Chapter 10 – Cold Feet
That afternoon, the group had made travel preparations to venture out to the next vault, and made sure to rest and recover from their previous adventure. Despite their loss of Seth, everyone tried to be optimistic, knowing that if they were successful in recovering the Sizeshifter, they just might be able to stop Navarog.
Grandma had prepared a large dinner for everyone. With some help from the brownies, she was able to get everything ready in time, although the summer sun had already set by the time everyone had sat down.
After dinner, Kendra went upstairs and into Seth's empty bedroom. Looking around, the place was quite tidy, as their mother had probably cleaned the room in their absence. The bed was made and no clothes were lying around or anything. Reminded of her brother's true nature, Kendra started to cry.
Kendra slammed the door to Seth's room and ran upstairs to her room in the attic. She dove face first into her pillow and let her tears pour out. It was too distressing knowing that Navarog was back, had taken control of Seth, and was in the midst of trying to take over the world.
"Excuse me," said a tiny voice. Kendra lifted her face from her pillow, looking somewhat startled. Turning her head to one side, she saw Bright standing before her on her night table. "Why are you so upset?"
"This whole ordeal with Seth and Navarog!" bawled Kendra. "It's not fair! It's my fault! I almost wish they'd never found that stupid tome!"
"Let me dry those tears," said Bright, pointing her index finger at Kendra's face. Magical sparkles in an array of various colors shout from the tip of Bright's tiny finger and up to Kendra's face. Suddenly, Kendra's tears were gone, leaving her cheeks completely dry.
"Whoa," said Kendra, who returned to crying. "Thank you, but that really won't help. I'm sorry."
"Don't cry. Bracken told me great things about you. He said that you're the bravest girl he's ever met!
"He did?" asked Kendra, wiping her tears with a tissue. "But I'm not all that scared. Just upset. Why did you dry my tears?"
"I serve to assist you. It's my duty. Besides, I care about you."
"Shouldn't I have to summon you first?"
"Normally, yes. But I could sense that you were in distress, so I came to aid you."
"What can you do?"
"All sorts of things," answered Bright. "Watch this."
Bright waved her hand at Kendra's bedside lamp, showering it with sparkles. The white fixture suddenly changed in color to lavender.
"Oh, that's useful," muttered Kendra.
Humming to herself, Bright waved at the lamp a second time, causing it to float up into the air. It got stuck when Kendra and Bright realized that it was still plugged in, essentially causing it to be tethered to the wall.
"Down," said Bright, waving downwards at the now lavender lamp. It slowly descended back down onto the table and landed in its original position.
"I guess that's a bit more useful," said Kendra, admiring the new color of her lamp.
"I can do lots of things. Just name it. But nothing too extravagant. Perhaps a summon? Something small, like a piece of candy?"
"Can you get me some chocolate? I've been craving it lately."
"Sure!" said Bright, waving her hands in front of Kendra. A flat piece of chocolate suddenly materialized in front of Kendra on her bed. Kendra picked up the chocolate, briefly examined it, and took a bite.
"It's good!" said Kendra, having swallowed her first bite. "Really good!" She then broke off a tiny piece and handed it to Bright, who accepted it.
"Kendra?" asked Bright, having swallowed down some chocolate. "Do you want to be friends?"
"What do you mean?" asked Kendra. "I thought we're supposed to be friends."
"Not entirely," replied Bright. "I am a Guardian Fairy. I, like my fellow comrades, have sworn to assist you in times of need. We're not supposed to play around or anything."
"Well can we, or can't we?"
"I said not supposed to play around," stated Bright suggestively. "As long as no one catches us goofing off, we should be fine."
Kendra rubbed her head. "As much as I'd love to chat with you, I really must get a good night's sleep. These past few days have been exhausting, and I need to be up early tomorrow."
"Understood!" said Bright. She fluttered up into the air and swooped down at Kendra. "Goodnight!" she shrieked, disappearing in a pop of magical sparkles right before she would've made impact with Kendra's body.
Kendra looked around the room, trying to compensate as to where Bright might've gone, until she remembered hearing that the Guardian Fairies dwelled primarily in their own pocket dimensions. Now alone again in the attic, Kendra turned off her redecorated lamp and let herself fall asleep.
That following morning, Mrs. Sorenson had woken Kendra up at twenty-to-six. Kendra wasted no time in getting dressed into fresh clothes, eating breakfast, and piling into Mr. Sorenson's SUV with her fellow knights like when they had gone to Hawaii. The only difference was that they were short by one person this time.
"I want a show of hands," asked Warren. "If you're actually a demon possessing someone, say I".
"Warren," grumbled Vanessa, who elbowed him from her seat.
"Can I get a show of hands? Anyone?"
"Stop being so silly," muttered Elise.
