The Marenon Chronicles Collection

by Jason D. Morrow

  Inga had gone quiet for the past several hours. Silas knew it was nerves. Perhaps she was afraid to meet her old master face to face with so many unanswered questions. Maybe she was afraid this would be another dead end. Their direction had been so fleeting since the beginning. Everywhere they turned, they had run into some sort of problem, some sort of obstacle to overcome. Silas just wished that they could find the Gatekeeper and finally discover what they were to do next.

  The afternoon sun was blocked by the gray, overcast sky, and the wind blowing through the valley felt damp and cold. Even in the summer months, the northern most part of Marenon could produce a biting chill. With one hand Silas used the staff of Uriah as a walking stick, and with the other he wrapped his dark cloak around him tightly. Inga also hugged her clothes around her, trying to keep warm. They would have been there much faster if they had stayed on the sarians, but Inga had wanted to walk. Silas assumed she just wasn’t ready to get there yet. Since the valley was empty of anything except grass, they quickly spotted the shack that lay far across the basin.

  It was late in the afternoon by the time they made it to the hovel. From the outside it seemed abandoned, but Inga assured him that Silandrin was there. He had to be. Why else would her feelings be so strong? No smoke, no lights. The shack looked as cold as the outside air, but they knew what they had to do. They knew that it was time to face whoever was waiting for them on the inside.

  Silas place a hand on Inga’s shoulder. “Do you want to wait out here for now?” he asked her.

  She shook her head sharply. “No. If it is Silandrin, I know he’ll have a good reason for what he did. He has to.” She placed a trembling hand on Silas’ and squeezed. “Let’s go.”

  That was all the command he needed. He was now faced with the truth that he too was scared to face what might be on the other side of that door. He could very well be learning things that he did not wish to know. He might be told that what lay before him was a path that would ultimately lead to his destruction. He had never imagined until this moment that being the Meshulan would mean that he might have to sacrifice himself. The thought made his legs freeze in place.

  He sighed and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the growing pit inside his chest. One step at a time, they moved to the door. Silas took one last look at Inga, then raised his fist and knocked.

  Before he had a chance to knock again, the door opened slowly and a pale, white-bearded face peered out to them.

  Inga wasn’t able to suppress her shock, letting out a gasp, followed by a severe clap to her mouth to keep it shut. No matter how much she had prepared herself mentally for the sight of her former master, his appearance sent tears to her eyes.

  “Inga,” the words escaped from Silandrin’s lips, barely a whisper. “Inga, what are you doing here?” He looked from her to Silas. “Oh my.”

  Neither Inga, nor Silas said anything as they stared at Silandrin. They both felt stunned, not knowing what should be said. Silas decided to get to the real reason they were there in the first place.

  “We’re searching for the Gatekeeper,” he said confidently.

  The old man’s bushy eyebrows lowered as he looked at Silas. He swallowed hard and opened the door wider as an invitation for the two of them to enter.

  “I am he.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Silas and Inga walked into the dusty old shack, feeling completely out of place, but their minds were reeling too much to really give it more thought.

  So, Silandrin is the Gatekeeper! Silas thought to himself. Though he had suspected this was the case, it still came as a shock. He wondered what Inga was thinking in that moment.

  “Would you like some tea?” Silandrin asked them.

  They stood next to the kitchen table, not knowing what to say. Had the Gatekeeper just offered them tea? Silas didn’t know what he was expecting to see when he met the Gatekeeper, but he definitely had not been anticipating a normal-looking old man. Perhaps he had built him up in his mind to be this all-powerful being, glowing with an aura of magic all around him.

  “No, thank you,” Silas finally answered.

  “Please have a seat,” Silandrin motioned to two chairs on one side of the table.

  Silas slid out a chair for Inga, and sat in the one next to her, facing Silandrin. The old man pulled out cups and a kettle even though Silas had refused his offer. Without a word, he placed a hand over the fireplace and it immediately erupted in small flames. He hung the water-filled kettle over the fire, and with his shaking hands placed three cups on the table in front of him.

