Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) by Jeremy Laszlo Read Free Book Online Page B

Ashton was the first to speak. “That’s awfully sacrificial of you, Seth.”
    Seth refused to respond, still consumed in thought. It was Garret who spoke next.
    “How so Ashton?” he asked as his face puckered up in deep concentration.
    “Well,” Ashton answered. “You are willing to sacrifice your life to the kingdom by dying in battle. I am willing to sacrifice my own life to save another. Seth is willing to sacrifice happiness, to bear the burden of the kingdom’s failures, the burden of families’ losses, the burden of broken hearts and anguished lovers. Seth is willing to sacrifice himself over and over, while we are willing to do it once.”
    Seth spoke then in a low voice, trying not to let Ashton’s words sink in.
    “Let’s get some sleep guys. If we pick up the pace a bit tomorrow, we should be able to reach Stone Haven by the evening.”
    Seth immediately lay down on half his blanket, covering himself with the other half and rolling over to face away from his brother and new friend. He hadn’t said that much to them about his thoughts about The Choosing, and yet Ashton had seen right through his vagueness and read what his soul felt. What his mind was loathed to reveal.
    Rolling over again, Seth watched as Ashton looked at Garret questioningly and Garret shrugged his large shoulders in response. They too then lay down, covering themselves against the cool night air, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
    Seth lay awake a while listening to Ashton’s words playing over and over again in his head. He had never thought of his choice as being self-sacrificial. Still it was hard for him to imagine it as a sacrifice, trying to help those that had truly sacrificed the most. It simply felt to him a worthy cause, helping others heal their souls, not their bodies. Bringing closure to the bereaved seemed like the right thing to do.
    Seth lay pondering his choices until he heard his brother’s light snoring, as well as Ashton’s quiet, even breathing. Knowing that there would be no more conversation tonight, he relaxed his hold on consciousness and let his mind drift wherever it might go. The last thing Seth saw before he was lost to darkness was an image of his mother smiling at him with that concerned look in her eyes.

CHAPTER 7
    Garret
     
    Garret was the first to stir. Sitting up quickly, as was his habit at home, he smashed his face into a low hanging root, abruptly scaring himself wide awake enough to yell at the top of his enormously loud lungs, startling his brother and Ashton awake as well. He vaguely noted as Seth quickly got his bearings and then sat up, scrutinizing his surroundings for whatever danger had caused him to cry out. Nothing found, Seth looked at him, seeing the root directly in front of Garret’s face which was filled with rage as he snarled at it. Though Garret was both infuriated and embarrassed, Seth apparently surmised that there was nothing to worry about.
    Ashton sat upon his bed of fur looking at Garret like he was an unworldly creature, unleashed to disrupt the peaceful sleep of others. Seth, glancing from his brother’s face to Ashton’s, starting laughing loudly, causing both his companions to look at him, Garret still with a face of half rage, and Ashton in questioning wonder. Seth just shrugged his shoulders at them, then, with a smile still on his lips, climbed out of their shelter and stood to stretch. Garret too began to emerge, giving his nemesis, the evil root, one last menacing glare as he crawled out to join his brother. Ashton and Garret cleared the cover of their shelter at the same time and echoed Seth’s stretches with their own.
    “Eat now or later?” Ashton asked the brothers, willing to follow their lead.
    “Well, I could definitely eat now,” Garret replied and walked back to the fallen tree to retrieve his pack.
    “Good enough for me,” Ashton replied. Then he and Seth both went to gather up their packs as well.
    The three boys sat outside the pit that