The House of the Dark God: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 21-22

Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)

The Mountain

Just before daybreak, they see Tham Og Zalkri. The house of Zalkri.

An immense chunk of dull black rock towering over a desert of red and yellow stone. Aamodt doesn’t soften it: the place is “ominous, the abode of shadow, a piece of hell on mortal earth.”

Uskban speaks like he’s reciting ancient verse. Once this was just desert. Harsh but not hateful. Then Kels Zalkri came from deep hell. Night and bitter cold followed. The Goddess fought back and restored the sun. But the dark god was too strong to destroy. He’s been waiting inside his mountain for a thousand years.

The four of them stand on a hill looking east. Between them and the mountain: scorched rock “blackened with hellfire, scarred by the hooves of demons.” In physical distance, it isn’t far. In every other way, an eternity.

The desert air is bitter cold on midsummer morning. Sandy shivers. A moment of total darkness hits. No stars, no light. Silence. Then a faint red glow breaks the horizon and the mountain stands outlined against it like “an immense giant clothed in black.”

Sandy vs. Pognak

Sandy goes down the hill to sit with Glupp, away from the cold wind. Scratching the grundzar’s neck. Peaceful moment.

Then Pognak shows up and kicks him in the butt.

Sandy has had enough. His foot catches Pognak across the ankles. The giant crashes down. Sandy kicks him in the gut before he can recover.

Pognak bellows and stands. His iron belly didn’t even feel it. He starts stalking Sandy. If he gets hold of him, it’s over. The giant charges. Sandy throws himself sideways and sweeps his legs again.

Pognak goes down near Glupp, who has stood up to watch. The berserk giant roars and charges once more. Glupp lowers his massive head and rams Pognak from behind. The giant flies through the air, tumbles, and slams into a boulder.

Pognak gets up. Because of course he does. Glupp rams him again, tosses him over his back. The giant lies gasping. He tries to get up. Glupp walks over, nudges him down, and opens his enormous mouth to show his teeth. A silent dare.

Pognak glares. But he stays put. Crazy, not stupid.

Uskban talks Pognak down. They have bigger scores to settle. The Zalkrings owe them debts that matter more than this fight. Something unspoken passes between the two Kri Shandri. Pognak nods. He gives Sandy a look that promises future reckoning. Sandy stares right back. He’s done backing down.

Sandy hugs Glupp. “Thanks, you big galoot. He’d have beat me to a pulp if it hadn’t been for you.”

The fight matters less for who won and more for what changed. Sandy refused to take it anymore. The dynamic between him and Pognak is permanently different.

The Choke Chain Loosens

Zhadnoboth tells Sandy to look at the mountain and describe what he sees. Sandy stays silent. He taps the enchanted silver chain around his neck with one finger. Silent insolence.

The sorcerer gets furious. Sandy has spoken plenty of times before. The chain only activates when anger flares or the true name gets spoken. Sandy knows this. He keeps tapping.

It’s a power play. Sandy is using the sorcerer’s own control spell against him.

Zhadnoboth gives in. He loosens the spell. Sandy can now say almost anything. But speak his true name and he dies instantly.

Sandy’s anger erupts. “Why didn’t you do this before? You knew the full spell was unnecessary.” The chain quivers but holds.

They argue. Zhadnoboth threatens to turn Sandy to ashes. Sandy fires back: “Try it, old man! But only if you want to lose all chance to loot the Zalkrings. You need me.”

That shuts the sorcerer up. Sandy has leverage and knows how to use it. This is not the bewildered American from chapter one. This Sandy understands the power dynamics and plays them.

Sensing What’s Really There

When Sandy relaxes and looks at the mountain with his growing senses, he feels something. The mountain is not quite where it seems. And there’s a foulness. Not entirely evil. Alien. More terrifying for being so.

Zhadnoboth confirms that Kels Zalkri isn’t fully materialized. Only at midnight at the end of their great ceremonies does the dark god fully enter Zarathandra. If things go right, they’ll have the treasure and be gone by then.

The sorcerer’s augury with a destiny board shows Sandy’s name is linked to the Veiled One, the Goddess. Thirteen black pebbles line up on her symbol. Zhadnoboth briefly considers backing out. Greed wins. He starts scheming how to use Sandy’s name without risking his own neck.

The Gong Sounds

Sunlight bursts through the notch at the mountain’s summit. A great bronze gong sounds from inside. Beat after thunderous beat: doom, doom, doom.

Chapter 22 is brief. The gong echoes through Zarathandra and through the spaces between worlds. The Goddess feels it and throws up protective barriers.

Kels Zalkri sends another mocking thought. He’ll devour her soul for a million years.

The Goddess steels herself. The hour of the first trial approaches. She must be ready.

Everything is in position. Four broken men and a grundzar on a hill. A goddess and a dark god trading threats across dimensions. The ceremonies have begun. No turning back.

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