A new hope bloomed in Ethan's mind. He didn't know everything that may have happened to Gideon since his abduction at Macedon. Clearly other factors were at work, even if Gideon hadn't been willing to voice them. Maybe he couldn't say anything. What if Mordred was controlling Gideon in some way? Frustrated, Ethan tried to figure it out, but kept coming up blank.
At any rate, he had to report back to the Temple with his information. He had already lost precious hours lying there unconscious. As Ethan stood, he saw the same two soldiers he had noticed lying unconscious when he had startled Gideon. They were still out cold-obviously dealt a worse beating than he had received.
Ethan decided to leave them there for the moment. They would wake or be discovered soon enough. He said a quick prayer for wisdom, pertaining to Gideon, then shifted onto the spiritual plane for a quick journey back to the Temple.
Gideon sat in a back alley behind a group of homes not far from the palace of King Stephen. The night had brought him cover and cool air to clear his head. He had failed. Ethan had been his to destroy…if only he'd actually wanted to. But, despite his son remaining Mordred's prisoner and all that it entailed, Gideon had not been able to bring himself to kill his friend-his brother in The Order.
Moreover, Ethan had not tried to kill him. As he might have suspected, Isaiah would have sent someone to assassinate him after finding out that he was responsible for betraying The Order to Mordred and his soldiers. Ethan had said as much. And yet, the boy had not taken him by surprise to kill him when he had stopped Stephen's assassination. Neither had he used his power to do so after they were confronted with one another. Despite his righteous indignation, Ethan had sought information rather than revenge.
Gideon, at that moment, made a resolution. He knew he couldn't bring himself to kill Ethan. It just wasn't going to happen. During all this time, Shaddai had spared his life despite his betrayal. He bowed his head, having come to the end of himself. 'My lord, I have failed you time and again. Yet you have spared my life. I have not trusted you with my fate as I should have. I allowed my wife's death to blind me to your sovereign control rather than surrendering myself to your will in taking her. My son remains in Mordred's hands, but you are the one in control even now. If it is your will to spare my son, then nothing can prevent it. If it is not your will, then I trust he will be safe in your loving arms, only I beg you, do not allow Mordred to raise him up not knowing you. Nevertheless, your will be done. As for me, forgive me. I will fight against this enemy with every ounce of strength you will give me, regardless of what it may cost me personally. Have your way, Lord Shaddai. Amen.'
Gideon opened his eyes, feeling suddenly refreshed. He felt as though a great weight had been removed. He was free again. But what to do now? He didn't feel as though he should approach Ethan or The Order again. He'd just tried to assassinate the King of Wayland, so trying there was out. It appeared he would be on his own. Still, an attack by Mordred's army was coming. Perhaps there was plenty he could do against them. Maybe he could even face down the warlord himself.
Ethan arrived at the Wayland Temple in short order to find the priests preparing for battle. Robe colors may have been different, but hopefully their deadly techniques remained the same as those employed where Gideon had trained him in Nod. Ethan was escorted to a small room, near their armory, where Isaiah, Seth, Levi and some of the other priests busily reviewed maps of the region and the city of Evelah in anticipation of the coming siege.
Isaiah and the others looked up as Ethan was ushered into the room. 'Ethan, I'm so glad to see you back safely,' Isaiah said. 'I was beginning to worry when nightfall came and you had not returned.'
'The journey didn't take as long as what happened during and after,' Ethan said.
'Something tells me you didn't just spy on them,' Levi said sarcastically.
Ethan stepped toward the table next to Levi. 'Did you really think I would?' he whispered.
'Well I suppose scolding you for not doing as I asked is a moot point, since you've come back safely,' Isaiah said. 'What did you find?'
All eyes in the room fell upon him. What were they going to face? Would they be able to withstand the coming onslaught? Who would survive and who in this room had only hours to live? These questions and more were written upon their faces.
'I saw at least fifty ships-huge flat carriers mingled among many of Mordred's Man-o-wars-all within a days sailing of the Northern Shore,' Ethan said. 'The barges were loaded down with engines of war: catapults and the like. And the crew on at least one consisted of those same half man, half beast soldiers we found in the Pine Forest.'
'A day's travel,' said one of the senior priests, 'how will we ever prepare in time?'
'They'll be closer by now,' Ethan corrected. 'I may have slowed them down a bit with an attack on one of the barges, but I was delayed in getting back to you.'
'Did you run into more demons?' Levi asked.
'Well, yes, but that's not what delayed me,' Ethan said.
Isaiah watched him intently. 'Something else, Ethan? What was it?'
Isaiah's eyes looked as though he may have picked up the answer in Ethan's expression a moment before he actually said it. 'I found Gideon,' he said.
Only those who knew of the priest and his betrayal of the Nodian Order reacted to the statement. The others barely seemed curious. Isaiah prompted Ethan on. 'And?'
'I had paused on my way back to the Temple in order to hear what King Stephen was saying in his address to the people,' Ethan said. 'While I was there, Gideon tried to assassinate the King.'
Now the other priests grew anxious as well. 'Assassinate the King?' one of them said. 'He wasn't successful was he-I mean we would have heard wouldn't we?' he said looking at the brethren of his own Order.
'He was not successful,' Ethan said. 'I stopped him.'
'You stopped him?' Levi asked suspiciously. 'Do you mean you killed him, Ethan?'
'No, I didn't kill him.' He noticed Seth and Levi both let out a captured breath, relieved at the news.
Isaiah also appeared to notice their reaction, but he kept his attention on Ethan. 'What did happen when you confronted Gideon?'
'Master, I would have destroyed him straightaway, as instructed, but I had to find whether he had been somehow bewitched by Mordred or his demons-coerced in some way.'
'And was he?' Isaiah asked.
'I couldn't get an answer out of him,' Ethan said. 'We fought as I tried to question him, but he only said that, what was done was done and that I was the only loose end which remained.'
Isaiah shut his eyes to hide his emotional pain. 'Then he has truly betrayed us, as I feared,' he said.
'I'm not so sure,' Ethan countered.
'What do you mean?' Levi asked.
'He may have intended to kill me, but when I provoked him further, he got the better of me,' Ethan said. Somehow, it didn't bother him to admit that Gideon had bested him. Ethan knew in his heart that he still admired the man, still loved him as a brother. 'Gideon managed to knock me unconscious, but as you can see, he didn't kill me.'
Isaiah and Levi gave one another puzzled looks. Seth smiled quietly to himself. Clearly, hope for Gideon's fate still flickered in their hearts as well. Finally one of the senior priests, Emory, of the Wayland Order spoke up. 'We've no time to concern ourselves over one man. Mordred is coming with his thousands to lay siege to Evelah. For all we know, they may be landing on our shores as we speak.'
'You're quite right, Emory,' Isaiah said, clearly relieved that he didn't have the time to make a further judgment on Gideon's fate at the moment. 'As War Master here at the Temple, you stand in charge while your High Priest is still ill. I and my men will do everything we can to assist you in preparation. How are the fighting skills of your men? I had noticed that daily routines don't include much actual training in the fighting arts.'
'There's really not been a need,' Emory said. 'We've had a few of our elite warriors train as emergency bodyguards to the King and those who guard Wayland's border outposts, but we've never faced an army.'
Isaiah sighed. 'Then there's no time to lose. Seth and Ethan, along with my other priests, will begin training your men here at the Temple.'
'But we've no time at all,' Emory said.
'Mordred still has to organize and march his army to Evelah,' Isaiah said. 'That time alone may make all the
