Disclaimer: NONE OF THIS WHATSOEVER IS MINE. DIALOGUE AND CHARACTERS BELONG TO BRANDON MULL.
I wrote this because the fifth Fablehaven really blew me away and because Bracken is one of my favorite characters. I thought it might be interesting to tell the story from his POV.
I wandered the halls of this cursed prison for what felt like the millionth time. How humiliating it is being trapped here for so long. A son of the Fairy Queen should never be in this predicament. Not even my sisters have managed to be such a fool as I. I was heading toward a cell that had been empty for decades. My sources say that there is a new prisoner filling the vacancy. I took a deep breath, grabbed my glowing stone and shifted the wall leading into the formerly empty cell.
On a simple cot very much like my own sat a young boy. I tried my best not to look stunned by his powerful aura. This kid is definitely a shadow charmer and friends of the dark are usually no friend of mine being a unicorn and whatnot. The shadow charmer had light brown hair and a wary expression. His clothes were a little dirty, but couldn't possibly compare to mine. When he picked up that horrid meat substance, he had my full attention.
"Please, don't assault me with that meat amalgam. It would surely cause and infection," I said trying to lighten the mood. The shadow charmer lowered the meat but he was still alert. Smart boy. He studied me with brown eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"A fellow prisoner," I replied. He still studied me. "May I come in?"
He hesitated for a moment. "Sure, I guess." Well, at least there's hope for trust. I grabbed a stool from the corridor and sat down.
"Welcome to Living Mirage."
"Am I really supposed to believe you're another prisoner?" he asked. I tried to read his emotion, but it was useless. I need to break out of this place and get my second horn back from the Sphinx. I always knew he was bad news.
"I don't blame you for doubting," I said honestly. "I have a similar concern about you. I'm Bracken."
"Seth." Seth? That's a fairy name. How odd. I suppose I shouldn't reveal what I know. A shadow charmer would not appreciate the knowledge.
"They stashed you down deep. That means either you're dangerous and they're done with you for the foreseeable future, or else you're a spy."
Seth picked at the meat brick. Disgusting. "And how am I supposed to know you're not a spy? What sort of prison has secret passages between cells?" All good questions. All I have heard a number of times.
"The dungeon is old. It has been expanded and rebuilt so many times that nobody knows all the half-buried corridors and sealed-up chambers. Centuries of tunneling prisoners have added to the abandoned shafts and forgotten cavities. I helped excavate some of these passages personally, but most existed long before I came here. Nothing leads out, mind you. Not even close. But we've connected many of the deep rooms."
"Nobody has caught on?" Seth asked clearly disbelieving.
"We're not fooling anyone," I replied. "If we're really obvious about our activities, they seal up some of our excavations and administer punishments, but later we chip our way through again. Our tunneling is relatively harmless, and it keeps us occupied, so if we stay quiet about it, our captors mostly look the other way."
"You talk like you've been here a long time." Boy, have I ever. "How old are you? Like seventeen?"
I gave him a small smile. Well you're only off by a few million years, I thought silently. "I'm a tad older than I look. You would weep for me if you knew how long I'd been here."
"So when are you going to start investigating my secrets?"
"Still don't trust me? At least you're not stupid."
"Don't give me too much credit. I'm here aren't I?" If he thinks that he is stupid for being captured then I must be a complete fool, for he is still young. I studied Seth.
"Yes, you are here. And you are clearly a shadow charmer, which makes you such an obvious spy that I wonder why the Sphinx would bother."
"How can you tell I'm a shadow charmer?" he asked with a bit of curiosity in his voice. I smiled inwardly.
"I can tell more than that. Mind if I conduct a little test?"
"Depends on the test."
"Nothing painful, just take my hands." I extended my arms facing my palms toward the ceiling. I set my enchanted stone down on the cot.
"This is weird," he said with his hands in his lap.
"I just want to ask you a couple of questions. If I ask something you don't like, go ahead and punch me in the face." I was still trying to lighten the mood.
Seth put down his ghastly meat and took my hands. I stared at his face hard and began hearing small parts of his thoughts. This guy is going to turn out just the same as that Gavin dude. I'm sure of it. He'd better not meet Kendra or she'll go all googly-eyed in a second. So that's why he didn't trust me. Who's Kendra?
"Tell me your name," I started.
"Seth Sorenson." True.
"Tell me a lie."
"The food here is terrific." Extremely false. I broke into a grin.
"Tell me something true."
