"Surprise!" Nedwin shouted.
"I'm so glad you guys are ok!" Rachel said as she hugged everyone.
"Where is everyone else?" Ferrin asked.
"We don't know, we got separated when zombies attacked us." Aram said sadly.
"I told you! I knew zombies were real!" Seth shouted at Kendra.
"Seth! That doesn't matter right now!" Kendra shouted back.
"Sorry, couldn't hold it back." Seth mumbled. Corrinne looked at the ground. Seth whispered something to her. Kendra tried to strain her ears to hear but realized that It may be personal. Corrinne cheered up a few minutes later. Kendra didn't see Corrinne smile much unless her father was around. She didn't want to get in her business but curiosity overcame her. She walked over to where Corrinne was standing after everyone had caught up.
"I couldn't help but notice that your usually only happy around my brother around your father." Kendra said. She tried to sound nice and make it sound good but it might not have come out right.
"Me and my dad were separated for a really long time. When I'm around him, I'm thankful, I try and appreciate the time I have with him."
"How were you separated?"
"This world was ruled by a man named Maldor. He was evil, we defeated him long ago. My dad wanted to keep me safe, he kept me in a tree that altered my memories. He came and got me many years later."
"That's horrible, I was separated from my parents but not for long."
"Your brother, he's just weird." Corrinne smiled at the ground.
"I wouldn't say weird."
"Why not?"
"Because he can turn invisible and is right behind you. No secret can be kept from him at night."
"Kendra! No fair! Just because your the only one that can see me doesn't mean you have to blab about it!" Seth pouted as he came into view and sat next to Corrinne on a large rock.
"You are the nosiest thing!" Kendra yelled.
"You have no idea." Corrinne said as she stood up and started walking towards the fire.
I have no idea about what? Kendra asked.
How much Seth missed you while we were gone! Corrinne stated.
I missed him too but the last thing he said to me was forgive me when we separated. He is adding onto the list of forgiveness!
He tried as hard as he could to stay out of trouble! He did everything possible to listen to what he was told! He did his best to protect me when things got rough! He is your brother! You'd think that you would trust him enough! Corrinne was scary when she was mad.
I didn't know.
You should. I would love to have a sibling. Imagine being a only child with you mother dead and your father is out fighting for you every day!
Sorry. Kendra said, kind of embarrassed.
Love the siblings you have. Corrinne said more calmly than before. Kendra couldn't find the words to respond. Drake and Aram were setting up a few extra tents. The campsite was going to be a village at this rate. Seth pulled her away from everyone.
"Aram told me something, you aren't supposed to know but I wanted to tell you. Bracken is here, in Lyrian. He is lying to you. Our grandparents aren't alive, Kendra. Salmos killed them." Seth tried to make his words sound gentle.
"Aram told you this?"
"Yeah."
"What if he's a traitor and he is putting false thoughts in our head?"
"Kendra, don't think like that."
"Why not? Anyone can be a traitor! Even Drake. Aram-" Kendra realized the tone of her words and sat down in the grass.
"I want to believe that they're alive." Seth said.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Being so rude. Corrinne told me, not very nicely, but she told me that I should be more careful."
"Its fine. You should probably talk to Drake though."
"Why?"
"Because he has been watching us talk for about ten minutes." Seth said. Kendra looked at Drake, he was working on something. Ferrin walked over with a piece of paper.
"I entirely forgot about that!" Kendra said as she stood up. Ferrin handed her the paper. He almost had the pond to the exact detail. "Its amazing!" Kendra said as she hugged him.
"I thought you wanted it around now." Ferrin said.
"Thank you!" Kendra said.
"What is it?" Seth asked. Kendra showed him the picture. "Wow! The pond at home might be destroyed, this is amazing! Ferrin? You did this?"
"Yeah, Kendra asked me to draw it." Ferrin said. Kendra looked at the picture. It reminded her of when she and Seth had first arrived at Fablehaven and Lena had let them paint.
"I'll talk to you guys later." Kendra said. She walked over to Drake.
"You wanted to speak to me?" Kendra asked.
"Yeah." As usual, he walked into the woods and went to the cliff. The sun was almost up. Nobody slept too much anymore.
"What's up?" Kendra asked.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
Drake looked at the ground. "I really cant control the thoughts of others that I hear. Your grandparents?"
"I'm so glad you already knew. I really didn't want to say anything." Kendra hugged him.
"Its ok. I'll do everything I can to see if they are actually alive." Drake said was he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Thank you." Kendra whispered.
"Anything for you."
