Page 37 of Chosen By the Dragon Alien

Whatever he was going to say was drowned out by Cyprian’s thunderous roar. The sound tore over the ground. Frosted debris rattled like shards of glass. The guards stumbled. Their disciplined formation broke as their weapons wavered in their hands.

The first of Cyprian’s heavy strides toward Xryvos cracked the ground beneath him. Ash and steam billowed around his enormous claws. His dragon eyes locked onto the Axis inspector with a singular purpose. He was no longer confined in a civilized form. His dragon fire threatened to consume everything in its path.

“Run,” one of the guards whispered, his voice cracked with panic.

And with that single, broken word, chaos erupted.

The Axis guards opened fire. Their plasma weapons charged and discharged in rapid succession. Bright streaks of blue energy sliced through the frozen air. Yet the volleys of light did little against Cyprian’s thick, fire-hardened scales.

He barely noticed the few bolts that struck true. Cyprian advanced, unflinching. Each step of his massive claws crushed rock and frost beneath their weight. His wings stretched wide, their crimson membranes illuminated with veins of flowing, molten fire. He inhaled deeply, the icy air hissing as it mixed with the searing heat radiating from his body. His chest expanded, a visual warning of what was coming.

Xryvos barked an order, sharp and tinged with fear. “Regroup! Do not break—”

Cyprian’s head snapped forward, and from his gaping maw erupted a stream of fire so fierce it turned the air to shimmering waves of heat. The inferno spread across the moon’s surface in a blinding arc, rolling over the Axis guards like an unstoppable tide. Plasma weaponry melted into slag and advanced armor designed to shield against extreme temperatures glowed red before crumpling under the onslaught.

Two of the soldiers collapsed, instantly melted into the roar of the flames. The others scrambled for cover, darting behind jagged outcroppings of rock that offered little refuge against Cyprian’s molten wrath. Xryvos staggered backward, his once-impeccable metallic form now twisted from heat and blackened with ash. He fell to the ground, finished. Cyprian didn’t know if he lived or died. The dragon’s only concern was eliminating the threat to his mate.

Cyprian’s flames receded, leaving trails of orange embers that floated ominously in the still air. The ground was scorched black. The frost evaporated, leaving behind steaming craters that hissed in protest. Cyprian raised his head and scanned theuneven battlefield with a chilling deliberation. There were still enemies hovering above. Deciding their next move, and there was little doubt what the Axis ships were planning to do.

Cyprian’s massive wings were damaged. He could feel the charred tears and rips as he unfurled them with a snap. They had to carry him, though. He had to fly. The glow of his molten scales dimmed slightly as he leaped into the frigid air. His claws left deep gouges in the ground as his powerful legs propelled him skyward. His tattered wings caught the faint, thin air of the moon’s atmosphere and carried him higher with each powerful beat. The crater and the remaining Axis soldiers below shrank rapidly as he climbed into the empty expanse above.

The Axis ships loomed ahead. Their sleek hulls cut shadowy silhouettes against the light. Cyprian’s dragon instincts flared. These ships had pursued him, pursued him through space and to this desolate moon, puttingherin danger.

They had dared to threaten his mate.

The furnace within him roared to life as he climbed higher. His wings beat with relentless determination. As he neared the first of the ships, its forward cannons turned toward him. The massive barrels glowing faintly with the energy charging within. This would not be the weak stream of a plasma weapon, but something much worse. Cyprian’s dragon fire burned hotter in his chest. The urge to destroy was overwhelming.

The ship’s shields shimmered into view, a translucent barrier of glowing energy that extended like a dome around the vessel. Cyprian didn’t hesitate. He reared back mid-flight. His massive form suspended as he inhaled deeply. Molten heat spiraled through his body. His chest expanded, his golden veins glowing brightly as he summoned the inferno within.

And then he unleashed it.

A torrent of flame erupted from his jaws. The blinding light cast the sleek, dark hull of the ship into stark relief. Fireslammed into the shield, spreading over it like liquid sunlight. Heat distorted the atmosphere. It warped the light around the barrier, making it ripple under the force of his attack.

The barrier held—for now. Its luminescence flickered and pulsed under the assault, straining against his power. Cyprian could see the edges of the shield darkening, its glow dimming. But it wasn’t enough. The shield’s energy stabilized. Its flickering light solidified into a powerful barrier once again. It was as if the Axis had engineered these protective fields to combathisflames. After losing a penal colony to another Zaruxian, perhaps they had modified their ships to withstand his fire.

