Merry Christmas guys! Hope you enjoy this! (You might need to go back and read the previous chapters for this to make sense!)

As the group rode back to the main house, Seth had a distinct feeling that something was wrong. He just didn't know what yet.

Turns out, as soon as they entered the yard, they got their answer. Newel and Doren stood on the porch with their grandfather, talking rapidly, and gesticulating wildly. Seth couldn't make out what they were saying, but the satyrs looked unusually serious.

"Who are they?" Eli muttered to Seth.

"Friends of ours." Seth replied absently. He vaulted the edge of the cart and walked over to his friends, leaving the others behind.

"What's going on?" As soon as Seth spoke, his Grandpa Sorenson cut himself off, stopping himself from saying whatever he was about to. Newel turned to Seth, fear, and despair in his eyes.

"Verl`s missing. No one`s heard from him since yesterday." Seth`s stomach sank at the thought of young, idealistic, naïve, Verl being gone.

"We just got the news this morning. The other satyrs have been hoping that he'll turn up, but no such luck." Doren continued, and Grandpa`s face was shadowed with doubt and concern. Meeting Seth`s eyes, Grandpa seemed to be battling with something inside himself.

"Keep searching. And if you can't find him," Grandpa`s eyes turned with fear. "Then Verl makes the third to disappear from Fablehaven." Newel and Doren nodded, both shockingly muted, and turned, running back into the woods. Newel met his eyes for a brief second, and it was like he was trying to smile reassuringly, but Seth knew it was nothing more than an act.

The others approached from behind, Dale stepping forward, addressing his grandfather. "We need to talk." Grandpa straightened up, nodding, leading the way inside. Seth fell back to walk with Cassidy and Eli.

"Who`s Verl?" Cassidy asked, his voice soft and serious. Seth felt himself smile, just the littlest bit as he remembered the foolish, naïve satyr. He couldn't believe he was missing.

"He's a satyr here at Fablehaven. He's good. Kind. Naïve."

"I`m sorry." Cassidy replied, placing a hand briefly on Seth`s shoulder. Seth smiled at him, nodding. Even the way that he apologized seemed genuine. Cassidy reminded Seth of Kendra, or maybe it was just an older sibling thing.

Following the others, they slipped into Grandpa`s study where Grandpa Larsen was sitting in a chair, eyes furrowed as he read over some documents. He looked up when they entered, and his eyes dimmed a little and he stood up.

"What happened?" And so Warren told them, as much of it as he could until it was Seth`s turn to talk about the marsh.

"The grindylow spoke to me. They were being evasive. All I got out of them was that Silene and Quickstride visited the marsh yesterday before they went missing. And that 2 months ago, they were also both there." No one spoke, Grandpa Sorenson`s forehead creasing even more. Cassidy cleared his throat from the corner of the room.

"The centaurs said that the cliff troll, Nero, had been a problem for them. Could it be possible that he was involved?"

Warren shook his head. "I don't think so. Nero is… difficult, but I don't think that he would actively campaign for the destruction of the preserve."

"I agree." Seth put in. "Nero serves the most powerful master he can find, purely for his own protection, but when it comes to it, his motivations are always selfish. If Nero has anything to do with this, he's being used as a puppet."

"A puppet for what?" Grandpa Sorenson leaned towards them, intensely focused. "What talent does Nero have that someone needs? And why specifically is he bothering the centaurs, and why now?"

"What if they have something he needs?" Eli suggested, glancing around at all of them.

Grandpa Larsen tilted his chin up a little. "Explain."

Eli stood up, rubbing his hands together, with seemingly boundless energy. "If Nero needed something from the dark marsh, he would have gone right in and gotten it, right? But he's testing the centaur's borders, who are notoriously territorial. From what I`ve heard, Nero isn't stupid. Seems like he wouldn't do something like that for no reason."

Grandpa Larsen nodded, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his chin as Grandma Sorenson entered the study, holding the landline, offering it to Grandpa Sorenson who took it and answered with a swift hello. Shepherding them all out of the study, Grandma assured them that dinner would be ready soon, and they all went their separate ways. Dale and Warren headed back outside, Cassidy and Eli saying something about further research and Seth followed Tanu upstairs. Seth was about to head up the attic until he heard Tanu calling him back.

"Yeah?" Seth asked. The man seemed concerned as he set down his potions bag, gesturing him inside. Seth let his satchel and sheath slide off onto the floor, taking a seat on Tanu`s desk chair, waiting.

Waiting was certainly something Seth wasn't too good at, but he would try for Tanu. The large man sat down across from Seth, his face unusually serious. Tanu was always genuine, but he also had the ability to break awkward or tense silences with a joke or smile, and while Seth knew that humor was more Warren`s crutch, Tanu`s smile was his.

