“Precisely.”
“So how do you keep it down there?” Alex asked, starting to feel uneasy at the thought of the hungry, deadly mist.
“We bring the essence of whomever we have taken it from, prisoner or student, to life. I trust you are familiar with the golden creatures that spring from life essence?” he remarked. Alex nodded sheepishly. “Well, we bring those creatures into being and we pour them into the pit, where they fight off the Great Evil, holding it back, keeping it at bay. It is done as often as necessary, sometimes requiring many bottles, sometimes just a few, depending on the state and strength of the miasma. The golden bird you see up there works as a beacon, telling the overseer of a haven—in this case, me—when the Great Evil requires ‘feeding.’” Caius sighed, glancing up at the golden bird, whose wings flapped slowly.
Alex wondered what the bird did when the Great Evil was in need of sating, knowing he’d like to see it, yet fearing what it meant. He realized with a sense of awe that Caius and the others must be braver than they appeared, to stand and hold their nerve while they fed golden creatures to a mysterious evil that would kill them if it ever escaped. Plus, who was to say the amount they were feeding it would be enough? What if, one day, they misjudged the quantity and the evil got free—what would the mages do then? Alex presumed they’d have protocols in place, but still, it seemed pretty concerning to him. He wasn’t sure he’d like to be in their position.
Caius leveled his gaze at Alex, a strange look in his golden eyes. “It is a rigmarole that will continue until there is no essence left in the world, one way or another.”
“So this happens at the other havens too?” Alex asked. “There are only four now, right?”
“Yes, and the existing four havens are arranged in a ring—it’s why you can only move from one haven to another in sequence,” Caius said. “It is a network, designed to concentrate the spread of essence into one particular place. If you were to look at it from above, you would see the havens as four points on a compass, with all the essence basically flowing into the center of the ring. It is why these four stayed standing, when the other five fell—they succeeded in trapping the Great Evil because they formed a circle, and ensnared the Great Evil in the center.”
Alex couldn’t tell if this whole display was an attempt to get him to sympathize with the cause, to come around to the idea of giving up his own life in order to save the population of mages from future annihilation—either when no more mage babies were born with magical powers, and all their sources had run out, or when somebody slipped up and the Great Evil eventually broke free. If that was the case, Alex had to commend Caius for his forward-thinking. The only issue was, Alex still wasn’t eager to give up his life at all, and he didn’t think that was ever likely to change. For now, his mind was set on finding an alternative solution to the problem. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Head, and the role he might be able to play in such a loophole, if he could somehow be persuaded.
And by “persuaded,” Alex meant “forced.”
It seemed greedy, after already being so thoroughly spoiled with information, but Alex knew he had to ask another favor of Caius. It had been the whole purpose of finding Caius, after all, to seek out the Kingstone essence, but he had managed to get somewhat sidetracked by the surprise of meeting the old man, and discovering he was not the demon he had been made out to be. Now, however, there was no excuse. The man was right there, and far more affable than the monster Alex had been prepared to take on.
“Caius, I was wondering if I might ask something of you,” he said shyly.
“It depends what you’re going to ask.” Caius smiled.
“I was just wondering if there was any chance you could give me some essence taken from the prisoners here—just a bagful, perhaps,” he said tentatively. “The thing is, without it, and with Alypia and everything, we’d never be able to escape in time. With some essence, we could do it; we could make the portal home and get out of your hair.”
The old man scrutinized Alex, his incisive golden eyes making Alex feel uncomfortable. A silence stretched between the duo until, finally, Caius spoke.
“While I fervently believe the five of you should escape the magical realm as quickly as you are able, I won’t give you the essence… but there is a reason I will not,” he said evenly. “I don’t believe the essence here will be of any use to you. It isn’t like other essence you may have come across. It is too strong, and I would not feel right handing it over to you in case something awful happened to you. It is too great a risk, I’m afraid. I know you will be disappointed, and I admire your pluck in asking, but I won’t be persuaded.” He gave Alex a sympathetic smile.
His words struck a blow to Alex. This had been his one final hope. He believed Caius when he said he wouldn’t be swayed, and Alex didn’t yet know how strong his newly discovered mind control skills would be against someone as ancient and strong as Caius. In truth, he was almost certain he wouldn’t stand a chance of forcing Caius to give him the information he wanted. But if they were to have any hope of returning home, they needed that essence, no matter what Caius said about its strength. The old man was probably being overly cautious.
If it’s so strong, maybe it will get the job done even quicker, Alex reasoned. Without it, they would be stuck here, and Alypia would break through—and who knew what she would do to them all? No, despite the dangers, the essence was the only way.
Alex waited until the old man turned his back to retrieve his torch from the bracket on the wall, and stepped toward him, moving his palms toward his temples. Swiftly, he fed his anti-magic into Caius’s mind, the way Demeter had taught him, but he came up against a sudden blockade. Everything felt wrong and shaky, a scarlet fog shivering in front of Alex’s eyes as he entered the head of the ancient royal. Fear rippled through him, driven by the strange barrier Caius had quickly created. Alex recoiled, ripping away the strands of silvery black.
