Tak

The Gem Lords - Part 8

     "His hands were blistered and bleeding after a few minutes," said Thomas, "but in time he managed to break the door open and they were able to escape. It took a long time, but eventually they were able to restore their friends and heal all their injuries, including Tak's skin problem. They had to keep Sheena and Talpha-Ja's bodies in a meat preserver until they were able to find a cleric willing to help them..."

     "But they actually came back to life?" cried Lirenna in disbelief. "Even despite those horrific injuries? I mean, they must have been cold and stiff, just meat..."

     "They were, but they still came back to life," replied her husband. "That memory's very clear. I remember the joy when they stirred and opened their eyes. Even the cleric was dumbfounded! Interestingly, their jewels continued to glow afterwards, but dimmer, like Tak's and the others'. Their souls were still connected to them.

     "They investigated and researched for year after year, but they never found a way to release their souls without killing themselves and in the end they decided to just live with it. They cast spells on their gems to make them indestructible and took to carrying them everywhere they went, to reassure themselves that they were safe. Tak started wearing his on his wrist, like a bracelet, and the others copied him.

     "They became the Gem Lords. Respected if not exactly loved by the good, feared by the evil, and they ruled over Domandropolis for many years. Tak had to abandon Castle Nagra and move into the palace, and he was a little sad about that, but he was able to take all his experiments with him and share them with the others, just as he joined in with their pet projects. For the first time since his childhood he was truly free and part of something good. He had friends, and eventually he had a wife and children of his own, one of whom went on to follow his father into wizardry, but that's another story."

     "What about Trobo?" asked Lirenna. "Was he left all alone in Castle Nagra?"

     "That's what he wanted," replied Thomas. "Tak asked him to come with him to the palace, but Trobo refused to leave the castle. That was his place, he explained. All he wanted was to serve the master of Castle Nagra, whoever that was. He wasn't alone for long, though. They sent the apprentice of one of the evil wizards to live there, gave him the chance to make a decent life for himself. He still went bad, unfortunately, but he never bothered the Gem Lords who, by then, had other things on their minds, so they never got round to dealing with him. Castle Nagra returned to what it had originally been, therefore. The abode of an evil wizard and his unfortunate apprentices. Still, at least Jack Nowl had the satisfaction of having his opinion of wizards confirmed."

     "And what about the other jewels? The ones belonging to Cuthbert, Gal-Gowan and the others?"

     "They destroyed them. Freed their spirits to go to the next life. More than they deserved, I reckon. I would have taken them aboard a ship and dropped them into the deepest part of the ocean. Leave the bastards imprisoned forever."

     Lirenna stared in shock. "You don't mean that!"

     Thomas sighed. "No, I suppose not. Who knows, though. The afterlife they probably ended up in, they might have preferred a quiet life on the ocean bottom. Better than spending the rest of eternity having their bottoms prodded by devils with pitchforks." He sighed and stretched some life back into his stiff limbs. "Well, that's that. The story of how the son of a simple peasant homesteader went on to become one of the greatest wizards of his age. Enjoy the story?"

     "But it's not over yet!" protested Lirenna. "What happened to Tak next? What did he do? You hinted earlier of great adventures and impossible quests. Tell me! I want to know!"