Chosen of the One: Chapter 18, Part 1

25 February 2026

We return this week with the final chapter of the first book in our epic series, Chosen of the One. Klaybear and Thal, traveling the mental plane, seek out and find who is controlling two of their fellows, confronting Gar, which confrontation could cost two of the chosen their minds. . . . (23 June 2014) We again remind our readers to right-click on the Glossary link, open in a new tab or window, thus enabling the reader to learn what each of these new terms mean.

Chapter 18, Part 1

A mental compulsion is a very subtle thing: most difficult to put into place and dangerous to remove; only the most powerful mentalic has any hope of emplacing or safely removing one, and the more subtle it is, the more difficult and dangerous to remove. . . .

from The Annals of Melbarth, Ninth Series, Early Lectures of the Hierarchs
Lecture by Sedra Melbarth

Klaybear, the word came to him as a thought. Are you with me?

Yes, Klaybear thought back to Thal. The eyes of his mind were sailing through the air, following the thick gray strings that led back to Tevvy and the chamber in which his body stood motionless. There are two strings, Klaybear thought.

Yes, Thal replied, and that is why you had to come with me rather than Klare. The second goes back, I believe, to your wife, so she must have a similar compulsion placed upon her.

I still think you should have brought her, Klaybear noted, she is much better at this than me. I’m not sure we are strong enough, or skilled enough, to take on the servant of Gar who marked us all. In the physical world, he took my power from me easily.

That is true, Thal thought back, but we have an advantage over him.

What advantage?

While our bodies are in the stasis chamber, he is caught in a single moment. We are very lucky that we were in the stasis chamber, with the field activated, when we started probing around in Tevvy’s mind. Had the door been opened he would have detected us and thwarted us in an instant, quite likely destroying us, as I do not think we are his mental equals.

He is quite powerful, Klaybear thought.

He is, I think, Gar himself.

What? Klaybear thought in sudden astonishment, then he went cold as he realized just who and what they were going toward.

I do not think that he would trust something as important as maiming and marking the chosen to any servant. What we have seen in Tevvy, and I’m certain that what you saw in my mind, and what we might have seen in Klare’s mind, had we the time, is too subtle and complete to be anyone but Gar himself.

But you said he was frozen in a moment while we are in the chamber of stasis: why don’t we have time?

Two reasons: Klare would have been suspicious had we stopped to investigate, and Gar is powerful enough to override the field in which we reside. In fact, he may already be realizing what we are doing, so we have to hurry.

This is crazy–he will squash us with a single thought!

That is why we must hurry.

A momentary silence followed Thal’s thought; a tight knot of fear grew inside Klaybear.

How long will it take us to get there? We are moving very fast. Klaybear thought, trying to distract himself from the growing fear he felt.

He cannot be far away.

Klaybear looked ahead and saw they were approaching an inn in Shigmar, then a room in the inn. The same well-dressed, well-groomed figure sat unmoving, the two red strings going into his head. Klaybear could not be sure, but it looked as if he were beginning to frown. They hovered over his head and saw directly into his mind; the patterns were more complex and multi-faceted than anything Klaybear could imagine. The knot of fear he felt tightened.

Ready? Thal thought.

How can one ever be ready for this? he thought, then immediately apologized. Sorry. What do we do?

We must jerk the strings out, stretching them out of the fabric of his mind so that we can sever them as close to the pattern of his mind as possible, so pull and chop, as fast as you can, then hurl yourself back into your body. He will probably break the stasis at that point and lash out at us, except I do not think he is yet aware that it is us, although he will be as soon as we strike. There is one other thing: when we return to our bodies, both Klare and Tevvy will have fallen; the severing of the link and the unraveling of the string may cause the parts of their minds where the string was attached also to unravel. We have to make sure, whatever happens to us, that their minds do not come apart. It may only be a few threads in the pattern, but those few threads could radically alter both of them. You take Klare, and I’ll take Tevvy.

I’d rather you took Klare, since you are better at this than me, and the patterns of her mind quite subtle.

No, you know her better, intimately, in fact, so you will be better able to tie things off than I. Your knowledge of her, and of the shape of her mind, will enable you to do things I could not. Tevvy’s mind is less subtle than hers, although equally complex, so I should have little trouble keeping his from unraveling. Ready? Thal thought, reaching with the fingers of his mind.

Do I have any choice? Klaybear also reached with the fingers of his mind, getting ready to grab, pull, and cut the link.

Now! Thal thought, grabbing and pulling the thick red string. Klaybear did the same, grabbing, pulling, then, at the same instant, both cut the string with a blade of pure mental force. Klaybear saw time leap forward for the figure sitting in the room. Thal and Klaybear started to flee, but were hit by an explosion of anger before they could even turn.

Hold on to the string! came Thal’s frantic thought, and the severing of the string coupled with the shockwave of mental anger that crashed into Klaybear, hurled him back to the stasis chamber. He felt the heat of Gar’s anger singe his probing mind, the impact of the shockwave threatening to extinguish his traveling thoughts. Klaybear clung desperately to a single thought even as his mental fingers gripped the now unraveling string of compulsion: he had to prevent Klare’s mind from coming apart; she would never forgive him if he failed, and worse, he knew he could never forgive himself.

