The Greater Challenge Beyond (The Southern Continent Series Book 3)

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “Someone stop him!” Brady shouted. “This is murder!”

  “And what did you try to do?” Grange asked in a harsh tone.

  “Arrows, fire!” he shouted.

  The men on the wall screamed, and the crowd shouted in fear as the power that invisibly held the bowstrings released them, and they propelled their arrows towards the targets in front of them.

  Grange watched with a grim smile as the arrows were launched, and flew relentlessly towards the nearby wall. They forcefully flew in deadly, straight lines, then struck the wall, each of them just two inches to the side of the heads of each of the captive men, striking small flurries of stone chips that pelted the faces of the men, as the arrows tumbled down to the ground, sliding along the wall.

  “Next arrows, take positions,” Grange called aloud, and a new set of arrows notched themselves onto the strings as the bows were pulled back.

  “Lord Champion!” a man’s voice called.

  “Grange!” he heard Hope’s voice call as well.

  “Fire!” Grange called loudly, and the second volley of shafts flew at the men and struck the wall on the opposite of each man’s head. Two of the men visibly emptied their bladders while the arrows landed on the floor.

  Halsten and Hope broke out of the once more silent crowd and stepped forward to Grange.

  “What causes you to be so cruel?” Halsten asked.

  “Grange, don’t do this, please. We rescued you from torture; don’t you torture these men,” Hope landed a blow to his conscious.

  “These men shot arrows at me without provocation, less than an hour ago,” Grange said.

  “You look unharmed,” Halsten observed.

  “I was struck, but healed myself. My counselor was struck as well, with two arrows. I’ve healed her and put her to rest in a safe place,” Grange replied heatedly.

  “Your reasons seem understandable, but there are courts that will provide justice, my lord,” Halsten replied. “It would be more civilized than this display.”

  Grange bit off a reply, as Hope reached out a hand to him.

  “I know how much Jenniline means to you, but do not let the court see you act this way,” she said gently.

  Grange took a deep breath.

  “Let them down,” he commanded the power, and the four men slid along the wall before they landed.

  “Close the doors too,” he snapped at the energy, and the double doors swung shut.

  “I’ll go attend to my counselor,” Grange said to Halsten. “You’ll see that they’re attended to?”

  “I shall,” the prince assured him. “This is the proper way,” he added. “You are doing the right thing.”

  “Thank you Grange,” Hope added. “Jenniline will agree that this is better, I’m sure. I’m glad you saved her, and yourself.”

  “I will see you tomorrow for our interview,” Grange managed to smile.

  “I will be there if you wish, but if you and Jenniline are committed to one another already, you don’t have to waste our time with a pointless meeting,” Hope said in a low voice.

  “There is no plan by Jenniline and me to be a couple,” he replied in return. “Believe me.”

  Yet even as he said it, and knew that he had believed it up to that moment, he recollected kissing the elder princess on the forehead. He wondered if he was telling the truth or not.

  “I’ll leave you now,” he cut the conversation off from any further exchange, and as he walked out, there was a smattering of applause for him.

  When he returned to the tower he found that the rain had stopped. Up on the first floor of his home he was told by Listrid that Jenniline was sleeping, so he went up to the roof, then sat down and closed his eyes.

  The rain had stopped falling. He felt his body go limp as the stress from the morning’s battle seeped away. He was relieved that Jenniline was alive. He was glad that he was alive. And, he realized, he was astonished at what he had done with the power. In his haste and in his state of emotional angst, he had commanded the energy to take steps and carry out actions he never would have considered before. Bu they had all come easily and naturally, as the things he needed accomplished under the circumstances he had faced.

  The sun was starting to shine upon his face. Although his eyes were closed, he could feel its warmth. The clouds were disappearing, but unfortunately, the moon was not in the sky at midmorning; he would have to wait until the early evening to see the moon, and to try to resume contact with Brieed in Palmland. He hoped that Brieed could tell him if his interaction with the power was an out-of-the-ordinary event, or if it was something better – or worse.

  He decided not to go to the armory; there would be too many stories and comments and questions. He wished he could just call upon Brielle or Ariana to appear and practice weapons with him, giving him the workouts and challenges they had in the days before the demon lord had destroyed them at the tin mine in the wilderness.

  They had been a threat to the demons, he realized, such a threat that the demon had targeted them for destruction when it had seized the chance by seizing his wand.

  They were the weapon, along with his sword, that could defeat demons. His eyes flew open, as he suddenly comprehended what Miriam had told him during their conversation at her temple the previous evening. The goddess had referred to “the strength he had” in the past tense, but suggested he would have the ability to recreate that strength, once he had his wand fully prepared.

  Grange stood and started pacing the rooftop, trying to decide if he was pulling wild fantasies out of the air, or if he was truly stumbling towards the answer to the riddle the goddess had given him. Was it possible that he would be able to recreate the jewels, and rely upon them as allies in the upcoming war?

  Chapter 23

  Grange paced the tower roof anxiously, trying to force himself to calm down. It seemed preposterous for him to believe that he could bring the elemental jewels, the great forces of energy, back into existence somehow. Yet if he interpreted the words of Miriam correctly, that was precisely what she had indicated.