  “You’re the Gatekeeper?” Silas asked, trying not to draw attention to the old man’s nervous trembling.

  “I am,” he said. His eyes shifted to Inga who seemed to be somewhere else in her mind. “I know I’ve got some explaining to do.” He turned away abruptly, and stood near the fire to warm his hands, avoiding Inga’s hurtful stare.

  “You said you would come back,” she said, looking back down at her teacup. “You promised me you’d come back.”

  Silandrin sighed heavily, rubbed his eyes with his palms and turned toward them. “I used to be a man of premonition,” he said. “But I did not think that you would be coming here today. I wish there were words to describe how truly sorry I am for any pain that I caused you, Inga.”

  “When you left me, you said you had to do something that would change the tides of Marenon’s future,” she said. “What was it?”

  He took a deep breath. “I was preparing the way for Silas,” he answered. “I could feel the Stühoc’s power growing stronger. I knew that the time for Silas’ coming was soon. Before I left you, I had found out information on the whereabouts of a Stühoc I had been searching for.”

  “A Stühoc?” Inga asked.

  “Not just any Stühoc,” Silandrin said. “Anithistor. In the past, he had remained completely elusive, even making some question his existence. I knew better though, because I had captured him years before. Somehow, he had been able to hide his location from me since those days, but he had finally shown himself, and I had to confront him.”

  “You fought him?” Silas asked.

  “I tried to, but he evaded me,” Silandrin answered. “He is a Stühoc of a great power, but he remained in the shadows for so long because he knew I was too powerful for him. I would have destroyed him. Since my power has been failing me rapidly, he has come out of the shadows, bolder than he has ever been. Especially since his servant Maroke was killed. You left Anithistor without someone to visibly lead the Stühocs when you killed Maroke three months ago, Silas. You have drawn out the beast.”

  Silas didn’t necessarily think this was a good thing.

  The hot kettle began to whistle, and Silandrin picked it up from the fire. After placing small pouches of tea leaves in their cups, he brought the boiling water in front of the two and poured. The tea smelled wonderful to Silas, and in that moment he truly realized how much he needed the warmth.

  “I failed in my mission to confront Anithistor,” Silandrin continued as he turned to Inga and sat down at the table in front of them. “The mission had taken me too long, and you had left by the time I returned to Clover Mountain. By then I could feel my power failing me. I knew the time was near, that the second war was coming. I wasn’t able to look for you and save my strength for meeting Silas. I left trails of my whereabouts with the hope that you would sense my presence and come to find me.” He cleared his throat. “And here we are.” He reached out a hand to Inga’s. “I wish you could forgive me. I didn’t mean to abandon you. You were everything to me. Seeing you now brings me more joy than I know how to express.”

  “You never told me you were the Gatekeeper,” Inga said. “You said you were a Sorcerer.”

  “And I am, in a sense,” Silandrin answered. “When I found you as small child, I instantly saw the promise you had. My only regret was leaving you.”

  Inga looked up from her tea at this.

  “The truth about Silas
always remained in the back of my mind. Regardless, I continued to train you. I never knew you would become part of this war, but I am sure that you have been and will continue to be a very valuable asset to the cause.”

  Silas took a sip of tea, wondering what Inga was thinking.

  “I kept training you because I loved you like a daughter, Inga. I wanted you to live a good life here in Marenon. I brought you up the best I knew how.”

  Silas looked at Inga, noticing a tear rolling down the side of her cheek. Perhaps she had hoped for a better explanation, or one that seemed more justifiable. He didn’t know what she was feeling at the moment. He wished he could reach out to her and say something that would make her happy, but there was nothing to be said.

  “I have been expecting you to come for some time,” Silandrin said, looking at Silas. “It’s time that I told you both the truth regarding me.”