The ground of the chamber buckled beneath Klaybear, almost hurling him from his feet. The others looked shocked, holding onto both chairs and tables as the chamber shook violently. Klare and Tevvy were unconscious, slipping from chair and stool. Klaybear saw Thal reeling and felt himself doing a similar dance; the maghi lurched toward the slumping awemi reaching out with both physical and mental fingers.

“Hurry!” Thal shouted, putting his hands on Tevvy’s head, “the string is beginning to unravel!”

Klaybear imitated his action, plunging his mental eye into his wife’s mind, but what he saw stunned him: all around the edges of her mind, threads of the patterns were unraveling. He leapt to tie them off, working as quickly as he could, wishing with all his heart that it was not Klare’s mind he tried to hold together, and wishing that someone else were in his place. Her mind was terribly complex and subtle; his mental fingers worked furiously, trying to tie off the unraveling threads, but there were too many; he could see that he was losing the race, and he felt his physical eyes growing wet, felt the tears beginning to flow down his cheeks, felt a gnawing despair clawing away at his heart, felt a sob slip from his chest. His mental fingers slipped; he lost the threads, and before he could recapture them, that section of the pattern fell apart.

“No!” he heard himself exclaim as he fumbled to recapture and tie-off more threads, and then weaker, “no,” and he knew it was too late; he had failed: his wife’s mind was unraveling before his mental eyes, and he could not stop it. From somewhere in the distance, he heard echoing laughter. He felt himself collapsing into tears.

This must not be!

It was a new voice, heard with both his mind and his ears, a soft but piercing voice, and Klaybear felt his whole being awash in love. He saw a pair of mental hands recapture the threads he had lost, re-weave them into the pattern, and tie them off.

Elker seeks to destroy the plan, the new voice stated, he must not be allowed to proceed in this manner. She is vital to the success of the plan. My son, Klaybear knew the voice meant him, you must not give up! She must survive until her time, only then will the success of the plan be assured. We will help you undo what Elker has done to her. At these words, Klaybear saw another set of hands take hold of unraveling strings, re-weave them, and tie them off. Then he saw a third set of hands, then a fourth, and fifth, covering all sides of Klare’s mental space, and he knew that he was the sixth. His mental fingers returned to their work, and somehow, he re-wove a part of the pattern and tied it off, moving on to another section. The voice continued to speak. Elker recognizes that if she is destroyed, you will not be able to succeed, the plan will fail, and all of creation will return to chaos and nonbeing.

A new voice spoke, a softer, although no less-powerful, more feminine compared to the first voice, which was more masculine. They must be protected from this kind of threat, for Elker or his servants will try again.

Yes, the first voice said, and we must restore the balance. My son, and Klaybear knew again that meant him, and all six pairs of hands continued to work. Your mother is right, you must be protected from further threats of this kind. This move by Elker was not unforeseen; the founders left in this place artifacts for each of my chosen. When we finish our work, although you barely have the strength to stand, you must see that each of you puts on a pair of the artifacts, most quickly with your mate and your mouse, for Elker will try to re-establish his compulsion upon them.

We will delay him when we finish and leave you here, the second voice said.

You must also ensure, the first voice continued, that your twin brother puts his on as soon as possible. Send the two from the younger order to him with it; your older brother must be trained by them, as he will soon lead them against the threat of Elker. Also, give him the message for your twin that he should leave Holvar and come to Shigmar, as you will need his skills, and he will soon be without work: Elker has ensured that he will lose his position in the younger order.

Which fulfills our plan, the second voice said.

“But we are outlaws,” Klaybear heard Marilee’s voice speak aloud, and he knew the others were hearing the voices he heard in his mind, “they will execute us as soon as we arrive.”

They will not, the first voice said.

I have already seen to it, father, a third, masculine voice said, similar to the first, the Fereghen and Feragwen will see to it.

Yes, said the first. Now we must restore the balance. Your work here is not yet complete, although two of you will depart almost immediately.

The mouse must work, the second voice said, and ferret out a secret threat.

Remember the artifacts, the first voice said with quiet power, and seek the second key in the tomb of the greatest of your order. But as you travel to the tomb you must flee all who would oppose you. This will rankle Karble’s heir, but none of you must fight anyone before entering the tomb. To do so will cause you to fail, and all of creation return to chaos and non-existence. Karble’s heir must heal them both before sending those of the younger order back to Holvar. Then the mouse must do his work; open the door and allow him to leave, and your beloved to heal.

Klaybear saw that the pattern of Klare’s mind had been re-woven, although subtly different; he could see the mark of evil still woven into her mind, but the re-weaving had changed it, and he could see that it would continue to change. He could not tell what it would become, but he knew, even as he saw each pair of hands finish and disappear, it would not be the same. He also knew, that, in time, all of their marks could be changed to become an older, more powerful symbol.

Remember, said the voice as the last pair of hands began to fade, artifacts, healing, Holvar, door, mouse. The hands were gone; the voices were gone; Klare’s mind restored. . . .

Come back Friday for the final installment of this first book in The Redemption series! Get the entire ebook from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, order your copy from the link provided. Good reading!