The Marenon Chronicles Collection

by Jason D. Morrow

  Silas looked from Kaden and the others to the path that curved ahead of them. “It’s time that we part ways,” he told them.

  At these words, Inga dropped her head, and Kaden fought back the tears that had formed moments before. Lorcan stood reverently, placing a calming hand on Inga’s shoulder.

  Silas stepped closer to Kaden. “Thank you for taking me this far. Not just on this path, but through all of Marenon.”

  Kaden sniffed and laughed lightly. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been killed on Earth in the first place.”

  “If it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be a Sleeper.”

  “Silas, I swore to protect you,” Kaden said. “It was something your grandfather and I agreed that I would do. I told him I would protect you until the end.”

  “And you have,” Silas assured him. “You have fulfilled your vow to him. We’ve come past the end to a place that only I can go. You know this.” Kaden nodded and Silas pulled him in and hugged him tightly.

  Stepping away from Kaden, Silas moved to Inga. Now the tears welled up in Silas’ eyes. With his finger he brought up her chin so her eyes would meet his. The green of her irises had brightened with the mournful well that pooled around them, releasing flowing streams down her cheeks.

  Silas wanted more than anything to kiss her wonderful face; to hold her in his arms one last time, but such things were not meant to be. He loved her. He loved her more than he thought he could love anyone. But he had a job to do. It was time for him to leave.

  He pulled her in tightly and she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. Neither of them wanted to let go. In this warm embrace, there was no Mudavé. There was no war. There was only Inga and Silas – a mutual happiness felt only in a place that knew no pain, loss, or fear.

  But leaving her would be the most hurtful kind of pain. Moving on without her would fill him with an overwhelming sense of loss. His only fear was never seeing her again.

  When they released each other, Silas felt it was too soon, but it was for the best. It was time to leave.

  He kissed her forehead gently, and stepped away slowly. He looked at Lorcan, and then back to Inga. “Take care of Lorcan,” Silas said. Both Inga and Lorcan smiled painfully at this.

  Silas was ready to embark on the final road of his journey. This day would decide the fate of Marenon. If Silas didn’t succeed, all would be lost.

  With his staff in hand, he walked down the path, leaving three sets of longing eyes to bid farewell to him. Before walking past the bend, he looked back one last time. He was happy to see they were smiling. Silas turned to leave them when he heard Kaden call out.

  “Silas!”

  He turned his head to look at Kaden.

  “Send Anithistor back to the Hell he came from!”

  Silas grinned and nodded. Then he walked away.

  He wished that he didn’t have to ask the others to stay behind. He could really use their company right now. But it would be too dangerous for them. There was no way they stood a chance against Anithistor, and Silas wasn’t sure there was a way that he could stand a chance either.

  His hands hadn’t stopped shaking since he had noticed them earlier. It wasn’t a nervous shake, but more as if he had done heavy lifting and his muscles were sore. He found himself relying heavily on the staff to keep him going, using it to balance himself. Part of him felt like he could fall over and sleep for a century, but he knew he had to keep going.

  The path wound through the hills and mountains. If Silas had not been able to feel something physically pulling him in the direction of the Red Gate, he would be completely lost. There were several turns he had the option of taking, but he could feel the pull that let him know where the Red Gate stood.

  By this time, he could barely hear the battle in the distance and in this moment of quiet he felt isolated. He stopped on the path when he began to recognize the rock formations around him. He knew these were from his dreams, and he knew that could only mean that his father was somewhere near. He heard a sound that came from his left. It sounded like someone screaming.

  He stepped forward in the direction of the noise. As he came closer, he could understand the words. It was a man. Could it be him?

  “Please, don’t take me back to the fortress!” the voice cried out. “I’m finished there! I don’t want anymore!”

  Silas turned another corner and the person that had been yelling came into view. Two Leapers were dragging the man across the dirt toward Silas. When they noticed him, Silas’ staff turned into a long sword instantly.

