Page 3 of The First Spark (Dynasty of Fire #1)

Kalie didn’t think she was breathing.

Three of her armored ships shot forward to engage Carik’s fleet, but they were mere frigates against a fleet with a destroyer. Red lasers roared between the two fleets. Orange explosions dotted the dark canvas of space as warplanes burst into flames.

Ariah barked orders at the officers. The sea of shouts and curses drowned her out.

Sweat dripped down Kalie’s face. They were outnumbered and outflanked. The Federation fleet had superior firepower. There was no way out. They were going to die here.

She took a deep breath, but it didn’t go into her lungs. Pain pierced her palms as her nails dug into her skin. She needed a plan. She couldn’t panic. She needed to think, but there was no point. They were going to die, and there was no one to save them?—

Mother .

Kalie whirled on the bridge. “Call Etov for backup!”

Father could send a fleet. Etov was close, and if his fleets mobilized immediately, if they pushed their thrusters to maximum power…

“Dammit, they’ve jammed our outbound signals!”

Kalie choked on a cry. No one was coming.

A flash of light tore through space, blinding her. When her vision cleared, one of her frigates was gone, replaced by a cloud of smoke and flames.

“No!”

She lunged at the viewport, but Ariah caught her shoulder. “We need to go. There’s an escape pod waiting.”

“I’m not… I can’t…” The world spun around her, racing past in flashes of color.

An explosion thundered, tearing her out of the trance.

“I’m not leaving.”

Escape pods drifted around the ruined frigate. Red lasers pummeled them, and the gray capsules splintered into pieces.

This wasn’t real. This was a dream. She’d fallen asleep in her suite, and she was going to wake up any second. Kalie pinched her arm.

Her skin stung. It wasn’t a dream.

“Your Highness!”

The bridge officer ran up to Ariah, panting. “We just received a transmission from Dali.”

Kalie’s heart pounded in her ears, drowning out the shouts surrounding her.

The officer’s face was too bleak. His eyes were empty.

That terrifying click replayed again, and Kalie’s throat sealed shut.

She wanted to turn away, to hide, to flee.

If she didn’t ask, if she didn’t speak, she’d never have to face the truth.

Tears pricked her eyes. She sucked in a shallow breath.

“Aunt Calida?”

His throat bobbed, and pressure built on Kalie’s chest.

He shook his head.

All the voices, the cries of the soldiers, the jolting of the ship, fell out of focus and were replaced by a ringing so loud that Kalie’s legs went out. Her shins slammed into the cold metal floor. Tears burned her cheeks as she clutched at her hair .

Aunt Calida, who’d held her and rocked her as a baby, who’d bandaged her skinned up knees, who’d rubbed her back and listened to her cry after vicious arguments with Mother. Aunt Calida, who had been alive only minutes ago, who would’ve been standing on the podium with Lexie during Marcus’s speech…

Aunt Calida, dead.

Ariah’s voice cracked. “And Lexie?”

With her heart in her throat, she dared to look up.

The bridge officer shook his head.

“No!” Kalie howled. She lunged to her feet and grabbed his uniform, shaking him. “No! You’re lying! She’s alive! I’d know if she was?—”

She released his uniform, choking on a sob, and crumpled to the floor. Lexie. Beautiful, precious, innocent little Lexie. Her cousin, her sister. The girl with the widest smile and the kindest heart, who wrote stories about dragons and princessas.

But her little cousin would never find out what she thought of her latest story. She’d rushed her off the call, and now she was dead.

“Marcus?” Ariah whispered.

Kalie didn’t need to look up. He was dead too.

They were all dead.

“They said it was a bombing?—”

The ship lurched, throwing her across the floor. Her chin smashed into steel, ramming her teeth into her tongue. The coppery tang of blood seeped into her mouth as pain shot through her skull, into her bones. Her tears fell harder, faster. She slammed her palm against the metal floor.

Hands gripped her shoulders. Ariah’s face was inches from hers, and tears glistened on her cheeks.

“We need to get out of here.”

Kalie shook her head. Her family was dead.

Carik could destroy this fleet, too. What did it matter?

Aunt Calida and Lexie had joined Uncle Jacyn in Azura’s heavens, and she’d follow them.

She rolled onto her stomach and stared at the carnage beyond the viewport.

Her frigates were gone. Red lasers shrieked towards her flagship.

Come and get me. I’m all yours .

“Dammit, Kal! Don’t you understand? The throne…”

Kalie’s chest heaved as she glared at her. The throne ? That was what Ariah was worried about? She didn’t give a damn about the throne, it wasn’t her responsibility?—

Her heart slammed to a halt.

Lexie was the heir. And after her…

Kalie’s eyes widened.

The throne . Oh, holy gods.

As she stared at the rivets in the metal catwalk, listening to her pulse thump in her ears, she was vaguely aware of Ariah shouting— lying —that they’d used cybermods to morph into each other and switch places.

Guards protested, but Ariah snatched a pulser and barked that getting the Duchissa out had to be the first priority.

Duchissa. Holy Mother Azura, Duchissa .

She must’ve stumbled to her feet, or Ariah pulled her up, because the next thing she was aware of was the hallway’s blinding light. Ariah ran at her side, her gown flowing. Her Azurian Guards surrounded them. Captain Reg led at the front, with his scarred lieutenant on his right.

