze locked on the viewport. “Care to enlighten us?”

Kaelen pulled a tight turn. The ship vibrated dangerously under the strain. “They’re trackingyou,” he said. “When I scan you, I’m sure I’ll find an implant.”

“Fek,” Cyprian growled. He was still working through the whole “prisoner” part, replaying his life for evidence that this was true.

Fivra craned her neck to glance at the console that displayed the Axis ships. Her voice was urgent. “Are they still following?”

“For now.” Kaelen jerked the controls again. “But we’re gaining space. The debris is slowing them down.”

The metal groan from the ship’s frame grated on Cyprian’s nerves. “This ship will not hold together much longer.”

“We’re close,” Kaelen said, his voice tighter now, all pretense of levity gone. His clawed hands moved over the controls with surgical precision. Ahead of them, a dark crescent on the navigation map glimmered faintly. “There. That’s our moon.”

The ship’s thrusters sputtered as Kaelen pushed them harder, weaving through the last stretch of the asteroid field with a reckless grace that bordered on miraculous. The moon loomed ahead. Craters of varying sizes scarred its unremarkable surface, casting long shadows across the terrain. Gaping scars of black rock swallowed the harsh light from the nearby star, shrouding sections of the surface in a cloak of impenetrable darkness.

“We’re heading into that big crater—dead ahead,” Kaelen announced. He tilted the controls, sending the ship into a steep dive just as a rogue fragment of rock tumbled dangerously close to their tail.

The ship made unpleasant noises as its hull strained, going from space to the moon’s gravity. “We’re going in fast, but we’ll land. Probably.”

Cyprian shot him a glare. “That’s not comforting, Kaelen.”

“Good, because I wasn’t trying to be.” Kaelen’s grin was sharp, though his gold eyes were bright. Kaelen cut the thrust in one engine and engaged the landing stabilizers. Sparks flew from the console as Kaelen slapped a large switch on his right. “Brace for impact!” he yelled.

The ship plummeted into the yawning crater. Its underbelly skimming the jagged ground in a cascade of sparks and grinding metal. A deafening roar filled the cabin as they finally skidded to a halt. The craft settled deep into the shadowy depths of themoon’s surface. Silence followed, broken only by the faint hiss of cooling systems and the groaning protests of the ship’s stressed framework.

“Well, we made it.” Kaelen rubbed a hand over his face.

“Not quite.” Cyprian’s blood ran cold as dragon fire burned in his throat. “They’re still coming.”

EIGHTEEN

Cyprian

Cyprian stood at the air lock of Kaelen’s battered ship. The faint hiss of cooling systems and the low whine of engine distress faded behind him. According to exterior readings, the moon’s atmosphere was cold and biting. Above them, the crater walls rose steeply. The vast expanse of barren rock stretched out before him, illuminated only by the glow of the distant star.

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