Lodestone

by Katherine Forrister

  Melaine nodded and walked to the purifier. She braced her weight against the stone lid and shoved it aside. It fell to the floor, propped against the edge of the well.

  Inside, a copper contraption took up the entire round opening. It was a much larger and more sophisticated version of the same process that Actaeon had used to filter magic when he’d worked in the palace scullery as a boy. A fine, copper mesh covered the opening, centered by a delicate, pointed spire of copper aimed at the ceiling. She could feel the cool, pure magic filtering through the mesh and channeling through the spire in a swell that exhilarated her senses. But that wasn’t what she needed. She needed to reach beneath the purifier to find the refuse the well contained.

  She reached into the well and grabbed two copper handles on either side of the circular mesh. She lifted the contraption and placed it with care on the floor.

  Residual magic seeped into her skin from the hole. She fought a shudder and gripped the stone lip of the well.

  “That’s disgusting,” Serj said. Melaine ignored him. She closed her eyes and rolled the sharp, residual magic off her skin and felt it shift into a more palatable tingle. She then reached inside the deep, black well and focused all of her energy on gleaning knowledge from its depths.

  There had to be something left. If Serj was to be believed and this entire castle was a giant Insight, then it had to hold knowledge of what went on inside its walls over the centuries. If the Sateless had once crawled inside in ancient times, then Highstrong Keep had to remember.

  The dry well was so dark, she could barely see the outlines of her outstretched fingers. She tensed as she heard a skittering noise below. It had to be rats living in the walls. They didn’t mind residual magic in the least.

  She tried to renew her concentration. The filtered magic was too clean to hold any lingering knowledge, but for the filter to work at all, there had to be a little useable magic still embedded in the residual waste. She waited and focused and sighed in small relief as she felt little tendrils of power within the well, weak and ancient but cleaner than the surrounding refuse of the pit. She spread her fingers wide, and more tendrils of latent magic laced between them.

  A floating image massaged her brain. It was hazy, like a dream, but when she focused on the blurred outlines, dim highlights, and deep shadows, she started to make the image out. Then she stiffened and held onto the solid stone well with one hand as the haze altered into a horrific scene.

  The Sateless was gorging itself on a soldier in the courtyard of Highstrong Keep. The soldier wore ancient armor like the spirits that roamed the castle grounds with their horrid whispers. He lay faint and withered on his back, the Sateless’s long feeding tube deep in his throat. He was already too far gone to help. Melaine winced when she realized he looked as weak as Actaeon did now. The soldier died before her eyes.

  The Sateless extracted its black proboscis from the soldier’s throat with slurping speed and jumped to another soldier who screamed, sword raised. The creature knocked the man down with a clatter of armor and latched onto his mouth with its sharp teeth. Its throat undulated as the man’s scream was stifled by the feeding tube. The Sateless began to suck out the man’s magic with its insatiable swallowing gullet.

  Melaine pushed the images away, but then she forced herself to rein them back. She had to know what happened next. She needed to find out how Desiderata had finally banished the Sateless from Highstrong.

  The Sateless leapt from soldier to soldier with lustful speed. It fed on them without mercy. Melaine couldn’t understand how it was draining them of magic so quickly when it had taken months to feed on Actaeon. Perhaps the beast knew when the castle had been filled with soldiers it could feast without pause. But with only four people in Highstrong now, it didn’t know how long its meals would last and meant to stretch them out so it could survive long enough to decide where it would find its next batch of victims.

  Or perhaps, in the ancient days, it had fed on enough victims to become more powerful than it was now. Would the Sateless grow stronger if they couldn’t stop it?

  Melaine shuddered as she watched it continue to feed and kill. The castle grounds were filled with dead soldiers, most drained of magic from the Sateless’s greed, but some were drenched in blood, having been killed by others or perhaps themselves in the chaos.

  “It’s hungry!” a shaky voice said. Melaine recognized it right away as the ghostly voice of the woman who had tried to warn her of danger throughout her time in Highstrong.

