Fablehaven: The Complete Series (178 page)

“Could he be spying for the Sphinx?” Kendra asked. “I got the knapsack when I left Torina’s.”

“Doubtful,” Trask said. “Hermit trolls are the vermin of trollkind. They work no harmful magic. They make no allies. They have a talent for worming into cramped spaces and hiding—little else.”

Getting Warren into the knapsack proved to be tricky, since he had lapsed into medicated unconsciousness. Trask clung to the ladder while Tanu handed Warren down. Dougan and Mara waited at the bottom.

Seth wanted to be down there to hear the conversation with Bubda. He hoped they wouldn’t hurt him. The troll might be grumpy and aloof, but Seth felt sure he posed no threat. Bubda just wanted solitude. When Trask emerged, he told Seth not to worry. Bubda had been everything he had expected, and in return for some food he had vowed not to go near Warren.

The hike that day took them across increasingly rocky terrain. They navigated through and around tumbled boulders and other detritus. They hiked up a steep slope covered with stunted trees, half walking up the incline, half using the wind-warped vegetation to climb. For a time, they walked along a ridgeline with a sheer drop-off at either side.

Seth enjoyed being outside—the smell of the pines, the cool thin air, the ice-fringed streams full of smooth, glossy pebbles. He relished the glimpses of circling griffins, and the sight of a monstrous, bearlike creature devouring a recent kill, stringy scraps of meat dangling from a curved beak. The others seemed generally accepting of his presence, although Tanu gave him some disappointed looks.

With dusk coming on, the scant trail they had been following ended at a tall crack in a stone cliff.

“Sidestep Cleft,” Mara recognized.

“Cuts through the rock for almost half a mile,” Trask said. “Agad said a couple of sections are barely wide enough for big humans to squeeze through. Sidestep Cleft is only a few miles from our first destination. We should reach the shrine tomorrow.”

“Do we camp on this side?” Dougan asked.

Trask checked the sky. “Starting at the far side of the defile, we’ll be on ground claimed by Thronis the sky giant. No place is safe at Wyrmroost, but I take it this side might be a tad more hospitable than the other.”

Backtracking a little, they set up camp in the midst of a grove of short, thickly needled evergreens. The long, irregular clearing had just enough room for them to build a fire and lay down their sleeping bags together. They dined on canned chili, corn bread, and baked potatoes, finishing the meal with chocolate bars.

When they bedded down, Seth used Warren’s sleeping bag and bivouac. Mara had the first watch. Tucked into his sleeping bag, Seth gazed up at the stars, amazing himself with how far away they were. It was so easy to shrink the distance by thinking of them as little pricks of light on a black ceiling. But if peering off a cliff could make his knees a little wobbly, why not staring out across billions of miles of empty space? When he thought about it, the jaw-dropping vastness of the gulf separating him from those stars almost made him dizzy. How strange to think that the whole universe was arrayed above him like his own private aquarium.

He considered climbing out of the sleeping bag and helping Mara pass the time. Living inside a knapsack had thrown off his sleep schedule. Telling himself that he would regret staying awake now when his watch came later, he closed his eyes and forced himself to relax.

* * *

Kendra had the third watch that night. Dougan woke her gently and reminded her that she was to awaken her brother next. Nodding, she slithered out of her sleeping bag, wrapped herself in a blanket, and moved closer to the small fire.

Sitting alone, she wondered why they bothered keeping watch. No matter who was awake, Mendigo would raise the alarm first. And once he did, it would do little good. They had all been awake when the puppet had warned them about the perytons, and that had still turned into a mess.

Wyrmroost was not Fablehaven. The creatures here were huge. If a dragon like Nafia wanted them dead, they would die. They had escaped the dragon only because Gavin talked her out of killing them. He could not force her. They had relied on her generosity, and she had opted to let them go. What did it matter if they kept watch for creatures they had no chance of defeating?

