a whisper, but he still heard the soft-spoken voice.
Silas.
He turned to the others, but he knew none of them had spoken.
Silas!
“I’m here,” he said. Normally he would have felt foolish talking to a door, but here it seemed appropriate.
Prove to me that it is you!
Silas shook his head, not knowing how in the world he could do that.
Almost as if it had read his thoughts, the voice continued.
Show me the power of the Meshulan!
Silas had no power, at least not magically. He stood firmly in front of the doors. He knew there was no logic in his actions, but he held out his hands, the staff held firmly in his right hand, and his left held outward. A soft wind from behind the doors started to blow, as they opened toward him slowly. The others held their hands up to shield their eyes from the dust carried by the wind.
Silas accepted it. He didn’t know whether the light would destroy him or not, but he didn’t care. It was warm and welcoming. He embraced it and let it engulf his body. Then as quickly as it had come, it wavered. The bright light had changed to a softer white glow. That glow surrounded what looked to be a person. It was a man in white, but his face was blurred with the light, and Silas realized why the feeling had been so familiar. This was the same form that had met him on the mountain in Mudavé. At that time, Silas had been injured and was trying to race to the top when he fell and was caught by Alric Thirsk. It had seemed as though time stood still when the figure had told him to choose the right path, and that Silas would know what that path was. It was a scene in his mind that he played back every night.
Now that same figure stood before him, waiting to speak with him again. Silas turned to the others, but they were frozen in place.
“Silas,” the man said.
“Are you the Gatekeeper?” Silas asked him.
“No.”
“Then who are you?”
“A messenger. An apparition, left here by the Gatekeeper himself.”
“I saw you in Mudavé. You told me that I would always know the right path. You said that day was my first test as the Meshulan. Did I pass?”
“That was not me,” the man said. “It was another apparition sent to you by the Gatekeeper. We are here for but a single purpose, and when that purpose is fulfilled, we fade into oblivion. The apparition you saw in Mudavé is gone forever, as I will be when I have told you what the Gatekeeper wishes to tell you.”
“Why are the others frozen?”
“The message is for you,” the man answered. “If you wish to tell the others, that is your right, but I am not here for them.”
Silas swallowed hard, taking one more look back at his frozen companions. “Go on then.”
“The Gatekeeper is in hiding. He wants you to know that he has taken shelter within Erellen territory. You must travel to Elysium and speak with the Erellen king in order to find him.”
Silas was confused. Why was the Gatekeeper making this so difficult? All Silas needed to do was find out what the Gatekeeper wanted to tell him, but he was making it impossible.
“Why does he need to hide? Is he not the all-powerful Gatekeeper?”
“His magic is failing him, Silas. You know this already. The Gatekeeper is not immortal. Not any longer, at least. His life is now threatened by those that wish to destroy you.”
So that was it. The Stühocs were trying to kill the Gatekeeper.
“Why did the Gatekeeper let Jessup stay behind?” Silas asked. “Why did he let him die? He could have left one of you to tell us where he was couldn’t he?”
“The Gatekeeper’s magic is failing, Silas. Jessup knew it would cost him more power to leave another apparition. I am nearly the last of his power. He left me here as the only clue to his whereabouts. An apparition such as myself can speak to no one other than whom the message is intended. Should an apparition be approached by another, it would die.”
“So that’s why you have the statues’ protection then?”
“That is why.”
It all made sense, though it was frustrating to have undergone so much danger only to be told they would have to travel to Elysium.
“There is a storm ahead of you, Silas Ainsley. Be ready.”
The apparition then disappeared as though it was part of