noticed the wall paintings. The colors were faded, like clothes that had been washed too many times, but there seemed to be a story. A girl met with a blind bobbin in a human city of airplanes and bombs. Next the girl walked over red water and then crept through a tunnel before standing in fire.
In the fifth frame, the bobbin— Gaius, Jane thought—gave the girl armor, and in the sixth frame, she fought a black shape that had been erased. The final, seventh picture was completely gone, as if it had been scrubbed off. I wonder why.
At the bottom of the hole—ten feet down—the African girl thathad passed the first test lay dead on a giant pile of gold keys. Jane knew she was dead by the stillness—a strange stillness, as if she were a rock or a mound of dirt—and by the blood in her hair.
“Oh no!” Manali said. “We have to tell Gaius. She needs a doctor!”
There were ladder rungs on the side of the well—like those found in a sewer—and Jane climbed down. She pressed on the girl’s neck the way people did on television when they were checking for a pulse. She didn’t feel anything.
“I think she’s dead,” Jane said. The keys clinked when she sat back. “I’ll call him. Gai—”
“No, Jane. You find the key,” Manali said. “Whoever calls him is disqualified, yeah? Let me do it.”
“Look at all of these keys,” Jane said. “How am I supposed to know which one is right?”
“Try,” Manali said, and before Jane could argue, she called, “ Gaius Saebius! ”
Manali was gone.
A moment later, the African girl’s body had vanished too. Thomas did that, Jane thought. He killed that girl. Why? It didn’t seem real. She examined the keys. There were thousands of them. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened. They all looked the same.
This is pointless, Jane thought. She grabbed a key and climbed out.
“Tell Gaius to be careful,” the goat-man said.
Jane paused at the golden door. This isn’t the right key, she thought. It can’t be. I just picked it randomly. “Careful of what?”
“If Castle Alsod is destroyed, the Raven King will win.”
How could that happen? Jane thought. No one can find the Castle. But she said, “I’ll tell him. After I try all these keys…”
The key fit. The lock clicked, and the door opened.
J ane stepped into blackness—the kind of dark she only saw when she wore an eye mask late at night—and the door closed behind her. It was quiet. Maybe all of those keys unlock the door, she thought, and the door is designed to open only three times. Or maybe I found the right key because I was meant to find it. No, that’s silly.
Gradually the blackness became gray in places as her eyes adjusted. Somewhere in here is the third test. The trial by fire, Gaius had called it. She stepped forward, reaching blindly. Another step and her shoe slipped off the edge of a drop—she lost her balance and fell backward, with one leg dangling over the edge. It didn’t touch bottom. There was some kind of cliff in front of her.
Two girls are dead now because of Gaius and his stupid tests, she thought. It was strange to think about that. Jane had never known anyone who died before. Except my grandmother, she thought. He killed her, just like he killed the bobbins. Just like he wants to kill everyone else. For no reason.
She scooted back and stood again, searching for walls. There were none. She could see now that she was crouching on a semicircle of rock at the edge of a cave with a low ceiling and a long drop into blackness. Out there—ahead of her—was another rock platformjust like this one, maybe forty feet away. What am I supposed to do? she thought. Jump?
Behind her, the door opened in a burst of light, and someone stepped in. The door banged shut again.
“H-hello…?” a boy said in the darkness.
“Gerhard?”
“Ah!” the German boy said, relieved. “Jane, are you here? I cannot see anything.”
“Wait for your eyes to get used to
In the fifth frame, the bobbin— Gaius, Jane thought—gave the girl armor, and in the sixth frame, she fought a black shape that had been erased. The final, seventh picture was completely gone, as if it had been scrubbed off. I wonder why.
At the bottom of the hole—ten feet down—the African girl thathad passed the first test lay dead on a giant pile of gold keys. Jane knew she was dead by the stillness—a strange stillness, as if she were a rock or a mound of dirt—and by the blood in her hair.
“Oh no!” Manali said. “We have to tell Gaius. She needs a doctor!”
There were ladder rungs on the side of the well—like those found in a sewer—and Jane climbed down. She pressed on the girl’s neck the way people did on television when they were checking for a pulse. She didn’t feel anything.
“I think she’s dead,” Jane said. The keys clinked when she sat back. “I’ll call him. Gai—”
“No, Jane. You find the key,” Manali said. “Whoever calls him is disqualified, yeah? Let me do it.”
“Look at all of these keys,” Jane said. “How am I supposed to know which one is right?”
“Try,” Manali said, and before Jane could argue, she called, “ Gaius Saebius! ”
Manali was gone.
A moment later, the African girl’s body had vanished too. Thomas did that, Jane thought. He killed that girl. Why? It didn’t seem real. She examined the keys. There were thousands of them. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened. They all looked the same.
This is pointless, Jane thought. She grabbed a key and climbed out.
“Tell Gaius to be careful,” the goat-man said.
Jane paused at the golden door. This isn’t the right key, she thought. It can’t be. I just picked it randomly. “Careful of what?”
“If Castle Alsod is destroyed, the Raven King will win.”
How could that happen? Jane thought. No one can find the Castle. But she said, “I’ll tell him. After I try all these keys…”
The key fit. The lock clicked, and the door opened.
J ane stepped into blackness—the kind of dark she only saw when she wore an eye mask late at night—and the door closed behind her. It was quiet. Maybe all of those keys unlock the door, she thought, and the door is designed to open only three times. Or maybe I found the right key because I was meant to find it. No, that’s silly.
Gradually the blackness became gray in places as her eyes adjusted. Somewhere in here is the third test. The trial by fire, Gaius had called it. She stepped forward, reaching blindly. Another step and her shoe slipped off the edge of a drop—she lost her balance and fell backward, with one leg dangling over the edge. It didn’t touch bottom. There was some kind of cliff in front of her.
Two girls are dead now because of Gaius and his stupid tests, she thought. It was strange to think about that. Jane had never known anyone who died before. Except my grandmother, she thought. He killed her, just like he killed the bobbins. Just like he wants to kill everyone else. For no reason.
She scooted back and stood again, searching for walls. There were none. She could see now that she was crouching on a semicircle of rock at the edge of a cave with a low ceiling and a long drop into blackness. Out there—ahead of her—was another rock platformjust like this one, maybe forty feet away. What am I supposed to do? she thought. Jump?
Behind her, the door opened in a burst of light, and someone stepped in. The door banged shut again.
“H-hello…?” a boy said in the darkness.
“Gerhard?”
“Ah!” the German boy said, relieved. “Jane, are you here? I cannot see anything.”
“Wait for your eyes to get used to
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