by Brandon Mull
she wondered if it had something to do with being fairykind.
Perhaps she could sense what the Fairy Queen considered
permissible. Or maybe she was just scared.
Stopping just short of the end of the pier, Kendra licked
her lips. She felt hesitant to speak and desecrate the silence.
But she needed help, and could not afford to waste time.
Lena, it's Kendra, I need to talk.
The words seemed to die the instant they left her lips.
They did not carry or reverberate. The dark pond remained
inscrutable. Lena, this is an emergency, please come speak
to me, she tried in a louder voice.
Again, she felt she had spoken for her own ears alone.
There was no hint of response from her shadowy
surroundings.
Why is she back again? a voice said from off to her
right. The sound came up out of the water, the words soft
but undistorted.
Who said that? Kendra asked.
'She's here to show off, what else? another voice
answered from directly below the pier. Mortals get so proud
when they know our language, as if speaking it weren't the
easiest and most natural ability.
I'll allow that it beats her clumsy honking, a third
voice giggled. Barking like a seal.
Several voices giggled from under the obscure water. I
need to speak with Lena, Kendra pleaded.
She needs to find a new hobby, the first voice said.
Maybe she should take up swimming, the third voice
suggested. Laughter rippled all around her.
You don't have to talk like I'm not here, Kendra said.
I can hear every word just fine.
She's an eavesdropper, the voice under the pier said.
She should come closer to the water so we can hear her
better, said a new voice near the end of the pier.
I'm just fine where I am, Kendra said.
Just fine, she says, said another new voice. A big
clumsy scarecrow glued to the ground, plodding around on
stilts. The comment initiated the longest bout of tittering
yet.
Better than being trapped in an aquarium, Kendra
said.
The pond became silent. She is not very polite, the
voice under the pier finally said.
A new voice chimed in. What do you expect? Her feet
are probably sore. Kendra rolled her eyes at the giggles that
followed. She suspected the naiads would gladly trade insults
all night.
Fablehaven is in danger, Kendra said. The Society of
the Evening Star has taken my Grandma and Grandpa
prisoner. My brother Seth has been killed. I need to talk to
Lena.
I'm here, Kendra, said a familiar voice. It was slightly
more light and musical, slightly less warm, but it was definitely
Lena.
Hush, Lena, said the voice under the pier.
I'll speak if I choose, Lena said.
What do you care of mortal politics? one of the earlier
voices chided. They come and go. Have you forgotten what
mortals do best? They die. It's the one talent they have in
common.
Kendra, come close to the water, Lena said. Her voice
was nearer. Kendra could vaguely see her face beneath the
surface of the pond to the left of the pier. Her nose was
nearly breaking the surface.
Not too close, Kendra said, squatting well out of reach.
Why are you here, Kendra?
I need your help. The preserve is at the brink of falling
again.
I know you think that matters, Lena said.
It does matter, Kendra said.
It seems to matter for a moment. Just like a lifetime.
Don't you care about Grandma and Grandpa? They
could die!
They will die. You'll all die. And at the time it will
seem like it matters.
It does matter! Kendra said. What do you mean,
nothing matters? What about Patton? Did he matter?
There came no answer. Lena's face broke the surface of
the water, gazing up at Kendra with liquid eyes. Even in the
weak light, Kendra could see that Lena looked much
younger. Her skin was smoother and more evenly colored.
Her hair had only a few strands of gray. The water around
Lena sloshed and churned and she vanished.
Hey, Kendra said. Leave her alone.
She's through talking with you, said the voice under
the pier. You are not welcome here.
You pulled her away! Kendra accused. You jealous
little airheads. Waterheads. What do you do, brainwash her?
Lock her in a closet and play songs about living under the
sea?
You do not know of what you speak, said the voice
under the pier. She would have perished and now she will
live. This is your final warning. Go face your fate. Leave
Lena to enjoy hers.
I'm not going anywhere, Kendra said resolutely. Bring
Lena back. You can't do anything to me if I stay away from
the water.
Oh, no? said the voice under the pier.
Kendra did not like the knowing tone of the speaker.
Too much confidence. She had to be bluffing. If naiads left
the water, they became mortal. Still, Kendra looked around,
worried that somebody might be sneaking up on her to push
her into the water. She saw nobody.
Hello? Kendra said. Hello?
Silence. She felt certain they could hear her.
Don't say we didn't warn you, one of the earlier voices
sang.
Kendra crouched, trying to be ready for anything. Were
the naiads going to throw something at her? Maybe they
could collapse the pier? The night remained quiet and still.
A hand reached up out of the water at the end of the
pier. Kendra jumped back, her heart in her throat. A
wooden hand. Little golden hooks served as joints. Mendigo
scrambled out of the dark water and crawled onto the pier.
