Keith Sterling's Arc

Chapter 1 of 8

Keith Sterling knew his soulmate existed, but he did not know the man's name. Somewhere a spell had hidden it. That was the story his grandmother swore was true before she died. She left him a signet ring and a single warning: the name would stay locked until he broke the spell. For years Keith had only rumors. He needed proof the spell was real before he could fight it. The proof came at dawn. A silver owl landed on his windowsill. Its wings caught the light and threw it back in bright pieces, like glass. Keith had read about this bird. It could sense bonds woven into a person's fate. The owl fixed both eyes on the ring on his hand. Then it screeched and flew off toward the hills. Keith followed. His grandmother had said the spell's answers lived in a tower lost from every map. He had never found it. But the owl flew straight and slow, waiting each time he fell behind. By midday it circled a dark stone tower. Its walls were carved with runes that glowed green and purple. No path led to it. The owl landed on the door and vanished inside the stone. Keith touched the door. It swung open. Inside, the air turned cold. A voice spoke from nowhere. "Prove the bond is yours." The floor split into a gap too wide to jump. Keith raised the ring. Its engraved face warmed against his skin. Light poured from it and formed a bridge of gold. He crossed. The gap closed behind him. The second trial waited above. Flames rose in a ring around the stairs. The heat pushed him back. Keith held the ring toward the fire. The metal drank the flames like water. He climbed through and reached a round room at the top. A small pink creature stood on a stone table. It had a horn and delicate wings, and it glowed with a soft light. It looked at Keith with calm eyes. "You survived," it said. "Few do. The owl only brings those the bond claims." Keith knelt to meet its gaze. "My grandmother said a spell hides my soulmate's name. Is it true?" "It is true." The creature stepped closer to his hand. "That ring already carries his magic. A trace of it. That is why the spell has not swallowed you too." It touched its horn to the metal. A thin blue thread lifted from the ring and hung in the air, then snapped taut and pointed toward the door. "The spell is real," the creature said. "And now you have what breaks it. This tower keeps the rite. But the rite needs three things, and the ring is only the first." Keith closed his hand around the warm metal. The rumor was a fact now. The spell existed, and he could fight it. But the creature's words left a new weight in his chest. He had found the door. Two more pieces waited beyond it.