The Golden Tower

by Holly Black

  It turned out that mages had made a lot of things over the years, though very few of them measured up to something like the Alkahest, which could kill chaos users with their own magic and which Alex had modified to steal Aaron’s Makar abilities and which had been, thankfully, destroyed. Most were useful but kind of dull things like knives that returned to the hand of the person who threw them. A few were just weird.

  “I found a hatchet that cuts the heads off three pigeons with every single throw,” Jasper said, looking up from his book with a frown. “Who would want to make something like that?”

  “Someone who really hates pigeons,” Gwenda said with a yawn.

  Just then there was a knocking on the door. Call went over and waved it open to find a bunch of First Years including Axel and the girl who’d been carried into the air by the dragon.

  “We just wanted to thank you,” said Axel. “Because you’re awesome.”

  “I’m Lisa,” the girl said, thrusting a drawing at Call. “We just wanted you to know that we will never believe anything bad anyone ever says about you. You’re cool and you saved us and I drew a picture of it.”

  Call took the picture and goggled at it. He couldn’t deny that it was actually very well drawn. The face really looked like him, but the body was much more built and also featured his shirt ripped open over six-pack abs. “Uh,” Call said, embarrassed.

  Tamara grabbed it out of his hands. “This is amazing,” she said with enthusiasm that Call was sure came from mockery. “You’re really talented. We’re going to hang this on the wall.”

  “We are most certainly not,” said Jasper, who would have loved the drawing had it been of him.

  Thank them, Aaron said. Tell her it’s a great picture.

  With Celia telling people that Call was evil, he supposed he couldn’t afford bad public relations. Maybe these Iron Year kids could help him get back in the good graces of the rest of the students.

  “Thank you,” he told Lisa. “It’s great.”

  “It definitely is,” Tamara agreed.

  “We just wanted you to know,” said Axel, “whatever you want, we’re there for you. We’ll help. Really, anything.”

  “You guys are so sweet,” said Tamara.

  A wicked grin grew on Call’s face. Now here was a gift he knew what to do with. “Great!” he said. “As you can see, we’re really busy, so how about you go to the Refectory and get us some of those lichen cakes that taste like pizza. And then I need some more books from the library —”

  “Call!” Tamara said, interrupting him.

  He gave her an innocent look. “Maybe just the lichen cakes for now,” he said to the Iron Years.

  They nodded and headed off to do Call’s bidding.

  “They’re not your personal servants,” Tamara said.

  “I think you will find that they are,” said Call, then admitted, “I guess I get an Evil Overlord Point for that.”

  “What?” Tamara asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” he said, realizing that maybe he didn’t want her to know about the Evil Overlord list. And he definitely didn’t want Jasper and Gwenda, who were looking at him oddly, to start tallying up points for him.

  If there’s no weapon in these books, we’re going to have to get serious, Aaron said. I know you don’t want to look at the memories, but they might be our best hope of defeating Alex.

  It won’t help anyone if I go full E-o-D, Call thought back. He missed the days when he believed that cheating on a test or taking the last slice of pizza was enough to make him into a bad guy. The memories were dangerous and dangerously tempting. What if he could save the world but it meant losing himself?

  But if he became Constantine, would he even want to defeat Alex?

  Call went back to the books, but with every page he flipped, he felt his options shrinking.

  By the time they got through all the books, the lichen cakes were a distant memory. They were frustrated and hungry. Finally, Gwenda stood up and stretched her arms over her head.

  “Okay,” she said. “We need a break.”

  “Do you think Alex is taking a break?” Jasper demanded. “Evil never takes a break.”

  “Well, Gwenda’s right. We need one,” said Tamara. “Let’s go down to the Gallery and go for a swim. We need to let our minds rest and see if we get any new ideas.”

  “Sugar might help,” Call agreed. “Sugar and caffeine.”

  “Fine,” said Jasper, realizing they were all against him. “But we are still not hanging that picture of Call on the wall.”

  “That’s right,” Tamara agreed. “We’re hanging it on the fridge.”

  And she did.

