The Marenon Chronicles Collection

Chapter Eighteen





Silas woke in a white tent, wrapped in light blankets wearing nothing but a comfortable silk robe.

“About time you stirred,” a voice from the other side of the tent sounded. It was Kaden.

“How long was I out this time?” Silas asked as he sat up in the bed.

“Three days,” Kaden said, handing Silas a flask of water.

The cool liquid felt soothing as it trickled down his dry throat.

“How do you feel?” Kaden asked.

“Like I got shot out of the sky,” he answered. He tried to stretch his neck, but his muscles only hurt more. The throbbing pain throughout his body almost felt flu-like, but he knew he wasn’t sick. The last time he had regained consciousness, he had felt weakened, but it was much worse this time.

Kaden stood next to the bed with a concerned look on his face. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

Silas shook his head. “I don’t know.” His thoughts drifted to the dream of his father. Will had told him to find someone that would have a memory or some recollection of his appearance, but Silas didn’t even know if he had the ability to search someone’s mind. This power was all too new to him. Part of him didn’t want to have that kind of power, for it reminded him too much of Hroth, who had not spoken to his mind since the battle at Jekyll Rock. Silas was happy for that, at least.

“Kaden, how well did you know my father?”

The man seemed perplexed by the question, but answered without hesitation. “I knew Will quite well,” he said. “We didn’t exactly have the best relationship.”

“So you remember what he looked like?”

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“The last two times that I passed out, I’ve had two very vivid dreams.”

Kaden reached behind him and pulled a chair next to the bed, his eyebrows furrowed with concern. “Go on,” he said.

“I dreamt of myself and my father having a conversation in Mudavé. It seemed more realistic than most dreams. Maybe more like a vision. It was like he was right there, waiting to talk to me. He told me that he was alive and had been a prisoner of the Stühocs for the past seventeen years. He said that he has finally escaped and is waiting to help me find the way to the Red Gate.”

“But it’s only a dream, Silas.”

“That’s what I thought the first time, but like I said, this was different from any other dream. The second time was just like a continuation of the first. It wasn’t the same dream again. He said that he had found a safe hiding place and couldn’t wait to see me.”

“Your father died, Silas.”

“That’s what everyone says, but how many of you saw him die? Were you there?”

Kaden shook his head.

“Then it’s a possibility. He suggested that I search the mind of someone who knew him.”

“Why?”

“Because, I’ve never seen him before. How could I have an accurate dream of my father if I’ve never even seen his face?”

“You can just search my mind?”

“I’m willing to try. That’s all I want to do. Just think of what he looks like, and I will try to see the image that you are conjuring.”

Silas knew Kaden wasn’t too keen on the idea. Who would be? But after a moment of thought, Kaden nodded and allowed Silas to try.

He sat up from his bed as Kaden closed his eyes. He placed both of his hands on the side of his head, just as Hroth had done to him several days ago. He had no idea what he was doing; he just thought that with so much magical power, surely he could see into someone’s mind.

With deep concentration, Silas tried to find the image of his father. At first all he saw was black; perhaps the backs of his eyelids, but then pictures started to form. He had expected just to see stills, but it was much more than that. There was a commotion. Then he could hear.

There was a man with his back turned to Silas. No, Silas wasn’t there. Silas was someone else. He had no control over the movements of his head. His vision turned from right to left. The man at the other end of the room turned, but his face was covered in shadow by the hood of his cloak. There was also a woman on her knees, crying.

“You two stop it! I’ve had enough of your fighting! I don’t want either of you!” the woman screamed. Apart from the look of distress upon her face, the woman was absolutely gorgeous. By her pointed ears and fair skin, Silas could tell that she was Erellen. The big tears rolled down her face as she looked at the two men, begging them to stop.

Silas realized that he was watching the memory from Kaden’s point of view.

“You’re nothing but a worm!” the shadowy man said to Kaden. “You don’t deserve her!”

“You were my friend!” The voice confirmed Kaden’s identity to Silas, though he sounded much younger. His eyes focused in on the Erellen woman. “You told me that you loved me!”

The shadowy man pulled out a dagger and charged for Kaden. Kaden carried no weapon, but he was able to grab the man’s wrist and wrestle him to the ground. The Erellen woman screamed for the two of them to stop fighting, but neither would relent.

Everything moved so quickly that it became difficult to see what was happening. The man whose face Silas had yet to see, was able to reach around Kaden and free his hand that held the dagger. With a quick swipe, he cut into Kaden’s jaw drawing a river of blood from his face.

“No!” the woman screamed. “You cut his throat! You killed him!”

