Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign (Worlds of the Crystal Moon, Book 1) (8 page)

As if the boys shared the same brain, both men replied, “Suit yourself.”

Shalee was flabbergasted. After a minute of standing alone, she ran to catch up. “Wait y’all! You can’t just leave a lady standing in the middle of nowhere! I look cute in these PJs! You don’t find bunny slippers this fab every day, you know. What if some crazy person saw me and got a naughty idea?”

George thought to himself as he watched Shalee approach.
Some guy has already got a naughty idea. No worries about that.

Sam chided, “I was wondering how long it would take before you caught up. I would hate to go on without you. I need protection,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Shalee gave Sam a look to kill. “Oh ... so you’re a funny guy.” It was obvious he could take care of himself. Despite her irritation, she was impressed with his body, and if she had not been so unnerved, she might have found the time to realize this fact. She may have even found the desire to touch him. His brown hair and his soft, brown eyes were exactly her type.

“Can we stay together from now on?” George said in a harsh tone. “This isn’t my idea of fun, so the less we have to think about, the better. Please, no more thinking for you, woman.”

Sam ignored George’s comment and brushed past the jerk as he continued toward the statue. Shalee, on the other hand, gave George the finger and stayed on Sam’s heels.

“Women … drama … emotions,” George sneered, rolling his eyes.

With the trio now standing in front of a bronze statue, they looked it over. It was tall and had incredible detail. The being was a man, no more than six feet tall, but when combined with the base of the statue beneath his feet, it put him another five feet off the floor. He held a staff in his right hand with an orb resting at its top, and he was using the staff as a walking stick.

The skin between Shalee’s eyes wrinkled as she studied the staff.
That looks like the staff from my dreams. What the heck is going on here?
she thought.

On the man’s left hip hung a long sword meant for one hand, and it had been belted around the outside of his robe. A hood extended up and over the top of the man’s head and stopped just above his eyes. Beneath the shadow cast by the hood, a scar ran across his right eye and ended near the corner of his mouth, but the cut creating the scar had not penetrated deep enough to injure the eye.

His boots extended high on the calf and looked as if they would offer solid protection. The robe beneath his chin was parted halfway down his sternum, and a hint of chainmail could be seen, yet it was not clear how much of his upper body it covered.

Sam and Shalee both thought to themselves,
I’ve seen this guy before.
But neither verbalized it.

The group continued to circle. To the man’s right, tucked behind the staff, was a four-legged beast that looked like a wolf. The animal seemed peaceful, as if it was with its master. They all agreed the beast was larger than any wolf they had ever seen.

Across the man’s body was a cord that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip. It extended around to his back and was attached to a bow. The weapon looked worn, but battle worthy.

Sam stopped to ponder.

“What is it?” George questioned. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Sam murmured, “He looks familiar.”

“What? Speak up. You’re mumbling,” George snapped.

“I said, this guy looks familiar.”

When Shalee heard Sam say the man looked familiar, her anxiety returned.
Could this stranger have had the same dreams I did, or is this guy’s face just one of those that everyone feels they’ve seen before?
She brushed off the awkwardness.
One of the bachelors on TV did kind of have a face like that. It’s probably just a coincidence.

While Shalee was pondering, George responded to Sam. “How do you know this guy?”

Sam put his hand to his chin. “I don’t know that I know him, but there’s something about his face that I can’t put my finger on.”

“What about this place?” Shalee cut in. “Does it give you the same feeling?”

Sam took a long look around before he responded. “No … this place doesn’t ring a bell. I’m still at a loss. I’m sure I’ve never read anything about it. Let’s just keep moving.”

Shalee looked at George and frowned as the manipulator shrugged.

The group moved behind the statue and noticed a quiver of arrows in easy reach over the man’s right shoulder. The quiver was tucked close to the right side of his neck and angled toward his left hip.

Sitting on the base of the statue, near the man’s feet, was a round object that sat cradled on a golden dragon’s back. No larger than a basketball, the sphere had been formed from a gem or some type of crystal. It had a blue-white glow and a rough surface. As they looked closer, they noticed the object looked more like a small planet of some sort. More accurately, it seemed to resemble a moon more than it resembled a habitable world. Though it was clearly made of a different material than the rest of the statue, it blended.

The platform beneath the man’s feet was at least eight feet in diameter and had smooth edges. An inscription started at its top and circled around and around until it ended near the floor.

Shalee and George looked at the inscription and then at each other. Once again, George shrugged. Sam, on the other hand, found a starting point and circled the statue.

“What are you doing?” George queried.

“I’m reading,” Sam replied with an indignant roll of his eyes.

George shook his head. “What do you mean, you’re reading? You can understand the chicken scratch on this stupid thing?”

“There’s nothing stupid about it. It’s quite simple,” Sam retorted while laying his hands across the markings. “Every language has a pattern, and I recognize these symbols.” The doctor paused. “They’re just familiar.”

George slapped the top of his forehead. “Here we go again with the familiar thing. Are you some sort of freak?”

Sam laughed. “Like I’ve never heard that before.” He paused and refocused. “Okay, okay. Let’s take a closer look. This can’t be any harder than the 16 other languages I learned.”

“Holy crap, man! You know 16 languages?” George blurted. “I think you’re full of crap. I bet you can fart the alphabet, too. Where in the hell would you find time to learn them all?”

“My father made me learn them during my summer vacation when I was nine,” Sam answered, acting as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, as if anyone could do it. “But I haven’t mastered methane verbalization.”

George’s jaw dropped. “Okay, Sheldon.”

“Goodness-gracious,” Shalee added. “I love that show, George.” A moment later, she pointed at Sam. “Oh my, I know who you are! If memory serves me right, you’re the kid who was all over the news. I remember because we’ve got the same birthday. We’re both 23, right?”