The warden whirled around, tutting under his breath. For the very first time, Alex saw something frightening in Caius’s golden eyes, the voice that came from his pursed lips unnervingly steady and calm, as if forced to be so.
“Don’t ever presume to try such things on me, my boy. I am far more powerful than you know, and I would not wish you to find yourself on the receiving end of an accidental retaliation,” he warned, his voice low. “I have been generous to you, have I not?”
“You have… I-I’m sorry.”
“And yet you seek to take from me, even after I have told you the reason I cannot give you the essence you want,” he murmured, a distinctly disheartened note in his throaty voice. “I cannot abide thieves.”
Alex cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean—”
“I despise liars more,” Caius remarked, cutting Alex off. “I told you I would not give you the essence because it could be harmful toward you and your friends, and I ask you to respect that. Do not steal from me, do not lie to me, and we will get along just fine, this misdemeanor forgotten. I am a fair man—I can forgive a first offense. But I won’t forgive a second. Is that clear?”
“I understand. I… did something desperate, and I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“Well, I guess it shows you’ve got gumption, and I do admire fighting spirit.” The old man smiled broadly, all animosity vanishing from his wrinkled face. Even so, Alex was under no illusions; he had overstepped a boundary he should not overstep again if he valued his life.
“Do you think there might be another way to build a portal home?” Alex asked, trying to push away the spike of fear. “Could you help us at all?”
Caius frowned thoughtfully. “If you can wait six months, I can build one for you.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s too long.” Alypia would undoubtedly break through before then, and Julius might even come back and discover them. It wasn’t a chance he wanted to take, under any circumstances. There had to be another way.
The answer came to him suddenly, as he realized he had been
looking at the problem all wrong. Like the havens set in a ring when viewed from above, Alex saw the bigger picture as he stepped back from it. There was another way, and though it wasn’t going to be easy, it might just give them the opportunity he had been looking for, to gain their freedom and save the other students in the process.
Alex looked up at Caius. “If we were to let Alypia through instead of keeping her out, would you be willing to help us trap her here, and keep control of her and Kingstone while we took over Stillwater House and Spellshadow Manor?” he asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth.
A wide smile spread across Caius’s face. “I think that’s a fine plan!” he cried gleefully. “Though you must promise me you will build a portal home, at your earliest opportunity.”
“I swear on my life we will, but there are a few things I think we might have to take care of first.” He grinned, suddenly eager to return to his friends to see what they thought of the idea. “I’d like to get back and see how Ellabell’s doing, and propose this plan to the others.”
Caius nodded regally. “The door is open,” he said, his expression growing serious. “Keep tight hold of her, Alex, if you believe it to be more than a passing affection.”
“I will,” Alex replied. “And I will see you again soon, to fill you in on the plan and what part we need you to play.”
“Certainly, though I will endeavor to be around, to keep an eye on things and ensure you don’t set off any more of my traps by accident,” he said sternly, with no room for negotiation. Alex just hoped the warden’s presence would be a help and not a hindrance.
Taking his cue, Alex left the cavernous room and its disconcerting epicenter, hurrying through the tunnels and hallways, hoping he could remember the way back to his friends and the girl he had left asleep on the bench by the window.
As he ran, he was troubled by what he had seen and felt, wondering how dangerous the Great Evil actually was. It wasn’t something he ever wanted to find out, though he couldn’t help his imagination running wild. He envisioned wave upon wave, almost liquid in texture, surging up from the cavernous mouth of the pit like a geyser, spilling out over the edges in search of mages, intent on feeding itself. It would snake through the realms, unperturbed by barriers and walls, seeking out the taste of life essence to sate its hunger. In his mind, he saw the devastation it would wreak upon the land, the lives it would snuff out, neither pausing nor caring as it stole the life from man, woman, and child. Would it care? Would it stop and select its victims? The fact that Alex couldn’t be certain was disturbing enough. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it wasn’t something he ever wanted to see unleashed.
For it to remain below the ground, however, meant the continued theft of essence from many more innocent victims. It was hard to pinpoint which was the worse deal, the ideas that had seemed so black and white becoming grayer by the second. All Alex knew was that the pit and its grumbling evil would haunt him long after he had left it.
Chapter 22
The bench where Alex had left Ellabell was empty.
Rushing toward the tower room, he hoped that was where he’d find her, safely back where nobody could harm her. He burst into the room, and was met by the startled stares of his friends, though Demeter and Lintz were noticeably absent. His gaze settled upon Ellabell, who was propped up on cushions in the corner, looking a little woozy, rubbing her eyes as she glanced toward him with a smile.
Alex jolted forward to join Ellabell, but Jari stood in his path.
“Where did you zip off to?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “One minute you were running around like a headless chicken, the next you were gone.”
Alex nodded toward Ellabell. “I was finding her. Someone had taken her beyond the keep—I would have come to get you, but I didn’t want to waste time.”
“But Aamir and I found her, outside on the bench,” Natalie said, a bemused expression on her face.
Alex shook his head. “She was on the bench because Caius put here there.”
“Caius!” Jari yelped. “You found him?”
