The Marenon Chronicles Collection

by Jason D. Morrow

  His vision went black for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, a bloody and battered Julian stood over him.

  “Don’t go to sleep!”

  Silas got to his knees and held himself on the ground on all fours. “Julian?”

  “I saw the smoke from the distance.”

  “You killed Hroth?” Silas asked still looking at the ground.

  “Yes,” Julian answered. “Is that Anithistor?”

  Silas nodded, looking at the scorch marks on the ground, which was all that was left of Anithistor. Beyond that was a man struggling to stay alive for as long as possible.

  “Father,” Silas said as he began to crawl on his hands and knees to Will. Burns ran up and down the man’s face and arms. His clothes were ash. Even through the blisters, Will’s eyes were still able to form tears that fell down the sides of his face.

  “Silas, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry.”

  Silas placed a warm hand in his dying father’s, a gesture he had felt before with his grandfather.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” Silas assured him. “You didn’t ask to be part of them. And you saved my life just now. You saved everyone.”

  Will shook his head. “No, Silas. You did. You killed the master of evil. Now you have to destroy the last gate.”

  He gripped his father’s hand tighter. “I very well might be joining you in a few moments.”

  Will smiled. “Maybe not. I wish I could have gotten to know you, son. I wish I had…”

  Silas shushed him. “There’s no time for regrets.”

  “If the Red Gate takes you with it, I’ll see you on the other side. Maybe…Maybe I can still get to know you. Maybe I’ll get to know the son I’ve longed to have in my life, but Hroth never let me.” Will took a deep breath. “Maybe…I can…Maybe I can…”

  With one last breath, his father was gone; delivered to the true afterlife.

  Silas wiped a stray tear from his cheek, feeling that same emptiness he felt when Garland had died on Earth, then died again in Marenon. He didn’t know his father. He had never been given the chance. But that didn’t take away from the fact that Silas would miss him. He would miss the thought of him. How would life be different if the Stühocs had never captured Will?

  Silas turned away from his father’s body and scanned the ground. Among a pile of ashes he saw the red medallion and picked it up. As he expected, the blast had not harmed the artifact. Only the words that created the medallion could destroy it.

  He nodded at Julian and stepped forward to the Red Gate. He placed the last medallion in the slot at the bottom and streams of light began to slither into a spiral across the face of the stone wall. Eventually the two of them were able to see through to the other side, revealing a world that looked so much like Mudavé, barren and wasted. Fumes spread across the landscape and fire spewed into the air.

  Silas was ready.

  Closing his eyes, he said, “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan.”

  Julian straightened himself as he watched the Deliverer do what he was meant to from the beginning.

  “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan,” Silas said again. He braced himself mentally, knowing that saying the words again could very well mean the end of his life. But this was the fulfillment of his destiny. This was the end of The Reckoning.

  “Osh tü lorminan, Kül vorheesh-sellan!”

  The Red Gate crumbled to the ground just as the Blue and Green Gate had done before. The rock exploded into dust and flames, declaring to all of Mudavé that Anithistor had been defeated; declaring that the gates and medallions no longer existed.

  The explosion that rocked the entire cavern nearly knocked him backward, but it wasn’t the explosion that brought him to the ground. It was his wobbly knees and weak bones. He felt as though every bit of his energy was immediately sucked from his body.

  He caught himself at his knees, and he could feel Julian grab his shoulders to steady him. Perhaps this was death. His life was leaving him, and he felt at peace about it. He felt no pain, just an overwhelming amount of exhaustion. All he wanted was sleep. And sleep came quickly.

  *****

  Silas had dreamed this before. He wore white robes and stood on a white surface with nothing but bright light all around him. He did not think he was dead yet, or maybe this was what death looked like when one was going to the true afterlife. But he knew that no more gates stood, and no medallions remained.

  A voice called out behind him. “I never doubted that you would get to this point.”

  Silas turned to see Silandrin walking toward him.

  “How is it you are here?” Silas asked.

  “I’m not really here, Silas. This is a dream.”

  “You’re not here to tell me something?”

  “In a way I am, I suppose.”

  “But this isn’t a normal dream.”

  “Of course it isn’t.”

  Silas shook his head.

  “I’m a thought, given to you with your recent transference of power, meant to manifest itself when the time is right.”

  “My final thought,” Silas said, looking down. He wasn’t saddened, just a little disappointed.

  But Silandrin told him differently. “These are not your last thoughts. You are not dead. Not yet. You still have a job to do.”

  “But I’ve done my job. I’ve done what you said to do. I’ve done what I was prophesied to do.”

  “As the Deliverer, yes. Don’t you remember who I was before the gates and medallions came about?”

