Fablehaven: The Complete Series (213 page)

“Bleak,” Bracken replied. “I’ve been trying for hundreds of years.”

“Hundreds of years?” Seth exclaimed.

“Some of us never get used to the food,” Bracken lamented.

“We can move around down here,” Maddox said, “but we’ve found no way to the upper levels, nothing close to a way out.”

“I’ve searched long and hard,” Bracken assured them. “Tunneled plenty as well.”

“What about beating up a guard?” Seth asked.

“Even though our doors rarely open, I’ve tried a few times,” Bracken said. “There are too many checkpoints on the way up, too many locked doors. And once the alarm sounds, the Sphinx musters too many powerful servants.”

“What if we mobilized a bunch of prisoners?” Seth asked. “A big group effort?”

Bracken shrugged. “That probably has the most potential. It has been decades since I’ve orchestrated a big, riot-style breakout. Both of my prior attempts ended badly. The way up just has too many bottlenecks. One time they kept a magically reinforced iron door locked until we surrendered due to starvation. Another time we were subdued with noxious gas. As you might imagine, our captors are not kind to us after such attempts.”

“You can make stuff glow and read people,” Seth said. “Do you have other magic that could help?”

“Not much,” Bracken said. “I could help run communications. And I have some skill at healing. My powers are relatively weak. What about you, shadow charmer? You might have more useful skills than mine. Can you shade walk? Quench fire? Disengage locks?”

“I can shade walk,” Seth said. “Some shadow charmers can open locks?”

“With their minds,” Bracken said. “You’d have to be a real pro, though. Several of the main doors are secured with spells.”

“Is he really a shadow charmer?” Maddox asked.

“Undoubtedly,” Bracken replied.

“I don’t know much about it,” Seth confessed. “It happened by accident.” He explained about the grove with the nail and the revenant, and then how Graulas had sealed his powers.

“I’ve heard of Graulas,” Bracken said. “Never crossed paths with him.”

“He’s right on the brink of death,” Seth said. “Because his death is so near, he doesn’t care about allegiances anymore, so he sometimes helps me out of boredom.”

Bracken looked pensive. “Graulas may have been of service in the past, but don’t let yourself get comfortable around him. Demons are evil to the center. It is their nature to take advantage of others. Good never comes from them.”

“You sound like Grandpa Sorenson,” Seth said. “Graulas doesn’t pretend to be good, but he really did help me.”

“He’s just saying to be careful,” Maddox said kindly. “Bracken has some experience with demons. They may offer help when they see a selfish advantage in it, but they’re always scheming. In the end, bad trees tend to give bad fruit.”

“Well, he might be dead by now anyhow,” Seth said. “He was pretty far gone last time I saw him. Tell me your story, Bracken. What powers did you used to have? Why do you know so much about demons?”

“We’ll get into it some other time,” Bracken said, averting his gaze.

“No need for modesty!” Maddox bellowed. “Tell the boy what you are!”

Bracken stared at the ceiling, as if wishing he were elsewhere. “He doesn’t even know whether he should trust us yet. This is premature.”

“I won’t be spilling sensitive information anytime soon,” Seth said, “but I think I trust you enough. My instincts say we’re on the same side. By the way, you said you could show me other friends.”

“I barely met your friend Mara,” Bracken said. “She doesn’t know me any better than you do. And I know how to reach your friend Berrigan as well. It’s kind of a tricky climb. He’s injured. I’ve been helping him heal.”

“You have to tell me who you are,” Seth insisted. “I’m really curious. You can’t dangle stuff like this and then take it back. You’re torturing me!”

“I’m a unicorn,” Bracken said.

Seth laughed. “No, seriously.”

“He’s serious,” Maddox said.

Seth considered Bracken skeptically. “Don’t unicorns usually have horns? And, you know, hooves and fur and all that?”

“This is my human form,” Bracken said.

“Some unicorns have avatars,” Maddox said. “You know, like dragons.”

“Can you switch back into your horse shape?” Seth asked. “My sister would be so jealous.”

“I can’t,” Bracken said. “I surrendered my horn, and thus am stuck as a human.”

“Don’t unicorns have three horns?” Seth asked.

“Right,” Bracken replied, appraising Seth as if impressed by his knowledge. “Sort of like humans with baby teeth. We have one horn as a child, then shed it for a larger horn in adolescence, and in turn shed that for our permanent adult horn.”

“But yours wasn’t permanent,” Seth said.

“It should have been, but I surrendered it.”

“Why? Did somebody defeat you or something?”

Bracken’s eyes flashed dangerously. “I would never have surrendered my third horn to an enemy!”

“Steady,” Maddox soothed.

Bracken calmed, his shoulders sagging slightly. “I gave up my third horn on purpose. I surrendered it to the wizards who made the demon prison.”

“Wait,” Seth said, forming a connection. “So the Font of Immortality is made from your horn?”

Bracken glanced at Maddox. “Not bad.”

“He’s a bright kid.”

Bracken returned his focus to Seth. “That is correct. How did you know the Font is fashioned from a unicorn horn?”

“The Sphinx showed it to me,” Seth replied.

“He what?” Maddox spluttered.

Bracken looked skeptical. “Voluntarily?”

“Yeah, after he healed me with the Sands of Sanctity.”

“He used the Sands on you!” Maddox shouted.

