by Brandon Mull
Seth caught Ronodin staring at him again. “One moment,” Seth said.
He crossed to Ronodin, who calmly watched him approach, arms folded, wearing a small smirk.
“Did you set this trap?” Seth asked.
“The hill giants killing your griffins so you have to walk home?” Ronodin asked.
“Yeah,” Seth said.
“No, the dragons are handling all of the tactics,” Ronodin said. “I simply gave Celebrant a key piece of information that will enable him to win his war.”
“Can we stop him?” Seth asked.
“You could try, if you knew enough,” Ronodin said. “Look how dark you are—almost as dark as your sister is light. It’s like I’m talking to the Sphinx.”
“You know him?”
“Back when he was interesting.”
“He got boring?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“What do we need to know to stop Celebrant?” Seth asked.
“See, you’re already boring me,” Ronodin said. “I used to be extremely bright, you know, but the shadows suit me better. They look good on you.”
“I’m not evil,” Seth said.
“Give it time,” Ronodin replied.
“Dark doesn’t have to be evil,” Seth said.
“Evil can be so relative,” Ronodin said. “Do you have any evil relatives?”
“I have a cousin I don’t always like,” Seth said.
“Why not?”
“He thinks he’s awesome.”
Ronodin smiled. “We’re destined to be friends. I have a cousin like that too! I recently captured him.”
“Bracken?”
“Yes. Some free advice? Capture your cousin. It helps.”
“Where is Bracken?”
Ronodin’s eyes became droopy, and his head sagged. He started snoring.
“Did I bore you again?”
His eyes opened. “You’re catching on! What would you say if I asked how I could get into Blackwell Keep and kill everyone?”
“Probably nothing,” Seth admitted.
“And so I don’t bore you by asking,” Ronodin said.
“I could also misinform you,” Seth said.
“Which would make me lose respect for you,” Ronodin said. “I’m hard to fool. I seldom lie. The truth, artfully handled, usually suffices.”
“Am I wasting my time talking to you?” Seth asked.
“Depends what you want,” Ronodin said. “I could help you develop your powers. You bought the product but lost the owner’s manual. You could do more than you realize.”
“I don’t want you as a teacher,” Seth said.
“We could relate,” Ronodin said. “I used to be shiny. Had a shiny sister. An annoying cousin. We could be quite a pair. I don’t offer mentorship often or lightly.”
“I’m on a home-study course,” Seth said.
“Tell you what—get that unicorn horn from your sister, give it to me, and I’ll not only tell you how to defeat Celebrant, I’ll help you get back to Blackwell Keep.”
“I have a map,” Seth said. “We can get back to Blackwell Keep on the road.”
“Theoretically,” Ronodin said.
“What’s the catch?” Seth asked.
“No more hints.”
“What would Celebrant do if you told me how to defeat him?”
Ronodin shrugged. “I owe loyalty to no one.”
“Then why help Celebrant?” Seth asked.
“I have my own reasons.”
“Big fan of dragons? Okay, I’ll admit, me too. Who can resist? But not if they’re going to kill everyone.”
“Have a pleasant walk home,” Ronodin said, turning and striding away.
Seth returned to Kendra, who stood talking to Lowly Vatka.
“But will you support us?” Kendra asked.
“You may as well try your question on the reeds or the puddles,” the hag said. “The servant cannot respond for the master.”
“Come with me,” Dalgorel said. “Eve and I arrived on griffins as well. I must inquire after their health. If all is well, Kendra, you and Seth could borrow one for a return flight to Blackwell Keep, and the other could bear Eve and me home.”
Seth fell in next to Kendra, and they followed Dalgorel toward the platform at the opposite end of the room from the entrance. Several of the guests at the tables were already departing.
“What did you think of Ronodin?” Kendra asked.
“I think you should consider sending a hundred arrows his way,” Seth said.
“No violence here,” Dalgorel said over his shoulder. “Engage in hostilities against anyone present and you open the door for retaliation. The dragons would love an excuse to pounce on the two of you.”
“They might capture us and not kill us,” Seth said.
“To avoid another mortal caretaker taking your place?” Dalgorel asked. “Perhaps. But if Celebrant were sole caretaker, he could still veto possible replacements for a time. I’m not sure the Dragon King would weep if harm came to you.”
“There’s Tanu,” Seth said, relieved. Hopefully Calvin was with him.
The potion master was walking straight to Ronodin.
“Think he knows who he is?” Kendra asked.
“Looks like it,” Seth said.
“King Celebrant,” Dalgorel called as they drew near to the platform. “Thank you for the excellent feast. I must inquire after the griffins from Terrabelle.”
“One survived, one perished,” Celebrant said. “Thankfully, I believe the remaining griffin should be able to carry you and your daughter.”
“I trust you are correct,” Dalgorel said.
“Am I to assume your territory will remain neutral throughout the upcoming conflict?” Celebrant asked.
“Yes,” Dalgorel said. “True to our long-standing policy.”
“You didn’t protect our griffins,” Kendra said to the Dragon King. “You should replace them.”