  “The Watchman,” Silas answered.

  “That’s right. Now there is no more Gatekeeper. There is only you: the Watchman of Marenon.”

  “My powers are gone. I have no ability to be a Watchman.”

  “You will,” Silandrin assured him. “Time and training will make you the best person for the job.”

  “But who will train me?”

  “The others will find you, Silas. You will gain the power you need to continue on, though I would say it is best that you do not declare your new position to the people. It is best to remain in secret for now.”

  Silas didn’t know what to think. Sure, he remembered that Silandrin had told him about this, but it had never been Silas’ focus. When he had been told that destroying the medallions would claim his life, he had stopped thinking about being the Watchman. All he ever wanted was to get rid of the medallions and destroy the gates. All he wanted was for this to be finished. And now it was.

  Silas was too tired to train again. He had been through too much to take up another task. Who were these ‘others’ that Silandrin mentioned?

  “Do not think about it too much,” Silandrin said. “Meditate. Be alone. People will need you again one day.” He took a deep breath and smiled. “It’s time for you to wake up.”

  “When I wake up, will I be weak and drained of my power?”

  “Not this time. Though your newest powers derived from the medallions, that doesn’t make you powerless on your own.”

  “I thought that destroying the Red Gate was going to kill me.”

  “Did that scare you?” Silandrin asked.

  “Yes.”

  Silandrin smiled. “It scared me too.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to go back.”

  “You need to, Silas. Wake up.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Wake up.”

  *****

  “Silas, you have to wake up!” The voice was Julian’s.

  Silas slowly opened his eyes to see a bloody Julian sitting over him. Behind him was a sight that Silas never thought he would witness in Mudavé.

  Instead of the ominous red sky, with gray clouds and fumes, the sky was actually blue with white clouds floating by peacefully. It was as if the land of Marenon was ready for a new beginning too.

  Chapter Thirty

  Julian tenderly held Silas in his injured arms, even rocking him slightly to give him the most possible comfort. But now, Silas was beginnin
g to regain some of his old strength. Not the strength of the Gatekeeper or Watchman, but that of himself before he had gained the power. It felt good.

  His breathing became stronger, and he slowly sat up from Julian’s hold.

  “Are you alright?” Julian asked. “You’re not dead!”

  “Yeah,” Silas said. “It’s over. It’s done.”

  Julian smiled. “You have finished The Reckoning.”

  “I didn’t do it alone.”

  They sat together in the mess and rubble of mountain rock, not knowing what to say to one another. Silas couldn’t believe that he had reached this point. He couldn’t believe his own words when he had said it was finished.

  “The others will be happy to know you’re alive,” Julian said.

  “No,” Silas said. “They shouldn’t know.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I am the Watchman now,” Silas said. “I don’t know what that really means, but it’s something I have to figure out on my own.”

  “The people of Marenon need someone to look up to,” Julian said. “The Watchman would be the perfect person for that.”

  Silas shook his head. “No. That has to be you. One thing I know is that the Watchman is supposed to help the people of Marenon, but only in secret. People shouldn’t be looking to me for help, though I hope I never fail to give it. They need a strong leader. A strong king.”

  Silas placed his hands on his head, resting his elbows on his knees as they sat in silence. Next to a blackened spot on the ground where Anithistor had stood was the staff of Uriah lying where Anithistor had blasted it from him.

  “I cannot be that man,” Julian said.

  “You are that man.”

  “I’ve done so much to hurt people.”

  “But you’ve also done so much to help them. Julian, I have to learn how to do this. I have to learn how to be the Watchman, but that is going to take time. They can’t be looking to someone like me to guide them. That’s not my role. And I need someone that I can trust to be their leader.”

  “What will you do? How will you gain the power to be the Watchman?”

  “I don’t know,” Silas said. “I suppose that’s my next journey.”

  He stood and helped Julian to his feet and walked to the staff to pick it up.

  “So, you want me to tell the people you died?” Julian asked as he limped toward Eden.

  Silas thought for a moment as Julian painfully mounted the sarian.

  “You can tell them that I disappeared,” Silas said. “Tell them that The Reckoning is finished and that when the Red Gate was destroyed, I was gone.”

  “Just, vanished?”

  “In a white blaze,” Silas said. “Just like Silandrin.”

  Julian nodded. He reached into Eden’s saddlebag and pulled out an emerald wristband and tossed it to Silas.

  “Marenon will need its Watchman in the future. Just because you’re pretending to vanish, doesn’t mean you actually have to. From time to time, I’ll need to remember that you’ll be coming back. Though the people of Marenon were victorious in its darkest day, that doesn’t mean there won’t be even darker days ahead. We will need you again, Silas.”

