`I'M BACK! I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but hello! A special shout-out to AerinM, who's really helped this fanfiction come to life! I know, I'm so mushy gushy it makes my own heart melt!

To whoever asked: does it look like Bracken and Kendra are going to be just friends? Answer that question yourself with some good old deductive reasoning.

Anyway, please review! Constructive criticism is okay, and so are comments! Just don't lash out…

Chapter Nine

"Why are you mad at me?" calls Bracken as Kendra passes. She jumps up higher, beautiful green eyes wide with surprise. His tightened chest fills with repentance. "I'm sorry for startling you."

"It's okay," she sighs, shaking her head and refusing to meet Bracken's eyes. Worry makes it hard to breathe. Had he done something wrong? Had he offended her? Bracken wants nothing but her happiness, and it disturbs him greatly that he might be the one causing her discontent. "What do you mean, mad at you?"

Bracken shrugs, the distant unicorn-self snorting with disgust at the distinctively human gesture. He doubts his father would be proud of his behavior: acting like a human, falling in love with a fairykind girl, going on dangerous quests for the sake of a shadow charmer, retaining, however fragile, a friendship with a spiteful blix...

The reasons Kendra could be irritated with him settle on his heart like a cold stone, and, trying to keep his voice even and emotionless. It isn't hard, considering unicorns are very aloof and almost unfriendly. "You've been pushing me away all night. Even at this distance, I can feel ripples of your annoyance. You're refusing to look me in the eye." That instantly makes her eyes snap to his in Kendra's own sort of rebellion. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I truly am."

Kendra looks at him for the longest time, green eyes unreadable. The cool night air whips around the peak of the boulder, bringing the complex scents of the forest. The fire's been put out, the embers just an orange glow. Bracken can see fine, however, with the light caused by Kendra's bravura radiance. Most of the rest of the people are sleeping in the tents, breathing softly, one snoring like a congested elephant. Bracken suspects Tanu may the culprit of the crude noises, but he can't be sure; Seth's also a big snorer, and, as ridiculous as it may sound, he's not completely out of the woods for the snores practically shaking the tent. Finally, Kendra's eyes falter. She looks away, blushing.

Bracken's chest aches now, throbbing with every pained heartbeat. It surprises him. He guesses that he's never come so close to losing Kendra, and his strange unicorn desires are going nuts on him. When Kendra speaks, his heart clings onto every precious word.

"It's not your fault," says Kendra slowly. "I was – no, am – just a little miffed that you invaded my mind at the campfire without my permission, even if you were checking for any, I dunno, a spirit or possessor or whatever." Her shame burns through Bracken, and it's everything he can do not to scoop her up into his arms. "It's stupid, and I'm sorry."

Oh. Dear little Kendra. Bracken knows that there's nothing to apologize for on her part, for it had been his on his fault, but Kendra's taking the weight of his mistake on her own shoulders. It's in her nature. But that won't stand. She already takes the blame for so much, with too many responsibilities resting on her human shoulders.

"Oh, Kendra," sighs Bracken, closing the distance between them and wrapping her to him in a hug before he even knows what he's doing. His arms wrap around her, with the very tips of Kendra's filthy and greasy hair brushing his hands. Surprise courses through Bracken when he realizes how much he's cherishing her warmth, and the feeling of her heart beating. "Oh, Kendra, Kendra, Kendra…"

Kendra stiffens in his arms initially, but then relaxes, linking her hands around him. Bracken nuzzles her hair, breathing in her sweet, sweet fragrance. True, it's tainted by grime and perspiration, but it's still Kendra's smell, and nothing could ever be as important to him as that. "Kendra," he breathes in her ear, "I'm sorry, Kendra. I wasn't thinking. Oh, Kendra, I'm sorry."

She laughs against his chest, laying her cheek against his heart. "Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" Kendra teases, prodding him slightly with two fingers. "Don't worry, unicorn; you're forgiven. Now you know."

