“They’re bringing it this way,” Silas said. He squinted, trying to see more clearly, noticing the pedestal at the top of the Pyramid and the Sphere above it that had begun to churn. “You haven’t got much time.”
“Where are the sarians?” Nalani asked.
Coffman pointed behind them where they could see every one of them, scraping and biting at any enemy that came near them. Their natural instinct would be to fly and attack, but there were far too many archers.
“They’re going to be our only way to get to the top of that thing,” Alric said.
“Just be careful,” Silas said. “You’ll be the first targets.”
Alric nodded, and commanded the others to come with him.
Silas searched for Kaden, Inga, and Lorcan and spotted them not too far from his position. He took down several Stühocs along the way, before finally reaching them.
“It’s time!” Silas yelled.
Each of them looked at him, ready to do what was needed.
“Do you know how to get to the gate?” Kaden asked him.
“We’ve got to get away from the fighting. Then I’ll be able to concentrate harder.”
Silas led them across the field through enemies, which he quickly dispatched. He wasn’t exactly sure which way to go, but he knew he would soon feel it.
He stopped abruptly when he saw a bleeding green figure on the ground trying to call out to him.
His Excellency of the Anwyns lay between two of his personal guards who were both dead. An arrow stuck out of the leader’s chest and another was embedded in his neck. The Anwyn chief had a look of defeat in his eyes, but coupled with a determined expression of disdain for the enemies that fell him. In his last few moments, he grabbed the staff of Uriah and held it up for Silas to take it.
Silas placed a hand around the shaft of the weapon and His Excellency’s hand fell lifelessly to the ground. Silas knew the leader no longer had the ability to speak to him, but his words weren’t needed. He may not have approved of Silas; and he may not have accepted who Silas was, but one thing was certain, His Excellency wanted Silas to finish what he started, and get rid of the Stühocs for good. Even if that meant taking the staff that didn’t belong to him.
Staff in hand, Silas held out his fist and a cord of light wrapped around his wrist and the wrists of his three companions, binding them together like a rope so as not to lose each other in the crowd. He looked to Inga and nodded. She drew on the magical strength within her, and a cold feeling fell over each of them and they became instantly invisible to anyone around them.
Silas pulled them forward, trying to feel the direction of the gate. It would be out of the city, away from the battle, secluded.
It was time to find Anithistor and destroy the Red Gate.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nalani pulled Alric and Coffman close to her and they hunkered low in the dirt. The fighting around them was intense, but their chief concern was preventing the Sphere attack that was sure to come.
“I’ve got the two medallions, but there’s not much more to go on than that,” Alric said. “Silas said he can blow them up if we can get them to the pedestal.”
Coffman shook his head. “That’s not going to be easy.”
Nalani looked all around her. Erellens and Humans had all fallen under one banner with leaders working together to direct their troops onward. Bursts of magic lit the air as Erellens used their weapons and magical attacks and Humans stabbed unrelentingly with their swords, driving deeper into the heart of the city, though the sheer number of Stühocs seemed to never end. As she watched the Pyramid creep toward them from the east side of the city, she knew the soldiers would be in trouble soon.
She remembered all too well what had happened in Voelif. The bolts of light that shot out from the Sphere and into the chests of the unexpected prisoners were terrifying. Being hit by one of those bolts meant instant death, and then instant enslavement of the soul.
Nalani shuddered at the thought, and shook her head vigorously. “We’ve got to ride a sarian to the top of the Pyramid and take out whoever is up there before he uses the Sphere.”
“It’ll take some fancy maneuvering,” Alric said. “But I’m with you.”
“Wait,” Coffman said, holding up a big hand. “It can’t just be one of us. The Stühocs will shoot one of us down in a second.” He looked back at the sarians and counted. Nalani did the same, and for the first time, noticed that Julian’s sarian, Eden, was among them. She wondered silently why he hadn’t taken the bird with him, wherever he was.
“Eight,” Coffman said. “There’s eight birds so I think eight of us should go up at once.”
“They’ll take us all down,” Alric said.
“Maybe,” Nalani nodded. “But it’s a good bet that one of us will make it through to the top and be able to kill whoever is up there.”
“One of the sarians belongs to Darius,” Alric said. “He’ll go up with us.”
“That’s four,” Coffman counted.
Nalani searched the mass of soldiers. It was difficult to see any specific person. It all seemed like such a blur, but then she spotted the next two riders. “There!” she said, pointing in the distance. “Dink and Emma.”
“And I’ll get that idiot, Daewyn, to fly up with us,” Alric said.
“We need one more,” Coffman told them.
Nalani felt the whistle that hung from a string around her neck. Julian had given it to her before her previous mission to Voelif. She knew that he always carried one with him as well, and had used it on occasion to call his faithful sarian to him. Though it hadn’t saved Nalani from being captured in Voelif, it had possibly saved the lives of three others.
“Leave Eden here for Julian. He might need her.”
Alric obviously disapproved of the decision. “He’s not even here!”
Nalani didn’t know what it was. Something inside her mind was telling her that Julian would need Eden for some reason. Even if he didn’t, she didn’t feel right about taking her away.