She stared up at the sky, searching for satellites moving among the stars. The moon was up and getting fuller, its light making the stars look dimmer than they had of late. But after a few minutes, the slow, steady motion of a dim pinprick of light caught her eye.

Her gaze returned to the earth when she heard the jangle of Mendigo approaching. He was not coming fast, but he was coming. She had neither heard nor seen him the last time she was on watch.

The puppet strode into view through the evergreens alongside a tall, beautiful woman. The lovely stranger had aristocratic features—chiseled cheekbones, flawless skin, imperious eyes. A flowing, gauzy gown hung from her lithe frame, and golden sandals clad her feet. Most striking was her hair, a lustrous cascade of silvery blue. Aside from her air of casual confidence, nothing about the woman suggested that she should be roaming a dangerous mountainous sanctuary in the middle of the night. Her age was hard to gauge. Despite the silver in her hair, at first glance Kendra would have estimated mid-twenties, but the stranger carried herself with a stately grace well beyond those years. Mendigo walked beside her, holding her hand.

“We have a visitor,” Kendra announced loudly, rising to her feet. She thought that the woman might be a dryad, but she had no intention of confronting the stranger alone.

“I mean you no harm,” the woman called, her voice musical and gentle.

Kendra heard her companions stirring in their sleeping bags.

“Who are you?” Kendra asked.

“Let me handle this,” Gavin grumbled, crawling out of his sleeping bag and pulling on a coat.

Trask had a hand on his crossbow.

The woman stopped a few paces from Kendra. In her flat sandals, she stood more than six feet tall. “Have you no guess? We’ve met before.”

“Nafia?” Kendra whispered.

The woman blushed. “I go by Nyssa in human form. I’m here to help.”

Gavin came up beside Kendra. “How might you help us?” he asked.

Nyssa’s gaze became shrewder as she met his eyes. “I know the lay of the land.”

“I’ll b-b-believe that much,” Gavin said.

“What an adorable stutter,” Nyssa said, almost flirtatiously.

Gavin pressed his lips together. “Why would you want to help us?”

Nyssa smiled, perfect lips spreading wide. “I miss humans. Taking their form is a novelty I had nearly forgotten, until all of you showed up. Who knows when humans will come again? The closest thing we have at Wyrmroost is that old turncoat Agad.”

“You’re a dragon lonely for human company?” Gavin asked dubiously.

“Not just any humans,” she said, stepping closer to Gavin. He was not quite as tall as she, so she was looking down. “A dragon brother.” She glanced at Kendra. “And several dragon tamers. My kind of people.”

Gavin glanced at Kendra. He looked disturbed. Kendra thought she understood. Their end destination was the Dragon Temple. No dragon would let them go there.

“You may not wish to come everywhere we mean to go,” Gavin said weakly.

Nyssa laughed. “And where is it you humans mean to go that dragons would not be welcome? Perhaps you hope to make friends with Thronis the Terrible. Not a likely prospect. Yet you’re heading into territory that he watches closely.”

“We have a secret mission,” Gavin said. “We can’t accept your company.”

Nyssa narrowed her eyes. “This is a peculiar troop of humans indeed, where the protection a dragon could offer is unwanted.”

Gavin folded his arms. “I imagine that in dragon form you would not be half so accommodating to our needs.”

Nyssa produced a humming response by laughing without parting her lips. “You have that right. As a dragon, I see the world through less generous eyes. Shall we experiment?”

Gavin held out both hands. “N-n-n-no, please.”

Nyssa wrinkled her nose. “I love that stutter.”

“We mean no offense,” Gavin said, a hint of pleading in his tone. “We just need to be careful and—”

“—and a dragon in your party is one dragon too many,” Nyssa said, eyes sparkling. “I understand. I do not wish to force my society upon you. If it is your wish, I will leave you in peace so you can march to your deaths on the morrow. You will soon discover that not all the inhabitants of Wyrmroost are as . . . accommodating as I am. In fact, if the rumors are true, even I would not relish being caught in your company, regardless of my form.”

