Shardik Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1: The Fire
The animals of the forest are going through their daily routines when they sense something
unimaginably huge. Moments later, a figure of terror, monstrous beyond the nature of the darkest
forest came charging out of the trees. It stood on its hind legs, twice as high as a man. It had huge
shaggy feet with long curved claws. Soon, the intense heat in the forest starts a small fire. The
foliage soon catches fire as well. The only animal that remained was the giant bear. Soon, the
foremost flames were already a mile down.
Chapter 2: The River
The enormous bear begins to run down the forest sullen and angry. No creature had ever even
stood against it. Now it fled in fear off the fire. It stops several times to look back and even once
to strike at the fire. Eventually after a couple of miles going downhill, the huge bear catches fire.
Then he falls into a river and the fire is put out with the bear still alive. He watches as the fire
dies out as it goes closer to the river. He floats for hours on end, hoping to come upon land soon.
As he is floating, driftwood is beating against the giant bear’s side, making it much harder to stay
afloat. As he is about to give in, suddenly the horizon is visible. The bear sees a large rock
pointing upwards and rests there like a monolith. Then, after he is awake enough to go to the
shore, he jumps in the water and swims back onto the shore, falling asleep instantly.
Chapter 3: The Hunter
A hunter silently comes into the forest and waits, bow in hand, for something to pass him. He
waits for two hours in that spot and fires two arrows, both hitting their target, a goose and a small
forest deer. Then, a hungry leopard appears out of the forest and begins to walk towards him.
The leopard looks right at him and then goes to eat the deer. The hunter moves slowly around the
circle of trees and right as he is about to kill the leopard, a small pig runs up against his leg and
squeals, alerting the leopard. The leopard chases the hunter and in retaliation, the hunter fires an
arrow, but only enrages the leopard further. Shortly after this, the hunter trips down a bank and
loses his bow. He sees his arm is covered in blood and begins to panic. Suddenly, the great bear
appears and stands at his full height. The leopard and the hunter both cringe in fear of the bear.
The bear, to show its dominance, hits the leopard with one claw and it goes flying in the air like a
ragdoll. The bear then leaves to go finish off his prey. The hunter gets up, finds his bow and
arrows, and begins to walk back home
Chapter 4: The High Baron
The hunter, Kelderek, returns to his village shaken and afraid of what he saw. A shendron, a low
leader, almost like a modern day police officer, asked him for a report on what he saw. When
Kelderek refused, obviously fearful, the shendron tells his friend, Taphro, to take him to see the
high baron, the leader of their village. They wait an hour for the baron, Bel-ka-Trazet, to finish
eating. When he is done, he orders Taphro to go home and he begins to question Kelderek of
what he saw. He only says that there was a leopard and stops talking after that. The baron orders
him to say more but he refuses. When his assistant tells him what he knows about the hunter, it
makes him sound very simple. He plays with the children and tells them stories. The baron then
accuses Kelderek of giving secrets to another village. Kelderek finally breaks down and tells him
he can only tell the Tuginda of what he saw. The baron only kills him when he mentions her
name, but he is stopped when he receives word that the Tuginda needs to see him. He tells his
assistant to bring the hunter with them and he leaves abruptly.
Chapter 5: To Quiso by Night
As Kelderek and the baron begin to sail out to meet the Tuginda, Kelderek begins to think back
about what he knows about the Tuginda. Twice a year she came to the island. She came by boat,
and far-off gongs signaled her arrival, for which the whole village came out to see. The men lay
flat on their faces as she and her women were met and escorted to a new hut built for her coming.
There were dances and a ceremony of flowers: but her real business was first, to confer with the
barons and secondly, in a session secret to the women, to speak of their mysteries and to select,
from among those put forward, one or two to return with her to perpetual service on Quiso. At
the end of the day, when she left in torchlight and darkness, the hut was burned and the ashes
scattered on the water. When she came, she wore the mask of a bear, so no one had even seen her
face. Then, he falls asleep. He is woken up by the sound of a woman calling out “come”. He
looks around and sees the baron and the servants walking towards a light on the island. They had
made it. He walks towards the light to see a tall, motionless, cloaked woman. After a minute or
two of her staring at him, almost studying him, she calls “follow”. Soon they begin to climb a
steep path into the woods. They women climb it easily, but it takes Kelderek several minutes.
When finally finishes climbing, he sees a ravine with a stone-paved terrace, in the middle of
which was glowing the embers of a fire. Kelderek realizes this must be the glow they saw. Soon,
they arrive at the upper temple of Quiso.
Chapter 6: The Priestess
After a few moments of waiting, the priestess appears. She was dressed in a pleated, sheathlike
robe of white cloth, finer than any woven in their island, and her long, black hair hung loose at
her back. Her arms were bare and her only ornament was a great collar of fine gold links, more
than a span broad, which completely covered her shoulders like a vestment. She stares at
Kelderek just like the other woman had, studying him. She then takes his weapons from him and
asks him what they are. When he tells her what they are called (sword, knife) she merely repeats
the words like they are new to her. She asks him his name and he only responds yet again with
silence. After a minute, she accepts this and takes them all with her to a new destination.