  The Leapers dropped their captured victim and flashed their viciously long claws at Silas. Silas smiled, waiting for them to make the first move. One of them jumped at Silas, easily covering the great distance, but Silas jut held up a hand and froze the creature in mid-air. It came down in a crash and broke into tiny shards of ice.

  Seeing what power its new foe carried, the other Leaper sprinted in the opposite direction, but it was not fast enough to avoid the bolt of lightning Silas conjured from the air.

  He winced, and stretched his neck after the use of his power. He knew he should have just tried to fight them with his sword and reserved his magical powers for the Stühoc king.

  The sword turned into a staff and Silas walked to the man who had just picked himself up off the ground, brushing away the dirt from his clothes. Silas instantly recognized him as the man who had visited him in his dreams. It was Silas’ father. It had to be. Kaden’s memory had proved that this was the same face, only seventeen years older.

  “Silas,” Will said. “You saved me.”

  “How do I know you’re my father?” Silas asked.

  “Did you do what I said? Did you search someone’s mind?”

  “I did.”

  “Then you know it’s me!”

  A flood of questions gushed through Silas’ mind at once. He leaned his shoulder against the stone wall to his right and Will stayed in the same spot.

  “I know that you wear my father’s face,” Silas said. “Where have you been for the past seventeen years?”

  “Here. Mudavé. I was captured in battle.”

  “I’ve always been told that you were killed in battle.”

  “Silas, you know the answer to this. No one found my body. The Stühocs took me, set fire to everything. There were several good soldiers who were unaccounted for that day. I was the only one that actually survived.”

  “And they didn’t turn you?”

  “Couldn’t. But they knew you would be back someday. They wanted to use me against you, but I escaped them. I’ve been hiding in these mountains for the past month.”

  “Let me search your mind,” Silas said, stepping forward.

  Will gave a pause. “What?”

  “You wanted me to search the mind of one that knew you before you were captured. Let me search your mind to prove that you are who you say you are.”

  Will stood for a moment in awkward silence. He took his time, seemingly concentrating. Silas assumed Will was thinking of whether it would be a good idea or not.

  After a long, awkward moment, Will looked Silas in the eyes.

  “Fine,” he said. “Do it.”

  Silas stepped forward, knowing this could be a trick used to get close to him. He didn’t underestimate the power of his enemies. For all he knew, this was Anithistor getting ready to reveal himself and blast Silas into oblivion. But it was worth a try. If this man standing before him really was William Ainsley, then Silas would trust him. There would be no reason not to.

  Will left his arms at his side as Silas approached him. Silas gently set the staff on the ground and reached for Will’s head with both hands. The same movement had been used on Silas when Hroth had entered his mind, and Silas had done this to Kaden.

  He didn’t particularly like going into someone’s mind. With Kaden, he had felt as though he was stealing something that didn’t belong to him; that all of Kaden’s guarded secrets were suddenly available for
the watching.

  This was exactly what Silas wanted now.

  He reached up and gripped Will’s head. When he closed his eyes, he instantly saw a world of memories for the choosing. Silas wanted only to find the same memory that had been taken from Kaden. This would be proof enough.

  But Silas did not find himself in a dark room with two men fighting over his mother, Shelinsa. Instead, Silas saw through the eyes of Will on the ground.

  The sky was dark and gray with pregnant storm clouds rushing swiftly by. The earth around him was scorched, nothing but ash and smoke. Will looked down at his hands and Silas could see the burns and blood that covered them. An arrow protruded from his side, and Silas could tell that he was in pain. The smoke in front of him cleared with a gust of wind and he could see the enemies walking toward him. Most of them were familiar to Silas. Two of them in particular made his insides go cold with memories of fear and torment. Hroth was one of them but was not the first one Silas had noticed. Walking tall and monstrous toward him was the giant Stühoc, Maroke.

