The Jewel of Turmish

The Jewel of Turmish by Mel Odom is the third novel in The Cities series.

"Alaghôn – The Jewel of Turmish

Preserving the balance of nature is a way of life for Haarn Brightoak, no matter what the cost, but even his dedication to the customs of the druid is put to the test when a long-dead evil returns to the world of the living. As this vile creature gathers its undead army, Haarn must decide if he will compromise his way of life to defend the city that has never welcomed him."

Summary
For over two hundred years, the dread mohrg Borran Klosk was trapped in stasis, imprisoned by clerics of Eldath in a magical coffin made of unnaturally cold ice. During this time, he brooded over the defeat of his attempt to raze the cities of Vilhon Reach with his army of undead. His existing hatred of the living grew during his entrapment and he channeled his hatred especially toward Eldath and her followers. Unbeknownst to Borran Klosk, his patron deity Malar set events in motion while he slept in the icy tomb.

The son of a human Harper agent and an elven senior member of the Emerald Circle, Haarn Brightcloak followed in his father's footsteps after his mother stopped visiting them in the forest. Tracking the signs of a healthy young female wolf that died by unnatural means led Haarn to the mercenary group that was trespassing and hunting in the lands that he'd sworn to protect. It didn't take much eavesdropping for Haarn to discover that the five hunters were responsible for the slaughter of the wolf and many others before her, and further that they were killing the wolves in exchange for payment for the wolves' scalps. Despite Haarn's limited exposure to women and his fascination with the sole female hunter in the group, he did not exclude her from his promise to kill each of the hunters should they not leave the forest and stop hunting wolves. The woman, Druz Talimsir, was an experienced mercenary who followed a code of honor and possessed a sense of duty that the rest of her party lacked. Druz was also more perceptive than the others of her group, and, while the men wanted to press their numerical advantage against Haarn, Druz immediately recognized the skill differential between Haarn and those of her group. With the tip of Haarn's scimitar at the throat of one of the four men and not wanting to see any of her group slain, Druz ordered her reluctant party to stand down and follow Haarn's directives to leave the forest. However, also unwilling to renege on her contract to kill the wolf that had slain innocent children, Druz convinced Haarn that the leader of the mankiller wolf pack must die, and that she would go with him to ensure that her contract was fulfilled.

Disgruntled with the terms of their agreement, Haarn led Druz through the forest at a breakneck pace. While Druz was pushed to her limits to keep up with Haarn, Haarn grew increasingly frustrated at how much of a mark Druz's passing made on nature. Their course was interrupted by a woman's cry of pain, and while Druz wanted to investigate, Haarn did not, furthering the rift between them. Druz was appalled by Haarn's complete detachment and lack of empathy for humans. Her refusal to ignore the cry of distress in order to continue pursuing the wolf triggered an argument between the two, distracting Haarn and preventing him from detecting the approach of slavers. Although his bear companion Broadfoot was nearby, Haarn complied with the slavers' demands and ordered Druz to do the same. Haarn calmly allowed them to be captured while Druz balked at the slavers' demands. Back at the slavers' camp, upon nightfall, Haarn shed his bonds by shapeshifting into a great horned owl. As the owl, Haarn attacked the slavers, Broadfoot joining him as he did so. Caught by surprise, the slavers were quickly routed. Haarn commanded the slavers to leave the lands that he protected, but he did not guarantee safety from the perils of the forest. Similarly, Haarn didn't expend the effort to see the former slaves to safety either. Despite her feelings of guilt, Druz left the slaves to fend for themselves so that she could continue the pursuit of the wolf with Haarn.

