Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 3, Part 2

19 March 2026

In today’s installment of our epic, Staff of Shigmar: Book 2 of The Redemption, we return, momentarily, to Klaybear and Klare as they enter the dungeon from the sewers; after this, we rejoin Thal and Blakstar in the basement to which Tevvy’ thread has led them. . . . (15 September 2014) We remind all readers that this book, Staff of Shigmar, as also the first book, is free for download from Smashwords! Glossary links: Book 2, Book 1

Chapter 3, Part 2

When Klare climbed up through the grate, following her husband, she went straight to where Mistress Storga lay, hands glowing green. After she had passed her hands over the inert Mistress of Novices, she turned to Klaybear, who was standing by.

“You’ll need to give her some strength,” Klare said, “she is very weak, and we may still lose her.”

“I think she is too ornery to die so easily,” Klaybear noted as he knelt beside her head. He placed his green-glowing hands on Mistress Storga’s head; he drew energy from the air around him, channeling it into Mistress Storga.

“Don’t draw it from me!” Klare snapped.

“Sorry, dear.” After a moment, he spoke again. “That should be enough to get started, since we only need to stabilize her.” He lifted his hands from her head, and the green glow surrounding his hands winked out. “Then we should get out of here before anyone shows up.”

“What’s the matter, dear?” Klare asked. “Didn’t you like your cell?”

“Since I did not know where you were, and since they were going to deprive me of my life, no, I did not like my cell,” Klaybear replied grimly.

“At least this time, I’ll be there with you,” she said.

“That will be some comfort,” Klaybear said. “So, who would get to watch the other one die?”

“I was only teasing,” Klare pouted. “Now, see if you can move any of that rock, while I finish my work here.”

Blakstar stood with Thal at the top of the staircase, listening. “I hear nothing,” he whispered after a time.

“Let’s go in,” Thal whispered back.

The kortexi reached for his sword, but Thal stopped him.

“I think it would be better,” Thal began, “if you just knocked them out.”

Blakstar nodded.

“Besides,” Thal added, “it is so quiet in there, maybe you won’t have to,” he finished with a grin.

Blakstar grabbed and twisted the handle, pushing the door open carefully. They saw a small square room, with a door on the opposite side. Crates were stacked on either side of the room; some stood open. The kortexi stepped into the room, followed closely by the maghi. There was another door to their right. Seeing no one, Blakstar moved to the door and listened; after a moment, he opened the door slightly and looked in. He saw a staircase going up, and he heard the sounds of voices and movements overhead. He carefully closed the door and turned to Thal.

“Sounds like there are many people up there,” he whispered. “Let’s hope that Tevvy isn’t one of them.”

Thal shook his head. “I don’t think he could be,” he replied softly, “the line led up and straight east.”

“He could be higher up, then,” Blakstar noted.

“I don’t think so,” Thal said. “He felt very close. Let’s try that door.”

Blakstar nodded and moved quietly across the room, pausing again to listen at the door. “Sounds empty,” he whispered, then carefully turned the handle and stopped. “It’s locked,” he told Thal, troubled by the fact.

“Aah,” Thal said, drawing out the word, “a use for the thief.”

A spasm of anger gripped the kortexi. “Now is not the time for this,” he hissed. “How do we open this locked door without alerting the people upstairs?”

Thal pointed. “Use the key,” he noted.

Blakstar looked to where he pointed and saw a key hanging from a nail driven into the frame of the door. He took it and unlocked the door, replaced the key and slowly opened the door. This new room was even smaller than the one in which they stood, hardly more than a cell. He saw Tevvy hanging between two wooden pillars, gagged and eyeing them. Blakstar rushed into the room and pulled the gag out of Tevvy’s mouth.

“Help me get down,” Tevvy hissed.

“How did you get here?” Thal asked, noticing a figure crumpled in the corner of the room. “And what happened to him?”

“No idea,” Tevvy replied, “on both questions. I was following the soldiers’ tracks when somebody hit me over the head. I woke up hanging here some time later. A short time ago, he came in to question me, I assume, but his eyes went blank, and he fell where you see him there.”

Thal handed his dagger to Blakstar, then moved over to examine the fallen figure. The kortexi took the dagger and cut Tevvy’s bonds.

“Well, it cannot have been long,” Tevvy said, rubbing his shoulders, “I don’t feel much pain.” He looked up at Blakstar. “How long has it been since I left?”

Thal answered from where he knelt by the fallen figure. “Less than two hours, near as we can tell.”

“How is it that you are up?” Tevvy asked Blakstar.

“They closed the door,” the kortexi replied, “so Klare and I have had a full night’s sleep. Klaybear and Thal traded off, so only got half a night’s sleep each.”

“That room,” Tevvy said, shaking his head and now rubbing his wrists, “I’m still unclear about it, so I’ll just take your word for it.”

“Nor do I understand,” Blakstar replied, “so we are on the same horse.”

“He’s alive,” Thal said.

“I think he must be a black maghi,” Tevvy noted.

Thal nodded. “He might have been.”

“What do you mean?” Tevvy asked.

“I said he was alive,” Thal continued, “but his mind has partially unraveled, so when, and if, he wakes, he might not know who he is, let alone, remember his art.”

“How is this possible?” Tevvy asked.

“We should get out of here,” Blakstar noted, “before anyone upstairs notices that he has not come back up.”

“Or that I have not started screaming,” Tevvy added.

Thal seemed to ignore them. “I don’t have a very good mind for maps, Blakstar,” he began, “but you remember when you cut the green string connected to the morgle?”

The kortexi nodded.

“Isn’t this space,” Thal continued, “right along the line as we followed it back from the morgle?”

“What morgle?” Tevvy asked.

Blakstar ignored Tevvy. “I think so, if my reckoning is not far off,” Blakstar replied to Thal.

“And, it was about the time the string started to fade,” Thal finished, “so there could have been a connection here, which would mean that this person’s mind could have been attached to the morgle in the same way Tevvy and Klare’s were attached to Gar’s. But there was no one here to knot the pattern back together, so in his case, the pattern of his mind has partially unraveled.”

“It is no more than he deserves,” Blakstar noted, “for being a black maghi.” There was a bitterness in his voice that stopped Thal from replying, that caused Tevvy to look up at the kortexi in surprise.

“We’d better go,” Thal said.

“Before we go,” Tevvy said, “we should take a look at what is down here. Did you notice anything on the black maghi that might tell us what he is doing here?”

“I did not go through his things,” Thal replied.

“Blakstar,” Tevvy said, “you go stand by the door leading upstairs and keep an eye out for anyone heading down. Thal, you go take a look at what is in the crates, and I’ll check this black maghi for any clues.”

“You’re not planning on stealing any of his things?” Blakstar asked, suspicious of what the thief was planning; his hand went to and gripped the handle of his sword.

Tevvy shook his head. “Only if they are evidence,” he grinned innocently. “Now, go listen, and if anyone comes, warn us.”

Come back Saturday for another installment of our tale. Get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!