Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,21

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