When Haarn and Druz caught up with the wolf and his pack, Haarn finally recognized that he had been pushing Druz past her limits. Regardless, Druz stubbornly pressed forward in spite of her exhaustion. A rainstorm broke out as the two scaled the perilous incline toward the waiting wolf pack on the cliff above. Despite his knowledge that they would be confronting the wolf pack in a dead end, Haarn willingly crested the rock shelf. Casting a spell so that he could understand and communicate with the wolves, Haarn acknowledged the leader of the mankiller wolf pack, Stonefur, and was in turn recognized as a "lifekeeper" by the wolf. Haarn negotiated a one-on-one fight with Stonefur in which the victor spares the loser's companions. Upon Stonefur's agreement, Druz was horrified to see Haarn removing all of his armor and most of his weapons. Haarn explained that the fight must be fair, and took on the wolf with only a knife. As the fight progressed, Haarn wondered if he had overbalanced conditions in Stonefur's favor. Stonefur bested Haarn on speed, agility and power, but still Haarn refused to use his magic or let his anxious allies intervene. Furthermore, on numerous occasions when Haarn could've scored a hit against Stonefur, he hesitated, uncertain of his course in attempting to slay an aspect of nature. His ambivalence cost him, and Stonefur was clearly in the lead. When it appeared that Stonefur was to slay Haarn, Stonefur revealed that he had lied in their deal and that he planned to kill Druz after doing away with Haarn. Holding on to the last shreds of his consciousness, his hesitation gone, Haarn no longer dodged or tried to match Stonefur's agility, instead accepting the wolf's hits and using them as opportunities to score his own. Turning Stonefur's final lunge against him, Haarn gutted the wolf. As Stonefur died atop him, Haarn was overcome by grief and he held close the creature he was forced to slay. Unexpectedly, Stonefur's mate lunged at the defenseless Haarn, and as he realized that he wouldn't survive her attack, Druz struck her down. Instead of being grateful to Druz however, Haarn lashed out at the woman, then used his scant amount of remaining strength to cut the unborn pups from the female wolf's belly. All of the pups he delivered were healthy save for one, and to prevent it from dying, Haarn used the last of his healing magic on it instead of himself. After handing the final pup to Druz, Haarn fell unconsciousness. The rest of the wolf pack watched but did not attack as Broadfoot lifted Haarn and led Druz down the mountain and to a shallow cave. Although the wolves continued to monitor them, Druz soon realized that the wolves were the least of their concerns, as a preternatural sight rose out of the ground from beyond where the wolves were. A skeleton with a ruby glint reflecting out of its rib cage dug itself out of the marshy ground. It made short work of the wolves that dared attack it, and just when Druz thought that she was surely doomed, the skeleton shifted its direction from her cave and began heading elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in Alaghôn, a group of street urchins led by thirteen-year-old Cerril quarreled among themselves as they emulated the behaviors of adult ne'er-do-wells that populate most city's proverbial underworlds. Cerril's band worked together to steal from the unwary, splitting their earnings to supplement their meager livelihoods. Through the help of Imareen, Cerril's half-sister who worked a seedy tavern by the docks, Cerril's band marked their next target, a gaunt stranger whose appearance suggested that he wasn't from Alaghôn. Despite the urchins' aversion to the smallness of the stranger's purse and his habits of fevered writing that suggested he might be a mage and hence a dangerous foe, Cerril and his band trailed the stranger to Stonebottom's Inn. Using the boy Hekkel as bait and distraction, Cerril knocked the stranger out with a stone. The boys found an unusual gold coin in the stranger's meager purse, which none of them recognized. The coin bore Malar's symbol on one side and the image of a fanged snarling feline creature on the other. A sick feeling beset Cerril as he handled the coin, and the stranger roused enough to ask him if he recognized the coin, further explaining that the coin was cursed. Cerril soon found out that he could not rid himself of the coin by any means, for the coin had to be wanted. Furthermore, the geas on the coin had brought the stranger to Alaghôn, although he couldn't figure out from the nightmares it forced upon him anything more than that it wanted him to go to a graveyard. Three days later, a fevered and weak Cerril led his band to the latest in over a dozen cemeteries that they'd visited since his acquisition of the cursed gold coin. With his band eager to desert him, Cerril employed a combination of deception, showmanship and the coin's magic to drag the scared boys along. He led them to the largest crypt in the graveyard, which turned out to be a former establishment of Eldath. The crypt was in disrepair and the sight of skeletons showing through their moldering caskets demoralized the boys further, so Cerril used bribery and the promise of shared riches to urge his group onward into the darkness of the crypt. They found a concealed trapdoor that led deep underground to a secret chamber that housed an elaborate coffin. Dozens of dead rats in varying stages of decay laid around and extending away from the coffin. Unnerved by the sight, the boys tried to leave again, but were once again kept there by the promise of riches. Upon closer examination, Cerril realized that the elaborate coffin was constructed entirely from ice. As he approached it, the gold coin burned hotter in his hand. Cerril's touch confirmed that the coffin was magical, as his fingers immediately froze to the coffin, then froze over the imprints he left behind when he tore his hand away. Despite his urges otherwise, Cerril placed the gold coin upon the rune of Eldath that had been inscribed into the coffin. The coin burned blisteringly hot and melted into the icy coffin, and the unraveling magic causing the coffin to shatter. A skeletal figure rose from the remnants and questioned Cerril about his release. Cerril told the figure about Malar's coin and claimed that Malar promised him a reward, to which the figure responded with a bout of insane laughter. Paralyzed by fear and realizing that the trapdoor had locked behind them, the boys were quickly destroyed by the skeletal figure that they had unintentionally released. Throughout the "battle" the skeletal figure exhibited ghastly cruelty, and promised that all would know of him and never forget his legacy again.