Chapter 7: The Ledges
Kelderek could tell they were in a square chamber apparently cut out of the living rock. The floor
beneath his feet was stone and the shadows of himself and his companions moved and wavered
against a smooth wall. On this he glimpsed a painting which seemed, as he thought, to represent
some gigantic creature standing upright. When he finally got out of the darkness, he saw that it
was not long past midnight according to the stars. He was high up in some spacious, empty
place, standing on a broad ledge of stone, its surface level but the texture so rough that he could
feel the grains and nodules under the soles of his feet. On either side were wooded slopes. The
ledge stretched away to the left in a long, regular curve, a quarter circle a stone's throw across,
ending among banks of ivy and the trunks of trees. Immediately below it extended another,
similar ledge and below that fell away many more, resembling a staircase for giants or gods. The
pitch was steep - steep enough for a fall to be dangerous. The faintly shining, concentric tiers
receded downwards until the hunter could no longer distinguish them in the starlight. Far below,
he could just perceive a glimmering of water, as though from the bottom of a well: and this, it
seemed to him, must be some land-locked bay of the island. The priestess commands him to go
down the ledges, and so he does. When he reaches the bottom, he begins to tire and takes a short
rest. When he awoke, he saw a woman of perhaps forty-five years of age. She had a strong,
shrewd face and was dressed like a servant or a peasant's wife. Her arms were bare to the elbow
and in one hand she was carrying a wooden ladle. Looking at her in the starlight, he felt
reassured by her homely, sensible appearance. She begins to question why he is here. He only
says he says he has a message for the Tuginda and says nothing else. She begins to take him
somewhere to see the Tuginda, but the baron and priestess appear and the High Baron stops,
bends his head and raises his palm to his brow.
Chapter 8: The Tuginda
They leave the fire, ascend a flight of steps and stop before the door of a stone building. The
door itself was incredible to see. Its handle was a pendent iron ring made like two bears
grappling each with the other. They entered a fire lit, stone-floored room, furnished like a kitchen
with benches and a long, rough table. The hearth, set in the wall, had a cowled chimney above
and an ash-pit below. He suddenly realizes who the old, homely woman was. He had met the
Tuginda! He begins to ask for forgiveness for not praising her, and she responds by saying
“Don't be afraid, Lie down here, on the table: I want to look at your shoulder.” She then cleans
the wound on his shoulder and calls for them to eat. When they are done, the baron explains to
the Tuginda why Kelderek had to be brought along and how he refused to tell his story to anyone
other than the Tuginda. After he finishes his story, the Tuginda calls upon Kelderek to tell his
story. He then tells them all about the bear he saw and told them he thought it was lord Shardik, a
long prophesized being destined to return to the world. Then a long silence occurs until the
Tuginda says that they will be taken to rooms where they will sleep until tomorrow, when they
go out to find Shardik.
Chapter 9: The Tuginda’s Story
The next morning, Kelderek, the baron, the priestess, the Tuginda and several servants set out on
three canoes to find Shardik. They land on the western side of the island, where Kelderek saw
Shardik. That night, Kelderek takes first watch. When the Tuginda comes to take over for him,
she first asks to have a word with him. She tells him she could tell him he was telling the truth
about Shardik and tells him how the story of Shardik came to be. Hundreds of years ago, an
empire that contained the islands of Bekla, Ortelga (Kelderek’s home), and Quiso worshipped a
bear called Shardik as though he was a part of god, sent into the world in physical form. The
Tuginda’s duty was to make sure that sure that Shardik was content and well fed. When Shardik
died of old age, he would be reborn on the other side of the forest. Quiso was a church made to
worship Shardik. The ledges were made for Shardik, and they took 100 years to build.
Eventually, one of the Tugindas slew Shardik and a slave trader took all the followers of Shardik
they could find as slaves. Then the two of them ran away together. With the civilization falling
apart, Bekla was conquered and the rest of Shardik’s followers were pushed back into Quiso and
Ortelga. When the Tuginda finishes her story, Kelderek goes to sleep.
Chapter 10: The Finding of Shardik
Kelderek takes everyone to the place where he encountered Shardik. He goes ahead with the
baron to find the body of the leopard Shardik hit. Then the baron goes back to get everyone else
to come up with them while Kelderek looks around for the bear. After only a few minutes,
Kelderek finds Shardik in a coma at next to a small river. He is still alive but barely. He has
burns all around him and his injuries are completely filled with flies. He goes back and finds the
others and shows them Shardik. They all stand awestruck from the bear’s immense size. The
Tuginda, the Priestess and Kelderek go down to help him. They force him to drink water and
assess what they need to help him. Kelderek goes out to hunt for food for him while the others
gather medicine to heal his wounds and get rid of the flies. The baron clearly shows he doesn’t
agree with helping the bear. He asks them what the bear will if they save him. Won’t it just eat
them? When Kelderek comes back, he sees that Shardik already looks better with some of his
wounds cleaned. But then he thinks back to what the baron said. Why wouldn’t the bear eat
them?
Chapter 11: Bel-ka-trazet Story
Kelderek is awoken in the middle of the night by the baron. He asks him if he woke the priestess
for second watch. When he says yes and asks why, the baron says it is the third watch, the girl
who was supposed to be on watch was never awakened and the priestess is now gone. They go
down to the river to look for her and find one of the canoes is gone. Knowing the priestess will
never return, they go back to the camp. On the way, the baron tells Kelderek how he became
disfigured and why he has a distrust of Shardik. When he was younger, he was a renowned
hunter, known by many as great and skilled. One day, a baron from Bekla, Zilkron gave him and
his father a great amount of gold in return for hunting bears with them. When they agreed, they
set out. After two days, they saw a bear. It was raiding their food when Bel-ka-Trazet found him.
He was about to kill him when the bear looked like it bowed before him. Unable to kill anything
that showed honor to him, he let it live and instructed the guide to lead it away from the bear.
Unfortunately, the found the bear again anyway, as it was about steal more food. Zilkron was
about to kill it when Bel-ka-Trazet pushed the bow so that it missed the bear and walked in front
of it to protect it. Unfortunately for the baron, the bear went to attacking him when he came too
close. Shortly after he is done his story, the two of them come face to face with a revived
Shardik.
Chapter 12: The Baron’s Departure
The Baron run quickly away from Shardik, but Kelderek stands still and realizes Shardik cannot
see. He stands still, knowing he will not die, but he sees the Baron pull out a knife on Shardik,
about to kill him. In order to spare him, Kelderek takes the knife and runs to the top of the bank.