  The Gatekeeper took a deep breath and closed his eyes as if to gather his thoughts together.

  “I’ve not always been the Gatekeeper,” he said. “I’ve been around for several thousand years, before there were gates, Stühocs, and especially before there were Humans. In fact, I am the reason every Human is here.”

  Silas and Inga looked at each other in surprise at the revelation. What did he mean?

  “In the early years of Marenon, there were only the Anwyn people and the Erellens. This was before the gates, so I was not known as the Gatekeeper back then. Back then I was known as the Watchman. It was my duty to protect the people of Marenon and to promote harmony between the two groups. The reason the Erellens and Anwyns didn’t destroy each other was because they would often seek my advice.”

  “But you’re Human,” Silas said. “How is that possible?”

  Silandrin shook his head. “I am not Human. I have taken on the appearance of a Human, but I am a Watchman, appointed by a higher being who assigned me to Marenon. Over the years, I have taken on different forms, but this has been my appearance for a very long time, since not long after the first gate appeared.”

  “Which one?” Silas asked.

  “The Red Gate in Mudavé,” Silandrin answered, reaching for his cup. “Mudavé used to be a green, thriving land, teeming with life. Then the Stühocs came. When they arrived, I was curious about their origins. They forced the Anwyns out of Mudavé, killing them and driving them underground.

  “I became worried about the arrival of these new creatures. I tried to figure out who or what they were. I had confronted their leader, Anithistor. We fought but he was no match for my power. Before he was able to escape me, I questioned him and I was able to find out that he was from a different world. The Stühocs had been through several worlds, taking them over, using up their resources then moving to new lands to continue their destructive acts. I stole the red medallion from Anithistor after realizing that it had been the source of the Red Gate’s power.

  “Many of the Anwyns had already been destroyed by this point. Their concern was surviving in their new territory. The Erellens had more to fear. The Stühocs were pushing westward and now posed a threat to them. Their leader came to me, begging me to help his people. I told them of what the Stühocs had done to other worlds, and they did not want it to happen to them. That’s when I decided to create a gate for the Erellens.”

  “You made the gates?” Silas asked.

  “Two of them,” Silandrin answered. “As the Erellens waged war against the Stühocs, I studied the medallion I had stolen. I was able to replicate it, producing the green medallion. With it I created the Green Gate in Elysium. The gate was never to be used unless as a last resort. To my knowledge, it still has not been used.”

  Silas wondered what sort of desperation people would have to feel in order to leave their own world.

  “The Stühocs remained in Marenon, continuing to fight the Erellens without regard to the land,” Silandrin continued. “They were parasites. I knew the Erellens would need more than what they had to defeat the Stühocs. There were so many Stühocs that the Erellens would lose in the end. Unlike Humans, Stühocs can reproduce in Marenon, and the Erellens were running out of time. That’s why I created the Blue Gate. To find a way into another world and recruit new soldiers to the cause.”

  Silas shook his head. “How did you know it would lead you to Earth? How did you know it would help anything?”

  “I didn’t,” Silandrin said. “That was the danger of the gates. That’s why the Erellens were never to use theirs unless it was their last hope. When the Stühocs came to Marenon by creating the Red Gate from a different world, they didn’t know they would be coming here. They had reached a point in their previous home where they could no longer sustain life for themselves. They needed knew breeding grounds.”

  "How do the gates work?" Silas asked.

  Silandrin sighed, thinking to himself before answering. "The gates are complicated," he said. "They are as complicated as the magic that went into making them. I created the Blue Gate on the mountain near Canor. It ended up opening on a mountain on the world you know as Earth. I didn’t know at the time where it would take me. I just knew I had to find a way to bring others to Marenon.

  "When I first passed through the Blue Gate here in Marenon, I found that the gate closed behind me. It was as if the permanent gate in Marenon could only create a temporary gate on Earth. I discovered that once I left Marenon through the Blue Gate, I could not get back the same way I had come. It was a good thing that I took the medallion with me when I passed through, because I might still be stuck on Earth if I hadn't. On Earth I had to create another gate that could lead me back to Marenon. This is the one you and Kaden tried to get to before Maroke overtook you."

