“You know, she would be a good addition to the crew,” Alric said taking another gulp.
“That so? I’ve never really spoken with her.”
“She’s talented. Knows how to handle herself. Really dedicated to the Dunarians though.”
“So, what are we going to do about it?”
“You know as well as I do, we can’t go back in there,” Alric told him. “They’ve got our friends under lock and key, not to mention that we have no idea what they’ve done with Silas.”
“This is your second time to shoot down the idea, but I think it could be done.”
Alric snorted. “By you? You’d tremble too much when you got there. The Stühocs affect you deeply.”
Lorcan sighed, not happy with the comment, however true it was. “You’re keeping something from me. I’ve known you a long time, and rarely are you this contemplative.”
Alric stared at the ground, not wanting to get the Erellen involved. Lorcan would only try to stop him.
“I’m not hiding anything,” Alric said.
“You’re lying to me right now.”
Alric let out a deep breath. “What do you want, Lorcan?”
“What’s your plan? You always have one. What is it?”
Before Alric could come up with an answer, the green-jeweled wristband on the table began to glow. Both of them stared at the object with wide eyes.
“It could be them!” Lorcan reached out to grab it, but Alric snatched it quickly.
“It’s not them,” he said, standing against the wall behind him.
Lorcan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How do you know?”
“Lorcan, I came here to be alone! Just get out of here!”
“I have every right to be here as much as you! See who is trying to reach you!”
“Stop it!” Alric screamed as he slammed his fist against the wall. “I didn’t want to tell you, but you’re leaving me no choice.”
Lorcan was breathing hard, waiting for his friend to explain himself.
“I didn’t slip from the Stühocs in the last second,” Alric said, staring into the Erellen’s eyes. “They let me go.”
Lorcan didn’t move.
“Anithistor let me go, that is. He’s given me a few days to kill Kaden. If I do, he’ll release the others.”
At first, Lorcan said nothing, but then, “You believe him?”
“I don’t know,” Alric said. “Sort of. I don’t think he has any use for Nalani or Coffman. He wouldn’t lose anything by keeping his end of the bargain. But he has much to gain from Kaden’s death.”
“And you came here to think about it? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I knew you would try to talk me out of it. There is no other way.”
Lorcan didn’t argue either point.
Alric held up the wristband. “This is Anithistor. He probably wants to know if I’ve completed the task.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
“The truth,” Alric said. “He’ll know if I’m lying. He expects me to bring him proof of my work.”
Lorcan walked slowly toward the kitchen. “Talk to him,” he said. “I’ll be in here out of sight.”
Alric waited for Lorcan to be completely out of the room before he set the band on the table. He took a moment to catch his breath, wondering what Lorcan was thinking. His friend hadn’t given him much feedback. Maybe Lorcan was as torn as he.
He reached his hand out and touched the surface of the jewel. Anithistor’s head floated in a green light in front of Alric’s face. Alric knew he looked flustered, but there would be no hiding it.
“Have you finished the job?” Anithistor asked.
Alric shook his head. “I need some time to figure out how I’m going to do it.”
“You mean to say that you need time to formulate a new plan to get to your friends without killing Kaden,” Anithistor said coolly. “It shouldn’t take long to finish this. You will come here with Kaden’s head in a basket. I don’t care how you do it, just get it done. Don’t forget that your friends will suffer a very gruesome torture if you don’t accomplish your task.”
“It’s delicate,” Alric explained. “If you expect me to get his head to you, I have to be careful about it.”
“I don’t want to hear your explanation. I want to hear that Kaden is dead. Do this quickly.”
Before Alric could respond, the green light faded and he was alone. Lorcan slowly walked into the room when he felt it was safe. The two of them looked at each other wordlessly for a long moment.
“What are you going to do?” Lorcan finally asked.
Alric shook his head. “I don’t have any options. We’re not talking simple death here. Anithistor will actually torture them until they die. It would be the worst death imaginable.”
Lorcan didn’t dispute this as he sat back down at the table. Alric joined him and finished off the rest of the biting liquid that was in his cup.
“How do you want to do it?” Lorcan asked.
“What?”
“Kill Kaden. How do you want to do it?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Because I’m with you in this,” Lorcan said. “If you’re in this position then so am I. I don’t know a lot about Nalani, but Coffman has been one of us for years. I’m not going to let him go out that way.”
“You’re willing to murder a man in cold blood over it?”
“You are!” Lorcan shouted.
“I’m the one that was forced into the situation,” Alric said. He could feel his cheeks turning red with frustration. Why wouldn’t Lorcan just leave him alone? “You’re too close to Kaden anyway.”
Lorcan shook his head. “The man’s a wreck right now, Alric. Julian took everything away from him. The Dunarians lost most of their council; they’ve lost all of the medallions, and Silas has been captured. They’ve got nothing left. They have no hope.”
“You think we should kill him?”
“Of course I don’t want to,” Lorcan replied. “But if I had to choose between Coffman and Kaden, I’d choose my good friend every time. Unless some miracle happens, the Dunarians are finished with or without Kaden Osric.”
