Lodestar by Shannon Messenger
“Fine,” Sophie reluctantly agreed. “But if you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming after you.”
She kissed Sophie’s cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind Sophie’s ear. “I love you so much, sweetheart. Thank you for trusting me.”
SEVENTY-NINE
EVERY SECOND FELT like an hour—and by the time eight minutes had passed, Sophie was ready to bang her head against the marble walls.
She’d used two of those minutes to ditch her stupid dress and change into the simple black clothes she’d been wearing when she arrived. The rest she’d spent pacing and thinking.
Whenever there were this many unanswered questions, it always meant they were missing something. And the one that bothered her the most was: How were the Neverseen planning to get out of their cells?
She’d seen the sturdy locks.
The heavy metal doors.
And lumenite didn’t burn, so Fintan’s power was useless.
She tried to figure out what she would do if she were trapped, and her mind kept circling back to her recent skill training.
The splotchers she’d exploded.
The stone she’d shattered.
She traced her hand across the cold stones around her door
Coach Rohana had told her, I suspect you could bring down a mountain if you sat in solitude long enough. Was that why Gethen had seemed so content in his cell? Had he been taking the time to rest and build his reserves to break through the doors?
A faint tremor shook the floor, and Sophie tried to tell herself her mind was playing tricks on her. But then she realized the crystals on the chandeliers were swaying.
The motion was so subtle, she wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t been paying attention.
But she was paying attention.
And as she watched, a tiny rustle made the crystals quiver again.
Someone could be walking on the floor above her. Or the wind could be strong enough to shake the castle. Or . . .
Four dangerous prisoners could be breaking out of their dungeon cells.
But why now?
If this was just about embarrassing the Council in front of the other leaders, why not escape the second the summit began?
This is what they want, Lady Gisela had told her—but she’d also told her something else. Something Sophie had thought was just metaphor or hyperbole. But maybe it had been another warning.
Get my son back before it all comes crashing down.
Keefe had told her that Fintan wanted to take out the Council. And here they were all under one roof—the same roof as Gethen. And Gethen had had months to build his reserves.
Gethen is where he belongs.
The perfect inside man, hidden in the one place they wouldn’t have been able to access any other way. Maybe the person they’d been counting on to deliver.
But . . . if Gethen brought down the castle—wouldn’t they all be crushed in the rubble?
Fintan had known the Council would arrest him—he’d said as much to Oralie. He’d also stalled the proceedings, making sure it all happened on his timeline. And he wasn’t suicidal, so why would he want to be down in the dungeon when it happened? Why would he order Brant and Ruy to get themselves captured?
Ruy.
A powerful Psionipath could shield them under a force field. Keep them alive. Make sure they survived.
It was sickening how perfectly they’d planned everything—and even worse how many clues she’d missed. The warning signs had been there all along, and she hadn’t paid close enough attention.
The floor shook again, telling her the time to wonder was over.
This was happening.
And the tremors were only beginning.
KEEFE! she transmitted. If you can hear me, make sure you stay away from the castle. Gethen is going to knock it down. THAT’s Fintan’s vision.
She sent the same transmission to Mr. Forkle, begging him to start evacuating. Then she pounded on her door, demanding her guards let her out.
When no one answered, she gathered her mental strength and imagined singing the energy into the lock and the stones around it. Deeper and deeper the power sank, coiling so tight it felt like a wound-up spring. All she had to do was let go.
The explosion knocked her back, but she caught herself on a nearby table, her whole body shaking as she stared at the rubble around her now-open door.
If she could cause that much destruction with so little practice or energy . . .
This is what they want.
She bolted down the hallway as the floor rumbled again, trying to figure out the best plan. She could fight her way to the dungeon—but it would be four against one. And she might not get there in time.
The next tremor was sharper, sending dust swirling through the air. Too strong to be ignored, but too weak to be felt by anyone else—especially a bunch of people higher up at a party, nibbling treats and admiring the splendor and congratulating themselves on the day’s victory.
And somewhere among them was Edaline.
Sophie changed direction, her goal clear as she doubled her speed, ducking down halls at random. The maze felt alive, stretching and spreading and shifting, anything to prevent her from getting where she needed to be.
A staircase looked familiar, but most of the doors it led to were locked. She finally chose a path through a hall lined with blue flames, hoping the light was a good sign.
The longer she ran, the more the tremors grew, until she could see cracks fissuring through the stones. The dust made her chest throb and her eyes water—or maybe that was the panic—as she started screaming Edaline’s name.
More doorways. More stairs. More halls. More quakes gaining momentum—like distant thunder rolling in with the storm.
She tried to track Edaline with her mind, but her fear shattered her concentration. She’d nearly broken down when she recognized a new sound.
Footsteps.
“EDALINE?”
“SOPHIE?” Mr. Forkle shouted.
She sprinted toward the sound, taking a flight of stairs three at a time before she crashed hard into his bloated belly.
“Is Edaline with you?” she gasped.
