Lodestar

by Shannon Messenger

  “You’re really going to doubt us—after everything we’ve uncovered? You don’t think this proves we might know a little more than you?”

  “When it comes to the dirty schemes of this refuse,” Councillor Emery said, sneering at Brant and Ruy, “perhaps you are ahead of us. But we must think beyond this simple rebellion. We’re trying to send a message to the other species of this world that they should fear and respect our power—and showing them a group of drooling, mindless wastes is not an image we’re willing to present. We must always appear strong—always superior—even when it comes to our prisoners. Let them see we faced and stopped a worthy foe. And when the Summit is over, we will shatter and squeeze every shred of truth out of these disgraces. But only after we ensure they do not diminish the respect for our kind.”

  “That doesn’t mean we can’t interrogate them,” Mr. Forkle reminded the Council. “With cleverness, we might be able to glean a few crucial truths.”

  “Perhaps,” Councillor Emery said. “The matter will be taken under consideration after the prisoners are properly secured, and after we’ve searched every last one of these hideouts you claim to be able to lead us to. It’s about knowing what deserves priority.”

  Please don’t argue any further, Mr. Forkle transmitted as Sophie opened her mouth. I’ll raise the issue again tomorrow, once a few more things are settled. For the moment, it is wise to focus on storming the hideouts.

  Fine, Sophie told him. Out loud, she asked the Council, “Are you going to let us help with the raids on the hideouts?”

  “It sounds like we’ll require young Mr. Song’s assistance,” Councillor Emery said, ignoring Tam’s scowl at the use of his family name. “The remainder of you should return to your homes.”

  “It’s not that we don’t value your assistance,” Oralie jumped in. “It’s that you’ve risked your lives enough. I wish we could spare Tam the responsibility as well, but his talent—and the nature of this gadget—make him crucial. I have no doubt we’ll need your assistance for many things in the days ahead. So please, take this time to rest.”

  “I’m not opposed to keeping you safe,” Edaline told Sophie gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  The other parents agreed, and that seemed to settle it—except Linh, who insisted on staying with her brother.

  “I think it would be wise if you all stayed together,” Mr. Forkle told Sophie and her friends. “That way it’s easier to reach you with updates and questions.”

  Alden and Della offered up Everglen, and that became the plan.

  “Oh, and Miss Foster?” Councillor Terik said as the Councillors prepared to leap away. “Thank you for bringing the alicorns for a visit. It’s good to see they’re both healthy and thriving. Let’s hope it remains that way.”

  The last words reminded her that Silveny and Greyfell probably shouldn’t linger.

  She made her way over and stroked Silveny’s velvety nose.

  SOPHIE OKAY?

  Thanks to you, Sophie told her.

  Silveny’s deep brown eyes seemed to peer right through her, and the motherly alicorn searched Sophie’s emotions until she landed on the one subject Sophie had been hoping to avoid.

  KEEFE?

  He . . . isn’t here.

  Silveny nuzzled Sophie’s side. GOOD, she said. KEEFE! FRIEND! GOOD!

  I hope so, Sophie told her, breaking eye contact before she ended up a sobbing mess.

  She’d cry for Keefe later. Right now, she had to focus.

  You and Greyfell should get somewhere safe—and get some snacks. Remember, you’re eating for two.

  Silveny nudged Sophie’s hand. She trotted closer to Greyfell and both alicorns dipped their heads, almost in a bow as Sophie told them she’d check on them soon.

  SOON! Silveny agreed as she and Greyfell floated into the sky.

  Right before they teleported away, Silveny sent one final transmission.

  KEEFE GOOD SOON!

  “WYLIE HAS BEEN MOVED. AS has Prentice—to be safe,” Mr. Forkle told them after he’d arrived at Everglen that night. Despite the late hour, everyone was still wide awake, gathered in Everglen’s glittering dining room—a room Sophie hadn’t been in since the day Oralie, Bronte, and Kenric had tested her for Foxfire. The thronelike chairs, sweeping chandelier, and silk-draped windows looked far too grand for such an exhausted group, and no one had touched the platters of food Della had set out—even the mallowmelt. “They’ve been set up in a secure cabin high in the mountains, where they’ll be able to recover together,” he added. “Neither seemed strained at all by the sudden move. If anything, they seemed more relaxed than ever.”