“I never thought you’d be with me in this,” Alric said.
“I never thought I would have to be.”
Alric nodded.
“I have seen the man’s passion,” Lorcan continued. “His hope for the Meshulan is real. His desire to see The Reckoning through is real. He is a man of honor, and I think if has to die, he will die with honor.”
“What do you propose?”
“First, we’ll take him outside of Jekyll Rock,” Lorcan said. “We’ll tell him that we need to show him something. When we’re far enough away we explain to him the situation, and you will challenge him to a duel.”
“Me?”
Lorcan held up his hands. “You’re the one that got into this.”
“And what if he beats me?” Alric asked. “You’ll let him go? You’ll have lost two friends then.”
Lorcan sighed. “Fine, he will have to fight both of us. It won’t be a fair fight, but he will still die with honor.”
Alric sat for a moment, thinking about how crazy all of this was. They were plotting a man’s death. It was something Alric never felt comfortable doing.
“Last time we planned a person’s death, you turned on me,” Alric said.
Lorcan shook his head. “That was different. Silas was bait in Timugo. First of all, we weren’t planning to kill him; we planned to let him die. Second, our friend’s lives weren’t at stake.”
“But they were!” Alric held up a finger. “When you tried to save Silas, you put all our lives in danger.” He let out a chuckle. “If you think about it, you’re the reason Silas stayed in our lives. Now we’re here. If you would’ve left him to be captured by the Anwyns like I planned from the beginning we wouldn’t be in this mess at all.”
“Yes, and maybe we would be safe now,” Lorcan came back, “bu
t what then? Eventually the Stühocs would take over and we’d all be in a mess anyway. It’s only a matter of time.”
“So you believe in Silas?” Alric asked. “Even though the Stühocs are winning the war in every aspect?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” Lorcan said. “All I know is you can’t put all this on me. I think he serves a purpose for the good of Marenon, and I would still save his life even if I knew it would lead to this moment. Do I think killing Kaden is right? Of course not. But neither is allowing our friends to be tortured to death.”
Lorcan had a point. There was no right and wrong in this situation. Only wrong. There was no good moral decision to be made. The two of them had an obligation to those that they cared about. Coffman was their friend. And Alric had grown to care for Nalani, even though he knew she would hate him if he came back with proof of Kaden’s death. But at least Alric would have saved her life.
Neither Alric nor Lorcan knew what would happen after Kaden’s death. Perhaps the Stühocs could still be defeated. Maybe someone better would rise and lead all the Humans to victory. But in his heart, Alric knew this would not be the case. All of Marenon was dying. What was one more life?
Chapter Four
Nalani and Coffman were tired of sitting in their separate barred cells for hours on end. They sat in the middle of a long line of cells in a dungeon below the Stühoc’s fortress in Mudavé. They barely remembered the trip from Voelif. They had been taken in a cage, covered so they could see nothing. It could have been days since Alric had left them for all they knew.
They were the only ones in the entire dungeon, and they could see through their bars clear to either wall at the end of the long hallway. Their words echoed when they spoke to each other.
They had talked at length about what was going to happen to them. Coffman was confident that Alric would think of some way to get them out of their predicament, but could offer up no idea about what Alric might try.
“You don’t think he would actually kill Kaden do you?” she asked.
Coffman just shrugged. “Hard to tell. Alric isn’t always the most predictable person. But he’ll think of something.”
When Coffman finished speaking, the screaming started. It wasn’t a sound of anger, but of desperation. It chilled Nalani to the bone as she wondered who it could be. She hoped she and Coffman would not soon be in the same situation.
“Do you think it’s another prisoner?” Coffman asked.
Nalani couldn’t give an answer. The screams were so genuine. They tried to decipher what words were spoken, but all they could understand was ‘…out of my head. Stay away.’
“Someone’s going crazy,” Coffman said. “Been here too long, I guess.”
“I feel bad for whoever it is.”
“Hey, we’re in this too,” Coffman answered. “That might be us in a couple of days.”
The doors at the end of the dungeon sprung open and a group of guards came marching toward them. Nalani stiffened at the sight, preparing herself mentally for what they were about to face.
“That might be us now,” Coffman said.
In the middle of the big group of guards, a short, hooded figure stretched out a hand, pointing at Nalani. Fear gripped her when a guard pulled out a key to unlock the cell door. She gripped the chains near her wrist instinctively. They wouldn’t move into Coffman’s cage so willingly, she was sure. Coffman was a beast of a man and probably twice as big as the hooded Stühoc. The small Stühoc walked into her cell. He made no hostile action toward her, but simply walked until his frail, gray hands touched the side of her head.
At first she didn’t know what she was feeling. Her vision went white for a moment, and her head felt like it might explode. It felt as if her mind was being assaulted. Faintly, distantly, she could hear a voice calling out, but she knew it wasn’t physical. She could discern no words, but she could feel the beckoning call. This creature was trying to break in.