This does not stop him though and the baron almost kills Shardik with a large rock. In order for
Shardik to live, Kelderek throws a rock at the baron and it hits him in the back of the neck. So
that he himself will not be killed, Kelderek runs. He sees the Tuginda and points to where
Shardik is. With all of them there, the baron says he is leaving and asks the Tuginda if he may
kill Kelderek for his insolence. She tells him he may leave but Kelderek must be spared. The
baron simply walks away and Kelderek never sees him again.
Chapter 13: The Singing
Shardik begins to remember what happened to him after he woke up. The Tuginda and her
servants had drugged Shardik so that he would always be in the same place and unable to run too
far from where they were. As the Tuginda comes over to Kelderek, she tells him that Shardik
will definitely survive. If he had found him even an hour later, he surely would have died.
Kelderek responds by telling her that he can no longer hunt for all of them and Shardik alone.
She then tells him to take a couple of the girls and teach them to hunt. The first day, the girls are
so unprepared that they barely catch anything, and they have to feed Shardik bad bread they
made over the fire. The next day, they catch a little more but still not much. On the third day,
they catch an incredible amount of food and Kelderek teaches them all to make bows, and one of
them better then himself. One day after returning to camp, Kelderek sees all the girls are dancing
around Shardik to show their loyalty. He comes out of the forest to come and join them in their
dance but Shardik stares at him. The two of them begin to feel a spiritual connection between
each other. Shardik stores off into the night after a few moments of staring at each other.
Chapter 14: Lord Kelderek
Kelderek wakes up in the middle of the night, with Shardik almost like his pillow. He falls back
asleep. The next morning, Kelderek wakes up again just in time to see Shardik going over the
hill to wander around. They have stopped drugging Shardik. After he stretches for a minute, he
gets up and goes to eat. After he finishes eating he goes to talk to the Tuginda. After he finds her,
he begins to question her about what the singing they did last night did. She then explains that
the singing tells Shardik that you give your life to protect him. As she is doing this, she explains
that he and Shardik seem to have a very close spiritual relationship and starts to call him lord
Kelderek. She thinks that Kelderek is his vassal and he should be considered very important. He
ends the conversation by saying that eventually, Shardik will go to Ortelga and it will destroy it
or be killed.
Chapter 15: Ta-Kominion
Kelderek spends several days following Shardik. Shardik never shows any signs of wanting to
hurt Kelderek but he has already killed a priestess while she was performing the singing.
Kelderek begins to wonder what is happening in Ortelga. He fears bel-ka-trazet more than
Shardik. One night while Kelderek is following Shardik, he begins to see that Shardik is much
more angry and fearful than he expected. In order to not anger Shardik, he stands still and waits
for him to calm down. After waiting a little bit, he sees another man he doesn't recognize
walking through the forest. They get into a brief fight where the stranger manages to subdue
Kelderek. He then explains he is a lower ranking baron (not the high baron like bel-ka-trazet)
from Ortelga named Ta-Kominion. He explains the people want to overthrow the high baron and
retake Bekla with Shardik to guide them. Kelderek then takes Ta-Kominion to the camp so that
he may ask Lord Shardik if he will help them. When they get there however, the find it empty.
Then Kelderek calls out for where they are and the Tuginda takes them to see Shardik swimming
towards Ortelga.
Chapter 16: The Point and the Causeway
Seeing Shardik going down the river, Kelderek immediately follows him and jumps into the river
himself, however, the current proves too powerful for him to handle. He is about to drown when
in a last effort he grabs for Shardik's shaggy mane and holds on, barely surviving. As the two of
them reach the end of the river, Kelderek sees they are back in Ortelga. Two workers come
outside to do their work when they see Shardik running towards them, looking for food. One
man gets away but the other, fear stricken, hits the side of a hut. Shardik then instantly kills him
by hitting him through the wall of the hut he just hit. Shardik causes mayhem throughout the
village, eating livestock until Ta-Kominion convinces the rest of the village to come with him
and reclaim Bekla with Shardik as their guide. The tuginda and Kelderek go after Shardik
however.
Chapter 17: The Road to Gelt
Ta-Kominion has forcefully taken over Ortelga by force along with the other followers of
Shardik. He forced the baron out of power and himself in. Ta-Kominion then tells Kelderek and
the Tuginda that it is Shardik’s will to go and reclaim Bekla in the name of god. When the
Tuginda refuses to allow him to set the wrath of god upon man, Ta-Kominion takes her away
with him and instructs Kelderek to drug and cage Shardik by nightfall so they may retake Bekla
with the element of surprise on their side. In order to get this task done, he tells Rantzay, another
priestess, to drug him.
Chapter 18: Rantzay
Rantzay goes out into the forest, looking for Shardik. She takes several young girls, including a
girl Kelderek had taught to hunt, Sheldra. She spends half a day searching with no luck, when
she gets a message from Ta-Kominion saying Shardik must be drugged that day, or all hope
would be lost. He tells them “Time now is more important than the stars”. By the time Rantzay
finds Shardik, he is asleep under the moon. She goes up to drug him with nothing but a knife and
a box of drugs that may only be administered through a wound. She careful cuts the hair off one
of his shoulders. With Shardik still asleep she makes a wound in the shoulder and administers the
drugs very quickly before he wakes up. However though, before he becomes insensible, Shardik
attacks Rantzay and runs off into the forest. Soon, Sheldra finds her almost dead and as her last
words, Rantzay says “Tell the Tuginda- I did what she said”.
Chapter 19: Night Messengers
A couple hours before Rantzay’s death, Kelderek, a carpenter and a metal worker finish building
the cage for lord Shardik. It is barely large enough, the roof is made of wood, and there is no
door. Soon, he tells Sheldra to go look for Rantzay and tell her Ta-Kominion’s message, that
“Time now is more important than the stars”. After a few hours, they learn Rantzay is dead but
Shardik is drugged. After a minute of grieving, they go to haul Shardik into the cage.
