Out of the Ashes (Rise of the Empire Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her story to tell, if she so wishes.” Isani said, thinking about Adrian’s last move and devising his response.
    “Fair enough. But is there nothing we can do to convince them?” Adrian asked as Isani made a move that would effectively cut down the amount of Adrian’s possible moves.
    “If Nelus was still part of the Consortium, perhaps. But when the war cut us off, the ruling families saw the chance to regain the power they lost when we became a part of the Consortium. They hate handing power to others. And your plan requires them to place a great deal of their resources into your hands. They will not accept this. I know what your leader hopes for. But it is impossible for you to change their minds.” Isani said. Adrian studied the board, and then seeing an opening he moved a piece. Isani responded exactly as Adrian hoped he would. The next few moves Adrian led Isani on, while setting up a trap. Then after another two moves Isani noticed it. The game speed up and another six moves later Isani was driven back into a corner, he raised his head from the board looking into Adrian’s eyes with disbelief.
    Adrian smiled, “Impossible as it was impossible for me to beat you at Lus?” Adrian asked.
    Isani’s face showed confusion and then he realized that Adrian was referring to Isani’s last statement. Isani looked back to the board.
    “I hope you manage to convince them, otherwise I fear there is no hope for my people.” Isani said.
    “I hope so as well, my friend.” Adrian added softly.
    ***
    A few days later Adrian walked the hallways of Leviathan on his way to the training room, behind him were his ever present followers, Sora and Akash. The two wolions have become an ordinary sight on the ship, as they followed him almost everywhere. They had grown a lot in the last nine months, they were now larger than the largest dog breeds on Earth. Although they have not yet grown to their full size. There was no mistaking what they were now, predators. Their muscled bodies, claws, and teeth guaranteed that anyone who looked at them would immediately know. Their light blue fur coupled with two pair of eyes gave them an alien look, at least to the humans. But everybody on the ship knew that they would not harm them. While there were times when they played rough, it was never with other humans, only with each other. And Adrian made sure that they got enough exercise and time to play. They usually accompanied Adrian on his runs, and exercised alongside him. They even “trained” with the military squad on Leviathan when Adrian joined them in a session, where the soldiers (usually two or three) would try to take one of the wolions down. There had never been an incident. Of course, there were small things, someone falling badly spraining their ankle or one of the wolions falling on someone by accident, but those things happened anyway when humans trained by themselves. Adrian was very surprised at their intelligence as they seemed to understand the human spoken language. They followed instructions almost to the letter most of the time, ignoring them only when they thought they knew better. Their mannerism was similar to that of cats on Earth, only much more intelligent cats. Adrian had been sending everything about their progress and intelligence back to Sanctuary, even a blood sample via one of the transport ships that was carrying Nel from Nuva to Sanctuary, hoping that people there could learn more about them. But the wolions on Sanctuary never approached humans, and they always ran away when people tried to approach them. Adrian believed that the most probable explanation was that they understood the danger humans posed to them and chose to keep away. His companions being raised by a human obviously had no problem being around them.
    When they reached the training room Adrian turned towards the changing room, while Akash and Sora continued inside, they went straight to the small running track getting behind people already