Fablehaven: The Complete Series (138 page)

Dear Kendra,

I’m very sorry I can’t be there to escort you home. Crazy news from Dougan, huh? I can hardly believe how upside down everything has become! I knew there was something shady about good guys wearing masks . . . they’ve done away with them now.

I’m off on another mission. Nothing as dangerous as what we went through together, but another chance for me to prove myself useful. I’ll fill you in later.

Guess why I like letters? No stuttering!

You’re an amazing person, Kendra. I want you to know how much I have appreciated getting to know you. Hopefully I’ll get a turn standing guard over you and your brother in the fall. I hope someday soon we’ll get to know each other better.

Your friend and admirer,

Gavin

Kendra reread the letter, then triple-checked the part about her being amazing and him wanting to get to know her better. He didn’t just sign it “your friend.” It was “your friend and admirer.”

With a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Kendra folded up the letter, slipped it into her pocket, and walked out the front door, marveling at how fine a line divided dreading the future from looking forward to it.

Acknowledgments

I love writing the final words of a novel. It feels like a miracle when a story that resided abstractly in my mind finally takes concrete form. The months required to translate ideas into words culminate in a huge rush of satisfaction as I finish the initial writing phase and can then transition to polishing the narrative. Regardless of the imperfections in the first draft, I find it a vast relief to know that the story exists outside of my imagination.

Many people have contributed to making the third Fablehaven novel a reality. My understanding wife and children not only help me find time to write and promote my novels—they make the rest of my life worth living. The initial feedback I get from my wife routinely helps shape my ideas and my writing for the better.

Early readers who provided feedback include my wife, Mary, Chris Schoebinger, Emily Watts, Tucker Davis, Pamela and Gary Mull, Summer Mull, Bryson and Cherie Mull, Nancy Fleming, Randy and Liz Saban, Mike Walton, Wesley Saban, Jason and Natalie Conforto, and the Freeman family. Ty Mull had every intention of helping, but high school and video games interfered. My sister Tiffany was excused from contributing, since she is busy in Brazil.

Once again, Brandon Dorman created awesome art. The sweet centaur he drew for the cover had my inner ten-year-old high-fiving himself. Richard Erickson oversaw the design elements, Emily Watts kept me honest as editor, and Laurie Cook was the typographer. I’m grateful for their valuable contributions!

I owe much appreciation to the marketing team at Shadow Mountain, led by Chris Schoebinger, along with Gail Halladay, Patrick Muir, Angie Godfrey, Tiffany Williams, MaryAnn Jones, Bob Grove, and Roberta Stout. Once again, my sister Summer Mull coordinated my tour and traveled with me as I visited schools to do assemblies about reading and creating. I am deeply grateful for her help and companionship. I also want to thank Boyd Ware and the sales team, Lee Broadhead, John Rose, and Lonnie Lockhart, along with all the folks at Shadow Mountain who work so effectively to get my books into the readers’ hands.

As I’ve traveled the country visiting schools, libraries, and bookstores, many kind people have opened their homes to me. Thanks go out to the Bagby family in California, the McCalebs in Idaho, the Goodfellows in Oregon, the Adams family in Maryland, the Novicks in California, Colleen and John in Missouri, the Flemings in Arizona, the Panos clan in California, the MacDonalds in Nevada, the Browns in Montana, the Millers in Virginia, the Wirigs in Ohio, the folks at Monmouth College, and Gary Mull in Connecticut. Special thanks go to Robert Marston Fanney, author of
Luthiel’s Song,
who helped spread the word online.

I haven’t thanked Nick Jacob in an acknowledgment. He was one of my best friends in high school, and often took the time to read the junk I was writing back then. His feedback and encouragement were important to my formative years as a writer.

Thank you, dear reader, for continuing to digest the
Fablehaven
series. I’m already working on the fourth book. If you’re enjoying the story, please tell others about it. Your personal recommendations make a big difference!

Swing by BrandonMull.com or Fablehaven.com to find out more about me and my books.

Reading Guide

1. Throughout the
Fablehaven
series, obedience has been an issue for Seth. What do you think Seth has learned about obedience since the first book? How is he more obedient in this book? How is he disobedient?