  Silas looked down at the wristband, studying it. “And I will always be here to help.”

  Julian bowed from his sarian, and then took off in flight. Silas watched as the giant bird flapped away, glad to know that he wasn’t completely alone.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Silas watched the green head that floated above the emerald in the silver wristband. Julian spoke to him in secret about what had transpired over the past two months since the Battle of Mudavé. It was nighttime, and the crisp, cool air brushed at Silas’ shaggy hair. He was glad his cloak provided some warmth in the cold cliffs of the Luras Mountains.

  Julian told him about how the kingdom fared post-battle. The Dunarians no longer existed as a people group; rather they had joined with the rest of the Humans as regular citizens, though many of them were dedicated to completing repairs of their homes in Jekyll Rock.

  The Humans of Marenon had demanded that Julian remain their king, especially after hearing about his role in helping Silas destroy the Red Gate; a story told not by Julian, but by Kaden and others that had some influence among the people.

  But Julian didn’t want to have his power unchecked any longer. He felt that no king should have absolute power and even urged the Erellens to follow the new kind of government that Julian had proposed.

  Julian had created a new council. There was no leader among them, though Julian held the title as king, which made him a liaison between the council and the citizens. Kaden, Alric, Inga, Coffman, Lorcan, and Nalani had been asked to be part of the council and all of them accepted their new role. After much thought, Julian remembered how well the Dunarian Council had functioned with eight members, and subsequently asked Dublin to become a voting member of the Royal Council. The old man had become so overjoyed with excitement that Julian thought he would keel over.

  A lot of work still had to be done in Marenon, and perfect peace had not yet been obtained. Neither Silas nor Julian had expected there to be a complete absence of conflict. As long as people could think and opinions could be voiced, there would always be problems to resolve.

  But there was also a hope for Humanity’s future in Marenon. Dink and Emma were to become the first set of Human parents. The child was expected to come in the months ahead, and Emma had become a kind of an iconic figure for the Humans. Many people had even demanded that Dink and Emma receive special treatment as First Father and First Mother. Silas was truly happy to hear this.

  As for the other groups in Marenon, the Anwyns and their new leader were focused on moving their people back into Mudavé, though many Stühocs still resided there. The land in Mudavé was beginning to change. Plants were growing and grass began to cover more of the ground.

  Conflict with the Stühocs would remain, but not to the scale they had seen before. Julian knew that they were now a part of Marenon permanently and would have to be treated as such, so long as they didn’t continue to war against the others.

  The Erellens still kept to themselves for the most part, but were much more open to communicating with the Humans, and had even begun an open trade with them.

  The surviving Nestorians moved back to Voelif. All other groups in Marenon had declared their slave trade against the law, and would consider it an act of war should they be caught doing so ever again.

  This was good to hear, but deep down, Silas didn’t care about it. His thoughts drifted to the woman he had begun to love, then was forced to give up. It saddened him to think of Inga, crying over him. They would have begun a relationship had things been different, but Silas knew now that he had to spend his life alone. The road Silas had set before him would never allow for romance. For now, he was all right with that, but it didn’t erase his deep-rooted feelings for her.

  “How is she?” Silas asked.

  Julian said nothing at first, and then sighed. “She really believed that you were going to live. I think she expected it. She was crushed, Silas.”

  It pained him to hear it, but Silas couldn’t let his feelings for her distract him from his new mission. He loved her. He would always love her. But she had to move on. The life of a Watchman was a life lived alone, a life of secrecy.

  A long moment stood between them.

  “How long before we’ll get to see Silas the Watchman alive and well?” Julian asked.

  Silas shook his head. “I don’t know, Julian. I wish I did.”

  After a few more moments of silence, they ended with a promise to contact one another should the need arise.

  The light faded from Silas’ wristband and he sat in complete darkness with only the cold air and bright stars to keep him company.

  Silas gripped his staff and watched in awe as a brilliant shooting star streaked through the sky. Silas had seen them before, but never so bright. This one kept going without fading, and even
looked like it landed somewhere in the distance. Maybe he would search for it.

  It was the end of an era. A new Marenon had been born. That new Marenon would need a Watchman that could look over the inhabitants – protect them. The future would not be all peace and happiness. Marenon would be in turmoil again someday. The people of Marenon would need someone with great magical power to rescue them again. Such was the job of the Watchman.

  If it took him a thousand years, Silas would find or learn that magic. Someday he would be called upon for guidance, for direction, for rescue.

  Whenever that time would come, Silas, the Watchman would be there.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jason D. Morrow graduated with a degree in journalism in 2009 and has worked for various publications since then. A writer and educator, Jason is married and currently resides in Gwangju, South Korea.

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four