Chapter 14: Stakeout

Grandma walked into the living room, carrying a tray full of glasses of pink lemonade. As soon as she set the tray down on the coffee table, everyone who was sitting in the room reached towards it and grasped a hand around one of the cool glasses.

The ice cubes on the surface of the beverage clunked against the glass as Kendra brought her lemonade up towards her mouth and took a considerable gulp. As the cold lemonade flowed into her mouth and down her throat, Kendra experienced a very refreshing and relaxing sensation.

"That really hit the spot," said Kendra. "Thanks!"

"I figured you all could use a little drink," said Grandma. "After all that running around you've done."

"I wish I could've been more useful," said Seth, as he took a sip of his lemonade. "All I did was sleep in a cage. God, I can't believe I got kidnapped again."

"Between you and Kendra, you two might actually break Princess Peach's kidnapping record," said Warren.

"You got us information about Ronodin, though," said Bracken. "That alone is still quite useful."

"Yeah. At least now we have an idea of what we're up against. But even so, we don't know where to find Ronodin. And the Oculus being unable to detect a unicorn while he's in his avatar form isn't really helping."

"Did Ronodin mention where he lived?" asked Kendra. "I get the feeling that the cave you were in wasn't actually his home."

Seth shook his head. "Wish I knew."

"Hold on!" said Ingrid. "Seth, Ronodin was going to come back for you, right? I mean, he kidnapped you because he wanted to have you for something. Not to just lock you up indefinitely."

"You're saying that Ronodin intends to come back to check on Seth, right?" asked Warren.

Ingrid nodded.

"That's not a bad idea," said Grandpa. "Except, we have no way of knowing when Ronodin is coming back to that cave, do we?"

"Unfortunately," said Seth. "Before he left, Ronodin said something about making some preparations. But, as to what those preparations were, and how long he'll be gone for, your guess is as good as mine."

"Hold on," said Kendra. "What if Ronodin's already gone back to the cave since we left?"

"We've only been away like ten minutes!" said Seth.

"There's still a possibility that Ronodin could've returned in those ten minutes," said Warren. "It's unlikely, but if it's true, then we may already be too late."

"Still," said Kendra, "we're not going to accomplish anything by waiting around here and drinking lemonade, as nice as it is."

"I'm afraid that in order to find Ronodin, our best chance would be to go back to the cave and wait around for him to return," said Bracken.

"But, that could be dangerous!" exclaimed Seth. "You yourself said that Ronodin seems far more powerful than any normal unicorn. How are we supposed to deal with him?"

"There was a chance that we would've had to deal with him when we first went to rescue you. Of course, when we did that, we didn't know who your captor actually was."

"But we're not alone," said Ingrid. "We've got four dragons on our side, not to mention somebody who's fairykind and another person who's angelkind."

Warren smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I can't wait to see the look on Ronodin's face when he comes back and sees all of us waiting for him, instead of Seth still asleep in that cell, guarded by that ugly monster! He won't know what hit him!"

Seth winced. "It's not that simple. You know that demon that was with me? Well, Ronodin allegedly claimed that he can summon a whole lot more of them with almost no effort."

"I see," said Bracken. "It was one thing for Kendra to impale a lone demon with Vasilis. But what's she going to do if Ronodin directs twenty demons to attack us all at once?"

"We might need some help dealing with Ronodin," said Kendra. "As it stands now, we only have one unicorn and a few small dragons on our side. Seth and I can't use our fullest powers without support. Do we all have enough power between us to deal with Ronodin?"

"Couldn't we seek out some help?" asked Ingrid. "Maybe Bright or Clover?"

"Your intentions are good," said Bracken. "But I really don't want to pull any of my fellow fairy angels away from their commitments unless it's absolutely, one-hundred percent necessary."

"Either way, we should really get a move on," said Warren.

The group made their way outside and headed over towards the dragons' cave at the edge of the yard. Looking upwards, Kendra could see that the moon and stars were decorating the sky. Glancing at her watch, Kendra saw that the time was currently ten-twenty.

"Hold on a second," said Kendra, as she raised her hand, prompting everyone to stop moving.

"What is it?" asked Bracken.

"It's getting late. Are we really going to stay up all night waiting around in that cave for Ronodin to return?"

"You got a better idea?" asked Seth. "Somebody's gotta wait for him."

"Kendra's got a point, though," said Ingrid. "We need to sleep."

"We could stand guard at the cave in shifts," said Warren.

"It's hard enough to wait around during the day," said Seth. "But in the dead of night, when I'd rather be sleeping? Isn't there a better way we could go about doing this?"

"What we need for this is a dedicated night watchman," said Bracken.

"I'll do it," said Warren. "As much as I enjoy getting my beauty rest..."

Kendra focused for a moment, until an idea suddenly popped into her head. "I've got it! Couldn't Hugo watch the cave for us?"

"Kendra," said Warren. "You're a genius! Hugo's an automaton that doesn't sleep. And he doesn't have any real duties during the night beyond watching over the preserve."

"So Hugo could just watch the cave for us, and alert us if there's any trouble," said Seth.