Kendra backed away as Mendigo stood, the wooden limberjack
Muriel had changed into a fearsome servant. The
overgrown primitive puppet had been pulled into the water
by the naiads the year before. It had not crossed Kendra's
mind that they might release him. Or even that he would
still be functional. Muriel had been imprisoned. She was
locked up with Bahumat deep beneath a verdant hill.
Apparently nobody had told Mendigo.
The wooden figure rushed at Kendra. Although she had
grown since she last saw the limberjack, he was still an inch
or two taller. Kendra turned and ran along the pier back to
the boardwalk. She could hear him gaining, wooden feet
clacking against wooden planks.
He caught up to her at the bottom of the gazebo stairs.
Kendra whirled and tried to grab at him, hoping to catch
hold of a limb and unhinge it. He nimbly evaded her grasp
and caught hold of her around the waist, flipping her upside
down. She struggled and he changed his grip, pinning her
arms to her sides.
Kendra was caught in a helpless position-facing away
from him, upside down, arms immobilized. She tried to
wriggle and flail, but Mendigo was alarmingly strong. As the
oversized puppet trotted away from the po
nd, it became
apparent she was going wherever he wanted.
Reunion
Seth stripped off another piece of the spongy wall and
placed it in his mouth. The texture reminded him of citrus
pulp. He chewed until he was left with a small amount
of tough, tasteless matter, which he swallowed. Puckering his
lips, Seth pressed his mouth against the wall of the cocoon.
The harder he kissed the wall, the more moisture flowed
into his mouth. Water with a hint of honeydew.
Olloch roared again, and the cocoon shuddered. Seth
flopped around as the cocoon lurched from side to side. By
the time he braced himself, the movement stopped. Seth
was growing accustomed to the roars and the flurries of
motion, although the thought that he was listening to a roar
from inside a cocoon inside the belly of a demon remained
Peculiar.
Seth had tried to sleep. When he had first started dozing,
the roars had awakened him every time. Eventually;
with the help of his mounting fatigue, he had managed a few
fitful stretches of slumber.
Time was becoming meaningless in the endless blackness.
Only the growls and motion of the demon interrupted
the monotony. That and snacking on fragments of the
padded walls. How long had he been inside of Olloch? A
day? Two days? Three?
At least Seth remained reasonably comfortable inside
his womblike enclosure. It fit him rather snugly. There was
just enough room to move his arms when he wanted to pick
at the walls. Even when he was flung around, he never got
injured, because the walls were soft, and there was not
enough room for him to get shaken into dangerous positions.
With so little space, it seemed the air would run out in
a matter of minutes, but his breathing remained unstrained.
Being swallowed by Olloch had made no difference-the air
remained fresh. The closeness of the cocoon made him a
little claustrophobic, but in the darkness, when he lay still,
he could pretend the enclosure was spacious.
Olloch gave a particularly ferocious roar. The cocoon
quaked. The demon emitted a couple of prolonged growls
followed by the loudest roar Seth had yet heard. Seth wondered
if the demon was in a fight. The snarls and roars
continued. It felt oddly like the cocoon was being squeezed,
first by his head, then near his shoulders, then at his waist,
then at his knees and feet. The vicious growls continued
unabated.
The cocoon was jostled one final time and silence followed.
Seth lay in stillness, waiting for the turbulence to
resume. He waited for several minutes, expecting more roaring
at any moment. The growls had been almost desperate.
Now all was eerily calm. Could Olloch have been killed? Or
perhaps the demon had won a battle and then collapsed in
exhaustion. It was easily the longest interval of motionless
silence Seth had experienced since being swallowed.
Uneventful minutes accumulated until Seth felt his eyelids
drooping. He slipped into a deep slumber.
* * * *
Mendigo dumped Kendra onto the ground. A thick carpet
of wildflowers cushioned her landing. The air smelled of
blossoms and fruit. As disoriented as the dash through the
woods had left her, Kendra knew where they were: at the site
where the Forgotten Chapel once stood. The last order from
Muriel to Mendigo must have been to bring Kendra to the
chapel.
During the entire run through the woods, Kendra had
wriggled and twisted and squirmed. She had kicked Mendigo
in the head and tried to unhinge his limbs. But the oversized
puppet had just shifted his grip and continued doggedly
onward. She had been carried upside down, over his shoulder,
and curled up in a ball. No matter how vigorously she
struggled, Mendigo had adjusted.
Kendra lay sprawled on a bed of wildflowers beneath a
starless sky, the dim night pungent and mild. Mendigo
crouched and started digging, clawing at the soil with
wooden fingers, tossing stones aside when he encountered
them. Somewhere under the hill, Muriel was buried, imprisoned
with Bahumat. Apparently the order had not merely
been to bring Kendra to the chapel but to bring Kendra to
Muriel.
