Tom Liberman - The Staff of Sakatha

“You cannot,” said Chusarausea. “But, upon the same stone in which the Staff of Sakatha is embedded rests one of my talons left for expressly this purpose.”

“We were right there,” said Jon. “There wasn’t anything.”

“It is there,” said the great green dragon with a hard look in its eyes. “You must look closely, but it is there.” With this final pronouncement the conversation seemed over.

“Thank you Great Green One, your words and your vision are both noble and true. My father will hear what you said, that I promise,” said the young gray knight and bowed deeply to the dragon. The creature looked at him through tremendous green eyes and a small smile curled on its face as it nodded its head. Then the creature closed its eyes and put its head down upon its paws.

“How do we get back?” said Sorus with a look towards Jon and the others and then he glanced around and realized that they stood in the center of the stone circle with the lizard priests, back underground, as if the strange interlude never happened at all. “Oh,” he finished.

It took the lizards a moment to orientate themselves to the new situation and by then the well-trained warriors, Odellius, Jon, and Vipsanius, had swords raised and ready, “Tie their hands behind their backs,” ordered the First Rider to Odellius, “and hurry up about it. I can’t imagine it will take long to reinforce those darklings and ghouls.”

Odellius quickly found a length of rope in his pack, tied neat knots behind the creatures, while Jon went over to the massive crystal block in the center of the stone circle and stared intently at it. His gaze traveled up and down its sides as he looked for the curved shape of the talon and for a long moment he could not see it. Then the shape suddenly seemed to appear on one side of the block and he stared again for long moments.

“Hurry, Jon,” said Sorus but the gray knight did not reply, his eyes fixed on the block.

“Here goes,” he said and reached forwards, grabbed at the block, and clasped his hand. When he pulled it back it held a thick green talon which he raised over his head and plunged down into the stone with all his strength. The talon slipped through the stone block like a rapier through unarmored flesh, the jade rock shattered into a thousand glass shards and left behind a long staff that looked like a mummified crocodile.

The reptile men immediately dropped to their knees and began to murmur in prayer while only the leader of the creatures kept a wary eye on Jon who bent down to pick up the staff.

“I’m sorry to take this from you,” Jon said holding the staff in his right hand and the claw of the great green dragon in his left. “This is the claw of Chusarausea the Great and I imagine you might find it useful. While I cannot let you have the Staff of Sakatha, I offer you this in exchange. Perhaps not a fair trade but it is better than nothing.”

Usharra did not understand the words of the human warrior but the intent was clear enough. He knew the Staff of Sakatha was momentarily lost to his people, but the fact that it was once again found meant the death cult would try to obtain it, use it to not to bring Sakatha back to life but to control the lich thing hidden in the vaults below Darag’dal. He nodded his head and said, “Take what you must warrior, I accept your gift in return, but I do not speak for all my people and others will learn of this and chase you to the ends of the world.”

Jon didn’t understand the language of the creature nor did the others, although the two remaining reptile priests looked at their leader with open mouths and swaying tails. Jon lay the talon at the feet of the leader and then looked to his friends, “Perhaps now is the best time to beat a hasty retreat before the darkling forces return in great numbers.”

The First Rider smiled and Sorus nodded his head, “Let’s get out of here!”

With that all four men backed out of the center of the great stone circle and towards the exit as they kept a careful eye on the reptile men, “The knots will hold for a bit,” said Odellius with a huge grin. “Let’s go!” The four began to trot towards the exit at a quick pace. When they cleared the stones a couple of darklings stood at the doorway across from them while a pair of reptile men, apparently survivors of the earlier battle, stood with their backs to the outer stone ring.

Jon, Sorus, Vipsanius, and Odellius ignored them as they dashed across the open floor to the dark corridor beyond, “Tenebrous!” shouted the First Rider and fumbled in his packet for a light stone. “Lead us out of here or I’ll know the reason why.”

“There is no need for threats,” said the dark shadow, its voice low and rumbly as before. “Follow me, but once we reach the surface I cannot guarantee your safety down the mountain. The darklings are on the move and Thantos seems to have survived.”

“Then stop talking and start leading,” said Odellius looking over his shoulder back at the main chamber where the white marble stones stood. It took him a moment to realize why the site bothered him when it suddenly dawned on him, the stones, thousands of years after their construction, looked exactly the same as in the dream, as if no time had passed at all. Then they were off into the darkness as they followed the strange shadowy creature.

They jogged along the narrow corridors with the First Rider in the rear and Sorus right behind Tenebrous who floated along, apparently able to effortlessly keep at a pace they found comfortable. Sorus noted the First Rider’s voice as he ticked off turns, “left, right, right,” as they made their way down the passages, and he turned to look at him as Odellius’s heavy breath filled the hallway. “Why are you keeping track of our turns on the way out?”

“It might be nice to find that temple again sometime in the future,” said the Vipsanius with a smile. “I’m also trying to tally with all the turns we took getting here in case Tenebrous is leading us astray.”

“Oh,” said Sorus suddenly ashamed that he didn’t keep mental track of their turns during the descent. “Are we going the right way?”

“As best as I can tell,” said the First Rider. “It’s not easy to keep track of things when underground but, so far, he seems to be leading us towards the exit. We are headed upwards at the very least.”

Sorus nodded his head as they continued and Odellius’s breath became more and more labored with every step. “Are you all right, Odellius?” said Sorus as he moved up behind the big knight. “You sound like you need a rest.”

“I’ll… huh huh, be ok,” said the man his face so red it seemed to glow even in the dim light provided by the stones. “Maybe I should eat and drink a little less. Don’t let Vipsanius know I said that though,” he told Sorus with a wink.

“I already heard,” said the First Rider. “Tenebrous, can we stop for a few minutes to catch our breaths or is it still too dangerous?”

The dark shadow paused for a moment and its shape twisted slightly although not into any identifiable form. “Yes, I will scout ahead to see if Thantos has prepared an ambush. The darklings seem less interested in pursuit than I imagined.”

The four men stopped and Odellius appeared seriously winded as he slumped to the ground. Sorus smiled broadly and slapped Jon on the back with his good hand, “You’ve got your staff, my friend. You came all this way, all those months, and now you’ve got it!”

“Now, the question becomes can I get it back home,” said Jon to Sorus his face quite serious for once. “I never really thought about that part. With reptile men, the dragon children, the Lady of the Abyss, and who knows who else chasing me down from every corner of the world, the journey might prove… troublesome.”