Chapter 21: Mysteries

Kendra opened her eyes and saw that she was now standing back home in the living room at Fablehaven, holding forward one hand that was resting upon the Translocator. With her were Bracken, Warren, Grandma and Dale.

"That was pretty nerve wracking," said Dale, as he let go of the Translocator. "Being locked up like that, not knowing if we'd ever get released."

"Try being trapped in a sub-dimensional room, with your only exit to the rest of reality having been severed," said Warren. "Then we'll talk."

Seth, Ingrid, and the rest of the family walked into the living room. From the looks on their faces, Kendra could tell that they were all relieved to be seeing Grandma and Dale once again.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are all right," said Grandpa, as he walked towards Grandma and gave her a hug.

"Let's sit down," said Bracken. "I think the question everyone wants to know, is what happened to you two?"

"Well, it was very strange," said Grandma, as she sat down in an armchair. "Dale and I had left Fablehaven. We were out on the highway, driving towards Crossrorad Pass, when we got pulled over by a police car."

"I hadn't been speeding or anything," said Dale. "But I had to stop, it was the police."

"And this wasn't any ordinary cop," said Grandma. "It was the police captain and his partner."

The rest of the family made strange looks that they directed towards Grandma and Dale.

"The captain?" asked Grandpa.

"Yeah," said Dale. "He's in charge of the whole police district in and around Crossroad Pass."

"I can't believe we just experienced what we did," said Grandma.

"How did you two actually get arrested?" asked Seth. "What did you do?"

"Literally nothing!" blurted Dale. "As soon as I lowered my window, the captain and his partner pulled out their guns on us! They demanded that we get out of the car immediately! We had no choice! They were going to fire on us. We had to get out of the car."

"We tried asking them what was going on," said Grandma. "But the other cop kept telling us to shut up. Meanwhile, any time we tried to speak, the captain kept saying that we had the right to remain silent. Over and over again!"

"There was nothing we could do! If either one of us made a move, they probably would've shot us! These guys were not kidding around!"

"They had guns," said Grandma. "And being police officers, they could've easily shot our tires, or called for backup. We were unarmed."

"No one's blaming you for going along with the cops," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Strange as all this sounds."

"Once we were silent, they made us put on handcuffs," said Dale. "And they made us sit in the back of their car."

"Then what?" asked Ingrid.

"They drove us to the station," replied Grandma. "They escorted us in. The woman at the desk asked what was going on, but the chief assured her that he had everything under control."

"They brought us straight down to the holding cells," said Dale. "There they confiscated our phones, then ordered us to enter a cell. Then they locked the door and left."

"So that's why you never got a chance to call us," said Kendra.

Grandma sighed. "At least they were considerate enough to remove our handcuffs first."

"Warren mentioned that our arrest was never reported either," said Dale.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "And as we are all aware, that is highly irregular."

"You're forgetting about the distractor spell that was there," said Bracken.

Seth slapped his hands together, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "So, is it safe to assume that Dominera is at least partially responsible for all this?"

"We have no solid proof, to be frank," said Warren. "But yeah, I'd be willing to wager that she's got a hand in all this."

"What I'd like to know, is what exactly has she done?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "How does a dragon get the police, who can't even see magical creatures, to follow her orders?"

"Magical milk," said Kendra. "Which we know she has."

"But how would it even affect the cops?" asked Ingrid. "A couple of random cops probably wouldn't be concerned about the magical world."

"Maybe she doesn't even need the milk for this," said Bracken. "You're forgetting that dragons can turn into humans. Psuedo humans, yes. But they can still pass for normal humans, and literally no one would be the wiser. Remember Gavin?"

Kendra gasped. "I wish I couldn't. But your theory does hold water. Dominera could have assumed her human form. And from there, she could've somehow forced the cops to arrest Grandma and Dale."

"How could Dominera have forced them to just do something like that?" asked Grandma.

"She forced Skyfrost and Firesquall to attack us earlier," said Warren. "I wouldn't put that sort of capability past her."

"This whole situation keeps getting crazier and crazier," said Seth. "We need to take out Dominera now more than ever."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" asked Kendra. "Dominera is far bigger, stronger and more powerful than any of us. And we don't know of any weakness she might have that we could actually exploit."

"Why do you have to be so negative, Kendra?"

"I'm not being negative. I'm being honest. There's nothing we can do to stop Dominera. We don't stand a chance against her."

Suddenly, Grandpa's face lit up, and he raised a hand.

"What is it?" asked Grandma.

"I just had an idea," said Grandpa. "One that would enable us to actually kill Dominera."

"Really?" asked Seth. "What are you talking about?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes, then sighed. "Well, I do have an idea, and it most likely would work. But it's rather... dangerous."

"We kind of signed up for this sort of thing when we became knights," said Ingrid.