Chapter 20: Gel-Ethlin
Gel-Ethlin is the leader of the southern Beklan army. Bekla has a north and south army, that
moved when the rains were about to come. Before however, before the army could be finished,
however, the irrigation system that supplies Bekla is damaged and the army goes off to fix it.
While on their way, Gel-Ethlin and his army find a wandering stranger from Gelt who they find
is actually the baron's son. He tells them the Ortelgans have killed his father and are planning to
attack Bekla soon. They go off to find the Ortelgans, and a battle ensues when they find them.
Chapter 21: The Passes of Gelt
Before the events of the events of the previous chapter, Ta-Kominion begins to think back to the
burning of Gelt. He hadn't at all planned to burn down the small town. By the time his men got
there, two thirds of the town was gone and the chief was dead. By the time the fire was under
control, the elders of Gelt were scared out of their minds. Ta-Kominion began to try and explain
to them the prophecy of Shardik. After a while, they began to understand and they were a little
more calm, but not much. When he woke up, he was deathly sick and his wounds were infected.
He got up and tried to walk but needed the help of his servants. Now in the present time, they are
walking to Bekla despite everyone's injuries and the complete lack of power that Ta-Kominion
used to hold. After a few hours of walking, his soldiers begin to question him, which he responds
with a long speech about how Lord Shardik will only appear to those who believe he is real, not
those who only believe when they see him. This works and they follow his orders. Soon
however, the rains begin to fall and Beklans begin to attack. Before Ta-Kominion can fight
however, his illness causes him to have a seizure and he falls to the floor. He looks up and sees
Kelderek standing over him.
Chapter 22: The Cage
An hour after the Ortelgan army has left Gelt, Kelderek and several others arrive with Shardik
insensible in the quickly made cage. After looking around a deserted Gelt for a couple of
minutes, Kelderek finds an old woman with a young girl in her arms. He quickly realizes that the
girl in her arms is dead. When he asks what has happened, she tells him to go ask his army
friends. When he tries to ask more, he is attacked and the woman runs away. The slaves and
army workers come to defend him and they subdue the mob long enough for them to tell
Kelderek where Ta-Kominion went. They leave and realize when Shardik awakens, he will
easily break through the cage with almost no effort. In order to make sure that doesn't happen,
they pick up the pace. After a few more hours, the rains start and they see the Beklans fighting
the Ortelgans and Ta-Kominion face up on the ground, motionless. Kelderek tells him the deed is
done, but Shardik awakens and rolls down a hill, still in the cage, killing Ta-Kominion instantly
with the cage.
Chapter 23: The Battle of the Foothills
Gel-Ethlin, in the very beginning of the battle begins to tell his troops to stand their ground and
hold a wall because the Ortelgans were completely unorganized without Ta-Kominion to
command them, making them easy to kill. After an hour of failed attack after failed attack, GelEthlin sends his men to finish off the last of the Ortelgans, but almost on cue, Shardik bursts
through the trees right in front of Gel-Ethlin. Gel Ethlin begins to attack Shardik, but he simply
enrages it and Shardik crushes in his skull. Going through the battlefield, the remainder of the
Ortelgans slaughter everyone left after Shardik is finished with his killing spree. After they are
done with the battlefield, they completely topple the Beklan government and take it over in the
name of Lord Shardik.
Chapter 24: Elleroth
Five years after the battle of the foothills, Kelderek is now the king of what used to be Bekla and
the rest of his empire. Many of his friends who helped him during the battles became generals or
governors. Outside a building where a meeting of governors is supposed to happen, a priestess
tells everyone that the meeting will happen tomorrow because one of them became delayed.
After this announcement, two governors, old friends Elleroth and Mollo, begin to talk about what
has happened since the battle of the foothills. After the Ortelgans defeated Gel-Ethrin, they
marched onward to Bekla where they easily defeated the forces that protected the great city.
However, defeating the forces did not stop their king from holding their citadel. He and his
advisors held out there for four months, almost unable to be reached. After for months though,
Kelderek threatened to kill a child every day until he surrendered, which he immediately did.
After the story, they go into a tavern to discuss what has happened more.
Chapter 25: The Green Grove
When Elleroth and Mollo go into the tavern, they ask for wine from a different region, but they
don't have any left because of the war. Afterwards, they talk about how the Ortelgans are killing
the large trade the region once had. Bekla made such great art but the Ortelgans had no reason to
make such things. A little bit afterwards, they hear Kelderek, now known as Crendrik, is going to
be walking down the square past the tavern. When they go out to see him, he is walking on the
road with his servants, not on oxen drawn carriage or even riding a horse. After he finishes
walking past, Elleroth and Mollo go back inside and discuss the new king. Mollo tells him he
supports the king in what he is doing, but Elleroth tells him that he disagrees with what he is
doing for so many reasons. He tells him that Bekla was ruled over by the cult of Shardik
hundreds of years ago just like it was today, except there was no king, but a woman who called
herself a Tuginda. Nowadays there still is a Tuginda but she is held in almost imprisonment on
Quiso. She said that it was not the will of god for Shardik to attack Bekla, but Kelderek did it
anyway, and they were abusing the poor bear. Soon, they are done with their debate and they
leave the Tavern.
Chapter 26: The King of Bekla
Kelderek begins to recall all that has happened since he took Bekla. He felt that he still needed to
find a divine intervention that had so long eluded him. He was the only man who still came
within Shardik's huge stall he was held in. Soon after they took Bekla, Shardik ran away and
Kepderek had to go and retrieve him once again. After they found him, Kelderek drugged
Shardik once more and pulled him on a flat cart back to Bekla over a course of 2 days. As soon
as he was brought back, he was put in a massive stall with hay and daily food, but he couldn't
leave. Soon after this, surrounding kingdoms rebelled against Kelderek's rule and attacked. The
war has been going on since, with their leaders deliberately destroying their trade by burning
factors and paying architects to leave the city. In order to increase trade, Kelderek legalized the
slave trade. The slave trade had been outlawed 12 years ago after a conflict called the slave wars.
