Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 5–Part 3

6 April 2026

We return with the final part of the fifth chapter of our epic fantasy, Staff of Shigmar: Book 2 of The Redemption. The chosen discover a wonderful truth, and hard on its heels, they learn that they have not escaped from their enemies. . . . (3 November 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 3

Klaybear whistled to Rokwolf, who turned and stopped, seeing his twin riding off the road.

“What is it?” Thal asked, he and Blakstar stopping where Klaybear left the road.

“Klare is suddenly ill,” Klaybear called over his shoulder, following her into the trees; they heard the sound of her retching somewhere beyond Klaybear.

Rokwolf trotted back while the sounds of Klare’s retching continued. He stopped facing the others. “That’s Klare?” he asked.

Thal nodded. “She turned pale suddenly, then rode into the trees.”

One of Rokwolf’s eyebrows rose slightly; a smile touched the corner of his mouth as he looked to where Klaybear had followed her into the trees, and the sounds of Klare’s retching became more labored. “This could present some problems,” he whispered.

“Problems?” Thal asked, looking puzzled.

The kortexi sat with his brow wrinkled.

“Yes,” Rokwolf replied, smiling, “if she has to stop frequently throughout the morning to be sick,” he went on, emphasizing the word.

Comprehension dawned on the maghi’s face; a crooked grin lit up his long face, framed by his wild red hair. “Yes, that could cause us some problems.” His grin widened into a smile he turned on Rokwolf, and the two of them turned to smile at Klaybear, who had stopped just inside the edge of the trees; Blakstar’s brow was still wrinkled.

Klaybear turned and saw both of their smiles. “What are you implying?” he asked.

“That you, brother,” Rokwolf said, grinning wider at the fact that his brother did not comprehend, “have proven yourself a real wethi.”

Thal snorted. “That your father’s bloodline will continue into the next generation,” he added.

Klaybear looked at them both, grinning at him, almost laughing at him, when the import of their words finally sank into his conscious thought; his face lit up, split by a grin that mirrored Rokwolf’s. “I better go and tell Klare,” he said, stupidly, turning and riding back into the trees; Klare’s retching had nearly stopped.

Thal and Rokwolf laughed; the kortexi was still looking puzzled, brow wrinkled. “Are you saying that she’s going to slow us down by being frequently ill, which means pursuit will catch up and trap us, and you think that is funny?”

Thal and Rokwolf laughed again; from the trees, they heard Klare’s voice: “What are you doing!” her voice exclaimed.

“Hugging you,” his voice replied, “we’re going to be parents!”

“Parents?” her voice replied, “have you gone . . . ,” her voice trailed off.

Comprehension dawned on the kortexi’s face; he smiled. “Now I understand, morning sick,” he said.

“Put me down, you great oaf!” Klare’s voice said, “I think I’m going to be sick again!”

The sound of her retching restarted; they smiled and chuckled for a moment.

“All jesting aside,” Thal said, “Should we be worried about pursuit, if we have to stop periodically for Klare?”

Rokwolf looked toward the south. “I’m sure their patrols have gone out by now, which puts us about . . . ,” he was saying, then stopped when their horses jumped, startled by the sound of a concussion to the south; all heads turned in that direction; Rokwolf and Blakstar’s hands went to their swords.

“It’s humming again!” Blakstar exclaimed, his exclamation countered by the sound of creaking and cracking wood away south, followed by the sound of a tree crashing to the ground; Klare went suddenly silent.

Rokwolf turned his mount and rode off in the direction of the sound. “Wait here,” he said.

While they waited the two kailum led their mounts out of the trees and onto the road; Klare was pale, looking like she would be sick again.

“What was that?” Klaybear whispered.

Thal shrugged. “Rokwolf went to investigate.”

A few minutes passed in silence; Klare held quite still, willing her stomach not to heave. Rokwolf rode back into sight, his brow wrinkled.

“What was it?” Klaybear asked.

“A tree falling,” he replied. He stopped and looked at the kortexi. “Your sword?” he asked.

“Stopped as soon as we heard the tree falling,” Blakstar replied.

“Old trees,” Thal noted, “sometimes fall after long, hard winters.”

“Sometimes,” Rokwolf said, “but this tree was young and quite healthy.” He turned to Klare. “Can you ride?”

Klare did not look up. “I think so,” she said, “the worst of it seems to have passed, and I have nothing left in my stomach.”

“We should get moving,” Rokwolf said, “and quickly, if Klare can manage it.”

“I’ll try,” Klare whispered.

Klaybear helped Klare climb back on her horse. “Okay?” he asked.

