The Marenon Chronicles Collection - By Jason D. Morrow Page 0,151

gave him something to do with his hands, and anytime a conversation about his own purpose would come up, he needed something to do, something to fidget with. He didn’t know why, perhaps it was nerves, or anxiety. To be so important and to have a mission where he would have to deliver a whole race of people, and not know how or why was an exhausting idea.

“How can there be such an ambiguous prophecy?” Silas asked. “How can anyone believe it? How can I even believe it?”

“Most stopped believing it after a while,” Kaden answered. “Those of us that had witnessed your birth and knew about you directly had no doubt. Seeing the first Human born in Marenon was proof enough for me.”

Silas continued to whittle away until there was nothing left of the stick but smoldering coal and ashes. “So, you knew my mother? My father?”

Kaden nodded. “Yes, I did. They were good people.”

“My grandfather said my father died in battle?”

Kaden nodded, staring into the fire. “Your mother was pregnant when the Stühocs attacked Elysium. Your father led the charge to try and stop them, but he was killed. There were several big explosions in that battle from what I hear. It’s believed that William Ainsley was in one of them.”

Silas didn’t know how to feel. He knew that part of him should be sad at hearing the tale, but he had never met his parents. He had never felt their warm embrace. They were nothing but stories to him.

“Will wasn’t always the most rational person. He was a caring individual, but he had his demons. Marenon really got to him.”

“How do you mean?”

“Some people can’t cope with it. They spend too much of their life here trying to figure out why we are here, and what’s the purpose of our existence in Marenon. People forget that we aren’t always meant to have the answers.”

“My grandfather said that’s part of what The Reckoning is,” Silas said. “To find out why we are here.”

Kaden nodded. Silas knew he wanted to say something, but he didn’t want Silas to be angry at his words.

“It’s alright,” Silas said. “You can speak your mind. All I want is the truth.”

Kaden sighed. “The Reckoning was contrived by your grandfather, but its goal never had anything to do with finding out our purpose in Marenon until your father died. From the beginning, it had always been about the deliverance. About Humans truly becoming a part of Marenon. It’s always been about the prophecy.”

“Have you seen the prophecy?” Silas asked.

Kaden thought for a moment then shook his head. “Not directly. I’ve only heard of there being a written record. I heard the Gatekeeper say it when your grandfather and I took you to him. You will deliver us.”

“But for all you know it could be false,” Silas said. “My being born in Marenon is true, I guess, but you’ve only heard the prophecy recited. What if it said nothing about a deliverer? What if it really said that I would destroy Marenon, and the Gatekeeper just said something else with hopes that he could make it different?”

Kaden shrugged at the thought. “I doubt it. I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but I think the issue would have been raised by now. The Gatekeeper is not a liar, but he doesn’t make it a habit to divulge every bit of his knowledge with everyone. We learn what he wants us to learn.”

“Sounds manipulative to me,” Silas said.

After this, Kaden had said nothing. He seemed deep in thought for a long moment but then turned over on the ground with the fire at his back and fell asleep. Silas had angered him somehow, but neither of them mentioned the conversation when they woke the next morning. Silas eventually figured that he had struck a nerve because he had been questioning the very thing that Kaden had devoted his life to. In fact, Silas had questioned his grandfather’s reason for dying without even realizing it. He had questioned everything that the Dunarians were about. He felt horrible, but when he thought about it more, he knew that they were valid questions. None of them were around when this prophecy had been made. What if they were all wrong about him? What if Silas was not who he was supposed to be? From then on he kept his doubts to himself, knowing they wouldn’t help the cause. The Gatekeeper would probably address any doubts he had anyway.

So many