The man stepped back from Kaden. Kaden looked down at his wet hands covered in blood, then quickly placed the pressure back on the wound. “I didn’t touch his throat. But maybe I should have.”

With blood pouring from the spaces between his fingers, Kaden sat against the wall and looked at the woman for a long moment, then back to the man. “I hope you’re happy.”

The man walked over to Kaden and squatted in front of him. He pulled back his hood to reveal the younger version of a face that Silas had gotten to know through his dreams. Will.

“It doesn’t make me happy to see our friendship end this way,” Will said. “We both knew this would happen.”

“So, this is your way of getting back at me?” Kaden asked. “This is how you react when your father chooses me to be his second in command over you?”

“I love her,” Will said.

“So do I.”

“Goodbye, Kaden.”

Will stood and walked over to the Erellen woman.

“Shelinsa, are you all right?”

Silas instantly recognized the name that belonged to his mother. She looked up at Will with big wet eyes then to Kaden. Kaden just stared back at her, his vision blurring with tears.

“I’m sorry, Kaden,” she said.

Kaden said nothing.

She turned and left the room and Will began to follow her. Before he stepped out of the room, he took one glance back. For a brief moment, Silas could see the sense of regret and sadness in his father’s eyes. A single tear dripped past his cheek and he was gone. Kaden dropped his head to his chest and began to weep.

Silas didn’t want to see any more.

He felt his grip loosen on the side of Kaden’s head and instantly the light from the outside shined bright in his eyes.

“Did you see him?” Kaden asked. “Did you see the same man from your dreams?”

Silas nodded. “I did.”

“Interesting,” Kaden said. He sat silently for a moment then stood. “I tried to come up with the best image I could. I thought of him sitting across from me when we used to play cards. It was the best image that I could remember.”

“Thank you,” was all Silas could get out. Kaden had no idea that Silas had just seen a very intimate moment in his past. Kaden had been in love with Silas’ mother? He had been a rival against his father?

For a brief second, Silas studied Kaden’s face and looked at the scar that barely showed through his beard. He had seen it before, most notably the first time they had met in the caves on Earth. Silas would have never thought that his father was the one to administer such a mark.

Silas got up from the bed and Kaden showed him his fresh set of clothes and a clean cloak.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Kaden said.

Before Kaden left, Silas said, “Do you think my father is alive?”

Kaden stopped just before leaving the tent and sighed. “I think you just had a dream, Silas. Your father isn’t alive.”

Silas wasn’t satisfied with the answer. He changed into his clothes and noticed his staff leaning against a corner of the tent. “So, I’m assuming the end of the parade was a bit of a let down after I passed out,” Silas called out.

“I think you might like how it turned out,” Kaden said as Silas walked through the opening onto the grass.

The view before him took his breath away. It was like nothing he had ever seen. A vast camp, filled with white tents and soldiers, littered the entire field before him. The tents lined up, row-by-row as far as the eye could see. Erellens, Humans from Farlaweer, and Dunarians all camped together, united under one hope: the Meshulan.

“Where are we?” Silas asked.

“Midland Pass, just above Timugo,” Kaden said. “They’re all here to fight.

Silas gave Kaden a confused stare.

“We put you on a wagon and double-timed it here,” he said. “This is it. This is your army.”

“Unbelievable.”

“It may seem that way, but I fear it still isn’t enough. The Stühocs have grown their army to a very large number. Julian has reported to us that the weapon they have could wipe us all out. But there’s something you should know, Silas. We might have a new advantage that he hadn’t previously anticipated.”

“What’s that?”

“I think it would be best if you just followed me.”

They walked up a hill, but not without a fair number of wide-eyed stares and bows. Silas would nod in return, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

First, there was this heavy weakness that seemed to weigh on his entire body. It felt as though he were emptying somehow, like some of his life had escaped him when the gates were destroyed.

Then there was the revelation that Kaden had been in love with Silas’ mother, Shelinsa. Kaden and Will had fought over her. This information was baffling to Silas, but he could find no reason to mention this to Kaden now. There was too much to accomplish; too much to finish before dwelling on distracting matters. When all of this was over, the two of them would have plenty of time to talk about anything they wanted.

Silas was now convinced that his father was still alive, despite what Kaden said. He had to be. Perhaps Kaden dismissed his dream so easily because of his past with Silas’ father. Maybe Kaden didn’t want Will to be alive. Kaden had said before that the two of them didn’t have the best relationship, but Silas had no idea it had been that bad.

At the top of the hill there was a large airy pavilion that oversaw the entire camp from above. Upon Silas’ arrival, several of the camp leaders bowed in greeting. All of them seemed surprised to see Silas, but Inga had been the first to notice and she nearly clobbered him, running up to give him give him a tight hug.

