Chapter 9: Missing Truth

Seth and Eve were bantering good-naturally well they looked for Warren about endless things. They figured it was best to stay at least a little up-beat, which was quite easy comparing the two of their personalities. The most recent being; "No way, I'm way braver than you." Seth said.

Eve snorted, "You can just go out and kill something whenever you want. Where's the bravery in that?"

"Oh? And what have you done princess?" Seth asked.

"I've had to sneak out and earn my adventure." She said, "Not everything is handed to you on a golden platter."

"Says the princess of the fairy folk." Seth teased.

"I didn't ask for the title," she rolled her eyes. "I'd much rather be out on an adventure."

"What adventure?" Seth asked curiously, turning over a rock to look for his cousin. Don't judge him, he was getting desperate, alright? You never know where Warren could squeeze himself into these days, Seth was curious about how he got into these spaces. But alas, he was nigh there.

"Anything," Eve said. "Preferably something cool, but I'm not too picky."

"What's it like? Being some fancy princess?" Seth asked, "I'm just a peasant."

Eve snorted, "Terrible."

"That bad, huh?" Seth asked.

"The worst." Eve said, "Go to dinner, sir on a throne, half an hour of time in the gardens. Not saying a word and just nodding like some idiot. Wear a dress all day and never leave the castle."

"You hate wearing dresses?" Seth asked.

"Duh," Eve said. "Do you like wearing them?"

Seth laughed and blushed at the same time. "No."

"Then I don't see what the big deal is," Eve said casually. Seth had to admit she had a point. "You got to ask me a question, now I get to go. What's it like being an adventurer?"

"Amazing," Seth said instantly.

"Elaborate," Eve said.

"It's just fun," Seth said brilliantly.

"Alright, I need to confirm something. You're a shadow charmer right?" Seth nodded. "Tell me about it. My brother tried to get me to read about it, but I didn't want to, for obvious reasons."

"Sounds like Kendra," Seth remarked. "But it's pretty cool. I can talk to the undead, order around some shadow-y figures, speak different languages, make things a little colder, but I'm not very good at that yet. I can also shade walk, which is basically hiding in shadows."

"Why don't you do it?" Eve asked.

"Because people get mad when I do it." Seth said, "Something about too many pranks."

"No ones around here," Eve looked around, confirming her point. "Show me."

Seth smirked, as he obliged and practically vanished into the nearby trees shadows, to emerge a few feet away in another tree, following a small path of if. Though he was still somewhat visible, due to it being daytime, he knew he was tricky to see.

"That was pretty cool," Eve admitted. "Can you do it with multiple people? Through physical contact?"

"Never tried actually." Seth admitted. "Probably not though."

"One day, you're going to try it with me, after we find your cousin." Eve promised.

"Sure," Seth said. "That sounds fun."

"Is there some way you can locate your cousin with that?" She asked.

Seth shook his head, "I wish. It would come in handy for hide and seek."

Eve cocked her head. "What is that?"

"Oh, it's basically a game where someone hides and the other tries to find them."

"I don't know much about the world outside the fair folk," Eve admitted. "I have a decent understanding, more than most people, but there are times where it is a little tricky for me. I'm trying though."

"It's alright," Seth said.

"Where is Warren?" Eve asked, looking around once more, her face scrunched up. "We really need to find him and help Kendra."

Seth's mind snapped back to reality. "Your right," he said. "Unless there are any cookie jars nearby, he should be here by now." He knew they were starting to get concerned when they didn't laugh.

Kendra was floating, no mind, no soul. Just the comforting dark. If she could have sighed, she would have. But she could think and she used this moment to control her thoughts of what had happened. She knew she was dreaming and she might as well make the most of it.

She knew Ronodin wouldn't kill her. He had done the right thing, hadn't he? She honestly wasn't sure. And the women at the shrine had called her, her handmaiden… just like the person in the dream. She knew there was some sort of pattern, she just couldn't see it.

The heaviness on her eyelids was as if the whole world was weighing them down. She had never felt so tired in her life, but she felt the need to open up her eyes. Her mind was a little foggy as well, but she was piecing things back together. All of a sudden, she jumped up, remembering anything. She was just about to faint from all the action, but a strong hand steadied her. Out of instinct, she depended on it.

"Deep breaths," a voice soothed.

Kendra obliged, taking a nice, long sigh. She looked around to see who was behind her and immediately jumped, backing into a defensive position. "Go away," she said, feeling a lot weaker than she would care to admit.

"How are you feeling?" Ronodin ignored her.

"Dizzy, thanks to you." Kendra was surprised at the harshness in her tone, but it wasn't exactly unjustified either. She was really having a hard time trying to love this guy, she was starting to question her previous taste in men.

Ronodin sighed and Kendra took that moment to look around. They were in a dark, secluded room with walls made of grey stone. This gave her no clue to where they really were, but the question slipped out of her lips before she could stop it. "Where are we?" She asked.

He smirked, "I guess you'll have to find out."

"What is going on?" Kendra asked, "You say you're my friend but you just knocked me out. Not really feeling the love here. And what happened back at the shrine? You owe me a few answers if you want me to stay."

"I suppose I do," Ronodin sat down next to her. She scooched away as best as she could without being noticed. "You were once her handmaiden, but she was using you. I told you about how they all betrayed you. Since the bond is eternal, you technically still are, but you aren't."

"That makes no sense." Kendra declaimed, wincing as she rubbed her sore head.

"Sorry," he said. "You were endangering us, but luckily we didn't come back empty handed, so it wasn't an entire waste." He didn't sound too sorry. Kendra gulped down her water as he said the next part, "I won't lie to you Kendra." Ronodin said.

"You just did." Kendra said, as she took a bite out of the steak.

Seth and Eve searched for hours now, looking for the missing cousin, but with no avail. They checked with in a good ½ mile radius and still found nothing. Before long, they decided to regroup. "Have you had any luck?" Seth asked hopefully.

"You were supposed to be back thirty minutes ago," Vanessa complained. "I've been stuck here with Mr. Light-does-right for the past half hour and he's not very fun."

"You're no jackpot either," Bracken said.

"But seriosuly, what took you two so long?" Vanessa asked, the next part a little bit awkward but also teasing. "Did you get… distracted or something?"

Seth's cheeks tinted red, "No. We just lost track of time."

"Alright," Vanessa smirked. "But where is Warren?" The concern was clear in her voice.

"I don't know," Seth said honestly. "I thought for sure you would have found him by now."

"I should have seen this coming," Bracken cursed.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa said darkly.

"Ronodin," Bracken said. "Ronodin took Warren."

The protector goes unseen.

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long! I've been a little low on inspiration, but it's coming back. I'm not big on sharing things about my personal life, so that's all I'm going to say. I'll go back and do some more in-debt editing as soon as I get the time, so sorry for any errors!

… Seriously I need more ideas. Send me lots of ideas! Yay!

But the reason I took Warren away was for the balance. Because Bracken was missing in canon-verse, I felt like it made sense for someone to take his place. I didn't want it to be Bracken though, because I want a little more of Bracken's character in this. There is literally no Bracken in Dragonwatch, which is incredibly annoying to me.

I have a break coming up soon as well, so yay! Lots of time to write! This is NaoSa, signing off for now!