Kendra wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Almost finished!" she called to Seth.

Along with Warren, Tanu, Grandpa Sorenson, Grandpa Larson, and her brother, she was helping build the second barn at Fablehhaven. It was near the old manor where her once-thought-to-be-dead Grandparents now lived, and housed a cow much smaller than the monstrous Viola. It had brown spots, and had been recovered from Lost Mesa six months previous. It was rescued about a week after Kendra and her friends had stopped the opening of Zzyzx, the demon prison and saved the world. The Knights of the Dawn had relocated it to Fablehhaven.

The Knights of the Dawn, the magical society that Kendra and her brother Seth were initiated to previous to saving the end of the world, had overcome their arch enemy, The Society of the Evening Star. After the Society failed to open Zzyzx, they seemed to lack leadership to gather or form any kind of counter attack. The Knights treat their inactivity as a gift, for they have enough to handle and plenty to work on.

Many tasks were tedious, as relocating the magic cow, but nevertheless had to be done. Small raids on Society bases that were being discovered were routinely preformed. One of the major projects, although not controlled by the Knights, was building a new realm for the Fairies. Bracken had included Kendra in these plans, and she had tried to envision the domain, but she had not yet visited. Bracken seemed to stress that everything was in working order before a mortal was allowed entrance, and was very busy overseeing the design. He tried to visit Fablehhaven daily, however Kendra was beginning to worry, for she hadn't seen him in a week. She hoped he would show up at the shrine soon.

Kendra finished pulling the rope firmly grasped in her hands. It burned, but she ignored the slight pain. Gritting her teeth with effort, she watched the system of pulleys connected to the wall-frame that was now rising, and wondered if their was magic involved. Normally, she could not lift an entire wall on her own. Seth flashed her a thumbs up, meaning that Tanu had steadied the wall from the other side. Warren rushed over to tie down the rope Kendra had been pulling to a stake prepositioned in the ground.

"Nice job, everyone." Grandpa Sorenson panted. "That's two out of four walls, halfway done! Then we just have to put up the panels to secure the cow doesn't escape."

Kendra imagined the cow roaming free on the preserve, and chuckled in spite of herself. There was something comical about the large bovine.

"Sounds exhausting." said someone coming down the path from the main house. "Good thing I brought lemonade." Grandma Sorenson smiled as she held up a tray of refreshing liquid. She had taken a cart, pulled by Hugo, from the main house.

Warren took off his hat, brushed his hair with his hand, and said "I think we could use a brake. Stan?"

Grandpa smiled. "No arguments here."

Kendra was happy to take a rest. She not only was baked from the sun in the middle of the sky, but wanted an escape to check the fairy shrine. "Is it alright if I go visit the fairies?" she asked innocently.

Seth raised an eyebrow at is sister. "I'm sure that''s not all you want to check on" he mumbled.

Thankfully, everyone chose to ignore him, and Grandpa said, "Sure, Kendra. Just don't be gone before long. We're almost done here today, so meet us back at the house. I'm expecting some friends later on." He winked, which implied that it was someone Kendra knew. She hoped it was Vanessa, for Kendra hadn't see the Narcoblix in a few weeks.

Kendra smiled. She was delighted to see friends, but more excited at the chance of seeing a certain unicorn. She waved and walked away towards the shrine.

Once there, Kendra sat down for a few minutes. The walk hadn't exerted her, but she wanted to run her fingers through her hair and straiten her clothes. When she felt prepared, she approached the shrine. before she had time to contact the Fairy queen, however, a certain small dragon appeared suddenly.

"Raxtus!" Kendra gasped. "You almost gave me have a heart attack!"

The dragon grinned. "Does that mean I'm getting more scary?" Kendra giggled.

"I suppose so. So, what brings you to Fablehhaven?" Kendra asked, slightly concerned he brought sour news.

"Nothing of major importance Kendra. Bracken wants to send a message though, he will be stopping by tomorrow, and staying for a few days. He wanted you to make sure Stan knew and could prepare a place for him to stay." Kendra's heart sank when she learned that she wouldn't see Bracken at the moment, but it grew ten fold when she heard he would be staying for multiple days.

"Thank's so much Raxtus" Kendra smiled. "How is the new Fairy Kingdom coming?"

The dragon tried to play coy, which he was very bad at. "I'm not supposed to say anything. You're going to love it though, so many new shrines are being planned! And the Astrids are helping speed the process. Oh, and it's starting to shine Kendra. Most of the Demon's scent and grime has gone. You will see it soon enough anyway." And he winked.

"Well, I don't mean to dash out on you, but I don't have much time. I need to be back to Wyrmroost soon to visit my Dad. He wants to teach me how to hunt chimeras."