  The living soldiers then seized and stared at the sky, as if a puppeteer had yanked on their strings. Their mouths opened as one, and then they screamed and shouted in chaos, speaking a language Melaine didn’t know, but it had become familiar by now. It was the sound of fear and sorrow from the urn she had shattered her first night in the keep. She watched in horror as the soldiers crumbled to ash. Billowing clouds blew into the keep in a single, controlled gust.

  Yet the ash carried lustrous sweeps of their magic—their essence—with it. Melaine suspected the destination. Now she understood that the living soldiers had been placed in the urn for protection. The caster of such a powerful spell must have been Desiderata. Had she known they would be trapped for centuries? Had Melaine deprived them of peace by releasing them too early, while the Sateless still prowled the keep?

  Melaine’s questions dissolved as she felt the warmth of the library—the same comforting feeling she got whenever she placed her hand upon its large, wooden doors. A shining golden beam of magic blinded her inner eyes and seemed to shoot into her very marrow, and then she heard the same ghostly woman’s voice echo, “Come to me!”

  Melaine’s vision catapulted to the library tower, where the Sateless burst through the doors. The monster stood upright on its two clawed, hind legs. It hunched its knobby shoulders, its gaunt chest a panting cavity. A vicious smile was fixed on its face, and its long, black proboscis writhed between its razor-sharp teeth like a great worm. More of its feeding tubes wriggled from its ribs, all reaching for the tall, lean sorceress from Melaine’s visions—the ghost, beautiful and whole—Desiderata, standing in the center of the library.

  Desiderata wore a white robe that glistened with fresh blood. The blood flowed down to her feet and seeped into the stone floor. Her hands trembled around the shaft of a long, polished staff that she held upright before her. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw clenched with fear, but she held her ground.

  Behind her, a man in full, regal battle armor cowered. He wore a helmet adorned with jewels in the shape of a crown, and Melaine could only assume he was Eylul, the evil warlord. A man who had won countless battles and killed countless enemies was terrified by the monster that pursued him.

  “Go!” Desiderata said.

  Eylul bolted up the spiral stairs to the library balcony. He leapt from the window. Melaine heard the telltale whoosh of a landing spell to slow his fall so he could escape. She had never seen Eylul’s ghost in Highstrong. Perhaps the warlord had—unjustly—survived.

  Desiderata gathered magic to perform a second spell. Melaine could feel the sorceress dredging magic from her bones to bring it to the surface of her skin as if she were facing down the Sateless in Desiderata’s place. Whatever spell the sorceress was about to perform would be incredibly powerful if she needed that much magic. Melaine watched, knowing that this was it—the spell that would seal the Sateless and defeat it.

  The Sateless lunged at Desiderata.

  A loud scrabbling noise and a vivid echo of the Sateless’s screech punctured Melaine’s vision.

  She opened her eyes and stared down into the deep, black pit of the well, the vision replaced by reality. She still couldn’t see anything but the faint outline of her fingers and the blackness beyond. But the magic within pulsed. Some force pulled at her magic from below, but it couldn’t hold on.

  Melaine gasped as she saw two gleaming red eyes in the dark, staring up at her.

  She screamed and darted back from the well.
/>   “Insight,” she said. “Insight!”

  “Melaine?” Serj asked.

  “Seal the well!” Actaeon said, his voice raspy and horrified.

  Melaine scrambled to the stone lid and tried to heave it back onto the well. Serj jumped to help her. Together, they pushed the heavy lid back onto the pit. They heard long, hard scratches scour the inside of the lid. Then they heard a wrenching screech of frustration, and all was quiet.

  “Was that it?” Serj asked, stammering. “The Sateless?”

  “Yes,” Actaeon said. “Melaine, you said ‘Insight.’”

  Melaine nodded, wobbling to her feet. “Desiderata—she was in the library. She sealed the Sateless inside an Insight. I couldn’t see which one or what kind of object, but I don’t know if that matters.”

  “It shouldn’t,” Actaeon said. “Not if the casting is powerful enough.”

