Page 71 of Scorching the Alien Empire
Dracoth
Legacy
“Follow,Dracoth.Ihavea gift for you.” Ignixis smiles faintly, beckoning with a wave of his withered, runic hand.
Annoyance twitches my eyes, but I follow him down the vast corridor of theRavager’s Ruin—a ship that, despite everything, still manages to surprise. Proud warriors—mywarriors—march in disciplined clusters, their long hair unkempt, their faces weathered and hard, their armor etched with the scars of countless battles.
It’s almost enough to quell the gnawing unease, the loathsome trepidation that coils in my gut like a venomous wyrm, devouring my thoughts with insatiable hunger.
The Crucible, my destiny.
Beyond these walls, the unending horde of Scythian machines swarming like carrion insects feasting on a rotting corpse. It reeks of a trap, one long set, now poised to spring.
“I’ve no need of gifts,” I growl, impatience bleeding through.
Ignixis merely waves off my words, glancing over his shoulder. In the dim purple glow, his green eyes gleam with amusement.
“Don’t dismiss what you do not know.”
Cryptic and useless. As expected from the old gas-cloud.
I suppress a groan, boots striking the sleek marble floor with each measured step. The steady hum of the ship’s engines and the crisp, filtered air offer some solace—until we pass the viewports.
Beyond the glass, the void pulses with eerie green light, veins of sickly energy snaking through the blackness like an infection. It seeps into the ship, intome, corrupting everything it touches. My instincts scream to carve it out, toburnit from existence. But to sever that power now would be like amputating a limb—leaving me diminished, useless, my destiny forever out of reach.
Countless Seeker drones dart past the viewport, weaving with unnerving precision and speed through the lattice of green energy beams. Numerous hulking Voidbanes linger in the abyss, vast and inert as a granite tombstone, each one a silent watcher. But their plasma cannons remain trained onRavager’s Ruin—a reminder, a warning.
Perhaps it’s already too late—an illusion of choice.
Serve or die.
Is that my glorious destiny? Caged like a whippedsnarlbroc, shackled to another’s will?Is this what my father chose?Did fear drive him, or the promise of glory—a sinkhole disguising itself as something greater?
My fingers curl into fists. My gaze locks onto Ignixis’s robed back. A sudden, violent impulse surges through me. He led me here. Into this trap.
Thisdoommasquerading as destiny.
But I am theshorthairWar Chieftain, once shamed by Krogoth’s arrogance. I will not submit. Not again. No matter the cost.
“Ah, here we are.” Ignixis’s voice cuts through my thoughts, his tone light, almost mocking. “I would be amiss to pass up this opportunity.”
The door hisses open.
The acrid scent ofbloodrootslams into me, scorching my lungs with its familiar, intoxicating heat. Inside, consoles hum softly, each screen displaying a lone glowing rune. Metal desks and drawers overflow with vials, samples, and tools, an alchemist’s playground. On the marble floor, the remnants of a brazier smolder, wisps of green-gray smoke curling toward the ceiling.
Then, I see it.
In the shadows, a towering suit of armor looms—black as the abyss, forged fromarcweaveplates so dense they seem to devour the light around them.
“Your father’s armor,” Ignixis murmurs, suddenly at my ear, his breath cold against my skin. “War Chieftain Gorexius’s legacy.”
A slow grin stretches across his rune-etched face, his fangs yellowed, his eyes alight with self-satisfaction. “At this historic moment, why not indulge in a little poetic irony?” Like liquid shadow, he glides toward the armor, his tone shifting from mirth to venom.
Awe ignites in my chest. My feet move on their own.
The black plates are edged in blood-red alloy, the borders glowing faintly—as if infused with the lifeblood of my father’s enemies. Embedded within the surface, flecks of rubies, citrines, and red diamonds glimmer like distant stars, catching the dim purple light.
Ignixis watches me with twisted amusement, practically clinging to the armor like the universe’s most horrific model.