“No—she went looking for you. Oralie ordered all the goblins to the dungeon after she talked to your mother. But none of them have made it back, and then the shaking started.”
That explained why there’d been no guard outside her door. She couldn’t think about what that might mean for poor Righty and Bunhead.
“The Councillors are trying to clear the castle,” Mr. Forkle said, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. “I’ll show you the fastest way to the exit.”
Sophie jerked out of his grip. “Not until I find Edaline.”
“Hopefully that’s where she’s waiting for you. I’d told her that if I found you, I’d send you there.”
But there was no sign of Edaline at the exit.
“I’ll find her,” Mr. Forkle promised. “Get to the beach and go as far as you can. It’s hard to know where the rubble will fall.”
“I’m not leaving without my mom!”
He blocked her from charging past him. “We both know that’s not what she would want. Go somewhere safe. I’ll find her and get her out.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I found you, didn’t I?”
Technically, she’d found him—but this wasn’t a time for technicalities. It was a time for action. And hope. And trust.
So she did as he asked, and made her way to the courtyard. But when she looked at the once-gleaming castle—now dulled, with wavering walls and light leaking through the cracks—she couldn’t walk away.
She couldn’t risk a lifetime of wondering What if I’d stayed?
She turned and raced back in, keeping her left hand on the wall, hoping it’d help her find her way out when she needed the exit. Faster and faster she ran as the dust and pebbles pelted her, the ground splitting beneath her feet.
Her balance mostl
“Sophie?” Edaline shouted. “Is that you?”
Just like that, she was on her feet again, coughing as she ran, lungs burning, hair flying—and then there was Edaline. Dusty and panting, her once-lovely gown now filthy and shredded.
She threw her arms around Sophie, hugging her even as she dragged her back the way she’d come. “We have to go.”
They ran as fast as they could.
But it wasn’t fast enough.
They’d just reached one of the widest halls when the floor collapsed beneath them, whipping their hearts into their throats as they plummeted.
They crashed into the next level down, stones raining all around them—one piece big enough to crush and kill.
Sophie watched it fall, trying to knock it back with her telekinesis. But it had too much momentum. It would’ve landed right on top of them if Edaline hadn’t snapped her fingers, conjuring it away.
“Whoa, that’s intense,” Edaline said, shaking from the effort. “I’ve never dumped something that big in the void. But it worked. Come on—this place is coming down fast.”
They’d only gone a few steps when a tremor split the wall, sending more stones hurtling toward them.
Edaline snapped her fingers and conjured them each away. But the effort took a huge toll.
“Here,” Sophie said, ripping off her gloves. “It’ll make you stronger.”
Edaline pulled her close. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”
“Together,” Sophie told her as she led Edaline forward.
Step by fumbling step, they made their way through the maze, and Edaline used her enhanced strength to conjure away anything that tried to crush them. Eventually, they spotted a crack that offered a teasing glint of the ocean. It wasn’t wide enough to fit through, but Sophie sang the last of her energy into the stones, blasting their way outside to the cold, misty air.
With the final dregs of their energy, they scrambled over the glowing destruction and kept crawling and clawing until they reached a sandy clearing where the waves drowned out most of the noise.
“I think we’ll be safe here,” Sophie whispered, curling closer to Edaline to keep warm.
Edaline tangled her arms around her, quietly sobbing onto Sophie’s shoulder. Sophie held her tight, promising it was almost over as she watched the dark waves roll across the shore.
She was about to close her eyes when she spotted four figures crossing the beach in long black cloaks.
When she blinked, they were gone.
EIGHTY
THERE YOU ARE,” a choked voice said, and Sophie slowly forced herself back to consciousness.
It hurt to focus through all the grit and dust crudding up her poor, dry eyes. But after a few seconds the world sharpened and she found a beautiful blond boy leaning over her.
Keefe’s smile was somehow both breathtaking and heartbreaking, but it faded as he stroked her cheek and whispered, “When you and Edaline weren’t with the survivors . . .”
“Edaline!” Sophie gasped, and blood flooded her brain as she sat up too quickly. She breathed through the head rush, searching the clearing until . . .
“She looks okay,” Keefe said, squatting beside Edaline and using his dirty tunic to wipe some red off her bruised cheek. Edaline stirred at the touch, but not enough to wake up, and Sophie decided to let her sleep.
“Did everyone else make it out?” she whispered.
“Um . . . I know Councillor Terik’s hurt pretty bad. I guess he might lose part of his leg—or maybe he lost it already? I couldn’t tell. I saw the blood and I bolted so I wouldn’t hurl all over everybody. But Elwin was working on him, so hopefully he’ll be okay. Physic’s here too. Most of the injuries looked pretty minor—just cuts and scratches. Broken bones. Nothing life threatening. Though I heard a lot of the goblins were down in the dungeon when it happened, and so far none of them have come back out.”
Sophie shuddered.
The motion made her cough—she was pretty sure she’d be coughing up lumenite forever—and Keefe scooted closer, patting her back until the fit calmed.