"Where would we stay?" asked Ingrid.

"We could stay right here," said Bracken. "Kendra, if we let Hugo borrow your coin, he can stay in contact with us."

"But if we stay here and sleep, how are we going to stay in contact with Hugo through the coin?" asked Seth.

There was a pause, as everyone stopped to think.

"Mendigo," said Warren. "Hugo can watch the cave. And if he senses anything unusual, he can alert Mendigo, who in turn can wake us up."

"Problem," said Bracken. "How long is it going to take for Mendigo to wake all of us up?" asked Bracken.

"We could all sleep in the same spot," said Ingrid. "Like in the living room."

"Okay," said Warren. "I'm going to tell Stan what we're planning, then I'll round up Hugo and Mendigo. You guys tell the dragons about our plan."

"No need for that," came Raxtus' voice from the direction of the cave, as Warren headed back towards the house.

"We were kinda eavesdropping on you guys," said Skyfrost, as he and the other dragons all emerged from the cave.

"Putting Hugo and Mendigo on guard duty sounds like a great idea," said Geminus.

"Great," said Seth. "Saves us the trouble of having to explain everything to you."

"Where are we gonna sleep, though?" asked Ingrid. "I was proposing that we all sleep together, but there's no sensible way for Skyfrost and Firesquall to fit into the living room."

"Why don't we sleep in the yard with the dragons?" asked Kendra. "There's plenty of tents and sleeping bags in the house."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Bracken and the dragons all made their way back to the house. The four humans went into the house through the back door, while the dragons waited on the patio. They passed through the kitchen and walked down the hall to the closet. Rolled up on a high shelf were several sleeping bags, which Bracken and Seth grabbed, along with several pillows. Kendra and Ingrid each grabbed a folded-up tent that had been sitting on a lower shelf.

The group then carried their gear back onto the back patio, where the dragons had been waiting, then continued onto a grassy part of the yard near the dragons' cave. As soon as they had set the tents and sleeping gear down on the grass, Hugo and Mendigo both approached the group, with Warren sitting atop the golem's shoulder.

"Good work," said Warren, as he dropped down from Hugo's shoulder and scurried over to the group. A moment later, Hugo and Medigo caught up with him. "You got sleeping gear and everything!"

Kendra looked up at both Hugo and Medigo. They both appeared to be wearing vacant expressions on their faces. But Kendra knew that they were deeper than that. That the two of them both had genuine feelings. Especially Hugo. Kendra knew that Hugo was stronger than Mendigo, but he was also being assigned with a potentially dangerous mission. What would he do if Ronodin were to discover him before he could call for help?

"Hugo," said Kendra. "I really appreciate what you're doing. We all do. But if you don't feel safe about all this, that's okay. This could be a very dangerous mission."

"Hugo wants to help," bellowed the golem. "Hugo not afraid."

"You really mean it?" asked Ingrid.

"Yes... Hugo not afraid. Hugo brave."

"They've got a point," said Geminus. "What if something happens to you?"

Hugo opened his mouth, but no words came out of it. Instead, he paused.

"Hugo... willing to take that chance."

"Hugo..." said Kendra, "come here."

Kendra walked directly up to Hugo and wrapped her arms as far as they could go around his immense body, which was not even halfway. Although he felt like a mound of rocks and dirt against her skin, Kendra knew that down inside there was a being with a heart.

"Hugo care about Kendra," said the golem, as Seth and Ingrid also embraced Hugo in hugs. "Hugo care about... all of you."

Warren sighed. "I didn't order Hugo to do this, even though I could have. Instead, I asked him. I explained what he had to do, and I gave him the opportunity to turn it down. He didn't."

Hugo nodded.

"Be careful," said Seth. "Remember, we're doing all this so that we can be ready in case something goes wrong."

"Just speak through my coin," said Kendra. "Oh, that reminds me."

Kendra then reached into her pocket and pulled out her special coin that Bracken had produced for her. She then presented it to Hugo, who proceeded to grab it with his oversized thumb and index finger.

"Mendigo," said Bracken, offering his hand to the limberjack. "Here's my coin. You and Hugo should now be able to communicate with each other. I know you can't speak, but you get the idea."

Mendigo nodded as he accepted Bracken's coin from him.

"Let's do this," said Warren, as he looked up at Hugo and nodded.

"I'll come with you," said Bracken.

"Can we come too?" asked Ingrid.

Warren shook his head. "Sorry. But we're only going to be gone a minute."

Warren wound up the Translocator, then held it out in front of himself. Once Bracken and Hugo were touching the artifact, Warren twisted it again, causing the three of them to seemingly vanish into thin air.

"I hope they're okay," said Ingrid.

"We are okay," said Hugo. Unsure as to where his voice was coming from, Kendra looked around until she remembered that Mendigo was holding onto Bracken's magical coin in his hand.

"No sign of Ronodin," said Warren. "We're going to get Hugo set up first, then Bracken and I will head straight back."

"What can we do until then?" asked Skyfrost.

"There's not much for you dragons to do," said Kendra. "But we've got some tents to set up."

