The Staff of Naught

by Tom Liberman

  The events stirred the children but they awoke more slowly their eyes groggy and the movements sluggish. Ariana was the first to awake and immediately looked to the satchel beside her and touched it with her hand before she slowly crept out from under the covers. Nearby Tylan also slowly gathered his wits and watched as Ariana struggled up from bed and sat up.

  “What’s wrong Ara?” asked the boy and the girl looked to him in the darkness only able to make out a vague form even a few feet away although she recognized the voice easily enough.

  “I’m not sure Ty,” she said and began to thrown on a woolen shirt. “But, I’m going to find out. Are you coming?”

  The boy grinned widely and slipped his pants on as he struggled beneath the blanket to avoid exposure. Next came his socks and then he started to pull on his boots before he remembered the important morning ritual his father taught him and banged them together upside to dislodge any night visitors. “Shalalee,” he whispered to his sister who lay next to him but she did not appear to be awake so he finished his dressing and got up to follow Ariana.

  Shalalee lay quietly with her eyes closed and listened as first Ariana got up and left and then her brother. She waited for a few more moments as their footsteps indicated a true departure and opened her eyes just a little and waited for them to adjust to the darkness.

  Meanwhile Lousa arrived next to Shamki who still held his sword and stared into the darkness at apparently nothing. “What is it Shamki?” she said and looked around and unable to see the shadow form that was Tenebrous.

  The half-orc made a little nod with his head and pointed the tip of his sword into the darkness at the form that seemed to slide in and out of existence in the night air.

  Lousa looked more closely and then suddenly caught sight of the thing and gasped for a moment unable to collect her thoughts. Finally she looked at Shamki out of the corner of her eye as she tried to stay focused on the creature, “What is it?”

  Shamki shrugged but the creature chose that moment to speak again. “I am Tenebrous, a servant of She who Eternally Rules the Abyss,” he said his shadowy form slipped and slid although he stayed in the same spot.

  “What do you want?” asked Tanner suddenly coming up from behind Lousa and with his small knife gripped tightly.

  “I wish to parlay,” he said. “My mistress is interested in acquiring the staff you have and is willing to pay a goodly sum.”

  “It’s not for sale,” said Ariana out of the darkness and glared with her young eyes. “I see you.”

  “That is a shame,” said Tenebrous. “My mistress, She who has Always Ruled and Always Shall, is not a particularly patient woman.”

  “Who cares!” said Ariana in such a loud voice that it even woke Hazlebub for a moment although the witch went back to sleep almost instantly.

  “Ariana,” said Lousa and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder but only for a brief moment as the girl twisted away. “Ara,” said Lousa again. “We should speak with this Tenebrous at least.”

  “I’m not giving it away,” said Ariana.

  “Ara, we’ve been over this many times. You are eventually going to have to give it up one way or another,” said the halfblooded elf woman her eyes stared at the girl in the darkness. “You have to accept reality.”

  Ariana shook her head and set her mouth firmly although did not stomp her foot.

  “What kind of thing are you?” asked Unerus who had moved behind the creature with his small sword drawn and at the ready.

  Tenebrous did not bother to turn around to address the boy but simple continued to speak in even tones and keep his eye on the half-orc. “I am a Shade, a creature that once lived but was sent to the Deathlands by She Who Eternallly Rules the Abyss,” said the creature. “I found my way back from there and the Mistress allowed me to stay so long as I obey her every command.”

  “What are the Deathlands?” asked Tylan as he joined the group around Tenebrous.

  “You do not wish to know,” said Tenebrous his shadowy form suddenly seemed to become even more vague and insubstantial.

  “The Staff of Naught is not for sale,” said Lousa to Tenebrous. “You suggest your mistress will not take kindly to this news. What do you think she will do when you convey it?”

  “I am bound to obey my mistress,” said Tenebrous. “Outside of her direct commands I am able to use my own judgment. Should I delay in reporting this news then her wrath would also be delayed.”

