Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 16, Part 1

9 July 2026

This week we begin a new chapter in our tale, taken from the second book of our epic fantasy, Staff of Shigmar. We return to the battle near the Crossing of Reema, as the seklesi army sent to aid Shigmar now faces the worst part of the purgle’s army. . . . (20 July 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 16, Part 1

The only way to stop nekerpum is to disrupt the purgle who raised and controls them. This action is difficult as the purgle will surround itself with nekerpum; this course becomes even more difficult after the blood frenzy takes hold of the nekerpum. . . . No one has discovered a way to disrupt the purgle from a distance, avoiding the nekerpu blood frenzy which always follows close combat. . . .

from the seklesi Manual of Enemies, origin unknown

Shouts from company captains and squad leaders rang out, to form up and prepare to attack. Delgart shook his head several times, trying to clear it and refocus his eyes; he finally saw Marilee sprawled nearby and crawled over to her side. “Are you all right?” he asked, face wrinkled with concern.

Marilee’s eyes focused on him slowly, and she finally recognized Delgart kneeling beside her. She reached out and put her arms around his neck, but then she dropped her arms and sat up. “What’s happened?”

Delgart looked at her, then looked suddenly around to cover the troubled look on his face. “The army of nekerpum are moving to attack,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “We are called to form up and prepare for attack.”

“No,” Marilee frowned, “I meant, what happened to us?”

Delgart thought this was odd. “What do you mean?”

“I remember rushing toward the megatri,” Marilee said, “then I was lifted into the air. Next thing I remember was seeing you looking down at me.”

The rest of the squad had run up to where Delgart and Marilee sat on the ground; Grelsor and Lidelle knelt next to them. “Are you all right?” Grelsor asked, both held out their green-glowing staves, ready to heal.

“A little shaken, I think,” Delgart said, “but all right otherwise.”

Rellik reached out and helped first Marilee, then Delgart, to their feet. “Orders?” he asked.

“Form up,” Marilee said, “and let’s get back to work.” She shot a sidelong glance at Delgart.

“We will have to move to our position,” Rellik added, “the Eighth Company is forming over there,” he pointed.

Marilee looked to where her second pointed, then nodded. “Let’s go.”

Marilee’s squad jogged off together, moving among the other squads forming, to their position in the Eighth Company.

“How do we fight the nekerpum?” Delgart asked as they moved into their position.

Grelsor sighed. “They are the most difficult to destroy,” he replied, “as they cannot be killed, for they are already dead. The same is true of their purgle masters.”

“I thought they were red kailum,” Delgart noted.

“Not all of them were,” Grelsor said, “some are red kailu masters; some are black maghi masters; both have sold themselves to Nekerp, Lord of the Dead, in return for immortality, but it is not true immortality, for they are not alive in the same sense that we are; it is better described as un-life, for they, like the corpses they animate, are dead.”

“How can they be dead, but still alive?” Delgart asked.

“They kill themselves in a ritual that uses a powerful teka-enhanced object,” Grelsor went on, “that is both the means of their death and a receptacle for their life essence. In the slaying of their physical bodies, their life essence is drawn off and stored in the object, so the only way to destroy them utterly is to destroy the teka-enhanced receptacle of their life essence. The best we can hope for here on the battlefield is to disrupt their bodies, and when we disrupt the bodies of the purgle, then the nekerpum they raised will fall back into their graves.”

“So we focus on the purgle,” Delgart stated.

Grelsor nodded. “As you soon will see, the purgle surround themselves with the corpses they have reanimated, so we will have to hack our way through the nekerpum to the purgle controlling them, which is very dangerous.”

“Why?” Delgart asked as their company captain signaled them forward.

“Although we cut the corpses to pieces,” Grelsor said, “and scatter the pieces, the pieces will draw themselves back together, rising and fighting again, almost as quickly as they are cut apart.” They started to jog forward, moving up the low hills to the right of the pass, back the way they had come. The Third and Fourth Legions were taking up positions on either side of the pass; the First and Second were moving into the pass, then they would retreat, drawing the army of nekerpum out of the pass to be crushed between the Third and Fourth Legions. “We will have time,” Grelsor went on, “to watch the First and Second Legions as they encounter and draw out the corpses and their purgle masters.”

“How did the megatri,” Marilee asked from Grelsor’s other side, “perform the orthek to lift us into the air? We had always thought they did not have the ability.”

“She does not remember what happened after we were lifted,” Delgart whispered to Grelsor, seeing the kailu’s look of confusion.

“Oh, it was Xythrax,” Grelsor replied. “He possessed the body of the megatri, so performed the orthek that lifted you both and brought your faces together.”

Marilee’s hand went to her marked cheek. “And did everyone see . . . ,” she began and stopped when Grelsor nodded once. Her face turned white. She lowered her voice to a whisper; the two kailum, and the two maghem just behind her, moved closer. “The Council of Shigmar wanted to execute us for the marks we all bear,” she admitted softly. “All of the chosen have the mark inscribed somewhere on them, even the kortexi, who is Sir Karble reborn, he who healed us, was marked.”

“And what did Headmaster Myron do?” Grelsor asked.

“It was his apprentice, Delgart’s other brother,” Marilee went on, “who the Council put on trial for supposedly desecrating their holy altar. Headmaster Myron tried to defend him, but in the process of the trial, the marks on each of us were revealed, and we all were condemned and imprisoned. We were released from the dungeon by the awemi Rokwolf trained, Tevvy, who snuck into the dungeon from the sewers, with the help of the Headmaster, released us, and then led us back into the sewers. We found there a secret area beneath the sewers, prepared by the founders of the elder orders, just for us. The sword of Karble opened the doorway into the heretofore unknown space.”

On Saturday the conversation will continue as Marilee’s squad, along with the rest of the army, prepare to face the undead. Until then, get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!