The Battlebone Read online

  By

  Guy Antibes

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Map of Masukai

  Wizard’s helper Character List

  Excerpt of the fifth book in the Wizard’s helper series – The Polished Penny

  Copyright Page

  Author’s Note

  A Bit About Guy

  Books by Guy Antibes

  Copyright ©2019 Guy Antibes. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of the author.

  ~

  This is a work of fiction. There are no real locations used in the book; the people, settings, and specific places are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons, locations, or places are purely coincidental.

  Published by CasiePress LLC in Salt Lake City, UT, September 2019.

  www.casiepress.com

  Cover Design: www.ebooklaunch.com

  Book Design: Kenneth Cassell

  Editing: Amy Hoffman

  Principal Reader: Bev Cassell

  ~

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ~

  Another book that started with a title. I was listening to Two Steps From Hell. They compose soundtracks for movie trailers. One of their titles was “Battleborn,” and I thought that Battlebone would be a great title, so I created book four around a quest for the Battlebone. Jack’s errand is a lot more involved than his others, and readers will see why. I set this in an eastern-Asian-based society. I like to use made-up Japanese-style names, so if a character’s name is a curse word or something worse, please forgive me. As far as I’m concerned, all the names are fictional and made up.

  — Guy Antibes

  Map of Masukai

  Chapter One

  ~

  “C ome into my office,” Fasher Tempest said.

  Jack Winder sighed. What now, he thought? He couldn’t recall any mistakes he had made for the last three weeks. He walked into the office to see Penny Ephram, Fasher’s apprentice, sitting in a chair with her hands folded in her lap after adjusting the drape of her dark-blue robe. She looked up at him and shrugged. At least that was better than a sneer. Jack stood to bear the news, whatever it was.

  Since they fought off the Black Finger Society invaders at Raker Falls, there were a lot fewer sneers. Jack was almost finding Penny to be pleasant, at times. He didn’t know if it was him, or if it was her.

  “I have news for both of you.” Fasher turned to Penny. “You will be returning to Dorkansee, to the First Ring, and enrolling in the healing institute.”

  Penny’s jaw dropped. “Me? Have I done something wrong?”

  Fasher shook his head. “This is a very good thing for you, Penny. I thought I was going to have to bring you along slowly in my practice at Raker Falls since you lacked a bit in magical power. When Jack used you to heal Tanner, it increased your abilities. You weren’t ready for Dorkansee before, but you are now. I have already talked to your parents, and they want you to go.”

  Penny looked at Jack with a fearful eye. “But by myself?”

  Fasher smiled as he put his fingertips together. “You will find plenty of healing wizards at the same level as you. I have already arranged for transportation. Three days and you are gone.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows at the surprising development. “How long will she be away?”

  “Two or three years. It all depends on Penny.”

  Jack rubbed his chin. The office wouldn’t be the same without them playing tricks on each other, although that had just about stopped, as well.

  “What about me?”

  “An errand has popped up, of course. This one will take some time.”

  Jack finally took a chair. “Kadellia?”

  Fasher shook his head. “Farther. You will be going to Masukai on the other side of the Middle Sea.”

  “It’s below Lajia, I know.”

  “There is another object of power that needs to be found and taken out of the country. I will tell you all about it after Penny leaves. You may take any objects of power that you wish, though. I won’t deny this errand may be the most dangerous yet. Masukai is not a kind country for foreigners.”

  “Have you been there?”

  Fasher didn’t respond, and that meant yes, but he didn’t want to talk about it.

  Jack took a deep breath. “Then you have me for a little while. What do you want me to do?”

  “Put everything in order.” Fasher’s eyes brushed past Penny. “You are an expert at that, just as you aren’t in too many other things.”

  Penny glanced at Jack. He couldn’t tell how she felt about the abrupt change. For some reason, he wanted to have a private conversation with her to find out.

  “Are you through with him?” Penny turned to look at Jack and then faced forward angrily peering into Fasher’s face.

  Fasher looked up as Jack stood. “We will have time to talk.” Fasher smiled, but it was a little more like a grimace that came when you were about to do something you didn’t want to do.

  Jack plopped down in his chair at his desk in the workroom. He didn’t really know how he felt about it all. He had been gone on errands as much as he had spent time in Raker Falls, but Penny was part of Fasher’s healing work, at least she was to Jack. He would miss her at some level. He was confused as to what level that really was.

  He began to work on the chart he put together that matched Fasher’s fees and their expenses. Fasher had a lot of money stashed somewhere because healing wasn’t profitable for him in Raker Falls.

  One door slammed followed by another. Penny evidently didn’t appreciate the opportunity to learn to heal in Dorkansee. Jack had been to the building where the healers were trained when he checked on a Lajian wizardess during his Serpent’s Orb errand. It was a nice place. The First Ring was the best place in the best city in all of Corand.

