Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign (Worlds of the Crystal Moon, Book 1) (38 page)

Sensing Bassorine’s hesitation, Lasidious took a few more calculated shots at the God of War’s ego. “See what I mean? You’re an overgrown corgan. Only you would attack me and risk punishment by the Book. You’re not as almighty as you would have us believe. Accept the fact that I’ve taken the Crystal Moon. Bury your head in the sand, and taste defeat. Know that I’ve won this battle.” Lasidious laughed at Bassorine’s expense while the others were no longer smiling. They were now on edge.

The God of War’s pride swelled. His hatred for Lasidious was growing with every breath he took. His desire to destroy the Book and take vengeance was cosmic. In his existence, he could not think of a series of moments when he wanted to embrace his title amongst the gods more than he did now.

Bassorine glared across the table at Lasidious who was daring him, taunting him, and trying to lure him to attack. But he would not do it Lasidious’ way. After a long, deep breath, the God of War quieted his mind. He walked toward the table and put his blade back in its sheath. “You’re right, Lasidious. I should not tempt fate by challenging the Book’s wrath.”

Reaching the table, the God of War leaned down to pick up his chair off the floor. He smiled. “All is well. Please take your seats.”

The Mischievous One was the only one who did not comply. But the others began to reclaim their seats. As soon as the Book lowered its binding to the table and redirected its attention to speak with Lasidious, Bassorine unsheathed his sword and began a deadly descent toward the Book’s heavy cover.

Except for Lasidious, none of the others expected Bassorine’s deception, but the Mischievous One had hoped this Peak would come. This moment had been a part of his plotting all along. He knew every law on the Book’s pages, and one of them stated that the gods could protect the Book’s existence with any use of power necessary without recourse. He did not have the power to defeat Bassorine, but he did not need it. All he had to do was buy the Book a single moment to defend itself, and he was ready for that.

As Bassorine’s blade cut through the air, Lasidious reached forward with both hands and sent a wave of force barreling across the room. It was strong enough to push the Book out from under the thunderous slam Bassorine’s blade made as it collided with the table. The weapon sliced through the stone and stopped only after it hit the floor and cracked it.

Unharmed, the Book flew across the room and slid to a stop. Meanwhile, Lasidious sent another wave of force barreling into Bassorine. This wave knocked the God of War off balance and bought the Book yet another moment to respond.

Quicker than lightning, Bassorine regained his balance and leapt across the room toward the Book to make up for the lost moments. Once again, his blade was arching through the air, but on this occasion, it met its target with a cataclysmic collision—but it was too late. A powerful field of protection was surrounding the Book’s binding.

The repercussion of the two opposing forces sent everything in the room flying. The shock wave was so great, the gods’ bodies blasted through the hall, some of them breaking through more than one wall before they landed in the countryside, scattered beyond what remained of the structure. Except for Bassorine and the Book of Immortality, the others were now lying dazed in the grass with pieces of debris surrounding them within a billowing cloud of dust. The rest of the structure had fallen on the two in battle.

The sound of the event had been heard as thunder throughout the worlds, and it took a while for the rumbling to stop. Eventually, the gods picked themselves up off the grass. When the dust settled, all that was left was an enormous pile of marble, gold, and shredded tapestries that had been hung throughout.

The gods were about to declare the Book and Bassorine destroyed when they heard a noise from under the center of the pile.

Lasidious swallowed hard at the possibility that it could be Bassorine. If it was, he knew he would be dead in a matter of moments. Bassorine would not find forgiveness. The God of War’s blade would end him as it split him in half.

The pile of marble started to shift and lift into the air. As the pieces settled toward the edges of the foundation, Lasidious took a deep breath and held it. He waited for the answer that would determine the remainder of his existence.

From the center of the pile rose the Book of Immortality. Lasidious exhaled as the Book floated toward the group. “Bassorine has been destroyed. He will no longer be a member of this Collective.”

Some of the gods fell to their knees while others stood in disbelief. They had known Bassorine for over 12,000 seasons, and despite their differences, most of them had admired him. But true to vanity, they shook off the loss as they realized the advantage—there was one less being more powerful than them at the top.

Lasidious allowed his dark heart to relish the fact that this part of his plan had fallen into place. He was now the strongest of all the gods. The only hurdle that remained was to find a way to take control of the Book. Thousands of seasons of plotting were beginning to come together.

The Book’s voice was forceful. “I shall require a new hall. I want it to be created right away. If anyone breaks another law, they shall meet the same fate as the expired.”

The Book paused and then changed the direction of the conversation. “As you all know, the laws state: for every fallen, a new deity must take the place of the one who was lost. This replacement is to be chosen per the wishes of the fallen. I shall announce the name of the ascendant when we convene to honor Bassorine’s passing.”

The Book floated toward Lasidious. “If it is your intent to allow everything the Collective has created to be destroyed, then it’s your right to do so. No one can do anything to stop you. We all know, there’s no law stating that you cannot destroy the Crystal Moon.”

The Book turned to the others and shouted. “How could you have forgotten to vote into existence such an important law?”

Lasidious responded before the others could. “I don’t want to destroy the worlds, but I will if I need to. I’m bored, and I simply wish to play a game. I plan to scatter the crystal’s pieces and use them as objects to collect while we play my game.”

The God of Mischief smiled. A malicious intent rested behind his grin. “I have protected each piece of the crystal. No one can touch them now that Bassorine is gone ... except for me, of course. You will be given a choice. Those of you who join me will create a team of evil. We shall try to collect three of the Crystal Moon’s pieces. A second team will also assemble ... a team of good, and they shall try to do the same. Good or evil, for every piece collected, we shall join them together. The crystals will once again be able to send what power they can throughout the worlds until the others are added. This should keep the planets in their assigned orbits and give us the moments to finish our contest.

