Seth woke up sweating and breathing hard, he sat up shakily from the floor as Jin put a hand to his shoulder,

"Are you alright?" She asked, understanding the situation but not the impact.

Seth shivered and stood, shaking off the feeling of death and terror with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Melkor was here, he did this, but I don't think he stuck around." He reported.

Jin nodded grimly and they both carried Mara's body, as well as the two lifeless zombie corpses they found in the closet out to the back to bury.

As they stepped outside, they found that the darkness was gone and the sun was high in the sky, the day blindingly bright.

Seth squinted and set the bodies down on the ground, walking over to his car and unlocking the trunk and opening it. He pulled two shovels from the back and looked around.

A spell had been laid over Lost Mesa to keep it in the darkness. It didn't make any logical sence why someone would do that unless they had a plan.

The zombies had been a way for Seth to vaguely understand where everything was. The darkness… Kendra could see in the dark! So, Melkor knew someone was coming, either him, who could sense the dead, or his sister, who could see in the dark.

And whatever motive Melkor had, it was best that he and his sister remained alive… for now.

Seth sighed and closed the trunk, making his way over to Jin and tossing her a shovel and beginning to dig in the dirt himself.

When they finished they packed their stuff back in the car and drove out of the preserve.

Jin kept looking behind her, "Are you sure it's alright to leave the zombies out to roam? When night comes again they will be out, some might—"

"No, they won't be going anywhere. The preserve might have no caretaker, but the Fairy Queen is overseeing the boundaries and the contract now." Seth cut in deftly, his eyes dark and focused on the road ahead.

Jin reluctantly turned back to face front again as Seth's cell phone rang.

He picked it up and answered.

"Seth! Meet me in the Fairy Kingdom, now!" Kendra ordered, "Level 6 emergency. Briefing once you arrive in a secure location. How long until you can make it?"

Seth trunked the car abruptly with a squeal of tires and began speeding his car back the way they came.

"Give me the location of the Fairy Shrine and clearance to pass through and It could be as soon a fifteen minutes."

"Got it," Kendra said, "Clearance permitted, you are currently two miles away from the shrine. How much are we transporting?"

"Everything but the car."

"Right, see you in a few minutes."

She hung up and Seth put his phone back in his pocket, slamming his foot down on the gas pedal harder than before.

Jin glanced worriedly at the fuel level, "Seth, we might not have enough gas to get back out of here."

"That's fine, because we're not."

Jin's eyes widened and she began to protest, "But-!"

"We're going to leave the car, taking the car with us into the Fairy Realm would leave a much bigger hole in the defense and leave the Fairy Kingdom more susceptible to attacks in the twenty-four hour time period after transportation.

If it's just us, then we are already risking the Fairy Kingdom's safety, but Melkor would have to be here himself to break into the Fairy kingdom using the transportation line we used. I'm betting on him not being here to do that or at least on him choosing not to take this opportunity."

Seth explained his voice cold and sharp as steel.

Jin paled and shuddered, she didn't like that darker, more calculating side of Seth that had surfaced more and more often on their missions. But she did recognize that he knew the risk he was taking by just transporting them, let alone the car.

They arrived at the shrine and jumped out of the car, grabbing a few of their bags with things from other adventures that they had to take, and running to the entrance to the alcove.

The fairy statue stood on a slab of rock in the middle of a small pool of water stood the statue of the Fairy Queen. Seth grabbed Mi'aiq and jumped in, followed by Jin.

They surfaced, stumbling out of the fountain in the town. The Astrids standing around the fountain in formation parted and let Seth and Jin walk past them and to the castle.

Two Astrids accompanied them all the way to Kendra's office door, when the door opened, they left, bowing to Seth and Jin.

Seth got a good look at the person who opened the door and did a double-take.

Gavin looked in both directions and motioned for them to come in.

"I thought you weren't allowed here," Seth commented to Gavin as the dragon in human form bolted the door and marched back over to the table where Kendra sat.

"Things change, hard times call for great risks." Gavin said.

Kendra closed the folder she was holding and walked over to Seth, handing it to him.

"This is the information you requested. Look it over in here, and then destroy it."

Seth nodded and reported, "Mara and two others were killed. Melkor freed the zombies and killed them."

Kendra's expression stayed the same, as if she had already prepared herself to receive the news. "Good work. Now, I would suggest that you go after the contents in that folder, I will be tracking Melkor now."

"On the field?" Seth asked, surprised that Kendra would be getting her hands dirty after so many years of commanding from the base.

"Yes, I will take Gavin and a few other guards with me. I will be making sure that all of our friends are safe. You take care of that," She pointed to the folder, "It could be our only chance."

Seth nodded unquestioningly and opened the folder, reading the contents his eyes widened.

"This is-!"

Kendra nodded, "Good luck,"

Seth looked up and met his sister's eyes, "You too."