Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 5, Part 1

31 March 2026

We return to the serialization of our epic fantasy, Staff of Shigmar: Book 2 of The Redemption, as the chosen pause to assess the armies about to attack the city before beginning their journey north to find Shigmar’s tomb. (20 October 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 5, Part 1

Secretly smuggled out of Shigmar
the CHOSEN trail led north
to the home of the first headmaster
Shigmar, founder of great renown
seeking the powerful artifact
hidden in the first kailu’s tomb. . . .

from ‘The Great Year,’ a song cycle by Sir Kovar, written atno 3553

Shigmar, city of the kailum, lay nestled in a valley in the central part of the Monti-stethreu, or “Mountains of the Fallen Star.” Through this valley wound the Krystal River, named after both the lake which was its source, and the clear, pure water; the river ran from north to south through the valley. The city of Shigmar covered both banks of the river, which flowed into the central market, and there was diverted into the caverns beneath the city where the river became part of the city’s sewer system. The city sat at the southernmost point of the valley, with the school of the kailum perched atop the cliff-edge of the valley, just above the point where the river issued from the caverns beneath the city, falling five-hundred feet, in several stages, to the plateau below. The valley north of the city, on either side of the river, was covered with lush farmlands, which supplied most of the food for the city. The land closest to the river was the most fertile, covered with orchards and fields of vegetables; the rolling hills bordering the valley’s bottomland were sown with grains, and on the lower slopes of the mountains, livestock roamed where ash and birch grew in abundance. From its establishment, the people of the valley had been completely self-sufficient, and trade with other cities, beyond the villages and farmers living along the Krystal River, had not been established until the beginning of the second millennia, atno 1007, when the mountain trail leading to the valley had been expanded into a road over which wagons could pass. Once the wagons had begun to arrive, the city expanded from being the simple home of the school for kailum to a bustling center of trade.

Like all cities of the realm, Shigmar was surrounded by a stone wall with a single gate, a gate bridging the river, which had been dammed to create a small lake that helped to protect the city. The gate usually remained open while the sun was up, but on this day, when the sun rose, the gates did not open; the city guard manned all fortifications in and around the gate, refusing to let anyone pass. Word had gone around the city that the vanguard of an unfriendly army occupied an area to the northwest behind the first hill, and so out of sight of the walls. A detachment of horsed guards had reportedly passed through the gates in the time just before dawn, sent to scout out enemy movements. Many kailum had gone with them, including, if the rumors were true, Headmaster Myron himself. This rumor did little to calm the fears of many of the city’s inhabitants, since all of them had been awakened several hours before dawn by an explosion that rocked the city, coming from the eastern quarter, and rumor had it that one of the nicer inns there had been destroyed by the blast, and all who were staying there killed. As the sun rose, the soldiers manning the walls could see smoke rising beyond the first hill northwest of the city, west of the river. On the east side of the first hill northeast of the city, a small group of riders stood holding their mounts, waiting for the sixth and smallest member of their party to return.

When Klaybear finished telling Rokwolf what had happened since they had last spoken, the seklesi stood for a time in thoughtful silence before speaking. “All that has happened over the past few days,” Rokwolf finally said, breaking his silence, “seems to be a part of some larger plan of Gar’s that he prepared long before, especially the marking of some of us, mentally.”

They stood together holding the reins of their horses, with Thal holding Blakstar’s mount along with his own, while Rokwolf held the reins of Tevvy’s smaller pony along with his own. The kortexi moved between watching the shadows under the trees to the north, the way Tevvy had gone a quarter of an hour before, and moving to the west, where he could just see the enemy vanguard across the river.

Thal nodded. “I think you must refer particularly to the alterations made to the patterns of my mind,” he noted.

“Yes, partially,” Rokwolf replied, “but I was thinking more along the lines of plans put into place in the days of the founders.” He turned to his twin. “The disrupting of your vision, however, seems out of place, as if it were not meant to be. You both have told me that Headmaster Myron and Hierarch Kalamar indicated that there was something wrong.”

