Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 17, Part 1

21 July 2026

We greet all of our readers, and wish them well this fine day! Last Saturday, in the serialization of the second book of our epic fantasy, Staff of Shigmar, we finished the battle between the seklesi forces sent to aid Shigmar and the nekerpu army of Xythrax; this week we return to Klaybear, Thalamar, Blakstar, and Tevvy as they enter Shigmar’s final resting place to retrieve his fabled staff. . . . (24 August 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 17, Part 1

Most physical trauma can be easily repaired using healing ortheks; mental and emotional trauma are not reparable by any means we now possess. Only the Founders were capable of this kind of healing, but their secret has been lost. . . .

Relana, Headmistress of Shigmar, 2370-2414

Light flashed brightly around them as they stepped through the doorway behind the throne, and into a large rectangular room, lit by magluku glowing in the room’s four corners. Klaybear, Thal, Blakstar, and Tevvy stood facing a set of large, double-doors, ornately carved with the same symbols as they had seen on the front of the temple on the lonely hill. A symbol representing each order, including Tevvy’s, surrounded the largest symbol, half on each door, which represented the order founded by Shigmar. Two statues made of some gray material stood on either side of the doors. Each statue was ten feet tall, holding a large mace in each right hand. The statues had round, fat bodies with round heads, chubby cheeks, and beady, black eyes that stared at them no matter how they moved. Seeing no other door from the room, not even back to the throne room they had just left, they walked slowly forward toward the doors, eyes wary and hands on their weapons. When they were feet away from the door, the statues on either side moved suddenly; their motion was quick and graceful, belying their rotund form, crossing their huge maces and blocking the door.

“Who are you?” a cavernous voice demanded.

“We are the chosen,” Klaybear stammered, “come to retrieve the staff of Shigmar.”

“The sign has been given,” the left figure replied.

“The tokens noted,” the right added.

“Final proof is necessary before access can be granted,” the left said.

“What proof do you require?” Klaybear asked.

“You must unlock the doors,” the right said.

Klaybear turned to Blakstar. “I think we need your sword,” he said.

The kortexi stepped forward, drawing his sword. The statues looked down at Blakstar, studied his sword for a moment.

“The second key?” the left asked.

Blakstar nodded and turned back. “The key I loaned you,” he said to Tevvy, “the one that opened the monument in Kalbant and the door into this room.”

“Right,” Tevvy said, holding out the key; Blakstar snatched it from him, holding it up for the statues to examine. They looked at it for another moment, then withdrew their maces.

“Access granted,” the right said, “once you prove they are genuine by opening the door.”

The slot for the sword was on the right door; the keyhole was on the left. Blakstar slid his sword into the slot, then fitted the key into the lock and turned. There followed a sharp click, then the doors swung silently back; Blakstar pulled out his sword and the key, handing the key back to Tevvy. The two statues relaxed and moved back to their former places at either side of the doors.

“Enter the tomb of Shigmar,” the left said.

“Within find the final resting place of Shigmar,” the right said.

“May the chosen of the One succeed in their quest,” the two said together, sounding as if they were one.

In the center of the small, square room they saw a stone sarcophagus, its lid carved with the symbol of the order founded by Shigmar. Lying on top of the symbol and coffin was a thick wooden staff, its cap and heel metal, the cap shaped like an elongated version of the symbol carved into the sarcophagus, but in place of the eye-symbol in the palm of the hand was fixed an eye-shaped emerald, its longer axis aligned with the length of the staff; other, smaller gemstones were arrayed around the emerald at the base of each finger, black and white diamonds embedded in the wrist of the hand-shaped head. The emerald glittered in the magluku lighting the room. Just beneath the symbol, they could see letters inscribed in the metal, but only the first word was visible. Without picking up the staff, Klaybear turned it carefully and slowly, and they saw the second word, then the third, and also noticed that the eye-shaped emerald was visible on both sides of the iron palm as were the smaller stones, the hand-shaped symbol giving the illusion of both right and left hands.

“Breath-giver,” Thal noted.

“That’s a big emerald!” Tevvy exclaimed at the same time.

“Is that right?” Blakstar asked. “I thought you said it was called, ‘life-giver?’”

“It is the breath of life,” Klaybear replied.

“And without it,” Thal added, “we are dead. So it is another metaphor, like yours.”

“It is also another name for the spirit,” Klaybear went on, “called by some the life-force or essence.”

“We call it the ‘soul,’” Tevvy put in, but his eyes were still fixed on the emerald.

“Don’t even think about it, thief!” Blakstar snapped, one hand going automatically to the handle of his sword, which caused the golden topaz to flare brightly.

“I wasn’t!” Tevvy replied, his tone injured, “I was only admiring its beauty.”

“Sure you were,” Blakstar replied skeptically.

“Quiet! Both of you!” Thal hissed. “It’s doing something to Klaybear!”

On Thursday we will learn what has happened to Klaybear, or what he sees when he first touches Shigmar’s staff. Until then, get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!