  The Gallery was surprisingly full of students. Call would have thought that after the traumatic events of the past day, especially the death of Master Rockmaple, it would have been a dark and subdued place. But it was stuffed full of people, raucously yelling and having a good time.

  Tamara shrugged. “Denial,” she said as he glanced around, taking in the kids jumping in and out of the hot and cold pools in the rocks. They’d put in a bunch of squishy gold velvet sofas, and a ton of students were sprawled on them, sipping drinks in bright colors: blue, green, orange, and pink. “People need to be distracted. It’s normal.”

  Gwenda and Jasper were already over at the long stone snack bar, filling plates with candy and crunchy dried lichen flavored like nacho cheese. Call grabbed a frozen sugary tea and Tamara a glass of something with raspberries and huge lychees.

  They all headed over to the squishy couches, when Call suddenly stopped short. Celia was sitting there with Charlie and Kai, wearing a flowered yellow shirt and laughing. She looked pretty and lighthearted — at least until she turned to see him, and her face went still.

  “Maybe we should go somewhere else,” muttered Call.

  “Well, would you look who’s got the nerve to show himself in here,” someone said. It wasn’t Celia. It was a boy in a denim shirt and swim shorts, with red hair and long skinny legs. Call thought he recognized him, but he wasn’t sure.

  That’s Colton McCarmack, said Aaron’s voice in his head. He was friends with Jennifer Matsui, before she died.

  Call felt a cold lump in his stomach. He had brought Jen Matsui back to life as a Chaos-ridden. It hadn’t been his choice to do it, but it had still been horrible.

  “Look, we don’t want any trouble,” Call said, holding up a hand. “We’ll go sit somewhere else.”

  “As long as you’re in the Magisterium, you’re trouble,” said a girl sitting next to Colton. She had short black hair with bright dyed blue bangs.

  Yen Ly, said Aaron. Colton’s girlfriend.

  Did you know EVERYONE in the Magisterium? Call thought with exasperation.

  Just trying to help. Aaron sounded annoyed.

  “You were close to Alex,” said Colton, leaning forward. “Weren’t you?”

  “What’s this about, Colton?” Tamara demanded, her hands on her hips. “Alex faked being our friend. He killed Aaron, who was Call’s counterweight. Surely you’re not going to suggest we’re big fans of his.”

  “Leave Call alone.” It was Kai, looking a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat. “We all saw him save those kids this afternoon. And destroy Alex Strike’s chaos magic. He’s obviously on our side.”

  “Too obviously,” said Colton. “Alex had already gotten what he wanted. I figure it was all staged to make it look like Call was fighting off the Devoured, when really he’s in league with him.”

  “‘In league with him’?” echoed Jasper. “Who talks like that?”

  “And you.” Colton turned on Jasper. “Didn’t your father join Master Joseph? You talk as though we have any reason to believe you’re loyal to the mages, but somehow when Call was broken out of prison, you and Tamara were there. Tamara, whose sister Kimiya is Alex’s girlfriend. Everyone knows you’re both as corrupt as he is.”

  At the mention of his father, Jasper seemed to shrink.

&nb
sp; Rage sprang up in Call. “Back off,” he said sharply. “No one is in league with Alex. Jasper doesn’t even like me that much, and we’re about to risk our lives again to save you, so unless you’d like to take my place fighting the Devoured, maybe you should leave us alone.”

  “Celia’s right about you,” Colton says. “You’re not to be trusted, and anyone who can stand being around you can’t be trusted either.” With that, he walked off, his girlfriend and friends following.

  Call and the others walked back to their rooms with heavy hearts. Gwenda, who hadn’t spoken to Colton and hadn’t been accused of being evil either, was probably weighing the potential benefits and drawbacks of being their friend. Call was pretty sure the math wasn’t on his side.

  WHEN HE OPENED the door with a wave of his wristband, Call saw that the wall of stone was on fire. For a moment he just blinked at it, until he saw that the fire was spelling words.

  MEET IN THE PLACE AT THE HOUR OF YOUR AGE.