Klare gave a curt nod. “Start slowly,” she said, handing her reins to her husband, once he had mounted, and clutching pommel of her saddle with both hands.

They urged their mounts into a walk, Klaybear watching his wife closely as they increased the pace. They managed a fast trot before Klaybear could see that they should go no faster.

“Slower,” Klare hissed through clenched teeth.

They complied, slowing to a trot, which lasted for about ten minutes before Klare shouted for them to stop, leaning over the side of her mount and retching drily.

Barely half a minute passed when their mounts twitched, responding to another subterranean concussion, followed by creaking and cracking, and they saw the tree fall across the road just south of them.

Rokwolf turned to look at Blakstar. “Your sword?”

Blakstar nodded. “I touched it as soon as we heard the concussion, and felt the humming stop when the tree fell.”

“The morgle,” Thal noted. He looked at Klaybear; Klare was trying not to retch. “Do you suppose,” he said, “that the morgle has discovered the mental link between the keys?”

Blakstar still touched his hand to his sword. “It’s starting again!”

“Ride!” Rokwolf exclaimed, kicking his mount.

The others followed, galloping north; Klare held both her saddle and her stomach, trying to keep from retching while staying on her galloping mount. They felt the concussion, heard the creaking of wood and the crashing of another tree. Turning to look back before the road wound around another corner, they saw a large, healthy-looking tree blocking the road at nearly the exact point where they had stopped.

“We can’t run all the way to Shigmar’s Tomb!” Klaybear exclaimed to his twin.

“No,” Rokwolf replied, “and it’s only a matter of time before the morgle simply blocks the road ahead of us, and slows us enough for pursuit to catch us.” He slowed to a trot; the others imitated his action. Rokwolf turned to Klaybear. “Is there any way you can mask our presence from the morgle?” he asked.

Klaybear started to reply but was interrupted by Thal.

“There might be a way,” Thal said, “but I’m not sure it would fully mask us from the rod and a being as powerful mentally as the morgle are.”

“What do you mean?” Rokwolf asked.

“Our problem is that we are all only novices in our different arts,” Thal answered. “There is a way to cover our position with a mental fog, but my inexperience prevents it from being much larger that a single person; it would not cover the mental thread that connects the three keys to each other, so the morgle would still know where we are, since all he would have to do is look for the moving bit of mental fog,” he finished, smiling wryly.

Rokwolf looked at his brother after glancing once at Klare; she rode hunched in her saddle, still very pale. Rokwolf frowned. “Why can’t we do the same thing as the morgle?” he asked.

Klaybear looked puzzled. “Why would we want to knock living trees over?” he countered.

“Not knock over a tree,” Rokwolf replied, “open a doorway directly to Shigmar’s Tomb.”

“We do not know, precisely, where the tomb is,” Klaybear replied.

“Then open the door to Kalbant, his hometown,” Rokwolf said.

The others were silent for a time.

Thal broke the silence. “Probably because Blakstar would need to rest an entire night after opening the doorway, and from all we have been told about the tomb, and the need for us to return quickly, he would not be able to face whatever awaits us inside in a state of exhaustion,” he said.

Rokwolf again glanced at his sister-in-law. “The morgle managed to open a second doorway, and he continues to attack us from a distance, without the required night of rest.”

Thal opened his mouth but closed it again; the others sat silent.

“Why couldn’t someone besides the kortexi open the doorway?” Rokwolf asked.

Thal shook his head. “We saw what happened to the guard captain in the dungeon, who touched Blakstar’s sword: all in the room were killed.”

“Wait a moment,” Blakstar said, “you touched my sword and weren’t killed,” he pointed at Thal.

“But I wasn’t trying to use it,” Thal protested.

The kortexi shook his head. “You were,” he said. “You held it up to test your idea that the sword would take someone’s will, so you tried to threaten me with it.”

“And it didn’t work,” Thal replied.

“Only because you did not know how to properly hold and wield a sword,” Blakstar retorted.

“Rokwolf has a point,” Klare said weakly, “we are all chosen, why couldn’t one of us use the sword to open a doorway to Kalbant?”

Klaybear shrugged and started to reply but stopped, interrupted by the sound of hooves pounding toward them. Looking north, they all saw Tevvy come around a bend in the road ahead of them, whipping his pony. The awemi started to speak before any of them slowed.

“There is an army of purem moving toward us on the road!” he exclaimed. “I had to kill one of their scouts, who stumbled into the place where I was concealed.”

Rokwolf turned to Blakstar. “I think it is time to find out whether or not one of us can use the sword to open a doorway to Kalbant.”

Come back on Wednesday for another installment of our tale! The chosen will discover, again, that their enemies are one step ahead of them. Get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!