The Keep

by Bella Forrest

  After he had dissipated the last of the red strands, Alex sank to the ground, exhausted. The rest of the prison still echoed with screams from the other residents, the sounds burning into Alex’s mind.

  Lintz was the first to rally the group. “With me!” he insisted, running for one of the doors.

  They all followed, Alex falling behind, helped along by Aamir and Ellabell. Lintz hurried them out of the common room and through a door on the far side, entering a smaller, circular room that seemed to be inside a large tower of some sort. Lintz quickly urged them up a set of stairs to another room, above the first.

  Stepping through the door to this final sanctuary, Alex noticed how quiet it was—the screaming was almost inaudible here.

  Glancing around, he could see everyone was shaken by what had just happened, but he was too weak to offer more than a cursory look of empathy. His body was on the edge of collapse. Aamir helped Alex over to a moth-eaten chaise longue, where he settled him onto the dusty cushions.

  “You okay?” Aamir asked, his dark eyebrows furrowing.

  “I will be,” Alex breathed. “I-I just need a minute.”

  Ellabell came to his side. “What you did back there—that was incredible… Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Just need to catch my breath,” Alex insisted, but no one looked convinced. The faces staring back at him were pale and uncertain. Even Lintz looked shaken as he settled in an armchair across the room, a plume of dust rising as he sank onto the ancient upholstery.

  “What was that red fog, anyway?” Natalie asked, turning to the professors.

  A regretful expression fell across Lintz’s face. “A security measure, put in place by Caius to keep the inmates in order. Magic is woven throughout the keep’s walls, and it can spring at any moment, though it’s usually in response to something it doesn’t like—something it’s threatened by,” he admitted, turning to Alex. “Sorry I didn’t inform you earlier. I didn’t know your anti-magic would react in such a way.”

  “So this is why there aren’t many guards on duty,” concluded Alex, still trying to regulate his breathing.

  “Yup,” Lintz replied grimly. “Why have guards when you can have terrifying, mind-altering magic? Most of the mages could overthrow any guard you threw their way. Caius’s evil measures keep everyone in line—there isn’t a mage here who isn’t afraid of him and his Pandora’s box of tricks. They come in all kinds of dark and shocking forms, using methods of torture you couldn’t even imagine. Nobody is safe, not even the guards… as you saw.”

  “It’s in the walls? Like barrier magic?” asked Alex.

  “It’s everywhere in the keep.”

  The barrier at Spellshadow had been seemingly impenetrable, so it was no surprise to Alex that Kingstone was no different. Still, he wondered at the barrier’s strength. Ignoring the gasp of alarm from the others, Alex reached out to touch the wall behind him. He was careful not to let his anti-magic escape from beneath his skin, though he could feel the impulse to retaliate blistering inside him as he pressed his palm against the stone. Whatever the barrier magic was made from, it was far stronger than the barrier around Spellshadow; he could feel it actively pushing against him. He could well believe it would zap back if it didn’t like what it felt, and Alex had provoked it in some way.

  As if reading Alex’s mind, Lintz gestured toward him. “You must have done something it really didn’t like, for it to react that intensely. The ‘nightmare fog,’ as we like to call it, is a rarer evil in Caius’s armory—one we try to avoid at all costs.”

  “I didn’t realize I was doing it,” Alex said, rubbing at his neck.

  “How’d these prisoners get here, anyway?” Jari asked, his hazel eyes wide as he looked from Lintz to Demeter. “They must have done something really nasty to end up in a place like this.”

  “It varies,” Demeter murmured. “Some are the vilest criminals you could ever come across, while some are simply here because they did something the royals and the nobles didn’t like. Either way, they all have a death sentence.”

  Alex frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Every prison sentence is a death sentence here,” Lintz explained. “At the end of a sentence, be it three years or a hundred years, Caius comes to remove the prisoner’s life essence and bottles it for further use.”

