A/N: Another boring information chapter, but it is important so pay attention and enjoy!
Kendra woke with a gasp, with the image of her running a knife through Bracken's neck still in her mind.
"You're awake." A voice came and she yelped. "Sorry, I said I would be here didn't I?" Oh. Bracken.
"Yeah, you did." Kendra studied him. He was sitting on the end of the bed like before, handsome as ever. Kendra realized with a jolt that he was here. He was here after two months.
"You're here." She said. He cocked his head to the side.
"It appears I am." Bracken said. She realized he was waiting for an explanation to what she saw, but didn't want to push her.
"So, I think I had some kind of vision. Except that's crazy right? I can't be having visions of the future, I mean...can I?" Kendra said, searching Bracken's face for an answer.
"The thing is, you very well might be. What did you see? I can help you if you tell me, Kendra." Bracken said, looking at her with those damn caring eyes he always does when she is upset.
Kendra took a deep breath, readying herself for the conversation. Would Bracken distrust her after he found out what she does, or will he simply think she is crazy?
"I saw fire, Seth was in it but he wasn't upset...he was calm. Like he didn't mind the flames. I heard a bear I think. A sword. Then I...I killed you. I just...killed you." She didn't risk looking at him and seeing his reaction. She hopped off her bed and started pacing. "But, then Warren killed me, so I guess we are just killing each other right? That must mean it's fake, Warren wouldn't do that, I wouldn't do that...it's fake right?"
Bracken sighed, before standing and walking over to where she was pacing over and over.
"Kendra, Kendra, stop. You're worrying yourself sick. I don't know if it's fake, but there must be a deeper meaning to it all. Like you said, Warren would never dream of harming you, and I like to think you wouldn't kill me." He said grinning down at her, hands on her shoulders, keeping her from moving.
"But what about Seth, and the sword?" Kendra asked.
"To tell you the truth I have no idea." Bracken chuckled. "All I know is that worrying about it will kill you. Instead you should just relax, come downstairs, eat something, and then go back to sleep so we can get up in time to go to Iceland."
Kendra nodded, following him out her room. Halfway down the stairs she yanked his hand, turning him around to look up at her confused.
"Wait, you said 'we'. You're coming to Iceland." She said. Bracken gave her one of his trademark playful unicorn grins.
"What, me miss out on adventure? Never."
Seth looked out the window of the jet, watching as the plane touched down to the ground. They were officially in Iceland. He glanced over to where his sister was tucked in between Trask and Warren. He watched as Warren woke her up gently, nodded at a sleeping Trask and then hit Trask with a pillow to wake him.
Trask glared at Warren and reached over Kendra to slap him. Warren didn't seem to care for he was laughing too hard. Seth looked in front of him where Vanessa and Tanu were conversing quietly. Bracken was next to him, reading a book that was in some weird fairy language.
"You know we touched down right?" Seth said.
"Mmhmm." Bracken answered.
"So why do you still have your book out? Shouldn't you be putting it away?"
"Shh." Bracken said, turning another page.
Seth shook his head, sometimes he didn't understand his friend, he could be as nerdy as Kendra. Seth opted for looking out the window again, watching as the jet was driven over to a car that was parked waiting for them.
Slowly they all piled out, Bracken finally putting his book away. Seth wrinkled his nose at the dopey smile Bracken gave Kendra. Part of Seth wanted to tell Bracken to hurry up and kiss her already, the other part of him wanted to gag.
Once they were all off, they waved goodbye to Aaron Stone, their pilot. A car door shut behind them and Seth turned to see a guy around Warren's age walking towards them. He was a bit shorter than Warren and he had a beard.
"Halló! And welcome to Iceland!" He greeted with a heavy accent. "Name is Bjarni, and I'll be transporting you to our destination!"
"What's up man, where's all the ice?" Seth said. Earning a groan from Kendra.
"It's all up in Greenland! What's your name fella?" Bjarni said, helping the others load their bags into the car.
"Seth."
"Well, Seth. Why don't you introduce me to your group here?"
"Well, that's Warren, that's Trask, Vanessa, Tanu, Bracken, and that's my sister Kendra." He said, pointing to each one.
"Pleased to meet you all!." Bjarni said, while climbing into the driver's seat. As they were all piling in he called back out to them. "Did I hear someone's name is Bracken? That means 'mud' ya know?"
Bracken sighed.
"I am aware."
Kendra could tell they were near Arnbörg when the others started looking uncomfortable. She didn't feel the effects of the distractor spell but the others can.
"Almost there, distractor spell will work out in a jiffy!" Bjarni said. Even as he said it, the others started to relax. Kendra peered at a tall hills of jagged rocks, hidden in between was a beautiful house. As they pulled up to it, an older couple came out onto the porch, waving.
"Kveðjur! I'm Linda, and this is my husband Sindri, welcome to Arnbörg!" The older woman called to them as they existed.
"We hope you can help us figure out, just what is happening here." Sindri said, smiling. "Come on in, there are three others waiting to meet you."
With one last glance at the beautiful landscapes, Kendra entered the house with the others.
The inside couldn't be described as anything other than homey. The warm lights cast a soft glow for them to see, the furniture seemed vintage but well used, and the smell of cookies filled the area.
