Chapter 21: Problems in the Night

Grandpa proceeded to search his cell phone in hope of finding Trask's contact information.

"Found it," he said excitedly. "I can tell you where to go from here, Seth."

Seth looked down at the others, all of whom were confined to their orbs. "Uh, how should I go about doing this? I'm still a dragon. I can't just show up at Trask's front door and expect a warm welcome!"

"He's got a point," said Grandma. "If only we could make calls on our shrunken phones, we could just talk to him that way."

"This isn't like when we were rats," said Lance. "Seth can still speak English. What's to stop him from using another phone?"

"I could try using a pay phone," said Seth, "but I don't have any money on me."

"We made our way into a building just to use a computer last time," said David. "And we're technically already inside of one."

"Might as well just use a phone in here somewhere," said Seth.

Seth picked up the duffel bag and made his way down the flight of stairs. It felt a bit awkward walking down the stairs with the body and feet of a dragon, but Seth managed to get down to the next floor, then passed through a door.

Seth was now in a carpeted hallway with several doors to be found on each wall. He grasped the nearest doorknob and twisted it, only to learn that it was locked. Guessing that all the other doors were likely locked as well, Seth ripped the doorknob right out of the door, busting the lock open in the process.

Seth opened the door and entered the small, empty office. Much like the office he had been in the other day, this one bore little more than a desk, shelf, swivel chair and a few appliances. Seth picked up the receiver of the phone on the desk and placed it up to his head. "Okay, what's the number?"

Grandpa read the phone number to Seth, who proceeded to dial it. It rang about six times, before someone picked up on the other end.

"Who is this?" asked Trask, who sounded as though he was still half asleep.

"Trask, it's me, Seth Sorenson."

"Sorenson?" asked Trask groggily. "What?"

"You've got to help me! Fablehaven's been destroyed! The others have been shrunk!"

"What?" gasped Trask, who suddenly sounded far more alert.

Seth proceeded to tell Trask about how he and his group had been captured and shrunk, and how he was now currently a dragon.

"I find this a little hard to swallow," said Trask. "How do I know this isn't some elaborate prank that the Society is conducting?"

"Is there anything I could say to prove it?"

"You say you're with your family and friends?" asked Trask. "Then tell me. On what part of my body do I have a scar? You can discuss this with the others if you like."

Seth relayed the question to the others.

"The fourth toe on his left foot," said Grandpa. "It's a fact he shares with trusted Knights of the Dawn."

Seth gave Trask Grandpa's answer.

"Okay. And who're my three favorite cartoon characters?"

Seth lowered the receiver into the bag as he repeated the question.

"Daffy Duck," said Warren, "Homer Simpson and ALF, who's not really a cartoon character, although he did have two animated series if you want to count those."

"Thank you Warren," said Trask. "I believe that you're serious. Yes. All right, come down to my building and meet me. Where are you, anyway?"

"I don't know," replied Seth. "Just some building in Manhattan. But as a dragon, I can get around fairly quickly."

"In that case, take a moment to figure out where you are, then meet me in the lobby of my building in twenty minutes. Okay?"

"All right," said Seth. "See you then."

Seth hung up the phone and made his way out though the building, then back up to the roof.

"According to my phone," said Warren, you want to go... that way!"

Seth looked in the direction where Warren was pointing. He then proceeded to run towards the edge of the roof and flew off. As Seth flew through the city, he looked down into the open bag at Warren, who was still pointing in a particular direction. He presumably had a map of the city open on his phone.

Before long, Seth arrived at a certain building, where he flew down to the front door. As it was the dead of night, he didn't attract any attention at street level, even though most people could not see him as a dragon. Seth opened the door and walked into the vestibule. In front of Seth stood the inner door, beyond which lay the lobby. However, one either needed a key to enter, or could be buzzed in by a tenant via the intercom.

Through the locked door, Seth could see Trask approaching him. A worried look was written all over his face. Holding a crossbow in one hand, Trask slowly pushed open the door with the other.

"Seth?" asked Trask, still hiding behind his side of the door. "I don't believe it. Are you for real?"

"I am," said Seth. Even though Trask had not pointed his crossbow at him, Seth placed the bag on the floor and held his claws in the air.

Trask opened the door all the way and took a good look at Seth. "So the others are all in that bag?"

Seth nodded, prompting Trask to look down into the open bag and see the others for his own eyes. He let out a long sigh. "I can see we have a lot on our hands. Follow me, Seth."

Seth picked up the bag, then followed Trask through the lobby and into an elevator. As they rode up, Seth noticed that Trask couldn't help but stare at his appearance in awe. Once they reached the sixteenth floor, Trask led Seth down the hall to his door brought him into his apartment.

"Pardon my lukewarm reception," said Trask. "But not only is this predicament critically serious, it's also downright strange. Please, place the bag down in the living room."

Seth made his way into the living room and set the duffel bag down onto the glass coffee table. Trask then reached his hand into the bag, removing all of the orbs one after another.

