The radiation was getting pretty intense. Usually Lucifer wouldn't have a problem with radiation, even when directly in front of a sun, but this star put out something very weird.
The closer she got, the weirder it became. It did not feel like normal radiation that just flowed through her, or got absorbed as heat. Not did it attack her cells in any way.
No, it seemed to be actively helping different cells. Usually Lucifer would have enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with different types of radiation, but she was currently occupied with dodging asteroids.
"I'm just going to play it safe Marble" she vocalized and continued to burn the parts of her flesh that were changed by the strange radiation.
Lucifer and her now best friend Marble, were currently in an asteroid field. Previously Lucifer had noticed that the asteroids around her grew bigger the closer she got to the sun, but now she had figured out why that was.
Currently she was hurtling towards a gigantic planet, with two different sets of rings around it.
It was about as big as Jupiter, but seemed to be in the habitable zone. She hadn't crossed or felt the pull of any other planets on her journey towards the sun, which meant that she would land on this planet. Lucifer wasn't keen on missing this opportunity. It could certainly be the only planet in this system, which while rare wasn't unheard of.
Problems arose one after the other the closer she got. Normal asteroid belts had areas with higher and lower density. This area outside of the planet was absolutely littered with chunks large enough to stand on. It was also covered in an uncountable amount of small pieces of ice.
These pieces of ice would get caught on Lucifer's form, and sapp heat from her body as the ice melted. Usually she would just flare her flames once, and the area around her was cleared of ice particles. The problem was, that each time she used her fire, she lost kinetic energy.
But in Lucifer's personal opinion, the biggest problem was Marble.
"If there are people on there, they are going to look at me like an idiot for calling you Marble. We should really look for a new name for you"
Feeling the giant ball of volcanic glass' displeasure, Lucifer wisely decided to shut up.
Marble had grown larger and larger on her way to the planet, as every time he bumped into another piece of rock she would add it's mass to marble. Currently the perfect sphere of volcanic glass had a diameter of about 2.5 meters. It's weight on the other hand, was something Lucifer could no longer estimate. At some point the ball had simply slowed it's growth. Not due to the normal physics that factored into it's mass, it seemed to just grow more and more dense.
Lucifer would have been concerned, if not for the fact that it grew easier to manipulate it's kinetic energy the denser it became.
This new development came in quite handy, as the closer she got to the massive planet, the denser the surrounding asteroids became. Being directly inside the planet's rings did not help. Using the ability to store kinetic energy inside of Marble, Lucifer flew between building sized asteroids at a breakneck speed. Sometimes she would absorb the entirety of her kinetic energy to come to a full stop on the surface of one of the asteroids, take a moment to orient herself, and use the stored energy to catapult herself closer to the planet.
Once she almost got caught in the gravitational pull of one of the planet's moons, but by that point, manipulating kinetic energy was easy enough to not be caught in it's pull. She just had to be a bit more cognizant of her surroundings.
Now though, Lucifer had a problem.
She stood on a car sized asteroid, looking directly at the planet. Lucifer had reached the end of the planet's rings, and was once again greeted by the void of space. She had almost jumped further, before she noticed that there were no more asteroids to bounce off of.
"Okay Marble. This is it. One more jump, and we're on course to land on the planet. No pressure. I just have to find the proper angle and we can be off"
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Lucifer played it cool for her spherical companion, but inside she was panicking. Centuries spent in total isolation, and she had dreamt of this moment countless times. She had played it out in her head, how she would touch down on a planet and settle down. Now that she stood at the precipice, it was a lot more intimidating.
Yes she had jumped larger distances between individual asteroids, but this was a planet. What if she made a mistake and flew into the sun? What if she slipped off the asteroid she was standing on, putting herself into a perfect orbit with no way to catch a nearby asteroid, spending an eternity caught just out of reach of salvation?
Lucifer knew that these fears were irrational, but still she could not help but worry.
Looking at the glass sphere floating beside her, Lucifer spoke "How about we just stay here Marble? I know it's not much, but maybe we can find you a nice asteroid wife, and we settle down in this ring?"
An uncharacteristically strong feeling of derision radiated off the sphere, and so Lucifer hastily added "Maybe an asteroid husband?"
The feeling of derision only grew stronger as Lucifer continued.
"Okay I know, I'm scared. Happy? I'm just nervous about taking the last step."
The rock no longer broadcasted the feeling of derision, and now radiated a feeling of pride and assurance.
"Okay Marble you convinced me"
Once again Lucifer mimicked the movements of taking a deep breath. Her muscles flexed as her ribcage inflated. Like a preflight check, she flexed and relaxed each muscle group she had conscious control over, before going into a series of stretches.