And, at the moment, Bracken doesn't care what his family may think of his relationship with Kendra, or his attraction to the petty adventures of humans, or the gestures he's picked up over the years. Kendra will be here for him, forever and always.

Or as forever as a mortal can last.

Bracken isn't sure how long they stand there in each other's arms, but he knows that, however much he may enjoy finally embracing his holy goddess, Kendra hadn't come out without a reason. That reason might be a need to use the restroom. He releases Kendra with a weary sigh. But before she can escape him completely, some sleeping male instinct grips him, and acting on an impulse, Bracken leans forward and plants a soft kiss on her forehead.

Bracken's afraid to see her reaction, something he laughs at internally. So, instead of facing Kendra, he turns on heel, glancing at her over his shoulder, and calling quietly, "Goodnight, Kendra. I love you, my lovely fairy princess."

Idiot, hisses his mental voice once he's realized what he's just said. Idiot, idiot, idiot! But Bracken doesn't regret a word when he catches a glimpse of Kendra's giddy grin.

He ducks into the tent and falls onto his sleeping bag, not bothering to climb in, thoughts swirling through his brain, tiring and endless. How are Bracken's sisters? His message had been brief and inadequate. He wonders what they're doing, and feels a pang of homesickness in his gut. He loves Kendra; he really does, but she can't solve everything. Bracken also wonders what to do about the wolves, too.

Why aren't they sticking up for themselves? Bracken comprehends that they aren't violent in nature, but even they have to draw the line somewhere. And these humans… Bracken's learning more and more to warm to the funny race, but this has definitely put a dent in his opinion of the hardly evolved apes.

Maybe Bracken should seek out this "Cadeliah." Maybe he should seek out whatever human has this "Soul Stone." Or, here's an idea, maybe he should go to sleep and worry about this tomorrow.

Rolling over, Bracken shuts his eyes, and plunges into the embrace of dreams as soon as his head hits the lumpy pillow.

The woods had looked pretty creepy from the top of the big ol' rock, but Seth decides that the green forests are even friendlier-appearing than Fablehaven's thick woods. Light filters in through the deciduous leaves, staining the golden sun with streaks of light green. Every tree is coated with emerald green moss, spotted with colorful wildflowers. Jewel-colored birds literally sing everything from Mozart's classic tunes to something that sounds suspiciously like Metallica. There isn't much in the way of bushes, but instead cushy moss and short, springy grass that blankets the dark and damp soil, leaving a clear view of anything that may try to creep up on them. The path is vaguely sandy, the color of French Vanilla ice cream and carefully curbed. If wolves have to live anywhere, this is a perfect home. Like a fantasy wonderland.

The canopy's pretty thick, though, despite the amount of light getting in. The tree limbs hang down and twist together, forming sort of a set of playground monkey bars through the forest. It's not sweltering but the perfect spring temperature: not too cold, not too hot. There's a remarkable lack of pine trees in Seth's opinion, not that anybody would care.

The party trots along single-file down the narrow path, maintaining a driving pace. Zia comes and goes, sometimes padding alongside them through the moss, sometimes waiting for them in the crook of a particularly twisted tree, and then other times talking to shadows, supplying only half a conversation. Bracken seems at perfect ease with the woods, tipping his head to the few squirrels and nodding respectfully to this really cool white deer with golden horns. Kendra follows his lead like a little puppy dog, offering every woodland creature she stumbles upon a beatific smile, like freaking Snow White or something.

In front of him, Warren stumbles. Instantly, all the birds stop tweeting Cher Lloyd and freeze in their trees, staring creepily at Warren. As soon as Warren steadies himself, they continue singing to one another like nothing had ever happened. Bracken frowns, but doesn't say anything. Seth files that in the Freaky category.

