Genesis 2.0 (Monster Apocalypse Survival) Sci-Fi/DarkFan/Horror

Chapter thirty-seven

We barely have time to touch down before both Joe and Aeriel advance on us. 

“Are you alright?” Joe asks and the true concern in his eyes touches me. I nod, not trusting myself to speak. I’ve been bawling like a baby for a while now, I don’t want to start up again. 

“She’s alright,” Daniel answers for me and I catch the quick shift of Joe’s eyes as his gaze bounces between me and my guardian. 

He’s not happy about us, but he won’t interfere. It’s my choice to make.

Daniel’s thoughts rush through my mind and send little shivers of delight throughout my entire body. His words increase my worry, I don’t want to think about what he’s sacrificing for me, I don’t want to think about anything that includes him suffering. 

I’ve made my decision, stop worrying; all will be as it should. 

Aeriel shifts her hand to the sword at her side and I inhale sharply. The furious gleam in her eyes says she’s about to attack me. I raise my own arm and conjure Ember. The moment that cold steel appears in my hand, my skin erupts in a fiery inferno. It’s like someone has poured gasoline all over me and then tossed a lit match at me. 

The heat engulfs me. My back arches at an insane angle, and I expect to hear bones snapping and breaking at any moment.

Pushing the panic down, I chance a glance at Aeriel, hoping she isn’t about to attack me, as I’m totally at her mercy now, but instead, I see that she, Joe, and Daniel are engaged in a bloody battle of their own. 

Scorpions the size of Shetland ponies converge on us, coming from every direction. They climb the sides of the rocky cliffs, emerge from the large cracks beneath our feet, and creep through the sides of the mountain side.  

I’m immobile. I can’t even blink. Ember’s hilt burns in my grip, but I can’t do anything but watch as the over-sized insects attack my friends. Thunderous cracks echo as their stingers dive for the angels, yet hit the ground when the warriors dodge out of the way. 

Let me go! I mentally scream at Ember, knowing she can hear me. “If something happens to any one of them, I will melt you down into a piss bucket, I swear by all that’s holy.”

Although no response comes, the hold over my body shatters and my feet hit the ground, jarring my ankles and knees. Realizing I’d been farther off the ground than I’d thought, I shook off the tingling pain and rush forward to join the fray. 

I rush toward the one facing Daniel and swing at the base of its tail just as it’s poised to strike. A high-pitch squeal pierces my ears and the creature turns on me. It’s then I realize that their stingers aren’t the only weapon they have. Large, crab-like pincher claws thrust toward me at an insane speed. My human eyes could never have seen it coming. But with Ember guiding my hand, I swing to my right, severing that claw, and then pitch my body into a front-flip roll, heading under the left as that one comes at me. 

“Andrea!” Daniel shouts, but I’m too busy dodging multiple insect legs to pay him much attention. Spiders aren’t the only insects that have eight legs, so do scorpions, and at their size, their legs are larger than Joe.

Plumes of dust kick up each time a leg misses skewering me and it isn’t long before I can’t see much. Panic kicks in, but is suddenly squished and my entire body fills with the same fire I’d felt only moments ago. 

Let me feed you the power you need. Ember whispers seductively. I promised to help you as long as you and I are together. You’ve kept your end of the bargain, allow me to keep mine. 

“Don’t do it!” Daniel roars and his voice is closer than it’d been moments ago. “Don’t give in!”

But honestly, what choice do I have?
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