Perilous Travels (The Southern Continent Series Book 2)

“Done?  You’re done?  The amulet is full of energy and ready to light the room?” Grace asked.  “Go ahead,” she plunged on.  “Put it on the table, then tell it to release the energy.”

Grange placed the pebble down smugly, looking at it with a sense of satisfaction, pleased with what he had accomplished, and equally pleased that he had demonstrated such ability to Grace, just when she had begun to assume a position of superiority.

“Shine,” he said simply.  The pebble held still, and nothing happened.

“Glow,” he tried a different word, wondering if he had made some simple, inadvertent mistake in the process of considering the word to use.

“Well,” Grace said with a note of insincere sympathy, “we all make mistakes with our first one.”

“Brighten,” Grange tried another word.  He was sure he had done everything correctly with the power.  Whatever the problem was, it had to be something small and simple, like the trigger word.  He had given little thought to the concept, only considering light, but not really designating a trigger word for it, he belatedly realized.

“Brighten,” he repeated.  It seemed correct.  As he tried to recollect exactly what he had thought the word should be, ‘brighten’ seemed like the true word he had in mind.  Except that it didn’t seem to work.  Except, he suddenly realized…

“Fywiogi,”he spoke the word crisply in the ancient language of the power.  As soon as the last syllable escaped his lips, the pebble began to glow, growing into a brightly shining spot on the table that made both Grace and Grange squint their eyes, then hold their hands in position to shield them as the pebble gave off a steady, brilliant light.

“Great powers all around!” Grace exclaimed.  “That is incredible.”

              Fantasy Series by Jeffrey Quyle             

The Southern Continent Series

1. The Elemental Jewels
   
2. Perilous Travels
   
3. The Greater Challenge Beyond (
   forthcoming
   )
   

The Inner Seas Kingdoms Series

1. The Healing Spring
   
2. The Yellow Palace
   
3. Road of Shadows
   
4. A Foreign Heart
   
5. Journey to Uniontown
   
6. The Guided Journey
   
7. An Unexpected Deity
   
8. A Marriage of Friends
   

The Ingenairii Series

1. Visions of Power
   

2. At the Seat of Power

3. The Loss of Power

4. The Lifesaving Power

5. Against the Empire

6. Preserving the Ingenairii

7. Rescuing the Captive

8. Ajacii and Demons

9. The Caravan Road

10. The Journey Home

Alchemy’s Apprentice Series

1. The Gorgon’s Blood Solution
   
2. The Echidna’s Scale
   
3. Scarlet from Gold
   
4. The Southern Trail
   

Also by Jeffrey Quyle

The Green Plague

For more information, visit the Ingenairii Series on Facebook,
www.facebook.com/ingenairiiseries

