Chapter 7: The Lost Ones

The remainder of the evening at Fablehaven went by rather smoothly, in contrast to the events that had unfolded at earlier points throughout the day. As far as both Kendra and Seth were concerned, they had endured enough tension for one day.

With any luck, the recent efforts initiated by Trask would be enough to curb the sudden outbreak of demon attacks upon fairy gardens. Of course, there was still the pressing matter of the rogue demons which were still at large. However, once the protective measures that were being implemented at the fairy gardens were all in place, then at least the fairies that resided at all of them would be safe.

Not long after the sun had set entirely, leaving the sky a luminescent shade of navy blue, the family retired upstairs to their bedrooms. Feeling exhausted after their latest excursion, Kendra and Seth got ready for bed and plopped down onto their mattresses. Within mere minutes, the siblings had fallen fast asleep.

The following morning, Kendra and Seth both got up. After getting dressed and freshening up, they made their way downstairs and into the dining room, where they joined the rest of their family for breakfast.

"Good morning everybody," said Kendra, who was feeling refreshed and alert, now that she had enjoyed a good night's sleep.

"Good morning, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, smiling in her direction.

"I'm making French toast," said Grandma Sorenson, her voice flowing into the dining room via the kitchen.

"Magnifique," said Warren, nodding in approval.

"What's on for today?" asked Ingrid.

"Well, I spoke to Trask right when I got up this morning," said Grandpa. "He said that he's got everything under control. That the fairy shrines are in good hands, and that we really have no need to worry."

"In other words, today's a school day," said Seth.

Mrs. Sorenson nodded. "It is. Now, as we discussed, your reading assignment isn't due until Monday. But your other homework is due at nine AM sharp.

"Homework?" snorted Warren. "Marla, why do you have to torment these poor kids? I never give out homework."

"What kind of homework can you assign them, anyway? Have them write an essay on how much they enjoy honing their sword training?"

"Don't give him any ideas!" muttered Ingrid.

Warren laughed. "I dunno. It sounds tempting..."

"Warren, when can I start training with you?" asked Seth.

"You'll need to speak with Hope about that," said Grandma, as she entered the dining room carrying a plate full of French toast slices. "If she has any concerns about this conflicting with her training sessions, she can always speak to one of us."

At that moment, Grandpa's phone started ringing. He proceeded to pull the device out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.

"Who is it?" asked Grandma.

"It's Maddox..." said Grandpa in a confused tone of voice.

"Maddox?" asked Ingrid. "The fairy trader?"

"He doesn't have his own shrine, does he?" asked Seth.

Grandpa shook his head. "I don't know what this is about. I'd better answer it."

Grandpa then answered the phone and placed it up to his head. "Hello? Maddox? It's Stan."

There was a long pause. Everyone else at the table stared at Grandpa in anticipation. After a few seconds, Grandpa's jaw drooped down, as a shocked expression took dominance of his face.

"Oh my god. It can't be. I... I'm so sorry.. I never even considered... Because there's no shrine at your place... I know... But Trask and I..."

"Grandpa..." said Kendra, now worried that something bad had happened. "Is everything okay?"

Grandpa shushed Kendra and shook his head, then directed his attention back towards his phone. "I'm sorry about all this. It's just that we've had our hands full from all these other attacks. Those poor fairies. I'll have my Knights head down to your place ASAP. I'll get back to you. Goodbye."

"I don't like what I'm hearing," said Warren, as Grandpa hung up his phone.

Grandpa took in deep breath, then closed his eyes for a moment.

"Dad, what is it?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

Grandpa opened his eyes, then placed a hand upon his forehead. "Maddox Fisk. Demons got to his fairy quarters."

"Fairy quarters?" asked Seth. "What's that?"

"It's a specially-controlled habitat Maddox had for the fairies he currently owned in his backyard. Apparently, Maddox had been out travelling for the past few days, and only got home a few hours ago. However, in his absence, demons got to his place and raided the yard."

"What happened to the fairies?" asked Kendra.

Grandpa sighed. "With no fairy angel there to protect them... they were all mauled to death."

The shock of hearing what Grandpa had to say had struck Kendra and Seth's hearts like lightning. They were speechless.

"No..." said Warren, sounding very weary.

"That's horrible," said Ingrid. "But... why would anyone even keep fairies around in an unprotected place like that to begin with?"

"Maddox is a fairy trader," replied Grandpa. "As such, he doesn't really have a dedicated collection of fairies to call his own. Rather, he goes around the world, captures stray fairies, and stores them in a special, controlled environment in his backyard until they're ready to be traded or sold to prospective buyers, such as myself."

"Did Maddox's place even have protection?" asked Seth.

"Yes. But not the greatest. The fairy shrines at the Fairbanks' and the Landrys' had better safeguards, and the demons still got through. Maddox's home didn't stand a chance."

"No wonder," said Kendra. "None of these homes are dedicated preserves in secluded areas. The distractor spells that protect them aren't all that powerful."

"And Maddox lives in a normal, two-story house," said Grandpa. "Not a sprawling estate. He could never get away with a powerful distractor spell surrounding his house. Still, we never thought that it would come to... this."

