He rose from the bed. It was time.
He walked across his bedroom and grabbed the staff of Uriah, which leaned against the door. He pulled the cloak hood over his head and took a deep breath, knowing that what he and Inga were about to do needed to be flawless in execution. He opened the door and Teymus greeted him in the hallway with a smile.
Such a courteous guard, Silas thought. Too bad he’s about to be unconscious.
“Going somewhere?” Teymus asked him.
“So, I have to tell you where I plan to go now?” Silas asked.
“At this hour, yes.”
Silas shook his head and walked a few paces until he reached Inga’s door. He knocked softly and Inga came out, dressed in a hooded cloak much like Silas’. Inga’s guard gave Teymus a curious look and Teymus placed a calm hand on his sword.
“Are we just going for a midnight walk or something?” he asked.
“We are,” Inga said. “But you aren’t going with us.”
“I beg your par…” Teymus was cut short by the flash of light that flung him and his companion guard against the wall. Their heads smacked against the stone with a loud thud, and they lay unconscious on the floor.
“Nice one,” Silas said. “You didn’t kill them, did you?”
“Of course not,” she answered with a scowl. “We’ve got just enough time to get to the stables.”
Silas led the way down the hall and up a flight of stairs leading to a door to the outside. The stables were located near the middle of the city and it would take a while to get there in secret. Inga could make them invisible, but only for a short time. They decided it was best to try to move quietly to avoid detection until they were forced to use the magic. Their plan was to attempt to make the two of them and the sarians invisible for takeoff, but she wasn’t sure how long she could make that last.
The outside was dark and cold, but there were more people moving around the city than they had anticipated. Guards and citizens alike were wandering through the streets, but the guards were ushering people back to their homes. Something was going on, but neither of them knew what it could be. Guards were running around in groups, seemingly searching for something or someone. Silas and Inga kept to the shadows, avoiding any kind of contact with anyone. Even with their hoods up, the frantic guards probably wouldn’t ignore them.
Silas guessed it had been about twenty minutes or more when they finally reached the stables. Teymus would surely be waking by then, and someone would be looking for them. When they walked into the stables they noticed that only Skarret and Storm were sitting there peacefully. Cole and Autumn were nowhere to be found. Silas and Inga looked at each other curiously and walked over to the sarians. Storm was saddled and ready to go, while Skarret preferred no saddle. There was, however, a note tied by a small string to one of Skarret’s feathers on his back.
Silas carefully untied the string and unfolded the hand-scribbled note as Inga stood next to him to read it over his shoulder.
Don’t have much time. Something has happened that requires my attention. I decided not to contact you through the wristband. I didn’t want to interrupt anything you might be doing. You may have noticed that Autumn and Cole are both gone. Won’t say much, but just know that it’s good news for us and our mutual friend. I will contact you soon. Take care.
-Kaden
“He got Lorcan out!” Silas said.
“I wonder where they had to go?” Inga questioned aloud.
Silas shook his head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter right now. We’ve got to move.”
The two of them mounted their sarians and Silas looked at Inga, waiting for her to work her magic. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Silas instantly began to feel the icy sensation of becoming invisible. He looked below him seeing only the ground. He looked to his right and could no longer see Inga either. It worked. Skarret reared back slightly at the unexpected feeling of disappearing, but Silas stroked his neck and whispered calm words into the animal’s ear. He nudged Skarret forward. The bird used its head to open the stable doors. Silas felt exposed to the outside world with the guards moving about, but it seemed that no one had noticed the doors come open.
With one hand, he held on tight to the staff and with the other he grabbed a fist full of feathers to steady himself. He felt the bird’s wings fling out to its sides as it prepared to fly. Skarret lunged upward and the ground beneath them soon became smaller and smaller until all they could see was the moonlight reflecting off the summer night’s clouds. When they were a safe distance in the air, Inga released her magic and appeared next to Silas.
“Amazing work,” he told her.
She smiled in appreciation. They flew north for a long while until they decided they were a safe distance from the city. They chose to land in a clearing several miles away. Now it was up to Inga to try to sense her former master.
“Do you feel anything now?” Silas asked her as she stood in front of Storm.
She nodded. “I’ve been feeling him for the past week. It is stronger the further north we go.”
“What if Silandrin is the Gatekeeper?” Silas asked.
“I suppose I will have a lot of questions for him then,” she said simply. “Part of me wants him to be, but another part of me really doesn’t. All I want is a good reason for why he abandoned me.”
“I’m sure whatever reason he has is a good one,” Silas said, slipping off of Skarret to stand next to her.
She looked into his eyes, revealing a sadness that almost didn’t belong.
“I’m sorry about what happened with Lorcan before,” she said.
Silas was taken aback by the words. He had not expected to be talking about this now, but it had been invading her thoughts.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she continued. “I thought I might never see him again. We’ve been close for a very long time. I knew he thought of me as more than a friend, but I had never really felt that way about him until I saw him behind those bars.”
