Chapter 8: For The Shrine
Seth was running as fast as he could towards the shrine. He may have even been shade walking part of the time, but he was going fast. He had never gone faster in his life, but he also had never had motivation like this in his life. Not only was a shrine at stake, but his sister could be too!
He knew Ronodin probably had a plan, but would it get his sister killed? She had never attempted something like this, using that amount of power that is. Destroying a shrine would be difficult, if not impossible from Seth's bet considering this was dedicated to the fairy queen herself.
If only Bracken was here! He would know all of these details. As much as he missed his friend, he needed to focus on Kendra right now. Bracken would probably want him to anyway.
He heard Vanessa, Warren, and Eve running behind him but he did not wait up for them. They would catch up to him, so he was going fast. Eventually, he was not satisfied with his current speed and leaped into a shadow to shade walk. He wasn't supposed to do it a lot, but right now, he was desperate.
He felt the familiar feeling of shadows pass over him for a minute, but just as fast as it came, it was gone. Seth found himself right in front of the shrine and he quickly took in his surroundings and gasped at the sight.
Bracken was tied up and trapped against the ground with a look of pure murder on his face, pointed directly towards the dark unicorn, who had a dagger trapped at his sister's neck. Seth instantly felt a swell of rage at the sight. Kendra looked terrified and Ronodin wearing his normal smirk.
"Welcome, Seth!" He said, "You're just on schedule."
"Let her go!" Seth said desperately.
"A good performance, I'll give you credit for that." Ronodin said smoothly, "But that isn't going to be enough. We all know what I plan to do here and let's just move things along."
Seth watched as Ronodin snapped his fingers, causing all of Bracken's gags and bindings to vanish into thin air. Bracken immediately got up without stumbling, something that must have taken quite a bit of effort. Seth imagines the poor guy has been in bones for a long time. Ronodin would pay and he swore that.
"Hello Bracky," Ronodun said, "We've been traveling for a while, but I think it's time we got down to business."
"What do you want," Bracken said, a fire in his eyes.
"I want you to destroy the shrine." Ronodin said simply, "Please." He added the last part almost tauntingly, something Seth should have expected from such a character.
"You know I can't." Bracken said, "I'm not powerful enough. Let Kendra go." He added the last part a little desperately, showcasing his need to want Kendra to be safe.
Ronodin chuckled, "Of course you aren't powerful enough," he said, "But your mother is. Be a good little boy and call your precious mommy over."
"I can't," Bracken said, as Seth stayed quiet. He didn't know what to do.
"And here I thought such pure unicorns did not lie," Ronodin said, "I guess that means I do not need Kendra anymore." His grip on Kendra tightened, the fear growing plainly in her eyes, making Seth only angrier. The area grew a little colder.
"Let her go," Seth said.
"This doesn't concern you!" Ronodin sang, "Stay out of it Seth, or else." Seth slumped, defeated, he couldn't do anything! But he also couldn't let his sister get hurt. Would Ronodin hurt her?
"Ronodin, what happened to you?" Came a melodious voice from the shrine, but no person. "You used to be so happy, but is this what you have become? It's not too late to come home, my niece."
"Stop." Ronodin said, "Destroy the shrine or your handmaiden will die."
A sound similar to a sigh erupted from the shrine as the light grew so bright, Seth had to shield his eyes to prevent being blinded. A beautiful feeling swept over him as he closed his eyes, he was too beautiful to close his eyes too. All he remembered was someone grabbing his arm before he passed out.
Kendra was scared and that was a fact. I mean, picture yourself in her situation. The only person you trusted after you remembered nothing was now the one holding a knife to your throat as he bargained for your life with the one's he called an enemy.
She watched, terrified as the bargain went on. It was so quiet compared to the thoughts in her head, so she could hardly focus. She watched as Bracken lost all his bounds, but that wasn't what confused her. Well, everything confused her, but this was a whole new thing.
Why would these people be bargaining for her life if they didn't care at all her for her? Why would Ronodin be the one threatening to kill her if he was the friend? Kendra was so helpless at that moment, but when the melodious voice returned, she felt a strange sense of comfort. It was the voice from her dream.
"Ronodin, what happened to you?" The voice seemed to demand authority but was also surprisingly soft at the same time. This voice was none other than Molea's.
"Stop," Ronodin said, his grip on Kendra continuing to tighten fearfully. "Destroy the shrine or your handmaiden will die."
Handmaiden? Kendra asked herself, I'm her handmaiden?
Kendra watched as the beautiful shrine started to grow intensely bright, but when it should have been a blinding pain, it came more as a soft comfort. She watched as Bracken grabbed Seth by the arm and pulled the boy away, leaving Kendra all alone with Ronodin.
For a minute, she saw a flash go through her eyes. She saw a young boy in her vision, no it was Bracken, looking at her in plain awe, the love clear in his eyes well also using his hand to shelf his eyes as if she were a beacon, but also couldn't look away.
