Read The Greater Challenge Beyond (The Southern Continent Series Book 3) Online
Authors: Jeffrey Quyle
The Greater Challenge Beyond (The Southern Continent Series Book 3) (44 page)
“Point the wand and think of Ariana,” Acton barked the command.
Grange hastily pointed his wand, closed his eyes, and thought about the beautiful, baffling, single-minded girl who had shaped and protected him when he had been so innocent and naïve. He pictured her as she had appeared to him for the very first time, a seeming runaway in the mountain forest, simple and trustworthy.
His wand suddenly shuddered with the flow of energy, and Grange opened his eyes in astonishment. A glowing beam of power was shooting forth from his hand, striking the jewel, and causing it to radiate a powerful blue light. The crowd that watched murmured, and the light suddenly flared up into a large standing blue teardrop shape, too bright to observe.
The glow dramatically diminished, and when it did, Ariana was standing in front of Grange, whole and human once again, unclothed in her bodily perfection.
“Thank you Grange,” she murmured. “May I have your blouse?”
He hastily whipped the shirt over his head and handed it to her. She accepted it calmly, then shrugged it over her head, letting it drop down below her waist as if it were a short dress.
“I’m so glad you thought so well of me,” she stepped over to him and murmured as she linked her arm through his. “I’m touched by your devotion.”
She turned them to face towards Acton once again.
“You will guide him?” Acton asked.
“Yes, my lord and friend,” Ariana answered. “We will go to rescue my sisters, then we will prepare this race of warriors to carry out their duty to the world, to fight the battle to defend it against the demon invasion.”
“I leave him in your hands then, my servant,” Acton spoke.
“Grange, you are my Champion, and I am proud of all that you have accomplished, and the promise for a bright future that you show. We will speak again at the appropriate time, and the other gods will instruct you as well, when needed,” the god figure spoke.
“All of you will follow the direction of Grange, the Bloomingian who will be king,” Acton spoke to the crowd.
“Now, carry out your duties and fulfill your destiny,” he thundered his final words dramatically.
He stood up straight and raised his arm towards the sky, then seemed to leap or to be pulled upward, with a speed faster than any man could imagine.
The dark clouds suddenly rolled away, revealing a red sky in the west, and a stunned crowd in the settlement.
“Well Grange, what shall we do first?” Ariana asked him.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents