Chapter 15

Seth jogged through the dark empty corridors. He didn't bother to silence his steps. Chaos had flown ahead of him, promising to alert him if any guards were approaching. He hadn't come back yet, but Seth wasn't worried. No one could see or hear the little demon. Besides, ghosts couldn't really get hurt. Could they?

They had yet to come to a crossroads but the plan was for Chaos to wait for Seth there if they were to run into one. If they ran into a guard on the other hand, Seth could only hope Chaoses warning would give him enough time to hide. To fade into the shadows. Or maybe run. There wasn't anywhere for him to go though and hiding did sound like a more sensible option. There were plenty of shadowy spots to go around.

The hallways were poorly lit and Seth kept wishing he had his sisters ability to see in the dark. He kept almost tripping on his own feet and other various objects like loose rocks and abandoned cups. Nothing useful though. That would be too easy. Oh what he would have done for a weapon. Or anything that could at least be used as such.

Most of all Seth wished to feel the comforting hum of Vasilis the legendary blade of light and darkness. A sword he'd wielded a long time ago, that he'd had to give up in order to fulfill his agreement with the singing sisters. It had been a couple of years since he'd parted with the blade, yet strangely his thoughts still shifted to it ever so often.

Seth was deep in his thoughts as he turned a corner and just nearly managed to dodge a fist coming towards him. He lifted his arms up automatically trying to defend against another attack, when his legs were swiped from under him. He crashed to the ground and before he knew it, he was being lifted back up by a pair of strong arms and slammed against the wall behind him. His attacker held him firmly by his shirt collar as Seth groaned in pain.

What in the world just happened? This guy had appeared out of nowhere. Where was Chaos? He was supposed to warn him if he came across anyone. Seth looked up at his attacker, but he wasn't a guard. Navarog stared back at him with an unreadable expression. "We need to have a little chat."

The loud footsteps came closer echoing through the hall. Kendra didn't dare to move, in fear of making any kind of sound. Was it a guard? Who else could it be? Had he heard them? The footsteps where getting closer. There was only one of them, Kendra was sure. That meant they had a fighting chance.

Bracken pulled out a knife he'd kept well hidden under his cloak and as the footsteps neared the corner he crouched preparing himself for a fight.

Kendra kept her gaze fixed on the corner, so she didn't notice the arm that slowly curled around her waist until she was suddenly pulled back. Kendra screamed, cut off guard by her attacker. Bracken twirled around to look at her and as he did so, another figure emerged from behind the corner landing a blow to Brackens side and sending him tumbling to the ground.

Kendra fought against her attacker. How had he managed to sneak up behind her? There was nothing but a dead end in the direction they'd come from. She tried to hit the figure behind her, but he grabbed her wrist with astounding strength. She gasped in pain, sure her wrist would brake if the guard squeezed it any tighter.

"Let me go," she ordered trying to free her arm. "Apologies miss, but I cannot let you interfere." Surprised to hear a familiar voice, Kendra looked up to meet Damons gaze. "You! How did you find us?" "You were acting quite strangely, slipping into the night at this strange hour, so I took the liberty of following you in case you got yourself into trouble again. It looks like I was right to do so. Naturally I was instructed to inform his highness of any suspicious activity on your part."

"Don't you ever sleep?" Kendra asked, struggling to free herself. Damon lightened his grip slightly, but refused to release her. "Demons require very little sleep miss." "Good to know," She spat.

Kendra glanced back at Bracken who had gotten back up on his feet and was dodging another attack from Orogoro, who swung his sword with effortless accuracy. The blade swished through the air only nearly missing Bracken as he jumped back and out of reach. He then leaped forward slashing with his knife, almost landing a blow to Orogoros stomach, but was ultimately forced to retreat back again to avoid getting hit by the sword coming towards him. He was clearly at a disadvantage having only a knife to protect himself with, which became apparent as Orogoro slashed at him again, this time hitting his target and sending the knife flying from Brackens hand.