  “So, we need to bait it,” Serj said. “We use the Overlord as bait, and then we seal it inside an Insight.”

  “We should use you as bait,” Karina said. “You brought this upon us.”

  Serj opened his mouth like a caught fish.

  “Coward,” Karina said.

  “We can’t waste time,” Melaine said. “We have to get to the library. That’s where Desiderata sealed it before, and I think…I think she might still be there to help us. I think that’s our best chance. Karina? Help him.”

  Karina didn’t protest at Melaine ordering her around. She hurried to Actaeon’s side and helped him stand.

  “I’ll keep it distracted while you get there safely,” Melaine said.

  “Melaine—” Actaeon started.

  “Go!” she ordered. Karina coaxed him to the door.

  “Be careful,” he said, looking into Melaine’s eyes with soft desperation. It didn’t match the selfish plea of a beggar in the streets like Melaine was used to seeing. Actaeon looked at her with the same terror she’d often felt when in possession of a hard-won Insight that she feared would be stolen, the terror of losing something deeply cherished. She nodded.

  “I will.”

  She placed her hands on the closed stone purifier and pushed a bit of magic through the lid. She heard another clawing scrape from inside the pit.

  “I’ll meet you there when it’s been enough time,” she said. She focused on the lid as the others made their way from the study and walked at Actaeon’s slow pace up the stairs.

  She listened hard but heard only silence. She pressed her hands down harder and seeped a little more magic through the stone. The Sateless ran its thick, sharp claws along the inside.

  Melaine shivered but felt her confidence grow. She may not have seen the final glimpse of Desiderata’s ancient spell, but if the castle was an Insight and was filled with other Insights within the library and the Overlord’s study, then it proved the Sateless couldn’t feed on the magic that Insights housed. So far, she’d only seen evidence that it could feed on the magic of humans or human corpses. If they could succeed in sealing it within an Insight as Desiderata had once done, the foul beast wouldn’t be able to gnaw its way out.

  Chapter 12

  The scrabbling of claws stopped. The stone lid was still heavy on the purifier well, but Melaine knew the Sateless wasn’t contained in the well alone. The walls were its pathways, the corridors of the keep its roads. It would soon find another way to reach her or the others.

  Surely, enough time had passed for Serj, Karina, and Actaeon to reach the library. If Melaine was going to reach the tower as well, now was the wisest time to make her move. She lifted her hands off the stone lid and bolted for the stairwell. She ran up the spiraled stairs into Actaeon’s private chamber and then raced down the hallway toward the library.

  Her heart hammered as scratching claws and heavy pacing chased after her, but she didn’t know where the sounds were coming from. She only knew that she couldn’t turn around or slow down. She darted around corners and through shadows, passing under the eerie green torches of everflame. Finally, she reached the warm, comforting doors of the library.

  “It’s me!” she called when she felt a warding spell in place. “Let me in!”

  The doors swung open. She dashed inside and slammed them shut behind her. Karina cast a new warding spell as soon as Melaine was inside.

  Melaine caught her breath. “Actaeon?”

  “Here,” he murmured. He was still alive, though barely able to stay upright in the chair that held his frail body. She rushed to him and took his cold hand.

  “What object are we going to use for the Insight?” she asked, not taking her eyes from Actaeon’s sallow face as she addressed the others.

  Serj stepped forward into her peripheral view, his shoulders hunched in chagrin. He held out a lock of his thick blond hair, which he had twisted together into a little rope.

  “I remembered,” he said. “Talem told me the spell that once sealed the Sateless took a part of the caster. Now that we know we can seal the creature in an Insight, well, I figure this makes sense. And if the Overlord is the bait, and we’re worried about the Sateless jumping to you next, Melaine, then both of you will be distractions, so…I suppose I’m the caster. And, uh…” He scowled at the floor. “As much as I hate him”—he twitched his head at Actaeon—“I’m partially responsible for this whole mess. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Damn right it is,” Melaine said. She was surprised at Serj’s genuine expression of guilt. For all his cocky words and bias, it seemed he had a conscience after all.

