* Author : Bennett North * Narrator : C. L. Clark * Hosts : Matt Dovey and C. L. Clark * Audio Producers : Devin Martin and Peter Adrian Behravesh * Discuss on Forums PodCastle 812: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: No Mercy to the Rest is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 No Mercy to the Rest by Bennett North Sadie parked in the lee of Castle Inferno, where she would be spared from the wind, and sat while the engine ticked, trying to convince herself to let go of the steering wheel. The castle stood stark against the sky, dark stone walls leaching the saturation from the blue. One tower was burned out and soot-streaked. No sign of repair. Was Dr. Inferno hard up for cash or did fresh tarmac interfere with the mad scientist aesthetic? Sadie grabbed the swinging St. Christopher medal from the rearview mirror and squeezed it. “Keep an eye on me, Gemma,” she said. “This is for you.” The stairs that hugged the foundation ended at a pair of wooden doors set into a stone arch that had to be thirty feet tall. Sadie ducked into the corner of the arch, out of the wind, and pressed the plastic doorbell button. Something heavy thunked inside, then one of the doors opened enough for a woman to lean out. She was white, with frizzy, graying hair, a Red Sox T-shirt, and jeans. “Sadie Jones?” the woman asked, looking her up and down. “That’s me,” said Sadie. “I’m looking for an . . . Igor?” “You found her.” The woman opened the door another few inches. “Come on. If the wind catches this door, it’s impossible to close.” Sadie squeezed through the opening into a dark, echoing foyer. Igor forced the door closed while Sadie looked around. The floor was smooth stone, worn down under a thousand years of footfalls. Arched doors led left and right, and a helical staircase rose up ahead. In one corner, a Wi-Fi range extender blinked green. “So.” Igor clapped. “Right. Hello! I’m Igor, and this is Castle Inferno.” She led Sadie through the left archway to a staircase leading down. “I’m so glad you could make it. Would you like coffee before we start? Tea? Water?” “No, thanks.” This wasn’t what Sadie had expected. She hadn’t really known what to expect. More of a background check, certainly. Perhaps armed guards or dogs. Barbed wire fences at least. So far, she’d only seen one killer robot and that was down at the entrance to the road up the mountain. She wasn’t even convinced that that one was anything but decorative. The stairs descended farther down than the level of the parking lot. They debouched into a round tile-paved room with scorch-stained sconces on the walls. The room had been modernized with fluorescent lights, a floor drain, and metal countertops — not quite up to the standard Sadie was used to, but she could made do. Two crates on a counter held chickens, clucking softly. A gurney in the middle of the room held a corpse. Sadie stopped at the foot of the stairs. “We’re not interested in your recommendations,” Igor said. She indicated the corpse without looking at it. “We only care if you can raise the dead. I have to admit, I thought you’d be . . .” Igor trailed off. “Whiter?” Sadie said before she could help herself. Igor’s eyebrows flicked upward in surprise for a second. “Older.” “I’m older than I look.” Sadie crossed to the corpse.