"Centaurs are jerks." I grinned even wider. Debatable, but he definitely believed it, as do I. I almost asked him who Kendra and Gavin were, but decided it wouldn't be the wisest move at the moment. I let it go.
"Are you a friend of the Society of the Evening Star?"
"Nope. I'm the opposite. A Knight of the Dawn." Also true.
I released Seth's hands and leaned back on my stool. "I believe you. In fact, I know some things about you. You have friends here."
"My parents?" he inquired with hope.
"Your parents might be here, but not in a cell we can access." Seth's face fell.
"So what are you, a human lie detector?"
"I'm good at reading people. I wanted a close look at you. They've sent down stingbulbs before. Now I know you're not a stingbulb, or a changeling. More important, you're friends might have been mistaken about your allegiances. Hard to believe a shadow charmer could be on our side. But now I'm convinced." And I was.
Seth crossed his arms. "I'm glad I passed your test. Do you have something I can hang on my fridge?" I almost smiled at that. Seth is the most unusual shadow charmer I have ever encountered.
"I left my stickers in my cell."
"It still doesn't prove I should trust you."
"Agreed. I'd question your judgment if you did. For starters, why don't I take you to visit one your friends?"
"Sure. Do I have lots of friends here?"
"A few," I replied reaching for my stone. We'd need the light on the way.
"Where did you get the light?"
"I made it. I'm pretty close to powerless these days, but I still know a trick or two." I would give anything to have my second horn back. I opened a small gap in the wall and lead Seth through.
"What are you, a wizard?" What a pitiful thought. I chuckled and closed the opening in the wall.
"A wizard stuck in cells like these would be a sorry wizard indeed. I'll tell you more about myself once you know you can trust me. Let's go quiet for a stretch. The walls are thing up here, and a guard is posted nearby." I closed my hand around the stone so the light was limited, not that it really made a difference. Seeing in the dark is one of the few things I can still do, I just prefer the light.
"This part is a little tricky," I whispered loudly. I shut out the light emitting from the stone completely and produced a new ball of light about the size of a ping-pong ball. I sent it floating to the top of the shaft in the ceiling. I shimmied up the side of the passage, supported by the rungs overhead. Seth looked at the shaft, distrusting.
"There are rungs in the shaft." He seems like the kind of kid that would be up for any adventure. I climbed to the top of the space and Seth appeared briefly afterwards.
I led him down a new passageway. Hopefully he would be happy to see Maddox. I put out the floating light and retrieved my stone from my pocket. Seth followed me through a hidden door that led into Maddox's cell.
"Here we are," I declared. "This character keeps his cell locked from the inside." Four slow beats, two quick ones, a pause, and then three quick strikes is the secret knock to enter the space.
Seth followed me through a hidden door that led into Maddox's cell.
"You bring him?" Maddox asked. "There he is!"
Seth crawled into the room and looked surprised and glad to see an old friend. What a relief. Maddox was beaming.
"Maddox?" Seth exclaimed.
"I'm sorry you're here, Seth, but it's good to see you." He helped Seth to his feet.
"You're alive!" Seth said. "The last time I saw you, it was an imposter." Sounds like Seth has had a lot of trust issues.
"A stingbulb," Maddox replied with plain distaste in his voice. "I hoped you all would manage to see through the charade."
"Not at first. It did a good job. But we figured it out before any real harm was done."
"The stingbulbs come from here, you know," he said with a glint in his eyes. "The last known stingbulb trees are on this preserve. I'll be honest, if I ever managed to bust out of this dungeon, I'd be tempted to stick around and explore. This is an ancient preserve. Who knows what supposedly extinct species I might encounter!"
Seth furrowed his eyebrows. "How can I be sure you're not a stingbulb?" He's brighter than he gives himself credit for, metaphorically, of course. Nothing about a shadow charmer has any resemblance to light, hence the word shadow.
"Good boy!" Maddox shouted a little louder than I'm comfortable with. He flicked his eyes in my direction. "This one thinks like a survivor."
"My sentiments exactly," I agreed.
"Bracken can tell, but I'll wager you don't trust him yet, either."
"I want to trust you guys," Seth said half-heartedly. "I just don't want to be an idiot." Certainly not like any other shadow charmer I have met.
"A stingbulb would have my memories," Maddox continued. "There isn't much I can do to prove my authenticity. For now, it'll just have to suffice that we won't press you for secrets."
"I'm not sure I have any in the first place. The Society already knows everything I do," he said bitterly.
"Now, don't think like that," Maddox assured. "You never know what odd detail might offer the Society an advantage. Keep those lips sealed."
"All right."