  Fasher walked into the workroom and took a chair. He sighed. Jack was familiar with sighing after many encounters with Penny.

  “She didn’t take that as well as I had expected,” Fasher said.

  “Isn’t it a promotion?” Jack asked.

  “I tried that on her, but it didn’t work. I thought talking to you both would reduce her inflammatory behavior, but it didn’t,” Fasher said. “I’ll send Corina over in an hour or so. The thing is, everything I discussed with her is true.”

  “Has her power really increased?” Jack asked.

  Fasher nodded. “It worked with you,” he said.
/>   “Me?” Jack said. He could feel his face warming up. This was something Fasher had never talked about.

  “To bring Penny around, I had to put a great deal of power through you, but you were already a helper when we met, you just didn’t know it. I turned you into something more than a helper, a fact that I’m sure you have learned.”

  Jack nodded. How could Fasher have that much power in him, though?

  The wizard continued. “The overload expanded her ability to gather magic. That is what defines a wizard’s power.”

  “So you were right when you just had to bleed it out, and she would wake.”

  Fasher narrowed his eyes. “Of course, I was right. I knew what you had done, using Penny as a conduit for your power. Grishel’s Feather is a complicated object. It is better used as an object of curiosity in that Grishelian abbey.”

  “If it is so dangerous—”

  “Desperate times call for desperate solutions. That is all I will say about that. Let’s talk about your errand now that Penny isn’t here.”

  “Is it a secret errand?”

  Fasher snorted. “I wish it were. You, Tanner, and Helen will stick out in Masukai. They are darker and shorter than Corandians, but don’t let their stature fool you. They are smarter than your average Corandian and have their own ways of fighting. What you will have to deal with is a culture that is anti-foreigner. It is an obsession. Say the wrong thing, and you may have violated one of their many taboos. Some of their penalties are fatal.”

  “Then why send me?”

  Fasher smiled sadly. “Because you are you. As clumsy and stupid and idiotic as you are, you get things done. As a wizard, few have your power. I want you to protect yourself and your friends with all you have at your disposal, so take as many objects of power as you wish.”

  Jack nodded his head. He didn’t see much difference between the warnings Fasher gave him and how his errands actually turned out. He also noticed that Fasher didn’t give him an option to go or stay in Raker Falls. Jack guessed both of them knew he would travel to Masukai.

  “What am I finding?”

  Fasher toyed with the edge of the worktable. “It is called the Battlebone.”

  “I already have a bone,” Jack said, thinking of the fishbone in Eldora’s box.

  “This is larger, maybe a handspan from thumb to little finger. I can tell you that, but its importance isn’t in the bone, but what it does. The person who holds the bone can see in the dark.”

  “I can light a flame and do that,” Jack said.

  “For a hundred miles? I don’t think so. It puts a picture in the holder’s head that shows everyone and everything on the world’s surface. A general can see where the enemy is massed and what all the formations look like. If the holder wants to see a soldier’s face, all it takes is concentration, and the picture enlarges to whatever the holder wishes to see. He can even see if a soldier’s boots are on. Imagine what kind of advantage that would give an invading army.”

  “Does it require a wizard to hold it?” Jack asked.

  Fasher smiled again. “Good question. It requires the most powerful of wizards to wield the bone. Penny couldn’t wield it, for example, but you can. There is an organization in Masukai called the Red Herons. Their leader might be such a person, but we don’t think he has it. We think the Red Herons are looking for the Battlebone and will use it in an attempt to take over the entire western continent. That includes Lajia, so there is a person who has spent some time, successfully I might add, in Masukai. You already know him.”

  Jack tried to think of whom he knew in Lajia. He could only think of the Soffez who had been friendly to him. “Grigar Soffez?”

  “Good guess. He will meet you in the Tesorian port of Arsinport. It is the closest to Raker Falls. The Masukaians are not currently trading with Corand,” Fasher said.

  “Will we be passing through Underville?” Jack asked.

  “Probably,” Fasher said, rising to his feet. “We will talk more later, but for now, I must find Corina and get her over to the Ephrams.”

  “Good. I need to get my sword repaired in Underville,” Jack said. “I have one more question. Who is the ‘we’ that you speak of?”

  Fasher flashed a quick smile and left the room without answering.

  ~

  Jack stood at the entrance to the Alderachean temple, waiting for Penny. She had sent her little sister to his house with the message that Penny was to leave tomorrow. The coach that would take her was already in Raker Falls at the village inn.

  When Jack traveled to Dorkansee, Fasher put him on an onion cart. He smelled so bad when he reached his destination that Helen labeled him onion boy. Jack shook his head. It wasn’t that long ago, but it seemed like it was eons in the past.