They were running, but she hardly noticed. Her whole body was numb and cold.

Something boomed, and the impact launched Kalie off her feet.

She hit the wall hard. Pain rattled through her skull; her chin throbbed, and her eyes pulsed as the world swam in a dizzying mirage.

The lights shorted out. Bone snapped with a sickening crunch, and something limp landed on Kalie’s shoulder.

Cool liquid seeped into the sleeve of her shirt.

As the lights flickered on, she shrieked.

Her lieutenant’s head was busted open, his neck snapped. His lifeless eyes stared past her.

Blood covered the man’s scarred head. The crimson spatter was far, far too dark against his skin. Droplets gleamed on the sparkling walls, streaking down the cream-colored paint in rivers of red.

Kalie shoved the body aside and crawled away. She gasped for air, but nothing came. The stench of something burning mixed with the sharp, metallic scent of blood. Gods, oh gods …

A pair of strong hands wrapped under her arms and hauled her to her feet. Captain Reg. He snapped his fingers, and Ariah hurried to his side. Her arm looped under Kalie’s. Smears of blood coated her face and soaked her silky gown.

The Captain’s lips moved. The buzzing in her ears drowned out his voice.

A few more stragglers pulled themselves to their feet, but bodies lined the floor. Too many bodies, too much blood. The woman who’d been running at her side was now a broken corpse on the floor.

Nausea roiled in Kalie’s stomach.

Reg was still speaking. She caught the words hangar bay , but nothing else made sense. Nothing would ever make sense again.

Pulsers shrieked, tinny wails that would haunt her nightmares. Screams rang out, and something thudded against the closed doors of the hangar bay.

A hand brushed against her cheek. Sweat coated Ariah’s face. “Don’t be afraid, Kal. We’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

Every word was distorted, flickering in and out, but Ariah’s grim expression broke her daze. She dug her fingers into Ariah’s shoulders.

“You’re coming with me, right?”

Their eyes met, and there was something in Ariah’s expression, something she couldn’t put a finger on. Ariah opened her arms. Kalie hugged her, holding on tight. She wanted to freeze this moment in time forever, so she’d never have to let go, never have to face what waited for them.

“I love you,” Ariah whispered. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “May Azura bless you.”

They started moving, which didn’t make sense. Why were they going towards the explosions? And why hadn’t Ariah answered her? She had to come with her. She had to.

From crib to crypt. If she made it out of this, so would Ariah.

The door slammed open. A body flew out, striking the ground a few steps away. Ariah pushed her aside and fired into the room.

Kalie stumbled forward.

Her guards stormed ahead of her, and another body landed at her feet. Flashes of red light filled the hangar. Captain Reg roared as he crumpled, clutching his side.

Ariah tugged her away from the battle, away from her troops, towards the pods on the far wall.

Black armor. Red lasers. Smoke burned her nostrils as an explosion boomed. A ship went up in flames. Screams rang out everywhere, echoing in her ears. Oh, gods, had Lexie screamed like that? A bombing, they’d said…

“Kal!”

She stumbled aside as Ariah spun and fired. Soldiers in black armor stormed towards them.

Tears streamed down Kalie’s cheeks as she raised her chin and stared at the charging forces.

If this was the end, she would not be afraid.

She would not falter, would not run. She was a descendant of Queen Azura, and when those blasts hit her and her soul slipped away, she and Ariah would appear before the goddess together. In these last moments, she’d be strong.

Ariah fired once, twice, three times. Each shot felled a legionnaire.

Then Ariah pushed her away, which made no sense. Together. They would face this together.

“Go!”

The cry jolted her back to reality.

It wasn’t over yet. If she could get to an escape pod, Ariah would be right behind her. She could save both of them. She would save both of them.

So she ran.

Pulsers shrieked in Kalie’s ears as she sprinted for the pods, not daring to pause even as explosions boomed behind her. She pounded on the codebox. A hatch slid open, and she leapt inside, glancing over her shoulder.

Ariah looked back. Time froze between them as their gazes held, and an eternity passed in that moment—an eternity of laughter and love. Muted pulser shots sounded in the distance. They were so close. Any second, Ariah would be in the pod with her.

The spell snapped, and time careened forward at an impossible speed .

A barrage of red bolts raced towards Ariah.

The blasts tore through her chest.

As Ariah crumpled to the floor, Kalie screamed.

No , that couldn’t have happened, surely it didn’t— no, no, no ?—

The pulsers turned on her.

Everything in her burned to go to Ariah—she’d save her or die alongside her—but she had no weapons, and the red bolts were streaking towards her.

She braced herself, staring into the barrel of a distant pulser.

Beyond the approaching horde lay Ariah’s broken body, and she only regretted that she couldn’t be there to hold Ariah’s hand when they shot her down.

They would be together. Crib to crypt. Just a few more seconds, and she’d be standing at her side…

The hatch slid shut.

Her eyes flew wide as the pod jolted away. Her hand—her stupid, cowardly hand—hovered above the detach button. Kalie sank to her knees and screamed, slamming her fists against the sealed metal hatch. She wanted to go back, to join Ariah.

But though she screamed and screamed, and pounded her fists against the panel until blood ran down her knuckles, Ariah was gone.