I glanced down and saw Maddox's empty dinner plate, sighing inwardly. I picked it up, revolted. "Cleaned your plate again, I see!"
He smiled shyly. "I'll be honest, I've eaten worse."
"Worse?" I inquired, laughing, "Where? Was it uncooked and decomposing? Seth, this guy wolfs down everything they serve here. He's put on a good twenty pounds since they brought him in."
Maddox blushed and smoothed the shirt over his stomach. "I'm not saying I would choose this grub over home-cooked lasagna. I was starving when they brought me here."
"I can't even bite the meat," Seth said.
"It's like a salt lick," I told him. I pointed to Maddox. "This guy chews it up."
"You can find fracture points if you probe for weaknesses," Maddox said defensively.
"What about the hairy paste?" Seth questioned warily.
I answered. "I'm not sure those are hairs. Might be veins."
"Laugh it up," Maddox griped. "Mind my words. Best to store up a little extra when given the chance. You can't be sure when you'll see your next meal."
"I know when I will see it and what it will be," I challenged subtly. "I've been here a long time. Twice a day, like clockwork, we're served a compressed blend of dog, rat, and hobgoblin." I was joking, but honestly I didn't have the slightest idea of what they used to make those meat bricks.
Seth made a combination of a laughing and gagging sound. "I hope you're kidding." I hope I am too, I thought. Something is in the hallway. I hear footsteps and there's a faint glow from a fire.
"Torch coming," I warned, ducking down and covering my light. Maddox and Seth did likewise.
"It's not mealtime," Maddox, of course, whispered quietly.
I waited until all signs of people, or whatever else was out, was a safe distance away from us before coming out of hiding.
"They almost never come into the cells," I said incredulously. "But with my luck, I try to be ready for exceptions."
"Say, Seth," Maddox began uncomfortably, "I know I shouldn't press you, but have you had any non-secretive from my brother, Dougan?"
As soon as that look came across Seth's face, I knew it was bad news.
"Uh-oh," Maddox said. "Bad news?" Bingo.
"The worst news."
Maddox's mouth twisted up in pain. I felt sorry for him. He truly was a good man. "Right. Did he go bravely?"
Seth nodded energetically. "It was at Wyrmroost. A dragon got him. Dougan helped to save Kendra and the mission." Wow, dragon sanctuary. That is no small feat, even for a young shadow charmer. There was the name Kendra again. I was tempted to ask who she was, but I bit my tongue once again.
"What dragon?" Dougan inquired, vengeance in his eyes.
"Navarog. But then Navarog got killed while in human form."
My eyes bulged. "Navarog is dead?" I exclaimed. Navarog? Dead? Part of me was jumping for joy, but the other part couldn't ever process this information. I glanced at Maddox and stored my excitement for later.
We play a deadly game. Something like this was bound to happen," Maddox said, trying desperately to compose himself.
"What are our chances of busting out of here?" Seth asked. I almost laughed out loud. That's the golden question, now isn't it?
"Bleak," I replied. "I've been trying for hundreds of years."
"Hundreds of years?" Seth exclaimed.
"Some of us never get used to the food."
"We can move around down here, but we've found no way to the upper levels, nothing close to a way out," Maddox said.
"I've searched long and hard," I said, repressing a sigh, "tunneled plenty as well."
"What about beating up a guard?" Seth asked.
"Even though our doors rarely open, I've tried few times. 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? A big group effort?" I thought about it for a moment and decided that the idea may be plausible. I 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," I said matter-of-factly.
"You can make stuff glow and read people," Seth said. He makes what is left of my powers sound so obsolete. "Do you have other magic that could help?"
"Not much," I replied. "I could help run communications. And I have some skill at healing. My powers are relatively weak. What about you, shadow charmer?" Hopefully, he didn't recognize the smallest hint of sarcasm in my voice. "You might have more useful skills than mine. Can you shade walk? Quench fire? Disengage locks?"
Seth's face brightened. "I can shade walk. Some shadow charmers can open locks?" he asked, with clear fascination.
I answered. "With their minds. You'd have to be a real pro, though. Several of the main doors are secured with spells." Seth looked hopeful, but there wasn't even the slightest chance that he would be able to learn by the time we rebel.
"Is he really a shadow charmer?" Maddox asked.
"Undoubtedly," I replied, almost subconsciously.
Seth looked a little sheepish. "I don't know much about it. It happened by accident." Then he told us an absurd story about he defeated a revenant and befriended a demon. The most unusual part was that I believed every word of it. Of course, no one could ever befriend a demon. Still, the thought that this boy, before he even became a shadow charmer, had slain a powerful being of the undead and won the interest of a powerful demon like Graulas was truly extraordinary.
