Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,125

a trigger.

Sweat built up on George’s forehead as he scanned the altar and checked the walls, ceiling, and the floor for anything out of the ordinary. All he could see was a few, small cracks. Nothing seemed alarming.

Returning to the altar, he stopped beside it. All he had to do was reach out and take it, but he could not make himself do it. He just knew it was rigged, and his life was in danger.

He scanned the room again, his heart pounding. If he did not take it, he would live, for now, but he would not be able to defend himself once Kepler learned he was powerless. Either way, he was screwed. He was in a bad spot and now, more than ever, he wanted to go home.

After what seemed like hours, he finally gathered the courage. Reaching out, he took a deep breath, let it out, and then breathed in again. Counting in his mind, ONE … TWO … THREE, he lifted the staff from the dais and ducked.

From his balled position, he opened his left eye. “Hmm, I’m still here.”

He opened his other eye and without moving, he scanned the room. “I guess there aren’t any poison arrows on this trip, eh, guys?”

Looking around for someone to answer, George realized his insanity and started to laugh. He backed out of the room. As he did, he called for Abbie once more and waited to hear her voice—a voice that never answered.

CHAPTER 18

A Big Stone Statue

BEFORE EXITING THE CAVE, George decided he would stop to drill a hole in the butt end of the staff. He wanted to drink the liquid at its center and ingest the power Jason said was inside. The wood was hard. Even with the sharp point of his knife, it was taking forever to make the hole.

He looked at his watch. He had been at it for over two hours before the staff gave way and revealed the liquid inside. As he stared at the opening, he shook his head. “Welcome to Wonderland, Georgie boy. Bottoms up.”

Holding the hole near the back of his throat, he directed the flow past his tongue to avoid the taste as much as possible. He thought the draining would never stop. It was difficult to drink this much without tasting it no matter how hard he tried. It was like Spam and sour yogurt combined, but the liquid went down without triggering a gag reflex, and he managed to swallow it all without missing a drop.

Lowering the staff to the ground, he waited for something wonderful to happen. He thought of the movies he had seen and pictured how the receiving of a power might look. Nothing—not a single tingle or quiver was felt. No white light, lightning, or loud noises. He only experienced an upset stomach, and to top it all off, he now had bad breath.

Maybe Jason was wrong. Maybe the liquid doesn’t give the power to turn things to stone, he thought. Shouldn’t I feel different?

He looked at the cave wall. He started to extend his hand and then stopped. It’s already stone, dumb ass. What the hell are you thinking? Pull your head out of your butt.

Redirecting his gaze, he focused on the staff. After a moment, he reached down and snatched it off the floor. Try as he might, the wood would not turn. He had to be doing something wrong, or Jason was misinformed. He hoped with everything in him that it was just a matter of moments before he would figure it out.

When he finally exited the cave, the sun had gone down. Everyone was sitting back from a Kroger-sized fire, and the light was flickering off the walls of the pass as it penetrated the blackness of night.

Kroger was sitting next to Kepler, and Maldwin was rummaging through Kroger’s cavernous backpack. While they waited, the ogre was flicking the end of Kepler’s tail. In response, the demon was swatting the ogre’s hand away as hard as he could, but the ogre clearly believed they were playing some sort of game. The beast-man’s booming laugh overshadowed the threat of Kepler’s growls.

Maldwin stuck his head out of the pack after hearing the cat’s snarls. The rodent’s nose twitched as he looked up at Kepler. “A say mona yo!” which meant, “You should bite him!”

The jaguar would have responded, but he was the first to notice George. He pulled his tail back and moved away from Kroger. “I thought you were