  “What about Tam and Linh?” Biana asked. “Where will they live now?”

  “We’re setting up a secure residence for them here in the Lost Cities. That way they’ll no longer feel so isolated. Blur has offered to serve as their guardian, and the Council will be assigning them goblin bodyguards. And they’ve been granted permission to attend Foxfire, once the term resumes again.”

  Sophie tried to focus on the good news, and the hopeful hints in his tone. But . . . “You’ll never be able to use Alluveterre as a hideout again, will you?”

  Fitz had spent the last few hours sharing the heartbreaking details about Keefe stealing Tam’s crystal and helping Alvar escape. No one except Grady—who’d had quite a few choice comments about That Boy—had known what to say. Especially Alden and Della.

  “Never is a long time,” Mr. Forkle told Sophie. “Most things tend to be much more temporary. And while it’s a regrettable setback, it’s nothing compared to what the Neverseen have lost this evening. That’s another thing I’m happy to report. With the help of Mr. Tam—and a loyal contingent of goblins and dwarves—the Council has now raided all sixteen of the hideouts connected by the Lodestar symbol. Some had long been abandoned, but the others had very recently been sacked.”

  “So they were empty?” Fitz asked.

  “Stripped and scorched, yes,” Mr. Forkle admitted. “I’ll give them credit for speed and efficiency—it must’ve been a mad, destructive scramble. And please try not to look so distressed by this news. Gathering more prisoners and evidence would’ve been nice—but either way, this is a significant victory in our favor. We’ve now shut down the majority of their network.”

  “But you don’t think we got it all?” Biana asked.

  “I think that Fintan’s too clever to not have a few emergency evacuation areas. Plus, none of the hideouts had a silver door marked ‘The star only rises at Nightfall.’ ”

  Sophie rubbed the new knot forming under her ribs.

  So Keefe’s legacy was still out there, waiting for him.

  She wondered what his mom would say if she’d seen what her son had done that day. Would she have been proud he’d chosen the Neverseen over his friends? Or furious he’d remained with the people who’d imprisoned her?

  “I think that’s all we can do for tonight,” Mr. Forkle said, standing and reaching into his cloak for a pathfinder. “Blur will be bringing Tam and Linh here soon—and then I hope you’ll all go to bed and try to sleep.”

  “Wait!” Dex said. “I almost forgot—do you still have Keefe’s old Imparter?”

  “I returned it to Miss Foster, to do with as she wished,” Mr. Forkle told him. “Why?”

  “I can’t stop thinking about it, ever since Sophie did that enhancing thing to me. I think there’s something we missed. Do you have it, Sophie?”

  “It should still be at Havenfield,” she said.

  “I’ll retrieve it for you tomorrow,” Sandor promised as he stood to bring Grady and Edaline back to the safety of Gildingham. Before he left, he gave Sophie a long lecture on how she was not to leave Grizel’s sight even for a second—or trigger any more abilities.

  And true to his word, Sandor returned to Everglen the next day, holding the black case he’d collected from her room.

  “Is it okay for us to talk around the Imparter?” Biana asked as
Dex popped open the case and slid his finger across the silver screen.

  “Yeah it’s a different kind of signal than I realized.” He tapped the screen in each of the corners. “Hmm, it’s being fussy again.” He glanced at Sophie. “Would it be weird if I asked to hold your hand?”

  Tam smirked. “Smoooooooth.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “I know what he meant.”

  She pulled off her glove, and the second their fingers touched . . .

  “Whoa,” Dex breathed. “That is such a rush!”

  The seconds slipped by, and he tapped the screen a few more places before telling the Imparter, “Bypass.”

  The gadget beeped and went dark.

  “Was that supposed to happen?” Linh asked.

  “I don’t know.” Dex flipped the Imparter over, tapping a few more places.

  The silence shifted from tense to restless to endless. Then a voice blared from the screen.

  “Password?”