  “Like at the schools,” Aamir said quietly.

  “Yes,” Lintz replied, “only this essence is matured to such a point that it is the most potent of all the havens—really strong stuff. Here, it is quality over quantity.”

  “But how could someone be in here for one hundred years? That is ridiculous,” stated Natalie, her expression incredulous.

  “Well, magic does things to a person,” said Demeter. “It can extend the life of a mage long past what would be considered natural in the outside world, especially for very powerful mages. Take Caius, for example—he is known to be several hundred years old, and he’s not the only one to reach such lofty years. Some of the essence collected here is extremely old and, as a result, extraordinarily strong.”

  Alex let the information sink in, his mind racing with questions. He wondered if that meant Caius was alive during the Spellbreaker battles, and what that meant for Alypia and the Head—how old did that make them? His curiosity was in overdrive, but he could also feel the cold, sluggish creep of exhaustion working its way through his bones.

  There was one question he felt compelled to get off his chest, however.

  “So are the Stillwater students here too? The ones who tried to run?” he asked, remembering Helena’s words again.

  Demeter gave a heavy-hearted sigh. “They are, but you won’t find them in a good state. Despite my best efforts in my time here, I haven’t been able to prevent a single one from losing their mind. This place has a terrible effect on the young and hopeful; it steals their souls as well as their sanity. The keep is particularly cruel to those who don’t deserve to be here.”

  “They can’t be helped?” Alex pressed.

  Demeter shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve tried. Some seem fine for a while, but then their sanity simply leaves. It can take days, weeks, months, years, but every single one crumbles the same way. It’s like a disease—it starts slow, with secret whispers. Then the scrape of nails on the wall. Then their eyes go wild and their howls fill the air, and they become something more animal than human. I can’t stop it—they are lost to me, once the madness takes them.”

  It shook Alex to think there was nothing to be done for those students who had been brought here from Stillwater House, especially as their assistance would have been appreciated, and he could have tried to repay them with true freedom, one day. But, if what Demeter said was true, they were lost for good.

  A dread-tinged silence filled the room.

  “So, you promised you’d tell us how you both ended up here,” Jari said, breaking the tension as he lay on the floor, propping himself up on his elbows.

  “Ah, an excellent story. Well, this fine gentleman found me sprawled on my caboose after bounding through an ill-placed portal, following quite the hair-raising journey,” chuckled Lintz, nudging Demeter in the arm. “I’d had a rough time after high-tailing it from Spellshadow, once that devilish little weakling returned with his gang of cronies, and that darned other place wasn’t much friendlier. I barely got out in one piece!”

  Alex assumed “that darned other place” was the mysterious fourth haven, Falleaf House. In his mind, the four havens were connected in a sort of ring, so it made sense that the next one along, the one between here and Spellshadow, should be the undiscovered realm of Falleaf. However, it didn’t quite sound like the sanctuary Alex was hoping to find. He wondered whether or not he’d ever get to see what Falleaf had to offer—and whether he even wanted to. Kingstone would have to serve as their escape route for now.

  I suppose it’s better the devil you know, he mused.

  “So after giving him a guard’s uniform, I made it so it
was just the two of us on duty, so nobody suspected he hadn’t always been here. Our job is easy thanks to the barrier magic,” the auburn-haired man piped up. “I, on the other hand, was a former teacher at Stillwater, but I got sent here a long time ago for telling one too many Spellbreaker stories to my students… There were complaints.”

  “Phooey! Your stories are wonderful,” insisted Lintz.

  “Very kind of you. Alas, fortune favors the ignorant,” Demeter quipped. “Then, they have the audacity to waltz back through here, asking after me, wanting me to teach a student again. Naturally, I got on my high hat and said, ‘Not a chance,’ but then—”

  “But I persuaded him otherwise. I had a feeling it was you, Alex, and I asked if Demeter here wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on you all, to make sure you were safe.” Lintz smiled encouragingly.

