The Marenon Chronicles Collection

Chapter Ten





Nalani had tried not to think about what Julian had done to the Dunarian Council, but her attempts at placing her mind elsewhere failed. Even with the enemy legion headed to their tiny city, she couldn’t keep her thoughts off of him. She was glad that she had never agreed to marry him, though she wondered if she had, whether it might have changed his actions.

She should have seen this coming. She should have been more supportive of him and more willing to help him. But they had drifted apart. He had wanted her to drop everything and go with him to the castle in Farlaweer, but she knew she never could have done it. Her job with the council came first. They both understood that.

She walked down the streets of Jekyll Rock alone. The people seemed frantic and rightfully so. Soldiers instructed all that were able, to gather their weapons and meet at the city’s eastern wall within the hour.

She was headed to her parents’ house near the center of the city. These were not her real parents, but a couple who had adopted her when she first came to Marenon as a child. Her father’s name was Patrick and her mother was Sarah. The two of them had died on Earth many years before, and it made her sad to see them aging now. They had always been supportive of her and so proud when she had become part of the Dunarian Council.

She now feared for their safety.

She knew her father well, and she knew that he would not want to flee from battle. She could see the older people and children gathering into a large group at the city center. Her parent’s house wasn’t far now.

Before Silas had returned to Marenon from Earth, she had visited her parents frequently, though only for brief periods of time. Since the arrival of the Meshulan, she had visited them only once, and that had been to tell them she would be going on a short mission far away. She did not convey to them any details, and because of this they knew it was dangerous. The two of them had embraced her for a long moment and told her that they loved her.

A voice from behind broke her thoughts. When she turned, she saw Alric trying to catch up to her.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked her.

“Going to see my parents,” she said.

Alric nodded and stopped short of her awkwardly. They stood there, saying nothing for a long moment.

“Alric, why don’t you and your group get out of here? You aren’t Dunarians. You don’t have to be here. You still have time to leave safely.”

Alric swallowed hard and looked around at the gathering people. “We’re not going to do that,” he said finally. “I mean, I may not be officially part of the Dunarians, but I’m not interested in anything out there.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking away.

“I’m here because of you,” he said, grinning. “You’re quite an interesting woman. I’d hate for some Stühoc to get the best of you.”

Nalani raised an eyebrow. “So you’re here to protect me?”

“That’s right.” He puffed out his chest and pretended to march like a soldier. “Nalani Geldwin, consider me you personal bodyguard. I promise that while I am near, no harm shall befall you!”

She couldn’t help but smile at him. Truly, Alric’s presence would be a comfort when the battle came.

“Is it possible that you’ve found something to believe in?” she asked.

Alric’s face became serious at the question, and he looked at the crowded city, then back to Nalani. “I don’t know how I feel about groups or factions, and fighting for a cause. I just know I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

Nalani felt her face go red at his words, and Alric felt sheepish as he quickly changed the subject.

“So, you’re here to meet you parents? Why don’t we get them on your sarian and out of the city.”

“My father would never do it,” she said as they began to walk. “He’s too proud to admit that he’s too old to fight with the soldiers.”

“I see.”

When they made it to the house, Nalani took a deep breath and looked up at the door. She couldn’t bring herself to knock. “I just don’t want to lose them, Alric.”

“You won’t!” he said. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“You make a lot of promises.”

“Yeah, I do. But I always follow through.”

“The enemy force is huge, Alric. I don’t know if you can keep your promises today.”

With that, she reached a hand up and rapped her fist on the door. It instantly swung open and a white-haired, wild-eyed man, carrying several swords, knives and even a quiver of arrows, met them.

“Sweetheart! You made it back safely!” He dropped all the weapons to the floor and wrapped his skinny arms around her and squeezed tightly. “Sarah! Nalani’s home!”

A short old woman sprang out from one of the back rooms of the house, ecstatic to see Nalani.

“I see you’ve heard about the attack that’s coming,” Nalani said.

“Sure did,” Patrick answered as he bent over to pick up the weapons. “Getting ready to take down some Stühocs! As you can see, I’ve been preparing for a day like this.”

“Father, I want you to go with the group meeting at the city center,” Nalani said.

“You mean with the old people?” he said looking at her, bewildered.

“And I want you to take Mother.”

“You mother is going, but I’m staying to fight!” he said, pulling the weapons closer to him.

Alric stepped forward into the doorway and Patrick looked at him with lowered eyebrows.

“Who are you?” Patrick asked.

“My name is Alric. I’m one of the sergeants in the Dunarian Order.”

Nalani raised an eyebrow at this and looked at him.

“Where’s your armor? Your colors?” Patrick asked.

“We learned of the attack as recently as you did,” Alric said. “I was off duty when I heard about it. Haven’t had the chance to change into my uniform yet. Besides, that doesn’t matter. What matters is I have a job for you.”

“What kind of job?” Patrick asked.

“The children and the older people will be taken deep within the fortress for protection, but we aren’t sure how long we’ll be able to keep the enemy out. I’m going to need you to distribute some of your weapons, and be sure everyone in hiding will know standard protocol should the walls not stand.”

“You want me to be in charge of them?”

“That’s right,” Alric said. “Nalani has told me about how brave you are, and if the Stühocs charge into the fortress, they’ll need a fearless leader to help them fight. Can I count on you to do that?”

Patrick bowed low. “Of course you can,” he said. “It will be my greatest honor.”

“Good,” Alric said as he slapped Patrick on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure the sergeant at the city center knows about it, but you’ll need to get there quickly.”