“Alas, such is not our arrangement,” Celebrant said. “And I’m not sure if you would have much luck taking up your complaint with the hill giants. You are welcome to try.”
“It’s not right,” Seth said.
“If you want a chance to settle your grievance with me, challenge me to a duel,” Celebrant offered.
Seth glanced at the blackened patch on the side of Celebrant’s chest. He fingered his sword. What might a blast of lightning do to that vulnerable spot?
“Don’t even think about it,” Kendra muttered through clenched teeth.
Seth had no idea how strong a lightning bolt the sword would release. And he didn’t know if even a serious lightning bolt would be enough to kill a big dragon like Celebrant, vulnerable spot or not. “No, thanks,” Seth said. “You’ve had a rough night.”
“You are welcome to tarry here,” Celebrant said. “Or else the road awaits. Deliberate wisely. In two days, your experience at Wyrmroost will change drastically.”
“You already attacked us,” Seth said.
“Is that what you think we did?” Celebrant asked. “Attack? Wait until you see what is coming.”
“Come on, Seth,” Kendra said.
“We’re not afraid of you,” Seth said.
Celebrant stared unblinkingly.
Seth stared back.
Kendra grabbed his elbow and gave a tug. Following her lead, Seth walked away from the platform alongside Dalgorel.
“I’m sorry that I won’t be able to aid you in your journey home,” Dalgorel said. “The road will be tedious but should provide safe passage. The magical protections along the main roads are reliable.”
Raxtus approached from one side. “Sorry about the griffins,” he said.
“Sheba was gentle and strong,” Kendra said, her voice qu
ivering. “They were all good creatures. Your friends and family are murderers. And so are you.”
“It was the giants,” Raxtus said.
Kendra stopped walking. “Get lots of giant attacks around here?”
“Well, no,” Raxtus said.
“Are you dragons too weak to defend your own stables inside your own castle?” Kendra asked.
“The giants were killed,” Raxtus said.
“Don’t play dumb,” Seth said. “Have a great war.”
Raxtus moved away. Seth, Kendra, and Dalgorel continued toward the door.
“There was another issue with hill giants,” Kendra said. “They fought with a dragon and took out a bridge.”
“Yes,” Dalgorel said. “At Thirsty Gulch.”
“Let me guess,” Kendra said. “It’s on our way home.”
Dalgorel nodded. “Yes, that bridge is part of your most direct route home. Without it, you would have to work around the gulch by leaving the road for quite a while. Or you would have to avoid the gulch entirely by taking the road the long way around.”
“Which would be more than three times farther,” Tanu said, approaching. “Most likely a week on foot. And right past Stormguard Castle.”
“You met Ronodin?” Kendra asked.
“I’ve met him once before,” Tanu said. “Smug as they come. It’s rough we lost the griffins.”
“The hill giants were pawns,” Seth said.
“Most creatures are pawns compared to a dragon,” Dalgorel said.
“We need to get a message to Blackwell Keep,” Tanu said, “so they can send help.”
“How?” Seth asked.
“Maybe Creya,” Tanu said, looking around. “Creya!”
The golden eagle flew over and landed near them. “I was about to depart. How may I be of service?”
“Can you fly to Blackwell Keep and explain what happened to our griffins?” Kendra asked. “Tell them we’re taking the road home.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Creya said. “Anything else?”
“We’ll probably try the long way,” Tanu added. “It would be madness to leave the road under these conditions.”
“Tell them about the war,” Seth said.
“Will do,” the eagle replied. “Away I go.”
She flew ahead of them and out the door.
Eve rejoined her father, and Seth stared at her with a smile. In all the commotion he had almost forgotten she was here. He had never met a girl he liked so well.
“How are our griffins?” Eve asked.
“One perished,” Dalgorel said. “The other survived.”
Eve looked downcast. “Filthy dragons. Well, I’m walking back to Terrabelle.”
“No you’re not,” Dalgorel said. “War is on the immediate horizon. The bridge at Thirsty Gulch is out. You will return with me on whichever griffin remains.”
“It’ll be Lady,” Eve said. “Starfire would have attacked the giants. He never would have let harm come to Lady.”
“Whichever remains, we will ride home together,” Dalgorel said.
“I refuse,” Eve said.
Dalgorel looked at Seth, Kendra, and Tanu. “Excuse us for a moment.” Dalgorel led his daughter away. Seth watched him talking to her animatedly.
“Somebody is in trouble,” Seth said under his breath.
“We are,” Kendra said. “We’re really far from the keep.”
Seth waved a dismissive arm. “We’ll be on a protected road! No big deal. This will be a chance to see more of our sanctuary.”
“The dragons won’t make it easy,” Kendra said.
“Let’s put some distance between us and this castle before we discuss more,” Tanu suggested.
“Should we wait for Eve?” Seth asked, looking back.
“I’m not sure her father would appreciate it,” Kendra said.
“We should get going,” Tanu said.
Seth glanced at the potion master’s pouches. “How did it go?” he whispered.