Cyprian roared in frustration. He banked sharply, thankful that his wings were holding together, despite the air whistling through the gashes. His wings sliced through the frigid air as he evaded a retaliatory volley of plasma fire from the ship’s cannons. Bright streaks of energy cut through the darkness, each one narrowly missing him as he twisted and turned with agility, despite his size.

The second ship joined the fray. Its weapons charged with a low hum that resonated ominously through the atmosphere. Cyprian turned his attention to it. His dragon fire still burned hot within him, but his dragon mind raced. He couldn’t break through the shields alone and the ships were adapting to his attacks. Their movements were more calculated. Their volleys were more precise.

He roared again, this time not out of fury but from sheer determination. He wouldn’t let them win. His mate was down there, on that barren moon, counting on him to keep her safe. He wouldn’t fail her. He couldn’t.

Diving toward the second ship, Cyprian flew to the left and unleashed another stream of fire. This time, he aimed not at the center of the shield but at its edge, where the energy fieldflickered faintly. The flames burned there, and for a fleeting moment, the shield shimmered as if struggling to recalibrate. But the ship adjusted, reinforcing its defenses with a surge of power that repelled his attack.

Above him, the lead ship—smaller but more intricately designed—had repositioned. Its cannons charged not with plasma but with a slow, steady buildup of energy. Cyprian could feel the shift in the air. It was a crackling tension that was unmistakable. They were preparing something stronger. Something designed not just to repel him, but to obliterate him.

He couldn’t give them the chance to fire. With a powerful beat of his injured wings, he climbed higher. From this vantage point, the barren moon below seemed impossibly small. Its craters and shadows were reduced to mere patterns against a backdrop of gray. But Fivra was down there—waiting for him. The thought ignited a fury inside him that was almost impossible to contain. He wasn’t just fighting for himself. He was fighting for Fivra. Forhersurvival. For the fragile but unbreakable bond that now tethered them together.

The smaller, lead ship pulsed as its weapon reached full charge. Cyprian’s sharp silver eyes locked onto it, and in that instant, he made his decision. He hurtled toward the ship like a living comet, crimson wings tucked tight against his body as he arrowed straight for the energy source. His dragon rage burned hot and fierce, but even through the primal storm, his mind remained calculated. The Axis had underestimated him. He would make them regret it.

Suddenly, an explosion sent fragments of molten metal flying everywhere. Fear spiked through Cyprian as the brilliant flash of light exploded from the lead Axis ship. He faltered, fighting to stay aloft as a shockwave rippled through the air, upending his tenuous flight. Stunned, he scanned the scene. Where theformidable Axis ship once hovered, there was now nothing but smoke and scattered debris.

And then he saw it—a strange, angular ship emerging from the wreckage. Its black hull shimmered as it cut through the haze. It was unlike anything Cyprian had ever seen. Its design was both elegant and ominous, with long, jagged lines that gave it a predatory grace. Cyprian felt the heat of the ship’s energy radiating outward, powerful and unfamiliar. Whoever piloted this vessel was immensely skilled—or infinitely reckless.

The new arrival wasted no time. It surged forward, moving through the chaos with deadly precision, its weapon systems already back online. Twin beams of concentrated energy spiraled from its weapon bays, lashing out at the nearest Axis vessel. The translucent barrier around the Axis ship crackled as the new ship’s barrage slammed into its shield, sending ripples of energy cascading outward. Unlike Cyprian’s flames, however,thisenergy broke through. The Axis shields flickered, dimmed, and finally collapsed.

Cyprian’s dragon instincts flared as he worked hard to remain in place, suspended between shock and determination. This new ship had come to his aid, but who commanded it? He let out a roar. He wasn’t sure if they’d heard, but it didn’t matter. Whoever these beings were, they shared his goal—to destroy the Axis fools who had dared to follow him here.

Another Axis ship rotated sharply, turning its focus toward the intruder. Its cannons hummed as they released a volley of plasma fire. The bolts streaked through space, each one a searing blue, but the strange ship was quicker. It banked sharply to the left. The plasma streaks narrowly missed it. The new vessel retaliated without hesitation, unleashing another barrage of energy beams that seared into the Axis ship’s hull, now that its shields had failed. Sparks and debris erupted from the point of impact. The Axis ship shuddered violently as its systemsfaltered. Smoke spilled from the gaping wound torn into its side as it slid on a trajectory toward the surface, in a free fall to its doom.

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