Finally, Zia shows up again, swinging through the trees like Tarzan. Alec follows her, swerving fluidly among the trees like a freaking jet plane, keeping pace with his girlfriend and passing her easily. Zia flips over the path above Vanessa, unfurling her greasy black wings, and loops through the trees. Seth smiles. He wonders what it'd be like to fly, and not just as a heavy passenger.

Zia drops down in a little clearing, and Seth frowns. That'd been a bit redundant to fly that meager distance. Apparently, Alec agrees, chirring with disapproval, cutting neatly over Seth like a shadow.

Seth jumps when he thinks something follows the astrid, just a flash of color. Eyes straining, Seth can just make out the barely visible shape of another creature, leaping through the air, hitting the moss without a noise and continuing across the turf. All he can really make out is brown fur.

Great. Brown fur. That really narrows it down.

Kendra steps on his shoe from behind him. Seth realizes he's slowed down to study the astrids and the strange furry thing. She hisses very uncharacteristically behind him, "Pick up the pace!"

Frightened by Kendra's rotten mood, Seth jogs to tag behind Warren again. Bracken glances over his shoulder in concern, so Seth knows he's not the only one worried about Kendra's worsening attitude. The fear barely concealed in his silvery eyes sends a shiver of unease down his spine.

Poor child, whispers Seth's voice heartbrokenly, her potent sadness filling Seth's mind and making tears threaten. Oh, that poor, poor child. So young. Why do they always die young?

"Wait, what?" Seth breathes softly, so quiet he suspects anyone but the astrids can hear him, with their freaky-hearing-superpowers. When the voice comes again, it's pretty confident, and kinda triumphant.

Do not fret, Child of the Wolf, proclaims the voice, determination brimming Seth. Kendra will be fine if my name isn't… actually, I don't think I can tell you my name and verify your safety. Zia was worse, and the Fairy King was downright horrible; and yet look at them now! Well, actually, the Fairy King tussled with Gorgrog, so he's not the best right now…

Seth focuses on sending his confusion to the voice, unwilling to risk anyone overhearing his end of the conversation.

I fancy myself a high-end therapist; a mother for everyone that needs protection. Kendra might be my next patient. Oh, my… I've got to go. My pups just found a porcupine. That won't end well for either of us.

And then it's gone, as suddenly as it had come.

This time, the voice leaves new unanswerable questions cycling in Seth's head, and an ominous edge in the melody of the bright songbirds enters the woods, echoing off the trees like a funeral hymn.

Finally, Seth hears Zia whistle for their attention. After walking endlessly through the massive, endless forest since six o'clock in the morning, they're finally stopping to sleep. The only one who doesn't look tired is Flash- Foot, crouching at Kendra's side.

The sun had long since sank behind the horizon, but the woods aren't dark like Fablehaven's forest. Instead, everything thing here glows: blossoms opened up on the trees, shining dimly with shades of purple and grey; the wildflowers cast ruddiness around the floor; little radiant seeds or something float around, with a white luminescence; bluish spores grow from the moss as they pass, and whenever Zia places a foot on the lush ground covering, it leaves a luminous imprint in the plants for a few seconds; and shimmering mushrooms had sprouted along the edges of the path, lighting their way like little lanterns. On top of that, fireflies blink throughout the forest. It looks like a scene from a sci-fi movie on another planet.

"Listen up!" calls Zia, clapping her hands, causing a bunch of lightning bugs to flash at the same time around her. "It's about nine-ish, and time to get some sleep, in my opinion, and I know exactly where to go in order to be safe from the nasties roaming these woods. But there's a little problem with anywhere we sleep, because we share this forest with the wolves…"

As soon as she says that, an eerie voice begins to sing wordlessly in the far distance, high and keening, like a parent mourning a child with a creepy old song. Seth jumps and nervously tries to locate its origination, only to find that it's coming from everywhere at once. The singer repeats the notes over and over again, but each time adding a new quiver or a new dip in her voice. After about the fifth time of the same notes, the female singer drops out, and an entire chorus of male voices join in, echoing her fine chords, except deeper and even sadder.

