his mission would be the most dangerous.
Chapter Three
Silas Ainsley’s grandfather was dead and he knew it was only a matter of time before he would be killed too. Marcus and Theron had taken Garland's body away several hours after he had died. Marcus had questioned Silas for hours, often times hitting him and slapping him. Once or twice, Silas offered a lie leading the men on a wild goose chase to find the medallion. They told him that if he did it again that they would end his life. They gave him twelve hours in the dark to think about it.
Silas tried to imagine what his captors did over the course of two days, but it was difficult to see in the dimly lit room and they rarely walked by. Trying to listen in on their conversations was no good either because the door muffled their sounds. Silas was so exhausted that he was starting to hear noises that weren’t even there.
It had been two days since his capture and in that time he had not been fed, and water had been given to him only once. He was weak and without hope. He began to think that the help his grandfather had promised was a figment of his imagination or just words of a dying man who had lost his grip on reality. Marcus and Theron would eventually decide to kill Silas and that would be the end of it.
One night, or morning, Silas didn’t know which, it was Theron’s turn to question him about the medallion. On orders from Garland, Silas pretended to know nothing about it. Theron said it was a powerful tool and that he needed it. After a few slaps to the face and a threat of longer time in the room without food or water, he was gone. Silas expected him to return, but he did not.
The ropes dug deep into his wrists and he wished he could at least try to escape, but there was no use. He would be dead before he made it through the door. He tried to reconstruct the path he took when the men dragged him and his grandfather to the room. It was a long passageway, and it went through several levels. The fact that he passed out several times along the way didn’t help the reconstruction either. There was no way to remember. He knew it began on a mountainside and tunneled downward. Old gold mines littered these parts of the mountains. Now, two goons used one of them as a hideout to keep their hostage. Probably as good a place as any, Silas thought. He wondered what was here that his grandfather had been trying to reach.
Sleep was scarce and when he did, he was plagued with nightmares. Silas ultimately came to the conclusion that if they were going to kill him then they should just do it. What was the use keeping him here? As he lay contemplating his fate, he was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps nearing his door. The faint glow of a torch grew into a bright flickering under the door as the bearer came closer. The door swung open and Silas had to shut his eyes to keep from being blinded.
“It’s time,” the gruff voice spoke. It was Theron.
Roughly, Theron grabbed Silas by the neckline of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. The dim light in the corridor was blinding to Silas’ dilated pupils. He had to force himself to keep his eyes open to study his surroundings in case he found a chance to escape.
After Theron cut the rope around his legs, they walked down the tunnel that led from his tiny room. Eventually they came to a much larger area at the mouth of the cave where the stone danced with a red and orange glow from the torches lining the wall. The ominous blue light of the moon revealed the cliff’s edge outside of the cave with a figure standing near it.
Marcus. He wore his sword on his side, but kept his hands behind his back as he watched Silas walk along willingly with Theron.
“You can let him go,” Marcus said. He stared at the boy and shook his head. “Silas, Silas, Silas.”
Silas did not acknowledge him.
“As I have explained to you before, we need that medallion. It has a greater value than you can possibly know. If you lie to me again, I will kill you. If you refuse to