While Borran Klosk broke free of his imprisonment, Brother Tohl of the fading order of Eldath walked in a lucid dream. There, he witnessed the past, of Klosk raising an undead army in a battlefield that had long since been deserted. Despite his lifetime of service, this dream was the first time in which Eldath spoke to Tohl directly, and she urged him to stay with the dream despite one of his associates attempting to rouse him. Tohl followed Klosk through a marsh and witnessed him declare that he had found a way to defeat his hated enemies, the druids of the Emerald Enclave. Tohl saw Klosk plant five fragments of a red jewel into five undead lieutenants, then bury them into the marsh. Tohl realized that his dream was more than a simple vision, as a startled outburst drew Klosk's attention, and Tohl knew that he would perish should the mohrg get to him. Eldath could not aid her follower except to urge him to wake, and just as a zombie had Tohl in its grasp, Tohl finally awoke to the persistent shake of his associate Effrim. Tohl told his grim tidings to Effrim, who informed him that there were only six of them to address the risen threat of Borran Klosk. The gathered priests hurried to the old crypt, where they found the sealed trapdoor. Descending into Klosk's tomb, they were shocked to find pools of water in lieu of the tomb of ice, and the ghastly sight of the corpses of Cerril's band arranged against the wall. To their greater surprise, Borran Klosk was nowhere to be seen. Realizing that the dead boys would rise as Klosk's undead servants in a day or two, the priests argued about what to do with the former ne'er-do-wells. After agreeing to find Klosk first, on their way out, they came upon a pile of skulls that had not been there previously, and realized that Klosk had been in the crypt the whole time. Despite being armed with magic, the priests fared barely better than the boys had against Klosk, whom made quick work of them as well.

Donning one of the priests' robes, Klosk stalked through the streets of Alaghôn, his rage at the living and bloodthirst overflowing. His first act of vengeance upon the living was the obliteration of a seedy tavern. The patrons of the tavern were battle-hardened people armed with weapons and magic, but proved little challenge to Klosk. Klosk spared one patron solely to torment her, using his power over whether she lived or died to compel her to spread word of his return. As Klosk looked down upon the Alaghôn watch approaching the tavern he'd set ablaze, a voice from within the wreckage surprised him. The speaker revealed herself to be an ally of sorts to Klosk, and warned him to take more caution. Klosk did not appreciate being spoken to in such a manner, but the strange woman, Allis, turned out to be very nimble at dodging Klosk's attacks, and when he pressed her more she revealed her true form, that of a werespider. Allis revealed that she was sent to guide Klosk to a place where he could raise an army of undead, and that Malar had awakened the five zombie lieutenants Klosk had buried. Klosk and Allis went into hiding, during which Klosk threatened Allis until she revealed that she served a group of wizards who served Malar. However, Allis also noted that the wizards would not be allies to Klosk, and that they had the means to render him powerless if he didn't comply with their wishes. On the other hand, if Klosk's actions aligned with their interests, he would have their indirect support in the form of magical gifts. The first of these was a mirror that showed what Klosk already felt, that his zombie lieutenants were approaching, while the second was an enchanted coral from the Whamite Isles that transformed into a glove which allowed the wielder to control the undead swarming the waters of the Whamite Isles.

Far from civilization, Druz awoke to find a recovered Haarn inspecting the aftermath of where the skeleton had dug itself out. Haarn scolded Druz about sleeping in her soaked gear, and Druz realized that she had trouble being practical if it involved immodesty around Haarn, even though it was something she'd been used to around other people during her years as a mercenary. Haarn decided that rather than taking Druz back to Alaghôn, he was going to follow the skeleton. Haarn set off yet again at a pace that Druz could not match, and found with irritation that he couldn't leave Druz behind despite the fact that the death of Stonefur meant the completion of their deal. Once in sight of the skeleton, Haarn bade Druz wait while he shapeshifted into an owl to attack the skeleton. Despite the silence and stealth granted by his new form, the skeleton sensed Haarn's approach and robbed him of his surprise attack.

As Haarn waged a desperate battle against the powerful undead, dwellers of the House of Silvanus weighed the news of Klosk's return. Shinthala Deepcrest, a powerful druid and one of the Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave, had been trying to scry the location of Klosk but have met with the failure for all of her efforts. Her fellow Elder, Ashenford Torinbow, suggested that Klosk may be targeting the thousands of undead around the Whamite Isles for his machinations, and the grim possibility led Shinthala to summon druids everywhere to Alaghôn.