“Rumors?” Kendra asked.

“She speaks!” Nyssa laughed. “Is that permissible, dragon brother? I can tell you prefer to do the talking. Yes, rumors. Word has it Navarog was sighted outside the gates of Wyrmroost.”

“Navarog?” Gavin cried.

“You have heard of him, I trust,” Nyssa said. “A dragon so evil they made him an honorary demon! He has a fearsome reputation. He was one of the few of us who avoided being herded into a dragon sanctuary. Visitors are normally a rarity here. Could his sudden interest in Wyrmroost have anything to do with my new human friends?”

“This is horrible news,” Gavin admitted. “He wasn’t seen inside the sanctuary?”

Nyssa gave a sly smile. “Not to my knowledge. If the demon prince is here for you, why not let me devour you instead? Less hassle. Less drama. I’ll be gentle.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Gavin said. “I think we’ll take our chances.”

“The gates to Wyrmroost are strong,” Nyssa said. “If he lacks a key, even Navarog will not get past them. Perhaps you should solicit Agad for employment. With Navarog at the only exit, you might wisely opt to stay longer than planned.”

“W-w-w-we’ll take that under advisement,” Gavin said.

“The brave little stutterer,” Nyssa replied lightly. “You have just been told your death is certain, yet you hang on to your composure. Maybe you actually deserve to be a dragon brother.”

“I would like to think so,” Gavin said, lowering his eyes.

Nyssa embraced Kendra. “Meeting you has been a delight,” Nyssa said. She extended a hand to Gavin, who clasped it and then lightly kissed it. “How chivalrous. This has been nearly as diverting as I had hoped, albeit I would have preferred to partake of your company a while longer. So it goes. I will not intrude. Sorry to bear unhappy tidings. If it comes as any consolation, your demise was almost certain even without Navarog lurking about the gates. Enjoy the remainder of your visit.”

Nyssa turned and strode away into the night without looking back.

Kendra grabbed Gavin’s hand, squeezing it tightly. He squeezed back.

“Could she help protect us?” Kendra whispered.

Gavin shook his head. “Considering where we’re headed, our surest death would have been to invite her to join us.”

Trask came up beside them, crossbow in hand. “I had an easy shot.”

Gavin snorted. “You could have done it. She was vulnerable. Of course, we would have died shortly thereafter. Nothing would dissuade the dragons who came to avenge her.”

“That crossed my mind,” Trask said. He sighed. “I’m not glad to hear Navarog is on our tail. I suppose it’s no less than we expected.”

“But it’s a good deal less than we hoped,” Gavin replied.

Nobody argued.

* * *

The next day Kendra awoke with a sense of foreboding. The news borne by Nyssa had left her unsettled. Kendra had a hard time recalling the details of her dreams, but they had involved beautiful women morphing into dragons, and lots of running. At least the first part of the day should be relatively safe. While they journeyed inside of Sidestep Cleft, no huge monsters would be able to reach them.

Kendra brought Warren his breakfast. He seemed in good spirits, although his breathing was shallow and labored, and whenever he shifted position his face showed reactions to twinges of pain. Together they drank hot chocolate. Kendra also ate an energy bar, but Warren passed, contenting himself with some slices of an orange.

After breakfast, they loaded their sleeping bags into the knapsack and walked to the cleft. The tall crack in the rock wall stretched at least a hundred feet high, narrowing as it rose, ending before it reached all the way up. Kendra had never seen such a tall, narrow cave.

They marched into the fissure with Trask and Gavin in the front. Dougan and Tanu brought up the rear. For a good distance two people could comfortably walk abreast. Before progressing far, they switched on flashlights. Kendra shone hers up and stared at how the gap tapered to an end high above. Eventually they had to proceed single file. At one point, Tanu and Dougan had to turn sideways to fit through a tight section. Kendra tried not to picture the walls closing in, crushing their little group to jelly.