26 May 2026
We return to our story, in the serialization of the second book of our epic fantasy, Staff of Shigmar. Last time, we left the army of the seklesem, pausing at the Crossing of Reema, in which we learn the story behind this ancient battlefield, and then the alarm bell rings out. . . . (9 March 2015) 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 11, Part 2
Delgart shook his head slowly. “It is very sad,” he noted, “that people could be so blinded . . . ,” but what he thought was lost in an alarm bell that suddenly rang out. All their heads turned north in the direction of the bell, and the moment of silence immediately following the bell was rent by a roaring sound, coming from the same direction.
“Aperu!” Marilee exclaimed, “back to the others, quickly!” She ran back the way they had come; Grelsor and Delgart followed, running through the organized chaos of their camp toward their own squad’s place among the other squads of the Third Legion’s Eighth Company. Delgart noticed that both Marilee and Grelsor were looking, as they ran, in the direction the alarm and roar came from.
“What color?” Grelsor hissed to himself.
Then Delgart saw what he meant and what they were both watching for: a ball of red light shot straight into the air, and he heard both speak at the same time. “A red, which means fire breath.” Marilee unslung her bow and nocked an arrow; Grelsor took a small crystal vial from his belt filled with a silvery substance and, as they were running, put a drop on Marilee’s head and mumbled, “nemfagelu.”
“Take out your shield, Delgart,” Marilee said while Grelsor put a drop on Delgart’s head and mumbled the same word. Delgart felt himself surrounded by cold; he shivered and looked a question at Grelsor.
“Fire protection,” he noted, “to help protect us against the aperu’s breath.” He put a drop on his own head and mumbled, “nemfagelu.”
“The two maghem and the other kailu,” Marilee said, “are currently protecting the rest of our squad. When we return, we will form a diamond, with the maghem and kailum dispersed among us, half the squad with shields, the other half ready to shoot at the aperu as it flies over our camp.”
“We kailum” Grelsor added, “will reinforce the physical shields to help protect us from attacks, giving the archers opportunity to aim and fire at the aperu. The two maghem will also shoot ortheks at the aperu.”
Delgart could see other squads as they ran through their camp, doing exactly as Marilee and Grelsor described. They were near their own squad and could see them forming up, Marilee’s second, Rellik, organizing the squad while watching for Marilee to return.
“Ready?” she asked, as they ran up.
Rellik nodded. “Just waiting for you to put in an appearance,” he said, smiling. Rellik was of medium height and build, with reddish-brown hair that hung straight to his shoulders.
Marilee took her place at the center of the formation; Grelsor steered Delgart to a position behind Marilee’s right shoulder, Grelsor standing just behind and to her left. Delgart looked around, then shifted his shield, holding it up and ready as he saw the other members of his squad who held shields, facing north. Delgart turned his eyes north, trying to get a glimpse of the aperu; seconds ticked slowly by in silence, then he saw a flash of red light to his left at the valley’s head.
“There!” Tregla, who was first shield, pointed and exclaimed; the first shield was a stocky female who had limp brown hair, matching her eyes, her hair cropped short just below her ears.
Something happened then that stunned them all to momentary silence: to the west of where the red aperu attacked, a ball of yellow light shot skyward, followed immediately by a ball of orange light and a ball of blue light to the east of the original sighting.
“Yellow aperu west of north!” Rolva, third sword, exclaimed; she was wiry with an olive complexion, her hair black as midnight and tied back at the base of her neck.
“Blue aperu east of north!” Hranda, third shield, exclaimed. She was young and lithe with blue eyes and curly blond, shoulder length hair.
“Orange aperu north-northeast!” Peltha, fourth sword, shouted, “moving our direction.” The fourth sword was broader than the others, with thin brown hair also cropped short.
Delgart heard similar shouts echoing all around them, as the other squads took note of the new alarms.
“Track them,” Marilee noted, “so we know how to alter our preparations.”
“Aye,” Tregla, Rolva, Hranda, and Peltha replied in unison.
“Should we,” Grelsor asked, “alter our protections?”
“No,” Marilee replied, “let’s wait and see which passes over us; you can alter your shields according to which one attacks us.”
“Maybe some squad will get lucky,” Luthina, second maghi, noted wryly. She was of medium height with brownish blonde hair and a pretty face; her gray eyes had tiny wrinkles of concern revealed when she smiled, which was seldom.
“Not on the first pass,” Marilee said with a shake of her head.
“It will take a while to break down their teka protections,” Rellik added.
“Red moving toward us,” Tregla said.
“Blue moving away,” Hranda said.
“Yellow moving away,” Rolva said.
“Orange, nearest, and moving toward us,” Peltha said.
Delgart watched, eyes darting from one aperu to another. He could see each colored shape moving in the light of the sunrise, and the flashes of colored light, matching the particular aperu in color, issuing from what must have been the mouth of each. He heard the shouts of the squads under attack, along with screams of pain, knowing that some of his fellow seklesem had been injured by the attacking aperum.
“What are the archers aiming at?” Delgart asked Grelsor.
“The wing joints,” Grelsor replied, “trying to disable its wings and bring it to the ground.”
“So be prepared to run at a right angle, in the direction I command,” Marilee noted, her eyes still watching the sky.
“If it looks like it will crash directly on our position,” Grelsor added, “and the command is simply, ‘scatter’, then you go right with Marilee while I will go left.”
