The Greater Challenge Beyond (The Southern Continent Series Book 3) (28 page)

"There's a pool, and they're betting!" Jenniline said indignantly when the pair of them walked away from the hall.

"Who's the favorite?" he asked, startled by the decidedly undignified turn of events.  "Is it you?" he asked without thinking.

She shoved him off the path with a powerful shoulder check in response.  "You know it is," she growled.

"What are the odds on Paile?" he asked.

"They plummeted after this afternoon," the princess told him.

He laughed.  Betting pools and other games of chance had flourished among the underclass in Fortune during his days there, and he'd laughed at the men and boys who seemed to always believe they were on the verge of great riches.

"Let them bet," he said after thinking.

"But not on me," Jenniline insisted.  "I'm not part of this drama."

"Invite Paile to come watch me play music tonight," Grange suggested.

"Yes!" Jenniline was pleased with the idea.  "That'll confound them all."

"Just don't let her feelings get hurt," Grange said.  “I don’t want her to have the wrong expectations.”

“But you want everyone else to have the wrong expectations?” Jenniline asked cynically.

“Well, just handle it smoothly.  I know you will,” Grange was at a loss for an answer.

“Because I’ve got such a reputation for being the diplomat of the palace?” Jenniline taunted him, making him grin.

He threw his hands up in surrender, then grabbed his sword and knife and flute, and left to go to the tavern.  After he arrived and settled in, he started performing.  He played along tentatively with the mandolin and the vocalist, picking up the songs as he grew comfortable with their patterns, and he was glad that no one had come from the palace to watch him, although he knew that the red streaks in his hair were distinguishing marks that would give his identity away in only a few days, as the story of Shaine’s mark inevitably spread from the palace to the city.

He made no efforts to charge his wand that night, nor to discharge it either, and there were no disturbing visits from Shaine.  The following morning he sent his morning message to Palmland, asking how Selene had been injured and how she was healing.

“Grange, the Lady Selene is back on her feet!” Brieed began his reply.  “She wants to send her personal thanks to you and Grace, so perhaps tomorrow you can hear her gratitude.

“She was injured when her family’s ship was attacked by a warship from Skote.  It arrived unexpectedly right off the mouth of the harbor, and attempted to board Selebe’s vessel.  There was quite a bit of bloodshed before the attackers were fended off, and the lady herself was badly wounded.  There’s now a blockade of the harbor, as more of Skote’s ships have arrived, and their army is approaching overland.  Lord Bartar estimates we’ll have to abandon the city within the fortnight, with the army being split between the two fronts – Verdant and Skote both attacking.”

Grange was mortified by the thought of Palmland city falling to invaders, though pleased to hear that Selene was healing.  He asked Brieed to give him examples of powers to combine to safely reach the second level of energy usage.

Over the following days he found a pattern of activity: he spent mornings in communication with Brieed and practicing weapons.  In the afternoon he spoke with the princesses and then practiced his use of his wand, energizing it and discharging it from atop the tower roof.  And in the evenings he went to play music at the taverns where his musical companions went.

He also asked Brieed for ideas on how to defeat a whole host of demons, as he was told to expect he would have to face.  He wished that Acton was available for consultation, but the god of war remained locked away inside his temple, and even Hockis seemed to not interact with the god who Grange would have to work with.

Huem’s temple remained a useful place to go for ideas, however.  Grange stopped at the temple after one night’s performance in the tavern, and didn’t wait long for his usual priest to appear.

“Would you like to enroll in our seminary and learn our theology?” the priest asked as he sat in the pew across from Grange.

“Perhaps after I finish a couple of other projects I will,” Grange answered the joking question.

“Why are you here?” the man asked him.

“I feel like I should be doing more, but I’m stuck here waiting for things to happen, wasting time that I may need,” Grange told him.  “I don’t know what to do.”

“What are the things you need to do that you’re waiting for?” the priest asked.

“I’m going to have to fight an invasion of demons,” Grange answered.