Perilous Travels

The Southern Continent Series

Book 2

Jeffrey Quyle

Index

Chapter 1
–
            
 
Page 1

Chapter 2 –              Page 8

Chapter 3
–
            
 
Page 16

Chapter 4 –              Page 19

Chapter 5
–
            
 
Page 23

Chapter 6 –              Page 28

Chapter 7
–
            
 
Page 44

Chapter 8 –              Page 58

Chapter 9
–
            
 
Page 80

Chapter 10 –              Page 94

Chapter 11
–
            
 
Page 112

Chapter 12
–
            
 
Page 132

Chapter 13 –              Page 144

Chapter 14
–
            
 
Page 148

Chapter 15
–
            
 
Page 151

Chapter 16
–
            
 
Page 171

Chapter 17
–
            
 
Page 187

Chapter 18 –              Page 192

Chapter 19 –              Page 199

Chapter 20
–
            
 
Page 204

Chapter 21
–
            
 
Page 218

Chapter 22
–
              Page 227

Chapter 23 –              Page 233

List of Characters

Grange, wizard apprentice of Palmland

Leonide, King of Palmland

Aubrey, princess daughter of Leonide

Grael, traitorous son of Leonide

Bartar, nobleman, ambassador, fiancé of Aubrey

Shaylee, island girl from Waters End village

Layreen, Shaylee’s mother

Lastone, Shaylee’s father

Shajo, Queen of Kilau

Clientes, major domo of Shajo

Astel, Palmland page in Palmland’s Kilau embassy

Gats, chief butler in the embassy

Rigan, seamstress in the embassy

Asloe, trader nobleman of Kilau

Asper, daughter of Asloe

Persole, son of Asloe

Luri, attendant at Grange’s armory in Kilau

Jadie, nobleman’s daughter and fighter in Kilau

Casey, Jadie’s close friend

Carie, Casey’s brother

Jarrel, Asloe employee on trip to southern mine

Monton, mule tender on trip to southern mine

Jenniline, questing princess of Southgar

Trensen, family attendant to Jenniline

Burr, warrior companion to Jenniline

Anthel, warrior companion to Jenniline

Prologue

              Grange has led an unbelievable life, in just the past year. 

              He was an orphan and a pickpocket, an obscure minor criminal in the tyrannical city of Fortune, capital of the kingdom of Verdant, when a treacherous companion turned him over to the authorities.

              He was punished beyond all sense of justice, and sent into exile to work in a mountain labor camp, digging a tunnel that could never be completed.

              But in the course of his degrading work, he found a set of magical jewels, sentient, crystalline embodiments of energy and power.  The jewels attached themselves to him spiritually and physically, taking him under their guidance, with a purpose of teaching and training him to become capable of fighting demons.

              The jewels warned of an approaching invasion of demons, a periodic attempt by the dark forces to overwhelm earth and all its inhabitants.  They told a disbelieving Grange that he was destined to be the leader of humanity’s efforts to resist the demons.

              The jewels found Grange wanting in many aspects of battle knowledge and leadership, and they set out to train him, according to what they thought best.  He slowly became proficient in some of the arts of war.

              Grange also practiced his own preferred art, the art of music.  He wandered through the lands outside of Verdant and came to settle in the nation of Palmland, a benevolent monarchy, where he played the flute in a musical group.

              His life underwent a decided change when he came to the attention of the wizard of the court of Palmland, after he survived a mass attack by a gang of demons.  Brieed, the resident court wizard, took Grange under his wing, and assigned the wizard apprentice Grace to help Grange learn how to be a wizard.

              Grange found Grace to be a contradiction – helpful, abrasive, musical, jealous, insecure.  But his work with her proved that the two of them were destined to be partners in learning the ways of wizardry and the world.

Chapter 1

"What privileges does she mean?" Grace asked as the group of wizards walked away.  She and her companions were leaving an audience in the royal court of the kingdom of Palmland. 

In particular, she and her fellow apprentice wizard, Grange, were leaving the presentation hall of the court.  They had just been inducted by the royal family into the Loyal Order of the Blue Pendant.  A court official had just mentioned privileges the two were entitled to, as they walked out of the hall following their presentation to the royal family; Grace and Grange were curious about the meaning of the promised privileges, and Grace had spoken up to ask, while Grange had remained silent. 

For a poor boy, an orphan born in the distant land of Fortune, the idea of Grange having privileges in the palace was unbelievable.  But then, the idea of being an apprentice wizard, and under the protection and guidance of magical jewels that were elemental embodiments of power was an extraordinary set of circumstances as well.

"Things like admission to the palace grounds," Brieed, the court wizard and Grange’s mentor, said vaguely.   "In your positions there's little real advantage other than those pretty pendants you're wearing."  He said no more, nor answered any questions as they returned to their quarters.   "You'll learn enough soon enough," he said with infuriating dismissiveness.  “And in the meantime, you have chores to carry out.”

And so their lives returned to a routine that became normal for Grange over the following weeks.  He practiced incantations and the arts of wizardry in the mornings, then visited the armory during his afternoons, and often played music in the evenings.  Sometimes Grace went with him, but many times she did not; ladies of the court began to call upon and socialize with her, the first time in anyone's memory that the wizards' hall had any social panache.

Grace turned all the morning duties and chores over to Grange as she adapted to the palace social life.  Grange found that he missed the time they spent together to a surprising degree, and thereafter they shared few mutual activities except their music.  But that joint activity continued, as she selectively accompanied him to sing with Guy's band, and then she asked him to accompany her as she sang to small groups of the court on some evenings.

"Of course you'll accompany her," Brieed had spoken with finality when Grange was reluctant to play for her first palace engagement.   "All her friends at court want to hear her, and you two provide a powerful experience when you play with one another.   It's some of your best magic, you know," he said wisely.

