Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,1

visible down to the hair, fur, scars and blemishes that covered their bodies during their mortal lives.

As the angels swam deeper into the abyss, souls scattered in every direction. It was as if they were afraid of experiencing greater pain because of the angels’ intrusion. But no matter how many beings fled, a far greater number gave chase. They fought, scratched, tugged and pulled at one another just for the right to touch one of them. For the damned, touching an angel was a reminder—a fleeting sensation and taste of everything good they had lost.

The brothers pushed through the massing souls, hurling the opposition aside as they continued their grisly dive. With no end in sight, a new presence emerged, one that absorbed light and had no discernible shape. Trapped at the center of this black mass, the object of the lead angel’s affection lay dormant. She had succumbed to her fate, and the pain consuming her being was evident as the angels approached.

Sensing their presence, the woman opened her eyes. Her gaze fell upon the love she had rejected, and a resurgence of hope appeared on her face. “You’ve come for me! Is it really you?”

CHAPTER 1

Soul to Soul

Fellow soul,

I truly hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the gods insisted that I be the vessel of truth. I’ve been forced to come right out and say it. We are dead—tragedies of a celestial uprising that destroyed a cosmos. We can no longer call Earth, Dukas, Redbone, Langormar, or whatever world you were from, our homes. But the revelation of this carnage was not meant to be the beginning of my tale.

Allow me, your spirited storyteller, to take you back to a period more than 14,000 seasons ago, to a series of Peaks that were lived just before the Great Destruction of Everything Known. Forgive me, for I must start my story on an inferior planet that was once known as Earth.

Your friend and fellow soul inside the Book of Immortality,

Phillip E. Jones

The Hometown of Sam Goodrich

Los Angeles, California

DR. SAM GOODRICH PUT the cold stethoscope on the boy’s chest and asked his patient to take two deep breaths. The child jumped. Once Sam determined the youngster was in good general health, and his flu-like symptoms could be treated with simple over-the-counter medications, he wrote out his recommendations and handed them to the boy’s mother.

“Mrs. Taylor, thanks for bringing Patrick in to see me. These should do the trick. He’ll be fine in a few days.” Forcing a smile, Sam dredged up a few other words of encouragement and then shook the woman’s hand before he left the room.

Walking across the hall, his smile faded. He shook his head and whispered under his breath, “Great ... another inconvenience. I just can’t do this anymore. I have to win tonight.” He opened the door leading to his next patient, forced another smile and entered. “Mr. Borgs, how are you today?”

Sam was muscular, with chiseled abs, which many women found to be their personal definition of perfection. At five-foot nine, 190 pounds, he was in amazing shape, and his cardio was exemplary.

Sam was not what many would consider a normal doctor. Despite being adored by his patients, Sam had a bit of a dark side. He loved to fight, and today was Sam’s big day—the first day of his professional fighting career.

For the last six and a half years, Sam trained tirelessly in the world of Mixed Martial Arts Combat. When he started in the sport, now his passion, his good friend, John, also a professional fighter and trainer, had used Sam as a life-sized punching bag. The doctor grew accustomed to being turned into a human pretzel, learning his body could be bent in ways that he never imagined. And being the friend that he was, John took great pleasure in delivering the abuse.

Nine years Sam’s elder, John had been one of the few people who understood Sam when the decision was made to put the 16 year old boy into the sport. Because John valued Sam, the boy evolved into a machine inside the cage while he savagely absorbed his mentor’s experience.

Sam was a different breed of fighter. He had a reputation for greatness outside the cage. He was known across the globe for his superior intelligence. He graduated high school at the age of 10, earned his Bachelor’s in Science at 13 and his medical degree just before turning 16. In short, Sam was a walking book