Fablehaven: The Complete Series (233 page)

Flight

Warren, Kendra, and Bracken sat with their backs against the iron wall of the dome, legs stretched out in front of them, feasting on pomegranates. Kendra plucked red arils until she had a small handful, then slapped them into her mouth, chewing lazily. The cool juice inside had a faintly sour aftertaste.

The fairies had once again provided them with an abundance of nuts and fruit. One industrious group of fairies had even gone back and retrieved Warren’s sword from the Beckoning Grove. Bracken had heaped praise on them for their efforts, making the fatigued fairies blush with pleasure. After the display, a second team of fairies brought them a rust-cankered dagger, and a third fetched a moldy gauntlet. Bracken toned down his enthusiasm, but accepted the offerings graciously.

When the luminous pond began to churn and bubble, Bracken scrambled to his feet for a better view. Warren and Kendra did likewise.

“Will our help come out of the pond?” Warren asked.

They had expected the promised assistance to enter through the hatch. With the implication that help might arrive through the pond, Kendra had a sudden suspicion who the Fairy Queen might be sending. She had only heard of one being who could travel between fairy shrines.

A sleek, winged form burst out of the water surrounded by luminous spray. The undersized dragon wheeled through the air and landed in front of Bracken, silver-white scales reflecting a faint rainbow sheen.

“Raxtus!” Kendra exclaimed.

The dragon shook his head briskly, expelling water from his burnished snout. “Hello, Kendra,” the dragon replied, panting. “Greetings, Bracken. You look well. And, wait a minute, small world! You’re Warren, the guy who had the punctured lung.” The dragon gave a nervous chuckle. “Glad you found a competent healer. And a barber. Sorry about the whiskers.”

“This is our reinforcements?” Warren asked in concern.

“Think of me as your transportation,” Raxtus said. “You’ll feel less disappointed.”

“We’re very happy to see you,” Bracken said.

The dragon dipped his head respectfully. “It’s been too long. I’m glad you’re out of confinement.”

“You know Kendra and Warren?” Bracken asked.

“We met at Wyrmroost.” Raxtus looked around. “I’ve been here before. The sealed shrine. Is that little door the only way out?”

“I’m afraid so,” Bracken said.

Warren considered the door, then glanced back at Raxtus. “You’re small for a dragon, but not that small.” Kendra tacitly agreed. Raxtus had a body the size of a large horse. Even with his wings fully tucked, it didn’t look like his midsection could fit through the hatchway.

Raxtus sighed. “I’ll figure it out. Once you get really acquainted with humiliation, the dread starts to fade.”

“What humiliation?” Bracken inquired.

“Take your pick,” Raxtus grumbled. “I was referring to my avatar.”

“Your avatar is a unique wonder!” Bracken cried.

“My avatar is a wimpy little fairy boy,” Raxtus corrected.

Kendra stifled a giggle.

“I didn’t have time to learn your whole situation,” Raxtus said. He seemed intent on changing the subject. “The Fairy Queen stressed that haste was paramount. What’s the plan?”

“Our most urgent objective is to flee Living Mirage,” Bracken said. “Then we need to make our way to Finland.”

“Why Finland?” Raxtus asked.

Warren related what they knew concerning the Eternals, including the whereabouts of Roon Osricson.

“Finland is a big place,” Raxtus pointed out.

“I have instructions,” Warren said. “Have you ever heard of Shipbreaker Fjord?”

The dragon stamped his forelegs and flexed his wings. “I adore Shipbreaker Fjord! It’s one of the most scenic waterways on the planet. Towering cliffs, raging tides, deep blue water. The area is magically concealed.”

“I know the place too,” Warren said. “The Sphinx said if we fly northeast from Shipbreaker Fjord, we can’t miss Roon’s hideout. A distracter spell shields his stronghold, but the camouflage should be no match for Kendra.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Raxtus said, swiveling his head to study the hatchway. “What awaits us outside?”

“Evidently our escape remains undetected,” Bracken said. “None of us can say how long that will hold true. We should expect pursuit.”

