The Further Misadventures of Apprentice Brown

By David Petrey

The story of Apprentice Brown progresses as he continues being taught magic under the guidance of his Master, a famous Sorcerer across the land of Tellus. Apprentice Brown faces coming to terms with the outcome of his previous escapades and learning to control his magic rather than fear the ever-present voices of the Dragons. But now he has Tabitha, someone who can help guide him in taking control of his magic of cold.

Also helping along the way are new friends and apprentices, including an inventor and an aquatic boy. New dangers come on the form of rock monsters and the Soulless.

When strange goings-on lead to Time itself changing in unexpected ways, with sometimes devastating consequences, only Apprentice Brown seems to be aware of what is happening. He resolves to prove that the changes are indeed real so he can save the ones he loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Petrey
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005243074

David Petrey

David Petrey is an online author. But his day job revolves around more mundane tasks of making digital maps where he dreams of being a full-time author. When not writing he is most likely reading, gardening or sighing at the growing pile of videogames he finds no time to entertain.

Book preview

The Further Misadventures of Apprentice Brown

Apprentice Brown Book II

Book III of The TimeSunder Histories

Copyright 2021 David Petrey

Published by David Petrey at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chart of Magical Arts

Misadventure One – The Flood

Misadventure Two - Inventions

Misadventure Three – Shadows

Misadventure Four – The Art of Empathy

Misadventure Five – The Art of Air

Misadventure Six – Grey Astray

Misadventure Seven – The Fire Maiden

Misadventure Eight – Fishboy

Misadventure Nine - The BeastWhisperer and BeastMaster

Misadventure Ten – Rescue

Misadventure Eleven – Party for a Hero

Misadventure Twelve – Return to Oakbury

Misadventure Thirteen – Deja Vu

Misadventure Fourteen – Joy and Sorrow

Misadventure Fifteen – Shattered Reality

Misadventure Sixteen – The Soulless

Misadventure Seventeen – The Lacunarity

Misadventure Eighteen – The Keeper of Time

About David Petrey

Other books by David Petrey

Connect with David Petrey

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Kay.

Chart of Magical Arts

Misadventure One – The Flood

At the north-western edge of the Great Tellusian Forest, just outside the town of Oakbury found sitting nestled along the banks where the River Tellus meanders wide and fast, along a winding road, past a mossy meadow and up a gently rolling hill stands a tall and somewhat angular house. Within this most curious of houses there lives a wise Sorcerer who is famous across the land for being a kind and gentle Master to five dedicated Apprentices. Here they all study the Arts of Majick for performing good deeds. It was this Sorcerer, who chooses to go nameless, that drew up the great Chart of Majickal Arts in an attempt to classify and group Majicks in order to help us better understand them.

extract from Tellusian Majicks Past and Present

Apprentice Brown had been learning the Arts of Magic for nearly three years now under the careful teachings of his Master; an old and wise Sorcerer whose fame was spread across the whole of Tellus. Under this guidance Apprentice Brown had come to realise that there was more to magic than just casting spells. Magic could be a highly dangerous force and did not discriminate, being just as perilous for the individual wielding the magic as for anybody else nearby. Respecting magic was the key lesson he had learnt so far. And as part of his education Apprentice Brown would often visit the Sorcerer’s library, a room packed from floor to ceiling with books on just about every subject imaginable. Here Apprentice Brown would read extracts from the books to learn about the world and to not just confine his knowledge to his magic lessons. Then one day his Master bestowed a gift unto him.

‘Take this book,’ the Sorcerer had said with a smile.

Apprentice Brown looked at what his Master offered. It was a plain book, brown and leather-bound. Taking it Apprentice Brown immediately noticed its lack of title, and could feel it was rather light. In fact, it didn’t seem to have many pages. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the book and found a solitary page. The page was also blank. Apprentice Brown frowned and looked up at the Sorcerer. His Master just smiled.

‘Whenever you want to read one of the books in my collection, or query if they hold the knowledge you seek just call for it before you open this book in your hands. Then, upon opening, the page will fill with writing from that book which was appropriate.’

Apprentice Brown liked the idea of not having to seek out the library. The books always played tricks on him.

‘Try it,’ his Master suggested.

Apprentice Brown held the book in front of him, wondering what to ask of it. His thoughts turned to recent events. Lately his dreams had been disturbed; haunted by the memories of the evil Sorcerer Gonzalez with whom he had fought against. Despite the difference in size and ability, Apprentice Brown had triumphed, helped by the evil Sorcerer’s own ego in underestimating his young opponent. It had given Apprentice Brown the small window of opportunity to summon the power of dragons and save his friends from certain death. The thought of dragons now entered his mind and a chill stuck him. He began to hear their whispers. They always wanted him to summon their magic. But he wasn’t strong enough. He feared being overtaken by their power. When he had fought the evil Sorcerer Gonzalez he had summoned the dragons as a last resort. His gamble had paid off, but it resulted in Gonzalez’s end. This troubled the young Apprentice. His Master had reassured him that his actions had been instinctive and that they had been true, and that was important. However Apprentice Brown had also spoken to Apprentice Grey, another of the Sorcerer’s Apprentices about the matter.

‘We still don’t know why Gonzalez challenged our Master all those years ago,’ Apprentice Grey had said.

Apprentice Brown cast her a dark frown.

‘I’m just saying, Brownie,’ she said, beginning her explanation. ‘there’s always two sides to a story and yet we barely get any explanation from him.’ She was referring to their Master. ‘We don’t know anything about him, not even his name. And we can’t very well ask Gonzalez his opinion any more, can we?’

‘But Gonzalez tried to kill us,’ Apprentice Brown had argued.

