Chapter 10: The Dark Unicorn

Overcome with a feeling of both wooziness and grogginess, Seth slowly opened his eyes. Letting out a very deep yawn, Seth was quick to discover that he was no longer lying down upon the dirt trail at Fablehaven.

As he slowly regained consciousness, Seth realized that he was now in what appeared to be some sort of cave. To one side of Seth was a dead end; at the other stood a barred wall. He was now seemingly trapped within a small section of a cave. On top of the inexplicable change of location, Ingrid was nowhere to be found.

"Wake up," said a stern voice, coming from the other side of the bars. Having failed to notice the figure up until now, Seth peered through the bars and looked up at the figure. Standing outside the "cell" that Seth was now trapped in was Jeremy.

"J-J-Jeremy?" asked Seth, who had now come to his senses. "What happened? What's going on?"

Jeremy laughed. "Oh, Seth. You are so naive."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth, as he stood up and grasped onto the bars of his cell, glaring at Jeremy intently. "How did I even get here?"

"I want you, Seth. I know about your true power. I can sense it."

"My true power? I thought you were going after demons! You said you were a demon tracker! What do you want with me, Jeremy?"

"First thing's first. My name is not Jeremy Keenheart. And I am not a demon tracker. I am a unicorn. And my name is Ronodin."

Seth could not believe what he was hearing. He had heard of the name Ronodin, but only in passing by Bracken a few times. Bracken had mentioned that Ronodin was a dark unicorn, who obtained his status by corrupting his own horns.

"Ronodin?" asked Seth. "I've heard about you! You're that dark unicorn!"

"Indeed I am. Did your friend Bracken tell you about me?"

Seth disregarded Ronodin's comment and snarled at him. "Let me out of this cage! What kind of unicorn are you, anyway?"

"Seth, if I let you out of this cage, you're just going to run away. Which would defeat the purpose of me having gone through all the trouble of catching you in the first place."

"What about Ingrid?" asked Seth. "What did you do with her?"

"Ingrid is back at Fablehaven," replied Ronodin. "I had no vendetta towards her. However, she is fundamentally useless to me, so I left here where I captured you. You needn't worry about her."

"Well, she's going to be worried sick about me! And so's the rest of my family! What did you capture me for? And where the hell even is this place?"

"I won't say," said Ronodin. "You know, Seth, there were many members of your group that possessed magical properties. But you were the only one amongst them who was angelic. I could tell that the moment I laid my eyes upon you."

Seth moved his right hand downwards and pressed it against the front pocket of his pants, trying to feel around for his phone. But it was empty. He then felt the other side with his left hand. It too was empty. The rest of his belongings, such as his wallet and the Pyruby, he had left back at home.

"Looking for this?" asked Ronodin, as he held up Seth's phone in his hand.

"Give that back!" blurted Seth.

Ronodin shook his head. "You won't be needing this. I don't like the idea of stealing, but I'm not too confident that you should be trusted with this."

"You don't like stealing, says the guy who just abducted me from my own home!"

Ronodin frowned towards Seth, then set his phone down on a ledge near to where he was standing. "There's more to it then that."

"So I'm angelic," said Seth. "What exactly do you want with me?"

"As a unicorn, I have plenty of fairy magic at my disposal. And your comrades have plenty of fairy magic to spare. Especially your sister Kendra, who was intriguing, but not what I was truly after. But angel magic? Up until today, I thought angels, pegasi and their power were all but a memory."

"I'm afraid to ask. What do you intend to do with my power?"

Ronodin laughed. "Clearly, you're well aware of the demonic uprising that has been plaguing the world as of late? But, do you know why it's happening?"

Seth shook his head. "Not really. Why then? And for that matter, what's the deal with you?"

"You really don't know, do you? But, rather than go off on a whole other tangent, I suppose I owe it to you to tell you about myself. You see, a long time ago, I was born a perfectly normal unicorn. Not on a preserve, but in the wild. When I was very young, something terrible happened. Both of my parents were killed by rogue demons. It was one of my earliest memories. I was only a colt at the time. My first horn hadn't even grown in fully."

"Did the demons corrupt your horn?"

"No. In fact, the demons thought that I was so weak comparatively, that they left me alone. But I saw them maul my parents to death."

"You know, if you weren't so cruel to me, I might actually be feeling sorry for you," said Seth. "And speaking of that, how did your horns get corrupted in the first place?"

"I corrupted my horns voluntarily. I imagine you're aware of that. But as to why I did so, it was for... power."

"Power?" asked Seth. "What kind of power?"

"I wanted revenge on the demons that killed my parents. From the day they died up until today, that desire has never waned. When I shed my first horn, I brought it to a shaman so that he could infuse it with darkness."

"Why would you do that? How's darkening your horn supposed to get revenge on demons?"