  He was filled with hope at the thought of the jewels returning, and he was filled with doubt as to his ability to truly reconstitute them. It was another matter he urgently wished to consult with Brieed about. He walked in circles on the rooftop, suddenly wondering how hopeful his case might be in the battle with the demons. Miriam had told him there were two weapons available, two that could be recreated and replicated. Recreated and replicated. The jewels and the sword. He seemed to be considering the recreation of the jewels, which implied he must be able to replicate the sword.

  If it could be done, what would it achieve, he wondered. Would he arm every man and woman in Southgar with a sword that could destroy demons?

  It seemed a prodigious task to undertake, to create thousands of enchanted swords, he told himself. He pulled his wand from his belt and began to idly charge it with energy as he strolled around contemplating the challenge ahead, even as he additionally questioned whether he truly understood the challenge.

  He needed to talk to someone. Huem’s priest seemed the logical choice. The man had listened patiently every time Grange had gone to the temple, and he had offered sound advice each time.

  But Grange felt a sense that he needed to attempt to see Acton again. He’d been in the city for several days without conversing with his partner-deity, and he felt uneasy over the lack of communication. Yet he didn’t know a way to force Acton to open his door to Grange, and he didn’t want to be humiliated by Hockis yet again.

  His choice seemed to come down to Huem’s priest or Brieed. Or both.

  He looked up in the sky, at the eastern horizon, and saw to his relief that the growing moon was breaching the cloud remnants on the eastern horizon. His opportunity had come, so he called upon the power to transport his words.

  “Master Brieed, I hope you can hear me, and I hope all is well for Palmland and its forces. There were clouds in the sky yesterday, preventing me from cont
acting you,” Grange began.

  “I have a question, Master Brieed, about the use of power,” he started his story. “I was with a friend who was hurt in an ambush, and I was angry. I began to use the power, causing the energy to do many things immediately, without long requests or explanations – I just ordered things to happen and they did. Some of them were easy, but some were more complicated. I was full of concern and anger.

  “Am I,” he paused as he shaped his question, then decided not to be delicate, “am I becoming a sorcerer?

  “And I have another question too, if you would answer it,” he added after a pause. “I had a conversation with the goddess Miriam, and she told me to recreate a weapon against the demons.

  “Did she mean I can bring the jewels back to life?” Grange asked.

  “If you could send answers, I would,” he stopped talking, as he heard a woman’s voice sudden speaking.

  He turned around to look, and saw that Jenniline was standing at the top of the stairs, watching him.

  But she was not talking, although the woman’s voice was speaking.

  And it was speaking in a foreign tongue. He shook his head, trying to orient his awareness, and the sounds of the voice became words, and held meaning.

  “…your music made all the difference,” the woman was telling him, as he translated the voice. “I owe you so much for helping to heal me. Master Brieed says that this idea of making voices travel so far is your invention, which just goes to show that you’re even brighter than Selebe gave you credit for,” the woman spoke.

  It was Lady Selene, Selebe’s younger sister in Palmland, the one who he had played music for at the birthday party on the boat so long ago – seemingly, and then just recently, he’d transmitted his music to be joined with Grace’s voice, to help heal the wounded lady.

  “I’m so sorry that we weren’t able to invite you back to our home more often,” her voice continued in its monologue from far away. “But Brieed tells me he expects that you will return someday, and I hope I’ll be able to thank you personally when you do.

  “And we won’t be so shocked when we kiss next time!” she laughed lightly.

  “Master Brieed was kind to let me send you my thanks; he wishes to speak to you, in that strange language of wizards that you know. Be careful Grange. We want to see you back here safely, soon,” she finished.

  “Grange, I hope you receive this,” Brieed began to speak, reverting to the ancient language used by the power and the Southgar people. “We did not hear from you yesterday, and so I’ve let the lovely Lady Selene express her thanks to you, as I test our communication. Tomorrow will be our last day to speak from the palace – we’re abandoning the city and moving into the western mountains, into the fastnesses, strongholds, and castles there where we can hold off the invaders longer.

  “I’ll communicate with you before we leave, and then after we’re on our way, I hope,” he said.

  “I hope you’re well, and I look forward to hearing from you,” Brieed finished his abbreviated communication, and then his voice was gone.

  “You have an admirer in the far off place, one who speaks the outsiders’ language?” Jenniline asked. She had clearly heard the whole communication, and Grange recollected that she knew the common language, as she had communicated with him while he had been lost and witless in the wilderness.

  “She is a member of the nobility, and they like to use flattery,” Grange replied carefully. “I saved her life, and she was just being kind in saying thank you.”

  “I was coming upstairs to thank you for saving my life, but I don’t want you to be burdened with too much appreciation,” Jenniline said. She walked over and sat down on one of the chairs.

  “Is she pretty? Does she have the refined elegance those northerners are so proud of?” Jenniline asked.

  “Bah, never mind,” she cut off Grange’s answers. “What were the things you said to the people far away? You think you are a sorcerer?” she searched his face with a piercing stare as she asked.

