The Keep

  As he ran toward an open space, desperate for fresh air upon his face, he knew the outburst had something to do with his torn soul, aggravated by the bristle of the barrier magic. It worried him, and he hoped fervently that he had not done himself irreversible damage.

  Bursting through an unknown door, he found himself on a walkway between turrets. Instantly, the pressure of the barrier faded slightly and he moved toward the wall, clinging to it for purchase, thinking he might collapse. He gripped the edge of the slick stone until his head stopped spinning, ignoring the flakes of snow gathering beneath his palms. This time, his anti-magic didn’t even try to delve deeper into the barrier; it seemed his defenses had learned their lesson. No red fog came, no demons pounced, no spears hurtled toward his head. The only reaction was the flurries.

  Everything seemed to be slipping away from him. No matter how hard he gripped the wall, he couldn’t fully regain his hold on reality. Squeezing his eyes shut, he wondered if he might be on the verge of a mental breakdown. Nothing felt right anymore—he didn’t recognize himself.

  Chapter 7

  After calming himself as best he could, Alex made his way toward the tower room to join the others, hoping to get back before Vincent came to collect them. He walked slowly, hoping he was going the right way as he passed identical hallway after identical hallway.

  His heart missed a beat as he saw a door ahead of him, slightly ajar. The only people he knew with keys were the guards, and the only guards he knew were Lintz and Demeter, but he couldn’t see them anywhere nearby. Taking a deep breath, he skirted the open door, his back pressed to the opposite wall, hoping he could get past it without something emerging from within.

  Alex froze at the sound of whispered words. It sounded like his name.

  Barely breathing, he listened more closely, wondering if the voice would speak again.

  “Alex,” it whispered, undeniable this time.

  He followed the sound, pushing gently on the wooden door. It swung open with a rusty creak, leading into a dimly lit room strewn with dust-sheeted furniture. Alex stepped in cautiously, realizing afterward what an idiotic thing that was to do in a place like this—just because somewhere looked safe, that didn’t mean it was.

  Fortunately for him, the figure that greeted him was a familiar one.

  “Alex Webber, as I live and breathe.” The shadows glinted with the flash of a grin Alex knew would be sardonic.

  Elias unfurled from the darkness at the far side of the room, emerging from beneath the pale glow of a torch like a performer sliding into the spotlight. All he needed was a top hat and cane, though Alex wasn’t sure a hat would stay on top of his insubstantial head.

  Slipping through the air, the shadow-man rose up to his full, wispy height, draping himself casually against the wall, though it seemed as if he was once again having trouble with the shadowed fronds of his being. Alex wondered if the barrier magic was playing havoc with Elias, as Alypia’s version had done at Stillwater. This time, he didn’t seem to be having issues holding his actual self together, but his whole shape appeared to crackle, fizzing and snapping in places. Even Elias himself seemed startled by it, jolting in surprise every time his body sparked. He was clearer, at least, than he had been at Stillwater, and looked more like his old self.

  “I should have known it would be you. Creepy noise, creepy place, creepy shadows—guaranteed to be you,” Alex groaned.

  Elias cackled deep in the back of his black throat. “Very good, Webber—you’re learning. Still not smart enough to avoid following said creepy whisper into an unknown room in the depths of a prison full of criminals… but alas, we must walk before we can run,” he teased, his face contorting into what Alex thought was meant to be a frown of displeasure. “Ugh! I’m starting to sound like that halfwit Demeter. If I start spouting half-formed proverbs, feel free to send me back from whence I came—I implore you. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than use fortune cookies as my sole source of inspiration.”

  Alex hated to admit it, but seeing Elias brought him a sense of relief and more than a hint of amusement. What he hated even more was that he knew Elias could tell.

  “How can you be here?” Alex asked, trying to erase the smile from his face.

  “I am an exceptional creature. I can go anywhere I please,” Elias purred, elegantly brushing misty fingers through starry tendrils, where hair might be found on a physical being.

