Chapter 25: The Great Barrier Breach
After dinner was finished, Seth was at least feeling somewhat better about his current situation. If nothing else, at least the prospect of seeking assistance from the vemors brought a him sense of hope. With the amazing mole-like diggers on the Knight's side, they would hopefully be able to bore through the rock that spanned underneath the expanded lava moat, creating a passage that they would then be able to traverse.
Of course, there was still the issue of having to wait for the vemors residing at Mythic Grove to emerge from their burrow, which would likely not happen for a couple of days. However, there did not appear to be any other solutions which one might be able to deem more feasible. Compared to trying to dig a tunnel without the assistance of the vemors, waiting a few days to seek their assistance, then letting them dig the tunnel was by far the faster option.
Over the course of dinner, Grandpa had suggested that the Knights of the Dawn should take it easy for the rest of the day. He felt that for the next few days, until it was time to meet with the vemors, that everyone should get in some extra training. Not that any of them were slouches, but Grandpa figured that the more training they all had, the better off they would be.
Although he was not in the best of spirits due to what had transpired with the Sphinx earlier that same day, Seth was at least willing to spend some time with the rest of his family. For the next few hours that followed dinner, the family all sat out on the back porch patio.
Ingrid, who had sat down next to Seth, tried to start up a conversation with him several times. However, every time she prompted him with a question, Seth's answer was always a simple one word answer, be it positive or negative. Eventually, after failing to get Seth's interest, Ingrid politely got up and went over to be with Kendra.
Before long, the sun had fully set, and twilight had started to creep its way across the sky from the east. It was now time for Seth to head out to the Old Manor for the night.
As the family made their way back into the house, Grandma presented Seth with a suitcase, containing a change of clothes, some personal belongings, and a few other provisions. Saying goodnight to the rest of the family, Seth then went back outside, where he met up with Bracken, Clover, Stargleam, Raxtus, Geminus and all of the reindeer.
Once Seth had seated himself upon Raxtus' back, the fairy dragons, Bracken, Clover and the reindeer all flew off into the air in the direction of the Old Manor, while Stargleam galloped across the ground beneath them. As they were not flying terribly fast, it was easy for the unicorn to keep up with everyone else's pace.
The group soon reached the Old Manor, where they came down for a landing by the front porch, just as Stargleam caught up with them. Seth proceeded to climb down off of Raxtus' back, hauling his suitcase around in one hand.
"Well," said Bracken, "this is it. Are you ready, Seth?"
"I guess so," replied Seth. "I don't think I can get myself any more prepared than I already am."
"Understood," said Bracken.
"Do you think the five of us are enough?" asked Geminus. "Last night, my power alone wasn't strong enough to restrain the darkness within Seth."
"Here's hoping. The power within Seth is indeed strong, if what happened with the Sphinx is anything to go by. However, there are no detrimental outlets in the area to leach off of Seth's darkness. At least, none that have access to him."
"Either way, our combined power ought to be a lot stronger than Geminus' alone," said Stargleam.
"Besides," said Clover. "The reindeer are all here, reporting for duty. If anything peculiar happens, they'll be ready for action."
The reindeer all nodded.
"That does sound assuring," said Seth. "Okay. Let's do this. Use your powers to restrain my darkness."
"Okay," said Bracken, as he Clover, Raxtus, Geminus and Stargleam all gathered in a circle around Seth.
Seth watched as Bracken proceeded to transform into his unicorn form, so that he was now surrounded by two unicorns, two fairy dragons and one fairy angel.
"Everyone," said Bracken, "It is time. Lend Seth your power now."
Seth watched in awe as the five allies of light all exerted energy from their bodies onto his. Light energy shimmered from the horns of the unicorns, fiery energy came flowing out of the mouths of the dragons, while green sparkles glistened out of Clover's hands.
Within a moment, Seth could feel a warm, comforting glow encasing his entire body. At that point, the creatures all stopped exerting their energies upon him.