Silas understood. But it didn’t make him like it any more. In that moment he had a choice. He could be cold to her; question her feelings and make her choose; or he could decide to let it go.
Forgetting it wasn’t an option, but neither was being cold to her. He couldn’t deny his feelings for her, and he knew it had to be love. Nothing else would have produced the jealousy within him like the moment when Lorcan kissed her.
“So you love him?” Silas asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, wiping away a stray tear. “I’m obviously torn. So much is happening. When I’m with you, I feel happy and I don’t want to be away from you. But when I was faced with never seeing Lorcan again, I was crushed. Obviously I didn’t plan to kiss him, especially in front of you. I’m sorry that happened.”
Silas reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. “You listen to me,” he said. “This isn’t what we need to worry about right now. All of that stuff will be figured out in time. Right now, we’ve got to find Silandrin. He’s our only answer to finding the Gatekeeper and being done with all of this mess.”
Inga nodded, wiping away another tear. “Thank you,” she said. She reached out and hugged Silas tightly. It was a show of appreciation, rather than deep affection. She needed him to be strong, and the idea of feelings getting involved was not an option either of them had at the moment. Though he didn’t want her to ever choose Lorcan over him, it was part of his duty as the Meshulan to not allow his feelings get in the way of the mission.
They decided to keep moving north. Every hour or so, they would stop and Inga would tell him whether the feeling of her old master’s presence was stronger or weaker. When it was weaker, they would alter their course and when it was stronger they would remain on the same path. In the early morning hours they finally decided to make camp and sleep.
Inga’s senses were getting stronger every time they moved. Both of them knew they were very close to finally finding Silandrin, and hopefully, the Gatekeeper.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The early morning sun woke Dink even though he had been up and moving most of night. After stumbling upon the meeting of the slaves planning to revolt, he had gone straight to Emma. There had been no guard nearby, so he took his time telling her the plan. It was likely her carriage would be one of many in line to be turned into these Soldiers of the Dead, but he assured her that he wouldn’t let it happen to her.
They kissed, knowing it would be the last time they would see each other before the revolt. He had made his way back to the slave encampment and found Coffman sitting at a fire, lost in his own thoughts.
“I want to be the one to make the shot,” Dink said.
Coffman gave him a look as if to say, ‘leave me alone,’ but all he said was, “Why?”
“I’m the only one wearing Stühoc armor. I can get closer and kill their leader.”
Coffman sat a moment, considering his words, and shook his head. Dink took a seat, wondering why Coffman would be against it.
“You wouldn’t be able to get a harpoon gun any closer to Anithistor than Darren or I could,” he said.
“No, but I could stab him in the back, or maybe get a small crossbow near the platform. I could make sure he was dead.”
Again, Coffman shook his head. “Sorry, but no.”
“I don’t understand,” Dink said, frustrated. He knew he could do the job. Why wouldn’t Coffman let him do it?
“It’s more about rallying others to revolt than it is about actually killing him,” he explained. “The shot is the signal. It’s what everyone will be watching for. You go up there and stab him in the back, all you’ve done is almost silently killed an enemy. You would be dead before anyone would even know what happened. There would be no revolt.” Coffman picked up a stick and started poking the fire. “Besides. You’ve got a wife to protect, don’t you? You think she wants to see you dead up there on the platform?” Coffman shook his head. “Not a chance.”
Dink sighed and rubbed his face, exhaustedly.
“It’ll be an important shot,” Coffman said. “I hope Darren is up for it.”
“You worried about him?”
“He’s a bit fidgety. He wants out of here as bad as the rest of them though.”
“Them?” Dink said. “Don’t you mean us? You’re one of them too, you know.”
Coffman shook his head. “You and I are a lot alike. We both came here voluntarily.”
“What’s your reason?”
“I’ve found something to believe in,” Coffman said, staring at the flames. “All my time here in Marenon, I had heard of this person called the Meshulan, but I didn’t really think anything of it until I actually met him.”
“You met the Deliverer?” Dink asked. “I’ve heard stories about him, but most people where I’m from don’t hear a lot of the details. I heard he killed a Stühoc general.”
“With his own sword,” Coffman said. “I was there when he did it.”
“Wow,” was all Dink could mutter. He almost wished he had been there to see it. He had dreamed of being a great warrior, but his desire for a peaceful life with Emma now far outweighed that fantasy. “I’d like to meet the Deliverer someday,” Dink said.
“You’d be surprised by him,” Coffman said. “He’s just a kid, still a teenager. But he’s got a good heart, wants to do right. Somehow, I feel like if I can do well tomorrow, if I can make a difference and help kill Anithistor, I’d be helping him deliver Marenon.”
Dink nodded as he stared into the fire, feeling the warm air cover him. “I guess that means tomorrow is more important than just freeing a few thousand slaves, eh?”
“I think so,” Coffman said. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“More than the rest of us?” Dink asked.
“Not necessarily,” he answered. “While you’re out there trying to save your wife, while everyone else is out trying to free themselves, I’ve got to free my friends and try to destroy the Stühocs’ weapon.”