"It's not that silly," said Tanu, who was sitting in the passenger seat. "We really need to be on our guards this time. We already lost Seth and the Drakesoul, we can't afford to lose any more."
"At least someone agrees with me," said Warren with a smirk.
"Although if any of us did have demons lurking within, our Fairy Guardians' magic would've sensed it and rejected us. They're hardly stupid."
"Are you confident that we stand a chance to recover the Sizeshifter?" asked Kendra.
"It seems like it'll be the least difficult of the remaining instruments to recover," said Tanu. "Even if we didn't have to deal with Navarog. I'm almost glad that we don't have to go after the Essence of Immunity should Navarog get a hold of it."
"Where is it, again?" asked Kendra.
The vault with the Essence of Immunity is underwater," replied Elise. "Torrential Tunnels. It's supposed to be completely flooded."
"Not that I'm looking forward to Frozen Fortress," noted Warren. It'll be chilly and slippery. I just know it."
"At least we don't risk running out of oxygen," said Vanessa, "not that freezing to death from hypothermia is much better."
"And at least we're not going after the Accelerizer," said Tanu. "The tome wasn't even clear as to where it actually was."
Eventually, they arrived at the airport. Mr. Sorenson helped with unloading everyone's luggage from his trunk, then wished them goodbye before driving off.
Frozen Fortress was located within the chilly mountains of Siberia. During her plane ride, Kendra mulled over where the instruments had all been hidden. The Drakesoul had been inside a volcano. The Sizeshifter was atop an exceptionally cold mountain. The Essence of Immunity was under the Indian Ocean. The Disapirit was in the sky. None of which were places an average human would even stumble upon by accident.
As for the Accelerizer, its location didn't make much sense at all. The details of its location had been crossed out from the tome. An attached piece of paper simply stated that it had been relocated, and that further information to its new home could be found somewhere in the United Kingdom. Grandpa had concluded that it would take the longest time to recover the Accelerizer out of all the instruments.
After an exceptionally long plane ride, they landed in a rural airport somewhere in Siberia. Tanu had told Kendra the name of the place, but it quickly slipped from her mind, even when it was repeated. After claiming their luggage, everyone got bundled up in jackets, hats, hoods, gloves and snow goggles, then stepped outside, where a heavy snowstorm rained down on them the moment they opened the door.
Vanessa led them over to three snowmobiles that were parked underneath a small awning. They then loaded their luggage in the storage compartments, which were hidden under the seats, and were ready to take off. Kendra claimed a snowmobile with Warren as the driver, while Vanessa and Elise claimed another. The third was saved entirely for Tanu.
Warren, Vanessa and Tanu used the keys they had been issued when the snowmobiles were rented, and drove off away from the airport. The countryside they were in consisted of nothing but snowy hills and frosted evergreen trees.
Kendra held onto Warren's shoulders tightly as their snowmobile swerved up and down through the terrain. After driving for nearly an hour, Tanu directed the others to stop.
"We continue on foot from here," said Tanu, getting off his parked snowmobile. Kendra went along with the others and got up, retrieving her luggage from under the seat.
Looking around the area, Kendra could see a vast canyon ahead of them, not too far from where they had parked. To both their right and left sides, the group was surrounded by cliffs.
"The plan here is to have Kendra guide us to the entrance to the vault from here on in," said Tanu. For those of you who were there, it'll be similar to when Kendra guided us to Wyrmroost. These cliffs consist of narrow ledges and are quite steep. There's a very high chance of someone slipping and falling to their death, and that's without having to discern with a distractor spell."
Tanu tied one long rope around everyone's waste, making sure to put Kendra at one end, and himself at the other. The five of them were now tethered to one another by the rope, forming a small line of sorts.
"Remember," said Tanu, "don't trust your instincts here. The distractor spell is quite powerful. Warren and I have experience in this field, but even then it was quite brutal. It may not make much difference in this circumstance. A distractor spell isn't something one can build up an immunity to."
Elise handed Kendra a map that had been drawn up, along with some written directions. According to what she had discovered in the tome, this was seemingly the right path that would lead the group to the vault.
Kendra began by leading the group over to the edge of the gorge, and across a narrow path against the cliff side. As the path narrowed, Kendra sidled against the wall, encouraging the others to follow her lead. Looking downwards, Kendra could see that the drop to the bottom of the gorge was a good two-hundred feet. Even though she was attached to the others, she feared that if she fell, she might end up pulling them all down with her.
The path led into a small tunnel in the cliff side. Regardless of where tunnel were to take them, Kendra was just relieved to be away from the edge, as were the others. The dank tunnel wasn't very long, and it soon led them out to another ledge along the side of the cliff.
Before she could continue, Kendra felt herself being tugged back by the rope. "Kendra, no," said Warren, "It's too dangerous!"
"No, don't!" griped Kendra, sensing that the others were now being affected by the distractor spell. "It's the spell! We're getting closer!"
