Fablehaven: The Complete Series (214 page)

Tanu nodded. “No customs, no checked bags, no tiny seats for ten hours at a time.”

“What are you griping about?” Warren said. “You hibernate like a grizzly on those long flights.”

“I sleep to escape the torture,” Tanu maintained.

“There’s my problem,” Warren said, tossing up his hands. “I haven’t learned to sleep during torture.”

Tanu grinned. “Helps if you’re a potion master.”

Kendra ate quietly, content to enjoy the banter. Hearing the others joke and tease helped the day feel more normal. To make the meal last, she tried to pace herself, but after a few pancakes and some orange juice, she could stomach no more.

Warren checked his wristwatch. “It’s five hours later in Scotland. We might as well get rolling.”

“You ready, Kendra?” Tanu asked.

Kendra took a deep breath. Part of her wished they had opted to spring this assignment on her at the last minute. Planning it yesterday had given her too much time to worry. She tried to shake off her insecurities. “Ready as I’m going to get.”

“Relax, Kendra,” Grandpa said. “If anything feels wrong, just have them bring you right back here. That’s the beauty of instantaneous travel.”

“We’ll watch your back,” Warren assured her, buckling a sword around his waist. “You’ll do great.”

Grandpa opened a drawer and took out the Translocator.

“You’re keeping it in a kitchen drawer?” Kendra asked.

Grandpa shrugged. “Just for this morning. I wanted it handy.”

“He wants you in Scotland before the post-pancake euphoria wears off,” Coulter said, wiping his chin with a napkin.

“Something like that,” Grandpa admitted, passing the Translocator to Tanu.

“Are we going straight to the shrine?” Kendra asked.

“We’ve both seen the shrine at Stony Vale,” Warren said. “We’ve never actually approached it, or we wouldn’t be here. But I’ve stood as near as any sane mortal would dare. We’ll start you out very close.”

“I haven’t been quite as close as Warren,” Tanu said. “Probably because I’m a little saner.”

“Considerable thought went into this,” Grandpa assured Kendra. “We selected Stony Vale because the preserve is secure and you’ll have extremely convenient access to the shrine.”

Kendra stood beside Warren. “Let’s get this over with.”

Tanu gripped one side of the Translocator, Kendra the other, and Warren twisted the middle. Kendra felt like she was folding in on herself. When the vertigo passed, she was standing in tall grass surrounded by knobby, gray trees. She realized she had been braced for her breath to get knocked out of her, but of course this was the Translocator, not the Chronometer.

Ahead through the trees, she beheld a large, glassy pond wrapped like a horseshoe around a narrow peninsula that gradually widened as it stretched farther from the shore. At the end of the peninsula were two rough, rectangular standing stones spanned by a third heavy stone. The formation instantly brought to mind pictures of Stonehenge.

Kendra heard the ring of steel as Warren drew his sword. Tanu clutched a crossbow in one hand, the Translocator in the other. It was past noon in Scotland, but the sun was still high, shining through a partly overcast sky. The still air felt cool but not cold. Beyond the pond and the surrounding trees, Kendra glimpsed low, rolling hills.

“Is the shrine on that peninsula?” Kendra asked softly.

Tanu gave a nod. “We can’t venture out there with you, but we’ll stand guard near the shore.”

Flanked by Warren and Tanu, Kendra started forward. As she neared the peninsula, her companions hung back. She felt generally peaceful about proceeding, and decided the absence of an identifiable warning meant the Fairy Queen would welcome her visit.

A pair of tall women stepped out from behind the trees, blocking her path. One had flowers braided into her auburn hair; the other had leafy vines twisted into her dark plaits. Their layered gowns reminded Kendra of springtime foliage shimmering with dew. Each woman held a heavy wooden staff.

“Where did you come from?” asked the woman with dark hair, her voice a resonant alto.

“You tread on sacred ground,” warned the other.