“Can you carry three of us?” Kendra asked.

Raxtus reared up and unfurled his wings. The dragon seemed much larger with his wings spread wide and his neck craned high. He fanned the area with a few trial flaps. After a moment, he folded his wings and dropped down on all fours. “I might be a runt, but I can carry three people.”

“Are you sure?” Warren challenged. “A lot depends on this. I could stay behind.”

“I can carry you three,” Raxtus pledged. “Maybe not around the world, but I can get you away from this preserve.”

“We’re surrounded by desert,” Warren reminded him. “Together the three of us must weigh around five hundred pounds. Have you carried three people before?”

“I’ve carried an elk,” Raxtus replied. “It had to weigh more than five hundred pounds. Wasn’t easy. Imagine running uphill wearing a backpack crammed with bricks. Not ideal, but doable. With you three as passengers, I’ll lose much of my maneuverability. But I can conceal myself. Unless we get unlucky, this should work.”

“Luck has a way of evaporating when you lean on it,” Warren muttered. “Maybe you should go on without me, lighten the load.”

“You’re determined to be a martyr,” Bracken laughed.

“This needs to succeed,” Warren maintained.

“We’ll escape together,” Kendra said adamantly. “We need each other for what lies ahead.”

“I can do it,” Raxtus asserted. “If dragons depended on pure physics to fly, none of us would do more than hop around. Magic is involved. I’ll find a way. I have my weaknesses, but flying is my forte.”

Warren folded his arms. “If things go bad, promise to drop me.”

“Enough with the negativity!” Raxtus said. “You’re freaking me out!”

“Show a little confidence,” Kendra urged. “This is the dragon who destroyed Navarog!”

Raxtus swiveled his head left and right. “Not too loudly,” the dragon murmured. “He might have a relative.”

“Well done, by the way,” Bracken said in a low voice.

Raxtus swung his head away shyly. “She makes it sound impressive. I snuck up behind him while he was in human form. I’m not a fighter. But I’ll do my best. The Fairy Queen made it clear that the fate of the world depends on our mission. I want to do my part. After all, your current needs don’t require a fighter. What you most need right now is to run away. I know a thing or two about that.”

Bracken patted Raxtus affectionately on the neck. “You’re too humble. I can’t claim to like many dragons, but you’re the cream of the crop.”

“Of course the unicorn likes the fairy dragon,” Raxtus grumbled. “If you want to boost my self-esteem, act scared of me.”

“You could bite our heads off,” Warren remarked. “That’s scary.”

“I couldn’t,” Raxtus sighed.

“You could!” Kendra insisted. “I saw you gobble up Gavin.”

Raxtus showed his impressive teeth. “Physically, yes, I could eat you. Emotionally, no way. Maybe while under hypnosis. How can you consume somebody you just spoke with? I mean, once I’ve had a conversation with someone, that person is no longer food. Some dragons get a big thrill out of talking with their meals, playing cat and mouse. I don’t get the allure. Knowing a creature can converse takes it off my menu.”

“Unless it’s evil and threatens your dad,” Kendra amended.

“Touché,” Raxtus replied.

“We should probably depart,” Bracken said. “We don’t want to lose the initiative.”

“Translation?” Raxtus said glumly. “Time for me to become fairy boy.”

“Wait,” Warren said, fingering the hilt of his sword. “Can’t you take us out the way you came in?”

“I can leap from shrine to shrine by cutting through the Fairy Queen’s realm,” Raxtus explained. “Although her realm connects to all of her shrines, the distance between shrines is much shorter where she resides. It’s a great way to travel. Here’s the problem: When she opens a portal to let anyone into or out of her realm, it leaves her kingdom vulnerable for a time. For some reason, I can slip through without opening a portal. But I can’t carry passengers that way.”

“Do you go to her realm a lot?” Kendra asked, intrigued.