"I want to talk about what happened today."

"About the marsh?" Seth replied, thinking hard. Had he done something stupid again? "I told everyone all that I knew."

"Not about that. Nero." Then it occurred to him. His fit of anger, his lapse in control. Seth tried to play dumb, giving Tanu a quick smile.

"What do you mean?"

Seth knew that as soon as the words exited his mouth, Tanu wouldn't believe him for a second. His bouts of anger were a well-kept secret, but one that plagued his dreams. In the beginning, no one had known, not until Kendra found him in the bathroom, cradling his bleeding hand, staring up at the cracked mirror. She had covered for him that night, bandaging his hands and spinning an elaborate lie that even he was impressed by. From then on, Kendra had been there for every nightmare that resulted in a loss of control of his emotions. She knew how to calm him down and never took the poisonous words he spat at her, to heart. He had eventually learned to cope with that kind of stress in healthier ways, but he still lapsed sometimes. But never in front of others. The only ones who knew everything were Kendra, Tanu, and his grandparents. All the others had gotten a condensed, altered explanation at his request.

"You have been meditating, haven't you?" Feeling frustration burn in his stomach like poison, he rolled his eyes. Meditating was incredibly boring, but even he had to admit it was helping.

"Of course I have." Immediately, Seth felt regret boil up in him. Tanu didn't deserve that. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Tanu leaned back, watching him carefully. "But I need you to be careful. I have a feeling things are about to get even more hectic around here. I don't want you to relapse."

"I`ll be careful." Seth promised. In an attempt to avoid Tanu`s concerned gaze, Seth`s eyes fell to the pile of papers stacked behind Tanu. Letters. Lots of them. "What are those?"

It was a poor attempt at changing the subject, but Tanu seemed willing to let the moment pass. He reached around and grabbed the papers, passing them to Seth.

"Letters from my family." Seth shuffled through them, grinning at the crayon doodles that filled the pages. He didn't read them, only skimming the first few sentences, enough to get the general gist. "They are quite determined to get me to come home."

"Are you going to?" Seth knew that Tanu had traveled home since Zzyxx to visit his family, but not for long, only a week or two. There had always been a part of him that wondered how long he and Vanessa would stay around. Warren was their family and had always stayed at Fablehaven when he wasn't on missions, even before Kendra and Seth had discovered Fablehaven But Tanu and Vanessa had previously had other homes before they had come to Fablehaven and lives lived completely separated from the Sorenson family.

Tanu tilted his head, considering him. "I don't know. I love my family, and I always enjoy being with them, but…" Tanu pressed his lips together. "My entire life, I`ve grown up with all members of my extended family. That's just how we were. No one wanted to move away from that. Except me."

Seth grinned. "So you do have a thirst for adventure!"

Tanu rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face negated all annoyance. "I didn't want to live my life according to what my family wanted. So I joined the Knights and then became a potion master."

The man leaned back, conflict entering his eyes. "But when I think of going home, I feel trapped." Tanu shook his head. "I guess it's true what they say, that when this life takes a hold of you, it never let's go."

"None who enter will leave unchanged." Seth quoted. "Grandpa's words, not mine."

Tanu smiled. "He's right. When I came here I thought I'd be here for a month or two and then back to New York for a new mission. Not for all these years."

"Why did you stay? I know Grandpa offered to let you leave." Seth hadn't even wanted to eavesdrop on that particular conversation, he had just been walking by Grandpa`s study, a few days after the Sands of Sanctity had been recovered. Grandpa had offered Tanu, Coulter, and even Warren a chance to leave, to get back to their lives. Seth hadn't heard the answer and fled out the back door, not wanting to admit to himself how much it had hurt to think of them just leaving.

Tanu chuckled. "Of course you did." He furrowed his brow, leaning forward. "I guess I stayed because I didn't feel right leaving you all. I felt I had a duty to stay. That's at least what I told myself in the beginning. I suppose I kept coming back because I missed it. I missed all of this." Tanu gestured out the window.

Seth grinned. "How could you not?" He made his voice sound teasing, but he wasn't really, and Tanu knew it. Suddenly a harsh sound made Seth jump. It came from the window. Lines creasing around Tanu`s eyes, he went to check the window, looking out.

"It's just Newel and Doren, throwing rocks," Tanu confirmed. "It seems like they want to talk to you."

"Me? How do you know?" Seth asked, getting to his feet and heading to the door. Tanu followed him.

"I'm pretty good at lip-reading. Now go, they need someone to distract them." Tanu shooed him out the door, and before Seth reached the stairs, he turned back.