It became so unbearable that she couldn’t help herself when she wrapped her chains around the Stühoc’s wrists and jerked downward. Instantly her mind felt free. She kicked the Stühoc in the gut, doubling him over, and then she wrapped her chains around his neck.
“Back away!” she screamed at the guards who stood ready with jagged swords drawn. “I’ll break his neck if you don’t back away!”
The hooded Stühoc held up a hand as if to tell the others not to attack. He knew Nalani wanted blood. The guards started to back away, but it did not seem it was because of Nalani’s suggestion. They looked from her eyes to the cloaked face, back and forth. It was as if they were taking silent orders from him. She pulled tighter on the chain and motioned her head toward Coffman.
“Let him out.”
The guard looked at the hooded figure as if to ask if this was all right. In a moment, Coffman was free from the cage.
The man became an animal. Without a second thought he bowled over the guards, knocking them to the ground and stomped the life out of one or two of them. He reached down and grabbed a sword and the keys from a fallen guard. He used it to undo his chains.
Nalani threw the hooded Stühoc to the ground when Coffman came near. He loosed her from her bonds and handed her a sword.
“What was he doing to you?” Coffman asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “It felt like he was trying to read my thoughts.” She pointed her sword at the mind reader who held up a hand to stay her deathblow.
“Where do you keep the orange medallion?”
The Stühoc wouldn’t speak. Perhaps he couldn’t.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Coffman said.
Nalani moved slowly around the creature on the floor, then gave him a sharp kick to the side of the head, knocking him out cold.
“We aren’t leaving without the medallion,” she said.
“It could be anywhere, Nalani!”
She charged out of the dungeon, being mindful of the guards that could be coming back. With all the loud fighting, it was a wonder the entire fortress hadn’t come to stop them.
They made their way up a flight of stairs and into a dark hallway, unsure of where to turn.
“Is someone out there?” Came a muffled cry behind them.
Nalani and Coffman turned sharply, but didn’t see anyone behind them. They saw a door at the end of the hallway.
“Was that where the screaming had come from earlier?” Nalani asked.
Coffman gave Nalani a warning look. “Do you really think it’s such a good idea? We don’t have time to save other people.”
“Maybe he’ll know something,” she answered.
Coffman tried to protest again, but Nalani had already started walking toward the door. She pulled out the keys they had stolen off the guard and tried several until one of them finally turned. She looked back at Coffman who held on to his sword tightly. She pushed the door and let it swing open, as she too readied herself for any possible confrontation. But she found no fight.
She found Silas Ainsley.
*****
Silas was stunned to see Nalani and Coffman. They were the last people he would have thought to try and rescue him.
“How did you get in here?”
“We were captured,” Nalani answered. “We just escaped and heard screaming.” She went through the keys and finally unlocked the manacles on Silas. He rubbed his wrists, excited to know he still had a chance.
“We’ve got to get the medallion,” he said.
“There’s no way to know where that is,” Coffman said. “I say we just try to get out of here with our lives and worry about the medallion later.”
“No,” Silas said. “Hroth told me something about the medallion being in his personal tower.”
“Hroth?” Nalani asked.
Silas moved out of his cell and walked briskly down the hallway with the other two following.
“Weird Stühoc,” he said. “Reads minds. I think he’s the Possessor.”
“Yeah, I t
hink we just ran into him a few minutes ago,” Nalani said.
Silas moved fast until he came to a small window in the wall above his head. Out of it he could see most of the layout of the fortress, all the way to the plateau where he had fought side-by-side with his friends three months before.
“We’re west of the main part of the fortress,” Silas declared. “If I’m right, we’re on the side nearest the field of cages where they keep the slaves.” He turned to Coffman and Nalani. “Do you have sarians?”
“Only one,” Nalani said. “But it’s chained outside.”
“I think we should split up,” Silas said. “You two need to get it and fly it to the top of this building.”
“And what are you planning to do?” Coffman asked.
“I plan to get the medallion,” he answered. “I don’t know if it’s up here, but I have a strong feeling that Hroth stays near his prisoners. If he has a personal tower, then I’m going up until I find it.”
“Wait, wait,” Nalani said. “We just found you. I can’t let you get caught again.”
“We’re running out of time! Just do it, and I’ll meet you at the top.”
Nalani sighed then nodded.
Silas reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. “Thanks for getting me out of there. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Coffman and Nalani turned to leave, and Silas took a deep breath. He was probably being stupid. There was no way to know whether Hroth’s tower was in this part of the fortress, but his gut told him it was the most likely option.
Weaponless, he moved to a flight of stairs, thankful there were no guards to meet him. He had been able to finally produce the magic green shield that saved his life from the assassin, Saul, but he was still weak, and very new to magic. He felt confident that in a tight situation he would be able to knock out some guards and then get his hands on a sword. That’s what he was best at. No guard would be a match for his sword.
That’s right, Silas. You are very skilled.
Silas covered his ears, though he knew it wouldn’t shut out the voice. Hroth must be near him. He pulled himself back up and began to sprint up the stairs, ignoring his need for a breath.
Keep running, you won’t escape me.
The Marenon Chronicles Collection Page 60