Kendra picked up one of the folded up tents and removed it from the protective bag it had been in. As she placed it down upon a clear, nearby patch of grass, Kendra unfastened a buckle and the tent popped open. However, the tent was unsteady and wobbly, and could not stand up on its own in this current state.

"Let me give you a hand with that," said Ingrid, as she pulled four stakes and a mallet out of the tent bag.

Kendra held the unsteady tent in place as Ingrid went ahead and pounded the stakes through its four corners and into the ground. Once the tent was in place, Kendra let go. The tent was now standing up on its own.

"Nice," said Seth. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Kendra and Ingrid turned around, and saw that Seth was still fumbling with his scrunched up tent, trying to hammer in the first of his four stakes.

"Allow me," said Warren, as he grabbed the mallet out of Seth's hand. No doubt he and Bracken had returned while the kids were preoccupied trying to set up their tents.

"Is Hugo okay?" asked Seth, as he fed a stake through the hoop of one corner of the tent.

"He's ready," said Warren, as he pounded the stake that Seth was holding into into ground.

"He and Mendigo will be on full alert all night," said Bracken. "Hugo isn't actually in the cave. However, he's waiting around nearby, in a spot where he can see the entrance."

"That's probably for the best," said Raxtus. "After all, that cave seemed like a dead end."

After both of the tents had been set up, the group went back inside the house and washed up, then got ready for bed. Having changed into their sleeping wear, the group made their way back out into the yard, where Mendigo was standing between the two tents.

"We should be good," said Bracken. "Mendigo has been instructed to wake us if he receives any sort of alert from Hugo."

"It's getting late," said Ingrid, as she glanced at her phone, the screen of which illuminated her face against the darkness of the night.

"Well, we best be retiring for the night," said Warren. "Let's get in our tents."

Seth and Bracken watched as Warren unzipped one of the tents and stepped inside. He then unfurled a sleeping bag and lined it up against one side of the tent. Next, he set a pillow down at the top end of the sleeping bag. Bracken and Seth proceeded to pass Warren two more sleeping bags and pillows, which he also set up.

Warren settled down into one of the side sleeping bags, while Seth got into the one in the center. Bracken then stepped into the tent and zipped it up behind him, then climbed into the sleeping bag on Seth's other side.

Meanwhile, Kendra and Ingrid had set up and gotten into their own sleeping bags in the other tent. Although both tents were large enough to hold three sleepers, the girls' tent had more space with only two occupants.

Kendra found herself unable to fall asleep for a while, even after Ingrid had seemingly fallen into dreamland. She couldn't help but worry about Hugo. What would happen to Hugo if Ronodin found and did something to him very abruptly, before he could call for help?

Some time later, Seth could feel his body being shaken around. As his eyes were closed, he couldn't quite determine as to what exactly was going on.

"Wake up!" said Dale.

Feeling weary, Seth opened his eyes and saw that Dale was partially leaning over him, trying to get Warren's attention.

"Dale..." groaned Seth. "What are you doing? What time is it?"

"It's not even six..." whined Warren, as he let out a perturbed yawn.

"You need to get up," said Dale.

"Oh no!" gasped Seth, as a million thoughts came rushing into his mind. "Dale, what happened?"

"Nothing happened," said Dale, as Bracken started to emerge from his sleeping bag. "I just need Hugo back so he can get to work milking Viola. Nothing happened to him, right?"

"I guess not," said Bracken.

"I'll get him back," said Warren, as he crawled out of his sleeping bag and followed Dale out of the tent. "You two can sleep in for a bit longer."

"You really think Hugo's okay?" asked Seth, as Warren zipped up the tent from the outside.

"We didn't hear anything from Mendigo all night," said Bracken. "I think that's a good sign."

"Only it's not," said Seth. "If Hugo didn't spot Ronodin, then this whole mission was a complete waste."

"Regrettably. By not encountering any trouble, we haven't been able to make any progress."

"It's so early. How can Dale force himself to get up so early every single morning?"

"He's highly determined," said Bracken. "Let's just go back to sleep."

Seth nestled himself back underneath his covers and closed his eyes. A moment later, the tent was unzipped from the outside.

"Warren?" asked Seth, who wasn't even in the mood to open his eyes again.

"Yeah, it's me," said Warren. "I had to bring Hugo back for Dale. "He's fine, but I'm actually going to be going back to the cave and doing a bit of waiting there myself until breakfast."

"Oh, okay. Are you going to tell the girls?"

Warren shook his head. "I'd rather not. No need to wake them. They look so peaceful."

"Will you be okay like this?" asked Bracken.

"I've been through a lot worse," said Warren. "I've got the coin back from Hugo and everything, and I'll be holding onto the Translocator."

"Okay," said Seth. "See you later."

"See ya," said Warren, as he zipped the tent back up.

Seth proceeded to pull the top of his sleeping bag over his face. Although he was thankful that Hugo had been unharmed, he was also disappointed in the fact that Ronodin had not yet returned. Would he come back in time for Warren to spot him, or would his absence extend even further? Unable to focus any longer, Seth soon found himself falling back asleep.