The Marenon Chronicles Collection

by Jason D. Morrow

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Silas, Inga and Kaden were turned away from the prison when they tried to meet with Lorcan. When they told the guards that the king had said they could see him, they were simply told to come back at a different time. This made Kaden angry enough to go and find Jiaros to make the guards comply, leaving Silas and Inga alone.

  The two of them left the prison area and agreed to meet Kaden in the city square within the hour. It was the first time in two days that Silas and Inga had been alone together. Their last quiet moment alone had been interrupted abruptly and they hadn’t had the chance to revisit it. Silas knew the time was not right. He knew that after all they had been through, and with Lorcan stuck in a jail cell somewhere, that it was not the time to talk about what happened between the two of them.

  They had kissed each other. It had been a moment that Silas had wanted to share with Inga for the longest time, but he never thought it would actually happen. She had bared her soul to him that night. Telling him about how she had died on Earth was a very personal subject to talk about, but she had offered the information willingly to him.

  For the better part of the hour, they walked through the city without speaking, over bridges and around waterfalls. When they were together like this, they didn’t need any words. It was just nice to be in each other’s presence. To be able to walk around without having to worry about assassins or to think about the responsibilities as Meshulan felt refreshing. Inga had a way of making him feel like he was just like anyone else.

  On top of one of the many bridges throughout the city, they stopped and watched the mesmerizing waterfall gush downward toward them. When the wind blew, they could feel the cool mist brush across their faces. After several long moments of silence, Silas turned to her and looked deeply into her eyes.

  “I hated the timing of our capture the other night,” Silas said.

  Inga smiled. “Me too.”

  “Is it still there?”

  “Is what still there?” she asked, sweeping the hair out of her face.

  “The feelings that we had. I know that I still have them.” He stepped closer to her and she stood her ground.

  “Wouldn’t it be awkward to kiss with two guards standing over there?” she said as she motioned to the pair at the end of the bridge.

  Silas looked back to see Teymus pretending to be paying attention to something else as he bit at his fingernails. The female guard was unwavering, however.

  “Ah, I don’t care about them. They’re just here to make sure we don’t leave the city.”

  “Maybe,” Inga said. “My guard might try to stab you if you kiss me.”

  “I doubt it,” he said as he leaned in even closer. He closed his eyes, ready to press his lips against hers for the second time, but it didn’t happen. Inga pulled away suddenly and stepped back a few paces, still facing Silas.

  “I’ll tell you what,” she said, bending down to pick up a few small pebbles. “If you can produce that green shield I’ve been trying to teach you, then I will kiss you.” She held up the rocks. “You’ve got three chances.”

  “Then I guess I’ll never get to kiss you,” Silas said with a smirk.

  “We’ll see about that. Just concentrate, like I taught you!”

  Inga jumped back a few more steps and waited for the go-ahead. Silas shook his head, half-smiling, knowing he had his work cut out for him.

  “Ok,” he said as he pulled his arms behind his back and closed his eyes. “It’s all a mindset. It’s all a mindset. I’m being attacked by a horde of Stühocs. Maroke is throwing little pebbles at my face.”

  Inga laughed loudly at this, breaking any sort of concentration Silas might have had. She put a hand over her mouth apologetically when Silas pretended to glare at her. He closed his eyes again. This time he could feel the surge within him. He knew he would be able to produce the shield. He opened his eyes, feeling the magic flow through him. Was this what it felt like to be transfixed? He didn’t know and he didn’t care. All he cared about was the shield. He watched as Inga pulled back her arm, then slung it in a forward motion. The small rock came sailing at his chest. For a moment he just knew it would ricochet off his newly created shield, but it never materialized. The pebble bounced off his chest harmlessly.