"Wow," he said dreamingly, "You'll never be dim." She smiled after him, feeling for a moment, even at peace.
Just as this light would never be dim. But just as the vision started, it ended all at once.
Ronodin pulled her away from the shrine and dropped the knife into the ground, the sharp part in and the handle facing towards the sky. Kendra focused on the dagger as the light erupted behind it, so beautiful even for words. And Ronodin pulled her away, her putty in his grip, for she was still in terrible shock, to whatever happened next.
Seth shook the tiredness from his eyes and moaned at the soreness in his body and the ache in his head. Once he regained himself, he sprang up from where he lay. Kendra! Where was his sister? As soon as he tried to get back up, he immediately found himself back on the ground, his head aching, even more, he put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes, grimacing in pain.
"Don't try and get up." He heard someone say, "You'll need a moment to recover, give me a minute."
Ignoring the person, he opened his eyes and saw Bracken standing over him with his hand on Seth's forehead, glowing slightly. He was most likely trying to help Seth's headache from these signs, but Seth gently pulled his hand off his head.
"Where is everyone?" Seth ventured quickly, "Vanessa? Warren? Eve? Kendra?" He added the last part a little too hopefully.
"We're right here." Eve walked up behind Bracken, "Warren and Vanessa are checking the shrine for anything that could be salvaged. Now that it is destroyed, the protections don't ensure so anyone can venture at it. What's left of it, that is."
"It's destroyed?" Seth asked.
"Gone," Bracken said sadly, "It was one of our only functioning shrines we managed to rebuild since the Zzyzx, so it is a big deal that we lost it. The queen made the right choice to destroy it though, we can't afford to lose Kendra." The last part was a little pained by the tone of his voice.
"And Kendra?" Seth asked, desperately trying to stand up, "Where is she?"
"She and Ronodin vanished." Eve spoke up for Bracken, "We had to get away from the shrine or we could have died."
"Do you know where she is?" Seth asked.
Bracken shook his head, "I'm going after them now." He declared.
"Bracken, you know you won't be able to find them." Eve said, "We need to regroup first. We can't just go charging into battle. Wow, did I just say that?" She added the last part as a clear attempt to burst their spirits, but no offense to her, it didn't work.
"We have to go after her!" Bracken insisted, "She was right there! I could have gotten her!" He kicked a stone in frustration, an emotion not normally seen in Bracken.
"Maybe," Eve said.
"How is that supposed to help?" Seth said.
"Because you deserve the truth," Eve said, "We missed a chance, but we won't miss another. We have no chance now, but we can later."
"Since when are you so wise?" Seth asked.
"Since I've been stuck with only ancient texts and a grounding in the past few months," Eve said seriously, "Now we'll kick some unicorn butt." She turned to face Bracken, "No offense, are dark unicorns a different species or something for future reference?"
Bracken shrugged honestly. "Some say yes, some say no."
"Not an answer," Eve said, "But first let's go find Warren before he lights himself on fire or worse."
Seth snorted, "That's true. He'll probably do something stupid."
"And you wouldn't?" Bracken smirked, "Your girlfriend's right, let's make a plan. Then we can save her from Ronodin and his deception. Unicorns are peaceful creatures, but I want to hurt him right now after what he has been doing to Kendra."
"First off," Seth said, "Eve is not my girlfriend." Yet, he added the last part mentally. "And second, what has Ronodin been telling her?"
"The worse," Bracken said, "He also told Kendra he was her boyfriend."
"No way," Seth said, unable to resist a grin. "Her? His girlfriend?"
"That's what he said." Bracken confirmed, "He also said you betrayed her and did some pretty nasty things."
"I get the first punch." Seth declaimed.
"Not if I beat you to it." Bracken countered.
"You're both idiots." Eve said, "But I'm going to beat you both there. I may have no personal dirt against him, but I want to hit that jaw."
"You're on."
Kendra pulled away from Ronodin's strong grip on her arm, "What the heck just happened!" She yelled.
"I told you to trust me." Ronodin said simply, but with no empathy in his voice, "I wouldn't have hurt you. I just needed to convince them to do it, no harm, no foul?"
"You just held a knife to me!" Kendra cried.
"All part of an act," he said simply, "It had to look convincing, my love."
"Why would they be so desperate to save me if they didn't care about me?" Kendra asked, "Why would they do it for me if they didn't love me! Ronodin, you have to tell me what is going on! I can't do this without an explanation anymore! Can you at least say where we are going?"
"They are desperate to gain your trust." Ronodin said, "That is why they confuse the act. You are falling for it."
"Is it just an act though?" Kendra asked, "Was it ever?"
Ronodun regarded her, "Kendra, they have compromised you." He said, "I'm sorry, all will make sense soon."
And the world went black.