"There," said Bracken. "It is done. How do you feel, Seth?"
"I feel... Great," replied Seth. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, the but effects of the protective magic seemed to fill his entire body with positive emotions and feelings of security and confidence.
"Good," said Clover. "That means our power is working."
"I guess I can just go up to bed now," said Seth.
"Of course," said Bracken. "You should be fine. Remember, you can call someone if you need anything at all. And the reindeer will be guarding the house, so you should be safe."
"Thanks, you guys," said Seth. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem," said Raxtus. "We just hope that you get this whole thing resolved soon, though. I don't like the idea of having to set up extra protection on you like this."
"Believe me, I couldn't agree more," said Seth. "Goodnight, you guys."
The various fairy creatures all said goodnight to Seth, then proceeded to head back towards the main house. Seth then watched as two reindeer, Dasher and Vixen, stood guard at different points at the front of the house. Four other reindeer trotted around to the sides of the house. The last two, Dancer and Prancer, flew up to the ledge outside the window of the bedroom where Seth would be staying.
Seth then made his way into the house and closed the door. Before moving to Fablehaven, Seth always savored those seldom times when he had the house all to himself. However, now that he was all alone in the Old Manor, Seth wanted nothing more than to be with his family.
Seth went upstairs to the second floor, where he washed up and changed into his nightwear. He then entered the bedroom where he had slept the previous night and walked over to the window. Glancing through the glass, Seth could see Dancer and Prancer standing guard on the roof outside the window, both of them facing forward.
Knowing that he was in good company, Seth switched off the light, plopped himself onto the bed and pulled the cover over his body. As the window blind had to be kept open in order for the reindeer to keep their eyes on him, Seth opted to slip a blindfold over his eyes, as light from outside was pouring in through the window. Settled in bed at last, Seth allowed himself to eventually fall asleep.
At last, Seth had finally found solitude. He was finally in a peaceful state of mind. Even though it was probably going to be a few more days before they would venture back into the Demon Domain, at least now there was assurance. Seth could wait it out, could he not? Enough precautions had been taken into consideration, so success seemed very plausible to him.
Seth found his slumber brought to an abrupt halt, as he felt several sturdy, unidentifiable objects pressing against the side of his body. Too stiff to be hands, Seth pulled the cover away from his face.
Standing by Seth's side, between the bed and the window, were Dancer and Prancer, both of whom were nudging against his body with their antlers. The mere sight of the two reindeer had really startled him.
Seth groaned. "What's going on?" he mumbled, as he tried to push the reindeer's antlers away with his arm, before noticing what the cause for alarm even was.
The window behind the reindeer had been smashed open. Intrigued, Seth slipped out of bed, and could see that hundreds of pieces of broken glass were presently scattered along the floor between the bed and the window. Clearly, the reindeer had smashed through the glass in order to get into the bedroom.
"You did this?" asked Seth, as he slipped down from the other side of the bed.
Dancer and Prancer both nodded, as Seth placed his feet into a pair of slippers. Seth crept up to the window, then glanced down to the ground below. Four other reindeer were currently trying to hold off a large, black, scorpion-like creature with their antlers.
"What's that?" gasped Seth, who didn't recognize the creature as any of the ones that resided at Fablehaven.
Seth quickly picked up his phone that had been sitting on the nightstand, and wasted no time in calling his grandfather. As he listened to the phone ringing, he noticed that the time was currently only 12:15.
"Seth!" exclaimed Grandpa, as he answered the call on the other line. "Comet and Cupid woke us up by banging on my bedroom window! What's going on?"
"Grandpa! There's some big scorpion-creature-thing outside the Old Manor! He's trying to fight his way past the other reindeer!"
"Big scorpion thing? I don't know what that is, but it sounds bad. We'll head over there right away! Just try to hang in there! Hopefully the reindeer can protect you! Hang on!"
