At the Fablehaven Shrine

Bracken and Kendra were lucky enough to catch Tanu before he left. Apparently it was the time of year he left to collect and refill his potion ingredients, but he still had enough to make a potion that would give Kendra a temporary-five minutes to be exact-boost in luck and natural intuition. After thanking him they'd stayed long enough to have dinner with the family before going back to the naiad pond and getting in a boat to cross the lake. As they went Kendra pulled her phone and the potion out of her pockets.

"Are you sure we can't use a map?" Bracken asked. He was rowing the boat manually instead of just enchanting the oars, which was smart considering they had no idea if they'd need their magic at full capacity to help in some altercation that would likely occur in their travels.

"This is a map." Kendra said with a smirk.

"A...paper one."

"Trust me, I've scryed using this," she showed him her maps app, "enough to know it works."

"Alright, I trust you."

Kendra zoomed out and back in once all of Switzerland was in view. They were now stopped at the island.

"Can you hold this?" Kendra asked Bracken. He grabbed her phone and held it so the screen faced her. Kendra uncapped the potion and drank it. It tasted like extremely minty mouthwash but she did feel more sure of herself after a few moments. She put down the bottle and closed her eyes. She lifted her finger and tapped a random location on the screen. When she opened her eyes a pin was dropped. She zoomed in and it was right in the center of a building. She went into street view and saw it was a mental hospital on the outskirts of a crowded city.

"Can you do that with a paper map?" Kendra asked.

"Maybe not normal ones." Bracken replied.

"Looks like we have a destination." Kendra stood up and Bracken helped her out of the boat, gentlemanly as always. Kendra approached the shrine and started to open a gateway, her veins glowing white in her arms.

"Wait!" Bracken nearly yelled.

"What's wrong?" Kendra asked. The glow faded instantly.

"I'll open it." Bracken said. When he saw the curious look on Kendra's face he added, "You should save your strength. As a Guardian you'll need your magic more in case something happens."

"I guess so."

Bracken took a horn out of a specially made sheath under his sleeve and pointed it at the shrine. A bluish-white light shot out and the fairy began to fly around them, zipping faster and faster until they were weightless and soaring through the air.


Where Bila Is

As she waited for one of her-what would the word be? A mixture between boyfriend, toy and asset-to get everything ready for her trip Bila decided it would probably be a good idea to check out a nearby park. It was owned by fairy collectors, as anyone familiar with the magical world could tell. The way the light danced through the air and the vivid colors of the flowers could never be the result of human gardening alone. The murals gracing the ground and walls of the buildings, despite each being beautiful in a different way were all created for the purpose of hiding the wards carved in to repel creatures of darkness.

Considering it was her job to make sure fairies, naiads, frost giants and every other creature under the Fairy Queen's rule were safe and comfortable on Earth, Bila felt it couldn't hurt to see what was going on. She didn't see any fairies weaving through the air when she arrived. The flowers that were always in full bloom when she came here were closed tight. The fairies that usually absorbed and molded the sunlight around them weren't in sight though Bila still sensed them around. They must be keeping light from bouncing off of them so they . Things must be really awful if a fairy considered not being seen and admired a worthwhile option.

"Kartal görüşü." Bila whispered. Her eyesight sharpened, zooming in like a pair of superpowered binoculars. She scanned the trees, the ground, the sky until her eyes settled on a nest of owls. There it is. "Püskürtmek." Bila shouted. The crowd gathered at the park immediately began to pack up any belongings they may have had and leaving to the first place they thought of. The owls took note of her and she let sparks fall from her hands, making them as bright as possible. She had their full attention now and her suspicions were confirmed.

They were Strix. Creatures created by Senkrad that looked and acted like owls other than their extreme speed, strength, intelligence and reliance on drinking blood to survive. They particularly enjoyed drinking the blood of beings with light magic. That must be why the fairies were hiding. Bila reached inside her purse and took out a travel-sized crossbow and six arrows made of enchanted iron. There were four owls faster and stronger than her waiting to drain her body of its blood if she made the slightest mistake. Well, they were certainly welcome to try.

A particularly thirsty one took flight, charging at her at full speed. She jumped up, sending sparks out of her back that solidified into wings and flew in the air. The one that charged at her pulled up and bashed into her side, sending her to the ground and her crossbow fell out of her hand. She flipped onto her feet and dove for the weapon, but two owls worked together to lift it out of her reach as the other two attacked. One dove for her wings with its claws extended, ready to rip into them, while the other aimed for her eyes. "Geri bas." she yelled and sparks and smoke flew out of her, knocking the Strix out of the sky. "Bana göre." Her crossbow flew into her hand. "Durdurmak." the Strix stopped in midair as they fell and Bila shot an arrow into one, reloaded and shot the other. Two down. The ones that were holding her crossbow before were ascending high, nearly to the clouds. Bila flew after them, having trouble keeping up with them. When did they get this fast? The Strix suddenly descended together. Bila kept her crossbow ready but didn't shoot right away, knowing how cunning they were. The split apart and flanked her and she flew up, shooting an arrow at one but it did a barrel-roll and attacked from underneath her while the other went above her. The one under her gripped one of her legs in its talons and the one above her gripped her hair, pulling tight. She felt the one on her leg trying to reach the blood from her wound with its beak and she started kicking and struggling before making her wings disappear. The Strix grip on her failed, ripping hair from her head and skin from her legs. She was tumbling down from the sky much too fast for her liking but didn't react, she just stilled as best she could. Before she could reach the ground the birds gripped her arms, slowing her fall enough for her not to splatter like a waterballoon but not easing the pain of the impact. She kept her eyes closed, her face passive, her grip on her crossbow light. The Strix loomed over her, opening their mouths to reveal razor sharp tongues. They leaned in and faster than they could react Bila grabbed one by the neck, pulling it into the path of the other's tongue, which went through its head, sending it to the ground with a thud. Bila pulled her crossbow into place and sent the arrow into the last one.

After taking a moment to catch her breath Bila stood up. There were only four Strix, which isn't enough for her to have so much trouble dealing with. She checked the wards around the park. They were in full effect so they should have kept such weak beings outside of the boundaries the fairies roamed. Bila saw light shimmering around her and dozens of fairies appeared at once.

"How did the Strix get inside the wards?" Bila asked.

"They nearly killed me!" One exclaimed.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic." One said to the first.

"Your hair looks awful." Another said to Bila.

"You're supposed to say that in your head, Crea." One chided.

"Are you going to deal with those bodies?" One asked with distaste. "They're kind of gross."

"If you guys don't plan on answering my question, I suggest you remember that I have one arrow left." Bila said.

"They just flew right in." One of the fairies said.

"They shattered the wards!" One exclaimed.

"The park's caretakers put them back up but it was too late." the first one said. "They were already inside."

"Strix shouldn't have that much power." Bila said.

"They've been trying to get inside for months. Some of us enjoyed watching them bounce off the barrier." a fairy said.

"But recently they've become more persistent. They've been getting stronger and yesterday they managed to get in."

Bila finally understood why the four birds were so successful in their attack against her. Whatever the dark force she was hunting is, it's strengthening the creatures of the night, possibly around the whole world. Now the hunt was really on.


This chapter was brought to you by Google Maps, the number one GPS service in all of the world. Any map-related needs you have can be addressed with our reliable-NO I'M JUST KIDDING. But proofreading this and writing down how Kendra was using her phone's map it seemed like I was writing a commercial for Google Maps. When this is posted in the future I'll have written at least two more chapters that I'm starting after writing this so another chapter will be up in like a week.