2. The Knights of the Dawn value members with special abilities. What abilities set you apart from others?

3. At Lost Mesa, Hal wants to protect the zombies even though they are disgusting and freaky. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? We have many types of dangerous, unsightly, and annoying animals in our world. Do you think it’s important to protect even creepy animals from extinction? Why or why not?

4. For most of the book, an infectious shadow plague affected the creatures of Fablehaven. Have you ever seen evidence that evil can be contagious? Explain.

5. Grandpa Sorenson did not hold the creatures of Fablehaven responsible for their behavior while under the influence of the plague, nor did he fully blame dark creatures for their actions. What thinking led to those conclusions? Why did Warren disagree? What evidence is there to support both positions?

6. Do you agree with Grandpa that all humans have potential for good and evil? How do our choices define who we are?

7. Many characters have assisted Kendra and Seth during risky situations (including Grandpa, Grandma, Dale, Lena, Tanu, Coulter, Warren, Gavin, Dougan, and Patton). If you were in trouble, which of those characters would you most want on your side? Why?

8. On the roof of the old manor, Patton told Seth, “When jumping is the sole option, you jump.” What did he mean? How does Patton exemplify this idea? Can you think of a time when you did something difficult because it was necessary?

9. Why was Lena willing to sacrifice herself at the end of the story? What did that sacrifice do for her relationship with Patton? How can selfless sacrifice strengthen any relationship?

10. Unbelief prevents Kendra’s parents from perceiving the creatures at Fablehaven. In what ways can unbelief blind us to the possibilities around us?

11. If you could see in the dark like Kendra, smell any scent like a goblin, or maneuver as swiftly as a dryad, which would you choose? Why? How would you use this gift to your advantage?

 12. If you were forty years old and were confined to the Quiet Box for fifty years and then released, you would still be forty years old. Suppose you had a child who was ten years old when you entered the Quiet Box. How old would that child be when you came out? Would you treat your child differently? How? How do you think your child would treat you? Why?

13. If you could spend a day at Fablehaven with Kendra and Seth, what is the first thing you would want to see? Who is the first person or creature you’d like to meet?

14. What would you do if Seth tried to coax you into the woods without Grandpa’s permission?

15. As far as personality goes, how would you describe the centaurs? The dryads? The fairies? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Which of those strengths and weaknesses do you have?

Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Mull, Brandon, 1974-

   Fablehaven :  Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary / Brandon Mull.

         p.cm.

   Summary: When Kendra and Seth go to stay at their grandparents’ estate,

they discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures and that a battle

between good and evil is looming.

   ISBN-13 978-1-60641-042-4 (hardbound : alk. paper)

   eISBN 1-60641-595-6 (electronic)

   [1. Magic—Fiction.2. Grandparents—Fiction.3. Brothers and

sisters—Fiction.]I. Title.

PZ7.M9112Fa2006

[Fic]—dc22                          2006000911

Printed in the United States of America     

R. R. Donnelley, Crawfordsville, IN

10     9       8       7       6       5       4       3       2       1

For Chris Schoebinger, the original caretaker of Fablehaven

Chapter 1

Journal

Kendra Sorenson briskly scraped the head of a wooden match against the rough strip on the side of a rectangular matchbox. Cupping her hand to shield the new flame, she held the burning match against the blackened wick of a candle stub. Once the flame spread to the wick, she shook out the match, thin strands of smoke winding upward.

Seated at the desk in her bedroom, considering the remains of the match, Kendra was struck by how quickly the fire had consumed the wood, leaving the top third fragile and charred, the substance transformed into an unrecognizable state. She contemplated the plague at Fablehaven that had swiftly turned many of the inhabitants of the magical preserve from beings of light into creatures of darkness. She and her family and friends had managed to reverse the plague before it destroyed the preserve, but their efforts had cost the life of Lena the naiad.

Snapping out of her reverie, Kendra set the spent match off to one side, slid three keys into a locked journal, opened the book, and began hurriedly leafing through the pages. This was her last umite candle—she could not afford to waste any of the special illumination that made the words on the pages visible.