hour, the several thousand soldiers of the Dunarian Order began fortifying the city.
When Kaden, Alric, and Lorcan had come back, Kaden made an announcement to the regular citizens about the coming horde, though no formal warning had been needed. When the citizens saw the commotion of the soldiers, it became apparent that Jekyll Rock would soon be under attack.
Kaden ordered all the older citizens and small children to be housed within the castle, though after Nalani’s description of the army, he feared the soldiers wouldn’t be able to keep the enemy out for long.
After the address, Kaden and Silas stood together on one of the outer walls of the city, overlooking the grassy plains for any sign of the coming army. Silas remembered how the Stühoc soldiers had looked when he flew over them this morning. They had run as if they would never tire. They weren’t here yet, but they would be soon.
Silas gripped the staff of Uriah firmly. “I met the Possessor,” Silas told him. “Hroth.”
Kaden turned his head sharply when he heard this. “Scary, isn’t he? I met him too. He tried to get inside my mind. Almost succeeded too. It was good that you came and got me out of Mudavé when you did. I don’t know how much longer I could have resisted.”
“You mean you never heard him speak? In your mind, I mean.”
Kaden shook his head. “No. Why, did you?”
Silas took a deep breath. He knew this wasn’t good. Hroth had told Anithistor that Silas would be easy to turn. Access to his mind had been simple.
“Yes,” Silas said. “Almost without effort. I couldn’t block him.”
Kaden’s expression betrayed his thoughts, though he said nothing. There was just too much to be concerned over to worry about Hroth at the moment.
Silas reached into his cloak and pulled out the orange medallion. Kaden’s eyes went wide for a moment.
“I know it’s not much use to you now that we no longer have the other medallions, but I thought you might be interested in having this,” Silas told him.
Kaden reached out his hands, accepting the medallion graciously. “How did you find it?”
Silas shrugged. “Same way we escaped. Got lucky.”
“Things would be a lot different right now if Julian hadn’t acted so impetuously,” Kaden said.
“But we can’t let that stop us,” Silas told him. “We can get them back. I say we negotiate with the Erellens to get the green medallion and then we force Julian to give us the other ones.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Kaden said.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t try. The Erellens will give us the green medallion. The Gatekeeper said it was necessary to obtain them all.”
The Gatekeeper had said that a lot of things were necessary. Silas sighed, looking off into the distance.
First, Silas had to get all of the medallions. He had been shocked to hear about what Julian had done to the council members. Dublin had told them all about the dreadful day earlier that morning. Nalani had taken the news pretty hard, but instantly recovered as she went into survival mode. She had said something about finding her stepparents in Jekyll Rock and making sure they were going to be safe.
Julian had made Silas’ job more difficult. Julian, as well as Kaden, thought that all they needed was to use the medallions to activate Marenon’s Map; to use it as a colossal weapon against the Stühocs. But only Silas and Inga knew the truth. Silas needed the medallions to obtain the Gatekeeper’s power for himself. The pedestal standing in front of Marenon’s Map would open up to Silas, and he would become the most powerful being in Marenon. He wished he knew what that even meant.
The Gatekeeper had said that Silas would need Inga to help him control the magical ability he would gain. Silas couldn’t even imagine what it must be like to have that kind of power. He knew people looked to him for leadership now – how much more would they expect from him when he had the magic to face Anithistor?
Kaden rubbed the orange jewel at the center of the medallion. “This wouldn’t save us even if we did have the other four medallions. We don’t have time to get help from the Erellens.”
“Do you think we stand a chance?” Silas asked.
Kaden shrugged. “You tell me. You saw the army. We’ll only have a few thousand fighters, so I guess we’ll be outnumbered about ten to one.”
More like thirty to one, Silas thought, but he