  “Why would you do that,” asked Lousa her eyes narrowed even further on the dark night. “What do you want?”

  Tenebrous’s form seemed to darken and take on a more substantial identity for a moment and Ariana noted that the creature appeared to have some sort of wings but then he went back to his shadow self. “I have my own agenda which has nothing to do with you,” said Tenebrous. “But, it is possible we travel the same road for a time.”

  “What if we told Smyrnala what you are telling us,” said Unerus with a flick of his blade.

  “I would be horribly tortured and sent back to the Deathlands, perhaps permanently,” said the creature with little inflexion in his voice.

  “Oh,” said Unerus.

  “What do you want with the staff?” said Ariana, as she looked at the creature keenly able to make out some substance beneath the shadow form. It looked somehow significantly larger than its shadow, almost corpulent, and a strange aura emanated from it.

  “I do not care about the staff at all,” said Tenebrous. “That is where we might find common ground. My desires have nothing to do with the staff.”

  “Why would you help us then,” asked Lousa.

  “I am not prepared to divulge that information at this time,” said Tenebrous his form darkened with these words.

  “The last time we trusted something like this look what happened,” said Tanner as he eyed the dark cloud carefully. “Remember Khemer and what he tried to do. Do you want to use the staff to bring yourself back to life?”

  “No,” said Tenebrous firmly. “I am quite happy in my current, deathly condition. I do not want to use the staff at all. I want something else which might come about if you will listen to me.”

  “Go on,” said Lousa.

  “No, don’t trust him,” said Ariana.

  “Ara, leave this to the adults,” said Almara from behind her husband and the girl looked up sharply but then returned her glare to the dark creature and said nothing.

  “Go on,” repeated Lousa with a nod. “But, don’t try anything funny or Shamki will run you through insubstantial or not.”

  “Humor is not particularly my forte,” said Tenebrous. “The Eternally Ruler of the Abyss wants the staff and her step-sister, the Eight Legged Mistress of Spiders, also wants it.”

  “Step-sister?” said Almara.

  “So the Great Goddess, Ruler of the Abyss, Eternal Champion of Death, tells me. I do not actually know the exact nature of the relationship except to say that it is most antagonistic. This antipathy is something that I wish to foster for reasons that I will not elaborate upon at this juncture. You are in a position to help me further this wish. I am prepared to give you certain advice on how to proceed if you are willing to listen.”

  “We’re listening,” said Lousa and shifted in her stance but also relaxed subtly. Shamki lowered his sword slightly to ease the weight upon his arm but remained balanced on his toes and at the ready. Unerus sheathed his own little sword but maintained a position behind the shade.

  “Neither party wishes the item destroyed,” said Tenebrous. “The Spider Queen’s motivations are something that I long ago gave up fathoming. Her webs are most intricate and her plans of such scope and long term ideology that the more one attempts to understand them the more deeply enmeshed in making them come to fruition one becomes.”

  “What?” said Unerus.

  “If I understand you Tenebrous,” said Lousa her hand to her chin. “Her plans are so complex that if you think you are working against her you might well be furt
hering her ends.”

  The dark shape seemed to lighten slightly and gave off a slight chuckle, “I like you half-blood elf woman,” said Tenebrous. “You are quick of mind and pleasing of body.”

  “What do you care!” shouted Unerus suddenly. “You’re dead anyway.”

  “There are stages of death, believe it or not,” said Tenebrous. “And I have yet to reach the stage where beauty is of no concern to me. However, the All Powerful Eternal Mistress of the Abyss does have the power to put me into such a state. So, to some degree I am now at your mercy. I can only anticipate that this state of affairs will facilitate our working arrangement.”

  “What will you tell the Mistress of the Abyss,” said Lousa. “When you return to her after this meeting?”

  “That, again, is not your concern milady,” said Tenebrous. “Just be aware that for the moment our paths are on parallel courses and that I only wish you success.”

  “We want to destroy the staff,” said Tanner. “You said that the sisters both want to the staff to remain unbroken. How does that work towards your ends?”

  “I can only repeat what I have already enumerated,” said Tenebrous and he suddenly paused and thought for a long moment. “I find my thought patterns to be strangely linear these days, ever since my little sojourn. Not that this information is pertinent to this discussion of course. What is important is that you continue on your course with the staff. Seymour the Bright is already en route to a nearby location and you should continue towards him.”

  “Where is he?” said Ariana breaking back into the conversation. “How far away?”

  “A week’s more journey,” said Tenebrous. “The Gods are guiding you now.”

  “There are no gods,” said Ariana. “Just a bunch of fakes.”

  “Ariana,” said Lousa. “Please let’s not cover old ground again but the form of Tenebrous suddenly seemed to darken substantially and his black energy seemed to focus on the girl.

  “Who told you that,” he said and floated so close to the girl that Shamki shifted position and moved to within striking distance.

  “No one,” said Ariana. “I just figured it out myself.”

  Tenebrous seemed to have completely lost focus on Shamki and the others for a moment his black aura grew and formed into a huge winged creature, “Do not lie to me girl. I know a lie when I hear it, did I not sit in the court of Asmodeus as a boy, did I not wield …” and he suddenly trailed off into silence before addressing Ariana again, “it is extremely important. Who told you this?”

  Ariana did not shrink back from the dark form and her eyes blazed with conviction, “The man in the staff told me and I believe him!”

  “Who, what is his name, what does he look like?” said Tenebrous his form solidified even more.

  “I … I … don’t know,” said Ariana and looked confused for the first time.

  “The staff talks to you,” interrupted Lousa. “I asked you many times if it communicated with you and you said no. Were you lying all those times?”

  “The staff never talks to me,” said Ariana. “It’s the man talking.”

  “Has he ever said his name?” asked Tenebrous. “What does he look like?”

  “I don’t know,” said Ariana her face still a mask of stubbornness. “But I believe him. He says they’re all just pumped up creatures that convinced themselves of their godhood.”

  “It is him!” shouted Tenebrous. “I thought my brothers killed him long ago. Shinamar the Loathsome, Shinamar who stole the secrets of Elucidor the Omnipotent and brought about the destruction of Das’von. Shinamar who wants to destroy the gods! This changes everything. I must go, immediately. You shall hear from me again,” and with that Tenebrous vanished and left only an unsettling dark void where he once stood.

  “Elucidor,” said Lousa her eyes opened widely. “That is the name you used when you were talking to Khemer. What did he say to you then?”

  “He didn’t steal Elucidor’s secrets, he was his apprentice, he wouldn’t do that,” said Ariana.

  “Foolish girl,” said Hazlebub who had awakened at some point during the encounter. “Elucidor, of course, the last Mage King of Das’von and his loathsome apprentice Shinamar. Everyone knows that story. The King of Cities was destroyed centuries ago by Shinamar when he betrayed Elucidor.”

  “It’s not true,” shouted Ariana and ran back towards her blanket. “You’re all lying.”

  “Ariana,” shouted Lousa. “You come back her right now and tell me everything that you know about this Shinamar person.”

  Suddenly Ariana gave out a terrible shriek.

  “What is it,” said Almara, “Is it the voice, is it trying to hurt you?”

  “It’s gone!” wailed Ariana and tossed aside the empty rucksack that once held the Staff of Naught. He stole it while we were talking. You let him steal it!” said the girl and turned back to the rest of the party. “He fooled you, he said he wanted to help but all the while he was stealing it.”

  Lousa looked left and right, “He was right in front of us the whole time. He must have an ally who snuck in while we were distracted. Shamki, how could this happen.”

  “No strangers,” said Shamki and quickly ran over to where the staff once rested and sniffing the air broadly. “No others.”

  Almara looked up suddenly and took note of everyone around the dim firelight. “Where’s Shalalee?”

  Chapter 28

  Shalalee stumbled in the darkness as she fled into the hills and fell to the ground the strange staff slipped from her grasp and slid across the grass out of her reach. The girl quickly got to her feet again and picked it up with a quick look back in the direction she came from trying to detect the sounds of pursuit. “I can’t see, it’s took dark,” she called out. “How can I get away?”

  Then the voice came to her again the one she had grown to trust over the last week. “Your path shall be show by the light of Ras,” it said and she suddenly felt a burning in her eyes and she could see as if it was daylight. “Hurry to me,” said the voice again. “Seymour the Bright awaits. The light of Ras shall burn the staff and destroy it. You mustn’t let the other girl take back the staff. She will use it to kill the others, your brother, your father, your mother, and the boy as well. You must hurry. We are still many leagues from where you are. I have sent a steed but you must travel further to where it will meet you. Do you understand Shalalee?”

  “I understand,” said the girl with a nod of her head and clutched the staff in her hand. She began to trot again in the direction the voice told her to go. “I’m doing it for mom and dad and Tylan,” she said to herself over and over again. “They’ll thank me later, I’m saving their lives, I’m a good girl.”

  Far away a group of three men stood and watched Sutekha crouched over the crystal object and muttered in the strange language of the Dorians. He did not look up to them for a few long moments but then suddenly turned. “She needs light,” he said and looked at Seymour. “It’s too dark for her to see and the others will be chasing her soon.”

  Seymour lifted the Icon of Ras from under his shirt and its intense light forced the others to avert their eyes. He touched the thing with his pinky and began to mutter a few strange words and the light leapt from the thing to his little finger where it glowed but with a lessened intensity that allowed the others to gaze upon it. “Can you transfer this to her eyes through the crystal?” said Seymour and held his hand towards Sutekha.

  “Yes, I can manage,” said the Magician of the Golden Worm.

  “Address me properly,” said Seymour and stood up to his full height with a glare at the mage in the glow of the brilliant light that emanated from the bauble around his chest.

  “I can pass along the Light of Ras, praised be to the Chosen Voice of the Sun God,” said Sutekha and turned back to the crystal, now he muttered his magical spells in a language familiar to the desert dwellers.

  A few moments more went by and the Wizard of Worms slumped backwards from his work and
staggered to a seat on the grass.

  “She has stolen it,” said Seymour with a smile across his face.

  “She is merely a foal,” said Sutekha as he gasped for air and looked up from his seated position. “I promised to send her a horse.”

  “A noble steed of the royal stable to fetch a traitorous spider worshipper,” said Seymour his nose wrinkled and he curled his upper lip to reveal even white teeth. “Certainly you did not propose to send Shemu on such an errand?”

  “Of course not oh Mighty Guardian of the Icon of Ras,” said Sutekha his breath still labored. “I thought perhaps my own steed would suffice although slow and weak it is still far better than most any found in the lands of these heathens.”

  “Your walking will delay our arrival at the White Marble Ruin,” said Seymour.

  “Even with me walking we will arrive before the girl,” said Sutekha. “As long as we are there before her then it really makes no difference when we arrive.”

  “Do not presume to tell me what is important and what is not,” said Seymour and walked away from the man as the priest fiddled with the chain around his neck.

  “I apologize again great Ruler of the Desert, Master of the Icon, Future King of Tarlton,” said Sutekha his head bowed to the grass and eyes closed.

  “Enough of your groveling,” said Seymour. “Oliver, you will send Dovestar to pick up the girl and run at our sides as we move.”

  If the paladin was upset by this order in any way he did not show it his face remained impassive and his eyes did not open any wider, “As you wish my Master,” he replied and called out to his horse that immediately came across the open field towards him. The full blooded orc looked at Sutekha and said, “You will direct him to the girl’s location?”

  “Yes, Oliver. The minds of animals, even those of a free spirited and wild as your Dovestar are not as difficult to control as thinking creatures,” he said. “But, I am too tired to affect the process at this moment. Perhaps we can ride for some hours and I will be reinvigorated enough to make the attempt.”