Those who agreed with slavery and those against it fought until those against it won and it
became illegal. The Tuginda was offered to come to Bekla and once again be a priestess to
Shardik. She refused explaining that Shardik was not free, inside that giant cage and she won't
return until he is free. He is currently desperately trying to win the war so that he may find what
he is missing about Shardik.
Chapter 27: Zelda's Advice
Kelderek is waiting for one of his generals, Ged-la-Dan, to return from a battle when one of the
servants of general Zelda, one of the former barons of Ortelga, tells him Zelda wants to speak
with him. He tells him what he thinks of the war from his viewpoint. He agrees that it was indeed
lord Shardik's will for them to take Bekla. He struck down Gel-Ethlin himself. He ways
however, trying to take over some of the southern territories such as Lapan was not his will. If it
was, the war would have an end in sight and thousands would not be dying every day. While he
is saying this, Elleroth is walking by them and bows before Kelderek and continues on walking.
Zelda continues on with his thoughts by telling him there are only ways this could end well for
them. They could either make a treaty to give up their southern territories but keeping Bekla and
the north. The only alternative would be to let Shardik free and see what his will truly is. Before
Kelderek can respond a servant tells them Ged-la-Dan has arrived and in order to have Zelda
drop the idea, he tells the servant to come with them to greet him.
Chapter 28: Elleroth Shows His Hand
A few hours after Zelda talks to Kelderek, Elleroth and Mollo meet once again but this time
outside, with no one to hear them. Mollo has been fired as governor because Kelderek believes
he may betray them because is from an area they are at war with. Outraged, Mollo tells Elleroth
he will do anything to bring harm to their so called king. Elleroth tells Mollo that if he truly
means that, he needs help with weakening them in time for when their enemies march to Bekla to
take it over. He proposes that they burn the king's house to the ground with Shardik inside of it.
Since the Ortelgans are very superstitious then they may give up without a fight if their bear is
killed. He proposes that they climb to the roof, set it aflame, go inside, kill everyone that may
raise the alarm and run from the city as fast as they can. Mollo agrees because tomorrow is a
festival of fire. Everyone puts their light out then makes a new light on top of their house, so the
fire they make won't be noticed until it's too late.
Chapter 29: The Fire Festival
In the beginning of the festival, all the lights in the city are put out. Then a runner, a hero from
the army, comes in with a torch and lights a fire on top of the all the city's buildings on a large
special made pole that will burn but the roofs will not. Suddenly, during the middle of the
ceremony, a loud, deafening roar is heard from the king's house coming from Shardik. Everyone
believes that Shardik is just scared of the smoke, but Kelderek knows. He goes to his home to
find the roof, not just the pole, aflame and two dead sentries. He goes to Shardik, finding him
there with bleeding with a man with a large bow in his hand. Kelderek tackles the man himself
and beats him repeatedly. Zelda comes inside after putting out the fire and putting Elleroth, who
was found outside, into custody only to find Kelderek stabbed several times with Mollo dead on
the floor by Kelderek's hands.
Chapter 30: Elleroth Condemned
Two days after Mollo tried to kill Shardik, Kelderek wakes up full of pain and with bandages on
his shoulder and knee. He begins to shout for lord Shardik, and Zelda walks in to tell him what
has happened. He was drugged so that he couldn't feel he was being operated on. Shardik is alive
but like Kelderek sustained heavy injuries and needs some time to rest. Their enemies, led by
Erketlis, have led an attack against one of their northern territories and Gel-La-Dan has been sent
out with an army to defend it. Zelda also tells Kelderek that Elleroth must be executed for his
great crimes. Kelderek agrees and Zelda tells him he is also going to protect their territory. He
also informs him that his home still stands but his roof may only last for a few more months.
After Zelda is gone he tells a servant to get every delegate and governor of Ortelga and Bekla to
witness Elleroth's execution.
Chapter 31: The Live Coal
On the day of Elleroth's execution, Kelderek awakens with almost a feverish sort of
misunderstanding about everything around him. He waits for someone to take him to execution.
Soon, a priestess comes to get him and they are on their way. As soon as they enter, Kelderek
notices the execution will happen in front of Shardik's cage. After a few minutes wait, Elleroth is
led in and his crimes are read aloud to him. After they are finished telling him what his crimes
were, he is permitted to speak. He insults Kelderek and his followers by calling them a "evil
vicious cult" and then speaks in his native language that Kelderek cannot understand. Once he is
done speaking, he takes an extremely hot piece of coal from a fire burning nearby and throws it
into Shardik's cage, burning all the hay. In an attempt to escape, he hits the wall so hard that
causes the roof to fall in and knock his bars loose, freeing him. With the roof fallen in, a fire
burning around them and Shardik loose, Elleroth is able to take the sword from the executioner.
Shardik and Elleroth kill everyone in their path as they both escape, running into the city.
Chapter 32: The Postern
Kelderek takes off running after Shardik who has just left the outer walls of the city. He runs for
a few minutes and then realizes that his injuries hurt horribly. Soon, he comes upon a messenger
who seeks his council on a battle that they are having in Lapan. After telling him what to do,
Kelderek asks for his robes, his money and for him to tell the city Elleroth and Shardik have
escaped. After the messenger is gone, Kelderek continues his chase.
Chapter 33: The Village
Kelderek follows Shardik for several hours during which he doesn't stop once. After several
hours of this long chase, Shardik passes out from exhaustion dead in his tracks. In order to send a
message to Bekla, Kelderek goes back to find the nearest village and comes upon one in only a
few minutes. When he requests to see the village elder, the people hide in fear of the stranger.