  Will tried to move at first, but the pain caused him to wince and fall back down to the ground. Silas could feel the terror that swamped Will’s mind in those moments that he knew would be his last. Will tried to reach for a sword, anything that could help him, but there was nothing. He was unarmed and helpless.

  Within moments, they were all standing above him.

  The silent Hroth looked at the monster and nodded his head.

  “He’s the boy’s father,” Maroke gestured to him. “He will be useful, I’m sure.”

  Maroke looked at Hroth as the creature spoke something through his inaudible mind-speech.

  Maroke nodded again. “This is most fortunate. Anithistor will be pleased with this.” He bent down and grabbed Will by the hair and yanked his head back, then shoved Will’s head into the ground.

  The memory faded to blackness.

  Silas let go of Will’s head and stared at the man in disbelief.

  “This is how you were captured?”

  “What did you see?”

  Silas explained the memory and Will nodded.

  “It’s all my fault,” Silas said.

  “For being born? Hardly.”

  “Why did you go out to fight that day?” Silas asked.

  “I was angry. I was ready for Maroke to die. I was ready for their rule to be finished. I was a fool.”

  “How is it that Hroth wasn’t able to turn you?” Silas asked.

  “He just couldn’t. For some reason I was more difficult than others. I just happened to have a stronger mind, I suppose.”

  Silas hoped it took more than just a strong mind to shut out Hroth. When Hroth had reached out for Silas, the Possessor entered his brain without effort.

  “So, you believe me now?” Will asked him.

  “Yeah,” Silas said. “I do.”

  “Good. Now, you should follow me to the Red Gate. It isn’t far from here.”

  Silas bent down and picked up the staff from the ground. “But I know where it is. I’ve been able to feel its pull the whole morning. Like it is calling out to me.”

  Will shrugged. “Then I hope you don’t have a problem with my going with you. I can show you to a back route that Anithistor won’t expect you to walk through.”

  “You sure he’s here?”

  “He arrived this morning. I spotted him near the gate. He’s alone.”

  “I have to kill him before I can destroy the Red Gate,” Silas said.

  “Well, it’s just him.”

  Silas snorted. “Just him? The evil Stühoc king who has tried to rule over Marenon for thousands of years? Just him? You think killing him will be easy?”

  “No, I don’t suppose it would be. Do you have a plan?”

  “No. We’ve only met once, and that was before I had any useful magical ability. I haven’t exactly had the chance to see how he is in a fair fight.”

  “You’ll do well, son.”

  Silas felt a little uneasy about Will calling him son. All of this seemed too crazy to be real, but Will had not given Silas one reason to believe that he was anything other than what he claimed. He felt like he had no choice but to trust him.

  Silas followed his father into the mountains. There, he would meet Anithistor. There he would destroy the Red Gate. And there he would die.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After the fifth blast of light from the Sphere at the top of the Pyramid, Nalani knew they had to move. The ones that had been hit by the soul-sucking beams now attacked their previous allies.

  “We’ll have to move quickly,” Alric told her.

  Nalani could see the sarians huddled together in a small alcove. Dink and Emma had taken shelter with them. She couldn’t see Coffman or Darius. Daewyn lay silently behind a mound of dead bodies, but his eyes revealed that he was very much alive.

  She peeked her head above the rock, and instead of seeing a large fighting army in front of her, she was overshadowed by a giant Anwyn who snarled sharply at her appearance. She let out a gasp and fell onto her back, knocking the wind out of her lungs in the process.

  Alric tried to help her up, but the Anwyn leapt over the rock and smacked him away like an annoying fly. Nalani rolled to her right when the green warrior slammed his fists against the ground. The savage’s attempt to crush her had nearly succeeded. The Anwyn forced her to maneuver several times before she was able to reach for her sword.

  In a last attempt to end her life, the Anwyn went for her throat with his sharp teeth. Nalani held her sword sideways and caught his mouth with the blade. The Anwyn didn’t even seem to notice that the sword was killing him.