Warren and Tanu hustled up beside Kendra. Tanu was a large man, but these women stood half a head taller.

The woman with dark hair arched an eyebrow. “Would you threaten us with weapons?”

From both sides and behind, other dryads emerged from the trees.

“We are friends,” Kendra said. “I have urgent business with the Fairy Queen.”

“This one has a queer aspect,” whispered the dryad with the auburn hair.

“Indeed,” the other dryad whispered back, “and she speaks our tongue.”

“I speak many languages,” Kendra said.

The dryads looked stricken. “Even our secret dialect?” asked the one with auburn hair.

Kendra stared up at them, hoping her eyes displayed more confidence than she felt. “I am fairykind, a servant of the Fairy Queen. These are my companions.”

The dryad with the dark hair narrowed her green eyes. After a moment, her posture became less threatening. “I apologize for our abrupt greeting. These are troubled times, and it has long been our task to protect this shrine. We’ve heard of you, but did not recognize you. We have never encountered a mortal quite like you. We now see that you belong among us.”

“Thank you,” Kendra said. “My friends can’t come to the shrine with me.”

The dryads stepped aside. “We will see to it that no harm befalls them,” said the dryad with the auburn hair.

“I couldn’t really follow the conversation,” Warren whispered. “But good job.”

“They won’t bother you,” Kendra told them. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Tanu lowered his crossbow, Warren sheathed his sword, and the dryads assumed more relaxed stances. Kendra passed between the tall dryads and strolled out onto the peninsula. She sensed many eyes following her progress but did not look back.

Kendra studied the ground, looking for the tiny shrine, not wanting to miss it and be forced to double back. She found nothing until she reached the stacked megaliths at the end of the peninsula. Beneath the primitive structure, beside a burbling spring, rested a carved wooden bowl and a tiny fairy shaped from pink, speckled stone.

As Kendra knelt beside the spring, a sudden gust of wind disturbed the still air, bringing rich smells of freshly turned earth, ripe fruit, damp bark, and a hint of the sea. The Fairy Queen spoke with the familiar voice that Kendra heard with her mind rather than her ears.
I am pleased you came.

“The Society is getting nearer to opening Zzyzx,” Kendra said quietly, not wanting the dryads to overhear her end of the conversation. “The Sphinx has kidnapped my parents and my brother. We’re worried the Sphinx will use the Oculus to collect everything else he needs. Do you know what we should do? Can you help us?”

My connection to the Oculus has waned. The Sphinx and his mentor, a demon called Nagi Luna, became aware of my prying and shut me out. They possess firm minds. Now, only when they turn their gaze to the realm where I dwell can I glimpse their thoughts. Aware of this, they have refrained from directing their attention toward me. Yet I have felt how they covet the realm I protect, and I fear for all creatures of light.

“What have you learned since we last spoke?” Kendra asked. “Tell me about Nagi Luna.”

Nagi Luna is the entity who helps the Sphinx wield the Oculus. Her heart and mind are black.
Darkness overcame Kendra, as if she had been struck blind. With the darkness came deep, abiding despair. Her ability to see returned as quickly as it had departed. It was always an adjustment getting used to how the Fairy Queen communicated with words, images, and emotions.
Before their minds closed to me, I sensed certain aspects of the relationship between Nagi Luna and the Sphinx. She is confined somehow, her powers constrained. While guiding the Sphinx from her confinement, Nagi Luna has been using him to connect to the Oculus and expand her mental reach. Her communications were inscrutable to me, for she used the secret language of demons, but I am sure she conversed with others of her kind. With the aid of the Oculus, she may even have reached some of those fell entities inside of Zzyzx.

A feeling of wrath swept over Kendra, vengeful and furious. For a moment, she felt as though she could level the surrounding forest with a sweep of her hand, or split open the ground with a shout. After a moment, the outrage passed. Kendra struggled to remind herself that these emotions were not her own.