After a few minutes of him asking, they eventually show him the elder's house. Kelderek
introduces himself and then asks the elder if he could send some of his men to Bekla to deliver a
message and they would be payed greatly. Misunderstanding him, the elder tells him that he will
not sell his men as slaves. Before Kelderek can explain however, Shardik comes and attacks the
cattle and they stampede into a nearby pasture.
Chapter 34: The Streets of Uriah
Kelderek runs outside to find Shardik or at least his path of destruction. He goes to find the
villagers in complete distress and Shardik running away once again. In order to not lose him,
Kelderek takes off after him once again. After a few more hours of chasing him, Kelderek sees
Shardik has fallen asleep. In luck, two men are passing by where Kelderek is and he tells them
what they need to do for him. He tells them that he will pay the younger man to deliver a
message to Bekla for him and asks the old man to watch Shardik and give him some food. They
both agree to this and the younger takes off. The older man then hands Kelderek some cheese
and fruit. Kelderek then finds a shady spot under a tree and falls asleep. He wakes up a few hours
later to find soldiers of this village attacking Shardik. Shardik takes off after killing one of the
soldiers. Kelderek then continues on after Shardik, not bothering with the traitorous swines who
nearly killed the great Shardik.
Chapter 35: Shardik's Prisoner
Kelderek begins to realize he is Shardik's prisoner. If he leaves him, he would lose everything.
His monarchy, his power, even his friends. Soon after realizing this, Shardik kills two nearby
sheep but no alarms are raised because they make no noise. After Shardik is done eating,
Kelderek eats what is left of the cattle. Once he is done, Kelderek picks back up on Shardik's
trail. After several more hours, some peasants show up and try to arrest Kelderek because they
believe he killed the cattle. Before they are able to however, they catch sight of Shardik and run
away in fear. Kelderek continues to follow Shardik into hills, which make him so much harder to
catch.
Chapter 36: Shardik Gone
It has been around a week since Kelderek first left Bekla. He has followed Shardik as he
promised, but now he is hungry, alone and almost mad. Not only that, he has lost Shardik.
Convinced it would be better to try and find a village than to look for Shardik further, he takes
off. After a day, he comes across a town which generously feeds him and asks that he find work
in their village. Thanking them, he declines and goes on his way. He continues this for about 6
days. On the sixth day, he comes across one of Bekla's territories, Kabin, which he finds, still has
soldiers. Overjoyed, he talks to their captain who explains nine days ago, an uprising occured in
Bekla and fighting is still occurring.
Chapter 37: Lord One Hand
Elleroth, now also known as lord one hand, had escaped Bekla and is working with the resistance
against Bekla. The soldiers come over to him and begin to talk of the war. They tell him about
how the war is going in Bekla and how they began to round up the slave traders. After talking
like this for a little while, they tell him of the Ortelgan they find and says he must speak to him
immediately.
Chapter 38: The Streets of Kabin
As Elleroth walks in the room to see Kelderek, Kelderek begins to remember what was
happening and who Elleroth was. Elleroth begins to question why he was there with no response.
He promised that he would allow him to leave the city with new shoes and two days of food,
despite all the evils that he caused allowing slave traders to work. Kelderek is led into a room
where he waits with soldiers. They soldiers tell him that about a month ago, Elleroth's son was
taken by the slave trader Genshe. While they are telling him this, a crowd begins to form outside
the building they are in. When Kelderek is led out of the building, the crowd goes silent at the
sight of him. He is seen as a cruel vicious ruler, because this is the town where Mollo lived. He is
then let out of the city, with no one following him anymore.
Chapter 39: Across the Vrako
Kelderek continues to walk East of Kabin for several miles until he decides to rest. He could tell
there was no lying about the soldiers saying Shardik was dying. He begins to lose faith in himself
and Shardik. He decides it would just be best to continue on walking until he found someone to
help him. After a while, he comes upon someone and trades his food for one night of shelter. The
man walks with him in silence for a while until he asks what he's there for. Kelderek begins to
tell him about Shardik, but the stranger grabs him and asks what he knows about her.
Bewildered, Kelderek says he doesn't know what he means. Then the man takes Kelderek to a
nearby hut. When he goes inside, the Tuginda turns around to see him.
Chapter 40: Ruvit
Kelderek looks into the eyes of the Tuginda and begins to feel the guilt for all he has done. The
man pushes him down and is about to kill him until the Tuginda instructs him not to, revealing
his name to be Ruvit. Unable to speak over his guilt from allowing Ta-Kominion to send the
Tuginda back to Quiso like a prisoner, he goes on throughout the day with an obvious sense of
guilt. He remembered Rantzay, Mollo and all the children who were forced to become slaves
because of him. He decides that if he finds Lord Shardik, he will plead for him to take his life.
When Kelderek wakes up the next morning, he fetches water for them while everyone else is still
asleep. When he comes back, he sees Ruvit with a knife in his hand and is going to let him kill
him, but Ruvit was just hunting a bird. He hands Ruvit his food and goes to talk to the Tuginda.
Chapter 41: The Legend of the Streels
Kelderek asks the Tuginda why only she is here and no other priestesses. She responds by telling
him that they wanted to come with her but she refused to let them come. He then asks why she
thinks Elleroth let him live. She explains that when he and Shardik were attacked in the town
where he tried to send a message through a young man, where they slept was a very superstitious
place. It is believed that when someone goes in there, they die before they can come out. If they
do come out without dying, their death is meant is to have a purpose and their life is spared. The
Tuginda then tells him that his and Shardik's death will be soon and have a purpose.
Chapter 42: The Way to Zeray
Ruvit has left Kelderek because they run out of ways to pay him. The both of them take off
towards where they think Shardik will go, a place called Zeray, inhabited mostly by outlaws who
cannot be caught this far off. On their way there, the Tuginda becomes deathly sick. She is barely
able to walk without Kelderek supporting her. Soon, they come across a small village. The
villagers refuse to help them because they do not want to be around the sick Tuginda. They then
throw rocks at them to get them to leave. After a few more miles, they come across two women
eating out of baskets. To eat, Kelderek takes the baskets. Eventually, they reach Zeray. They end
up in a graveyard and find a women praying. They are about to ask her for her help, but when
they turn around, they realize it is Melayths, the priestess who left them in Quiso after first
finding Shardik standing before them.