  Nalani was finally able to roll to her feet, and with a swipe, she carved a large gash into the Anwyn’s side and he fell to the ground. She turned the sword downward and stabbed him through one more time to make sure he wouldn’t be going after anyone else again.

  Alric made his way to her. “Are you alright?”

  She nodded. “Go get Daewyn.”

  Alric nodded and took off. Nalani hunkered against the rock one more time. She peered over this time to see Darius a hundred feet in front of her, commanding his soldiers to push forward and take down anyone hit by the bolt. To the left she could see Coffman fighting off three crazed Erellens.

  She was about to run and help him, but before she even moved, the man had all three of them crushed on the ground, lifeless.

  “Coffman!” she yelled.

  He looked up, searching for the voice until he spotted Nalani waving her arms.

  “Grab Darius and get to the sarians!”

  He nodded an affirmative and took off. Nalani charged toward the sarians. First an Erellen attacked her, then an Anwyn. They seemed to chase her with a ravenous hunger. She was glad that most of their minds were gone, because in a normal state, they would have been much more skilled opponents.

  She cut through the first and spun to meet the second. Both were on the ground in seconds. Thankfully, she encountered no more enemies the rest of the way to the sarians. Dink and Emma waved her in behind Skarret, and she ducked low and scanned the area for Alric and Daewyn. At first she didn’t see them, but then noticed that Soldiers of the Dead had surrounded them. Though the numbers of the undead army could quickly escalate into an overwhelming force, they lacked the ability to think in terms of fighting strategy so Alric and Daewyn were able to easily cut through them.

  Both of them finally made it to the group of sarians, and within a minute, Coffman and Darius had also joined them.

  “We’ve got to do this now!” Darius said. “My soldiers are ready to retreat.”

  “Everybody know what they’re doing?” Nalani asked them. Each of them nodded. She looked at Alric. “You’ve got the medallions?”

  He felt his pockets. “I do. I’ll be flying high.”

  “Good, let’s go.”

  The seven of them mounted a sarian of their choice. Nalani found Fury and patted her neck. Alric pulled up beside he
r on Cole and grabbed her arm.

  “I don’t suppose I can talk you out of going up there, can I?”

  “Not a chance,” she said.

  He looked at her for a long moment. She didn’t really even know when she started to have feelings for Alric, but in that moment, she couldn’t imagine losing him. He had been in her life for such a short period, but somehow he had stolen her heart away.

  “I love you,” she told him. “I don’t know why, but I do.”

  Alric grinned widely. “I never thought I would say these words again: I love you too.” He leaned over from the top of the sarian and kissed her firmly on the lips. She returned the kiss, grabbing his face with both hands.

  The kiss finished too soon and before they knew it, they were in the air, dangerously exposed to the Stühocs and Nestorians who seemed to have incredible range with their arrows.

  Dink flew atop Skarret and Emma flew next to him. Coffman, Darius, Daewyn, and Nalani flew in various directions as Alric instructed Cole to fly as high as possible.

  The devastation below them was incredible. The craters that the Anwyns had created in their grand entrance had left massive dark holes all around the landscape. Most haunting was the countless number of bodies that lay scattered across the ground. Stühocs, Humans, Erellens, Anwyns, Nestorians; all people groups of Marenon were represented in their own mangled way.

  Nalani looked over her left shoulder and up, watching Alric fly farther and farther up into the air. Eventually, he disappeared into the clouds.

  *****

  The gray and white mist that surrounded Alric felt cool in the hot, dusty climate of Mudavé. For these few moments he was alone in the surreal silence. He grabbed the feathers of Cole. He had never thought he would be in a full-scale battle of the ages for the freedom of Marenon. All he had ever cared about was his own freedom. His independence had never been threatened before, but now he felt like he was doing something honorable; a word he would have never before used to describe himself.