  SEVENTY-THREE

  WHAT’S THE PASSWORD?” Biana whispered.

  “No idea,” Dex admitted. “And I don’t feel a way to hack it. That same crazy-smart Technopath who built all the stuff with the Lodestar symbol must’ve been the one who designed this.”

  “Okay,” Linh said. “Anyone have any guesses?”

  “With Keefe it could seriously be anything,” Fitz reminded them.

  Tam smirked at Sophie. “I have a theory.”

  “So do I,” she said. “His mom’s the one who rigged the gadget, right? So what would her password be?”

  “But she didn’t make it for herself—she wanted Keefe to find this, didn’t she?” Fitz asked. “Didn’t the note she left for him kinda hint at it? So she would’ve picked something she hoped Keefe would guess.”

  He made a good point. Sophie reread the note in her mind.

  “What about ‘legacy’?” she asked.

  “Access granted,” the Imparter chirped, and Sophie felt ice ripple across her nerves.

  “Access to what?” Biana whispered.

  The screen stayed blank.

  “Shouldn’t it be doing something?” Fitz asked.

  “It is,” Dex said. “It opened a private line.”

  “So it’s hailing somebody right now?” Sophie asked.

  Dex nodded and they all leaned closer, watching the ominously silent screen.

  “Are we sure this is a good idea?” Fitz asked after what felt like an eternity but was probably less than thirty seconds.

  “Better to know than wonder, right?” Biana said. “But here’s what I don’t get. It took Dex’s Technopath skills—enhanced Technopath skills—to get to the place where you entered the password, right? Wouldn’t that mean Keefe never could’ve gotten there on his own?”

  “It’s only that difficult for us,” Dex said, “because I had to bypass the primary sensor, which is what Keefe could’ve used to gain access. I’d actually noticed that there was a weird, two-tone gear the last time I took the Imparter apart. But I didn’t realize it meant the sensor read different things on different sides until I got the boost from Sophie.”

  “So what else does it read?” Sophie asked.

  “Blood.”

  Everyone squirmed.

  “Is it still hailing?” Tam asked.

  Dex nodded. “But I doubt anyone’s going to answer. His mom probably set this up before they imprisoned her, so I’m sure her Imparter got taken or destroyed.”

  “How much longer should we wait?” Biana asked.

  “Maybe give it another minute?” Sophie said. “Just in case.”

  She counted the passing seconds, and at around seventy-five Dex told everyone, “I guess that’s it.”

  He swiped a finger across the screen, frowning when the Imparter flashed pale blue. “Wait—was it not actually hailing yet?”

  “How would we know?” Fitz asked.

  “Ugh, this thing makes no sense! It’s like—”

  “Hello?” a crackly, garbled voice blared from the Imparter. Even with the distortion, the sound was unmistakable.

  Lady Gisela.

  They all leaned back in case she could somehow see them. But the Imparter’s screen stayed silver, keeping the conversation limited to their voices.

  “Keefe?” Lady Gisela asked. “Is someone there?”

  Fuzzy static.

  “It’s you, isn’t it, Sophie?”

  “Yes.” The word slipped out before Sophie could think it through.

  “Where’s my son?” Lady Gisela demanded.

  Sophie glanced at her friends for help, but they only offered blank stares.

  “He’s . . . where you planned for him to be,” she mumbled.

  Lots of crackles and static flooded the connection, and when Lady Gisela’s voice came back it sounded like the end of a sentence. All Sophie caught was “run things.”

  “Can you repeat that?” Sophie asked.

  “I said it was never my plan to let that idiot run things.”

  “You mean Fintan?”

  Static was her only answer.

  “Are you still there?” Sophie asked.

  More crackles. Then Lady Gisela said, “I asked if anyone else has been captured.”

  “Why would I tell you that?”

  “Because you have no idea what you’re dealing with. And I do.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe you’re going to help me?”

  “Exactly,” Lady Gisela said. “Because you care about my son. And I don’t have a lot of options. So we’re both going to suffer through this miserable truce.”