Chapter 43: The Priestess’s Tale
Melayths gives the Tuginda a bed to sleep in and tells Kelderek the story of how she came here.
After she left, she came to Zeray with no money with her. In order to eat she sold herself around
for money. After a few weeks, a man in a cloak freed her from one of her masters. It was Bel-kaTrazet, the former high Baron of Ortelga. Together, they spent the last few years cleaning up
Zeray and increasing trade. Even with four years of work, there was little trade and crime was
still rampant. One year ago, Bel-ka-Trazet fell ill. Soon, he died just as progress was being made
to help clean up Zeray. That was the grave she was praying at when they met.
Chapter 44: The Heart’s Disclosure
After Kelderek wakes up, he tends to the Tuginda. She begins to sweat and go in and out of
consciousness. Soon, Kelderek paces around the room. He begins to wonder why he suddenly
has a will to live again when he didn’t have one when he ruled over Bekla. He realizes that he is
in love with Melayths. After he is done pacing, he goes back tending to the Tuginda. Soon,
Kelderek receives word that Farrass and Thrild, old friends of the baron, are ready to speak with
him if he is ready. He sets out to meet them with a friend of the baron, Ankray, as his guide. He
reaches them soon and begins to speak with them. He tells them how he wound up in Zeray and
says he would like medical attention for the Tuginda. He also explains that enemy soldiers will
execute him if they find him. They tell him if soldiers come, which is inevitable, they are all
completely doomed. He says they will go to Kabin and hide out there. Kelderek says that he
cannot go but they are fine with this, they will just take Melayths. If they have enough time, they
say, they will send medicine for the Tuginda.
Chapter 45: In Zeray
Back in the Baron’s former home, Kelderek tells Melayths that she should go with them to
Kabin. She refuses and says that her place is here, trying to keep the Tuginda healthy and alive.
That night, Kelderek is woken by Ankray, who tells him that Farrass and Thrild have left for
Kabin. Kelderek is very surprised that they didn’t force Melayths to come with them, because
she is so beautiful. Melayths is not very surprised however. She tells him that if they forced her
to come, a lot of fighting probably would have occurred between the men. Kelderek then goes
out to hunt for fish, since they are running out of food. He finds a pool of water hidden behind
trees and foliage and fishes there. He catches four large salmon but loses a hook. He isn’t far
from the baron’s house when he trips and two men walk over to him. He can tell they are both
Ortelgan. They both instantly realize who he is and are about to attack. He quickly stops them in
their tracks by punching one of them and takes off towards the Baron’s house. He yells for
Ankray and he comes out with a spear, chasing the men away. He takes him inside where
Melayths tells him the Tuginda is better. After gutting and cooking the salmon, Kelderek finds
Melayths alone. She explains Ankray went off to a nearby province where their leader may give
them some food and refuge when the Tuginda recovers. The talk until the fish is gone and
Melayths tells Kelderek how good the fish were.
Chapter 46: The Kynat
The next day, Kelderek awakes to find Ankray getting ready to leave for the city they could
request help from. After he is gone, Kelderek goes up to see the Tuginda after bolting several
windows and doors shut. He finds Melayths talking to a better Tuginda about Quiso. He looks
out from a balcony and sees soldiers setting up camp on the opposite side of the bank. Soon,
Melayths stops talking with the Tuginda. She comes out to hear a voice from outside telling them
to leave.
Chapter 47: Ankray's News
A few hours after Kelderek drove the thieves away from the baron's home, Ankray returns home
with food and news. They cook up some of the food Ankray returns with and they feast. After
this, Ankray tells them of a great bear that was sighted around where he was. It was twice the
size of a man, but looked sick and ghastly. Livestock had been killed and no one dares to hunt
the bear. The Tuginda tells Ankray that will be all and says he may return to his room. In shock
Shardik is still alive; Kelderek also goes to his room. After a few moments, he goes back out to
find Melayths alone. He kisses her and tells her that he will not go to help Lord Shardik.
Bewildered, Melayths tells him that she loves him but it is his job to help Shardik recover. They
had both wronged Shardik, but Kelderek had a chance to redeem himself and she would come
soon as well, as soon as the Tuginda was healthy. He agrees and goes to tell the Tuginda, but she
is gone from her room. They realize she left to go on a solo quest to help lord Shardik. Not far
from the home, they find the Tuginda beaten by passing by thieves, alive but very weak.
Kelderek then leaves that night to find Shardik.
Chapter 48: Beyond Lak
Kelderek is walking towards a nearby area, Lak, to find Shardik. He plans to find a way to kill
Shardik so he may be with Melayths. Soon, he comes across a lake. Soon after he comes across
it, Shardik appears to get a drink from the lake. He begins to feel a rush of emotions seeing
Shardik once more. He is angry that Shardik would cause all this evil, even to the two women
who spent their lives devoted to his power. He yells in anger and Shardik comes running at him.
Kelderek runs away but trips and lands unconscious supine in a puddle.
Chapter 49: The Slave Dealer
Kelderek wakes up with a pain in the top of his head. He looks around to see a man sitting next
to him silently with a knife in his hand. He thanks him and stands up but realizes that he is
chained by his feet. He asks what he has done, but the man stabs him under his fingernail and
tells him to keep walking next to him. He walks him further into the forest, to where about 25
young, ragged boys are sitting all in chains. The man puts him with the other boys. Kelderek sits
down to a young boy and asks him who this man is. The boy tells him it is the illegal slave trader
Genshe. He then tells him he is Elleroth’s son, Radu. He asks how he got here anyway. Radu
tells him when Elleroth went out to meet Erketlis; he went with a servant to catch Genshe to
please his father. In his sleep however, Genshe killed his servant and kidnapped him, intending
to hold him for ransom. Kelderek tells him that his father may still be in Kabin, not telling him
who he is however. After they are done talking, Kelderek goes to sleep next to many deathly sick
young children.