‘Brownie, I don’t think I’d be in the mood for a happy reunion if I’d been banished for all that time either.’

Apprentice Brown was considerably fond of Apprentice Grey, but on this matter he had to disagree with her. He also wondered if she herself wasn’t telling him all that went through her head. And she was just as secretive over her own past. In that way she was more like their Master than she cared to admit.

But right now, in front of the Sorcerer who waited patiently for him to command the book for information, all he could now hear were the whispers of the dragons. His Master sensed his discomfort.

‘Maybe some other time,’ the Sorcerer said, laying a comforting hand upon his young Apprentice’s shoulder.

Apprentice Brown lowered the book, relieved.

#

It had been two months since Apprentice Brown’s fateful encounter with Gonzalez, the Sorcerer’s one-time Apprentice who had turned against his Master and had been banished to the Forbidden Realm for over forty years. But Gonzalez had escaped in the guise of a small bluebird that Apprentice Brown had unknowingly befriended during an accidental foray into the Forbidden Realm. Upon Gonzalez revealing himself it was Apprentice Brown who had been able to summon the ferocious power of dragons to defeat him. Apprentice Brown was once again thinking all this as he stood in the hallway of his Master’s house wrapping himself up warm against an icy cold day of early Spring. As he stepped outside a chill wind bit at him, sending a shiver up his spine.

Trudging his way through the snow he made for the Sorcerer’s orchard where he spied the lone figure of Apprentice Grey collecting apples to take into town. She heard his approach and paused to look at his rather pathetic expression.

‘What kept you Brownie?’ she said, trying not to laugh at how thoroughly miserable her friend looked.

‘It’s too cold,’ came his short reply, wishing he was back in his warm and cosy bed.

‘Wimp,’ she said. ‘Where I come from we get snowed in for weeks. This is nothing.’

He had been told this a thousand times already. For him the winter had been especially harsh this year, with an almost constant covering of snow. But if he had ever tried to complain Apprentice Grey was always there reminding him that it was even colder in the foothills of the Spirit Mountains to the north. There they were at the mercy of the icy fog that drew in over the Peril Sea, bringing with it the bitterly cold air from The Ice Wilds. Apprentice Brown had looked up these places within books from the Sorcerer’s library. The Ice Wilds certainly didn’t sound like a place he wanted to visit. A whole continent covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. Just the thought of it now chilled him to the tips of his toes. However he also recognised an opportunity to quiz Apprentice Grey about her home. She didn’t often mention it.

‘How did you and your family cope with all the snow?’ he said.

But at the mention of her family Apprentice Grey’s face dropped and looked as cold as the air around them. And instead of answering she proceeded to pick up a handful of snow then aim it directly at him. He managed to dive away just in time, but the game managed to bring that spark of life back. Forgetting any previous misgivings about the cold he was soon chasing Apprentice Grey round the orchard with a handful of snow.

Following their brief game they returned to their daily work of delivering fruit. They each held tightly to one another to avoid slipping down the hill and along the winding road into town.

#

‘Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax.’ Tabitha asked of Apprentice Brown, as was their way to calm the mind before channelling their power. ‘Now focus on the falling snow outside. Use your own willpower it to stop it at your command.’

Apprentice Brown looked at Tabitha and her warm smile framed by her long silver hair. Several months ago she had been trapped in the form of a cat. Now free of Gonzalez’s spell she was assisting the Sorcerer with his magic lessons. And because her special talent was controlling the cold she had taken on the responsibility of helping Apprentice Brown control his ability to summon the cold also. Though summoning the cold wasn’t his special ability. He had yet to discover that. He just had a knack for summoning cold but as yet was unable to keep it under control.

Apprentice Brown gazed from the window of the Sorcerer’s cosy classroom and looked out upon the gently falling flakes. He tried to clear his mind. But so many memories resurfaced. Memories of a fishing trip that had turning cold and wild, memories of Gonzalez’s icy end; an end brought about by his own hand channelling the power of dragons. A shiver ran through him at the thought of the dragons. The dragons and their whispers. The dragons and their ferocious power, locked up in mere words. Smetay. His word. It almost fell from his lips.

‘No!’ he found himself crying, forgetting where he was for a moment. He looked aside to see Tabitha watching him with patience. He shook his head at her.

‘I can’t. I can’t do it. It’s too dangerous.’ His eyes were close to tears.

‘We’ll call it a day,’ she said with a small smile. In truth they had barely begun. ‘Little by little it will come,’ she reassured.

‘But I don’t want to hurt anyone.’

‘Living in fear, and keeping it locked up can often be just as dangerous,’ Tabitha answered. ‘I hold the power over the cold as well. I can undo anything you start.’

‘Even the cold magic of dragons?’ Apprentice Brown asked.

She didn’t respond.

‘I sometimes wonder if this endless Winter is my doing,’ he said. ‘The Spring is far too late’.

This time Tabitha laughed. And the Spring did return. Only three days later the wind changed direction and warm air surged quicker than expected from the southern climes of the Pel Ulimar Desert. This brought with it a flurry of life as plants and animals awoke to the call of Spring. And at the same time Apprentice Brown and his friend Oxana were able to begin helping Oxana’s father fish by the large river that flowed past their town. The fish seemed in a frenzy to continue the cycle of life, and the catch was quick. So much so that by mid-morning on that first day out on the river Oxana’s father announced he had caught all he needed for the coming days.

‘But we can catch more,’ Apprentice Brown announced.

Both his friend Oxana and her father shook their heads in unison.

‘Take no more than necessary,’ they both chanted. ‘Otherwise one day you may arrive and