  The letters turned to ash and then vanished, leaving nothing behind.

  “More weird stuff,” said Gwenda glumly.

  “It’s a message from Ravan,” said Tamara. “She communicates with fire. It’s her language. And her handwriting.”

  “Okay,” said Jasper. “But how are we supposed to know what she means?”

  “‘The place’ is probably the place I met her last year,” Tamara said. “On the grounds of the Magisterium.”

  “Outside?” asked Gwenda.

  Tamara nodded. “But ‘the hour of your age’? Does she mean my birthday?”

  “Or the time you were born?” Jasper put in. “How would you know that? Unless you call your mom or something.”

  Sixteen-hundred hours, Aaron said. Military time.

  Call opened his mouth to say that Aaron had figured it out when he remembered that would be a mistake. “Four in the afternoon,” he said instead. “Because she’s sixteen.”

  “That only gives us twenty minutes!” said Gwenda, and they charged back out.

  Call brought Havoc. Havoc might not be Chaos-ridden anymore, but you never knew when you might need a loyal wolf.

  They raced through the corridors of the Magisterium, heading for the Mission Gate. As they left the Magisterium, Call couldn’t help thinking of Alex’s arrival with the dragon, especially because in the distance, his stupid tower was being built. Mages flew through the air, lifting blocks of stone with their magic, each resting on top of another as the edifice grew. It might be ridiculous, but it was being made and Call was running out of time.

  “Here we are,” Tamara said as they arrived in a grove. She climbed up on a rock and sat down.

  For a moment, they waited, drinking in the smell of pine needles. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled and Havoc pricked up his ears.

  Then, all at once, like a spark flying up from kindling, Ravan was there.

  She looked as much like a girl as Call had ever seen her. She was surrounded by a nimbus of flames, and her left hand was all fire, like a burning Alkahest. Her eyes were full of fire, too, and her hair shot sparks. But she was still girl-shaped, and, unnervingly, Call could see her resemblance to Tamara. It made him uncomfortable for reasons he couldn’t articulate to himself.

  Because the thought of something like that happening to Tamara freaks you out, said Aaron. Because you like her. You’re in like with her.

  Do you MIND? Call thought. It’s none of your business.

  It is as long as I’m stuck in here. Besides, I’m hoping you crazy kids make it work.

  “Ravan.” Tamara had stood up, appearing to understand she was the unofficial spokesperson for the group. “Thanks for coming.”

  “You’re my sister,” Ravan said, sparks flying from her mouth as she spoke. “You wanted me to come, so I came. What is it?”

  Tamara reached up to fiddle with her necklace. “We need to know how to kill a Devoured.”

  Ravan started to laugh, which sounded like fireworks going off. Jasper scuttled back a few feet, clearly nervous that sparks were going to land on his clothes. “Why would I tell you that?”

  “Because otherwise Alex Strike will kill me, and Kimiya, too,” said Tamara.

  Ravan stopped laughing. She hovered, burning, as Tamara explained what was going on: the building of the tower, Alex’s requests, Call’s inability to hurt him with chaos.

  “We don’t want to hurt any other Devoured,” Tamara finished. “But we need to get rid of Alex, Ravan. He could kill a lot of people otherwise.”

  “I see,” Ravan said. “I can tell you now, I have never heard of a Devoured of chaos before. A Devoured is killed the way elementals are killed — they are destroyed by their opposing element. I could be killed by a Devoured of water, or by an enormous amount of water magic, my fire put out forever.” She sounded as if she were full of dread. “But chaos …”

  “The opposite of chaos is the soul,” said Call. “There’s no such thing as a Devoured of the soul.”

  “There cannot be,” said Ravan. “A person cannot be Devoured by their own soul. It would be like being murdered by life.”

  “Well, what are we supposed to do, then?” said Gwenda. “We can’t send souls at him.”

  “I don’t know,” said Ravan. “I would help you if I could.”

  Tamara looked bitterly disappointed. “If you hear any other elementals or Devoured speaking about a way to get rid of Alex, please, please tell me.”