  Silas remembered the event all too well. They hadn’t made it through the gate before Kaden had been forced to kill Silas.

  "Just like the physical gate in Marenon, I discovered that the new gate I created on Earth, always opened at a specific spot on Blue Gate Mountain in Marenon. That's why Kaden killed you, because he knew you would go a different way where Maroke couldn't get to you.”

  Silandrin recognized the confused look on Silas’ face. “I know this is hard to understand. Let me sum it up: There is a Blue Gate in Marenon that leads to Earth, and there is a Blue Gate on Earth that leads to Marenon. However, they are both considered to be one Blue Gate even though they aren’t connected directly.”

  "But, I didn't go through the Blue Gate?" Silas asked, confused.

  “No,” Silandrin said. “You came through a very different passageway. When you died, your spirit was carried to the Hall of Wandering Souls. I created it as a way to bring some Humans to Marenon when they died. Your body on Earth vanishes after a few hours and reunites with your spirit. It is like a new body, carrying no markings of your former life. Although it feels like no time at all, it takes several hours from the time of your death on Earth until you wake in the Hall of Wandering Souls. It was meant to be a place of peace and welcoming for Humans until Judoc and his minions took it over, somehow. Their commitment to Anithistor has a mysterious history that I haven't quite figured out, myself, but I know they came during the war, about the time you were born.”

  “What about Humans?” Silas asked. “Why can they not reproduce, but the Stühocs can?”

  “Because the Stühocs came here by their own choice,” Silandrin said. “The Humans did not.”

  Silas raised an eyebrow at this. His heart began to beat harder in anticipation of what he was about to hear. One of his grandfather’s goals in his life in Marenon was to find out why Humans were there at all, and the Gatekeeper was about to tell him.

  Silandrin looked down at his hands in shame. “You and all the other Humans are here because of my curiosity,” he said. “Part of me wishes I had never made the Blue Gate. When I made it, I had no idea I would be stepping into your world on Earth. When I got there, I lived among your people, and studied them. I knew that the Humans could help Marenon, but I could find few that were willing to come back with
me. Most in your world thought of me as a lunatic. That’s when I made the treacherous mistake.” He sighed, and then continued. “I sent out my servants, or phantoms if you will. In your world they are invisible, but I sent them with the task to gather in all those who could help Marenon. They were directed to do this until they judged their work to be finished. The purpose was to mark these people so that when they died on Earth, they could live again in Marenon. But the touch had an unintended effect. When the phantoms chose people, they were giving them a mark of death. Every person that was touched soon died before his or her appointed time. Humans began coming in by the hundreds, and through the years became a large part of Marenon’s population, though they could never reproduce. My phantoms also didn’t always select good people. Some were vile criminals, who only thought of themselves. It was a terrible mistake that I could not undo. I have been responsible for placing the mark of death on so many people from your world. It was never meant to happen that way.”

  Silas sat silently. He couldn’t believe that all of the Humans were there by an accident. The Gatekeeper had been thoughtless and played with the lives of people who needed to be left alone.

  Silandrin turned a tearful eye toward Inga. “Because of me, you died so young. If it were not for my actions, you would have lived. You might still be alive with your family.”

  Inga bent her head low, not knowing what to say. What was there to say? He had killed her and abandoned her. The wrongs he had committed against her were nearly unforgivable.

  “Why didn’t you stop your phantoms?” Silas said. “Why didn’t you just call them back?”

  “I couldn’t,” Silandrin answered. “Once given a task, the phantoms work until that task is complete. I sent them with the purpose of gathering those that could help Marenon, and they continued to gather people by the hundreds, for thousands of years. That is, until Kaden killed you. You were the last person to step out of the Hall of Wandering Souls.”