"Yeah," said Warren. "Danger is my middle name. Well actually, it's Lachlan. But Ingrid's point still stands."

"Dad, just tell us all what you're going on about," said Mr. Sorenson. "What's this big idea you've got?"

"All right," said Grandpa. "I was going to propose that you use the Skullifier on Dominera."

"The Skullifier?" asked Kendra. "It's been so long. I'd nearly forgotten about it."

"We do still have it," said Grandma. "It's just that after you dealt with Oblivion, there was no demand for it. It didn't work in the Demon Domain, and it would've been fatal against Ronodin."

"Of course!" said Bracken. "Magic is heavily woven into Dominera's very being. The Skullifier might just be enough to do her in, like it would've been to a unicorn like Ronodin."

"Which is precisely why I'm concerned about all this," said Grandpa. "If something unforeseen were to happen, the Skullifier could backfire, or be used against us. And a unicorn like yourself would be in a lot of trouble if that ever happened."

"I'm aware of that. Still, the power to nullify the magic of Dominera and all those other dragons might just give us the upper hand. Even at their sizes, those dragons be susceptible to our own magic if we play our cards right."

"We'd still be putting ourselves in a great deal of danger, facing all of those dragons head on," said Kendra. "But this does feel like it would be the best chance we have of dealing with Dominera."

"Any naysayers?" asked Seth.

Everyone else in the room remained silent, as they turned to stare at Seth.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's just head into Dominera' lair and deal with her already!"

"Not so fast," said Bracken. "If Dominera has been influencing the local police, it's impossible to say where she is right now, or what she could even be up to."

"Bracken's got a point," said Warren. "If we go to the lair and Dominera isn't there, it would be a huge risk."

"We've got the Skullifier," said Ingrid. "We'll just use it on any dragon who gets in our way."

"But if just a single dragon learns about the Skullifier and manages to escape, what's to stop them from later alerting Dominera about it? The biggest advantage we have right now is that none of those dragons knows that we even have it. If Dominera learns of its existence, there's no telling what she might do."

"Okay, okay," said Seth. "I get your point. I'll use the Oculus first and find out where Dominera actually is. And then we'll go after her."

"I'll go get it," said Grandma, as she got up from her seat. "I'll be right back."

Grandma made her way out of the living room and headed up the stairs to the second floor. Seconds later, she came back down, returning to the living room with the Oculus in hand.

"Here, Seth," said Grandma, as she handed the Oculus to her grandson, then sat back down in her seat.

"Okay," said Seth. "I'm ready for this."

Seth closed his eyes and firmly squeezed the Oculus within his hands. He began to envision Dominera within his mind. Her diamond-like scales and vibrant purple eyes had left quite the impression on him, even though he had only ever actually seen Dominera for two brief instances in his entire life.

However, after a considerable amount of focusing, Dominera had failed to appear in Seth's vision. In fact, nothing could be seen. Just a void of complete blackness.

"It's not working!" blurted Seth. "I can't seem to find her!"

"What do you mean you can't see her?" asked Grandpa.

"What do you think it means? I can't locate Dominera through the Oculus!"

"Keep trying," said Grandma.

"I am trying!" quipped Seth, still failing to bring Dominera into his view.

"Oh, come on!" groaned Warren. "How could Dominera possibly know that we even have something like the Oculus, and know how to shield herself from it?"

"Well, whatever she did, it's working," said Seth, as he opened his eyes and returned his viewpoint to that of the real world.

"Dominera is quite powerful," said Bracken. "But to shield herself from the view of the Oculus? Without a proper understanding of how the Oculus functions, or a powerful influx of darkness, I don't see how it'd be possible to keep the Oculus from detecting its target."

"Dominera must have found a way," said Mr. Sorenson. "Or, she already had some sort of magic protecting her body, from before any of you got involved with her."

"But protection from the Oculus?" asked Bracken. "That sort of thing wouldn't just happen by coincidence. The power of the artifacts is unparalleled."

"Unless, Dominera is a greater force than what we've perceived her as," said Kendra.

"But if I can't so much as locate Dominera, what should we do?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure," replied Grandpa. "As much as I still want for Viola to be back here at Fablehaven, the matter of what went on with Grandma and Dale still has me highly concerned. And while venturing back into Dominera's lair poses itself as a high risk endeavor, trying to find information about the wrongful arrest may still prove to be important to us as well."

At that moment, Grandpa's phone could be heard ringing from within his pocket.

"Hold on," said Grandpa, as he pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up to his face. "Oh, hi Trask. You what? Really? Yeah, go ahead and send it."

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid, as Grandpa held his phone out in front of his face.

Grandpa proceeded to hold his phone with the screen facing outward, and turned it towards Grandma and Dale. Neither Kendra nor Seth managed to get a glimpse of whatever had been on the screen.