“How do you suppose you can do that?”
Coffman shook his head. “No idea. I don’t even know what it is. I know what it can do, and I know that when that weapon is used on all of the slaves here, Anithistor will be able to command an army bigger than all the Humans and Erellens combined.”
“I know a little about it,” Dink told him. “I’ve overheard some conversations, but that doesn’t mean it’s all true.”
“What have you heard?”
“I heard it’s a sphere made of Human souls.”
Coffman looked at him questioningly.
Dink held up a hand. “Now, that’s just what I’ve heard. I heard the Sphere sucks out the soul and captures it inside. Technically it kills the person, but their soul remains in Marenon, and somehow the ones who command the Sphere command the souls and the bodies of the dead. Sounds weird to me, but you’ve seen it, right?”
“Sounds about right,” Coffman said. “That just makes my job more important.”
“How’s that?”
“Destroying that Sphere might release the souls,” Coffman said. “Finally let them leave Marenon.” He shrugged. “That’s if what you say is true, anyway.”
“My priority is my wife tomorrow, but as soon as I get her to safety, I swear I’ll do everything I can to help you destroy that thing.”
Coffman reached out a big hand and patted Dink on the shoulder. “You do what you need to do tomorrow. Don’t worry about the Sphere unless you figure out a better way to destroy it than I do.”
That had been several hours before and now with the sun peeking over the horizon, the slaves were beginning to gather at the Pyramid to watch the Sphere in action. Many of them had no idea what was about to happen. Most didn’t know that they would be forced into fighting for their freedom. Most didn’t know that they would probably be dead by the end of the day. Their fate had been chosen by a select few, but that select few would have the support they needed. When that harpoon was fired into the heart of Anithistor, mayhem would ensue and the Nestorians and Stühocs would be overwhelmed. By the time they had a chance to regroup, the slaves would be retreating to their encampment where some others had been secretly making some small fortifications. There were tools, so some weapons were available, but nothing as sophisticated as swords and arrows.
Ellis had instructed that they set up a line of harpoons, ready to be shot as they made the retreat. There had been a lot done in the middle of the night, but Dink feared it wouldn’t be enough.
Dink had talked a few of the leaders into possibly trying to shift the battle toward one of the western gates of the city, so those captured on the wagons could be ushered out. When he had come up with that plan, he was thinking solely of his wife, and when it came down to it, he would leave the battle with her and never look back. He wasn’t there to free all the slaves. He was there to free only one. Coffman had told him that it wasn’t Dink’s priority to help destroy the Sphere. Dink wasn’t sure how much he could really help in destroying the weapon anyway.
He had left his Stühoc uniform behind, and washed the dried blood from his face and neck, thinking it would only make him a target of both sides. Now he was truly one of the slaves and he would have no chance of escape unless the uprising was successful. He, along with hundreds of others, made his way to the Pyramid. He could see a pedestal resting on a raised platform in the middle of the giant room. He knew this was the platform he had been told about. The stairs led up to the pedestal, void of any Sphere at the moment, but he knew that would change. To the right side stood a newly constructed viewing platform where Dink figured some more of the important people would be watching the demonstration.
Two large doors on the other side of the Pyramid opened wide, allowing the carriages full of the recently captured Humans roll through. As the caravan made its way into the structure, he tried to spot Emma’s carriage, but was unable to see it clearly from the long distance. With guards all around him, he wasn’t sure how he would make i
t across, but he had to find a way. The faces of the prisoners were clouded with confusion and worry. None of them knew what was going on, but all of them knew it couldn’t be good.
After the carriages, came Anithistor and Mintuk, surrounded by guards. Behind them were the three prisoners that Coffman was there to save. There was a man, a woman and an Erellen. Dink couldn’t imagine the fear gripping each of them in that moment. They didn’t know that a rescue attempt was planned. All they knew was that they were there to die and no one could stop it.
The three prisoners were ushered into the middle of the room, as nearly a thousand slaves were crammed against the side walls. Mintuk and a few guards marched to the top of the viewing platform while Anithistor moved toward the center where the pedestal stood. Two guards followed closely behind while several more guards prodded at the three prisoners to move forward.
This was it. Everything would start within a few moments. In his mind, Dink was frantic to make it to his wife, but he then thought about her being in the carriage. She might actually be safer in the carriage at the start of the battle, but he would need to get her out at some point. He walked inconspicuously behind the crowd of people toward the carriages on the other side of the giant chamber. It would take him several long minutes to get to where he needed to be. He knew he probably wouldn’t be able to get to her before the battle began, but he shuffled through the crowd anyway.
He was stopped in his tracks at the sound of Anithistor’s amplified voice.
“Welcome to today’s first demonstration.”
*****
Coffman’s head jolted upward at the platform when the voice spoke. It was time. A crowd of slaves surrounded both he and Darren. He looked back down at the ground as Darren set the harpoon in place.
The Marenon Chronicles Collection Page 52