The Marenon Chronicles Collection

by Jason D. Morrow

  When he was out of earshot, Kaden spoke next.

  “You know he won’t go to Anithistor.”

  “I don’t expect him to,” Silas said. “Would you?”

  “No. I would run as far away from Mudavé as possible.”

  Silas turned his head to the two. “Are you both all right?”

  They both nodded fervently.

  “You seem to know how to handle yourself well,” Inga said. “I’m not sure why Silandrin thought you would need me.”

  Silas didn’t know either, but he was glad to have the two of them there. If anything, maybe Silandrin knew it would not be good for Silas to be alone on this journey.

  Silas turned back to the blank wall and reached into his pocket. Without looking, he knew he had grabbed the blue medallion. He stepped forward to the blank wall and looked at the bottom near the ground where he found a small slot for the medallion.

  He took one last look at Kaden and Inga then bent down to insert the medallion. Immediately, streaks of blue light slithered across the bare rock and began to spiral toward the center until almost the entire wall was pulsating with the blue light. Eventually, they could each see to the other side. The other world. Earth. If they wanted, all they had to do was step through and they would be back where they had started their lives. The blue light began to fade until it was only a small outline of the clear passage in front of them.

  Silas knew the entrance to Earth led somewhere on that mountain in Colorado where he and his grandfather had died months before. He couldn’t help but shake the realization that this had been the same gate Maroke had used to come after them. This had been the same gate Marcus and Theron had used before Silandrin had closed it completely.

  For a brief moment, Silas thought he could step through it. If he wanted, he could go back to Earth and forget about all of this. The problems of Marenon would be forgotten. At least, for a time. But he knew that someday the Blue Gate could be used again.

  Besides, there was no life for him there. His grandfather had made sure of that. His friends had been few in number because Silas and Garland had always been on the move. Silas had recently learned that this was because Garland had been evading the Sleepers – Marcus and Theron.

  “If you want to go back to Earth, now is your chance,” Silas told Kaden and Inga.

  “How do you destroy it?” Inga asked, ignoring the suggestion.

  That was a good question. Silas had no idea. Here he was, staring at his home planet for the last time, but the power he needed to destroy the connection eluded him. Were there words to say? A spell to cast?

  He first tried to use fire against it, but nothing happened. It remained a simple walk-through to another world.

  Silas searched deep within his mind. Somewhere there was an answer to the gate’s destruction.

  He threw his staff to the ground.

  “I don’t know!”

  Inga walked up next to him and stared deep into his eyes.

  “Silas, you’ve got to clear your mind of any distractions. You possess the power to destroy it. You’ve got to find that power.”

  He knew she was right, but it didn’t explain how he should find it. He closed his eyes and tried to search his thoughts. He was distracted. So many new options of magic flew through his brain, but he needed something specific. Silandrin had said Silas would have the power to do it, but where was this power?

  “Clear your mind,” he heard Inga say, though her voice felt distant.

  He breathed slowly, trying to calm his thoughts, to purge his mind of everything. After a moment, his thoughts cleared. That’s when the words formed in his mind.

  He had never heard the language before. It wasn’t of his own tongue, and it wasn’t Erellen, but something else. A certain phrase passed through his mind several times before he decided to speak it.

  “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan…”

  The ground beneath them began to tremble.

  “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan,” he repeated louder.

  The shaking became so severe, that the others fell to the ground, but Silas stood firm. He opened his eyes to witness what was happening before him. The blue light had begun to swirl again, and the view of the other side into Earth started to disappear. The words remained fresh in his mind.

  He could see the medallion’s sapphire jewel pulsating the light brighter than he had ever seen it before.

  A third time.

  “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan!” he yelled.

  The blue light vanished. The medallion exploded into pieces as the rock wall crumbled to the ground into a dusty heap.

  Everything went black as Silas lost all consciousness.

  *****

  When he started to feel himself walking, he knew he was dreaming. The red dirt path before him stretched long, but he knew his destination. He was walking toward the Red Gate.

  “Silas!” a voice called out to him. “Silas!”

  He looked in every direction, but could not find the source of the voice.

  “Over here!”

  Silas looked up in time to see a cloaked figure jumping from a tall boulder to the ground in front of him.

  “I see that you know the words of the medallion’s destruction,” the man said.

  “What?” Silas asked.

  “The words,” the man repeated. “I don’t know them myself. They are from an ancient tongue of the Stühocs. Powerful words. Anithistor used them to create the red medallion and Silandrin used them to create all the others. The fact that the words came to you only proves who you are.”

  Silas said nothing, wondering who this man was and how he knew this information.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” the man said.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m alive,” Will said with a smile, though he didn’t seem overly happy. Silas thought that is expression seemed forced.

  “But who are you?” Silas asked him.

  “I’m Will,” the man said. “Will Ainsley.”

  Silas’ eyebrows wrinkled. “But you’re dead.”

  “That’s what most people think,” he said. “I was never killed, Silas. I ran off into battle and no one ever saw me again. They never found a body because I had been captured.”