  He shook his head back and forth, trying to concentrate. Again, she threw a pebble and again it hit him in the chest. This simple exercise began playfully, yet Silas couldn’t help but think of how weak he was with magic. How was he supposed to be this deliverer when simple magic failed him? His grandfather had given him so few answers. What was wrong with him? Wasn’t the Meshulan supposed to have power? Weren’t Erellens supposed to have sensitivity to magic? He guessed that it didn’t matter. He was only half Erellen. He was the son of a dead Human and a dead Erellen. He was alone. There was no one here in Marenon for him. No family, no true friends, only people that wanted to use him and a woman that was throwing pebbles at his chest.

  He let out a scream, trying to get the surge of energy to produce a green shield, but nothing came, and the third pebble bounced off of him and down to the wooden bridge. Silas fell to his knees. He slammed his fist against the wood, angry that he was hopeless when it came to magic.

  Inga walked to him, but he didn’t look up. He was ashamed, mostly because of the thoughts that passed through his head in that final moment. He couldn’t help but feel that he was no good for the position of Meshulan. How could he be the deliverer of anyone when he couldn’t produce a simple shield?

  “There’s no point,” Silas said to her. “You might as well forget about trying to teach me magic.”

  “It takes a lot of time,” she said as she kneeled next to him.

  “Did it take you this long to learn the shield?”

  “No, but I also practiced twelve hours a day, every day. I didn’t have so many things weighing heavy on my mind like you do.”

  Silas hoped she was right. He didn’t like the thought that he was possibly a worthless warrior. He turned his head toward her. “Everyone wants me to be someone I’m not. Three months ago, I didn’t even know Marenon existed.”

  “It’s not really fair for you, is it?” Inga said, rubbing his shoulder.

  “I don’t really care about fairness,” Silas said. “Before I killed Maroke I declared that I would deliver Marenon from the Stühocs. I’m just afraid I stuck my foot in my mouth. I don’t know how to accomplish that. I don’t know what to do.”

  “But you know the next step,” Inga said. “You know you have to find the Gatekeeper. You know he holds more of the answers that you seek. You know that he will tell you where to go from there. That’s all you need right now.”

  He sighed and nodded slightly. “I guess you’re right. It’s not easy. There are so many unanswered questions. My grandfather left me with nothing.”

  “I have a feeling he was planning on telling you a lot more than he actually got to.”

  She was right. Now that he thought about it, he hardly had the chance to speak to his grandfather once he had arrived in Marenon. Most of their conversations resulted in an argument and ended with Silas storming away. A pang of guilt weighed heavy on Silas as he thought about that long day in Mudavé. He wondered what might have happened if he had not chosen to leave Jekyll Rock.

  “He’d still be alive if I hadn’t run off,” Silas said.

  “And so would Maroke,” Inga said. “He was one of the biggest threats against Humans and you killed him. Kaden wouldn’t be with us either. Who knows what would have happened to him.”

  The two of them stood and Silas rubbed a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. He knew there was no use in regrets. They only held him back and hindered his ability to concentrate. He looked deep into Inga’s eyes. There was one thing he didn’t regret. That was kissing her. He reached for her to hold her close when they were interrupted by a shout from across the river.

  “Hey, you two!” It was Kaden. Silas stepped back from Inga quickly. He felt like an
idiot, hiding his feelings for her from Kaden in such away, but she didn’t seem to mind. “We were supposed to meet in the square, where have you been?”

  “Must have lost track of time,” Inga said.

  When Kaden finally made it to the bridge, his pace slowed. “Well, I spoke with Jiaros and he said he would be sure we were allowed clearance into the prison. He was irritated at the guards for not letting us in.”

  They left the bridge with their guards following close behind and made their way back to the prison. Unlike the rest of Jarul, the inside was damp, cold and dark. There didn’t seem to be an abundance of cells, but they were not allowed too far in anyway. There would be no way to know. Lorcan was apparently in a different section of the prison in his own private cell.

  When they reached him, their personal guards stayed behind in the outside hallway, respecting their little bit of privacy. Lorcan looked as though he had not slept since they had all been captured.

  When he saw them, he jolted from the stone floor immediately to meet them at the bars.

  “Have you heard anything? Do you know what they’re planning for me?”