Once Grandpa hung up, Seth proceeded to grab the Pyruby from his bag, then scurried over to the window.
Looking back down at the reindeer on the lawn, Seth watched as the scorpion swung its tail towards Donner, only for it to get blocked by the reindeer's antlers. In retaliation, the scorpion attempted to grab Donner with its pincer, which the reindeer barely dodged.
"That thing's too strong for you guys," said Seth, as Dancer and Prancer both nodded in agreement by his side. "Hey, wait a moment! You reindeer can fly! Just take to the air, that scorpion will never harm us!"
Seth then stuck his head out the broken window and raised his voice. "Reindeer! Forget that dumb scorpion! Just fly to safety! I'll blast that stupid thing with my Pyruby!"
Seth watched as the reindeer that were on the ground all bounced up a few feet into the air, then fell back down.
"Fly!" exclaimed Seth, wondering why the reindeer were seemingly grounded. "Why can't you fly?"
Suddenly, a thought hit Seth. Could the scorpion have done something to the reindeer, rendering them incapable of flight?
"If you can't fly... I dunno, just run!"
Just then, the scorpion slashed one of the reindeer with the blade on its tail, raking the animal along the side of its body, leaving a bloody, red mark in its path.
"Vixen!" gasped Seth. Without so much as thinking, Seth climbed out of the broken window and onto the outside roof. He then leaped over to the branch of a nearby tree, clasping onto it with his hands, before letting go and plummeting several feet to the ground below. Dancer and Prancer landed on the ground immediately after him, and made their way over to where the scorpion and other reindeer were.
Now that Seth was on the ground, he had earned the scorpion's attention. However, from this perspective, Seth was now able to witness the creature's true size. Bigger than any of the reindeer, it was roughly the size of a hippopotamus without taking its pincers or tail into account.
Seth held out the Pyruby and aimed it at the scorpion. However, he was unable to get a clear shot, no matter how he angled himself, as there was always a reindeer or two standing between him and the hippo. Vixen was presently huddled up on the ground, while the other reindeer were trying to defend her and ward off the scorpion.
"Get out of the way!" cried Seth, as he was still hoping to blast the scorpion with the Pyruby's fire.
The reindeer all moved aside from where they were huddled, now giving Seth a clear shot of the scorpion.
"Take this!" snapped Seth, as he firmly clasped the Pyruby in his hand, causing a stream of fire to blast out of the relic and go flying directly into the scorpion.
The scorpion scowled, then proceeded to march towards Seth, seemingly unfazed by the fire.
"H-h-h-hey, get away from me!" muttered Seth, as he cautiously backed away from the scorpion, who threatened him by clenching its pincers and hoisting its scythe-like tail upwards.
Not knowing where else to go, Seth ran back up to the front pornch and attempted to open the door. Locked. Of course! He had locked himself out, and the key was still upstairs in the bedroom! Now how was he supposed to get back in?
At that moment, Seth turned around and saw that the scorpion had now climbed up onto the porch, leaving Seth with his back against the door.
"Get away from me!" snapped Seth, as the scorpion attempted to clamp onto him with one of its pincers, only narrowly missing its target.
Seth then watched as several reindeer caught the scorpion by its tail with their antlers, and attempted to pull the beast away from Seth. However, they could not so much as budge it. The scorpion must have been either real powerful or real heavy, if not both.
Suddenly, Seth felt an overwhelming amount of energy coursing through his body. "Leave me alone!" he roared.
The scorpion then lowered its pincers and tail, and proceeded to retreat from Seth, backing away down the porch steps and onto the ground. That was it. The creature was now listening to him, and had obeyed his command to leave him alone.
"The reindeer!" snapped Seth. "Leave them alone, too! In fact, stop moving altogether!"
Heeding Seth's command, the scorpion came to a halt and remained completely still.