“I never stay there,” Raxtus said. “It would be . . . unhealthy. Emotionally. Psychologically. Look, I’m already not very dragonly. If I lived there, I’d lose all sense of what I am. I’d end up like a child who refused to leave the nest, never amounting to anything. But I love to visit her kingdom. As wonderful and diverse as Earth can be, no beauty quite compares.”

Bracken cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I believe we were getting ready to depart.”

“Right,” Raxtus said. “Do you mind closing your eyes?”

“Not at all,” Bracken said.

Kendra covered her eyes. Even with her hands in the way, she sensed the bright flash.

Several of the fairies in the area tittered. It was hard for Kendra to decide whether they were mocking or flirting. Perhaps a little of both.

“No peeking,” Raxtus said, his voice pitched higher.

The comment tempted her. She slid her fingers apart just enough to see the back of a rather scrawny fairy with shaggy silver hair and an elaborate set of metallic wings fluttering toward the hatchway. The fairy was the largest Kendra had seen, about a foot tall. His head turned as if to glance back, and Kendra closed her fingers before he completed the motion.

“Okay, you can look,” Raxtus called a moment later.

Kendra dropped her hands and opened her eyes. The spindly male fairy stood at the hatchway. His face was impishly handsome, with a sparkle of mischief in his bright eyes.

“Is that you?” Warren asked.

“I could tell Kendra wanted a look,” Raxtus said. “I can’t blame her.” He spread his arms wide and turned around. “What do you think?”

“You’re . . .” Kendra stopped herself.

“Spit it out,” Raxtus said. “I can take it.”

“Adorable,” Kendra finished weakly, hoping he wasn’t too insulted.

“Too big to be a fairy,” Raxtus said. “Too small and much too winged to be a human. And the exact opposite of how any dragon would aspire to be seen.”

“You’re a marvel, Raxtus,” Bracken said kindly. “Truly splendid.”

“The sideshow’s over,” Raxtus said. “Let’s get under way.” He flitted out the hatch and out of sight.

Bracken turned to address the fairies. “I am going to close the hatch to help cover our tracks. If I left it open, others would come and close it shortly. If you would prefer the open air at the price of staying away from the shrine, come out with us.”

Several groups of fairies darted out of the hatchway, followed by a few stragglers. Kendra was surprised to see more fairies opting to remain within the dome than had been trapped inside when they had first arrived.

“So many are staying?” Kendra asked.

“They love their queen,” Bracken said simply. He led the way out of the enclosure. When Kendra and Warren had exited, Bracken gave the door a shove, and it clanged shut.

The sphinx remained sprawled on the ground, tail swishing. She did not condescend to look back at them. The day had grown quite hot. Raxtus had returned to dragon form. Beneath the bright sun, his scales really gleamed.

“Time to fly,” Bracken said.

Raxtus sprang into the air and glided toward them like the world’s most dazzling kite. The dragon snatched Kendra with one claw, Warren with another, and Bracken with a third. Jerking Kendra off the ground, Raxtus gripped her torso from behind, causing her to tilt forward once airborne. The ground became a blur beneath her dangling feet. Wings beating with the sound of heavy tarps in a windstorm, Raxtus gradually climbed, barely clearing the nearest treetops. The dragon went invisible, creating the illusion that Kendra was soaring through the air on her own.

“You all right?” Warren called.

Raxtus veered left and right, wings flapping furiously. “You’re heavy,” the dragon grunted, “but I’ll make it.” They continued to laboriously gain altitude.

Up ahead, the steep wall of the valley approached, a wide precipice of rock and dirt. Down below, the trees shrank, growing ever more distant. In a clearing, Kendra saw a pair of thickset giants hammering at each other with clubs.

As Raxtus reached the wall of the valley, he began to bank and circle, sometimes flapping his wings, sometimes gliding. They started to rise more swiftly. The air grew a little cooler, and the ground became shockingly distant. Soon Kendra had a view of the entire long valley, including the river, the woodlands, numerous cultivated fields, and the stepped pyramids with their garden terraces. Beyond the tops of the valley walls, Kendra beheld the tawny expanse of the surrounding desert.