  Kaden shook his head. “Nothing. Jiaros wouldn’t even tell us why you’re here except that it’s for murder. What’s going on Lorcan?”

  He sighed, hanging his head low. He obviously did not wish to discuss this with anyone, but he had no other choice.

  “I never knew you couldn’t go into Elysium,” Inga said. “You always said you just hated it here.”

  “Well, I told you the truth,” he said. “I didn’t want you to think of me differently. I’m not a murderer. At least, I didn’t mean to do it.”

  “If you’re not a murderer, then why would I think of you differently?”

  Silas watched back and forth between the two, and for the first time he realized how much the two had between them. He knew it was foolish, but he couldn’t help but feel jealous of their history. Silas knew that her feelings didn’t go far beyond friendship, but she seemed truly hurt by the fact that Lorcan had kept so many secrets about his past from her.

  “Tell us what happened, Lorcan.” Kaden encouraged.

  Lorcan backed away from the bars as if to collect his thoughts, saying nothing for several moments.

  “I’m a pretty smart person,” he started, and held up a hand. “I don’t say that to boast. I say that because that’s why I was selected to be one of the king’s advisors when I was about Silas’ age. I was the youngest of all of them and there were five of us. Daewyn, the king’s son, would sit in on our meetings, but only to get a grasp for how the kingdom worked. Jiaros liked me the most. He usually made his decisions based on what I suggested, often times not even considering the other advisor’s suggestions.”

  He took a deep breath. Silas could see the guilt forming on his face. Whatever Lorcan had done, he held remorse within him.

  “This continued for a long time, and I was proud of it. I flaunted it. Looking back at myself, I was stupid. I was begging for what I had coming to me.”

  “Which was?” Inga asked.

  “One night, Daewyn and another advisor named Merrin invited me to have some drinks with them. I thought this was odd, but I figured it couldn’t hurt. So, I went to meet with them, but before I got there I was jumped. It was Daewyn, Merrin and a couple of others they brought with them. They beat me up pretty badly. When I was on the ground, Merrin pulled out a knife to cut my ears.”

  “What?” Silas asked. “Why would he do that?”

  “It’s a sign of shame to the Erellens,” Lorcan answered. “It’s a punishment reserved for those who have committed evil crimes, but are allowed back into Erellen society. It’s a bitter reminder to the criminal and to everyone else.” He turned his head to show his fully intact, pointed ears. “They cut off the tip, leaving it almost square in shape,” he said, pointing. “When it happens, you’re marked. Enemies have been known to do this to soldiers in battle as well. It strips an Erellen of any physical distinguishing feature. To do something like that to an Erellen is declaring that they are not Erellen.”

  “That sounds horrible,” Inga said, her hand reaching up to the bars.

  “It is,” he said back to her. “I’ve seen it done, and I’ve seen the people it has affected. They live a humiliating life.”

  “Is that what they’re going to do to you?” Silas asked.

  “That’s the first thing they will do, though I doubt they’ll put me back into society. They might kill me, I don’t know.”

  Silas couldn’t believe it. Lorcan had done a lot for him, and even helped save his life before. He wished there was something he could do to help, but he knew there was nothing. Nothing yet, at least.

  “Merrin was already drunk,” Lorcan continued. “They were all holding me down and he was coming after me. It’s not something he would have ever done sober, I’m sure. But that didn’t exactly matter to me at the moment. When I saw what he was about to do to me, I panicked. A surge of energy flowed through me, knocking everyone off me. Merrin came at me and I grabbed his arm and took the knife out of his hand. That’s where I should have left it. That’s where I should have stopped. But I didn’t. After grabbing the knife, I jerked it away to the right. I didn’t even know I had cut his throat until he was on the ground. It didn’t take long for him to bleed out. It was such a deep cut that no one could have helped him. But everyone saw me do it, even Daewyn. The moment Merrin died, I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance on trial, so I ran. I ran as fast as I could out of this place. I figured they would be after me, but they never chased me outside of Elysium. I just figured I wouldn’t ever go back.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us this before we started coming this way?” Silas asked.