“Not in so many words,” Thal noted, “but there was something odd about my master’s behavior.”

“What?” Rokwolf asked.

“Before that moment,” Thal said, “if I started to lose control of an orthek, as it seemed was happening in this case, he would have stopped the orthek and asked me to clear my mind and begin again. However, in that moment, he was either so surprised by what happened that he did not act, or something prevented him from acting.”

“My master always spoke of your father,” Klaybear noted, “as the most powerful white maghi living. Who, or what, could have prevented him from stopping the orthek?”

“Only two possible beings come to mind,” Thal replied. “Gar, which would lend support to what Rokwolf is thinking, but I did not think he could approach our tower, for the teka fences protecting it, especially without first breaking those barriers, which would have alerted us to his presence. The only other possibility is the One, which may indicate that it was intended, but why would he ‘muddle’ my vision, or yours?” he finished looking from one twin to the other.

Blakstar moved toward the west, squatting behind a rock where he could see across the river.

“I’m not sure I understand the difference between your visions,” Rokwolf went on, “the orthek you used, Thal, sounds similar to ortheks used by the other maghi orders, which only reveal flashes of the future, just images.”

“The vukeetu,” Thal noted, “used by all maghem, as you said, give the maghi glimpses of future events in the maghi’s life. These glimpses help to shape his studies, help him to prepare for the future, help him to know what to do, generally. Anyone who tries to wrest specifics from them deserves everything bad that happens to him,” Thal smiled wryly.

A flicker of anger filled Rokwolf, but he quickly suppressed it. He turned to his twin. Blakstar looked toward the north, still watching for the awemi as he kept an eye on the enemy vanguard.

“With ours,” Klaybear began, “we, similarly, see glimpses of our own futures, usually revolving around our life’s purpose: what our role is in the plan of the One. My master saw images that led him to believe he was to search out the chosen. He spent many years in fruitless searching before he realized that what he was meant to do was to train two of the chosen, us,” he added, stumbling over the word and indicating Klare and himself, “and since he knew from the prophecy that two of us would be kailum, he reckoned he would directly train one and would influence the second. So he devoted his life to teaching, and he eventually became Headmaster, so was in a very good position to choose me as his apprentice, while his best friend, Master Avril, became master of healing and took Klare as his apprentice.”

Rokwolf’s brow wrinkled. “I still don’t see that they are all that different, since the flashes of the future can be misinterpreted, as they come simply as images.”

“It is not that they are different,” Thal put in, “but that in my case, the images were interrupted from outside, until the final image I saw was your older brother, wounded and about to be attacked by ghelem. From what your twin brother has told us, his was more than interrupted; he saw alternate outcomes for each image of the future, almost as if two people outside of him were controlling what he saw . . . ,” Thal’s voice trailed off, the maghi’s thought turning inward.

Klaybear picked it up. “With mine, though, the images were smashed together, melting into each other, so that I cannot tell where one ends and another begins. Even now, if I think about any of you too closely, the images associated begin to resurface and take control of my mind,” he finished, turning his eyes away and shaking his head. “And the vision should not be able to do that, meaning, usurp control of the individual’s mind.”

“You better come and see this,” Blakstar hissed, waving to them.

Klaybear gave his reins to Klare; Rokwolf wrapped the reins he held around a low branch. They both moved carefully over to where Blakstar squatted, joining him. The kortexi pointed to the other side of the river. A gray, shimmering arch, wide enough for five large men walking abreast, was clearly visible. First through the arch were a dozen black maghem, followed by as many red kailum, who took up positions around the gray arch and began weaving ortheks. A red dome of force blossomed to life, surrounding and covering the arch. Almost before the dome was in place, lines of ghelem and purem came through the arch, moving in all directions to form ranks around the arch.