"How many fairies were there?" asked Ingrid.

"About twenty or so. Maddox never has a large number at any given time, which at least makes this seem like less of a tragedy than it could've been. Still, it's quite disconcerting."

"Bracken," said Kendra. "He needs to know."

Kendra got up from her seat and dashed out of the dining room. She passed through the kitchen and went outside onto the back patio.

Sitting on the steps at the end of the patio was Bracken. He appeared to be holding a pie tin full of milk in his hands, which several fairies were sipping out of.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra, as she ran towards the end of the patio.

"Hey, Kendra!" said Bracken pleasantly, as he turned his head back to look at her as she approached him.

"Bracken, it's awful," said Kendra, as she came up to Bracken and stopped right where he was sitting.

"Kendra. What is it?"

Kendra froze. How exactly was she supposed to tell the prince of fairies himself that an entire group of his own kind had been killed?

"Bracken..." said Kendra, unable to finish what she was about to tell him.

"Kendra, are you okay?" asked Bracken, as he set the pie tin down on the patio, then stood up in front of Kendra.

"I don't want to say it."

"Kendra. I'm your fiance, am I not? I'm always here for you. You can tell me anything. You know that."

"I know. But this is very upsetting. Especially for you."

"Kendra," said Bracken, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever this is... Please tell me,"

Kendra sighed. "Demons attacked the fairies that were at Maddox's place. There were no survivors. I'm sorry."

There was a moment of silence. Kendra, Bracken, and the surrounding fairies all remained completely still.

"It's not your fault," said Bracken, as he set down the tin, then placed his arms around Kendra, embracing her in a hug.

"You're not upset?"

Bracken shook his head. "I'm very upset," he said, speaking in a calm voice. "But getting mad about it won't help. How did this happen?"

"Fairies were killed?" asked one of the small fairies that had been drinking milk from the pie tin.

"Let's go inside," said Kendra. "Grandpa's the one who spoke to Maddox. He can probably explain it to you better than I can."

Bracken then released his arms from Kendra and told hold of her hand. Together, they walked back along the patio towards the door to the kitchen. As they made their way into the house, the rest of the family had now gathered around in the kitchen, no doubt waiting for Kendra and Bracken to return.

"Bracken..." said Grandpa.

"Kendra told me," said Bracken, releasing Kendra's hand from his own. "This is awful."

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"If the fairies really are dead, there's literally nothing we can do to help them at this point."

"What about Maddox's place?" asked Seth. "And the demons? They ought to pay for all this!"

"This was an oversight on my part," said Grandma. "Mine and Trask's. Neither of us even considered people with unofficial collections of fairies, such as fairy traders. We only took bona fide shrines into account when coming up with our game plan. And now, already, a disaster has struck."

"It's not your fault, Stan," said Grandma. "You already had your hands full trying to implement protective measures around all the other fairy shrines."

"And we're already thankful enough for that," said Bracken. "But this attack at Maddox's place. Even I hadn't given it any prior thought."

"Is Maddox even okay?" asked Kendra. "I know that he's still alive, obviously. But how is he?"

"Maddox was not at home when his property was being attacked," said Grandpa. "He was returning home from his latest expedition, only to see that his backyard had been torn apart and that his fairy quarters had been completely destroyed. So, as horrific as this whole thing was, Maddox was unharmed. However, in addition to the loss of the fairies, there has still been substantial damage to Maddox's yard and the surrounding area."

"What can we do to help?" asked Ingrid.

"I would suggest that you folks travel to his place and doing whatever you can that would be of assistance. I realize that the fairies that were there are a lost cause, but any help that you could provide for Maddox would infinitely be better than no help at all."

"Those demons..." said Seth clenching his fingers together. "I really want to get those demons who did this!"

"We all do," said Kendra. "All the demons that have been responsible for these attacks have done so unjustly. It's unfortunate that we've been unable to track any of them."

"No. I really mean it this time! Those demons that were at Maddox's just obliterated an entire colony of fairies, and got away with it to boot! Forget the demons that attacked the Fairbanks' and the Landrys'! These demons really need to get what's coming to them."

"Seth, there's not a whole lot we can actually do about these demons, much like the ones behind the previous attacks," said Bracken.

"Yeah, but this time I really want to track down those demons and make them pay. The other demons were at least hindered and scared off by Brook and Opal. This group of demons... They were actually successful! They trashed the place, killed all the fairies and took off! They caused their destruction and got away completely scot free!"

"Seth," said Grandpa. "Please calm down. We know from experience that trying to track down the demons is essentially futile. After all, they're likely miles away from Maddox's place by now. Trying to find them at this point would be next to impossible."

"Still, isn't there anything we can do about them?"

"The Chronometer!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Couldn't we use it to travel back to before the demons attacked? Then we could intercept them and prevent this whole ordeal from happening!"

"Which would cause a paradox," said Grandpa. "I'm sorry. It was a good idea in theory. But what's done is done. If you were to go back in time and stop the demons from attacking, then Maddox never would've called, leading to us not knowing about any of this in the first place."