Kendra looked at Raxtus. He was a much more confident dragon then when she first met him. His scales shimmered now, almost effortlessly and his claws looked more pronounced. Maybe it had something to do with him finally (to the best of his ability) accepting both his halves. Kendra thought he was brave for being kind, but she could never tell him that. He would take it as an insult. So instead, she said "You know, you are starting to look a bit more intimidating."

"You think so?" The Dragon eagerly asked. Kendra nodded her head. She was not lying to herself when she thought the dragon had been carrying himself differently the past few months.

"Hopefully so. I may not be a lost cause yet. Goodbye Kendra. Hope Bracken treats you well." Raxtus waved, and then left through the fairy shrine.

As soon as he was gone, Kendra jumped up and started back to her family. She took quick steps, excited that Bracken was planning to visit.

She chose a path by the Manor house, and found the yard vacant as well as a third wall in place. Realizing her family may be greeting the visitors, she headed towards the main house. While walking at a brisk pace, her thoughts drifted back to Bracken. She was excited to see him. She adored the time they spent together the past few months, and no matter how much she had, it never seemed like enough. They had not kissed yet, or officially began a relationship, but there was plenty of handholding and flirting. Most of their time was spent talking, yet Kendra's favorite moments were when they said noting at all and just sat in each other's arms. She felt that they were comfortable around each other to say nothing, yet communicate on a much deeper level. She sighed. She caught herself thinking about Bracken most of the time, and creating hypothetical situations with long dresses in white the rest of the time. She knew her thoughts were often silly, and they made her blush, but she rather enjoyed them all the same.

She needed to focus now, however, on getting safely to the main house. She was almost in the yard.

As the house came in to her vision, she felt something was wrong. She quickened her pace, hoping she was exaggerating her hyped up emotions and that nothing serious had occurred. However, her intuition proved to be correct when Grandpa was waiting for her at the door.

"Come in, quickly. There is much we need to discuss." he said.

Kendra's eyebrows raised. "Is anyone hurt? Is Seth ok?"

"I'm right here!" Seth called from the couch. He was sitting next to Warren and Vanessa, and Trask sat opposite in an armchair. Kendra smiled. At least her brother was alright.

"Everything's fine, Kendra. We just need to discuss something with you." said Grandpa.

Kendra noticed she was correct that Vanessa was visiting. Interesting how Warren was here too...

She smiled at the narcoblix, and Vanessa made a weak attempt to smile back.

As Kendra went to take a seat, she said, "I have something to tell you too. Bracken is coming here tomorrow, and plans to stay a few days. He asks if he can have a room here in the main house. "

Grandpa looked at Grandma. They exchanged a nervous glance, and then Grandma said, "His presence will be interesting. Maybe a unicorn's presence will help settle things." Grandpa nodded. "You're right. Bracken is always welcome here, Kendra." he said turning to his grand daughter.

Kendra was intrigued. Why had they referred to Bracken as a Unicorn? She creased her eyebrows as she asked "Why are things going to be tense around here?" Kendra asked.

Grandpa took a deep breath, and then said "I think it's best to let Vanessa and Trask explain."

Kendra was intrigued, and looked towards the Narcoblix. She noticed that Warren continually attempted to touch her hand, and she moved it one second before he did each time without looking, although she was smiling.

Vanessa shifted her weight, than began. "Kendra, do you have any idea what Trask and I were doing for the Knights of the Dawn?" Kendra shook her head slightly. "I thought you were out traking down old Society members."

"Yes, we were out er... exploring old Society bases. I was included because I am aware of many, and have lead the Knights to much new insight. Once we were to locate a base, and I make sure there is still evidence to obtain, we signal in a group of Knights to gather as many Society members and evidence as possible before they scatter. While not entirely ethical to go looking for prisoners, we take it as a way to preserve knowledge we may need before the Society completely disbands." She paused, as if to make sure Kendra was following. Kendra nodded.

"Well, we found something- someone- unexpected last week. Something no one outside of this room is aware, and that we don't plan to let leak out very soon. Trask and I hid him effectively, until we could transport him to a secure location. We would have taken him to Living Mirage, yet there were too many chances of him being discovered. And the preserve isn't quite ready for new creatures yet, considering the chaos with the zombies last week."

Kendra's gut began to ache, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. "Why did you refer to this prisoner as both a something and a someone?"

Vanessa and Grandpa exchanged a worried glance.

"Keep in mind, Kendra, he is currently tied up and in the dungeon, until his story checks out. Actually, having the unicorn around tomorrow might give us a chance to verify if he is telling the truth or not."

Kendra was ice cold. Her hands felt numb. "Who?" she asked platonically.

"There is no easy way to say this. We thought it was your right to know." Grandma comforted.

Finally, Trask sighed and said, "Gavin Rose."