  Alex sighed. It seemed they were back to mystery, though he was used to it by now.

  “I think you missed me,” Alex taunted.

  “You amuse me,” Elias said simply, turning his wispy wrists as if flicking away a buzzing insect. “You pass the time between here and eternity. I suspect I’ll grow bored of you one of these days.” Before Alex could retort, the shadow continued. “Speaking of amusing things—bravo on the exquisite mess you made of Alypia.” Elias grinned, the expression as eerie and unnatural as ever upon his shifting, ever-moving face.

  The back-handed compliment made Alex uncomfortable. He could take no pleasure in what he had done to her, especially as it didn’t seem to be stopping her pursuit of him. All he could derive from the experience was an intensified fear of her volatile retribution. The fact that Elias was taking such delight in it made him all the more nervous. Nothing Elias found joyful was ever something to celebrate.

  “I’m not sure it did me any favors,” Alex said.

  Elias swooped closer, scrutinizing Alex. “If you’re worrying about that old hag coming after you, don’t just yet. Don’t get me wrong—she’s beyond peeved, and you should see the state of her face, but she’s still a way off from a full recovery. After the havoc you wrought upon her, who wouldn’t be?” he murmured, his galactic eyes glinting. “She’s a strong mage, but nobody is strong enough to fend off two savage beasties and come away unscathed. Well, nobody but me,” he boasted. “I could have taken them on, though I’m not sure I’d have expected such moxie from a kid like you.”

  Alex wasn’t sure how the shadow-man managed it, but every word from Elias’s mouth managed to make him feel disgusted and comforted in equal measure.

  “Well, you’re wrong, because she’s already trying to get to me. She’s tried to make a portal a few times,” Alex said grimly.

  “Lintz and his precious creepy-crawlies will hold her a while, you mark my words.” Elias’s shifting features tightened in a twisted expression of glee. “Those golden creatures were intent on her demise, and they went to town, believe me—the memory of it still brightens my day. I doubt you’d recognize the old girl if you saw her. I’m sure she’ll make herself decent before she comes for you—she’s not one to head into battle without her mascara on. If somebody is trying to get through, they’re doing it on her behalf. Some of her cronies no doubt, trying to curry favor with the boss—first one through wins a prize! I’ve seen the old witch with my own two eyes, and she is going nowhere just yet.”

  Alex still found it difficult to stomach the memory of the injuries he had inflicted on Alypia, and the recollection of her blood-curdling screams still rang in his ears from time to time, whenever he allowed himself to dwell too long on what he had done. None of it made him feel particularly good about himself, and he knew he could never share the thrill Elias felt at another person’s suffering, no matter what that person had done. It had never been his intention to kill someone, and Elias’s words made him realize how close he had come to doing just that. It didn’t sit easy with Alex, though it led him to wonder whether he would have to kill somebody, before his time in the magical world came to an end. A shudder ran up his spine.

  Thoughts of golden beasts and spilt essence and traumatizing screams made the pain in his chest return with a vengeance, the sudden jolt of it taking his breath away.

  Elias’s face contorted in a frown. “Can I help?” he asked.

  Alex wondered what the shadow-man meant, somewhat perturbed by the borderline compassionate note in Elias’s echoing, otherworldly voice.

>   “With what?”

  “With that,” Elias replied, resting a shadowy finger on Alex’s chest.

  Glancing down, Alex’s eyes went wide in alarm as he saw a dim silver light glowing beneath his skin. He found himself frozen to the spot, unable to pull away as Elias felt for the damaged pulse of his coiled essence, his wispy fingers sinking disturbingly through Alex’s flesh, into his ribcage. Alex could feel the cold chill of the dark mist moving through him, but as soon as Elias touched the broken edge of his soul, everything felt better, like smoothing a cooling ointment on a burn. What surprised him most, however, was the lack of snowflakes where the wispy creature touched him. Whatever Elias was made from, it wasn’t an ordinary sort of magic.