"It's true what everyone says about you. You really are quite the worthy adversary, Orogoro complimented. "Thanks I guess, Bracken smiled, still panting from the effort of the fight. You're not half bad yourself." "It's quite a shame I'll have to kill you though," Orogoro continued, pointing his sword at Bracken. "Go ahead and try," Bracken challenged in return.

Navarog released Seth without a word of warning making him fall to the ground before he could catch himself. "I get that you'd want to chat with me and all, but was beating me up really necessary Seth moaned. "That's how I know you're paying close enough attention. And if I'm being completely honest beating you up made me feel a little better," Navarog admitted. "Glad I could help with that." Seth said, rubbing the back of his neck. He sat up painfully, leaning against the wall.

"Where did you get this?" Navarog asked changing the subject. "What?" Seth looked up to find Navarog holding up a thick old volume. After further examination he realized it to be The how to guide to demonic rites and resurrections. "Oh that thing. You know, I just had it lying around."

"Seth don't test me. Your sisters life could depend on this." "Don't act like you actually care what happens to her." Seth sneered back. "Look I don't expect you to believe me, but just think about it. If I wanted to hurt her, she would be dead by now. I want her to stay alive so right now we are working towards the same goal." "Then why? Seth challenged. Why haven't you killed her? What do you want?" "We don't have time for this." "If you want my help you'll tell me exactly what you're up to. You don't want Kendra to get hurt? Prove it."

He muttered something unintelligible that Seth couldn't quite catch (though he was quite sure it contained at least a couple of swear words), before grabbing him by the shoulder and picking him up from the floor. He shoved Seth in the direction he'd first appeared from. "Fine I'll tell you, but we can't stay here." Navarog started marching down the hall and Seth ran to catch up with him.

"I assume you've read enough of the book to know just how exactly I'm still here, Navarog started. Seth nodded not wanting to interrupt him. So you know I was trapped in my spirit form for quite a long time before I was brought back. It gave me a lot of time to think and observe. I actually kept tabs on you and your sister. Though it seemed hopeless I wanted to know whether you'd actually manage to avoid the demonic apocalypse.

Naturally I was at the battle of shoreless isle as well. I saw how hard you fought. How hard she fought to keep her loved ones safe, that I actually started hoping for the demons to loose. Even though only months ago I would have done everything in my power to see the demon prison opened. I realized I didn't care about that anymore. The only thing that mattered to me was Kendra. I wanted you to succeed so she'd be safe. So that she'd stay alive. I guess that's when I realized I was in love with her."

"What?" Seth exclaimed a bit louder than he had intended. Navarog stated this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like it was bound to happen sooner or later. "You see, he continued. Love works a little differently for dragons and humans. While humans can fall in love time and time again, for dragons it only happens once in a life time. I'd never felt like this about anyone before, so naturally it took me a while to realize what was happening and when I finally did. Well it was a bit too late."

"No kidding," Seth blurted. He was met with Navarogs icy gaze. "As you know the resurrection process is long and all the while I just couldn't stop thinking about her. So when I'd finally recovered my full strength I visited Fablehaven. I wanted to see her. To know how she was doing. I even toyed with the idea of telling her how I really felt, but I saw how happy she was, even if it was with unicorn boy of all people and I couldn't complicate her life any further than I already had. So I decided to just leave her be. To forget her completely and it worked. For a while at least, but then I found out what my mother was planning.

She wanted revenge against the fairy queen and most of all Kendra. She already had a plan in motion to bring Kendra here. Losing one of her most trusted allies would have been a hard blow for the fairy queen, but also an opportunity for my mother. You see, when the demons came to this dimension, all of their dark magic clashed together with the light magic left behind by the fairy realms former inhabitants. These two powers cancelled each other out making the demons lose their power and forcing them to take their human forms. This realm has been deprived of magical power ever since.

Kendras fairykind status makes her an ideal source of magical energy and my mother was planning to use that to her advantage. She wanted to use her to restore the demons lost power. Or at least that's what she told me. Kendra would never willingly have given up her power and my mother would have had her tortured or worse, so you understand why I couldn't let that happen." "So instead you kidnapped her yourself and tried to murder Bracken in the process," Seth continued his sentence.