“How will you do that?”

“My sword was empowered by Miriam, at her temple in Palmland,” Grange replied, drawing his sword partially free of its scabbard to reveal its bluish sheen.  “It turned blue from her touch, and now it can kill demons when it touches them.”

“Perhaps you should talk to Miriam,” the priest offered.

Grange blinked.  It made sense, he acknowledged, and he inwardly chastised himself for not approaching the goddess’s temple on his own.

“I’ll do that,” he stuttered, then stood.  “I’ll go see Miriam’s temple right now.”

“Don’t be afraid to come back here any time,” the priest said as he also rose.  “We always welcome visitors,” he told Grange as he shook his hand and walked him to the exit.

Grange walked to the temple of the goddess of domesticity, the peace-loving goddess in whose Palmland temple Garrel had married Deana, and where Ariana had taken him to have his sword consecrated and endowed with the great demon-killing ability that Grange fervently hoped could beat the impending demonic invasion.

The temple was peaceful in the evening, and dark.  There was little movement, and when Grange entered the vestibule, a priestess immediately stepped over to him.  “What brings a young man to our quiet hall on a late evening?”

“I want to pray to Miriam, for advice,” Grange answered.

“It’s unusual to see a man enter our precincts without a woman pulling him in,” the priestess said.  “But you appear sincere,” she decided as she studied him, and he was pointed into the main sanctuary.  The sacred space was designed exactly as the temple in Palmland had been designed, with the same large worship space, and the same perimeter of small chapels and alcoves, with statues once again depicting scenes of domestic activity and tranquility.

He chose to head to his left, towards the same relative alcove and statute that Ariana had taken him to visit in the Palmland temple.  It seemed long ago, and the world seemed to have been a much less complicated and dangerous place then.  He’d been able to follow and rely on Ariana throughout that chapter of his life, and she’d steered him on the proper course, he realized.  He still missed her, he felt the emotions well up as he knelt at the railing in the small, dark niche in the temple wall where his side chapel was otherwise empty of visitors.

“I would seek your counsel, great goddess, to help me prepare to arm myself for the battle that is coming with the demons,” he began.  “I pray to you for guidance, and for help.  This sword you enchanted before has been a lifesaver, but I know I’ll need more.”

A brilliant light suddenly flooded the entire temple interior, coming from the large statute in the front of the sanctuary.  He looked over his shoulder as everything around him was illuminated by the glowing, huge figure that stood on a pedestal.  The few worshippers and priestesses in the temple were gasping or rising from their reverently kneeing positions, astonished by the inexplicable occurrence.

“Come to me, Grange,” the statute called, though Grange could not see its lips move, because its face glowed so brightly that all features were washed out from view.

“Come to me, now,” the feminine voice spoke again, with an emphasis on the last word.

Grange sprang up, and hurried to the front of the temple.  He stood in front of the statute of the goddess, his neck craned back, his face looking up into the light, his eyes squinted and his mouth hanging open in astonishment.

“You needn’t look so surprised, my son,” the voice descended down to him.  “You came to me, and I am answering you.”

The statue began to suddenly shrink, descending from its towering height to become human sized, and once it did, it stepped down off its pedestal and approached Grange, still glowing so brightly that he could still not discern her features.

“I knew from the moment you were born, that you were the chosen one.  You have come of age in a dangerous era, when the doors to darkness will open, and you have been destined to be the human – or more than human – partner who can work with the deities to close the door and prevent the darkness from spreading across our world,” she said.

“You have a partner, who will rise when the time is right – in this you can trust, despite your doubts.  And you have the support of the rest of us – Ralax, Huem, Zephyr, Shaine, and the others – as well.

“You have been given two great weapons,” the goddess intoned, and Grange paused, wondering at the comment.  He had been given the enchantment of the sword, but he drew a blank on the second weapon.  “And you are gaining power quickly; when you have completed the creation of your wand, you will have the tools you need to replicate and recreate the strength you have, and the strength you had,” she seemed to emphasize the last five words.