"I've heard of Graulas," I said, partly to myself. "Never crossed paths with him."
"He's right on the brink of death." More good news! "Because his death is so near, he doesn't care about allegiances anymore, so he sometimes helps me out of boredom." I found this very, ah, what's the word? Oh, yes. Perplexing.
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," I admonished.
"You sound like Grandpa Sorenson," Seth grumbled. "Graulas doesn't pretend to be good, but he really did help me." No way, in this lifetime, will ever trust a demon. Especially after what Gorgrog did to my father. I fought back my rage.
"He's just saying to be careful," Maddox said, "Bracken has some experience with demons. They may offer help when they see a self 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. 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?" His eyes looked like they'd been lit up by a thousand volts of energy, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him just yet.
"We'll get into it some other time," I replied. I glanced down a nearby corridor.
"No need for modesty! Tell the boy what you are!" Maddox hollered. Thank you kindly for respecting my wishes Maddox. I stared at the ceiling.
"He doesn't even know whether he should trust us yet," I insisted. "This is premature." Now I had them. Check and mate.
"I won't be spilling any sensitive information anytime soon," Seth said, jumping into the conversation, "but I think I trust you enough." There's my spectacular luck again. "My instincts say we're on the same side. By the way, you said you could show me other friends." Phew. That truly was a close one.
"I barely met your friend Mara. 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 trick climb. He's injured. I've been helping him heal." I was sorrowful to hear about the fate of his sister.
"You have to tell me who you are," Seth blurted. Not this again. "I'm really curious. You can't dangle stuff like this and then take it back. You're torturing me!" There a few things my kind can't live with and torture is one of them.
"I'm a unicorn," I said evenly. Seth laughed.
"No, seriously." I sighed. I can't say that I've never gotten this response before.
"He's serious," Maddox said.
"Don't unicorns have horns? And, you know, hooves and fur and all that?" Seth asked me suspiciously.
"This is my human form."
"Some have avatars," explained Maddox, "you know, like dragons."
"Can you switch back into your horse shape?" Seth asked. "My sister would be so jealous." Sister?
"I can't," I said, tiredly, "I surrendered my horn, and thus I am stuck as a human."
"Don't unicorns have three horns?" Excellent. At least he knows a thing or two about unicorns.
"Right," I said. "Sort of like humans with baby teeth. We have one born as a child, then shed it for a larger horn in adolescence, and then in turn shed that for our permanent adult horn."
"But yours wasn't permanent," Seth pointed out.
"It should have been, but I surrendered it," I said with a small sigh.
"Why? Did somebody defeat you or something?" Is he mad? What a foolish question to ask. I glared almost instinctively.
"I would never have surrendered my third horn to an enemy!" I exclaimed angrily. I resisted the urge to punch something.
"Steady," Maddox consoled.
I took a deep breath and continued. "I gave up my third horn on purpose. I surrendered it to the wizards who made the demon prison."
"Wait, so the Font of Immortality is made from your horn?" Seth asked nonchalantly. He's done nothing but impress me the entire evening. I glanced at Maddox.
"Not bad," I said in reply.
"He's a bright kid," agreed Maddox.
I turned my attention back to Seth. "That is correct. How did you know the Font is fashioned from a unicorn horn?" I queried.
"The Sphinx showed it to me." That couldn't be possible.
"He what?" Maddox asked incredulously.
I scrutinized Seth. "Voluntarily?"
"Yeah, after he healed me with the Sands of Sanctity."
"He used the Sands on you!" Maddox bellowed.
"A little less enthusiasm. We don't need to tell the whole dungeon," I advised in a whisper. "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."
"I wouldn't trust that skunk to scrub my toilet," Maddox growled.
"Me neither, but we were talking about Bracken," Seth said.
I cleared my throat. This was terribly uncomfortable for me. "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 last horn, and cast me into this dungeon."
"You must really hate the demons to have given up your permanent horn to those wizards," Seth said quietly.
"My kind exist in opposition to demonkind. We are protectors and creators. They are exploiters and destroyers. Where we would bring light, they would 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," I said woefully. Seth pounded his fist.
"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." I could tell Seth was very anxious to break out and join in the action. Can't say that I blame him. I locked eyes with Maddox for a moment.
"What do you think?" he asked.
I sighed in resignation. "All right. Since the world is about to end, why not give an impossible jailbreak one last try?"
~*~*~*~
Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas. Thanks for reading!