"We have to… fight it!" groaned Tanu, as he and the others closed their eyes and forced themselves to continue following Kendra's lead as she led them along the narrow ledge of the cliff.
"Is this safe?" asked Elise, holding her hands in front of her face with her eyes closed. "I need to see that we're safe."
"Don't open your eyes," said Tanu. "Whatever you do. Kendra, describe our surroundings!"
"We're on a narrow ledge," said Kendra, examining the area. "Keep your hands on the wall and walk forward. I'll tell you if we need to turn or not."
After a few minutes, Kendra came across a wall at the edge of the ledge they were on, and came to a halt.
"Kendra, what's the matter?" asked Warren, his eyes still shut.
"We can't continue. There's a narrow wall before me and it goes up to the top of the cliff."
"Can you peer around the side of the wall?" asked Vanessa.
"I'll try," replied Kendra, as she gripped onto the wall and gazed around it as best she could. "The path continues about twenty feet from here on the other side."
"How are we ever going to cross this?" asked Elise. "It's too dangerous to climb across the cliff with our eyes closed."
"Maybe we'll just have to risk it," said Vanessa.
"I've got an idea," said Tanu. "Tiara, I need you."
Although Kendra was the only one with her eyes open, she watched as orange sparkles appeared before Tanu, and Tiara materialized, now wearing an orange parka small enough to fit her diminutive body and wings.
"What is it Tanu?" asked Tiara. "Why are your eyes closed?
"There's a powerful distractor spell in the area. Do you feel affected by it?"
"No," said Tiara. "I can see that you're all lined up on some cliff ledge, with a wall in your way."
"Right," said Kendra. "If you survey the area, you'll see that the path continues on the other side of the wall."
"I see," replied Tiara, who was now hovering over the chasm. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Could you possibly get us across?" asked Tanu.
"I don't think I'm strong enough. "I could transport just you, perhaps, but not everyone. Why not summon the other fairies?"
The others nodded and called for their fairies to appear. After the situation was briefed to them, they all waved their hands at their corresponding allies and suddenly, everyone began to levitate a few feet into the air.
"Bring them around this way!" said Bright, as the fairies directed the group across the side of the cliff. Looking down, Kendra could see nothing below her feet, giving her the sense that she could fall at any moment. It was probably a blessing in disguise for the others to be holding their eyes shut the whole time.
A few seconds later, the fairies placed everyone down on the other side of the path and dispelled their enchantment. "That took a lot out of me," said Geminus, feeling somewhat exhausted.
"Me too," said Opal. Let's hope we don't have to do that again."
"The important thing is, we made it," said Tiara. "It's best that we retreat for now and rest ourselves. Good luck!"
With that, the fairies all disappeared.
"I'm glad Stan recommended these guardians to us," said Warren. "We actually got ferried by fairies!"
"Ok, let's continue," said Kendra, leading the group further along the ledge, until they came to the end.
"Why'd you stop?" asked Elise.
"The path ends."
"Is there another wall?" asked Warren.
"No," said Kendra. "I don't think so.
"Check your directions," said Tanu.
Kendra went through her notes. "It just says to cross the bridge at the end of the path to reach the vault."
"Not very descriptive, is it?" commented Warren.
"I do see a cave entrance on the other side of the gorge," said Kendra, staring across the wide chasm. "But it's far too vast to cross, even with the fairies' help! And I don't see any way across."
"The notes mentioned a bridge," said Tanu.
"There's no stupid bridge!" snapped Kendra. "We're stuck!"
"Maybe the fairies could form a rainbow bridge for us?" asked Vanessa.
"They wouldn't have the strength," said Elise. "Especially with a powerful distractor spell in the area."
"Bright!" said Kendra. "Can you help me?"
"What's wrong?" asked Bright, who appeared before Kendra.
"See if there's a bridge, around here," said Kendra. "It should lead us to the other side of the gorge into that cave!"
"I hope there really is a bridge," said Bright, staring across the gorge. "There's no way we're getting all of you across there with magic!"
Bright flew off the edge of the path and over the gorge. She flew downwards and suddenly crashed in midair.
"Are you all right, Bright?" asked Kendra.
"I think I just found your bridge," said Bright. It's invisible!"
Kendra placed her foot over the side of the ledge, and could feel solid ground beneath it. If she followed it in a straight line, she should be able to reach the other side.
"Feels safe to walk on," said Kendra. "Everyone, follow me! The bridge is here, even though we can't see it."
"When your eyes are closed, everything is invisible," said Tanu, as he and the others followed Kendra across the invisible bridge to the cave on the other side.
"I think we're here," said Kendra, once everyone had stepped into the cave. "Open your eyes."
Upon hearing Kendra's command, everyone looked forward at the large, steel doors that stood before them. They had finally arrived at the entrance to Frozen Fortress.