The Keep

by Bella Forrest

  The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 4: The Keep

  Bella Forrest

  Nightlight

  Copyright © 2017 by Bella Forrest

  Nightlight

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Read more by Bella Forrest

  Chapter 1

  Alex stared in shock as Professor Lintz emerged from the hallway, stepping into the light of the courtyard. The professor grinned as he caught sight of his former students, his moustache twitching upward. It was strange to see him out of his usual professor’s robes; he was now clad in muted, gray attire that looked oddly formal, like a uniform of some sort, with shiny brass buttons and a high, stiff collar. An emblem resembling a small castle was emblazoned on the pocket.

  Alex wondered how it was that the professor had come to be here. They had thought him dead, and seeing him alive and kicking was a much-needed dose of positivity. Still, Alex couldn’t get one thought out of his mind: If Lintz was here, then what did that mean for the state of Spellshadow Manor? He was about to ask, when Lintz cut in.

  “Welcome, my dear creatures, to Kingstone Keep!” the professor boomed, moving toward the group. He reached out to shake Alex’s hand. “Good to see you, boy! Glad you could finally make it. It’s such a pleasure to see you all!”

  As happy as Lintz seemed, Alex detected a hint of agitation in the old man’s eyes. In between welcoming the others and doling out firm handshakes, his gaze flickered toward the moss-covered wall, where the portal to Stillwater had just disappeared.

  It seemed the professor shared Alex’s anxiety where Alypia was concerned. The portal was gone, but for how long, Alex had no idea; he could only hope the damage done by the golden beasts, forged from the life essence of his pilfered bottles, was enough to keep the vengeful Headmistress at bay—at least for a short while.

  “Professor, how can you be here?” Alex asked.

  “We thought we lost you!” Natalie added.

  “Not lost at all, my dears, simply displaced. With the Head back in charge, it was stay and die or run and live… It is a treat to my old eyes to see you all in one piece, and I will tell you all you want to know in good time, I promise. But, for now, we must be on our way,” Lintz insisted, checking an invisible watch on his wrist. “The prisoners will be waking up soon, and I’d like you to have as little contact with them as possible.” He urged them away from the courtyard, with its tall, imposing walls, and pushed them toward the shadows of the hallway he had emerged from moments before.

  Alex paused in alarm as another figure appeared in the corridor, blocking their way. Then his lips curved into a smile as he realized who it was. Master Demeter.

  “Alex! Well, well, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it swim,” Demeter chortled. The others looked toward Alex in bemusement, but Alex had no clue how to describe the unique nature of Master Demeter; he was a person to be experienced, not explained. “It’s so lovely to meet you all. I’ve heard so much—all of it good, worry not.”

  The auburn-haired man seemed anxious, as if waiting for instruction from Lintz. When Lintz nodded insistently, Demeter gestured toward the corridor with a flamboyant wave of his arms.

  “Follow me. You’re very welcome at Kingstone Keep, but make sure you wipe your feet. Wouldn’t want you traipsing any dirt in,” Demeter smirked as he led the others into the keep itself, which looked less than pristine, with its grimy walls and slick floor.

  Alex noticed that Demeter was dressed in the same gray uniform that Lintz wore, and wondered about its significance. Demeter’s presence here filled Alex with a multitude of questions.

  Glancing back, Alex spotted Lintz flitting about the courtyard. From a battered leather bag, Lintz pulled two large, beetle-like clockwork objects and affixed them to the wall. He pressed his palms to the sleek metallic carapaces of the beetles and began to layer his glimmering magic into them. The beetles sparked to life with a ripple of golden light and scuttled along the damp masonry, their clockwork legs moving swiftly. They were beautifully crafted, as all of Lintz’s clockwork was, but Alex wasn’t sure of their purpose. Every so often, the beetles would stop, their glinting silver antennae twitching, before moving on again in an apparently random fashion. Alex had stalled, mesmerized.

  “Alex! You’re dopey today,” Demeter called. “Hurry up!”

  “Sorry,” Alex muttered as he ducked into the corridor and joined the others. They were looking at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

  “Demeter’s quite the joker,” whispered Jari.

  “He is,” Alex replied quietly, “though his jokes don’t always land.”

  “Understatement of the century,” Jari breathed.

  “How do you two know each other?” asked Natalie, gesturing to Demeter.

  “He was the teacher I was telling you about. The only one I had at Stillwater,” Alex explained, raising his voice.

  Demeter nodded. “Indeed, Alex is the first student I’ve had in a long time. Like a sponge, this one, soaking everything up. Knowledge is next to godliness, after all,” he enthused, with an ill-executed wink that looked more like a slow, uncoordinated blink. It made Alex and the others smile in spite of themselves. It was hard not to warm to Demeter.

  “Come on! We need to hurry,” said Lintz, his chest heaving as he caught up with them, despite the short distance.

