Page 47 of Starside

I blink. “Immortals used to make the quest?”

He scowls. “Of course. Before it became a death sentence.” He laughs, then stops himself.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

He sighs. “Immortals used to journey to the gods to ask for favors. Or to win a cup of magic. Some even drank it.” His lip curls in a sneer. “Most turned into beasts, of course. Cursed by their greed. The gods have only deepened their cruelty, as is their right. Only the truly desperate would ever try to visit them now.”

He looks over at me with unfiltered disdain and perhaps a bit of amusement. I want to ask more, but his eyes begin to narrow.

“Come. You’ve sullied this place long enough.” He drags me back through the door. His grip is punishing, his nails digging into my shoulder. He’s so close, he spits the words, raising his voice as he says, “You are not going to tell anyone you were in here.”

I nod slowly.

Only then does he release me. I’m led back to the dining room and Pelas relishes commanding a Level 1 to show me to my quarters. I follow, head bent.

When the hallway is quiet again, I sneak back toward the tower. And slip the quill I stole from Pelas between my fingers.

The scholars don’t visit at night. The structure is windowless, save for a large skylight that takes up the entire pointed ceiling. Daylight is clearly preferable for reading. I have nothing but the light of a candle I took from the hall.

The shelves are positioned in rings, with the stairs going around and around. Each level up is smaller than the last, leading to the peak—Level 10. Just a small circle of books.

I don’t waste a moment. I run up the spiral stairs to Level 1 and begin with the first book. As I go to pull it off the shelf, it pulls back.

Shit. The books are chained to their shelves, making it impossible to steal them—and hard to open at all. I can only view them if I’m hunched over at an awkward angle. Each chain is locked.

I try Pelas’s quill, and it works. The book is freed.

There’s nothing inside but half-empty pages. Something about plants, with detailed drawings of leaves.

I move on.

I open book after book, flipping through each quickly, looking for anything that might help me complete the quest.

I reach toward another text, but I stop just short of it. There’s an energy … a thrumming inside.

Something is contained in that book. I’m not sure what it is, but I move past it. A few others have that same strange feeling. I finally pick one up and read its cover. It has to do with magic.

Useless to me right now. I just need any information that can help me get to the gods—and kill them.

Level 1 doesn’t have anything relevant. I go to Level 2. The books here are about history. War. Great Houses rising and falling.

Level 3. Creatures. Endless books about beasts and beings, most of which I’ve never heard of. It could be useful, but I don’t have time. I need to find something that can specifically help me on this quest.

The darkness begins to fade.

I look up. The first rays of light are gleaming through the peak.

Shit.

Pelas said he had never encountered an account from someone who had completed the Questral. It must be because it’s on a higher level.

I skip Level 4 and Level 5 and go straight to Level 6.

Here, most of the books are thrumming with that strange energy. It makes it easy to pass those. Only a few don’t have it, and I hurriedly turn their pages.

Orange rays spill down from the ceiling, slowly illuminating the mosaic below. As soon as the sun hits that silver circle at the center of the ring … it glows, producing its own column of light that shoots right up through the center of the tower.

Beautiful. But it means my time is almost up. Scholars should be walking inside any moment now. I look around, frantically, knowing I don’t have time to go through each book. This level has hundreds.