  “Oh goodness, I was thrilled to be meeting a real-life Spellbreaker—if they’d led with that, I’d have been over there like a bullet, but it was Lintz here who told me what you were and who you were. And I have to say, you met my expectations and then some!” Demeter gushed.

  Alex hardly thought himself worthy of that accolade. All he’d done in his lessons with Demeter was encourage the teacher to keep speaking so he wouldn’t have to do any actual work.

  “Mind you, I made him promise to get you all out if anything bad happened,” Lintz added.

  “Yes, then I was sent back for not toeing the line,” said Demeter, nodding to Lintz. “Alypia thought I was up to my old tricks…”

  “Gosh, yes, quite the wrench in the works!”

  “Fortunately, you seemed to have that all in your fingers, didn’t you, Alex?” said Demeter.

  Alex wondered if Demeter’s dismissal had something to do with the reason he was being disciplined when Alex had caught sight of him in the windowless study room. He made a mental note to ask him about it later, in private.

  “I’m not sure I had it quite in hand, but we got out.” Alex shrugged, subtly correcting Demeter’s phrasing.

  “Ah, speaking of getting out, we need to get you all out of the magical realm as soon as possible,” announced Lintz. “It’s the only place you’ll be safe—”

  “And we’re going to help,” Demeter said.

  The group exchanged dubious glances.

  “How?” asked Alex, staring at the two men.

  Lintz met the eyes of each of his former students. “With a portal to the outside world.”

  Chapter 3

  The idea of creating a portal had been on Alex’s mind for a long time now, but they’d never had the opportunity to put that plan into action—or even figure out where to start.

  After a dumbfounded silence, Natalie was the first to speak. “You… know how to build one?”

  “A dear friend of mine happened to have a book on the subject, stashed away,” Demeter said. “Lintz and I had been studying it in preparation for your arrival.”

  Lintz twirled his moustache thoughtfully. “It will be a difficult task, as portal-building usually is, made all the more complex by the fact that we’re starting from scratch. But with all of you here, we should be able to make it a success. Though, I should warn you that this type of portal requires one of two things—either a great deal of time and energy, or a great deal of essence.”

  “Is this enough?” Alex asked, holding up the satchel he still wore over his shoulder. Carefully, he lifted the flap to show Lintz the smoky, black glass bottles and their pulsing red contents. Lintz gaped, moving toward the bag for a closer look. The shock on Lintz’s face remained as he let his chubby fingers trail across some of the bottles.

  “Goodness… Are these from Stillwater?” Lintz asked breathlessly.

  “Straight from Alypia’s study. Will it work?” Alex asked, more insistently.

  Lintz sighed. “It will certainly help… but a portal to the real world takes an enormous amount of essence, given that you are essentially tearing a hole in the fabric of reality. Building one to another magical place is child’s play by comparison, as you are using an already established network and simply opening an old wound instead of creating a fresh cut… The quantity of essence in this satchel is not enough. With all your help, I believe it can be built, but it will take six months at the very least.” He shook his head, continuing to twist his moustache in contemplation.

  Six months. That was out of the question, especially with Alypia at their heels.

  “We need to speed up the process. We need more essence,” Alex said, glancing at his friends, who stood anxiously around him.

  Lintz frowned. “Indeed, but it’s not possible to obtain more.”

  “But you mentioned there was essence here at Kingstone? From the prisoners?” Natalie asked. “If what you said is true, it will be stronger than any we have come across.”

  “Locating the essence will be no easy task, and Caius is not someone to mess with,” Lintz said. “The risks are too great.”

  “The keep is riddled with booby traps and obstacles of all kinds, conjured from the darkest depths of a cruel mind, no doubt to prevent such snooping,” Demeter chimed in.

  “It’s why I would never ask such a thing of you all,” Lintz concluded solemnly. “I don’t want you getting into needless danger, though I know you attract it like honey does flies,” he said with a grimace, half-amused, half-serious.