"Oh please if I wanted him dead, I would have done it ages ago. Seth looked at him skeptically. Anyway, Navarog continued. I made a deal with my mother. She promised no harm would come to her, if I could convince or rather force Kendra to marry me. She would find another way to get her hands on Kendras power without hurting her and at the mean time Kendra would stay here. At the time, I thought she simply wanted me to marry her so that I could take my fathers place as the next demon king. Now that I think about it though, I'm sure it was more about distracting me from what she was really up to.

I agreed to her terms, thinking it would provide Kendra with protection not only from my mother but other demons as well. Getting her to agree to marry me was the only way to make sure my mother would never be able to harm her. She'd be alive and safe and when it would have been over she could have gone back home."

"Okay, but there's one thing that I really don't understand, Seth said, once Navarog was finished talking. What do you have against Bracken." "Nothing. Seth looked at him expectantly. What? Fine. We were friends when we were little and now we're not, He confessed. Happy?"

"What? Seths mouth hung open. "I know, it's weird to think that I'd actually want to be friends with that pathetic excuse for a unicorn." "No. That's not it. I mean who wouldn't want to be friends with Bracken? Everybody loves Bracken. Hell, that pathetic excuse for a unicorn is probably one of the best friends I've ever had, Seth admitted. What confuses me is why would he ever be friends with you?"

"He isn't that great." "Yeah. Yeah he is. Compared to you at least. Face it dude he is way out of your league, Seth regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth. Navarog glared at Seth with a look that promised murder. Touchy subject? Seth asked. Noted."

"Okay, But what about Bracken and Kendras memories then?" Seth asked. Navarogs expression softened to its usual glower. "That was my mother's doing not mine. I never planned for that to happen.

My mother was clearly up to something shady, so naturally I needed to know what. That's when I found your book. It's so obvious, I can't believe I missed it. She's been lying to me all this time and I was actually stupid enough to believe her. She doesn't want Kendra for her powers, she wants to resurrect my father. You've read the book. You know how it works and why we can't let my mother go through with it." "Kendra would have to die," Seth realized in horror.

Kendra watched as Bracken dodged another attack, nearly losing his balance. As Orogoro brought his sword back once more, Bracken moved. Kendra could hardly keep up with what was happening. As Orogoro brought his sword forward, instead of jumping back, Bracken jumped to the side dodging his attack. He twirled, landing a precise strike to Orogoros face with his elbow. Orogoro stumbled backwards as another strike hit his stomach, making him double over. Finally, with another graceful movement Bracken kicked the sword from his hand. It flew against the wall and skidded further away and out of Orogoros reach.

Coughing Orogoro spat blood. "I told you we weren't done," Bracken said as he knelt next to him picking up his own fallen knife from the ground. "Not by a long shot," Orogoro snarled.

In a blink of an eye the tables turned once again as Brackens legs were swiped from under him. Orogoro was on top of him in seconds, pressing a new knife that he had (for all Kendra could tell) pulled out of thin air.

Bracken gasped as he was knocked over landing on his back with an umpf. "You are a worthy adversary for sure, but you still need to learn not to underestimate your opponent." "I'll keep that in mind," Bracken promised. "Don't bother, Orogoro huffed. You won't live long enough to need it." "No, stop it," Kendra screamed as the knife dug into Brackens skin.

Just as he drew blood Orogoro froze. Kendra stared in horror at the blade piercing his stomach. A dark figure had emerged from the shadows, jamming his blade into Orogoros flesh with all his might.

Shock spread to the demons features as he glanced down at the blade. He took in a raspy breath that sounded more like a croak as blood stained his lips.

It had happened so fast that none of them had time to react. The all watched in horror as the boy removed the blade pushing his victim aside in the process. Orogoro slumped to the ground next to Bracken, letting out another pained breath. The boy reached out his hand to help Bracken up and he took it standing up shakily.