  Jack stood when he spotted Penny trudging down the lane wearing a dress, for a change. As she got closer, Jack noticed that she even styled her hair. He guessed she was getting ready for her new life in Dorkansee.

  “You look ready for the capital,” Jack said.

  Penny frowned. “Are you trying to get rid of me, even before I leave?”

  “No,” Jack said.

  He was surprised that she even wore some cosmetics. Jack turned red when he realized she had made herself look nice for him. Jack had to admit she did look very pretty. He would have to tread carefully.

  “Can we walk into the woods?” she asked.

  Jack nodded.

  Penny walked at his side, twisting her fingers and looking awkward. Jack was worried about what this walk was leading up to.

  “I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said. She hit her fist on her thigh. “You know that!”

  “The village knows that. Do you want to go?”

  Penny nodded but said, “No.” She screwed her face up. “I don’t know.” She took a deep breath and took his hand.

  Jack stopped, startled as he looked into the fearful eyes of Penny Ephram. “I’m going to miss you.” She pursed her lips and turned away, throwing his hand down. “I’m such a fool!”

  Jack leaned down and took her hand. “No, you aren’t. I’ll miss you too. We were enemies for too long not to miss our little games.”

  “Little games?” Penny said. Jack was expecting an eruption, but she giggled. “They were, weren’t they. I don’t think either of us got the upper hand.”

  Jack would disagree if he wanted to be honest with Penny, but he nodded. “I’m sorry to see you go. I won’t be around to mope about it, though. Fasher is sending me on another errand.”

  “A dangerous one. Uncle Fasher and Corina ate dinner with us last night. He said you are going to Masukai. Father knows it is a terrible place. He did business there for nearly ten years, but one of his people made a mistake, and the Masukaians evicted all the Corandian merchants. We haven’t traded with them since.”

  “We both know the danger, don’t we?” Jack said.

  Penny smiled and nodded. This was a remarkably different Penny.

  “Will you tell me how everything is going?” she said. “I’d feel a lot better if I knew you were alive.”

  For a person who regularly had told him she wished he was dead, that was a change.

  “I can do that. Fasher asked me to do the same with him. It will be strange communicating with him on this errand. He said it takes more power to communicate far distances.”

  They reached the clearing where Penny had run into Jack’s sword during their duel.

  “This is where I wanted to go,” Penny said. She looked up at him. “I wanted to talk to you here about us.”

  Jack swallowed. “Us?”

  She nodded. “When I was drunk after we expelled the Black Fingers, I said you were my hero.” She paused and took his hand again. “I kissed you too. It was my first.”

  Jack thought she was even cuter when blushing. “And?” he asked.

  “I’d like to begin again. I don’t feel the hate anymore,” Penny said.

  “I never did,” Jack said.

 
“Never?”

  Jack shook his head. “Not hate.” Jack was generally angry, put out, or chagrined, but he really couldn’t call what he felt hate.

  She took his other hand. “Is it a deal?”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t think we have to start anything over again. I don’t think relationships are like that.”

  “Good,” she said. Penny closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

  She waited and lifted one eye open. “Well?”

  Jack leaned down and kissed Penny on the forehead, and then on the tip of her nose, and then he shook off her hands and put his arms around her and gave her a very good Jack Winder style kiss.

  Penny responded, but then Jack heard giggling in the trees. Penny’s sister emerged, pointing at them and laughing. Penny broke Jack’s embrace, took a deep breath, and fanned her face with her hands.

  “I won,” she said to her sister. “I told you I could get him to kiss me.”

  Penny walked over to her sister and took her hand. She called out to Jack. “If you ever get to Dorkansee, you may look me up.”

  She turned toward the village and, without turning around, gave a dumbfounded Jack a wave.

  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled. Jack had kissed plenty of girls in his time. He could tell that Penny would be thinking of that embrace and that kiss for a long time. As for him, any time he could kiss a pretty girl and not get into trouble was time well spent. To him, the joke was on Penny.

  Jack sighed. Now that the pleasant diversion was over with, he could continue cramming information about Masukai into his brain. Nothing that he read gave him a bit of encouragement.

  Chapter Two

  ~

  F asher spent most of his time training Corina, now that Penny had departed for Dorkansee. The wizard’s clinic didn’t seem the same without the ever-angry girl. Corina was always pleasant and seemed eager to ask about the details of his other errands, but somehow his work lost a bit of its savor without having to watch out for Penny’s tricks.

  The local blacksmith was commissioned to make three hundred metal rods the thickness of Fasher’s thumb and the width of his palm; in fact, they were just a little smaller than the metal cylinder that had held Grishel’s feather. When the rods began to arrive, Jack started imbuing a slightly different spell into the rods. Jack guessed it was the more potent one that Fasher used, since it took about twice the time to imbue a rod with healing power.