"Look," said Warren. "This whole ordeal has been disheartening. But standing here and griping about it won't solve anything. We just need to move on."

"And that means traveling to Maddox's place and picking up any pieces that we can," said Kendra.

"Where does Maddox live, anyway?" asked Seth.

"In Minneapolis," replied Grandpa.

"I may not know where that is," said Bracken. "But I would like to know the fastest way of getting there."

"I've never been to Minneapolis, personally," said Warren. "So we can't just travel there in a heartbeat with the Translocator. So, show of hands. Has anyone here been to Minneapolis?"

Nobody in the room raised their hand.

"Nobody's been to Minneapolis? If you haven't been there, St. Paul will do."

Grandpa shrugged. "Guess you'll just have settle with the closest possible place that one of us have actually been to. "Which would be... where?"

"Let's do this scientifically, shall we," said Warren, as he set his tablet down on the table. "This little geography lesson ought to make up for today's missed class, right Marla?"

Mrs. Sorenson sighed, then rolled her eyes, as Warren pressed the screen of his tablet several times, until a map of the United States appeared, showing all the individual states.

"Anyone been to Minnesota at all?" asked Warren. Nobody replied.

"You've been around quite a lot, haven't you, Warren?" asked Seth.

"Sure have. But admittedly, never to that neck of the woods."

Warren pored over the map. "Let's see. Which states border Minnesota? I've never been to Iowa or Wisconsin. Or the Dakotas, North or South."

Minnesota borders part of Canada," said Kendra.

"Only the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba," said Warren. "I've never been to Manitoba. Now, I have been to Ontario, but only the southern part."

"Hold on!" said Seth. "We've actually been to Ontario before. "Remember? We stopped in Toronto for lunch on our way to Wyrmroost that one time."

"Which is in the southern part of Ontario," noted Warren. "We need to head north."

Kendra studied the map for a moment. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Of course! It had been so obvious!

"We've actually been pretty close to Minnesota before!" stated Kendra. "Remember? The Floodmaze!"

"Of course," said Warren, as he clasped his hands together. "That was in Lake Superior!"

"And Minnesota borders Lake Superior," said Kendra. "I only realized that when I saw the Great Lakes on the map."

"Still a fair distance away from the Floodmaze. But, Minneapolis does seem a bit closer to it than Chicago, which I was considering. Good idea thinking outside the box. Or at least, off the mainland."

"The Floodmaze?" asked Ingrid. "You mean... that underwater vault where you guys found the Sapphazure?"

"That's the one," said Bracken.

"Course, back then, we thought it was the Necromaster. Remember?"

"You guys said that the vault was in the middle of the lake somewhere," said Seth. "How exactly are you going to pinpoint the location?"

"The same way did it last time," replied Warren. "We marked the spot by setting a buoy in the water. Mind you, that was a couple of months ago. No idea if it's still floating around anymore."

"We never did remove the buoy after our business in the Floodmaze," said Bracken. "And that whole area is, and still should be protected by a distractor spell. If anything, I'd wager that it's still floating around in the water, directly above the entrance to the Floodmaze where we left it."

"Then it's settled," said Warren. "We can travel back to the buoy using the Translocator. And from there, continued onward to Minneapolis."

"Sounds good," said Grandpa. "I'll let Maddox know that you guys will be on your way."

"Come on," said Kendra. "We have to go tell the dragons about this."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all got up and left the living room, then made their way back outside into the backyard. They advanced towards the dragons' cave at the edge of the yard, where a court of fairies had gathered.

"Bracken..." said Raxtus faintly, as he and the other dragons all emerged from the entrance to the cave. "Kendra... All of you..."

"The fairies told us about what happened at Maddox's place," said Geminus. "It's just... awful."

"Lousy demons!" snorted Firesquall.

"If we'd been there..." said Skyfrost. "I'd have put 'em all on ice!"

"I'd cook their goose," said Firesquall. "Goose-es? Geese? Cook their geese? English is so confusing sometimes."

"Marla's lessons are paying off," said Warren. "But this is no time for compliments. We've got to travel to the Floodmaze."

"The Floodmaze?" asked Geminus. "Why that place?"

"It's close to Maddox's home in Minneapolis," said Kendra. "Which is where we actually want to go."

"We've flown over Minnesota on flights to and from Wyrmroost," said Raxtus. "But we've never actually stopped down there in our travels."

"That's okay," said Bracken. "Any help you can offer us would be hugely beneficial."

"So, you want us to fly you guys from the Floodmaze to Maddox's place?" asked Firesquall.

"Well, it sure beats swimming," said Warren.

"Can do," said Raxtus. "Of course we'd be more than willing to help."

"Those poor fairies," said Geminus. "I just wish there had been something we could've done to have prevented this."

"Even if we can't undo what's already happened, at least we'll be helping," said Ingrid.

"Even though the damage has been done at Maddox's, it's also the only time that the demons have gotten away," said Kendra. "But who knows. In the wake of all the destruction, we might even find a clue."