  His manner definitely more agitated now, Lintz led the group through a series of grim hallways barely lit by the flicker of rusted torches. Behind the narrow grates in the center of the moldering, wooden doors that lined the corridors, Alex was certain he could see the glitter of black, silent eyes, watching them pass by. The rooms appeared to be cells, the doors locked. On more than one occasion, he thought he heard a whisper, or the sound of something scraping the wood from beyond the doorways, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled in defense. There was a sour, ancient smell to the place; it seemed to loom around them, the scent so thick and overwhelming it was almost tangible. It made Alex uneasy, and he saw the others seemed to share his feelings, as they glanced about anxiously, pinching their noses against the stench.

  Feeling the urge to distract himself from the dark labyrinth that surrounded them, Alex moved up to walk beside Lintz.

  “How do you know Master Demeter?” he asked.

  “Ah, a fine man indeed. It was something of a serendipitous meeting,” began Lintz with a sigh. “He’s been feeding information back to me from Stillwater since I escaped here from Spellshadow, so I could make sure you were all okay. He’s a talented fellow, to say the least, with a useful skillset. He’s been most helpful in keeping an eye on
all of you. My inside man, if you like—or he was, until he got himself sent back here.”

  Demeter shrugged. “Once a rebel, always a rebel. My teaching always seems to end with a dismissal,” he murmured, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’m like a monkey, mind you—I always land on my feet.”

  Although Alex was curious about what had caused the auburn-haired man to be sent back, a hundred other questions whirled inside his head.

  “What’s with the uniforms?” he asked, pointing at the identical gray clothes the two men wore.

  “Guards,” said Lintz simply, gesturing toward himself.

  “You’re guards here?”

  Lintz nodded. “In a manner of speaking. There haven’t been any others wandering these halls for a while, so we thought we’d step up and pretend to be freshly employed sentries—rather successfully, I might add. The other guards pretty much keep themselves permanently occupied in their private quarters, after Demeter…encouraged them to do so. They were crueler than Demeter liked, and we decided it might be easier with just the two of us. Less to worry about.” A hint of a wink passed between the two apparent friends. “Demeter was already a guard when I arrived, and he found a way to get me promoted. I was in charge while he had his brief sojourn in Stillwater House though, I’ll have you know.” He grinned.

  “I just gave him a uniform and he ran with it,” Demeter chuckled. “It’s been the two of us ever since, aside from my short vacation.” A half-amused, half-serious look darkened the ex-teacher’s face.

  “So, this place is a prison?” Alex asked, wanting to confirm his suspicions.

  “Precisely. This place is teeming with fearsome mages. The ones who disobey, the ones who are too powerful, the ones who don’t abide by the status quo, the ones who run away—they’re all here,” replied Lintz, gesturing to the walls around them. “All this is ruled by a warden called Caius. Another royal, though this one is a real nasty piece of work—you haven’t seen anything until you’ve witnessed what Caius can do.”

  “Who is he exactly?” Alex asked.

  “He’s the uncle of Alypia and the Head of Spellshadow. He rarely bothers to show his face around here due to a limp in his leg, but one shouldn't underestimate him. A very dangerous man I sincerely hope you never have to meet. I’ll endeavor to keep you all hidden from him, until I can get you out.” A quiver of fear hovered in Lintz’s voice.

  If even Lintz is afraid of this man, how much of a monster must this Caius be?

  Looking around, his brow furrowed, Alex questioned why there was so little in the way of security, if this place was full of magical prisoners. Lintz had spoken of a small number of other guards tucked away in their private quarters—they must really have been keeping themselves to themselves, because Alex and his friends hadn’t passed any, and they had been walking for a while. Though there was no mistaking the eyes of the countless individuals peering at them from the locked cells of countless corridors, giving Alex the sense of a large number of inmates… definitely more than would be expected with such minimal security. It didn’t make sense to him, unless this Caius figure truly was a force to be reckoned with, so powerful and fearsome that even hardened criminals were afraid of him. The thought unnerved Alex.

  “Why are there—”

  Lintz raised his finger to his lips, sharply cutting Alex off.

  “This isn’t the time for questions. I’ll explain everything once we’re away from listening ears,” Lintz hissed.

  Alex’s heart pounded as the group walked through a broader hallway, with a few doors off to either side. The whisper of threatening voices susurrated around them.

  “Why don’t you come over here and let me get a closer look?” a deep voice cackled.

  “Fresh meat!” another growled, followed closely by the sound of lips smacking.

  “Open the door… I’m innocent… Please open the door… I’m so scared here in the dark,” begged a third—somehow more alarming than the other two. This voice was soft and sad, almost feminine, as enticing as the mythological sirens calling sailors to their deaths.

  Alex tried to ignore the sounds, hoping the doors were strong enough to hold back whoever—or whatever—lived inside. Turning to his friends, he saw the same fear on their faces as they tried to keep as far away from the doors as possible, their eyes staring dead ahead at the dark depths of Kingstone Keep, hoping their journey would soon end.