  “This is a dream,” Silas said. “You aren’t real. I don’t even know what my father looks like.”

  “Dreams for the powerful are never just dreams, Silas. “After years of trying, I’ve finally escaped the Stühocs, but I’m still in Mudavé.”

  “Why are you still in Mudavé?”

  “I fear my recapture. There are more enemies patrolling the borders of Mudavé than ever before. You must have started something. I’m hiding in the Reemlock Mountains.”

  Silas knew this couldn’t be real. How could no one have known that his father had been captured?

  “Why haven’t the Stühocs turned you?”

  “They tried but it was too difficult. They’ve kept me around to use against you. A ransom perhaps. I just wanted you to know that you will not be alone here. I will be waiting to help you. We can finish this together.”

  “How are you talking to me through a dream?”

  “Magic,” Will said with a smile.

  Silas shook his head. This can’t be real.

  “It’s so good to see you, Silas. I wish your mother could have seen you now.”

  The mixed emotions that racked Silas’ heart were unnerving. Part of him wanted to talk with his ‘father’ forever, but part of him wasn’t sure he would even remember this when he woke. Were these just built up emotions trying to compensate for the feelings of abandonment? Did he even feel abandonment?

  “It’s time for you to wake up, Silas. You have more work to do. I will see you again soon.”

  The image before him began to disappear like a fog in the early morning.

  “Wait!” Silas yelled, but it was too late.

  He woke with a start as sweat spilled down his face.
He was in a bed. His bed. He looked out his window and could see the remains of Jekyll Rock in the city below. He turned sharply when someone knocked on the door and opened it slowly. It was Kaden.

  “You’re awake.”

  Silas was having trouble controlling his breathing.

  “You’ve been asleep for two days.”

  Silas couldn’t believe it. “Two days?”

  Kaden nodded. “We were getting worried about you. When you destroyed the Blue Gate, you just fell to the ground; we didn’t know what to do.”

  Silas turned his gaze back to the window. He hadn’t forgotten his dream as he had predicted. He didn’t know whether it was real, but his heart told him that his father was waiting for him in Mudavé. His father, or someone else.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It had taken a day and a half for the five riders to fly to the outskirts of Mudavé. Early on, Julian had spotted several patrols, much further out than they had expected. This forced them to land, and it took them the rest of the second day to find a spot where they could safely observe the Stühoc city.

  The setting sun provided enough light for Julian to see through a small retractable scope. One thing was for sure: the Stühocs were not secretive about their intentions.

  “What do you see?” Alric asked as he squatted beside the king.

  “An army greater in number than the one that attacked Jekyll Rock.” He handed the scope to Alric. “If you focus on the western side of the city, you’ll see the Pyramid. Looks like they’ve been using the Sphere a lot.”

  The camps of the mindless slaves stretched far and wide. The number of soldiers was so large that most couldn’t even fit within the confines of the city walls. The slaves had been pushed out, and most of the Nestorians had camped along the outer edge of the walls. The Stühocs, however, resided safely inside the city.

  The large Pyramid stood tall near the main fortress, and would no doubt be used against enemy combatants in battle. Alric and Coffman had told Julian about how Anithistor had commanded the Sphere at the top of the Pyramid without the power of the medallion.

  “So, in order for the Sphere to work, Anithistor will have to control it?” Julian asked.

  Alric shrugged and shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you. For all we know, he could have just used the medallion to get the weapon up and running. It may not require any kind of power source now.”

  Julian nodded, knowing Alric could be right.

  They sat watching the city, and devised the best ways to attack such a large force while avoiding the Sphere’s deadly beams. The tides could easily change with such a weapon, even when the sides were initially equally matched.

  “Numbers could be a problem,” a shaky Lorcan said. “When our armies meet, we have no idea how many we’ll have against the Stühocs and their allies. I don’t know if King Jiaros will join us.”

  As the night fell and the stars shined, they made a fireless camp in a rocky alcove safely out of sight. The others assured Lorcan that a patrol would have to walk within ten feet of their camp in order to spot them.

  The sarians rested their large heads on the ground while their riders found a spot against the rock to sit and rest. The five of them sat in a rough circle. Nalani sat across from Julian between Coffman and Alric.

  “Lorcan, I brought something to calm your nerves,” Alric said as he reached into a sarian saddle. He pulled out a large animal skin filled with some liquid. “Viper’s mead!” he exclaimed with a laugh. He tossed it to Lorcan and the Erellen immediately unscrewed the cap and started to drink the strong liquid.

  He winced when he swallowed and passed it on to Julian who protested at first. If a Stühoc patrol were to come by, it would do none of them any good to be drunk.

  The mercenaries waved him off.

  “I fight better when I’m drunk!” Coffman nearly yelled.

  Despite his initial feelings, Julian shrugged and gulped a large quantity for himself. He passed it on to Alric who then gave it to Nalani, and before the hour had finished, none of them could even see straight. Alric had them all laughing with stories of some of the mercenaries’ more crazy operations, and even had Lorcan holding his belly.

  Julian knew they were being too loud, but for some reason he felt no concern.