"How're we going to get them open?" asked Seth. "I think they're impervious to most forces."

"You said that these things feed off of light magic and are weakened by darkness, correct?"

"Yeah, but I needed the help of Zavarok just to break out of mine. And... he's gone now."

"I don't know if a glass cutter would suffice," said Trask. "But I think I may have something that'll help. Wait right there."

Trask walked over to a cabinet and put on a pair of gloves. He then unlocked the cabinet with a small key that was on his keyring. He opened it up and took out a rough, jagged black crystal of sorts.

"What is that?"

"A fragment of solid dark energy. Pure malice. It could corrupt anyone who makes direct contact with it. If it weren't for these gloves I'm wearing, my mind might fill up with negative thoughts."

"May I ask what you're doing with something so dangerous?"

"After everything that happened at Zzyzx, the Knights of the Dawn seized Coulter's many relics. This fragment was something he used for testing purposes only. As I don't work in magical arts, I haven't much of a use for such a thing. But now may prove differently."

Trask grabbed hold of Bright's orb and gently placed the tip of the fragment upon it. The orb immediately shattered into thousands of pieces, which all immediately disappeared. Bright was covering her head with her arms out of fear, even after Trask had removed the fragment.

"Bright!" exclaimed Seth. "Are you all right?"

"I am exhausted," said Bright, falling down onto her side. "That stupid orb was continuously sucking away at my power."

"I got just the thing for you," said Trask, placing the dark fragment down on the floor. He went across the other side of the room and opened up another cabinet. This time he removed another crystal of sorts. This one was white and smooth.

"This is a light fragment," said Trask, as he bent down and moved the white crystal towards the dark fragment. As if it were being moved by a negative magnetic pull, the dark fragment slid away from the light one.

Trask then handed the crystal to Bright. As Bright touched the crystal, her body began to glow brilliantly.

"I feel way better," said Bright, as she allowed herself to magically grow back to her full size.

"Now for Clover," said Trask, placing the light fragment down and picking up the dark one. He then used it to shatter Clover's orb, and the free fairy headed towards the light fragment.

Trask continued to free more and more prisoners, until they were all no longer trapped in orbs. However, with the exception of the fairies, who had the power to change their size, everyone else had remained small.

"Hey, what about us?" asked Lance.

"Allow us," said Bright. "Raxtus, Geminus, step out of the way. You're a little big for the apartment, but we'll do you later."

As the dragons backed off, Bright and Clover used their magic on all of the shrunken humans and Bracken, causing them to grow back to the proper sizes.

"Thank god," said David. "We're back to normal."

"Well, the rest of you guys are," said Seth. "But what about me?"

"Let us give it a try," said Bright, as she and Clover readied their magic and unleashed it upon Seth. Soon Seth's dragon body was encased in glittering sparkles, but nothing seemed to take effect.

"It's not working!" said Clover. "Something's wrong."

"His bracelet!" said David, removing the accessory from his wrist. "Now that Zavarok's gone, I don't need this anymore."

"Ok," said Seth, sliding the bracelet onto his his wrist, which just barely fit. "Let's try this again."

The fairies used their magic upon Seth a second time. Still, nothing seemed to happen.

"Do you feel anything, Seth?" asked Clover, once she and Bright ceased their attempt.

"No. It feels like your magic is completely ineffective, even with this bracelet."

"Seth, you say that it was a potion that made you a dragon?" asked Trask.

"Yeah."

"Well, depending on the strength and potency of this potion, it may take more power than what Bright and Clover have combined to counteract it. The fact that you possibly drank too much may have made the transformation too strong to properly deal with."

"You mean, I'm stuck this way?"

Bright nodded. "We're sorry, but the magic that transformed you is just too powerful for us to deal with. At least, for now."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, Seth," replied Grandpa. "I will contact Tanu and see if he can offer a solution. But we still have far greater problems to deal with for the time being."

Seth looked down at the floor, upon which he was standing with two lizard-like feet instead of a pair of shoes connected to his ankles like he was used to.

"Don't try to feel too upset," said Grandma. "You can still help even as a dragon. In fact, it may even be beneficial to us."

"Look, I'm the one who got everyone into this whole stupid mess," blurted Seth. "Maybe I deserved for this to happen to me!"

"Seth, please," said Kendra. "I know you made a few mistakes, but you're not a bad person because of it..."

"No, I'm a bad dragon because of it."

"I'm serious! Your heart is in the right place. I know it is. Everyone else in this room knows it is. And you know it is."

Kendra placed her arms around Seth and gave him a firm hug. As she did, Seth could feel a flow of warm energy seeping into his body.

"Thank you," said Seth. "I feel better now."

"So where do we go from here?" asked Lance.

"Well, it's highly likely that Matthew and Hespera have moved on from the condominium," said Grandpa. "And besides. Before they arrived at Fablehaven, the rest of us were there awaiting Agad's arrival."

