Resonant Bronze: Lodestone Tales, #2

By J.M. Ney-Grimm

The warriors of Torbellai brought back a prize in the night, and young Paitra wants to see it. Even hidden away in the armory, the artifact changed the whole mood of their mountain citadel from dread foreboding to hope. And Paitra's people need hope to turn the tide in their long war against the troll horde.

Might this small triumph presage a mightier victory?

But the warlord hid the fighters' plunder for good reason. Forged by trolls and radiating magic, it presents grave risk to the soul and spirit of any who approach it.

Sneaking past the weapon smiths into the armory with his brother, Paitra still believes his home a safe place for boy's mischief. But bronze hammered by trolls is anything but safe. Opportunity cloaked within its lethal enchantment awaits the right unlocking key. Could Paitra wield that key? And will he survive his curiosity?

Through death into magic and sound, Paitra confronts . . . resonant bronze.


The Lodestone Tales

In the years that came before the ancient days of the North-lands, a brilliant inventor fabricated the lodestones—powerful artifacts that concentrate magical force.

And while men and women walk the earth but a short while, the lodestones persist through centuries and millennia. When they fall into the hands of mortals, history changes.

Follow the lodestones down through the ages as adventure follows adventure, and ordinary folk rise to meet extraordinary challenges.

(Although the Lodestone Tales form a rough history, each story stands alone. You need not read them in order.)

Skies of Navarys (1)
The Tally Master (1.5)
Resonant Bronze (2)
Rainbow's Lodestone (3)
Star-drake (4)


Praise for J.M. Ney-Grimm

"...Ney-Grimm paints a vivid, lush picture worthy of the Peter Jackson treatment." — D.J. Gelner, Amazon review of Troll-magic

"Extremely fascinating and insightful..." — Paty Saternye, Amazon review of Livli's Gift

"Ney-Grimm's unique blend of Nordic fantasy and fairy tale mentality is a refreshing take on the genre... I read a lot of fiction, and I can honestly say I've not come across anything quite like this." — James J. Parsons, Speaking to the Eyes review of Rainbow's Lodestone

"Her work compares favorably with Robin McKinley and Patricia McKillip ...I'm really pleased to have discovered her!" — Mira, Amazon review of Troll-magic


Excerpt from Resonant Bronze

Something had changed the previous autumn in the Battle of the Falling Waters.

The Ghriana warriors poured into the valley between the lake and the cliff, high-couraged and fell, sweeping the troll horde onto the precipice, pushing them over its brink where the waters tumbled.

Victory seemed near—the next in a string of crucial victories—when a low, resonant throbbing disturbed the air and shivered the earth. The Ghriana faltered, suddenly weak at the knee and hollow at heart. The troll horde recovered and, under Regenen Carbry's command, seized the field.

The Ghrianan death toll grew grievous, and every conflict since had featured troll dominance, Ghrianan rout, all accompanied by that hideous throbbing groan on the breeze and rumble through the ground.

But, now, now, something had changed again. Why?

Paitra wanted to see the bounty brought in by the victorious warriors. What was this prize, that its capture should bend the current of the war?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Ney-Grimm
• Release date: Aug 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386369394

J.M. Ney-Grimm

J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's learning about permaculture gardening and debunking popular myths about food. The rest of the time she reads Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lois McMaster Bujold, plays boardgames like Settlers of Catan, rears her twins, and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands. Look for her novels and novellas at your favorite bookstore—online or on Main Street.

Book preview

Resonant Bronze

~ A LODESTONE TALE ~

by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Copyright © 2013 J.M. Ney-Grimm

Cover photography:

Warrior of Light by Curaphotography / Dreamstime.com

For Jeff,

who reminds me

to be here

now

Table of Contents

Resonant Bronze

Author Bio

More Titles by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Resonant Bronze

Paitra knelt in meditation.

The orange wool of his cushion, traced by patterns of aqua and green, itched the bare skin of his shins. He could have donned a longer robe, but he welcomed the sensation. Mindfulness and he were old friends.

The room glowed: the deep red-orange of its rock walls and its rock floor, illuminated by the light of energea-lanterns in their brackets. Located high within the cliff sanctuary that was Torbellai, this chamber’s window must shine like a beacon of welcome across the mountain pass.

Paitra’s eyes followed the flames of the torches lining the distant track up from the lowlands.

Did straggling pilgrims climb the steep way even now, hopeful of Torbellai’s hospitality and comfort?

For the mountain peoples had descended from their heights to embrace the exchange of ideas, culture, and goods with the valley dwellers. Torbellai alone remained – the last bastion of the Ghriana’s ancient magics and the ease they wrought: bright lamps, warm water, cooking heat and such, all without the hazard and mess of fire. Too few Ghriana-folk dwelt within each valley hamlet to generate their traditional tribal energea lattice. They had traded convenience for their renaissance.

The soft air of summer’s dusk breathed in through Paitra’s unguarded window.

He turned his gaze from the outside world to the inside.

The cushion under his knees rested on a modest square of carpet, woven in deep blues and greens, resembling a patch of water against the warm tones of his surroundings. Below the abstract bas relief adorning one wall, a tray of edibles – morsels of candied ginger and living mint leaves – awaited him on the floor.

He inhaled.

Could he smell the scent of mint on the air?

The sparseness of the space pleased him, but it was peripheral. The heart of this inner sanctum – the heart of Torbellai’s contemplative community – was the ancient gong that called the brothers to prayer.

Paitra studied its heavy, resonant bronze.

Wider than the full length of a man’s arm, deeply furled along its circumference, and molded to depict fabulous beasts. Yet a hidden inner marvel eclipsed its outward beauty.

He remembered the first time he’d seen it. Partly because the thing itself was startling. Partly because of what happened after.

All those years ago, he’d run down the passage, giggling, his brother hard at his heels.

Ssh! Ssh! came Tohma’s indignant hiss. How can we sneak in, if you’re going to be so loud?

Did he really think whispers and tiptoe would work?

Paitra glanced at the energea-lantern