conducting business in person as many important people in his kingdom had been killed. Alric wondered how much the king hated the Dunarians. They had killed his general and possessed four of the six medallions. Surely he had to be getting nervous. That is unless this weapon that Coffman found proved to be something bigger than any of them could imagine.
Alric watched as the crowd gathered around Anithistor. Next to him were several people who looked important, and then there was General Mintuk. Anithistor looked up at the caged prisoners individually and his gaze finally rested on Daewyn.
“All too humorous to see the son of the Erellen king trapped in a cage,” Anithistor said. His voice was higher than Alric expected, almost shrill, but it lost no power. “I expect you will tell me that I can do anything I want with you, but Jiaros Florelle will never give in to my demands.”
“Yeah, something like that,” Daewyn said.
“I assure you, I have no intention of bargaining with your father. I simply want to make an example of you. I want to make him feel pain and anger. After what we do to you, he will attack us in a rage, and we will crush him easily enough.”
“Do what you want, but my father is not a fool.”
“You are right. But he is a father.” Anithistor turned away from Daewyn and looked at Mintuk. “Who are the other two?”
Mintuk shook his head. “I don’t know who they are, but they were trying to steal the medallion.” He patted his chest as if to say that it was still safe with him.
Anithistor’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you want to steal the medallion?” he called up to them.
Nalani and Alric kept silent.
“No matter,” Anithistor said after moment. “I am told the Pyramid will be completed in two more days. I’m sure the three of you would be honored to be first Soldiers of the Dead for my army.”
They glanced at each other, confused.
“You like the name I’ve given it? Soldiers of the Dead?”
“I will die before I’m part of your army,” Daewyn yelled out.
“Precisely,” Anithistor said, and then turned and left.
Chapter Twenty
Not a word was spoken on their trip to the Erellen city, Jarul. As soon as they had arrived, Lorcan was taken away to the prison cells while Inga, Kaden and Silas were questioned for more than an hour. They had tried to ask what Lorcan had done to deserve such treatment, but there was no getting any information out of the guards. The Erellen who had arrested them, Teymus, had said that Lorcan was wanted for murder. Silas found murder hard to believe. He had asked Inga what she thought, but she didn’t have much to say. She didn’t think Lorcan would be capable of cold-blooded murder, but he had also kept from her the fact that he was a wanted criminal. There was plenty of reason to believe he had been hiding something bigger all along.
Silas had been so exhausted that he had barely been able to take in the beauty of Elysium. It was a territory inhabited only by Erellens and the citizens intended for it to stay that way. It was rumored throughout the land that Erellens wanted Elysium to be its own country, set apart from Marenon. Most considered its lush, green land to simply be a province of Marenon, which in technicality, it was, but the Erellens didn’t see it that way. No person could simply walk into Elysium and not expect to be questioned about his purpose for being there. In the northern part of Elysium was Jarul. It was the largest and most magnificent city in all of Marenon. Most Erellens lived there, though there were other little towns and villages surrounding it. Many referred to it as the Golden City. It was said that at on a clear day at sunset, the sun’s rays made the city look as though it were made of solid gold. Lavish architecture and massive walkways interlaced throughout the city made one feel rich just being there.
It was the perfect balance between a constructed city and a natural wonder. With waterfalls surrounding the city’s western edge, it would seem to a passerby that they had stumbled into some sort of paradise. Silas had only seen some of this, however. When they were arrested, their escort marched them northward until dawn. They rested for a few minutes, but kept walking all day until the afternoon. That was when they