Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,294

possible for Michael to fulfill his commands, but now he needed to transition his mind to matters of equal importance. He wanted to make sure that Shalee was okay. He knew the queen’s grief would be compounded because of BJ’s selfishness. Helga’s loss was bad enough, but now BJ? he thought. Poor Shalee. There’s no magic for grief.

Since they had arrived on Grayham, they had seen far too much death. Grieving for someone they cared so much about was going to be almost unbearable. He would take his queen, and together, they would go to the location where BJ passed. He was sure their friends would want them to stand over their ashes and say goodbye.

The Hills of the Bear Clan

2 Peaks of Bailem Later

George rode Kepler into the caves of the Bear King with the demon’s brothers on either side. As before, they made a strong impression. The conversation was similar to the one with the Minotaur King and included a trip to Scorpion Island. When Groth saw the Scorpion King’s body, he, too, became angered. The kodiak exited the cave and walked along the southern shore, speechless as he studied the remnants of the massacre. George was also quick to point out that Brandor had killed the water mist mares.

“And you’re next,” George punctuated.

Groth’s reaction was like Horace’s. The beast felt that Brandor was now a threat, and something had to be done.

The mage teleported the bear to the Minotaur King’s pasture. Kepler translated for both beasts while Horace and Groth strategized. The Minotaur would fight alongside Kepler’s skeleton warriors. They would approach the Serpent King’s lair just south of Lake Zandra. Kepler’s feline subjects would join the fight with both the barbarians and the Minotaur. The barbarians would approach from the north as they exited the Neutral Territory. The bears would be positioned farther south of the Minotaur, and they would attack when the signal was given. The final piece of the battle plan included the serpents’ lair that was to the west. Brandor’s army would be facing tremendous numbers on all fronts. With nearly 31,000 barbarians, 2,500 bears, 2,900 Minotaur, 1600 giant cats, 6,000 serpents, and 500 undead, skeleton warriors, the forces attacking Brandor’s army would be more than 43,500 strong.

The mage took the bear home after watching his manipulations fall into place. George asked Kepler to say goodbye and watched as the bear rose up to show his appreciation for George’s help.

George teleported the cats to the north side of Lethwitch before heading into town to spend the evening with Athena. He wrote out a message and gave it to Koffler to deliver to the Barbarian King. He explained everything Senchae would need to know with the letter ending:

...This war will be your greatest victory. Glory will be yours. You will be the Barbarian King who goes down in history as the only man capable of defeating Brandor. All hail the majesty of Senchae Bloodvain!

Your loyal subject,

George Nailer

The mage figured that finishing the letter by stroking Senchae’s ego would solidify the final part of his plans. He told Koffler to be swift on his journey, and for the cat’s effort, he would give the demon something special once he returned. He teleported Koffler north of Angels Village, and then he returned to Lethwitch to retire for the night.

George would have been proud of Senchae if the mage had known what the barbarian had done. The king had sent his scouts to order the unicorns to join the battle. It was an unexpected gathering of force. With 50 unicorns entering the fight, Sam would be facing a nightmare of an army comprised of fangs, claws, magical horns, hooves, bones, blades, clubs, maces, war hammers, arrows, bolts and to top it all off, he would be facing the inflated egos of the barbarian legions.

Kepler went into the Enchanted Forest to send out his orders. He dispatched one of his tigers to gather the giant cats of the plains. They were instructed to move at night and run toward Zandra. They were to hide north of the lake until Brandor entered Seth’s kingdom. It was then they were to join the barbarians and the Minotaur as they approached from their respective directions.

Kepler also sent an asordian sparrow with an order for his skeleton warriors to join the fight. This verbal message included code words that only his skeleton commander understood. They were to run both Peak and night and stay away from populated areas. He wanted his bony