  “It’s good I wasn’t wearing my nurse’s uniform, or this could have been really uncomfortable,” Elias cackled, making Alex laugh despite himself.

  Elias removed the fronds of his wispy hands, the raw edge of Alex’s essence calming to an almost imperceptible ache. Even breathing felt easier, his chest relaxing, his shoulders loosening.

  “Elias?”

  “Yes?”

  “How did you know Professor Gaze?” Alex asked, remembering that she had mentioned him before she died, telling them that she had adored him once. He presumed she hadn’t meant the wispy anomaly before him, giving rise to the question of what Elias had been before he was this. It was a question Alex had been consistently curious about, but to have heard Elias spoken about by someone else made the shadow-man’s humanity somehow more possible.

  “Ah, that wizened old thing,” he said, though, to Alex’s surprise, the insult carried no malice. It sounded almost affectionate, though Elias quickly covered it with a languorous flick of his wrist. “A memory from a lifetime ago, no more, from a time when I was both more and less than I am now.” He tapped his vaporous foot against the floor, though it made no sound.

  “She said she adored you once,” Alex murmured. “You must have known her well, at one time?”

  “A tragic passing.” Elias seemed to nod, the words spoken through gritted, starry teeth, as if he hadn’t wanted to say it but could not prevent himself. “A fine mage from a former life.”

  A vision returned to Alex’s mind.

  “There was a figure standing in the hallway, in the flashback I had when I picked up Derhin’s bottle—that was you,” Alex said, realization dawning. “You were a professor at Spellshadow, dressed in robes, and you were watching them laughing. It was you, wasn’t it?” he pressed, though he was sure of it. The figure had seemed somehow familiar, even then. It had been the same with the portrait on the wall, in one of the Spellshadow corridors—the only portrait with the plaque torn off. The man in the painting had been so familiar, yet Alex hadn’t been able to put his finger on why. Now, it made sense.

  The stars in Elias’s eyes flashed a warning at Alex. “Elias made me, and I am Elias.”

  “It was you, wasn’t it? Just tell me it was you.”

  “Life comes and life goes. There is no avoiding fate,” he replied cryptically, his voice dripping with bitterness.

  “What happened to you?”

  Elias was more evasive than ever, glancing around, looking anywhere but at Alex. It was clear he didn’t wish to dwell on what he had been before, but Alex couldn’t drop it. People didn’t just end up as wafting shadows, flitting here and there. There had to be a reason Elias was the way he was, and Alex was desperate to know it.

  “I thought I was clever… but never mind that,” the shadow-man sighed. “You seem to be all in a pickle. I can feel it, buzzing off you—most annoying.” He shook out his vaporous body, swatting the air as if ridding himself of a vexatious wasp.

  “What do you know of Caius and the Kingstone essence?” Alex asked, knowing he wasn’t going to get the answers to Elias’s existence just yet, but remembering there were other answers he might be able to coax out of the shadow-man.

  “I know that you’re barking up the wrong tree, wasting time with the idea of waiting on corners like the sad little vagrants you are. Caius is no fool. He will sense you before you’re even close—he’ll certainly smell you,” taunted Elias, wrinkling up the place where his nose should have been. “What is that? Eau de Pond Scum?”

  Alex frowned, realizing he still needed to find something to replace his moat-soaked clothes. He had cleaned them as best he could, but Elias was right—the scent still lingered.

  “I fell into the moat,” he muttered.

  Elias roared with laughter. “Didn’t get munched by one of the monsters?”

  “Evidently not,” Alex retorted, wanting to get back to the topic of Caius. “So how would you do it? How would you smoke him out?”

  Elias flashed his starry teeth in a gleeful grin. “I never do the chasing, I always let the admirers chase me. Why wait, when you can have the pleasure of making him come to you? Give him a reason, and he will come.”

  Elias’s words suddenly gave Alex an idea, far better than his previous one. In order to smoke out a predator, bait was needed, and the perfect thing was just beginning to take shape in Alex’s mind. He would just need to check the logistics with one of Kingstone Keep’s long-term occupants first.