“We’re leaving her behind,” she said with finality. “Meet back here when you have the other riders.”
Alric looked at her with concern in his eyes, but she paid him no mind. The Pyramid was nearing the city’s center and they had to be ready to go before it reached the soldiers.
Without looking back, she waded through a sea of bloody green and gray warriors. Often, she had to use her sword to cut down the Stühocs or Nestorians that got in her way. She didn’t know why she was going after Dink and Emma, but she felt like she could trust them. Choosing fighters from the Dunarians would be easier too. An Erellen or even a soldier from Farlaweer would be less likely to abandon his or her comrades in the heat of battle to attempt a suicide mission. She doubted that Darius would join them, but she didn’t see the commander easily giving up his sarian for such an endeavor without being the one to ride it to the top.
When Nalani came near, she reached a hand out and grabbed Emma’s shoulder. Emma spun around with her blade in hand and almost took a swipe at Nalani, but stopped short.
“Nalani!” The woman was covered from head to toe in gray and red blood.
“I need your help!” She pointed at Dink. “His too.”
Dink turned when he had heard his wife’s voice. She briefly told them the plan of attack and showed them where the sarians stood huddled amongst each other.
“Stay there, and stay low!”
She pushed past them until she reached the front of the Dunarian line. Every soldier was pushing forward into the middle of the city of Mudavé, inching ever closer to the mountainside that housed the Stühoc fortress.
She had never before seen the ugly city, but she had little time to take in the scenery. The misty skies and brown-red hues of the sand and stone left her with the feeling that she wasn’t missing anything by battling instead of exploring.
Naturally, at the front of the line, she found Darius Umar. The dark man slashed in fury without tiring.
He had led the Dunarian Order with a determined fierceness, and today it had paid off.
When she told him of her plan, he knew it was something that he needed to help with personally. Nalani knew he could have sent one of his other men to do it for him, but this part of the battle was essential.
He instructed his second in command to take over and to keep pushing the soldiers forward. He and Nalani ran together, past the eager warriors and to the sarians. Dink and Emma had found a spot near the sarians to lay low. Coffman and Alric soon came in with Daewyn following behind.
“What’s the plan?” Daewyn asked.
“Simple,” Alric said as he pointed to the Pyramid. “The seven of us fly to the top of that thing.”
“We’ll go at it from different directions and hope we don’t get shot down,” Nalani said.
Darius held up a hand. “Just one problem. Only one of us will have the two medallions. That’s you, right Alric?”
All of them stood in silence, perplexed by this oversight. Alric finally said that the best way to go about it would be for six of them to come at the top of the Pyramid from the sides to distract anyone that might be protecting the top, while one of them would dive from a much higher distance straight down to the top.
“It’s not a safe move for anyone,” Alric said. “I think it presents an equal danger to all of us. I’ve got the medallions, so if you want, I can dive from the higher distance.”
It was decided. Each of them was about to mount a sarian when they noticed something strange on the horizon.
The Pyramid. It moved much faster than before. The seven riders stood in stunned silence, realizing that they had failed to notice the Pyramid’s rapidly growing speed. Though the top of the Pyramid reached a great height, they could clearly see what, and who was at the top.
Unlike a typical pyramid, this one had a flat platform at the top where there would normally be a pointed tip. On that platform was the enchanted pedestal that had conjured up the Sphere of captured souls.
Commanding the Sphere was the Sleeper, Marcus. A group of ten Stühocs surrounded the edge of the platform, forming a wall around Marcus and the pedestal. Each of them was armed with bows, ready to take on any kind of assault.
On both sides of Marcus were two Leapers guarding the Sleeper from any who should get too close.
“This just got a little bit harder,” Alric exclaimed.
Before another word could be spoken, a burst of light exploded from the Sphere, shooting a flurry of bolts through the opposing army.
Each strand of light nailed its target in the chest, dropping them to the ground in an instant. It didn’t matter who it was. Anwyn, Erellen, and Human alike dropped like flies at the commanding words from Marcus.
With the burst of energy, the sarians scattered and their riders ducked for cover, as did anyone else with the ability to move. The Stühocs in front of the freedom fighters backed off a considerable distance as not to be in the way of the Sphere’s relentless destruction.
One bolt sailed directly over Nalani’s head and into the face of an Anwyn soldier, his spear dropping to the ground next to his lifeless body. She was able to put her back against a rock, hoping the bolt couldn’t pass through the thick stone. Alric crawled on the ground toward her, and finally sat up against the rock inches from her.
“Did any of the riders get hit?” she asked. “Where’s Coffman?”
“I didn’t see anything, I just dove.”
She rested her head against the rock, praying that the opportunity for them to escape to their sarians would arise. With another exploding sound, a second bolt shot through the soldiers, dropping hundreds more at once.
She wondered what it felt like to be hit by one of them. Did it hurt? Was it instant blackness? At first, she thought it might not be as bad as being stabbed or cut through by the enemy, but her thoughts quickly went away when she saw the Anwyn in front of her begin to twitch.