“There are other challenges waiting for you if you achieve victory in this great battle, but I know that you can surely win those, if you can win the first, the ultimate contest.  Follow Acton’s directions, unite and prepare Southgar to withstand the brunt of the battle, and then fight the battle well, no matter what the costs.  The future will thank you for the leadership you show and the pain you endure,” she said.

“Now,” her arm stretched out towards him.  He stood, frozen in place, not moving as his eyes watched her fingers emerge from the glow – his eyes crossed as the fingertip approached his head, then touched his forehead at his scalp line, on the right side, while Shaine had touched on the left.  He felt a burst of power, one that left him lightheaded, almost ready to pass out standing on his feet, from the impact of the fingertip and the energy it imparted to him.

The goddess’s hand descended from his head to his shoulder, steadying him and lending him a spark of stability, so that he remained erect.

“Know all of you that this is our Champion, to be trusted and followed,” she spoke loudly to whoever else was in the room behind Grange, unseen.  “My mark is upon him now.”

She released Grange and stepped back, still brightly glowing, then she strode back up onto her platform and expanded in height to resume the original size of the statute.

“I wish you well, Champion,” her voice boomed down from the height.  The glow dramatically dwindled, and then the presence of the goddess was no longer felt in the sanctuary.

Grange heard a woman scream behind him, but his eyes were still dazzled by the brilliant light of the goddess’s visitation – too dazzled to see anything, not even his hand in front of him.

He stood still for several moments of adjustment, then shuffled his feet and turned.  His vision was returning – he regained the peripheral sight at first, and then the central blindness slowly shrank as time passed and he began to see that he was approaching the exit from the sanctuary, while the back wall of the room was lined with more than a score of women, priestesses and a few worshippers, who were watching him intently.  Some were dabbing tears from their eyes, while a few others tightly clasped icons or prayer books in their hands as they stared at him.

“You have the mark of Miriam,” a priestess approached him and said.  She was the same one who had spoken to him on his way into the temple.  “It is better than the mark of Shaine, I think,” she said.  “Please tell us how we can help you.”

“Thank you,” Grange spoke in a state of dazed confusion.  The power of the presence of the goddess still overwhelmed him, and her message – though unclear and confusing – resonated in his mind.

“I’ll tell you if I need anything,” he said.  He brushed his hand against hers, then hurried out of the temple and out into the fresh air of the evening.  He stopped in the street after walking rapidly for five minutes, and breathed deeply.

The goddess had told him that he had been given two weapons to kill the demons, though he only knew of the sword.  And when his wand was consecrated, he would have the power to make more or strengthen or copy his weapons; he couldn’t remember Miriam’s precise words – the whole event seemed so overwhelming.

“She’s certainly easier to deal with than Shaine,” he chuckled weakly to himself.

Chapter 21

Grange held his head down and walked through the streets of the city to return to the palace gate as quickly as possible.   He passed through the gates and went to his tower, then climbed the steps and went to the upper floor of his chambers.  He wanted to see the mark that Miriam had given him, and then he wanted to go up to the roof top to be alone to try to decipher the riddle the goddess had given him.

He stood in front of the mirror, then negligently called forth the power, to provide illumination.  A trio of balls of light appeared overhead and started to rotate slowly above him, while he looked at his reflection, shaking his head slightly.

A new set of colored streaks ran through his scalp, mirrors in number, size, and pattern to the marks that Shaine had left, though different in color.  These were green and blue steaks, scattered among the naturally white color of his hair.

A woman screamed from very close by, and Grange jerked in surprise, grabbing his sword to fight off whatever attack was about to take place.

He turned and saw a woman wearing a robe that she held tightly against her body, standing in the doorway to Geric’s room.  She was staring at him, her voice silent, but her mouth still open after emitting the scream he had heard.

There was the clatter of steps on the stairs behind him, and Grange whirled again, to see a half-dressed Jenniline come charging up the stairs, holding her own sword.