"Because I can use said horn to spread my influence over demons. With my first horn, I can terrify demons. With my second horn, I can control them."

"Control them?"

"Yes. As punishment for killing my parents, I can make any demon do my bidding. It's a very useful power, but I'd trade it in a heartbeat for the demise of demons everywhere."

"And your third horn?"

"Still intact. Not corrupted. I have regrets over corrupting my first two horns. I have tainted myself. But it was a necessary evil."

Grasping onto the bars of the cage, Seth tried his hardest to pry them outward, but could not so much as bend them even in the slightest.

"If you can already control demons, I don't even know what you want to do with me," said Seth. "You sound like a hypocrite if you seek to destroy demons, yet also want to control them. Let me go!"

"Perish the thought," said Ronodin. "Demon activity levels are at an all-time high right now. And, while I may have the power to control them, I am unable to do so on a grand scale. That's where you come in."

Seth lowered his brow towards Ronodin. "You act like you know everything. Yet you want my help. Why don't you tell me why demons have been running amok lately."

"A valid question. Very well, Seth, I will tell you. You see, for years I have been living in secrecy, knowing full well that I do not possess the strength to eradicate the world of demons. I make it a point to travel the world, searching for demons wherever they may be. If I find a demon, I make an effort to destroy it. However, if it shows potential, I instead consider taking control over it, making it my slave."

"I see," said Seth. "But, that doesn't answer my question."

"I was getting to that. You see, it was only the other week during my travels that I sensed increased demon activity. There was no explanation for it that I could determine. So, upon finding the first rogue demon I came across, rather than dealing with him the traditional way, I interrogated him. He explained that the Demon Domain... had been obliterated. That the connection between this world and there had been severed. As such, demons everywhere went into a frenzy, no longer being able to sense their homeworld."

Seth nodded, pretending to feign ignorance. He didn't know if it would be wise to explain to Ronodin as to what actually happened to cause the downfall of the Demon Domain.

"Of course," continued Ronodin, "he was unable to tell me as to why the Demon Domain had collapsed. That ultimately required some more investigating on my behalf. The only reason I was concerned, mind you, was in case whatever terminated that world could also do the same to this one."

"Yeah, that would be pretty bad," said Seth.

"Hold on," said Ronodin, eyeing Seth intently. "I haven't even gotten to the best part. You see, I continued pursuing demons throughout the world over the next few days. And low and behold, I stumbled upon two particular demons who were willing to share some very crucial information with me."

"What... kind of information?"

"Most of the demons that I stumble upon tend to reside in the countryside. Far away from civilization and humans. But these two demons were not found in any countryside. No, quite the opposite. I found them in a major city."

"What's your point?" asked Seth, not sure if he still wanted to know where Ronodin's story was heading at this point. "Maddox lives in a city and demons still managed to find their way into his yard! So do the Landrys."

"Ah yes," said Ronodin. "But in those instances, the demons were attracted to the fairies on their respective properties from afar. But these two demons that I found were nowhere near a fairy shrine."

"Where were they, then?"

"New York City. Both of them were lying on top of a highrise, completely weakened and unconscious. It astounded me that they were even still alive given how they ended up there. You wouldn't have any idea as to how they got there, would you, Seth?"

"You found two weakened demons at the top of some building in New York?" asked Seth. "What are you getting at? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," said Ronodin. "These are two demons with whom you are well acquainted."

"That's impossible. Any demon that I could've known is dead."

"Let me jog your memory a bit. The demons didn't get to the roof of the building by coming up from the street. Rather, they fell from the sky. But these demons couldn't fly; they fell out of a portal that linked between the the Demon Domain and this world."

Seth thought back to his final encounter with Murdred. Helwic had indeed opened a portal leading to the sky above New York City that was intended for Murdred to pass through. Seth actually fell through the portal, but was rescued from falling by Kendra. But no demons had passed through it.

"What demons are you talking about?"

"These two demons, their names are Snort and Snout. They were sentries who worked in Murdred's castle. They told me all about how Seth Sorenson developed angelic powers and defeated their lord, alongside his fariykind sister Kendra. You are an angel, Seth Sorenson! The demons were right. Besides, I can sense unusual energies emanating from you too."

"Snort and Snout?" asked Seth. "They told you everything? About me? About what happened?

Ronodin smiled. "Absolutely. I found their story hard to believe, but it was better than having nothing to go on."

"How did they... end up in New York?" asked Seth, not being able to recall Snort and Snout ever passing through the portal.

"After you defeated Murdred, the entire Demon Domain started to collapse in on itself. However, Snort and Snout were watching from the sidelines. You remember that portal leading to New York, don't you? It was never properly closed."