  “After Brady’s ambush hurt you, I was angry,” Grange said. “And I realized afterwards that I was,” he paused to describe his actions, “I was using my powers more easily than ever before as I punished Brady and his stooges. I’m worried that it seemed to be too easy.”

  “If you’re worrying that you’re doing something wrong, but you don’t know why it’s wrong, knowing you a little now, I’m sure it’s not anything to worry about,” Jenniline said.

  “What did the goddess tell you when you saw her last night?” Jenniline asked. “That’s something else you’re worried about?”

  Grange stepped over and sat down in the other chair, still holding his wand and idly pouring energy into it as he talked, powering the wand without thinking.

  “My adventures really started when I was working in a tunnel, and found a cache of jewels,” he began, and he proceeded to tell Jenniline the story of his life with the jewels, up until they were destroyed by the demon lord at Persole’s mine in the wilderness.

  “And that’s how you ended up wandering to the Yellow Spring, where I found you?” she asked. “I had no idea when I found you, obviously,” she stated.

  “How will you create these jewel creatures?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Grange said. He glanced down at the wand in his hands, as it continued to absorb the power he poured into it.

  “Hope and Halsten kept me from killing Brady outright,” Grange told the princess.

  “Do you know what the odds are on who I’ll pick as my mate?” he asked, as he recollected Hope’s claim that he and Jenniline had already become a couple.

  The girl sitting in the other chair looked away, and Grange saw a slight flush on her cheeks. “I haven’t checked recently,” she prevaricated.

  “Who was the favorite last time you checked?” Grange asked.

  “I am,” Jenniline said in a low voice, still not looking at him.

  “Who is?” Grange asked again, pretending not to hear.

  “I am!” she replied loudly, looking at him at last, with flashing eyes.

  She saw the smile on his face, and leaned over to punch him. “You knew that!”

  “Hope told me she didn’t have to bother with her interview with me since I had already decided on you,” Grange told her.

  “She’s going to be disappointed when she finds out you’ve really settled on her, isn’t she?” Jenniline asked with a note of false lightness in her voice.

  “We’ll see,” Grange said. His wand felt full of energy, he decided. He stood up and pointed it at the sky overhead.

  “What does that mean, ‘we’ll see’?” Jenniline demanded.

  Grange released the energy in the wand, letting it spew forth a combination of colored smoke and strokes of lightning, as well as balls of glowing energy and peals of booming, explosive noises. After several seconds he stopped the discharge.

  “I still don’t expect that I’m going to live in Southgar for the rest of my life. I’m not going to really wed anyone here; I’m not going to be the king here. I’ll just fight this battle against the demons, and if I win, and if I live, then I’ll go on with my life, back in Palmland, or where ever,” he told her.

  “But Acton said that you would become king here, and reunite the nation,” Jenniline protested.

  “I know,” Grange acknowledged woefully. He raised the wand again, prepared to discharge the rest of the power in it, to restart the cycle of preparing it for the impending ceremony.

  “Stop,” Jenniline said. “Can’t you do something less showy with that thing, instead of disrupting everyone’s day?”

  “And you still haven’t answered the question I asked – are you going to choose Hope as your fiancée? Even if you don’t truly marry her because you’re going to leave, won’t you choose her as the one? Because you know that you and I just aren’t truly a pair,” she told him.

  She had said it, out in the open, making him pause. She had said that he shouldn’t
choose her, that the two of them – Champion and Counselor – were not destined to be a pair, at least not in her eyes.

  He had a sudden impulse, and knew something he could do with his wand, something she would not object to. He raised it and pointed it at an angle into the sky, then gently commanded the energy within. “Create a scent like flowers over the entire city,” he told the wand. There was a glow at the end of the wand, as the energy within began to discharge, and the air around him immediately grew fragrant. He watched as the glow spread out from the end of the wand, arcing through the air before it dissipated too widely for him to discern its reach.

  “You’re right,” he told her. “I would be honored if you would continue to be my counselor, but not my mate. I think you have been very honest and good for me and very hard-working on my behalf.” He felt a sense of relief at the thought that he wouldn’t ask Jenniline to marry him, and that convinced him it was the right decision.

  “Well, I never would have expected that,” Jenniline said as she sniffed the air.

  “The whole city can smell that now,” Grange said.

  “When we first met, I never would have even dreamed of looking at you twice, if you hadn’t been such a pitiful mess. And then when we broke you out of the dungeon, we only did it because Hope asked us to,” the princess explained. “But now, I’ll admit, if there wasn’t something telling me that we aren’t right for each other, I’d probably be handling this conversation a great deal differently.” She stood up, and walked to the steps. “I’m going to go rest some more; I still feel weak.”

  “Call me if you need anything,” Grange told her, as she left.

  He sat back down, and took a deep breath. The scene had certainly been unexpected, but perhaps necessary. He knew that with Jenniline declared off-limits, Hope was the only one of the other princesses he felt comfortable asking to be his mate. And if Jenniline’s reminder was right – if the prophecy of Acton overpowered Grange’s personal wishes – and Grange was destined to remain in Southgar and rule the nation, then Hope was the one who he would most appreciate as a spouse.