The longer she stretched, the more she felt Marble broadcast a feeling of impatience.
"Okay okay. I know I'm stalling, don't have to be so grumpy about it"
Lucifer took another deep breath and then everything came to a halt.
Every tiny movement in a large sphere around her came to an absolute stop. If it was possible, the ambient temperature in the sphere would have dropped a considerable amount.
From the tiniest particle to the building sized asteroids, came to a dead stop, as Lucifer absorbed every bit of kinetic energy in her perception.
The formally small area had grown to ridiculous proportions over the time she had spent in the asteroid belt.
She could stretch her perception out to about 5 kilometers, and everything in that area became still.
Lucifer lowered herself, bending her knees while keeping her muscles coiled like springs. Using a bit of kinetic energy to stabilize the rock she stood on, she fell into a familiar trance.
Over a few moments spent in the absolute stillness around her, Lucifer absorbed kinetic energy in amounts she had never done before. As the energy flowed through her, it ripped through the channels in her body, not quite breaking them, but it was still incredibly distracting.
It took an incredible amount of concentration for Lucifer to keep the energy in check, so it did not rip her body apart. Still, Lucifer was scared. The amount of energy she held in her body right now might be enough, but she felt that she could go further.
Even though the asteroids around her were as still as they could be, Lucifer could still feel untapped energy in them.
And so, with a flex of her willpower, and a visualization of breathing in, she sucked the potential energy out of her surroundings.
Instantly the light of the sun, that had until now reflected off the surrounding asteroids, grew dim in a 5 kilometers radius around Lucifer. While it looked as if the sun was setting, the asteroids surrounding Lucifer started to disintegrate. It started with the tiniest of flecks of ice, slowly but surely working itself up to pebbles, then boulders and then even the largest asteroids.
Lucifer at that point no longer perceived her surroundings. The only thing spared around her was the rock she stood on and Marble, while the area around her disintegrated.
With the disintegration of her surroundings came an incredible influx of energy, which she had no way of controlling. The moment the first bit of energy was absorbed into her channels, she knew that she had to act now, or she would rip herself apart.
With a whispered "Let's go" Lucifer split her focus three ways. One part channels the energy she had already absorbed, and a large part of her heat to her legs. Suffusing every fiber of muscle, and blasting flames from the soles of her feet. Another part of her mind, channeled half of the uncontrollable amount of potential energy, outside of her body. Since she could not absorb it Into her body, she could barely control it outside of her body, managing to barely give it direction. The last part of her focus, went into channeling the other half of the energy into the asteroid she was standing on, to act as a counterweight to her jump.
For an instant, Lucifer was a beacon of almost pure energy as she barely managed to corral incredible amounts of force.
The next instance Lucifer shot forward at speeds she had never before reached. The kinetic energy left her body in a violent explosion of force, pulverizing the asteroid she had stood on, but not before she managed to use it to shoot herself forward. Now on course to the planet's surface, Lucifer allowed herself to relax.
The moment she noticed that she had done it, incredible pain lanced through her body.
Craning her neck, she looked down at her body, growing nauseous at the sight of her legs.
From below the knee, all that was left of her legs were strands of muscle and shattered bone. Her feet were entirely gone, likely vaporized along with the asteroid she had stood on.
It had been a subjective eternity since she had last been wounded that bad, and to have been injured due to her own actions, made the pain feel thousands of times worse.
Luckily, as long as it wasn't her soul, she could heal from any injury. She would have already started regenerating, if she had not used all of her stored energy to add to her jump.
Cringing, Lucifer looked back at the rapidly approaching planet, trying to concentrate on something else, only to notice the asteroid that was on collision course with her face, a moment too late.
Before she had a moment to react, Lucifer was knocked unconscious as the baseball sized asteroid smashed into her head.
—-------------------------
All over the continent of Eogera beings looked to the darkening night sky, to see a trail of fire as something entered their planet's atmosphere.
Kings asked for their astrologists, hoping that it would not crash anywhere in their kingdoms.
Lovers sat together on benches, hand in hand, looking on in wonder as a shooting star raced through the atmosphere. Cherishing the moment fore years
Grazing animals looked at the sky uncomprehending at the bright light in the evening sky.
Those of a more magica persuasion, felt instead terror.
Well read magicians remembered ancient tomes, of enemies that came from beyond the stars.
Diviners felt the future grow cloudy as their visions started smoldering at the edges.
Ancient demons felt the upheaval of fate, and made for the mortal world.
Angels felt a being so incredibly holy, they instantly grew jealous.
Gods felt fear for the first time in eons, as the fire of their extinction grew near.
And somewhere deep inside a singular mountain, an ancient crimson dragon awoke from its slumber.