Sam nodded. “Sure, if yours is April 3rd.”

A wide smile appeared on Shalee’s face. “How fun is this? It is April 3rd. I was impressed when I watched the news and learned how all your languages were self-taught. I remember thinking how lucky you were to be going into your last year of high school when I was nine. I didn’t even get through the fourth grade before you graduated. My teachers made quite the fuss about you. They talked about you all the time. They told us we could be just as smart as you if we applied ourselves.”

Shalee would have continued to ramble, but George interrupted. “Oh, shut up! So what ... he’s smart. Don’t get too excited, or you’ll have to swim your way out of here.”

At that, Sam turned. The fighter walked up to George and got in his face. “I don’t know who you are, nor do I care, but if you talk to her like that again when I’m around, I’ll have a few things to say about it … and I don’t mean verbally. Women are to be respected. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”

George threw his hands in the air and backed up. “I feel you, stud. I feel you. I’ll do a check-up from the neck up. Hell, I’ve got the same birthday as you do, too. I know who you are, Mr. High Society. Maybe I should jump on the Sam bandwagon, too.”

George turned and walked toward the doors and thought,
I remember the news. You’ve had everything handed to you on a silver platter, Mr. Smart, Rich Ass. Life has been a breeze for you. Try living a day in my shoes, you holier-than-thou freak.

Annoyed with George’s antics, Shalee turned to face Sam. “So … don’t you think it’s kind of cool we all have the same birthday? Weird, huh? I’m pretty sure I look younger than you though,” she added with a wink.

Sam studied Shalee’s face. “You do look young, but how could we possibly decipher if having the same date of birth is a coincidence?” He turned to face the statue.

Shalee paused to digest Sam’s response. “I suppose you’re right.” She watched as Sam started to move his fingers along the markings. “So what does it say? Is there anything I can do to help?” she questioned. “I’m fairly smart.”

With a low, calm voice, Sam responded. “Unless you have a pen and a piece of paper, I’m going to have to figure this one out on my own. I need to study the patterns. I’ve seen many of these markings in my dreams. It’s as if it’s a language I’ve already learned. I can read most of this.”

After about an hour, Sam pointed and spoke. “The symbols tell a tale of this man’s victory. It talks about how he brought home the power to control the worlds the gods lost. I’m not sure if I’m following it all, but it appears this power keeps the planets they created from colliding into one another.”

Sam pointed to a specific symbol and began moving his finger along a path. “It says here, in a rough translation anyway, there are five planets of equal mass rotating around a single sun. They travel in different orbits, yet they’re all the same distance from this sun and can support life. It names each of them, but I’m not sure I know their proper pronunciation.”

Sam paused. “The power to control the worlds was used to provide the separation the worlds need to keep from colliding.”

George interrupted, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. You said that already. Move on already, will you?”

Sam took a deep breath. His patience with George was wearing thin. Despite his irritation, Sam remained calm. “The benefit of this power allows each world to support life. In short, the power acts as a governor and monitors every function necessary to ensure this is possible.

“This crystal sphere, the one sitting on the statue’s base, is the source of this power. The crystal was lost in a god war, and it was this man who retrieved it and returned it to the gods.

“Apparently, he was rewarded for this. The deities who gave him his reward are called, if I’m reading this right, the Farendrite Collective.” Sam frowned. “I can’t recall learning about them in what I’ve studied. I also don’t know how many gods form the Collective, but the writing does allude to more than one.”

Sam stopped and brushed his fingers along three of the symbols. “It looks like this man’s name is Bassorine, but I don’t see a last name.”

Shalee’s brows furrowed. “What was that name again ... Bass-o-
reen
?”

Sam grinned. “No ... you butchered it pretty badly. Try and say it like this ... Ba-
sore
-in.”

“Huh! Sounds the same to me,” Shalee rebutted.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Let’s just keep going, shall we?” He pointed to another set of symbols. “This part of the inscription talks about a prophecy. A group, two men and a woman, will be called upon to recover the pieces of the Crystal Moon.” He paused in thought as he studied the orb on the dragon’s back. “This must be the sphere’s name.”

Again, Sam paused. “Anyway, two of the three will fight to recover the pieces of the crystal, and one will fall by the wayside.” His brow furrowed. “That’s odd. It doesn’t say anything more about what happens to this third person.”

Shaking off his irritation at the lack of information, Sam continued. “To clarify, the two remaining will be asked to retrieve the pieces of the Crystal Moon before life is destroyed and the worlds collide. If the pieces are not reunited, the planets’ orbits will decay and start to shift. Chaos will ensue.

“But there does appear to be hope. If the pieces are retrieved quickly enough and brought together to re-form the Crystal Moon, disaster will be averted, and there will be a reward. Huh ... it also says something about races. Apparently, the races of the new worlds will be given permission to live together on any world they choose.”

George cut in. “What the hell does that mean?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. According to the inscription, allowing the races to be joined is a big deal. Supposedly, the success of the two retrieving the pieces of the Crystal Moon will somehow prove to the gods that the races can get along.” Puzzled, Sam scratched his head. “I’m not sure how two people going after pieces of crystal would prove this, but that’s what it says.”

Sam looked back down at the markings. “The way it is now, only certain races are allowed to live on specific planets. It doesn’t explain what it means by races. So I can only assume they’re similar to what we know.”

Changing direction, Sam scratched the top of his head again. “Without a way to reference a date, I can’t determine how old the statue is. There is something rather interesting here at the bottom though. It says the group is to awaken the statue and receive instruction to start on the path of their new destinies. Call me crazy, but it feels like it’s referring to us.”