Kendra sprang to her feet and bolted down the hillside.
She had not traveled six steps before Mendigo slammed into
her from behind, tackling her near the trunk of a peach tree.
They rolled and she wrenched her back. Kendra shrieked as
Mendigo clung to her with unnatural strength, wrapping her
up with his arms and legs.
At least if he was clinging to her, he wasn't digging.
What would happen if he tunneled down to Muriel? Would
the witch issue new commands to her wooden servant?
Would she get in touch with Vanessa and figure out a way
to escape?
You're in a fine predicament, a tiny voice giggled. It
was high and musical, like the tinkling of a little bell.
Kendra turned her head. A yellow fairy hovered near her
face, emitting a golden glow. She wore a shimmering slip of
gossamer and had wings like a bumblebee and a pair of
antennae. I wouldn't mind some help, Kendra said.
A heroine of your reputation should have no trouble
escaping such a feeble adversary, the fairy said airily.
You'd be surprised how strong he is, Kendra said.
His magic is weak, the fairy sniffed. Muriel is sealed
in a mighty prison. Her will no longer supports the enchantments
she left behind. And yet you can do nothing but beg
for help. Forgive me if I am unimpressed.
Mendigo was dragging Kendra up the hill toward the
spot where he had started digging. Obviously I'm having
trouble, Kendra said. I don't know what to do.
The fairy laughed, a twittering sound. This is priceless!
The great Kendra Sorenson being hauled through the dirt
by a puppet!
You act like I think I'm some big shot, Kendra said. I
think you're projecting. I know I'm just a girl. Without the
help of all the fairies I would have died last summer.
False humility is more insulting than open pride! the
fairy sniffed.
Mendigo picked up Kendra, cradling her in his arms,
folding her knees up to her chin and keeping her arms
trapped at her sides. He resumed digging with his feet. Do I
look like I could possibly be feeling superior to anyone?
Kendra demanded.
The fairy drifted close, hovering in front of Kendra's
nose. The magic inside you is dazzling. By comparison, he
is like a faint star next to the noonday sun.
I don't know how to use it, Kendra said.
Don't ask me, the fairy said. You're the gifted
luminary our Queen chose to honor. I can't show you how
to unlock your magic any more than you can teach me how
to use mine.
Could you use your magic on him? Kendra asked.
'Change him back into a little puppet?
The spell that animates him remains
potent, the fairy
said. But the command guiding his actions is weak. With
some help, I could probably turn him.
Oh, please, would you? Kendra asked.
Well, I am here to guard the prison, the fairy said. All
of us who were imps take turns as sentries.
You were an imp? Kendra said.
Don't remind me. It was a graceless existence.
He's trying to dig down to Muriel, Kendra said. If
you're a guard, shouldn't you stop him?
I suppose I should, the fairy conceded. But the plums
smell so wonderful right now, and the night is so fine…
rounding up fairies is such drudgery.
I'd be so grateful, Kendra said.
We fairies crave nothing more than your gratitude,
Kendra. We look up to you so. One kind word and our little
hearts start racing! All we wish for is the love of big, clumsy
girls.
You're terrible, Kendra said.
I am, aren't I, the fairy said, finally sounding flattered.
Tell you what. It is my responsibility to guard Muriel and
Bahumat, you were right about that, so maybe I could check
if anybody else is bored enough to lend you a hand.
The little fairy zipped away. Kendra hoped she was really
going for help. The fairy didn't sound very reliable. Kendra
tried to force the limberjack's arms apart by straightening her
legs. The effort strained her back. Mendigo was too strong.
As Mendigo dug deeper, Kendra's hope that the fairy
would return began to dwindle. Mendigo was nearly waist
deep in a hole before a small group of fairies swarmed around
them, glimmering in prismatic colors.
See, I told you, the little yellow fairy tinkled.
He's certainly tunneling toward Muriel, another fairy
said.
Not very efficiently, a third chimed in.
Would you like us to turn him to obey your will? a
fourth fairy asked. Kendra recognized the speaker as the silver
fairy who had led the charge when the fairies attacked
Bahumat.
Sure, that would be great, Kendra said.
The fairies hovered in a ring around Mendigo and
Kendra. When they began chanting, colors flared and
sparked, making Kendra blink. Kendra could no longer comprehend
what they were saying. It felt like trying to listen in
on multiple conversations at once. All she caught were tangled
fragments of meaning that together made no sense. .
After a final blazing flash, the fairies fell silent. Most
soared away. Mendigo continued digging. He is now yours
to command, the silver fairy reported.