Mieonus’ dark hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her gown exposed the flesh of her thigh as it accented her voluptuous curves. She responded as she tapped her lifted heel against the piece of the hall that she was standing on. “The inability of the Crystal Moon to govern the worlds has already caused tremors on many of them. We don’t have the moments to play your silly game. Everything created is in jeopardy because of your foolishness. I have no intent to appease your desire.”

Lasidious watched the hate in the goddess’ eyes as he chuckled at her expense. “Tremors are not a concern. The planets shifting from their orbits would be more of a threat. They should not begin to migrate for nearly a season. The Crystal Moon’s governance should only effect the land masses of the worlds during this period. The earthquakes will create chaos, fear, tragedy, and tension on the worlds. We can enjoy their misery as the theft of the Crystal Moon leaves the living with little choice other than to battle for its pieces. When a team adds a piece to the first crystal, it will buy us the additional moments necessary to toy with the worlds on a grander scale.”

Lasidious moved past Mieonus. As he did, he reached out and flipped her hair with his hand. He enjoyed Mieonus’ irritation as he watched her stomp her heel against the marble. “If we do this right, Mieonus, would you not enjoy watching the beings of the worlds suffer? I see no reason why we cannot enjoy the carnage. You know a smile will find your face as soon as the last breath escapes the first creature’s being.”

Mieonus’ expression changed as her disgust vanished. Her delight in Lasidious’ proposal brought joy to her heart. “Your demented mind is delicious, Lasidious. I’ll enjoy the heartache.”

Seeing the goddess’ pleasure, Lasidious continued, “Should our team win and collect the majority of the crystal’s pieces, the worlds will fall under our control. Evil will rule for the rest of eternity and govern the Crystal Moon. Likewise, if good is victorious, the worlds will be dominated by boredom.”

“ What will keep you from cheating?” Alistar blurted as he adjusted the green hood of his robe that was trimmed in gold. “You’ll have the advantage. There’s no way to monitor fair play. I won’t play a game where there’s not an opportunity to attain victory.”

Lasidious pretended to ponder. “I shall enter into a Promise of the Gods with the Book that I won’t cheat. If I do, the Book will sense the infraction, and I shall be destroyed. This should be enough to keep me in line, don’t you think? However, I may find it difficult to play. If this happens, I’ll resign and become a spectator. I’ve never been much for teams anyway, so this may very well happen.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Mieonus responded. “When do we start?”

Lasidious clapped his hands and then rubbed them together. “The influence we have over our followers shall be our weapons, our tools you might say, to manipulate. You could even call them our chess pieces.” The Mischievous One smirked. “If I remember correctly, Bassorine did love chess. Too bad he’s not here to enjoy the festivities.”

The God of Mischief smiled. “We shall play a game fit for the gods. The rules are as follows: first, we cannot force our pawns to do anything against their will. As the law on the Book’s pages states: ‘Free will is to be cherished above all else.’

“Second: all worlds will continue to trade merchandise without interruption, since this is necessary for their survival. None of us will do anything to influence commerce, or the game will end and the Crystal Moon will be destroyed. The goal is to get the beings of the worlds to conspire and fight to attain its pieces. As I have said, the first team to capture three ... wins.”

Lasidious moved toward a large piece of debris and hopped on top of it before he made his next statement. “Are there any objections?” He paused, but the moments were not long enough to allow for a response. “Okay, good. Just to be clear, if the game is not played, I’ll destroy the Crystal Moon. However, even with Bassorine’s replacement, we’ll be unable to create another one. I think we all remember how tedious starting over was.” Lasidious smiled and added, “Who would like to be on my team?”

As the gods glared at one another, Bailem took the opportunity to speak. The angel’s robe was white and gold, and he had a portly belly that would have caused him to lean forward if it had not been for the weight of his wings. “You’re deplorable, Lasidious. It appears our free will is being taken in a round about manner.”

The Mischievous One rolled his eyes. “You act as if this concept is unfamiliar to you, Bailem. Do you not remember the age of old? We all had our free will stripped from us in a ‘round about manner.’ Why should I be restricted from using his tactics.”

“How dare you speak of him in that fashion!” Bailem shouted. “If he was here, he would—”

“But he’s not!” Lasidious indignantly interjected over the top of Bailem’s voice. “His back remains turned to us. Remember?”

The group fell silent for many moments. Even the Book said nothing as the gods stared in disbelief at Lasidious.

Eventually, the Mischievous One spoke as if nothing negative had been said. “So ... who’s on my team?”

Of those present, enough hands reluctantly lifted to give Lasidious a team of eight—if he included Celestria.

Thoroughly disgusted, Bailem stepped forward and took the other team-leader position. “I’m going to find a way to beat you at your own game, Lasidious. I shall never forget your trespasses.”

Lasidious smirked. “Whatever, Bailem. Spend your moments how you wish. Isn’t there a sunset you should be watching someplace?”

Bailem grumbled and then vanished without saying another word.

Lasidious called for a team meeting inside his home. He would allow their entrance and gave them specific instruction to appear at the Peak of Bailem.

A moment later, the Book of Immortality made one final statement before those who were left vanished. “It appears this contest follows the rules of free will. I don’t see a law being broken. Let the game begin.”

After the others vanished, Lasidious and the Book were all that remained. “Where’s Celestria?” the Book queried.

Rather than answer, Lasidious rolled his eyes and then vanished.