"He's a good enough instrumentalist," Grace told her master dismissively, "but I wouldn't call him magical."

"I said that together you're magical," Brieed corrected her.  "Your music together is literally magical.  You mean you hadn't noticed?" he asked with feigned shock.

"Noticed what?  I haven't noticed anything," Grange replied.

"Think about when you first came here," Brieed observed.   "You were significantly injured from your battle with the demons.  Yet you were healed within a couple of days, and you and Grace made music together those first few nights.  I believe your music healed you.  I suspect the people of the court are healthier than they've ever been thanks to you."

"A hospital," Grace said.

"What?" Grange asked.

"We should go perform in a hospital and see if people get better faster," she said.

"Very sound reasoning," Brieed complimented the girl, making her smile at the praise.

"I'll arrange some hospital visits for your mornings next week.  Grange, I want you to study this matter and provide a theory as to why it might occur," he turned and said, catching Grange by surprise.

In the following days they went about their ways, and Grange took to spending time with the volumes and scrolls in the library room, trying to understand how their music could generate magical healing.  He also turned to asking the jewels, speaking to them in the archaic language of the oldest scrolls, the language Brieed had used to speak to them, the language Grange was slowly learning.  It had a musical cadence to its rolling sounds that he found impressive, and enjoyable, difficult as it was to master.

"A yw'r. Gerddoriaeth iachau'r?" he asked the jewels one afternoon.

We thank you for using the true words, but you do not have to, yet,
the jewels told him.

"Yet?  But I will have to?" he asked.

Yes, it will be necessary, and important for you to master the tongue,
they told him. 
But for now, we will use the words you know
.

"Thank you," he said in relief.   After only a few weeks of study, the musical sounds of the ancient language were still difficult for him to shape his mouth to pronounce.

Yes, the music heals
, they answered his question.

"How?" he asked, relieved to have an answer so simply.

What do your studies show?
the jewels asked.

"Nothing yet," he replied.

Keep studying,
they unhelpfully directed him
, then ask us when you have ideas
.

Grange returned to the scrolls, but had no answer as the time of the first hospital performance approached.  During his long weeks of study he came to feel more comfortable with the ancient language of the scrolls; there was the ease of inherent musical rhythm to the flow of the words, which he decided was natural for him to adapt to because of his musical training and practice – he came to feel a sense of mastery over the words sooner than he would have expected as he studied on the parchment.

And in the meantime, Brieed gave them directions to the location of their first hospital visit, and Grace, the native of the city, led Grange one afternoon to the house of healing.

"What will this hospital be like?" Grange asked on the way.

"I never went to hospital," Grace replied.  "I don't know."

Their destination turned out to be a hospital for children in a poor section of the city, next to an orphanage.   Grange wondered if the orphanage was as good for its inhabitants as his own had been in Fortune.  The hospital was only told that musicians were coming, not that magical healing was possible.

The two apprentices were led to a large ward where two dozen children with injuries and maladies lay in beds.  With only a brief introduction, Grace and Grange began their performance, and offered two sets of music that lasted an hour.  They were both pleased by the enchanted response of their youthful audience.

"We'll return in a couple of days," Grace surprised and pleased Grange by immediately offering when the last song ended.

They visited a different hospital the following day, and returned to the children's hospital the next day.

"May we play again for the same children?" Grace asked the attendant as they were escorted to the ward where their previous audience had been located.

"All thanks to the gods, but only two of them are here!" the nurse exclaimed.   "The rest of them all turned better overnight!  Even some of the worst cases!"

"We'll visit another ward then, and play for them," Grace offered, and they did.

The following day was when Grange finally found a passage in a scroll that offered a clue to the healing power of the music.

"Two or more wounded spirits may combine their shared passion for music”, the scroll said, “and energy will be drawn to their activity.  They must feel the need to share, and must have sympathetic spirits.  They must feel a unity of purpose in what they want the energy to accomplish.   And their music must be of such quality that they draw and persuade the energy to carry out the purpose they desire.

"There will never be more than three such spirits at once, with the power and compassion and openness to combine with one another,  and the union of male and female will produce the best results," the scroll read.