“I will,” Patrick said. “I just need to gather a few more things before I go out.”

Nalani caught Alric’s eye and mouthed the words ‘thank you’. Alric gave her a wink and stepped out onto the porch.

They didn’t have much time before they had to meet with Kaden and other leaders. With tears in her eyes, she said a quick goodbye to her parents and left with Alric. Before making their way to the east wall where every able-bodied citizen was ordered to meet, Alric stopped by the group of children and older people. He explained to the guard that an experienced fighter would be joining them in a few moments, and that he should be allowed to help lead them into the castle. The guard gave him a curious look and muttered that the old man had better get there fast.

As they jostled through the crowd toward the wall, they heard two voices call out their names. They turned to see two familiar faces, running toward them. Dink and Emma.

“You made it!” Emma said to Nalani. “We had heard from Alric that you had been captured.”

“Now we aren’t in a much better situation,” she answered.

“How can we help?” Dink asked.

“Were about to meet up with some of the leaders,” Alric said. “You can come with us if you want.”

They agreed and walked steadily behind the two. Nalani was glad to see them safe. When she had ordered them to go with Daewyn to tell the Erellens and the Dunarians about the Sphere, she didn’t know if they would make it. She hadn’t expected to see them again, but here they were, ready to help.

As the four of them walked, a deafening alarm sounded throughout the city. For a brief moment Nalani and Alric looked at each other, then rushed to the east wall to see why the alarm had gone off.

*****

Silas stood with Lorcan and Coffman on the outer east wall when Kaden gave the order for the alarm to sound. A signal fire to the east warned them of an approaching enemy.

“It’s a clear day,” Kaden said as he squinted into the distance. “We still have another hour or more before they make it here.”

Darius Umar, council member and leader of the Dunarian Order, walked to them from a farther position on the wall. “We’ll only have five sarians,” he said. “They will be a help, I’m sure, but I don’t want them anywhere near the arrows.”

“I agree with you,” Kaden said.

Silas thought about his own sarian, Skarret. He had left the bird with Inga, along with the other sarian, Autumn. He knew they would be safe in Elysium. From what he had heard earlier that day, Inga had not left the Erellen city of Jarul. Silas was glad that she was far away from the army that was coming for Jekyll Rock.

His stomach dropped as he remembered seeing them from high in the air after escaping Mudavé. Coffman had handed Silas a small scope from a pouch on the sarian saddle as they flew over the giant horde. The Nestorians had remained unreadable with their wooden masks. The demon-like Stühocs looked hungry for battle. Then there were the Humans. The Soldiers of the Dead. They seemed vicious and extremely angry, but their eyes were completely void of life. All they desired was blood. They would crush the small city.

Soon, Dublin joined the group at the top of the wall and then Alric, Nalani and two others came running from the middle of the city.

There was a woman with them that Silas had never seen before, and a man…

“Dink?” Silas said to himself as he stepped forward.

Dink smiled widely and extended a hand when he came within a foot of Silas. “When I said I hoped our paths would cross again, I didn’t mean on a day like today.”

Silas grinned at the man. Though Kaden had told him Dink was in Jekyll Rock, it was still strange to see him.

“I assume you found her?” Silas asked, motioning toward the woman.

“Yes,” Dink said. “This is my wife, Emma.” He gestured to Silas. “Emma, this is Silas Ainsley.”

“We’ve heard so much about you in the past couple of days,” she said.

“When I first found out about who this Meshulan was, I couldn’t believe it! I don’t think anyone believed me at first when I told them I had been near you in the gauntlet.”

“This is all so wonderful,” Alric said, “but shouldn’t we be making preparations?”

Kaden shifted his weight and looked out toward the grassy plain. The warning fire burned bright in the distance. He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. “Looks like we’ll be fighting in the dark,” he said. He turned to Darius. “Have your men finished barricading the east gate into the city?”

“It is as strong as it can be,” he answered. “Depending on what they are using to break down the doors, the barricade could last for an hour or so before it breaks down. Unless of course our archers are top-notch tonight.”

“We don’t have many,” Kaden said, more to himself than the others. “Dublin, you’ll be sure to stay within the fortress?”

“As yeh command, sir,” the old man said as he bowed low.

“We’re going to have to be ready to fight within the city walls,” Kaden said.

Silas wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed it, perhaps they were distracted by their fear of what was to come, but he could see the sadness in Kaden’s eyes. There was no fear in the man, but Silas knew he was frustrated. Everything had crumbled on his watch, and he was taking responsibility for it.

Silas wished there was something he could do to stop the inevitable defeat of the Dunarians. Jekyll Rock had never faced such an enemy.

After a long silence, Dink spoke up. “We should be encouraged. We have the Meshulan with us! I’ve seen him fight. The prophecy says he will deliver us. I think today, will be the beginning of the prophecy’s fulfillment.”

Silas wanted to shut him up somehow, but he said nothing. There was nothing in history that said Silas would do any such thing. If the enemy broke through into the city it would be over. The Dunarians would be finished.

Another alarm sounded, calling for everyone to ready their weapons and take their posts.

“Already?” Alric asked.

Each of them ran to the edge of the city wall to watch for the enemy.

Like a gust of cold wind, the realization hit them all at once.

The first signal fire had not been lit by a guard at his post. The fire had been ignited by the passing army who had destroyed the tower in rage. Whether the Dunarians were ready or not, it did not matter. The battle was upon them.