“A little less enthusiasm,” Bracken scolded. “We don’t need to tell the whole dungeon. I get it now. It makes sense. You’re a shadow charmer, so the Sphinx hopes to groom you. He wants to win your trust.”

Maddox balled his hands into fists. “I wouldn’t trust that skunk to scrub my toilet.”

“Me neither,” Seth promised. “But we were talking about Bracken.”

Bracken cleared his throat self-consciously. “Right. Well, after I gave up my third horn, I could no longer revert to my true shape. I still had my second horn, which I could use as a weapon, and which helped me retain many of my powers. But in the end, the Sphinx trapped me, forcibly took my remaining horn, and cast me into this dungeon.”

“You must really hate the demons to have given up your permanent horn to those wizards,” Seth observed.

“My kind exist in opposition to demonkind. We are protectors and creators. They are exploiters and destroyers. Where we would bring light, they bring darkness. In addition, I had . . . personal motivations. The wizards convinced me that my horn was essential to make the demon prison as impervious as possible. They were not lying to me, but you can imagine my distress that my sacrifice might soon be all for naught.”

Seth pounded a fist into his palm. “Which brings us back to my goal. We have to find a way out of here. You may have tried in the past, but it has never been more urgent.”

Bracken and Maddox exchanged a glance.

“What do you think?” Maddox asked.

Bracken sighed. “All right. Since the world is about to end, why not give an impossible jailbreak one last try?”

Chapter 9

Assignments

Kendra knew the sun was up, but she hid under her covers nonetheless. She missed Lena. She missed Patton. She missed her parents. She missed her brother. And she was hesitant to confront a new day.

The conversation with Patton the day before had galvanized her grandparents. Grandpa had been contacting Knights of the Dawn, Grandma had been researching in the attic, and everybody was busy making plans.

Kendra had a role to play in those plans. She had put on a brave face, enthusiastically accepting her responsibilities, but they made her nervous. What if she failed? There was so much riding on her participation.

This morning after breakfast, Kendra, Warren, and Tanu would use the Translocator to visit a Scottish preserve called Stony Vale. Both Warren and Tanu had been there before. As Patton had prompted, Grandpa wanted Kendra to have a conversation with the Fairy Queen, and, thanks to the Translocator, the shrine at Stony Vale was readily accessible.

The others seemed to take for granted that Kendra and the Fairy Queen were Best Friends Forever. In reality, the Fairy Queen might very well strike Kendra down for treading on hallowed ground if she found the intrusion unwarranted. Of course, Kendra had been cautioned to trust her instincts on the matter of whether a visit was appropriate, and she felt confident the Fairy Queen would agree that this was a genuine crisis. As an archenemy of the Demon King, the Fairy Queen would be anxious to keep Zzyzx intact.

But just because Kendra might have access to the Fairy Queen, that did not mean she could cajole the mysterious personage to provide actual help, as her family expected. Kendra worried that she would let everyone down, including herself.

Her second assignment made Kendra even more nervous than the first. The others had determined that she had the closest relationship with Vanessa, and hoped that Kendra’s genuine grief over the abduction of Seth and her parents might finally persuade the narcoblix to divulge her big secret. Again, Kendra understood the reasoning behind the task, but it was too much pressure! She was supposed to speak with Vanessa after returning from Stony Vale.

Within the close space beneath her covers, Kendra reluctantly accepted that procrastinating these challenges would not make them go away. If she tried, she might fail, but hiding in her bed would certainly not bring her family home. Still, if she stole a few more minutes of sleep, her problems might temporarily melt from her mind . . .

No! She kicked off her covers and rolled out of bed. The mere act of standing up helped her feel a little more ready to tackle her upcoming obligations.

After showering and getting dressed, Kendra found Warren and Tanu enjoying a pancake breakfast. Spatula in hand, Grandpa hovered over the griddle, and he encouraged Kendra to have a seat.

“Nobody came and got me?” Kendra asked, taking a couple of pancakes from the stack and placing them on her plate.

“We heard you in the shower,” Grandpa explained. “I have some hot ones coming if you want to wait a second.”

Kendra tested the spongy surface with her finger. “These are still warm.” She poured maple syrup over them.

Coulter strolled into the room. “Uh-oh, Stan is fixing pancakes! Must be time for another death-defying mission!”

“Way to ease the tension,” Warren muttered.

“Can I have some?” Coulter asked. “Or are they only for the condemned?”

“No pessimistic geezers allowed,” Warren declared.

Chuckling quietly, Coulter took a seat at the table. Tanu tried to pass him some pancakes, but Coulter held up a dismissive hand. “I’ll wait for those hot ones.”

Kendra cut into her pancakes with the side of her fork, speared two pieces, put them in her mouth, and relished the sweet, fluffy perfection. “Good job, Grandpa,” she said. “These are delicious.”

Warren smeared homemade jam on a pancake and took a bite. “You’ll like Stony Vale, Kendra.”

“It’s very picturesque,” Tanu agreed.

“The caretaker is one of our most reliable Knights,” Coulter said, accepting fresh pancakes from Grandpa’s spatula.

“He won’t know we’re coming,” Warren clarified. “This is a secret operation, in and out, quick and quiet. We’ll teleport away at the first sign of trouble.”

“If you have to travel,” Coulter said, “I can’t think of a better way than the Translocator.”

“I know, I’m getting spoiled,” Warren replied. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do airports ever again.”