Passages: Darien's Rise

The Rat leads Kyle to Anastasia's cottage at Walton Stone, then disappears. Anastasia agrees to help Kyle return home until she takes his hand and realizes that he is chosen by the Unseen One. Terrified, she orders him away, but Lawrence and General Liddell arrive before he can escape. Lawrence recognizes Kyle as the boy who protected Darien and decides that Kyle will now be his own lucky charm.

Lawrence commands Anastasia to call up the dead Old Judge. When she speaks his name, the Judge appears and rebukes the king. Lawrence has ignored every warning, rejected the Unseen One, and led Maris toward disaster. The kingdom has been taken from his hands, and death awaits him. The Judge also tells Kyle that he should have trusted and waited. Then the vision vanishes, and Lawrence drags Kyle away as his supposed protector.

Back in Liza, Anna sees everything that has happened at the cottage. Before she can understand the vision, Adrian soldiers seize the undefended town and hold its civilians hostage. Baron Orkzy explains that the Adrians will kill them unless Darien returns. The threat is meant to prevent his army from helping Lawrence.

Darien receives the demand and turns back. Rather than approach Liza by the expected road, his army circles around the town and launches a surprise attack. The furious assault drives out the Adrians and frees the hostages, but the delay keeps Darien from reaching Lawrence's army.

Lawrence ignores Liddell's warnings and concentrates his forces in the Valley of the Rocks, where the Palatians can surround them. He believes Kyle's presence will protect him. The Palatians break through the lines, the royal guard falls, and Lawrence's sons rush into battle. Kyle watches as each prince is struck down, with George the last to fall.

Lawrence flees into the rocks with Kyle and hides in the same cave Darien once used. As enemy soldiers approach, the frightened king gives Kyle a sword and orders the boy to kill him rather than let him be captured. Kyle refuses. Realizing that his end has come, Lawrence dies by his own hand after begging the Unseen One's forgiveness. A Palatian soldier then strikes Kyle down.

When Darien learns that Lawrence and George are dead, his men begin to cheer. Darien silences them. Whatever Lawrence has done, he was the chosen king, and Darien will not celebrate his death. Anna confirms that Darien is king now and that he will defeat the Palatians, though victory will cost Maris dearly. Darien leaves for Sarum while Anna stays behind to find Kyle.

In her room at the Liza hotel, Anna suddenly sees broken boards and peeling wallpaper in place of the furniture. A flash of light carries her back to the abandoned house near her grandparents' home. Kyle lies injured on the floor below. Anna runs for help, and Kyle spends the night in the Odyssey hospital with a bruised back and a possible concussion. Although months seemed to pass in Maris, only minutes have passed at home.

Kyle confesses that he enjoyed being important and forgot who had given him his gift. He should have listened to Anna and waited instead of following the Rat. Anna assures him that the Unseen One is present in their own world too. They may no longer have the same powers or mission, but they are still chosen. Together, they begin wondering what they have been chosen to do in Odyssey.