  “I tried to let you know that I didn’t want to come this way, but I didn’t want to keep you from your mission,” Lorcan answered. “I never planned on going into Jarul. I figured I had enough time to come up with a different plan of getting to the Gatekeeper before we could ever run into trouble. I had no idea they would be patrolling so far out into the Gated Passage.”

  “Did you ever think of an alternative way to get to the Gatekeeper?” Silas asked. “Jiaros is holding us here, saying he’s investigating something. I think he’s just looking for a reason to keep us under his watch. I feel like we should try to sneak out to get to the Gatekeeper. I don’t know how much time we have.”

  Lorcan nodded. “I did think of something, but it’s a shot in the dark.” He looked at Inga. “Do you remember the overwhelming feeling you got of your old master’s presence when we were at the Gatekeeper’s house?”

  “Of course, why?”

  “Do you still feel it?”

  “I’ve felt it this whole journey,” she said. “I just try to keep it out of my head. I don’t know why it’s happening.”

  “I have a theory,” Lorcan said. “Your old master, Silandrin, left you a few years ago, right?”

  She nodded.

  “What if he left you to prepare for what was about to happen with Silas? What if his power was beginning to fail him?”

  “He never mentioned it,” she said.

  “Wait a second,” Silas interrupted. “Are you suggesting that Silandrin is the Gatekeeper?”

  “That’s impossible,” Inga said. “He would have told me. He would have never kept that from me.”

  “Not if he was trying to protect you,” Lorcan said. “It is possible! I think you’ve felt Silandrin’s presence, because this is the same journey he took from the Blue Gate Mountain to Elysium very recently.”

  “No, no,” she said shaking her head. Silas noticed a large tear fall gently down the right side of her face. “It’s not him. He wouldn’t have kept that from me.”

  “It’s worth a try, Inga,” Silas said.

  “No!” she nearly yelled. “It’s not worth a try. It isn’t him!”

  “It may not be,” Lorcan said, trying to calm her, “but maybe you could follow what you’ve been feeling. Follow
it until you find him. If anything, he will be a powerful ally to us.”

  “I’ve followed these trails before,” Inga said. “They always end with no results.”

  “Have they ever felt this strong before?” Lorcan asked her.

  She stopped her protesting abruptly. “No,” she said in a calm voice. “They haven’t. I just…I just don’t want to be disappointed again.”

  “I know you don’t,” Lorcan said. “But you know what you’ve got to do. A person with his kind of power could help us locate the Gatekeeper. You’ve been traveling with me. I don’t expect Jiaros to just let you leave anytime soon. This is our last chance to find…something.”

  “There’s no way anybody’s getting out of here without being seen,” Kaden chimed in.

  “Not unless you were invisible,” Lorcan said.

  Silas gave Inga a long look. “I think we can manage that.”

  “You’ve got to leave tonight,” Lorcan said. “You’re running out of time.”

  “What about you?” Inga asked. “We can’t just leave you here.”

  “I’ll face whatever consequences the king has in store for me.”

  “They’re going to kill you!” she said, reaching in to grab his hand.

  “No they’re not,” Lorcan said. “Not yet, anyway. I’ve got some time, and maybe I can talk some sense into Jiaros.”

  “I’ll stay behind to see if I can help you,” Kaden said. “I’ve known Jiaros for a long time. We trust each other. Maybe I can convince him to help you.”

  “I appreciate it,” Lorcan said. He turned from Kaden, still holding Inga’s hand firmly. As though there was no one else in the world, he pulled her forward to the bars and kissed her firmly on the lips. Silas turned away quickly, not knowing what to do. He wasn’t about to confront Lorcan; the Erellen could be dead in a day for all he knew. The sinking feeling in his stomach began to churn and boil. When he looked back, the kiss had not ended until Inga finally pulled away. Her cheeks shone bright red, but Lorcan only reached out and brushed her hair behind her ears.