Grange sat back in his chair and contemplated the matter.   It seemed as if the most unlikely of coincidences had occurred.  He and Grace were two of no more than three people in the world who could have teamed up to produce results.  The fact that they had happened to meet, and happened to make music together, and happened to both have an unconscious desire to help and heal others seemed beyond any probability.

"Did you make this happen?" he asked the jewels.

We did not cause this,
they answered.  
We did not cause you to be the ally we would bond with.   A greater good plans such things
. 
We only respond
.

Grange pondered that as well. He'd been told that he was an agent of a greater power several times over the months of his adventures, but it seemed just a little more real now, even more real than when he’d fought the onslaught of demons in the garden of Lord Selebe.  The impact seemed magnified because it had done such good for the children, some of whom had undoubtedly come from the adjacent orphanage.

Grange revealed his findings to Brieed, and listened to the wizard's musings.   "You're a very special case," he told Grange.   "I knew that of course from the attention the demons paid to attacking you, and those extraordinary jewels you've befriended.  But this makes you even more so."

"And what of Grace, master?" Grange asked.  He'd grown comfortable enough with the little man's leadership and guidance to begin to use the title of 'master', just as the other apprentices did.

"She seemed special to me the first time I spotted her on the street, fighting with another girl.  Not so special that I foresaw this, or her dabbling in court society, but she clearly had the potential to reach the power.  And having you here has goaded her into taking her potential seriously – she’s progressing.  We'll see what becomes of the two of you," Brieed replied.

Feeling more aware of his powers, potential, and possible fate, Grange buckled down in his efforts to learn from both Brieed and Brielle.

His armory lessons in weapons mixed and jumped among the staff, the bow, the sword and knife, and the bola.   Brielle rarely complimented Grange on his work, but the bruises, cuts, and sore muscles he acquired slowly declined as he practiced determinedly and improved.

"What about fighting with my hands?" he asked Brielle at the end of practice one day.

"You're too skinny," she answered bluntly.  "If you get in a boxing or wrestling match, you're going to lose.  You need to use weapons to prevent an opponent from getting you into a bare hands battle.

"And that goes for that skunk in the court, Maurin.   He hasn't forgotten or forgiven you for making public his murder of those street urchins he ran over.   I've heard rumblings that he'll look for a time to seek revenge; you need to make sure you carry a knife with you at all times," she lectured him.

"But I've got quick hands and good reflexes," Grange asserted, remembering his unmentioned past history as a pickpocket.

"Quick hands won't help when the other fellow has a thirty pound weight advantage on you; carry a weapon," Brielle repeated.

Grange took her warning seriously.   He did begin to carry a knife, and he began to scour the hundreds of incantations, looking for those that could prove useful in close combat.

But his luck with exercising the incantations was low.  Brieed, Eli, and Grace all took turns overseeing his practice and pronunciation; despite their encouragement and attention, Grange failed more often than he succeeded in summoning powers to carry out his wishes.

"You've got to convince the energy that it must obey you," Grace explained repeatedly.   "It has to think you're a sorcerer, with the ability to control it."

"But, I'm not.  And I'm not a very good liar about it," he tried to excuse himself.

"You do it without even thinking when you play music," Brieed pointed out in a less frustrated tone than Grace used when the two discussed the matter.

"But, I don’t know how," was all that Grange could say.  He continued to practice and to memorize the incantations and hope that a breakthrough was imminent, while his stay in the palace stretched on.

In the subtropical climate of Palmland, Grange had no real awareness of the passage of time, until one of his infrequent visits to Garrel and Deana.

"Can you believe that the first day of spring is next week?" Garrel asked as they stood together watching a street performance of a puppet show.

"And we never saw the first sign of winter," Grange said in wonder.

"It suits me," Deana chimed in, remembering the winters she had known in her mountain village.   "If I never see winter again, it'll be soon enough."

Grange mentioned the oddity of the lack of seasons to Grace that evening, as they made music in their rooms.

"Of course it's almost spring; the great Spring Ball will be in the palace ballroom next week.   Are you taking anyone?" she asked.

"I didn't know anything about it," Grange stammered.

"Good - you can take me," Grace summarily declared.   "The Prince will dance with me once we're there, but I need someone to arrive with. I can persuade the girls at court to dance with you," she explained breezily.  "They don't see you often since you don't socialize the way you should," she reproached him, seizing complete control of the conversation.