“A little longer than last time,” she said softly into his ear.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

Apart from Kaden and Inga, the others in the tent were Julian, Jiaros, his son Daewyn, Alric and Nalani.

A large map of Mudavé lay spread across a wooden table in the center of the tent. Various figurines were placed all over the map showing that someone had devised a strategy.

When Silas glanced to his right, he gave a start after seeing a face he hadn’t expected to view in a thousand years. The tall figure looked menacing in his war paint and full headdress. His muscled green skin rippled as he tensed. His Excellency of the Anwyn people sniffed the air loudly and snarled at the sight of Silas.

“I see you carry the staff of Uriah as your own,” the leader said.

Silas didn’t know what to say. The staff had been unjustifiably stolen from the Anwyns. He gave a long glare in Alric’s direction.

“Hey don’t look at me,” Alric said. “That thing has saved your life on more than one occasion.”

Silas looked up at the towering Anwyn. “Your Excellency, I…”

“I don’t want to hear what you have to say,” he said. “The only condition I have before I help your army is that you give me the medallion and staff that you stole from us.”

Silas turned to the others. “Do we actually need their help?”

Julian spoke first. “Though a frontal assault could be successful, we still have to worry about the Sphere that can turn us all into Soldiers of the Dead. But the Anwyns have just finished a special fifteen-year project that may give us the advantage.”

“I would rather see you and your friend eaten alive,” he pointed to Alric. “But when we saw your army moving, we knew it was our time to attack the Stühocs.”

“What have you been planning?”

“The Anwyns have been digging underground tunnels from Timugo all the way to the heart of Mudavé,” Julian said. “All of this was part of their plan to retake their homeland from the Stühocs. But the Stühoc army has grown too big for the Anwyns to take alone. His Excellency came to us to offer his services freely, but then he saw Alric.”

Alric shrugged his shoulders and Nalani elbowed him in the ribs. “The Dunarians hired me,” he said.

“I cannot give you the medallion,” Silas said. “I am the Gatekeeper and my predecessor is the one who made them. He has entrusted them to me.”

“The staff,” His Excellency demanded, holding out a hand. “It would motivate my men to see that it has been returned to its people.”

Silas stood for a moment. He wasn’t ready to give up the staff of Uriah. He had grown too attached to the weapon, and he wasn’t sure his magic, alone, could hold up against Anithistor. He would need it.

“Silas, the Anwyns could start the attack from within the city,” Julian told him. “They might even be able to stop the Stühocs from using the Sphere.”

Silas took a deep breath and handed the staff to His Excellency who smiled widely. “You will not regret your decision,” he said. “I will ready my men for the morning.”

“Why wait until morning?” Silas asked.

“The Erellens will not attack without Lorcan Zamire in custody first,” Daewyn announced. “He is a wanted murderer and we know the Dunarians are hiding him from us.”

“Will you get off it?” Alric yelled. “You know as well as I that Lorcan was provoked. If it hadn’t been for you and your friends, nobody would have died.”

“If this is true, then why is he hiding?” Daewyn raised his voice.

“I’m not hiding!” the voice came from midway up the hill. Lorcan walked steadily next to the giant, Coffman. The two entered the tent and Lorcan took his eyes off Daewyn only long enough to reach for Inga’s hand and squeeze. “You would stop your army on the account of me?”

“He wouldn’t,” Jiaros said. “You are not the king, son. I make the decisions.”

“What is it going to take for you to drop all of this?” Lorcan asked.

“Your life,” Daewyn snapped.

“Well, you can’t have that. What else?”

Daewyn dropped his head, knowing he would never be allowed to carry out the death sentence. Word had gotten out about Lorcan’s friendship with the Dunarians and he had become somewhat of a hero in the past couple of days. Many thought Lorcan’s murder charge was suspect anyway. Why would such a trusted advisor turn on his king?

Silas remembered the story that Lorcan had relayed to him. Daewyn and a group of his drunken friends had attacked Lorcan because they were jealous of his abilities, and some say that Daewyn was jealous of Lorcan’s relationship with Jiaros. Defending himself, Lorcan had cut the throat of Daewyn’s best friend, Merrin. Merrin died in minutes. Lorcan ran.

“I can think of one thing that will ease my mind,” Daewyn said, though it doesn’t make up for what you did.”

Lorcan dropped his head, apparently understanding what it was that Daewyn wanted.

The hush in the tent felt awkward.

“Now that there are no more death sentences in the tent, can we agree that we go to battle tomorrow?” Julian asked.

The others, including Daewyn, nodded and turned their eyes to Silas.

“Tomorrow it is then.”