  “I will, little sister. Stay safe. If you need me, I will come again.” And with that, Ravan burst up into a tornado of flame, whirling in the air and then dispersing into sparks as though she’d never been there.

  The four of them who remained sat in silence, their hope dashed. Call’s mind raced — surely there had to be some other option, some other idea, someone else they could ask. Havoc barked when one of the sparks drifted too close to his fur. Call thought even he sounded depressed.

  In the distance, a howl echoed through the woods.

  “What’s that?” Jasper said, sitting up straight.

  “It’s probably one of the Chaos-ridden wolves …” Gwenda said, letting the sentence trail off. From the beginning of their time at the Magisterium, the woods had been full of Chaos-ridden creatures. The Order of Disorder had even moved to study them. Then the Assembly had rounded them up, and even though Call had rescued them from that fate, they weren’t in the woods anymore.

  “Maybe they came back,” said Tamara, hopping down from the rock and walking to the edge of the woods.

  Another howl came, this one much closer. Then, from the opposite direction, one of the wolves slunk into view. It was a dark shape, like it had been cut out from paper, with nothingness occupying where it should have been. The fur on Havoc’s back lifted. These weren’t Chaos-ridden wolves, at least not anymore. These had come back from the void with Alex and now they were chaos elementals, far more powerful and far more terrifying.

  Fire ignited at the center of Tamara’s palm, a ball of it that grew as she stood. Havoc bared his teeth and ran toward the beasts.

  “No!” Call shouted, racing after his wolf and then stumbling. He fell painfully onto his knees as Gwenda leaped to stand beside Tamara, raising her hands. Little jagged pieces of iron and nickel began to rip their way out of the earth as Gwenda summoned metal, then flew toward the chaos creatures that were coming out of the woods from every direction.

  A few howled and fell back, the metal tearing holes in their smokelike bodies. Call could see through their wounds into the woods beyond.

  “Stand back-to-back,” Jasper shouted.

  Call pushed himself to his feet, ready to send these elementals back into chaos. But they’d crept too close to Tamara for him to be sure that opening a portal wouldn’t pull her through the way it had Master Rockmaple.

  Havoc had made it to Tamara and was standing between her and the chaos creatures, growling.

  We’ve got to do something, said Aaron, which was not particularly encouraging.

/>   Call sent out a bolt of chaos energy, targeted toward one of the wolves closing in on them. It disappeared, dispersed by nothing into nothing.

  Two of the wolves rushed toward Gwenda from opposite directions at once and she pulled up metal to send at one of them. It struck the creature in the throat, sending it flying back. Jasper threw himself in front of the other wolf, creating an enormous snap of wind, one that broke the branches of trees behind the wolf and sent it flying against a rock.

  Tamara sent fire at the wolves near her, but more gathered around. Call started to panic, shooting bolts of chaos toward the wolves. Gwenda was still flinging metal, and there were deep holes in the ground all around her, but she was starting to look desperate. She’d run out of metal eventually, Call knew. Both Tamara and Jasper were tight-faced with exhaustion.

  There were too many of them, too close to Tamara, Gwenda, and Havoc. There was no way he could send them all to the void in time. One lunged for Tamara’s throat, teeth snapping against her skin.

  The memories, he thought in a panic. If he had Constantine’s memories, he would know what to do. Constantine was the Enemy of Death. He could have handled this situation.

  Call took a deep breath. Aaron —

  Are you sure? Aaron wanted to know.

  “Unlock them,” Call said. “Do it.”

  All right.

  It felt as if something inside Call’s head was tearing. He dropped to his knees, clutching at his temples. Havoc ran to him, putting his paw on Call’s arm; Call ducked his head, aware that fire and metal were flying all around him. His leg sent stabbing pains through him, matched by the pressure and pain in his head.

  Aaron, he said. Aaron, whatever you’re doing, I don’t think I can —

  The block in his mind crashed open like a gate, flooding his brain with images. He was aware of Havoc making a terrible noise, a sort of wailing bark as he leaped away from Call, cowering.