"This is cool," said Seth. "Darkness or not, at least this scorpion thing is obeying me! I should've tried this in the first place, instead of resorting to the Pyruby, which didn't even work."
With the scorpion still stationary, Seth proceeded to walk over to where Vixen was resting. However, before Seth could reach the fallen reindeer, two more of them lowered their antlers before him, blocking off his path.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" asked Seth. "I'm trying to help Vixen, not hurt her!"
"Seth!" cried Kendra's voice from a distance.
Seth turned his head and saw various figures flying towards him, coming from the direction of the house.
"What's going on?" asked Ingrid, as she and Geminus soared down to where Seth, the reindeer and the scorpion all were.
"Seth, are you all right?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, as she climbed down off of Cupid's backside.
"What is that thing?" asked Mr. Sorenson, pointing at the scorpion as he too climbed down from Cupid. "Did it hurt you, Seth?"
"It hurt Vixen!" exclaimed Seth, directing everyone's attention over to the fallen reindeer.
"No!" gasped Dale.
"Everybody!" shouted Grandpa, amongst a lot of banter. "TIME OUT! Vixen has been injured, I insist that we heal her immediately."
"I'll do it," said Warren. "But what about that scorpion? It's not moving."
"I've got it under control," said Seth. "I promise."
Warren nodded, then walked over to where Vixen was sitting, blood seeping out from her wound. "Poor girl. You'll be okay."
Warren proceeded to pour the Sands of Sanctity upon the reindeer's wound. Within seconds, Vixen's wound magically healed itself up. In response, she licked Warren's hand and got back up on her hooves.
"What's the deal with the scorpion?" asked Ingrid, as she eyed the creature. "I've never even heard of such a thing living at Fablehaven."
"That's because it's not from Fablehaven," said Grandpa. "In fact, I've never seen one of these things before in my life."
"If it's not from Fablehaven, then where did it come from?"
"Possibly the Demon Domain, I'm afraid," said Bracken. "Even though it's not doing anything, that creature is radiating a substantial amount of darkness. I'm feeling weakened just by being near that thing."
"If it's from the Demon Domain, then how'd it get here?" asked Dale.
Everyone turned to look at Seth.
"It wasn't me!" exclaimed Seth. "I was in bed the whole time! Asleep!"
Dancer and Prancer both nodded.
"Nobody's blaming you," said Grandpa. "It wasn't intentional, at least. But clearly something had to have happened in order for this scorpion to show up."
"But still," said Kendra. "What caused the scorpion to even be here?"
Clover walked up to Seth and held out her hands. "Yeesh! Seth, you're radiating a tremendous amount of darkness!"
"Not to mention our protective spell we placed upon you has vanished," said Geminus.
"What else is new?" asked Seth.
"This does not look good," said Bracken, as he transformed into his unicorn form. "I'm going to sense the preserve as best I can. See if we can figure out how exactly this scorpion got here. Please do not distract me."
Bracken raised his head upward, and a beam of rainbow-colored energy shot out of his horn, up into the sky.
"What do we do about this scorpion?" asked Ingrid.
"As long as it's not moving, it's not posing much of a threat," said Grandpa. "We can detain it, or if worst comes to worst, there's always elimination."
"Oh no!" gasped Bracken, as the beam that he was shooting up into the sky suddenly ceased up.
"What's the matter?" asked Kendra. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," replied Bracken, whose eyes were bulging. "But what I've discovered is very bad."
"How bad?" asked Seth.
"Well... I know now how that scorpion got here. In fact, anyone can get here now."
"What do you mean?" asked Grandma.
"The barrier that protects Fablehaven... It's gone."
"Gone?" asked Grandpa.
"Gone. As the situation stands now, anybody is able to come and go as they please. The register that's supposed to regulate order on this preserve... With the magic that protects Fablehaven now gone, I'm afriad that the register is nothing more than an ordinary book at this point."
Seth lowered his head and shook it. "No. This can't be happening. I don't want things to be this way."