The Marenon Chronicles Collection - By Jason D. Morrow Page 0,37

be warmer than the environment they were confronting now. A new energy came over the group and their pace accelerated. When they finally reached the cave, they could see that the path spiraled downward. This was good news. The further down they went, the warmer it would become. At least, this was what Silas was hoping. Downward they traveled and the longer they walked the more feeling their limbs gained. The shivering wasn’t so uncontrollable. Along the way, breaks in the shallow cave let in some light from the outside.

After about fifteen minutes they came to a spot that seemed like a good place to rest. It was still freezing, but they had to take a moment. Silas told everyone to sit and many immediately dropped to the muddy floor and began to rub their cold, aching limbs. Silas sat and rubbed his toes fervently as Dink sat next to him.

“You hanging in there?” he asked, pulling his clothes tight to his chest.

Silas nodded. “As best as I can I suppose.” He scanned the group, wondering what had sent them all there. There were young, old, men, and women. What were their stories? He barely understood his own. Bits and pieces made pictures in his mind, but it was still confusing.

“So, what about you?” Silas asked. “How did you die? Any memories coming back to you?”

Dink sat for a moment, thinking. “I remember driving a large truck, but I can’t remember what I was hauling, it’s all kind of blurry. It was dark and my lights weren’t working, I remember that. Next thing I know I was floating above my truck and it was on fire. I then woke up in some room and I went into a corridor. That’s where I met you. What’s your story?”

Silas wished he could remember the details. His story was bizarre, he knew that much. He could remember creatures all around his body and that he was killed by some man, but the details were fuzzy.

“I was killed,” he said. “I can’t remember why I was killed, but I was.” He decided to leave the evil creatures out of his description for obvious reasons. He wasn’t even sure if it was real.

Dink’s eyes brightened and he sat up intently. “How?” he asked almost too excited.

“I think,” he hesitated. “I think I was stabbed with a sword.” This triggered something in his mind, a memory, a person. Kaden Osric? This was the man that killed him. Silas stood in realization, forgetting to conceal his thoughts from Dink.

“That’s right! It was Kaden. Kaden stabbed me?” Why? Then it hit him. “The Stühocs!”

“The what?” Dink’s look of surprise instantly turned to confusion.

Silas realized his error immediately and tried to recover. “Nothing,” he said. “It’s just … I realized now why I’m here. A man named Kaden Osric killed me.”

Dink snorted. “You seem happy about it.”

Silas was not angry for some reason. He remembered that Kaden said it was better to be dead than captured by the Stühocs. The Stühocs … Maroke! Yes, it was all coming back to him quickly as if his head were opened from the top and someone was pouring his memories in from a pitcher. He was in Marenon, Barron had confirmed this. Kaden had said that he was from Marenon and his grandfather Garland was there too. It was all part of some plan. What that plan was, Silas still had no clue, but it had gone horribly wrong. Silas was not supposed to die. The plan had not being carried out like it should have been.

Silas stood and began to walk away from Dink, lost in his thoughts.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m just remembering what happened,” Silas answered, pacing. His thoughts led him to where he was now.

Silas was dead and Kaden had been captured according to what Silas had seen just before his flight through space, to the room and corridor. Unless he had been killed, Kaden was a prisoner of Maroke and the Stühocs. But if Kaden were dead, then wouldn’t he be with Silas now? If this were true, then it would be possible for Maroke and the others to make it into Marenon through the gate that had been opened in the cave. But none of this would matter if Silas didn’t survive to make it beyond the river into Marenon.

Silas came out of his dazed state when Dink tapped him on the shoulder. He shook his head. “What?”

“I said, I think everyone is ready to