"Eww!" Seth said. He appeared leaning up against a tree.
"Seth!" Kendra shouted. She backed away from Drake.
"You should really wait till sunrise to do anything gross. When I cant fade away."
"Seth, I really, really would love it if you stopped stalking me." Kendra said calmly. She tried to heed Corrinne's words. She let Drake into her thoughts on the conversation with Corrinne. He was probably in range to hear it himself but she still let him in.
"I just thought you were going to talk about something else! Not the lovebird stuff." Seth sighed. Drake also sighed.
"Seth, please leave me alone for a while." Kendra asked kindly. Seth walked into the woods. Kendra turned to Drake.
"I'm sorry about my brother." Kendra whispered.
"He's fine."
"I get it but I need my space."
"I can go if-"
"No, I need space from people from the beyond. I still need to get to know the people of Lyrian." Kendra said.
"We need rest. Everyone needs rest." Drake said.
"Ok, we can go back to camp." Kendra said. He grabbed her hand he kissed her and they walked back to camp. Kendra looked at the sky. The sun was up. Kendra didn't want to sleep. She didn't want to risk seeing Bracken. She sat by the fire. The embers glowed as they slowly burned away. Kendra thought of her grandparents. They had taken care of her and Seth for so long. They had to still be alive. They couldn't just die like that. She let the day pass by as she thought. Sleep almost ate her whole. Seth put his hand on Kendra's shoulder.
"You haven't slept at all." He said.
"I don't want to see Bracken." Kendra said.
"I get it. He is a horrible person. I never should have trusted him back when we were in that cell together."
"That was when you were younger Seth, you didn't know any better."
"Yes I did, I almost punched him, but I followed him and trusted him. He grabbed your trust, he stole it. We never should have trusted him."
"It's fine." Kendra said. She felt the seed in the back of her heck. It was so weird, it almost made her want to test it but if it didn't work, she would be done forever. She remembered Drakes words, take life seriously.
"So your going to live forever basically?" Seth asked after a while.
"Basically."
"Could you make sure people remember me?"
"What?"
"Im going to die, when you come back, I wont. I want you to make sure you remember me when you've lived hundreds of lifetimes." Seth said. Kendra hadn't even thought of the fact that her friends would grow old and die eventually while she came back to life every time she died.
"Seth, i'll find a way to keep you alive. We could make you a eternal for one of the artifacts, then if you stay in this world. All of the artifacts will never be used for evil again."
"I'll be fine. You should get some rest." Seth poked his head up and looked around.
"Whats wrong?"
"I can feel evil beings nearby. Their presence is extremely strong."
"Can you tell how many?"
"Hundreds, they are the size of Aram at night." Seth said. Kendra was thankful that I was dark so Aram could be a great help to whatever was coming.
"Can we escape?"
"They are almost surrounding us. There is a opening north-west. We can go through if we leave within the hour." Seth said. He grabbed his bag. "Use Edomic and spread the word."
Guys, Seth said evil beings the size of Aram are approaching. Grab what you can and spread the word as fast as you can without yelling. Kendra said. She could see Rachel, Drake and Corrinne nod. Kendra ran to her tent and grabbed her bow. Drake had done some training with her that day. She was worried and glad that she was getting a chance to try it out today. She grabbed everything that was important and put it in a bag. She threw the bag over her shoulder and walked outside. Everyone looked ready to go. Warren and Ferrin had all the horses set up. Kendra got on her horse, Drake sat with her. Some people had to share because of the fact that Seth and a few other people had arrived. Drake sat with Kendra, Rachel sat with Jason and Seth sat with Corrinne. Everyone else had their own horse, Aram walked because he had decent speed at night. Nedwin offered to walk but rode. Seth led the way out. Kendra could see the shadows, they looked different from the things she had seen at Fablehaven. They were the size of Aram but they looked but weaker and they seemed to limp. Kendra almost screamed, either because Seth was right or that they actually excised. They were being followed by Zombies. She held on to Drake as the horses sped up out of fear. Kendra tried to let go of her fear. She let go of Drake and got out her bow. She pulled out a arrow and placed it in the bow. Edomic words entered her mind, it was Rachel's voice. Kendra muttered the words and the arrow tip lit on fire. Kendra shot the arrow and hit the ground in front of a zombie, the grass lit and all the zombies that had tried to follow were slowed by a wall of fire that appeared.
Good job, Kendra. I'll spread the fire. Rachel said. Kendra put her bow back on the strap that Drake attached to the saddle. She wrapped her arms around Drake to hold on as the horse kicked. She held on as tight as she could.
