Chapter 1
"This is not good." Kendra groaned.
That's the understatement of the century, Seth thought to himself.
Standing on the front porch of the main house at Fablehaven, Seth, Kendra and Bracken stood watching as the midday sky above the forest seemed to collapse in on itself before bursting apart with a thundering boom in a spray of vibrant color. At the center of the explosion was an oval hole the size of a car ringed with tongues of flame colored blue, green and orange.
"What is it?" Kendra asked no one in particular.
"It seems to be a portal, though I've never seen one so...colorful." Bracken answered in an awe-struck voice.
"Wait, something's coming out of it!" Seth exclaimed just as Warren and Vanessa silently exited the house.
Warren and his fiancée Vanessa had been given ownership of Fablehaven after Stan stepped down to focus on being the leader of the human Knights of the Dawn. Kendra and Seth, having recently become Eternals, had been planning to flee into hiding that night, but it looked like their plans had changed.
A human figure wreathed in dark orange fire shot out of the portal followed by a dozen creatures. The things looked like small, whirling masses of inky smoke the size of beach balls with solid black spheres floating at their center.
As the bodies neared Seth noticed that the human figure was indeed a man and he was flying.
"They're enemies!" The flying guy shouted, startling everybody out of their awed stupor. "Aim for the opaque center!"
Simultaneously pulling out their crossbows, Vanessa and Warren quickly began shooting, taking out six before they ran out of bolts. When they were hit, the shadows of the creatures disbanded and the centers crumbled to dust. Bracken brandished his horn in sword form, throwing it boomerang style, vaporizing two more of the things. The last four were taken care of by the unknown flying man, who fired glowing orbs of orange energy from his fingertips with deadly accuracy.
The man slowly hovered down to stand next to the group, only to have five weapons aimed at him. He was handsome, looked about twenty-five, clean shaven with short blonde-red hair and striking blue eyes.
"Who are you, what were those things, where did you come from and why are you here?" Warren growled harshly.
"My name is Shytiss ano' Phirat-Zheyhang, I call the creatures Shadow Beasts, I come from the realm of the Rainbow Serpent and I need your help."