  Lintz led them for what felt like forever. No matter how quiet they were, it appeared as if the inmates could smell them, the group’s presence drawing the prisoners to the grates. There was real evil within these walls—Alex could sense it.

  He guessed this must be the place Helena said people were “sent to” if they didn’t follow the rules. It saddened him to think there were young people in here too, locked up in the darkness, their freedom snatched away, forced to live alongside truly vile individuals who deserved the chains they wore.

  Finally, just as Alex thought his nerves couldn’t take any more, Lintz stopped them at the edge of a wide, bright common room. The walls were pale and dry, and sunlight shone on the flagstones. It would have been close to pleasant, had it not been eerily empty.

  A sudden wave of nausea crashed over Alex, and a stabbing pain coursed through him. Wincing, he pressed his hand against the stone wall to steady himself, dragging air into his lungs, his vision growing spotty.

  What’s happening to me? he wanted to scream. Underneath his palm, he felt an intense pulse of power. His anti-magic escaped, unbidden, from between his fingers and snaked into the wall, seeking out the source of the thrumming energy as snowflakes flurried from beneath his skin and drifted to the ground.

  Turning back to the group, Alex saw the blood drain from Lintz’s face.

  “Alex? Oh no, no—” Lintz stuttered. The professor looked toward the walls, which had suddenly begun to glow with a bright red light. The stone crackled, and something almost liquid emerged from within.

  It was too late to run. The red fog surged toward the group in undulating waves. Lintz opened his mouth, as if to warn them, but the fog lunged toward him and poured itself down his throat, silencing his words.

  Alex watched, horrified, as the fog swarmed around his friends, soaking into their skin, rushing into their eyes, flooding their nostrils and mouths, making their bodies shudder. He didn’t know what to do, so he just stood there, holding his breath.

  Once the fog had faded away, returning to the stone, Alex glanced at each one of his friends in turn. Their bodies were no longer shaking. Sighing with relief, he hoped the fog had only been some kind of warning.

  Then, the screaming began.

  Chapter 2

  The whole prison erupted in shrieks that made the very walls tremble. Alex gaped as the faces of his friends distorted into all manner of terrifying masks, their eyes flashing wildly, like those of spooked horses. They looked like changelings—twisted versions of themselves.

  Panicking, Alex moved toward Ellabell, who seemed frozen to the spot, rooted by a paralyzing fear. Hoping to calm her, he reached out to grasp her hand. She whipped toward him and screamed directly in his face, clawing at his neck like a savage animal. When he tried to grab her by the shoulders, she howled, snapping her teeth at him. With the way her eyes darted around, like there were creatures all around her, Alex knew she wasn’t seeing him as he was. Whatever it was she saw, fear was driving her to fight back.

  Alex skirted Ellabell’s frantic blows and retreated to the center of the room, breathing hard. His gaze trailed over to Jari, who was crouched and huddled in a corner, his hands over his ears as he mouthed silent words: “Go away. Please, go away.”

  On the other side of the room, Natalie was staring blankly at one particular section of the common area, tears brimming in her dark eyes, a look of utter despair on her face. She raised a hand in the direction of whatever she was looking at, as if trying to reach out and touch it. Her eyes widened and she let out a harrowing shriek. />
  On the floor, Aamir was trying to physically fight something off, side-stepping and falling backward beneath the movements of some invisible demon. Lintz wept openly in the center of the room, whispering something that sounded a lot like “Derhin,” before collapsing in a heap, where he twisted and turned, as if consumed by fire.

  Everywhere Alex looked, his friends and mentors were fending off unseen horrors, and he had never felt so helpless.

  The only one who seemed to be mentally battling the illusions was Demeter, who was standing still against the far wall, his fists balled so tightly that his knuckles had turned a stark white.

  “This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real,” Demeter intoned, over and over again.

  Alex couldn’t watch anymore. Running toward Ellabell again earned him a smack to the face and several keenly placed punches to the body, but he had an idea he hoped would work. He took a vicious scratch to the neck but managed to grab her wrists, feeding his anti-magic up her arms, focusing his mind to find the errant strands of fog that had taken hold inside her, before dissipating each one. Once they had all evaporated, he ran to the others, avoiding their flailing arms and hoping their deafening screams wouldn’t implode his eardrums as he fed his anti-magic through their bodies, forcing the wispy strands of red fog away.

  The excessive use of anti-magic left him shaky. His weakened state was no surprise, really, considering that he had removed a small piece of his soul during the fight against Alypia. He was mostly running on adrenaline now, but he soldiered on, sweating profusely as his muscles ached and his lungs burned, bringing his friends back to reality one by one. Absorbing the fog made his skin crawl, but it didn’t seem to affect him the way it had the others. His Spellbreaker qualities, he assumed, were acting as a buffer, preventing the fog from seeking him out and putting its spell upon him.