Klaybear looked back to where Klare and Thal stood. “You better come and see,” he said.

“What?” Klare asked.

“The rest of the army,” Klaybear said, “coming through a doorway like Blakstar can open with his sword.”

“That’s very interesting,” Thal said, wrapping his reins around a low branch and joining the others, “especially considering the state in which we left his mind after severing those power links. I’m surprised that the morgle who has Melbarth’s rod could have repaired his mind so quickly and opened another archway.”

Now that the arch was surrounded by ranks of ghelem and purem, other creatures began to emerge: tall blue-skinned wedaterem whipped by their pura masters, purgle, servants of Nekerp, the Lord of Death, leading ranks of nekerpum, raised from graves across the realm, a handful of huge megatrem, wielding black and smoking swords, burning whatever they touched, several, nearly as large, krugle carrying giant hammers, and, just as Thal and Klare came up behind the others, a red aperu flew out of the arch, glided in a circle over the armies below, then landed on the hilltop straight across the river from them. Rokwolf pulled them all back away from the stone, sending both Thal and Klare tumbling.

“Hey!” Klare exclaimed, “be careful!”

“Quiet!” Rokwolf hissed through clenched teeth. “We have to get out of here before that beast starts looking around: the aperum have the eyes of eagles and could have seen us watching!” He crawled back to the horses, grabbing the reins he had wrapped around a branch. The others followed him, with Klare brushing grass off her robes and looking daggers at her brother-in-law. They heard the aperu roar, sounding like a furnace with too much fuel in it. Rokwolf began to lead his horse and Tevvy’s pony down the hill; the others retrieved their own reins and followed.

Blakstar caught up with Rokwolf. “What about the awemi?”

“He should be on his way back by now,” Rokwolf replied, “so we should meet him shortly. We can wait at the bottom of this hill for him.”

“I do not trust him,” the kortexi said.

Rokwolf resisted the urge to glare at Blakstar. “He comes from a good family,” Rokwolf replied, “and an academy commissioned by the Fereghen, himself.”

“He admitted that he was a thief,” Blakstar added.

“His profession requires that he sometimes do things you kortexem would find offensive,” Rokwolf said. “My advice to you, and I’m sure Headmaster Myron would agree, is that in the interest of keeping all of us alive, you should ignore those behaviors you find offensive, and focus on those that are helpful to our cause.”

“How can I do that?” Blakstar protested. “Whenever I look at him, I see a little thief, watching furtively for a chance to pick someone’s pockets.”

Rokwolf groaned inside. “Look,” he began, “I know it is not easy to accept, but from what the prophecy says, he is an equally valuable member of our group, of those chosen of the One,” he laid careful emphasis on those words, “to end Gar’s rule. We each have a role to play in that, and right now, your role is to bring up the rear, listen for sounds of pursuit, and if you hear any, urge us to greater speed. The Headmaster was very specific in his orders to me: I am here to see that the three key-holders, you,” he pointed at Blakstar, “my brother, and Master Thalamar, make it into Shigmar’s tomb without stopping to fight anyone, no matter what the provocation, and most especially,” he stabbed a finger at Blakstar, “you. If I have to hit you over the head with a rock and tie you to your horse in order to fulfill those orders, I will.”

The kortexi stopped, stunned in place, his face flaming. The others moved around him, continuing to follow the seklesi as he picked his way among the trees going north and down the hill. Klare moved up next to Rokwolf.

“What were you whispering about?” she asked Rokwolf.

Rokwolf glanced at her before responding. “The kortexi was sharing some of his prejudices with me.”

“Don’t be too mean to him, brother,” Klare said, laying a hand fondly on his arm. “He has had some very rough days.”

Rokwolf glanced at Klare again. “He’s not the only one,” he replied curtly, then moved quickly ahead of her.

We will return on Thursday with another installment of our tale; we will follow the chosen as they travel north, suddenly interrupted by something unexpected. Get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!