"Tanu?"

"Yeah?" The man asked.

"Thanks." Before Tanu could reply, Seth hopped down the stairs and down to the yard.

"So tell me again, where was the last place you saw Verl?" Seth repeated, rubbing his forehead with his fist.

"Two days ago, at the fairy shrine." Newel replied, careful to keep his voice steady and quiet. Seth knew that no matter how much Verl annoyed them, they cared about him, in a clingy little brother kind of way.

"He was with the other satyrs up until last night. He said he was going to get a drink and then everyone fell asleep. No one knows where he went after that." Doren picked up the story as he kicked his hooves in the water as he sat on the side of the pool.

"Hm." Seth pondered that, leaning back in the deck chair he had claimed. The sun was setting, brilliant colors splayed across the horizon. It seemed almost ironic that a place so beautiful could be so deadly. Both satyrs were unusually dour, but of course that seemed to be going around as of late.

"Have you heard anything from around the preserve, that maybe we wouldn't?" It was a desperate attempt at making them feel needed, but neither seemed like they cared either way.

"No! Everything's been quiet, normal. It doesn't make sense!" Newel stood up from his chair, running his hands through his hair, muttering something under his breath Seth couldn't understand.

"You`re right. It doesn't. But there's no sense in losing your head over it." Doren remarked sharply, glaring at him. It was then Seth knew that Newel had probably cursed and he had to suppress a giggle, which most certainly would not be appropriate.

"Seth." A low, gravelly voice spoke up and Seth turned, wondering how Hugo, a massive golem could sneak up on him. Hugo was carrying Dale in his hand, who jumped down, wiping his brow with his hand.

"Hey, Hugo! What`s up, guys?" Seth answered as Dale clapped him on the shoulder in greeting.

"Same old, same old. Hey, Doren, Newel, think I could talk to you two for a moment?" The satyrs left with Dale, walking towards the woods, waving goodbye to Seth. He waved back, feeling something distinctly heavy settle in his stomach. He wasn't even sure why.

"Seth is sad?" The golem spoke, his voice quiet and calm. Seth tried to smile as he turned back to Hugo. Even though the golem was massive and quite capable of crushing his skull, Seth had a soft spot for him. It was almost like he had a little brother. Well, one that was made of rocks and dirt, but still.

"Just a little Hugo. But I'll be fine."

"Want to play?" The golem offered and Seth felt a real smile rise to his lips.

"Okay." Seth scanned the yard, looking for anything that would be fun to do. The pool would be too cold this late in the year, and Seth was sure that his wandering around in the woods at a time like this would be more than discouraged, and after all, he did promise Kendra he wouldn't be stupid. At least until she got back.

Then his eyes settled on the treehouse, one that he hadn't visited in a while, but it would at least be something to do until dinnertime.

"Let's go to the treehouse, Hugo." But even as he said those words, a strange chill went through him that somehow drew him towards the treehouse.

Hugo picked him up, placing him on his broad shoulder. Seth held onto Hugo`s head for balance, and as they neared the treehouse, Hugo lifted Seth up towards the trap door and he crawled inside. It was nearly bare inside, a few random books and puzzles scattered around the floor. Seth picked one up, sinking down to sit on the floor, flipping through one of them. It wasn't that interesting, but it distracted him.

That was, until a harsh, cold wind blew through the trees, so hard that he felt the floor shake beneath him.

"Seth?" Hugo`s voice came from outside the treehouse. "Dinner ready."

"Okay, I`m coming." Seth stood up, shivering, putting the book back down. He headed back towards the trapdoor, glancing around one more time. As his eyes combed the walls, he saw something that made his blood run cold.

A knife. Lodged into the wall. Shiny and silver, with a short blade and an ornate hilt, decorated with red rubies. Seth felt pulled towards the knife, so strongly that he was reaching out to it before he was even conscious of it. His fingers brushed against the handle.

"Seth? Dinner." Hugo repeated from outside. Seth jumped, pulled out of the trance.

"Yeah, I`m coming." He replied vaguely. Suddenly, Kendra`s anxious face, the one that asked him, begged him to be careful, appeared in his mind. But another part of him, an innate deep instinct told him to take the knife. So he did, pulling it carefully out of the wall, and wrapping it in his jacket which he stripped off.

"Hugo? Let's go!"

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great (and safe) day! Thank you for all the joy you guys have brought to my year, and my life! I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you to JaylaLovesReading, NaoSa, Katie, Yakall, IceSnowCream (btw I'm planning on reading book #4 soon, I'll let you guys know when I do! I'm super excited for it!) and so many more!

More chapters will be coming soon! I'm so, so excited for what's coming up next with this story!