"But if Agad has travelled to Fablehaven and arrived there in our absence, he'll have seen the destruction that was brought to the place," stated Warren.

"So where would Agad be now?" asked Kendra.

"Well, his plane should've landed a few hours ago," said Grandpa. "After that, he was supposed to take a bus up to Crossroad Pass, where he was to phone me."

"But with your phone not in service, he couldn't do that," said Dale.

"True. But now that I've been restored to my proper size, my phone should be functioning properly again. I'm going to try and reach Agad right now."

Grandpa pulled out his phone and dialled Agad's number. As Grandpa held the phone to his head, there was a lengthy pause. Kendra could imagine that the phone was ringing on the other end, and that Grandpa was waiting for Agad to pick up.

"Agad!" gasped Grandpa. "Oh, thank goodness I was able to reach you!"

Grandpa went on to explain everything that had happened back at Fablehaven.

"So where are you now?" asked Grandpa, awaiting Agad's response over the phone.

"Where is he?" asked Trask. Grandpa ignored him and continued listening to Agad. "Maybe you should come here."

Grandpa proceeded to tell Agad that they were currently in Trask's apartment, then wished him goodbye and hung up.

"What's going on?" asked Seth.

"Agad's currently staying at a motel in Crossroad Pass. He says that some of the roads have been closed due to a forest fire, and was advised not to venture towards the vicinity of Fablehaven. When he was unable to contact us, Agad opted to stay at the motel since he was very tired, and planned to continue his investigation in the morning."

"So, what's happening now that you contacted Agad?" asked Warren.

"Agad is taking the next bus to New York City," replied Grandpa. "Once he gets here, he'll take a taxi to this building, and we're going to meet him."

"Couldn't we just fly out to Crossroad pass and meet up with Agad there?" asked Raxtus.

"I want to go back to Fablehaven!" snapped Geminus. "I have to know what happened to Vanessa!"

Raxtus gave Geminus a hug. "I know. I'm already terrified of what could've happened to her. Our baby."

"We understand your concern," said Grandma. "But why waste time and energy running back and forth? Once we meet up with Agad, we'll have access to the secondary set of artifacts. The Oculus can show us where anything is, and the Translocator will help us get around much quicker."

"She does have a point," said Raxtus. "As bad as things are now, waiting for Agad to arrive with the instruments is probably the wisest option."

"But he won't get here for several hours," said Lance. "What'll we do until then?"

"I don't know about you," said David. "But I'm very tired! I've had a really long day!"

The others all agreed in unison.

"I understand your situation fully," said Trask. "But, I only have one bed. Mine. And aside from my couch, I don't have anywhere else for people to sleep."

"Raxtus and I don't even need beds," said Geminus. "Not sure about Seth, though."

"Yes, but that leaves ten humans, two fairies and only one couch," said Trask. "I'm sorry."

Leave that to us," said Clover, as she conjured up a twin-size mattress and pillow on the floor in front of her. She then collapsed onto the mattress.

"Clover!" gasped Warren. "Are you okay?"

"I feel weak. I don't think I can make more!"

"I have a solution," said Bright. "Though you humans might need to take an aspirin in the morning."

Bright unleashed her magic upon all of the humans aside from Trask, causing them to all lie down on the floor feeling very drowsy.

Seth watched as all the humans became very tired, and were soon sound asleep in a matter of mere seconds. He certainly didn't want to be sleeping on the bare floor like the rest of them.

Good night," said Clover, as she and Bright disappeared. Trask then let out a yawn and retreated to his bedroom.

Guess that just leaves us," said Raxtus, as he and Geminus settled down on the corner of Clover's mattress and curled up.

"Uh, guys?" asked Seth. "How am I supposed to fall asleep? I'm not used to being a dragon!"

"Oh look," said Raxtus. "Mr. Screw-everything-up wants our help!"

"Because of you, we're in this mess and we don't even know where our daughter is!" cried Geminus.

"Look, I'm trying to help! I rescued you all from Matthew's place, right?"

"After getting us all into trouble in the first place," noted Raxtus.

"Look, I'm sorry!"

"Just leave us alone," said Geminus, "we just want to sleep."

"So do I! Can't you at least give me some advice?"

"Yeah, I've got some advice you can use," said Raxtus. "Stop doing the wrong thing all the time and think about your actions. Maybe then you won't get into so much unwanted trouble. Now quiet down and don't bother us again."

Raxtus and Geminus closed their eyes and turned their heads away from Seth. If they weren't going to help him, he'd just have to make do on his own.

Looking around the room, Seth saw that the mattress that nobody was sleeping on the couch. Seth crept around the people who were sleeping on the floor, then plopped his dragon body onto the cushions, lying down on his backside.

It felt somewhat awkward, being that Seth was a dragon and all. But because he was overly exhausted, despite the situation, Seth soon fell fast asleep.