"The wolves sing at night," whispers Zia. "They'll slow down around ten, singing each other lullabies, but until then, they're going to be chanting all the time since. I don't mind; in fact, I love their voices, and the way they join them together. But it may be bothersome for a few of you. I've brought some earplugs, but only, like, two. Speak now or forever hold your peace."

The melody of the wolves abruptly changes, becoming cheery and vaguely Irish in sound, like one of those songs they'd play for the dance unit in gym. Seth shudders at the memory of linking hands with all of those girls.

"I love it," murmurs Kendra, her voice strangely dreamy. Seth turns to her, very concerned now. "It's very peaceful."

"Uh huh," agrees Zia distractedly. "Nobody want these earplugs? Going once, going twice –"

"I'll have a pair," interrupts Tanu, stepping forward. "I can sleep perfectly fine without some wolf's lullabies, thank you very much."

"As will I," adds Vanessa, joining Tanu besides Zia. Zia nods.

"Right!" she yells. "Alec, take them to the Moonlit Circle, please! I think that the singers are at the River today, but who knows? You guys may be in for a surprise!"

Kendra's skin prickles as the song finally draws to an end, like someone's purposefully sewing an icy cold needle in and out of her skin. Like the others, this one had been unintelligible, but queer and mystic.

Bracken sits beside Kendra, his warm, calloused hand slipped into hers. Most of the others have trickled off to sleep, resting in their tents. Flash-Foot had listened at first, translating a few of the lyrics, but then collapsed at the edge of one of the shelters. Originally, Bracken had been in his tent, too, but then her unicorn had accompanied her underneath the stars.

The Moonlit Circle is a ring of smooth, ovular stones standing upright in the earth. Apparently, they'd been here even before the time of the wolves. A small stream, only about four inches deep and less than a foot across, surrounds these stones in the same round shape. They'd made camp around the silver plate in the ground depicting a dragon and a wolf dancing together.

The moonlight really makes Bracken's hair shine platinum. Kendra turns to him, amused by his distant expression and his willingness to join her in simply listening to the music. "You guys all think I'm nuts," she remarks randomly, "because I like their songs, went through a creepy glowing thing, and have a bit of an anger problem."

Bracken's eyes turn to her, filled with pain. He's taller than Kendra, so she has to look up slightly. "Kendra," Bracken whispers, cupping her cheek, "I'd like you even if you were nuts. But you're sane, Kendra; you're just figuring yourself out. And that means mood swings. Just remember that I'm always here, okay?" Kendra's delightfully surprised by the amount of affection Bracken's showing. Maybe it's because he doesn't expect to survive until Kendra's eighteenth birthday.

In a way, the unicorn is more right than he knows. Kendra isn't only figuring herself out; she's wondering why she's here in the first place. All she's done is take her problems to the Fairy Queen and whine about them. Then, she had practically become a tool of Vasilis's to slay the Demon King; it had all been the Sword of Light and Darkness, Kendra had just been its pawn.

"Loose usage of the word 'sane,'" snorts Kendra, "but it'll pass. Hey, I haven't heard for a while: how's your dad doing?"

Bracken's eyes light up. "He's on his way to a firm recovery," he murmurs, hope filling his features. "My sisters, they had been so worried; and how wrong they had been to doubt Father's skills! It's like he's patching himself back up, preparing himself from the inside out."

"That's great!" cheers Kendra, relieved that there'd finally been some change in the Fairy King's recovery. She's going to say more, but the beginning of a new song cuts her off.

It's so easy for Bracken to lose himself next to Kendra. He admires the way she brushes off her own problems as nothing, and involves herself with the woes of others, distracting herself from her internal conflict. It's sad, in a way, that one so young should have to already be so strong for others. A cruel reminder that the world has changed in his years of absence.

