Staff of Shigmar: Chapter 17, Part 3

25 July 2026

In today’s installment from the second book of our epic, Staff of Shigmar, we rejoin the chosen as they receive instructions from the founders. (7 September 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 3

Thal stood looking at the altar, smiling. He turned to Klaybear as the archway winked out. “We can retrieve two more messages, now,” he said.

Blakstar looked puzzled. “Two? How?”

“One with only the staff inserted,” Thal replied, smiling at the kortexi, “and one more with both staff and sword inserted.” He looked at Klaybear. “Which one first?”

Klaybear thought for a moment. “The staff alone, I think,” he said, and Thal stepped aside so he could slide the staff into the larger of the two holes, next to the slot for the sword.

As they had seen when they first entered the tomb, the head of Shigmar winked into life, floating above the center of the altar.

“Chosen of the One,” the same voice spoke, “again I speak to you, the words sounding strange in my ears, but I know you will understand me. Now that you have retrieved the staff, you must hasten to save my city, which is now your city. As I know your vision has shown you, you must stand on the hill north of and in view of the city, and sing the following incantation: eli-ghende-gwehram-sisogheto-kustho-staurore-aiwamdwo. This, we believe, will destroy those who would destroy my city and my order. You can only do this one time; it will store the great energy needed for two important restorations that you have, I believe, been shown in your vision. Melbarth believes, and I agree, that the cost of using this power may be more than you can bear, but that in order to fulfill your destiny, you must pay the cost, to the last ayesu, if you would be all the One would have you become. Write the incantation down, for you must sing it exactly as I have said, or you might destroy yourself. I will wait until you are ready to write.” The face smiled at them.

Klaybear looked around the room for parchment, ink, and quill; Thal saw his blank look, and took out the things he needed, intending to hand them to the kailu, but Klaybear stood rigid, his mouth slightly open. He handed the bottle of ink to Tevvy, who opened it and held it up for him. Thal knelt on one knee beside the awemi, putting the parchment on the other and dipping his quill. “We are ready,” he said to Shigmar’s floating, silent head.

“Very well,” he said, speaking the incantation slowly, “eli-ghende-gwehram-sisogheto-kustho-staurore-aiwamdwo,” and when he finished repeating the orthek, the head winked out.

“It’s going to kill me,” Klaybear said dully.

“Don’t be absurd,” Thal replied, tapping the parchment with his rod and rolling it up. He slipped it somewhere inside his robes, accepted the ink bottle from Tevvy, and stowed it with his quill back into one of his belt pouches. “How can you use the staff later to do what we are destined, as keys to destroy Gar, if you are dead?”

“Maybe someone else uses it later,” Klaybear said.

“How can you return the staff to the tomb,” Thal went on, “if you are dead?” He turned to Blakstar. “Let’s find out what else Shigmar will tell us,” he pointed to the slot, “slip your sword into place.”

“Chosen of the One,” Shigmar’s head spoke, after winking to life over the altar, “you have already discovered the ability of your verghrenum to locate each other; you can also use the keys to communicate with each other. Simply concentrate on the person with whom you wish to speak and draw a small archway, about the size of a person’s head, which is how we managed to leave you these messages. You will see the person, as you now see me, and he, or she, will see you in a similar manner. You will be able to converse as long as the small doorway is kept open. Be warned, however, that should you appear to someone who is asleep, or in danger, you put yourself at great risk; you can be harmed, even killed, when communicating in this manner.”

“So we have a physical presence,” Thal said to himself.

“Yes, and no,” Shigmar’s head replied. “Melbarth suggested you might say that, although the explanation is beyond me, but he tells me to say that it is like the teka used to create a simulacrum, a kind of sympathetic teka, but I digress. Conceivably, you could use this ability to locate and communicate with other persons, or as a means to spy on your enemies. This you must not do: the more powerful the creature, the easier it will be for the creature to detect and destroy you, so we, Melbarth, Karble, and I, exhort you to use this ability only to communicate with or locate other chosen, or maybe your masters, although we are unsure of them. You have reached a time when few, if any, will trust you, some will actively seek to destroy you, most will fear you. Beware of everyone else, and on the other side, you must trust each other implicitly, Karble suggests that this will be most difficult for his descendant. Each of you has a part to play; each part, no matter how small it appears, is vital to your ultimate success. Karble tells me I have wandered again, far from communication. All that I have not covered at this point is one contingency: if the person you are trying to locate, or with whom you wish to communicate, is unconscious, drugged, or shielded mentally, you will see only blackness, a blackness that you should interpret as that chosen being in dire trouble. Locate that chosen as quickly as possible and go to his, or her, aid immediately, lest Gar get the upper hand.” The head winked out. Blakstar slid his sword out and slipped it into its sheath; Klaybear retrieved his new staff.

“That last part sounds ominous,” Tevvy noted. “I get the feeling that someone of our larger company is in trouble.”

Klaybear looked at him for a long moment before nodding. “We should try and contact Klare, or Rokwolf,” he said.

“Go ahead,” Blakstar shrugged, “it would be useful to know how they are before we open a doorway to them.”

Next week on Tuesday, we will learn the current situation of Klare and Rokwolf, and we will see, once again, the kortexi go berserk. Come back Tuesday to find out why! Until then, get a full ebook copy from Smashwords for free! If you prefer print, purchase your copy from the link provided. Good reading!