Meanwhile, Broadfoot's assistance saved Haarn from perishing, and as they prepared to turn the tide of combat, the skeleton reeled from being overtaken by another force. A streak of light from the jewel buried in its chest animating an undead shambler from the marshy earth, the skeleton disengaged from the fight. Druz, Broadfoot and Haarn fought a hopeless battle against the shambler when the fight was interrupted by an elf who destroyed the shambler with a single magical attack. Haarn showed uncharacteristic deference to the newcomer, whom regarded Druz with great disdain. The elf shapeshifted into a great horned owl and took off after the skeleton on his own. After he caught up to it, the elf was extremely effective, cracking the skeleton's ribs and causing the ruby to fall from its rib cage. As the elf went for the ruby shard, it let loose a bolt that severely burned him. Nonetheless, he managed to throw one final attack at the skeleton, which, despite taking substantial damage of its own, continued to press on. Haarn attempted to recover the jewel, but did not catch up in time, and he struck empty earth from where the skeleton had teleported away. The elf stated that he was sent by the Elder Circle to go after Klosk, as well as touching upon more personal information about Haarn. He spoke of Haarn's mother before passing out, his life critically endangered by the wounds inflicted by the red shard. A potion barely saved his life, and as Haarn and Druz watched over him while he rested, Haarn told Druz that the elf, Ettrian, was his father. The presence of Ettrian and his precarious condition caused Haarn to let down his emotional walls, and in his delirious state Ettrian bemoaned how Haarn's mother had left them. This further tore down Haarn's guard, causing him to be unbalanced in the face of Druz's honesty. Torn between irritation and vulnerability, Haarn told Druz about his mother. Despite Haarn's defensiveness, Druz opening up about her own past melted away Haarn's resistance. However, Druz pushed too far in trying to get Haarn to accept love and the conversation ended in mutual curtness. Haarn found that he could not turn his mind away from the thoughts that Druz invoked within his mind.

Out at sea and True to Ashenford's predictions, Klosk and Allis commandeered a ship to travel to the Whamite Isles. After killing the ship's crew, Klosk raised them as undead servitors to continue piloting the ship. They encountered another vessel of armed sailors and a wizard, which showed the promise of taking down Klosk's ship. However, Klosk, reaching through the magical glove, seized control of the undead in the water, and turned the tide of battle. Klosk took control of both ships and brought them to Alaghôn, where many druids, soldiers and their companions, Haarn, Druz, Ettrian and Broadfoot among them, awaited. Rounds of attacks from the harbor tore into the ships and victory seemed to favor the living armies, until the grim realization dawned that the ships intended to sail straight into the harbor, and that their worst aspect was not the undead that loaded their decks. Countless zombies surged from the water, dragged to shore in nets pulled by the two ships.

As the living soldiers' lines broke and fell back, Klosk was nowhere in sight. He led Allis into the city through the sewers as he told her of the truth of his plan to destroy Turmish. His intention was not to do so by leading the onslaught of the endless undead, but rather by using Taraketh's Hive, an artifact originally created by a druid used to summon insects. Haarn managed to find Klosk by tracking the scent of the skeleton that he and Ettrian had fought. With the assistance of two druids sent to aid him by Ettrian, Haarn dispatched the skeleton and captured the red shard it had in its possession. As he recovered from the harrowing battle, he found himself face-to-face with Klosk, who was surrounded by the remaining four zombie lieutenants and held the mostly complete ruby crystal. Furthermore, Klosk had the druid that had not perished in the fight against the skeleton and offered to let her live in exchange for the shard. Haarn refused, accepting the other druid's death as dictated by the balance of nature, and tried to flee from Klosk as he killed the other druid. Haarn's flight was cut off by Allis' webs, and the arrival of Druz and Broadfoot only meant three targets instead of one for the powerful mohrg. With one touch Klosk dispatched Broadfoot, and when Haarn refused to agree to surrender to save Druz's life, Klosk threw a fireball that disintegrated Haarn and reclaimed the last red shard. Triumphant, Klosk explained to Druz that he intended to use Taraketh's Hive to summon Vangdumonders, parasitic insects from another plane, to destroy and replace bees without supplanting their ecological role. As Klosk activated the completed crystal, it began to malfunction, for Haarn had sealed the final piece. The crystal exploded and shattered to five pieces again, but Klosk survived the destructive blast at the cost of his coral glove. As Klosk celebrated his survival, Haarn stepped out from the wall that he had magically melded with, surprising Klosk and allowing Druz to slay Allis. Klosk's physical onslaught was fast and brutal, but Haarn used the momentum of one of Klosk's attacks attack to sever his head from his body. Haarn then mashed Klosk's skull, and although that did not completely kill Klosk, the task was left to the elder druids.

With Klosk gone, the drowned ones of the Whamite Isles returned to sea. On a roof overlooking a ravaged Alaghôn with a recovered Broadfoot keeping watch beneath, Druz and Haarn realized that they must each follow their own divergent paths. To Druz's surprise, Haarn then kissed her, and expressed that, despite the difficulties, that he would like their paths to cross in the future. Druz agreed implicitly with a kiss of her own.