Tanu gave him a hard stare. “Let’s leave, Seth.”
“Is the Tiny Hero all right?” Seth asked.
Tanu stuck up his thumb.
Kendra grabbed one of Seth’s arms. Tanu grabbed the other. Together they marched out of the castle, found where the road began, and started down the chilly mountain.
Barrel
Knox nudged the door open, the faint light from the hall spilling into the dimness of Dale’s room. The lanky man rested on his side, head on his pillow, snoring softly. His room seemed to smell more like him than he did.
Since discovering the true nature of Fablehaven, Knox had become even more interested in the barrel that had transported him to Wyrmroost. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to get through the locked basement door to examine it again.
This morning Knox had seen Dale use a key on his key ring to enter the basement. So he had stayed up late in his bed, waiting until the house grew silent. All was now still. And Dale was snoring.
Knox needed to find that key without waking the handyman.
Knox crept into the room, nearly closing the door behind him, stepping lightly, breathing softly. He knew it would look bad if Dale awoke to find him sneaking around. A floorboard creaked, and though to Knox it sounded almost like he had stepped on a land mine, Dale kept snoring smoothly.
In the meager light, Knox scanned the walls, wondering if there might be a peg. Coming up empty, he checked the nightstand beside the bed, but no keys were there, either. Where else? In a drawer?
Then he noticed the pants draped over the back of a chair. Knox was pretty sure they were the pants Dale had worn today. He tiptoed over to the brown corduroys and slipped a hand into one of the front pockets. Nothing. But he heard a slight jingle as he took his hand out, and in the other front pocket he found the key ring. As he eased it out of the pocket, some of the keys jangled, and Dale snorted, sitting up.
Knox lunged to the foot of the bed and lay flat, heart hammering. He heard Dale smack his lips. “Somebody there?” he mumbled in a blurry voice.
Cheek against the floor, Knox held his breath. What would happen if he got caught? Did Fablehaven have holding cells for delinquents? At best it would be so embarrassing.
He heard Dale flop back onto his pillow, smacking his lips some more as he arranged his covers. Knox waited. A hasty move now would be costly.
There were seven or eight keys on the ring, and he held them pressed together so they couldn’t rattle. Knox waited as long as he could bear. Then he silently counted to a hundred, resisting the urge to rush. Dale began lightly snoring again.
Knox crept out of the room and softly closed the door. As he moved down the hall, relief and excitement replaced his fear of getting caught. Now he just needed to make his way to the basement and locate the barrel.
He quietly descended the stairs to the main level. The house looked different in night shadow, the furniture reduced to shapes in the gloom. At least there was a glow coming from the kitchen.
Knox walked carefully toward the kitchen, in case the light meant somebody was grabbing a midnight snack. When he peered around the corner, he found little men and women scurrying around on the countertop. Some were rolling out dough, others were cutting flattened dough into fanciful shapes, and others were placing the shapes onto cookie sheets.
Grandma Larsen had told him that she would sometimes leave out ingredients that brownies would combine into treats. Even though he had seen plenty of fairies in the yard, Knox still wasn’t used to running into magical creatures yet. He quietly spied, enthralled by their speed and precision.
When fingers touched his hand, Knox jerked away and almost cried out. He found Tess looking up at him with wide eyes, wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts. She pointed excitedly at the brownies.
He took her by the elbow
and led her out of sight from the kitchen. “What are you doing up?” he whispered.
“I like to try to see the brownies,” Tess said. “I’ve only spotted them once before.”
“You get up in the night looking for brownies?”
“Sometimes,” Tess said. “They don’t like to talk, though. They run away so fast when I try.”
Knox peeked back into the kitchen. No brownies were in sight now. “They’re gone.”
“Grandma told me they’re really hard to see,” Tess said. “They have really good hearing and are very shy.”
“Speedy little guys. The cookies they were making are still on the counter.”
“They’ll finish up later,” Tess said. “Where are you going?”
“What do you mean?” Knox asked, trying to act innocent.
“You have keys,” Tess said.
Knox looked at the keys in his hand. “I found them. I’m not sure what they open.”
“Let’s try things,” Tess said.
“No,” Knox replied. “You should be in bed.”
“It’s too exciting here to sleep much,” Tess said.
“Go back to bed,” Knox said. “I have some things to do.”
“I’ll do them with you.”
Knox folded his arms, the keys still in one hand. “You’re going to get in trouble.”
“So are you.”
“You can’t tell anybody you saw me down here,” Knox said.
“Sure I can,” Tess replied.
“You have to keep it a secret,” Knox said.
Tess stared at him. “Make me part of the secret and I’ll keep it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me do what you’re doing and I won’t tell anyone,” she said, pantomiming as if zipping her lips closed.
“You won’t like it,” Knox said. “I’m going down in the basement.”
“There’s a basement?” Tess asked, quietly clapping her hands. “I want to come!”
“It will probably be scary,” Knox said.
“Why would a basement be scary?”
“It could be all dirty and moldy.”
“Who cares?” Tess said.