  Sophie glanced at her friends for guidance, and their expressions all seemed to be unanimously screaming DON’T YOU DARE TRUST KEEFE’S MOM. And Sophie had no intention of doing so. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to learn something from her.

  “I’ll ask you again,” Lady Gisela said. “Where’s my son? Is he with Brant and Fintan?”

  Sophie bit her lip, deciding one tiny piece of information was worth the risk. “He’s with Fintan.”

  “Does that mean Brant’s been captured?”

  “Tell me why it matters.”

  “You don’t need to know. Who else was taken? Ruy?” When Sophie didn’t respond, Lady Gisela said, “I’ll take that as a yes. And I need you to listen very carefully. You have to do exactly as I say, or you’ll regret it.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “It’s a warning—based on truths and hard realities I don’t expect you to understand.”

  “You know what I don’t understand?” Sophie asked. “What you did to Cyrah Endal.”

  Lady Gisela’s voice darkened. “Whatever you think you know is one small, twisted piece of a much larger, much grander whole.”

  “That sounds like a fancy way of trying to justify a murder.”

  “Murder,” Lady Gisela repeated. “Believe what you want. You may not trust me, Sophie. And you may not like me. But right now, we both care about the same thing. Which means you need to listen to me. Get my son far away from the Neverseen.”

  The demand was so ironic, Sophie couldn’t quite choke back her laugh.

  “I take it that means you’ve tried?” Lady Gisela asked.

  “Yeah, and there’s pretty much no reasoning with him. He has this desperate need to try to make up for all the creepy things you’ve done.”

  “Don’t blame this on me. This is what they want. Their vision.”

  “That would mean a lot more if you’d tell me what you’re talking about.”

  “But it would also distract you from what matters. You can’t stop this, Sophie. Don’t try. It’s been in place for too long. So get my son back before it all comes crashing down, and contact me when it’s done. And next time, make sure you hail me using his blood.”

  SEVENTY-FOUR

  I’M ASSUMING MR. DIZZNEE tried tracking the signal,” Mr. Forkle said as he studied the now silent Imparter sitting on Everglen’s dining room table. His eyes were red rimmed and shadowed, an
d he wore the same clothes from the day before—and Sophie couldn’t decide if it was the thronelike chair, or if his ruckleberries were wearing off, but he looked smaller.

  “I tried everything,” Dex said, “Even with Sophie enhancing my ability, I got nowhere.”

  Mr. Forkle nodded. “And I’m also assuming that you’re not going to tell Mr. Sencen about this?”

  “Doesn’t seem like a good idea,” Sophie said. “If we couldn’t get him to leave the Neverseen when he had the perfect chance and the perfect reason, how is telling him that his mom wants him to leave going to help? Besides, for all we know Lady Gisela’s using us to get Keefe back so she can grab him and force him into his legacy.”

  “Oh, I’m certain her motives are selfish,” Mr. Forkle said. “If I’m understanding this correctly, it sounds like this ‘vision’ Fintan has may be separate from the Lodestar Initiative that Lady Gisela created, and she fears it will wreck her own plans.”

  “Shouldn’t we let it, then?” Dex asked.

  “Ah, but that’s a risky game. Blindly choosing between two evils could backfire far too easily. For all we know, Lady Gisela could truly be the safer path.”

  “But she probably killed Wylie’s mom,” Linh argued.

  “And Fintan definitely killed Kenric,” Sophie reminded her.

  “Yeah . . . they’re both horrible options,” Biana said. “I want to take them both down.”

  “Hard to do when we don’t actually know what either of them are planning,” Fitz mumbled. “After all our investigations into Lodestar, we still don’t know what the Initiative actually entails. And Fintan’s vision is even more vague.”

  “I feel like Keefe is the key,” Sophie said quietly.

  “Ugh, if he heard you say that, there’d be no living with him,” Tam grumbled.

  Sophie smiled. It was strange that she could miss Keefe and want to bash his face in. “I just meant that there has to be a reason both Fintan and Lady Gisela want him on their side. It might be because they need him to open that door in the mountain. But then why wouldn’t Fintan have made Keefe do that right away?”

  “It feels like we’re missing something,” Biana said. “Doesn’t it?”