“And after it hits the ground?” Delgart asks.
“The archers will aim for its eyes, trying to blind it,” Grelsor replied, “the shields try and get close enough to strike at it with swords. Watch out for the tail, especially on the orange and the yellow, as both have poisoned spikes. So the shields only close with it when it is distracted by others. If we can surround it, we can usually keep it distracted, turning this way and that, giving the shields time to dart in and strike.”
“Watch for its head, too,” Marilee added, “it can still breathe on us. If its head points toward you, fall back and try to cover the archers.”
“How do we kill it?” Delgart asked, but was interrupted by those tracking the aperum.
“Red turning away,” Tregla said.
“Blue turning toward us, but still distant,” Hranda said.
“Orange turning away,” Peltha said.
“Yellow turning toward us, but distant,” Rolva said.
“We do enough damage to it,” Grelsor replied, “that it collapses.”
“That could take a long time,” Delgart noted, “and many of us could suffer serious injury.”
Grelsor nodded.
“Is there a faster way?” Delgart asked.
“There is,” Grelsor replied, “but only a fool, or a hero, would try that way.”
“What is it?” Delgart asked.
“Simply run onto its back, and drive your sword to the hilt at the point where its neck meets its wings,” Grelsor said.
“And pray to the One your sword severs its spine,” Marilee added, “before its tail crushes you.”
Delgart could now make out the shape of the nearest aperu, looking like a lizard flying on bat-like wings, and he could see the ortheks cast by each squad’s maghem at the attacking aperum. He could see the orange swerve as blue bolts of power shot toward it. He saw red bolts streaking toward the blue, which also swerved to avoid the bolts of power. The other two aperum were still too far away to see more than flashes of light, but he could see that they, like the two which were closer, were breathing on the seklesem they passed over.
“Is it my imagination,” Grelsor noted, “or does it look like the aperum are looking for something?”
“Orange turning this way, bearing down on us!” Peltha exclaimed.
“Blue turning away,” Hranda said.
“Red turning toward us, but distant,” Tregla said.
“Yellow turning away,” Rolva said.
“Change our protection,” Marilee said.
Each of the two maghem and two kailum touched those nearest and around her or him with rod or staff. Grelsor touched his staff to Marilee first, mumbling “patorake,” and then he touched Delgart and mumbled the word, then Rellik, then Rolva, then Kreega, the third scout, who was a thin, small wetha, her long brown hair braided down her back. When Grelsor touched him, Delgart felt as if he were surrounded by something cool and slick.
“Ready stone shield,” Marilee said, “but do not raise it unless you are sure the orange is about to breathe on us, so the archers and the maghem have time to attack.”
“On my word,” Grelsor said.
“Ready,” Lidelle replied. The second kailu was tall and thin, with hawk-like features beneath a cap of thin black hair, spotted with gray.
The orange roared suddenly, a deep bubbling sound, then dove toward them.
“Orange diving toward us!” Peltha exclaimed.
“Blue turning this way!” Hranda shouted.
“Red turning this way!” Tregla exclaimed at the same time.
“Yellow turning this way!” Rolva also shouted.
“Archers ready,” Marilee said, pulling the feathered end to her cheek, taking careful aim, and shouting, “loose!”
Bowstrings thrummed in unison; two bolts of blue light shot from the upraised rods of the maghem, following their shouting, in unison, “pleugikel!” For an instant, they thought that their missiles had some effect upon the orange, as it pulled up, slowing its forward motion, but then they realized it was preparing to land on the piece of ground they occupied, talons opened wide to grasp and crush any too slow at getting out of the way.
“Scatter!” Marilee shouted, leaping to her right.
Grelsor had opened his mouth to signal Lidelle, but moved with his half of the squad to the left. holding his staff behind him and shouting, “plakaskoit!” Lidelle mirrored Grelsor’s actions, shouting the same word and raising the same shield to protect his half of the squad. The ground shook as the orange landed, and the aperu moved its head left, breathing a stream of acid on Marilee’s half of the squad, but Lidelle’s shield did its job, sending the stream of acid bouncing back at the orange. The grass between Lidelle’s shield and the aperu smoked and turned instantly black. Lidelle dropped his shield as the aperu turned toward their half of the squad.
“Archers!” Marilee shouted, nocking an arrow and raising her bow. “Loose at will!”
“Ware the tail!” Rellik shouted from behind the orange. “Shields, attack as you can!”
Delgart drew his sword, and heard his fellow shields do the same; the arrows loosed only bounced off the aperu’s thick, scaly hide. A loud thud, followed by a scream of agony, came from behind the orange, and Delgart knew one of his fellows had been struck by the orange’s tail with its poisoned barbs. The orange threw back its head and roared in pain; its tail thrashed violently, and someone else behind the orange screamed. Delgart heard commands from around their position, and he knew that other squads of the Eighth Company were moving to aid them.
“Blue diving!” someone shouted from behind the orange.
At the same time, horns rang out from the north, signaling an attack and call to aid, but the squads on the right flank had their hands full, with one aperu on the ground, one diving, the other two still flying but closing on their position. Delgart could see past the orange to the blue that was diving to land in the space occupied by the other half of his squad. . . .
Come back Thursday and see what happens after this monster lands, and see Delgart become the hero of the battle! For those who wish to read on, get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Until next time, good reading!
Clyde B. Northrup 
Leave a comment