  After another long, drawn-out story, the laughter died down. Alric looked at Julian with a solemn face then huffed. “King Julian Hobbes…What’s your story anyway? How’d you die?”

  The others looked at Alric in surprise, but none of them objected to his question. Generally, such an inquiry would be considered bad form to most Humans in Marenon, but now it didn’t seem to matter.

  Julian took another long draw from the animal skin and winced hard. The alcohol burned his throat, but it felt good.

  “My brother murdered me.”

  The only one who wasn’t shocked was Nalani who had heard the story before.

  “We got new ice skates and he knew the ice on the pond wasn’t ready. I fell through and Morgan was content to leave me there. When my father saw what was happening, Morgan acted like he was helping me. Before the end, we were all drowning together.”

  Each of them watched Julian intently.

  “I guess when someone is chosen for Marenon, it doesn’t matter how good of a swimmer you are,” Julian said.

  The group was silent for a long time until Julian spoke out to Alric.

  “How about you? How did you die?

  Alric grunted then smiled. “Buried alive.”

  Julian raised an eyebrow at this, expecting more, but Alric didn’t continue. The man just looked down at the ground and shook his head. Of course, Julian wasn’t going to ask for more. The obviously painful subject was easier for some to talk about than others.

  “Plane crash,” Coffman said, answering a question that hadn’t been asked of him. “We all knew it was going down, and when the plane was low enough, people started taking parachutes. When it came to be my turn to strap one on, there were no more. I was the last one.”

  “Why didn’t you try to jump with someone?” Nalani asked.

  Coffman let out a deep laugh as Lorcan and Alric joined in. “Have you seen me lately? A parachute would hardly be able to hold me, much less with another person.”

  Nalani smiled at this.

  “What about you?” Alric asked Nalani.

  She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Thankfully, I can’t remember.”

  “Thankfully?” Lorcan asked.

  “Well yeah. I can’t imagine the fear that went through your minds just before you died. Though I’m sure the same fear gripped me, I don’t remember it.”

  “So, you remember nothing about your life on Earth?” Coffman asked next.

  “No, nothing. I woke up in Marenon as child. People talk of life on Earth, but Marenon has been the only home I have ever known. It’s normal to me.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here,” Alric said as he placed a warm hand on Nalani’s.

  Julian saw her grab it in acceptance, and rub his thumb affectionately. A mixture of anger, confusion, and jealousy rushed through him, and he was glad it was dark because he could feel his cheeks burn red. It could have been the alcohol, but Julian knew it wasn’t.

  “I find it all baffling, to be honest with you,” Lorcan said. “The gates, Gatekeepers, Silas.” He shook his head. “From what Silas has said, it seems like the Gatekeeper knows a lot more about this world than even the Erellens do.”

  “You ever wonder what’s on the other side of the Green Gate?” Coffman asked. “What world could be waiting for you just to slip into unnoticed?”

  Lorcan shrugged. “I hope I never have to see. If I do, that means the Stühocs have taken over.”

  “What if it was an absolute paradise, and no one has ever been bold enough to try?” Nalani said.

  “Yeah, but what if it’s a lifeless void?” Alric countered. “What if you go there and your body isn’t able to survive the atmosphere?�
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  “Maybe that’s where you should go,” Julian said without thinking.

  The smiles on the other’s faces disappeared one by one. Alric looked at Julian. “Excuse me, what?”

  He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Nothing,” he said as he stood and climbed onto the rock above them. “I’ll take first watch. We’ll take off before sunrise. Stühocs won’t be looking for anything then.”

  The others complied, and tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible. With the alcohol in their blood, they were soon fast asleep.

  After an hour or so, Julian felt sober, though he probably wasn’t. Sleep couldn’t take him even if he wasn’t on watch. He had too much on his mind. He couldn’t shake the thought of Nalani and Alric together. He didn’t know where that mutual affection had come from. Maybe something had happened in Voelif.

  Whatever the case, he didn’t understand it. What did Alric have that Julian didn’t? What could the man offer her that Julian hadn’t already given her?

  He didn’t wake anyone for the next watch, but instead sat through the night. From here they would fly out to the edge of the Midland Pass, north of Timugo. There they would wait for several days for Julian to assemble his army. The hope was that the Erellens would also join them there.

  Then they would wage the largest, most deadly battle ever seen in Marenon. They might all die. There was a chance that this would not succeed, but then again, this was the only chance they had.

  If they didn’t win, all of Marenon would eventually come to be like the abhorrent city of Mudavé and then the Stühocs would have to find another world to destroy.

  But Julian knew what he had to do. He knew he wouldn’t fight alongside his soldiers whenever the battle took place. He would be fighting a different kind of battle.

  Anithistor and his Sleepers were planning something against Silas. But Julian knew about Hroth. Spencer had told Julian all he needed to know. The Possessor had done well in stealing the mind of seven individuals and letting them infiltrate all parts of Marenon.

  Julian wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling that if he could kill Hroth, then perhaps the last two Sleepers would become powerless.