Chapter 50: Radu
The next day, Kelderek is woken up by one of Genshe’s overseers, Shouter. He gives everyone a
handful of dried fruit, their only food for the next two days. Kelderek goes to look for Radu and
finds him with a little girl. He asks him who she is and he tells him her name is Shara, and she is
the daughter of one of his father’s friends. He took it upon himself to take care of her after he
found her. He tells Kelderek that he will give up all of his food in order to keep her alive. After
Shara is gone, Radu tells Kelderek that Genshe truly is pure evil. Once, a man wanted a child to
be a beggar to get money for him, but wanted him to look injured, so Genshe cut off his arms and
put his arms in boiling water to stop the bleeding. Radu then walks away.
Chapter 51: The Gap of Linsho
Kelderek wakes up and and his mind is clouded by starvation and disbelief of what has happened
to him. He and the rest of the boys are walking when a scream erupts from the back of the line.
Kelderek goes back to find a boy dead from starvation. When Genshed comes back to find the
boy dead, he continues walking in the same direction he was going, also suffering from
starvation. After a few more miles, they come across a man bleeding in the middle of their path.
It is Llaloc, another slave trader, but he was made official by Kelderek himself. He tells Genshed
that Erkletis's soldiers shot him in the thigh and he barely survived. He says the soldiers will do
the same if they do not run. Genshed runs away along with the boys with Llaloc hobbling behind
them.
Chapter 52:
Genshed is choosing to have Kelderek and Radu in the front of him. They are all walking around
delusional, Shara barely keeping up. Knowing they will die, Kelderek tells Ruda everything
about he and his father. He is in disbelief but he tells them he forgives him. Genshed then takes
them into an abandoned hut.
Chapter 53: Night Talk
Kelderek, Shara, Genshed, Llaloc and Radu are sleeping in an old broken down house. Kelderek
wakes up just in time to hear Llaloc and Genshed talking. He learns that Genshed knows who he
is and knows he can make big money off of him. In despair, Kelderek begins to give up hope.
Outside however, an old friend of Kelderek's has discovered the hut.
Chapter 54:
Genshed is walking with Radu, Shara and Kelderek when Shouter comes running up the hill. He
begins to yell in fear of what he saw. A great shaggy creature came out of no where and killed
the other overseer. He tells him it truly is the devil. Genshed doesn't believe this however.
Genshed then asks Radu to bring Shara to him. Radu refuses but he is forced to. Genshed then
kills Sharra and throws her in a river. In disbelief, Radu tries to attack Genshed but it is useless.
Only a few seconds later however, Shardik appears over the horizon. Before Shardik is able to do
anything however, Genshed fires an arrow into his eye. However, before Shardik dies, he kills
Shouter and Genshed. When Shardik's body hits the ground, Kelderek runs over to it in pure
disbelief. He is silently praying when Elleroth's soldiers come to find Radu, weeping but telling
them Kelderek should be spared and he is the son of Elleroth
Chapter 55: Tissam
Kelderek wakes up in a bed and can hear running water nearby, and he knows he is near a river.
He looks around and sees an old woman next to him and asks for food and water. She gives him
a bowl of broth and a cup of water. After he is done, he goes back to sleep. He wakes up again,
and this time Melayths was sitting next to him. In disbelief, Kelderek hugs her and asks what she
is doing here. She then tells him how she came to be there. The Tuginda was still alive and well.
After she was healed, she sent Melayths out to find him and Shardik. She only found him when
she found some of Elleroth's men walking home victorious with Radu and Kelderek safe and
alive. She also tells him they are in a fishing village called Tissam
Chapter 56: The Passing of Shardik
Kelderek wakes up next to Melayths yet again but this time, she is getting prepared for
something. When he asks what she is doing, she tells him she is going out to honor Lord Shardik.
The ceremony was that he would be set aflame on a raft going down the river. Kelderek says he
wants to go to this ceremony as well and instructs one of Elleroth's soldiers to get him clothes.
After he is dressed, one of the soldiers also has to support him. He goes with Melayths and
together they go through a whole ceremony of praising Shardik and then he is set aflame. After
the ceremony is done, it is revealed that Shouter is actually still alive and is a prisoner for his
crimes.
Chapter 57: Elleroth’s Dinner Party
Kelderek wakes up the next day with searing pain in his wounds, now covered by cloth to help
heal them. He is still in shock from seeing Lord Shardik being murdered by Genshe. Melayths
comes and begins to talk to him and they discuss what will happen next. She says that the future
will be shown to them by the will of god. That night, to thank him, Elleroth tells him that he will
give Erketlis his recommendation to make Kelderek governor. Overjoyed, Kelderek thanks him
greatly.
Chapter 58: Siristrou
This chapter takes place several years after the events of the previous chapter. It is almost like an
Epilogue. It is told from the perspective of a newcomer, Siristrou, from Zakalon, a distant
kingdom to the east of Bekla. Siristrou is the leader of the first embassy from Zakalon sent to
reciprocate the first visit of a Beklan to their country. The formerly lawless border town is now
the home of hundreds of orphans and refugees working together to make life better for everyone.
Kelderek is its mayor, widely regarded as a fair and wise leader, and is married to his love,
Melayths. Kelderek takes the traveller into his home and tells him of the bear Shardik, now
known as a great animal who taught the people of the land the meaning of both kindness and
hardship. Siristrou stirs the logs in the fireplace and plays a game of spotting images in the
flames: an island, a glowing knife, a barred cage, an old woman, a deep ravine, a shaggy bear.
Kelderek recognizes these images in turn, and remarks "That's a beautiful fire."