Seth thought back to after Murdred had been destroyed. Because the Demon Domain was in the process of imploding, Seth and the rest of his allies had scrambled to the dungeon of the castle to rescue the Singing Sisters. However, they made no effort to close up the portal to New York.

"Did Snort and Snout just... jump through the portal? Did they not realize how dangerous that was?"

"When the entire world around you is caving in on itself, and there's a portal to another dimension right there, you take your chances with the portal," said Ronodin.

"So... they just jumped through and fell hundreds of feet down from the sky and onto a rooftop in Manhattan?"

"Precisely. Their resilient bodies prevented their fall from being fatal, but the impact still left them gravely injured. As much as I am not concerned about the welfare of demons, it was most beneficial that they were still alive to tell me what I needed to know. They told me everything they knew about you and your family at Fablehaven. But not why you're an angel."

Seth let out a sigh. "Well, I'm not entirely an angel. I'm angelkind, actually. I'm a human being with angel-related abilities."

"And how did that happen?" asked Ronodin.

"Why don't you tell me, Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Snort and Snout only told me that you were a shadow charmer whose darkness was only growing stronger and stronger thanks to Murdred himself, before you unexpectedly became angelkind. How did you become angelkind?

"Because I have a heart!" snapped Seth. "As powerful as the dark magic that had been infused within me was, my heart and the love that I shared with my family caused an inversion. Something forced my body to evolve from shadow charmer to angelkind. But, it's only speculation. Nobody truly understands how exactly it happened."

"Interesting..." said Ronodin, whose eyes were fixated upon Seth.

"What about you? How did you abduct me from Fablehaven? For that matter, how did you even get to Fablehaven?"

"How did I get to Fablehaven? That was ridiculously easy! Dumb luck was involved, but it was still easy. You see, I never left Maddox's place when I disappeared. I hung around and eavesdropped. When it was time for your group to leave, Warren was kind enough to explain how the Translocator worked to Maddox. And me. He mentioned that everyone using Translocator needed to be touching it in order to travel. So I transformed myself into a fly and flew onto the Translocator, hitching a ride to Fablehaven in the process."

Seth was dumbstruck. "You came back to Fablehaven with us?"

"Indeed. It was quite the opportunity to finally come and visit. I'd been searching for the location of that preserve for years. You have quite an interesting home, Seth Sorenson. I must say, there were many interesting creatures at Fablehaven for me to check out."

"You didn't hurt them, did you?" snapped Seth. "What'd they ever do to you?"

"I didn't touch a single creature during my visit," said Ronodin. "I was intrigued, however. I admired them while keeping my distance. I must say, as interesting as some of those creatures and residents were, I had to settle for you. You see, because of the barrier that protects Fablehaven, if I were to leave, I would be unable to get back in."

"Thank goodness for that."

"Out of all the inhabitants of Fablehaven, you remained the top prize in my eyes. Your sister Kendra showed great potential, but her fairy magic is just that. Fairy magic. It's nothing I can't already access. I wanted you. I waited hours for you to become an easy target. And as those hours passed, I perused the creatures that resided on the preserve. But in the end, I'm glad I chose you."

"You were unable to enter the house due to the treaty," said Seth. So you waited until I was an easy target before striking."

"Guilty," said Ronodin, raising a hand. "Of course, you were with Ingrid at the time, but she was easy enough to subdue. At least you weren't with Bracken. He would've been trouble. You know, it's funny. Everyone thought that Bracken was dead for ages. But no, he had apparently been in jail all that time. Bracken thinks he's so special just because he's a prince and one of the only male fairies to boot. Pompous punk! If you ask me, he should've rotted to death years ago!"

"Don't talk about Bracken like that!" blared Seth, slamming the palms of his hands against the bars of his cage. The impact hurt, but Seth was too distracted to care. "Bracken is a noble hero! Which is a lot more than I can say for you! Bracken is my friend! Bracken is awesome! You know he gave up his third horn to create the Font of Immortality, don't you?"

"The same Font of Immortality that the Sphinx used to prolong his life, so that he could live to open Zzyzx and unleash its demons upon world?" huffed Ronodin. "Wow! We seriously owe Bracken for allowing that to happen!"

"The Font was necessary to keep Zzyzx sealed! It's not Bracken's fault that it got stolen and misused!"

"You know, Seth, I was highly tempted to deal with Bracken back when I had the chance. However, I was still more interested in you. I couldn't afford to give myself away by messing with Bracken now, could I?"

"You wouldn't be able to take on Bracken," said Seth.

"Perhaps you have a point," said Ronodin. "For a unicorn who allegedly gave up all three of his horns, he still exerted copious amounts of light energy. Probably just a perk of being an over-privileged royal unicorn. But I have all three of my horns in my possession, two of which have been corrupted by darkness. Bracken wouldn't stand a chance against me."