Alric gave her a long look, then pulled out his sword and sliced through the Anwyn warrior. He hacked again and again until there was no more twitching. Though this may have gained them a few moments of safety, it didn’t stop the others who had been hit. Within moments, victims of the Sphere stood, waiting for the command of their new master.
Like Alric, many of the soldiers began hacking away at their new enemies, but their efforts failed to gain them any ground.
If Nalani thought Human Soldiers of the Dead were bad, Anwyns and Erellens were far worse. The Anwyn’s brute strength with the mix of uncaring ferocity, made them extremely deadly, and not so easy to kill. Nalani watched as just one of them tore through a group of Erellen soldiers. It took more than ten arrows to take him down, and even then he was still thrashing.
Another burst of light; another group of felled soldiers.
“We’ve got to get to the sarians!” Alric said to her.
He was right. If they didn’t stop Marcus and the Sphere, there would be none of them left. It wouldn’t even matter if Silas killed Anithistor.
Chapter Twenty-Four
All was quiet outside the city of Mudavé, though the group of four could still hear the raging battle in the distance. Silas was surprised and relieved that no Stühoc had attacked them even though Inga had dropped their invisibility some time ago. He knew he had the ability to take on just about any enemy, but he had used too much of his power in the battle earlier. The others could see his fatigue too, but none of them expressed their concern.
They followed a path with large rock walls on either side of them. It wound around so much that none of them could see further than twenty feet ahead. The path looked exactly like the one from his dreams, making him wonder if his father truly was alive.
His father.
It was a long shot, but Silas wished it were true. If William Ainsley were alive, then that would mean he wasn’t truly alone in this world. His father would be there to help guide him toward the Red Gate, and Silas would feel unstoppable. Silas’ father had told him that destroying the Red Gate would mean his death, but the thought did not necessarily bother him. He had accepted it as part of his responsibility as the Meshulan. He didn’t fear it.
Kaden had quickly dismissed the possibility of Silas’ father being alive. Silas assumed this was because of Kaden’s relationship with Will – Kaden probably just hoped he wasn’t alive.
The memory Silas saw in Kaden’s mind had been unexpected to say the least. To know that Kaden had been in love with Silas’ mother and a rival to his father was unreal.
But here he was, at the end of it all, and Kaden had no idea that Silas knew of this. Though Silas did not fear the end, he felt that so much had been left unsaid. His friendship with Kaden felt like it had only started. His relationship with Inga felt like it could have gone somewhere. But this was the end.
Now Silas was ready to close the doors behind him.
“I want to be honest with all of you before we part ways,” Silas said as they walked forward.
He took a deep breath. “Kaden, I guess it doesn’t matter now, but I want you to know that there’s a very real possibility that I could die without having defeated Anithistor.”
Kaden said nothing to this.
Silas continued hesitantly, unable to read the man. “Silandrin told me that the prophecy only pointed to me as the possible Deliverer. There are no guarantees.”
“I know,” Kaden said. “I’ve known for a few days now.”
Silas stepped closer to Kaden. “How?”
“Jiaros told me. Silandrin broke the news to him before you came to Elysium the first time.”
Silas looked at the dirt, eyebrows furrowed, and then looked up at Kaden. “Sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Kaden shrugged. “There’s no point in apologizing for it. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“I didn’t want you to feel like you needed to be overprotective of me.”
“Well, I suppose I might not have let you fight with us at Jekyll Rock the other day had I k
nown then. We’re here now. You are alive and where you are supposed to be.”
“And my father is here too. Somewhere.”
Kaden sighed deeply and cocked his head at Silas. “You really think that’s real, don’t you?”
“I hope it is,” Silas said. “But I understand that you wouldn’t be completely thrilled.”
“Why do you say that?”
Silas didn’t know if telling Kaden that he had tapped into the secrets of his mind was such a good idea, but this could be the last time they saw each other. Silas wanted to know more about it before he went to face his possible doom.
“When I was searching your mind for my father’s image, I saw a memory.”
Kaden stiffened at Silas’ words.
“I know you meant to keep it from me, and I guess I understand, but I can’t help what I saw.”
“And what is it that you saw?”
“You and my father were not friends. Apparently my mother had chosen to marry him, but you weren’t happy with that. You weren’t happy because you loved her.”
Kaden looked away, avoiding Silas’ stare. Inga and Lorcan watched in silence as the conversation unfolded.
“I won’t deny that I loved your mother,” Kaden said. “She was a wonderful woman; the most beautiful Erellen in all of Marenon.”
Silas smiled. “I saw her in your memory. She was beautiful.”
Silas was surprised to see the water in Kaden’s eyes thicken into tears, but the warrior did not let them fall. Silas then knew that it had not just been some fight of reckless passion, but something deeper. Kaden had truly been heartbroken by what had transpired on that day. Silas knew that now wasn’t the time to delve into such a story. A battle was raging in the distance and Anithistor was waiting to destroy Silas. But Silas wasn’t finished.
“I’m sorry things didn’t turn out well in the end,” he said.
Kaden shook his head and inadvertently let one of his tears drop down the side of his face. “Do not be sorry, Silas. There has always been a certain order of things that is out of our control. That order has brought you here to this day.”
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