"That was way too close for comfort, The boy sighed. Think I killed him?" He kicked Orogoro, but nothing happened. He lay motionless with his eyes closed. "No, he's just out cold," Bracken answered looking down at the lifeless body and the blood stain that was spreading across his shirt, unshaken by the fact that he'd almost lost his life. Or that's how he seemed on the outside anyway. "Well I guess that's good enough for now," The boy said.

The gleaming white blade that still rested in his hand had been stained red with Orogoros blood, but the second he'd yanked it out of the demons body, the red syrupy liquid started to evaporate. It disappeared quickly leaving the blade as pure as it had once been.

"Here, you'll probably want this back," The boy said sheathing the blade and removing the holster on his back. He offered the sword to Bracken who accepted it, staring at it in disbelief. "Where did you…" "Navarog gave it to me to give to you. He thought you might need it." Kendra could sense the pure magical energy emanating from the blade. This was no ordinary sword.

Her train of thought was interrupted as the boys gaze met hers. She took in his ragged appearance. The boy was a bit taller than her. His dirty messy hair was at that awkward length where it couldn't quite be considered short nor long and he wore strange clothes the likes Kendra hadn't seen before. A gray jacket and a pair of trousers that were badly torn at the knees. He looked too young to be a guard. Maybe even younger than her. 16 or 17 Kendra estimated. He had a dark aura around him, but it wasn't as malevolent as a demons.

Was this boy the one they'd come to rescue? He clearly knew Bracken, so who else could he be. Kendra didn't know what she'd been expecting, but a teenage boy was not it.

"Kendra, the boy whispered in disbelief. She could hear the relief in his voice. You're… You're okay." For a moment it looked like he was about to hug her, but he changed his mind at the last second. "How do you know who I am?" "I… um… It's a really long story," He finally managed. "Which we don't have time for, Bracken reminded them. We need to go." Kendra and the boy nodded in agreement.

"But what do we do about him?" The boy asked, motioning towards Orogoros lifeless body. And him" He then pointed at Damon who was still standing next to Kendra. "I have no interest in fighting you, Damon said. You would be wasting valuable time by doing so. His highness simply instructed me to keep miss Kendra out of harm's way. I have done just that. Bracken studied him, probably trying to figure out whether he was serious. You really should get going, Damon continued. It won't be long until they notice that you're gone."

Almost instantly after he'd said the words a loud clanging resonated through the dungeon. A warning bell. "What's that racket all about? The boy asked. Did somebody brake out of prison or something. Oh. That could be for anybody," The boy argued. Bracken and Kendra both looked at him skeptically. "Yeah we should probably go." "Come on." Bracken waved a hand in the direction of the hidden latch and they raced to the end of the corridor.

"My satchel! The boy exclaimed once they'd emerged from the tunnel. You brought it." He grabbed the bag for himself and started rummaging through its contents.

The warning bells clanging had faded away as they'd gotten deeper into the tunnel and once they'd emerged it was completely gone. All that could be heard were the horses silently shifting in their stalls.

Kendra met Brackens gaze, neither of them saying a word before she finally broke the silence: "You should really get going before anyone finds us here." "Come with us," Brackens expression was serious as his eyes met hers, and any doubt Kendra had about him joking faded away.

Kendra let her gaze fall, shaking her head slightly, before looking back up at him. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't even if I wanted to. My place is here. I can't just run off into the night with a total stranger. No matter how tempting it sounds."

"I'm sorry too, Bracken sighed. But if that truly is the case I suppose we'll simply have to kidnap you." "What?" Startled Kendra stepped back only to bump into the younger boy who grabbed her, holding a bottle with vile smelling liquid under her nose. She gasped trying to step back, but it was already too late. The last thing she could remember was someone catching her before she could fall to the ground.

Hello everybody. I know I haven't updated my story in a long time. I've been really busy believe it or not and haven't had time to write. I'm really glad you guys are still reading my story though. I honestly didn't think I'd get this far with it, considering how it's my first fanfiction. Thank you for all the comments you've left me and I hope to update again soon.