  “But we have to get the portal built,” Alex pressed, trying to rally his friends to the cause. They looked to Lintz for a reply. “We don’t have any other options, Professor.”

  “There will be no point in building a portal home if there are none of you left to go through it, having been skewered by giant magic spears or fried in a supernatural blaze or eaten alive by golden beasts or something equally vile, which is what would happen if I let you go hunting for the essence in this prison. Caius won’t allow you to find it, and I don’t want to risk you trying.”

  “The risk is ours, Professor,” Alex replied firmly, “and you can either help us or hinder us. You two know this place better than any of us, and we could really use your help in mapping it out, to stand the best chance of finding the stuff.” Alex leveled his gaze at Lintz, then Demeter. He couldn’t gauge the latter’s feelings, his eyes giving nothing away. “Either way, we have to go looking for it. Am I right?” Crossing his arms, he turned to the others, expecting to hear their agreement. Their collective nod reassured him; this was happening whether Lintz liked it or not.

  There was a moment of tense silence as they waited for Lintz’s response.

  “You know he’s right, Lintz,” Demeter muttered. “If we don’t help, they’ll only end up dead, or worse… What other option do we have?”

  Lintz groaned. “I see I am outnumbered…”

  Alex let out a breath. “Thank you, Professor.”

  “You won’t regret this,” Natalie added.

  “Oh, but I fear I shall,” the professor mumbled. “Well… If we are going to look for the essence, we should get more hands on deck. Tomorrow, we can swing by a few old friends of Demeter’s before we head into a whole world of danger. They’ll be able to help lessen the collateral damage, I hope.” There was a note of vexation in the old man’s voice.

  “There’s also Alypia to think of,” Aamir said grimly. “We have to keep her at bay until we find the essence and ready the portal.”

  “There must be something we can do to prevent her from breaking through,” Ellabell spoke up, nervously adjusting the spectacles over her nose. “At least for a little while—to buy us more time.”

  “That’s where my beetles come in,” Lintz replied, pulling one from his satchel to show the group. “They work like beacons, showing me where a portal is trying to break through, so I can run and close it before it fully opens. The only problem is they won’t work forever—they need new magic poured into them after every use. But they should come in handy.” He paused. “Now that I think of it, you may have to help me with that little problem too—keeping the portals from opening, an
d filling my beetles with magic as they deplete. It won’t be easy, when combined with the task of mapping out the keep and avoiding Caius’s traps. Caius himself is a rare sight at the keep, so hopefully we won’t have to meet him along the way. But his traps are most prevalent… and the keep is huge.” He grimaced, evidently realizing the enormity of the work that lay ahead.

  It worried Alex too, making him wonder whether they had the required power to juggle so many taxing things at once. He wanted to get a closer look at the clockwork beetle, to see how it worked, but as he tried to stand, a wave of nausea crashed over him again, forcing him back down onto the dusty seat.

  “We’ll have to take it in turns,” said Alex, sinking into the chair. “If possible, we work in groups. One group fills the beetles and stops the portals, while the other maps out the keep in search of the essence.”

  All around the room, he was met with nods and noises of agreement.

  “It’s settled then. We begin at dawn,” Lintz replied. “But for now, you should all rest.”

  Alex was glad of the instruction. Even if he hadn’t been missing a piece of his soul, he knew dealing with the red fog would have taken its toll on him. His body was trying to recover from the fight against Alypia, and every time he did something that drained his energy, he knew he was taking a step back in the healing process. An acute exhaustion trickled through his system, unlike any tiredness Alex had ever known; it was almost as if the very weight of his body had become too much and was beginning to crush him from the inside.

  It’s nothing a good sleep won’t fix, he told himself, repeating the mantra to prevent fear from creeping in. In truth, he had no idea what kind of pressure he was putting his body under, or what the consequences might be in the long term.