Bracken doesn't dare try to pry into Kendra's mind, but instead dwells on her emotions. There's the constant shadow of unhappiness, of course, but other than that, Kendra's flippant and intrigued by the songs of the wolves.

Out of nowhere, she sighs, "I love that one wolf that keeps on getting the solos."

Bracken smiles. "It's not just one wolf; it's five or six in complete harmony, singing the same notes at different depths to create one pure voice like that. Rather ingenious of the wolves."

"Really?" Kendra's delighted by this. "Wow. I could never do that."

Bracken shrugs. He loves the way even something as simple as that could entertain Kendra, but something more important than her amusement crosses his mind, something that saddens him greatly. "Listen closely, Kendra. I don't know how much longer the wolves have left to sing."

Anger flows through him from Kendra. "Why would someone do something like that?" she demands, eyes flashing. "It's cruel and heartless! I'm too ashamed to consider myself human because of them!"

Bracken has no answers. He watches the moon, thinking of the wolf's tale describing the silver Moon Wolf. Flash-Foot had been remarkably brief with his tale on the Beginning, leaving out many crucial details. Bracken assumes with a crooked smile that he had been in a hurry to tell the story of Cadeliah.

"Why are you smiling?" asks Kendra curiously. "Did I say something funny?"

"No," assures Bracken. "I'm simply letting my mind wander."

Kendra nods in understanding. "That's very easy to do, surrounded by these pretty songs. I wish I could see them singing. I don't know why they're being so secretive. Wait, actually, I do. They don't know we're the good guys, right?"

"Right."

"Oh."

Silence stretches between them. But it's not an awkward kind of quiet. It's a sweet sort. He can sense her thoughts wander, and can certainly feel his own. But her mind is pleasant, and his is far from it.

Things are changing. He isn't sure exactly what, but it's like the skin of the earth is shifting, underneath his feet. In the air, too. He's been around too long to pass it off as nothing.

Something big is happening. Something massive. And Bracken is completely in the dark. That means he can't protect anyone: Seth, Tanu, Warren, the blix, Kendra, his mother, his sisters, the fairies, Mara, Zia, Alec… the list goes on and on with everyone of any importance to Bracken. He can't protect them from the oncoming storm.

And it sends shivers of fear through him. This storm will be the worst he's ever faced.

Cadeliah watches the fairykind girl speak to the unicorn. Bracken and Kendra. Or, as some of Fiona's flaky friends referred to them, Brackendra. She cocks her head, ancient eyes taking in everything.

Something is wrong. And the unicorn can feel it. But he has no idea.

Ever since Cadeliah had been a pup, on that fateful day when she'd been cursed by time itself, she'd been a paradox waiting to happen. Realizing that even as a pup, she's kept her visions to herself, only spilling a few mysterious prophecies. But, finally, time is cracking, unable to maintain an individual being able to rifle through it for such a long period.

If Cadeliah doesn't do something to stop the flood of time seeping away, then the entire world will collapse. This, she knows. She doesn't know how, or when, but the leak in the dam must be stopped, and the escaped water must be dried. Cadeliah sends a shiver through her own bones, and squeezes both of her eyes shut.

The crack must be mended. The crack must be mended.

How Cadeliah wishes she could stop what must come. Tears flood her eyes, seeping out of the corners, not even buffered by her eyelids. They trail down her cheeks, silent signs of her pain.

But the crack must be mended.

Alright, let me teach you a lesson on constructive criticism: constructive criticism is when you try to give the author pointers politely, pointing out things you liked and things that could be improved. Wanna know a great example of what not to do? Criticize everything in the entire fanfiction, and bitterly. Remember, folks, this is a fanfiction, not a work of art, and this is my first fanfiction. I'm all for constructive criticism, but if I keep getting yelled at over reviews, it might not be worth continuing. Thank all of you guys that have given me good advice! It's helped shape this chapter and all of the ones before it!