“More than that—I spoke with him,” Alex replied. “He didn’t take Ellabell.”
Aamir frowned. “What?”
“He’s not what we thought he was. But I’ll get to that in a minute,” Alex said. “Ellabell, can you remember anything? Do you know who took you?”
Ellabell looked at him with bewilderment. “I can’t remember anything much… just the feeling of being cold, perhaps, and a sensation of flying, maybe,” she replied slowly. “Everything was black for so long, like I was in a deep darkness. There was a man after the darkness, but I don’t think he was the one who took me. He was old… kind and soft-spoken. He gave me something to drink, I think, and then I was asleep. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in the tower room again, though I can’t say I know how I got here.”
“That man was Caius, and he didn’t take you,” Alex said firmly. What Ellabell said piqued his suspicions as to who might have taken her, and that thought filled him with a sudden, vengeful anger. He felt his eyes burning as he considered the very short list of culprits in his head. A list of just one.
“Alex,” Aamir murmured, pointing toward Alex’s body. “I think you need to calm down.”
Looking down, Alex saw that silvery sparks of his energy were bristling through his skin, glittering in a swirling mist about him. Glancing around, he could see that his friends were worried, perhaps wondering what he might do. The way the strands moved, unbidden, through his body was a visible sign of his strength, and the potential lack of control that came with it. It was troubling even for him, as he realized it had happened without his say-so, behaving under its own volition.
“I’m calm. Just… passionate,” he said quickly, pushing the light away.
“So let me get this straight. You were with Caius all this time?” Jari asked, a suspicious note in his voice.
Alex nodded. “His terrible reputation is just so that he can keep control without actually having to hurt anyone,” he explained. “The guy is decent. A little strange, but his values are in the right place. He’s promised to help us trap Alypia here.”
“You trust this man?” Aamir asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Honestly, I do. Believe me, nobody is more surprised than I am to hear those words coming out of my mouth,” Alex admitted. It had been a strange day. “His story is a long one, but if you’d heard it, you would too. He’s the warden here so somebody worse is not, and he seems to hate the royals, particularly his brother, almost as much as I do.”
The others were still looking at him as if he were crazy.
“You realize you sound like a total kook, right?” Jari quipped.
Alex chuckled softly. “I can see how it looks, but there’s logic in what he does. He knows not everyone here is an actual criminal, but in order to protect the prisoners from those who would do real harm, he has to treat everyone the same. Think about it—do you think the real, pure evil criminals here wouldn’t jump at the chance to overthrow Caius and run amok in this place if they didn’t fear him? He uses their fear to his advantage. It’s a powerful tool, after all, and so far it has worked. It’s actually brilliant.”
“Wow, you’re such a fanboy,” Jari sniggered.
“I’m just trying to make you understand why I think we can, and should, trust this guy,” Alex sighed. “I know I sound insane, but I believe we can rely on this man to help us, and that’s a luxury we can’t afford to turn away from.”
“If he’s the man who saved me, then I trust him too,” Ellabell said quietly.
Just then, Demeter walked into the room with Lintz bumbling in behind, clutching a large collection of clockwork beetles. The professor threw them abruptly onto the table, sinking into one of the chairs with a loud, tense sigh of frustration. Along the far wall, Demeter paced. For good measure, Lintz flicked the nearest beetle, wincing as his finger made contact with the hard metal.
“It’s the bad news bears,�
� Jari announced as the group gathered around the table to hear what Lintz had to say. Whatever it was, it was evident that Jari was right—Lintz’s thunderous face hinted at no good news.
“Kindly keep your remarks to yourself, Petra, unless you have something useful to say,” Lintz muttered.
“Sorry, Professor.”
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked.
Lintz sighed. “It’s all no good, I’m afraid. My beetles are all done for—a portal began to come through while Demeter and I were in the courtyard, and not a single one of them noticed it. It was lucky we were nearby to see it. I’m not sure how much more I can patch them up… They’d almost be better off as scrap metal. I’m not sure we can rely on them anymore, but how we’re supposed to keep an eye out for all of Alypia’s portals, goodness only knows. I wouldn’t be surprised if she slipped through any day now.”
Alex pressed his hands on the table. “Then we let her.”
The group turned to look at him in unison, their mouths open wide in surprise.
“I beg your pardon?” Lintz spluttered.
“We let her come through,” he repeated. “I think we’ve been looking at this all wrong. It was something that came to me when I was with Caius—”
Lintz and Demeter froze. “You met Caius?” they chorused.
“Turns out he’s not a bad guy,” Jari chimed in.
“Though the jury here is still out,” Aamir added.
“Not a bad guy?” Lintz looked entirely confused.
“I spent some time with him after I went in search of Ellabell. He saved her… He’s on our side, and he hates the royals. The violence is an act, to keep control over the prison as non-invasively as possible,” Alex explained rapidly. “But this idea that I had, while I was with him—we let Alypia come through, and when she comes looking for me, which she inevitably will, we ambush her. Then, we trap her here at Kingstone and steal her portal.”
“Why would we want to do that?” Natalie asked.
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