Both the Sphinx and Nagi Luna feel certain that victory is near, but their versions of victory are not aligned. Each seeks to use the other to different ends. The Sphinx has a tightly woven plan to release the demons of Zzyzx on his terms. I failed to uncover the particulars, but I feel certain that to some degree he means well, misguided as his intentions may be. But Nagi Luna has a scheme of her own, a vision of unbridled darkness and mayhem like the world has never known. The Sphinx is no fool, but I fear her cunning may be superior.

“Could you tell where they are?” Kendra asked.

It was unclear. Too much was unclear. But I have seen enough to believe the opening of Zzyzx is imminent. Whether it is the Sphinx or Nagi Luna who succeeds, we fail. The consequences will be cataclysmic.

“We have two of the artifacts,” Kendra said.

Safeguard them, if you can. I will seek to lend aid. My feud with the demons is ancient and eternal.

“Raxtus told me they destroyed your husband.”

Grief washed over Kendra, so deep and forlorn that she felt she would drown in it. When the sensation passed, she gasped for breath.

My struggle against the demons predates the downfall of my consort. Our enmity is fundamental to our natures. I will always oppose Gorgrog and his minions, as they will always oppose me. My first priority is to protect my realm and my followers. This includes defending your world. The connection my realm has to your world gives it life. If your world should fall, my realm would essentially become a prison, unattached to any living sphere. For both of our sakes, we must thwart the opening of Zzyzx.

“I’m willing to do anything to help,” Kendra said. “My friends and family feel the same. What do you recommend?”

There came a pause. The world seemed utterly at rest, no wind, no sound. When communication resumed, the words came slowly.

Three of my astrids perished to protect you at Wyrmroost. For ages, they have clamored for the chance to redeem themselves for failing my consort. Perhaps that day has come at last. I will reestablish communication with them. Drink from the spring.

Kendra took the wooden bowl, dipped it in the water, and drank. Sunlight gleamed off the surface of the water, dazzling her. The clear liquid tasted thick as honey, light as bubbles, rich as cream, tart as berries, and fresh as dew. For a moment, Kendra felt conscious of the tremendous reservoir of magical energy inside of her. She felt like a thundercloud charged to release a blazing onslaught of lightning.

Then a breeze wafted over her, calming, soothing. A profound emotion of comfort and well-being made her drowsy with serenity.

As you encounter my astrids in the world, touch them and command them to be restored. I abolished three of my shrines to grant you this power.

“Don’t destroy your shrines!” Kendra cried.

The hour has come to unite and make sacrifices. We must oppose the release of the Demon King and his unsavory followers from their confinement. The fate of our worlds hangs in the balance. Go, Kendra. Be brave. Be wise.

With a final nudge of hope and peace, the presence of the Fairy Queen withdrew, and Kendra found herself alone, kneeling on soggy turf. Rising, she returned along the peninsula to where the dryads waited with her friends. The regal women regarded Kendra with solemn reverence.

“Any luck?” Warren asked, wary gaze shifting from dryad to dryad.

“She didn’t know where the Sphinx has my family,” Kendra said. “But she understands the danger if Zzyzx gets opened, and she wants to help.” Kendra turned to the dryad with auburn hair. “Are there astrids on this preserve?”

The dryad stepped forward. “A few migrate through from time to time, but we have not seen one here for many years.”

Kendra nodded and turned to Tanu. “Do we have some at Fablehaven?”

“Astrids go where they please,” Tanu said. “They’re odd creatures. I haven’t seen any at Fablehaven since the shrine lost its power.”

“We should go home,” Kendra said. She waved to the dryads. “Thanks for welcoming us. Good luck protecting the shrine.”

The dryads gave slight bows in response.

Kendra, Warren, and Tanu laid hands on the Translocator, twisted it, and, after the folding sensation, they were back in the kitchen at Fablehaven. Grandma had joined Grandpa and Coulter.