"Come inside come inside, we can go to the kitchen, everyone else is there and I have some fresh sweets for you. Oh, you must all be so tired, what a long flight!" Linda fretted about, taking jackets and leading them into the kitchen.
"You don't have to worry, we are well accustomed to traveling." Trask assured her.
In the kitchen, Kendra was surprised to see more than just cookies. There seemed to me every kind of baked good there. At the large table, two women and a man sat, munching on brownies and sugar cookies.
"Well as you can see, my wife likes to bake when she is stressed. Not that I'm complaining." Sindri winked, earning a swat on the arm from Linda
"Oh, hush you. Well, I would like you all to meet our daughter, Melkorka." Linda said, gesturing to the nearest woman with a round face and long dirty blond hair.
"Pleasure to meet you all." She said, smiling at them.
"And these two are Elin, and Luca." Linda said, tucking her grey hair behind her ear. Kendra wondered if she was always this fidgety. Elin gave them a nod, not bothering to even look up, but Luca stood up and shook all their hands. He had short blonde hair and a wide friendly smile, a exact opposite of Elin who had dark brown hair and a constant frown.
"Nice to meet all of you. Why don't you all sit and enjoy some fine sweets with us? I'm sure Elin and Melkorka don't mind." He said, gesturing to the empty seats.
"Not at all!" Melkorka said.
"I'd mind." Elin said at the same time. Kendra got the feeling Elin didn't like people much,
"Sure!" Seth said, going to sit down, but Bracken grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Apologizes, but we need to have a meeting with Linda and Sindri first. Rain check?" Bracken said politely.
"Yeah, man of course. We'll be around." Luca said, plopping back down in his seat.
The group followed Sindri and Linda down a hall and into a small study. They talked about the goal and the suspicions of foul play. Trask warned them to be on guard around everyone who was here when the incident occurred, no one is out of suspicion.
"Are you sure it was foul play?" Linda asked, clutching her chest as if the very idea of a traitor broke her heart.
"It is the most fitting explanation to how the men got onto the preserve." Tanu said.
"Oh well, I hope you can figure it out. I mean I don't fancy sleeping with one eye open, too much light! Would disturb my beauty sleep." Sindri said.
"Been there done that." Warren chuckled, throwing a pointed look at Vanessa. Vanessa stuck her tongue out at him.
"I guess you'll be needing this." Sindri said, pulling a medium sized key from the desk drawer. "Now the vault is located in the Rock of Agnar, the entrance is guarded by a heavy distracter spell."
All eyes went to Kendra.
"Well, this one right here is our expert on those." Warren said ruffling Kendra's hair. "Mind telling her what to look for?"
"Not at all. You'll be looking for a cave entrance. Even once you are in the cave, the spell will still be working. You have to walk a little way in there to get to a door, it will look like a cave wall but if you can find it, there is a keyhole." Linda explained. Kendra nodded along listening carefully.
"Can you really see through distracter spells?" Sindri asked. Kendra glanced at Trask, who nodded.
"Uhm, yeah. Just about all I can do, really." Kendra said.
"That is not all you can do." Warren scolded. "But, before we spill all our secrets, is there any information on the traps that you have?"
"Sorry, but no. No one has ever entered the vault. It's so new, there isn't even rumors of what is inside. We could tell you our speculations but they are probably far from the truth." Linda said.
Seth sat outside playing with a box of matches. Striking five at once, he watched them burn for a second. Then, after looking around to see if anyone was watching, he focused on them and within two seconds, they had been extinguished. He had been able to do this for quite a while now.
In fact he could quench fires the size of a small dog by now. But, he wanted to wait until he was better before telling everyone. He felt like if everyone knew, they would think he didn't need the Sphinx anymore. But he did! He was only just getting started, and the guy might be a traitor but he was teaching Seth and Seth couldn't let grudges get in the way of his training.
So for now, he kept it secret. The less people know, the better.
Before everyone went to bed, they all met up in Trask's room one last time. He called them all in before starting.
"Alright, Bracken I know you have your horn, so this doesn't really apply to you. But for the rest of you, I have some weapons that are a little tougher than the ordinary." Trask said, starting to hand out various weapons.
"Seth, I know it isn't Vasilis, but it will have to do." He said, handing Seth a long dark grey sword. Seth had given Vasilis back to the Singing Sisters as part of his deal, and had been pretty bummed about it.
Trask gave Tanu a heavy crossbow, Vanessa a sword and a pair of daggers.
"Kendra, I heard you have become quite the knife thrower." He said, handing Kendra a bunch of jet black throwing knives. He also handed her a bow and a quiver of arrows. "And just for good luck, take these."
Kendra set to tucking all the knives into the slots of her jacket. When she looked back up, Trask was handing Warren a sword. With the feeling like being doused in cold water, Kendra realized that Trask was handing Warren a sword with a blood red ruby hilt.
Warren was holding the sword Kendra saw him with in her vision. The sword he used to kill her.
A/N: Seth is keeping secrets! Kendra's vision is coming true! Bracken's name means mud! What does this all mean? I'm not telling but I will post another chapter soon! Who do you guys think is the traitor, and who is your favorite person from the preserve so far? You'll get to see more of them soon I promise, until next time Xoxo