She leaned against him, soaking up his warmth. “How bad do I look?”
“You could never look bad. But, um . . .” He brushed a finger across her forehead and showed her the red. “Want me to take you to Elwin?”
“No, he should work on the urgent cases first. Is Grady here? Or Fitz and Biana?”
“The island’s on lockdown, even for friends and family, until the dwarves stabilize the ruins—though Biana managed to sneak over for a couple of minutes. Vanishers. She was looking for you guys and totally tackled me when she saw me. I guess she didn’t realize I’d already left the Neverseen, so there was a lot of threatening and punching. But I deserved it. I deserve so much worse.” His throat closed off, and it took several tries to clear it. “All those months with them, thinking I was playing everything perfectly. I bet they were onto me the whole time. Just like my mom said. And they were planning this.”
He punched the sand, sending it spraying around them.
Sophie held him tighter. “This is not your fault, Keefe. None of us realized what they were up to.”
“Yeah, but I was living with them. Helping them. And all I have to show for it is this.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out two clear glass marbles. One with seven colorful tiny crystals set inside. The other with nine.
“You stole the caches?” Sophie whispered, watching them roll around his palm.
Together, the two gadgets contained sixteen Forgotten Secrets.
“It was the only thing that went right with my escape. And I was so smug about it. But who cares? I mean, seriously—who cares about a bunch of dusty old secrets when people can do that?” He gestured behind her, to the ruined castle.
“It’s still huge,” Sophie promised. “I know it doesn’t feel like it—but the secrets in those caches have to be important. That’s a victory!”
“A pretty weak one,” he grumbled, trying to look away.
She reached up and turned his chin back, waiting for him to meet her eyes. “You have to let this go. Don’t let this ruin what we have here.”
“What do we have?”
She ignored the darkness shredding his tone. “We have a new start. A new lead. A new weapon in this fight.”
Also a new world.
At the thought, Sophie forced herself to finally look back at the destruction. The majestic castle was nothing more than a few jagged pieces. When she squinted at it, she could almost imagine it was a giant gnarled hand, reaching out of the ground as the beast it belonged to tried to claw its way to freedom.
It also looked like a message. The Neverseen had just told the whole world that they were the ones to be feared.
“You should probably transmit to Fitz that you’re okay,” Keefe said quietly. “I hadn’t found you when I saw Biana.” He looked away again, swiping at his eyes. “If you hadn’t been okay—”
“But I am,” she assured him.
She closed her eyes, picturing Fitz’s handsome face as she transmitted, I’m okay, and so is Edaline. Please tell Grady for me. I promise I’ll let you know more soon.
“Okay, I let Fitz know,” she told Keefe. “Have you seen Mr. Forkle?”
Keefe flinched at the name.
“What?” she asked.
The anguish on his face told her everything she needed to know.
“Hey,” Keefe said holding her steady as she struggled to stand. “He’s not dead, okay? He’s just . . . missing.”
“But he’s missing because of me! I made him go back to find Edaline—and then I went back and found her anyway!”
“Deep breaths, Foster. Try to remember that you were ‘missing’ a few minutes ago, and yet you’re fine. There’s a lot of beach to search. A lot of debris to sort through.”
She tried to see it like that,
“Is anyone else missing?” she asked, trying to prepare herself for the worst.
But she definitely wasn’t ready for him to whisper, “Oralie.”
The world spun upside down and inside out. “We have to find them.”
She was half crying, half hyperventilating as she stumbled forward—and immediately collapsed.
“Okay, how about you lean on me and we’ll start searching the beach?” Keefe offered.
She shook her head. “We can’t afford to waste time. If they’re hurt . . .”
She closed her eyes, letting her concentration brew and bubble before she stretched her mind across the space of the island. She could feel a ton of people on the beach—but no one she was looking for, so she fanned her thoughts toward the ruins and . . .
“I think I feel something! It’s weak, but it’s there.”
“Can you isolate it? We can tell the dwarves and as soon as they’ve secured the structure they’ll go in—”
“What do you mean ‘as soon as they’ve secured the structure’?”
“King Enki said it’s not safe for anyone to go in right now. All the parts that are still standing have big cracks compromising their integrity, so there’s no way to know if the whole thing is going to come down—especially in this wind. He said he’d have it secured by sunset.”
“That’s too long,” Sophie said. “They have to be hurt. Otherwise why aren’t they here?”
Keefe tore his hand through his hair, shaking loose dust and sand. “What are the odds of me talking you out of this?”
“Definitely none.”
“Then I guess I’m coming with you.” He glanced at Edaline, who was still sleeping restlessly. “She’s going to freak when she wakes up alone.”
Sophie nodded and wrote, I’m okay—went to find Forkle in the sand, hoping this note would cause less trouble than her last one.
Then she headed for the rubble.
“Not that way,” Keefe said, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the shadows. “The dwarves are working just around that bend. If they spot us, they’ll make sure we don’t get anywhere near the castle. We’ll have to sneak around the back and find another way in.”