"Does this man look familiar to either of you?" asked Grandpa.

"That's him!" blurted Dale.

"The police chief!" said Grandma. "The very man who arrested us today."

Grandpa nodded, then held the phone back up to his face. "Yeah, that seems to be him, all right. You will? Great. Thank you so much. I'll talk you later."

"What exactly is going on?" asked Kendra, as Grandpa pressed the hang up button on his phone's screen.

"Trask managed to identify the police chief who was responsible for your grandmother and Dale's arrest. We now have the chief's name and his home address. His name is Emmanuel Williams, and he lives in Crossroad Pass."

"Okay," said Ingrid. "It's nice to have this information and everything. But how exactly will it help us?"

"Ingrid's got a point," said Warren. "We can't exactly go knocking on this guy's front door, demanding answers."

"I understand," said Grandpa. "He may have been under Dominera's influence or something when he made the arrest."

"So how exactly are we supposed to obtain confidential information from the chief of police?" asked Kendra. "If the arrest was never even reported, this guy's going to think it's a little odd if a bunch of complete strangers suddenly show up at his house and start interrogating him."

"Yeah, I'm not entirely on board on this whole thing," said Warren. "Even if we get someone else like Trask to go in our stead, someone showing up at this chief's house and asking about something that was kept under wraps signals a few too many red flags for my liking."

"So how exactly do we approach this guy?" asked Seth. "And how do we get him to tell the truth?"

Grandpa made a fist, then pressed his knuckles against his forehead. "I don't know," he sighed. "Trask identifying the chief has been a tremendous help. But this is still a delicate situation we have on our hands. Trying to get this information out of the chief sounds like it would be incredibly risky."

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "I just remembered something! Something that might help us!"

"What's that?" asked Bracken. "Tell us."

"We know who Chief Williams is, and where he lives now. Why don't we just spy on him?"

"Spy on him?" asked Grandma. "I don't know. Your intentions are good, but you and I both know that such a thing would be incredibly risky."

"I know. But do you remember that whole situation with David and Zavarok? How we were unsure as to whether David's family was on the level or not?"

"Yeah, I remember," said Warren. "We went down to David's house in Miami. We shrunk ourselves, snuck inside, and managed to overhear what his parents really knew. Glad you remembered that, Kendra. I'd nearly forgotten about that whole experience."

"That does sound like a good idea," said Grandpa. "So long as you don't get caught, of course. It worked the first time, and no one else was none the wiser."

"But what if Chief Williams doesn't get around to talking about the false arrest while we're around?" asked Seth.

"He may very well not," said Mr. Sorenson. "But any suspicious information that you might overhear could very well be useful to us."

"Can we see this guy's picture?" asked Ingrid.

"Yes, of course," said Grandpa, as he held his phone outwards for the rest of the family to see. On the screen, a headshot of a middle-aged African-American man with a small mustache could be seen. He looked to be fairly happy in the photograph, if the smile on his face was of any indication.

"So this is the guy," said Seth.

"Mom," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Dale. Are you absolutely sure that this guy was the same man who arrested you? He doesn't seem like a bad person or anything."

"Don't let that picture fool you," said Dale. "He was downright furious towards us. Even his behavior, it didn't feel natrual at all."

"But, that is the man who arrested us," said Grandma. "He was anything but nice to us. And for no good reason."

"Emmanuel Williams," said Warren, as he typed something into his tablet. "Crossroad Pass. Here we go!"

Kendra, Seth, along with everyone else in the room, looked over at the screen of Warren's tablet. There was a gallery of pictures showing Chief Williams in civilian clothes, posing in various shots with his wife, two children and various other family members and friends.

"This really doesn't add up," said Mrs. Sorenson. "This chief doesn't seem like such a bad person. And he seems to have a lot of friends. At least online."

"Something is up," said Grandma. "Had it not been for our experience with him today, I'd say that Chief Williams seems like a nice guy."

"This online profile could just be a ruse," said Warren. "But the account was opened years ago. I want to say that Dominera is manipulating this guy in some way."

"So what do you say?" asked Kendra. "That we go to the chief's house and spy on him, and hopefully learn about what's really going on?"

"Hold on!" blurted Mr. Sorenson. "If Dominera is beyond all of this chaos, who's to say that she doesn't have some degree of security around the chief's house?"

"I'll be sure to sense for anything that's out of sorts when we get there," replied Bracken. "I'll know if anything's amiss. But nevertheless, I'd like to spy on the chief anyway, and see if there's any useful information that we could learn."

"I guess it's settled, then," said Grandpa. "You knights are to travel to Crossroad Pass and scope out the house of Emmanuel Williams. Hopefully, you'll be successful in this endeavor."

"Understood," said Bracken. "We should make preparations to head out as soon as we possibly can."