  He had been planning to thank Elias for the seed of a plan, but the shadow-man had descended into a strange sort of reverie, his impossible eyes glancing at the walls around him. Alex held his tongue as the misty creature spoke again.

  “They wanted to send me here, to Kingstone, you know, but that skeleton-faced idiot listened to the weasels who were whispering in his ears, telling him all sorts of tales. He tried to keep me to himself instead… He misjudged me,” Elias said. “I would never have allowed my essence to be taken by anyone else, not with the power I had brimming inside me, once upon a time. Now, it is all I can do to keep myself from evaporating back into the ether, but I was a threat to him back then, Alex—I knew things about him and what he could do. I was a force to be reckoned with. I knew things, and he hated me for it. They all hated me for it, and they knew I would have—”

  His words were interrupted by the sudden shifting of his unstable face, as it scrunched into an expression of pain, a hiss escaping from between his shadowed lips. Twists of black mist twirled away from him, disappearing into the air with a startling snap.

  Alex jerked back in surprise. He had seen Elias make all kinds of dramatic exits, but this was something entirely different; it felt wrong, somehow. Elias simply watched as the strands of himself evaporated into the darkness, his galactic eyes following them with a look of half-hearted regret. Swiftly, his expression changed, as if shaking off a dark thought, and he turned back toward Alex.

  “You are in grave danger, Alex. More danger than you know,” he said hurriedly, though Alex wasn’t sure why. This wasn’t exactly new information to him.

  He frowned. “I know.”

  Elias waved his head from side to side in a slow, wispy shake, the vapor of his form trailing sluggishly after each movement.

  “There is more to it than you realize—more to it than you can possibly comprehend. There are so many who have been looking for one like you, for such a long time. The thing is, now they’ve all seen the finish line, they’re squabbling to cross it first… They don’t understand. They don’t get it. It is not their—” He trailed off, his voice snatched sharply from the air. A crackle of bright light burst from within him, shattering the shadows of his being, dispersing them faster than he could put himself back together.

  When the blinding light died down, Elias was gone.

  “Elias?” Alex whispered, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. He didn’t know if Elias could even come back from what he had just witnessed. He had never seen Elias do anything like that before, but it hadn’t looked particularly good for the shadow-man.

  Fear prickled the hairs on the back of Alex’s neck. Given the extent of what had just happened, whatever it was abruptly silencing his shadow-guide, Alex couldn’t help but wonder what Elias had been about to s
ay.

  Chapter 8

  Rushing through the hallways, Alex arrived at the tower, still hoping to catch the others before they left to scope out Caius’s favorite spots. His mind was buzzing with the idea Elias had planted there. It was better than any idea he’d had so far, and he was desperate to inform his friends, in the hopes it might bolster their optimism.

  The others stood in a group, preparing to leave with Vincent, as Alex burst through the door. Their immediate reaction to him was stiff, given their last exchange, but their apprehension was short-lived, as they saw his excited expression—which he was sure seemed out of place alongside the exhaustion upon his features and the dark circles around his eyes.

  “Change of plan! And you’re going to like it,” Alex announced. He skidded to a stop in front of Aamir. “But first, I’m sorry for acting like a complete and utter asshole.”

  “It’s okay,” Aamir said quietly. “I won’t hold your words against you; they were spoken from a place of pain. I, of all people, know what it is like to feel out of control, and the crazy things that can make you do.” The shadow of a smile crossed the older boy’s lips, and he brought Alex in for a firm hug.

  “So, uh, you have good news?” Natalie asked, eyeing him warily but managing to smile.

  “We need to come up with a way of luring Caius out of his hiding place,” Alex said. “It won’t do us any good to wait around, hoping he’ll appear—we have to give him a reason to come to us. We have to do something so big, so crazy, that he can’t ignore it.”

  His friends’ expressions turned doubtful.

  “And what did you have in mind?” Vincent asked, his eerie voice cutting through the nervous silence.