  “Let’s see it done,” Actaeon said. Melaine doubted she would have heard his words had she not been so close.

  She nodded to Serj. His face was ashen, and his hand shook, but he took a few determined steps back.

  “I’ve made Insights before,” he said, feigning confidence with the return of his light smile and a casual shrug. “This can’t be that different, eh?”

  “Just don’t mess this up,” Melaine said. She hated knowing that ultimately, the ritual was out of her hands. It was all up to Serj now.

  “Do you think it’ll know what we’re trying—going—to do?” Serj asked.

  “Its only thoughts are on feeding,” Actaeon said. A shudder rolled through his body. Melaine wanted to squeeze his hand for comfort, but she feared his brittle bones might break.

  “Open the doors, Serj,” Melaine said. She took Actaeon’s cheeks in her hands. “Stay strong,” she whispered. He managed to raise his hand and rested it upon hers, but he didn’t answer. His eyes spoke a goodbye.

  Melaine couldn’t stand it. She pulled away and stepped behind him. She backed up a few paces, ready to leap forward the instant the Sateless attacked. Its draw would be to Actaeon first, but as soon as it realized she was there…

  Melaine nodded to Serj, who was braced against the door. He shook less and stood taller as he soaked in the door’s warmth, as if the soothing comfort of the ancient wood was infusing him with courage. He clenched his fist around the twist of his hair, grabbed the door handle, and pulled.

  The dark hallway was empty. Its depths seemed to stretch on forever as blackness obscured all detail. Melaine’s breaths were tight and shallow as she waited for any sign of the Sateless to appear.

  Then she heard a claw drag across stone. It drilled at her ears and drew goosebumps on her skin. She wanted to rush to Actaeon and stand in front of him, but she had to wait.

  Another claw scraped the stone floor, and then another, followed by the low, methodical shifting of something heavy. It sounded like the creature was dragging itself toward them. Melaine had interrupted its last feeding on Actaeon. Was it weak with hunger?

  The sounds of a dragging body and claws clacking grew louder. Karina slipped a wand from a deep pocket in her dress and held it tight with readiness, but she maintained her composure and her planned position in the farthest corner from all the others. Serj shook like he was standing on a heaving fault line by the open edge of the door.

  The claws’ scratching grew faster, as
if the Sateless had caught a scent it was eager to track. Louder, louder the scratching came until Melaine saw movement in the dark hallway. Then two red, shining eyes glinted at her from the blackness.

  The Sateless shrieked and ran to the library with fierce speed. Its lean, gangly limbs made it run with a crooked, unnatural gait. Its gargoyle face distorted in a snarl, baring its rows of sharp, deadly teeth. But it wasn’t the teeth Melaine feared; it was the magical sucking ability of that mouth that terrified her. She could see the long, black tube it used curled up in the back of its throat, opening.

  Melaine couldn’t see Actaeon’s face, but his entire body was stiff as a corpse. Yet he held his head high, as dauntless a warrior as she had always imagined, facing the horrific creature in what he believed was his imminent death.

  But she wouldn’t let that happen.

  She forced herself to hang back behind a shelf. The Sateless ran toward Actaeon and leapt upon him with voracious speed. It knocked over Actaeon’s chair and cradled his head with one of its massive hands, stroking his forehead with one sleek, black claw as if the man was a babe. Then it lowered its mouth to Actaeon’s, ready to feed.

  “No!” Melaine yelled. She bolted out from behind the shelf and planted her feet in a solid stance. “Me. You want me, now.”

  The Sateless snapped its head up and looked straight at her. Its ragged, pointed ears perked. Its eyes lit up and then sharpened, fierce and predatory with a sinuous smile. It slid its claws away from Actaeon’s head, leaving a trail of blood behind. Its every muscle coiled like it was about to pounce.

  Melaine’s eyes flew to Serj. An aura of jade-green light surrounded him as he clutched his lock of hair in his fist. He approached the Sateless from behind, each step stiff as he pushed through the muck of fear. Clearly, it was taking every ounce of courage he possessed to keep his spell going.