Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,181

hands. After he finished, he placed the crystals back into the pockets of his robe and stared into a shallow river of lava that flowed through the dragon’s cave. The images of Sam, BJ and Shalee shimmered within.

The God of Mischief laughed as he watched the misery on Sam’s face. Lasidious looked up and found the ancient dragon’s massive set of eyes and shouted, “He’ll fight again alright! He’ll definitely fight again! You’ll see!”

The Source’s voice was booming. “You find much pleasure in toying with mortals. I have seen many who call themselves gods fall because of the games they’ve played with those they created.”

Lasidious frowned, “You worry too much. I am the Mischievous One for a reason.”

The dragon leaned back and spread his mighty wings. A torrential wind filled the cavern. Lasidious’ hood flew back from the top of his head as the dragon responded. “Perhaps you’re right. Or perhaps your fate will be the same as those who perished before you.”

“Baaahh!” Lasidious vanished.

The dragon’s laughter shook the mountain. Many of the stones laying across the top of the cliffs toppled.

After feeling the quake, Shalee pulled BJ aside and told the trainer this was her series of moments to handle Sam’s despair.

BJ did not argue and left the room.

Shalee turned to Sam, “Sweetie, you have no choice. You must fight. You said it earlier when you fought the Minotaur. You’re fighting for everyone. Brandon knew what he was doing when he entered the arena. He knew there was a chance of not leaving alive. It’s obvious he was a good father, and he taught his children the arena is a place of honor. But my goodness, Sam, you can’t let this trip you up.”

“Okay, okay. Hold onto that thought. You’re not making sense. Brandon didn’t have his wife use magic to help him absorb punches like you did for me. This guy should have kicked my ass. The punches he hit me with, and the kick to my chest, should have knocked me out. He died because we cheated him out of victory. There’s no honor in that. I’m tired of killing. I’m tired of justifying my actions because I need to save this world. How can I face Brandon’s family knowing what I’ve done? How could you expect me to continue?”

Shalee moved close and placed her hand on Sam’s heart. Her voice was soft, but firm. “I want you to listen to me, Sam, and I mean you listen well. You trained to make Brandon submit, not kill him. I saw you swing. You couldn’t even see. It was dumb luck that you won. We both know there’s more at stake than one man’s life. If we don’t find a way to gain an audience with the King of Brandor and find the stupid pieces of this Crystal Moon, everything we’ve done will have been for nothing.”

A soft look appeared on Shalee’s face. “Answer me this, Sam. With what you know about Brandon, don’t you think he would’ve chosen to die so that you could go on to save the rest of his family? I do.”

Sam thought long and hard before he responded. “I don’t agree with your logic. I believe Brandon would’ve wanted to spend every last moment he could with his family ... even if he knew the world was coming to an end.”

Sam moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He grabbed one of the pillows and threw it across the room. After he watched it hit the door, he continued, “This place pisses me off! The gods are morons! I’ll keep fighting to save these people, but I won’t dishonor Brandon’s death by allowing you to use your magic on me again. I will fight like every other man. If I’m supposed to die, then so be it. I won’t look Brandon’s family in the eye and know that I plan to cheat others out of victory.”

Kael pulsated as the blade hung from Sam’s hip. “I think you’ve finally become a leader, Sam. I could not be more proud.”

Sam reached down, unsheathed the sword and lifted it in front of his face. “Shut up! Who asked you?”

Brandon’s memorial was like no other Sam had ever seen. It was held at the Peak of Bailem—Brandon’s favorite moment. Brandon had always said, “A hard-working man’s Peak is over when sun reaches its highest point because he wakes so early.”

There were thousands of people who surrounded the family as they stood on top of a