Chapter 8 – Going Down in Downtown

It was roughly mid-afternoon when Raxtus, who had been flying high in the sky towards New York City, dove downward and continued his flight beneath the clouds. Seth, Lance and David gazed down at the vast metropolis that lay in the horizon.

"There it is!" exclaimed Lance. "That's New York City!"

"Raxtus was pretty close," said Seth. "He almost made it on his judgement alone, but was a little off."

"If you were gonna bet on this, you'd have lost," said David.

"Only if I'd bet that Raxtus wouldn't miss New York when he checked to see where he was."

"So where is this witch, anyway?" asked Lance.

"You saw the map," replied Seth. "She's supposed to be somewhere in the lower part of Manhattan."

"That's only if those Singing Sisters are right," noted David.

"Course they're right," said Seth confidently. "They didn't get to be renowned by giving out false information. It's part of their pact."

"Seth, how are we supposed to even start looking for this witch?" asked Lance. "And what if she's dangerous?"

"The sisters said that she's bound by a magical, knotted rope. We only need to release one knot so that the witch can extract Zavarok. As long as there's at least two knots left when we get there, we should be fine. Come to think of it, we should've asked the sisters how many knots were left back when we had the chance."

"You said you're familiar in dealing with a witch like this," said Lance. "What was that about?"

"You mean Muriel?" asked Seth. "Yeah, she used to live in a shack at Fablehaven, and was bound by a knotted rope. Two summers ago, Kendra and I used up her last knot to restore our grandmother from being a chicken."

"A chicken?" asked David suspiciously. "Why on Earth was she a chicken?"

"Long story."

"What'd the witch do once you freed her?" asked Lance.

"She left us alone for the moment, probably out of gratitude. However, she later tried to overthrow the preserve, but was foiled by Kendra. She managed to impair everyone else but her, and would've succeeded had Kendra not pulled through. We can't let our guard down around this witch, though. Undoing her last knot would be a very stupid move. If there's only one knot left when we find her, we should just give up. It's not worth the risk."

"There's the city right up ahead!" exclaimed Lance, as a large, urbanized island, came close into view.

Seth glanced at his map, then looked down at the island as they flew over it. "This is New York," said Seth happily. "Staten Island, to be exact. Manhattan's a little further north."

"Hold it," said David. "We can't just fly down in the middle of the city! People will see us! Maybe Raxtus should land here, where it isn't so crowded."

"Good idea," said Seth. "Lots of open area that isn't too busy. Raxtus, please land towards the north side of this island."

"Of course," said Raxtus, as he began descending downwards. The island came closer and closer into view, until Raxtus landed in a clear area of some parkland. As the boys climbed off of Raxtus, Seth looked around, hoping that nobody nearby had really noticed them.

"Even if Raxtus turns invisible, it'll be hard to interact with him once were in the busy city," said Seth. "Raxtus, I want you to turn into your human form."

Without speaking, Raxtus shrunk himself down until he had regressed into his one-foot tall human-like form.

Lance smiled. "He looks kinda adorable! But, won't a guy that small draw some unwanted attention?"

Seth reached into his backpack, and from it, removed another backpack, this one all scrunched up in an oblong-like shape. He then straightened out the second backpack, removing as many wrinkles from it that he could.

"Raxtus, since you can't turn invisible as a human, you'll need to hide in here."

Raxtus nodded, then crawled into the backpack. Seth picked up the backpack, unburdened by Raxtus' added weight, then handed it to David.

"You'll need to wear this," said Seth, as David accepted the backpack. "Don't worry. At this size, Raxtus weighs about as much as a cat."

David swung the backpack over his shoulders with minimal difficulty. "Are we good to go?"

"Just about," replied Seth. "Now let's get going. I've never been to New York City before, but I'm pretty sure there's a ferry that connects Staten Island to Manhattan."

The boys made their way to a main road and followed it, passing through the northernmost part of Staten Island. After travelling for roughly fifteen minutes, they arrived at the ferry dock at the northern shore of the island.

The boys lined up with a small crowd of people, then boarded the ferry. Seth was more than satisfied upon learning that the fare was free. The three of them stood at the front of the ferry, looking at the shores of New Jersey to the west, Brooklyn to the east, and Manhattan to the north. Of course, the biggest sight to them had to be none other than the Statue of Liberty.

Once the ferry had docked at the terminal at the southern end of Manhattan, the passengers all disembarked and set foot onto the island itself. Seth led Lance and David to a newsstand, where he picked up a map of Manhattan. He sat down on a bench and unfurled it, then compared it to the map he had received from the Singing Sisters.

"So, where're we supposed to go?" asked David, having a glance at the two maps for his own eyes to see.

"I don't know how we're supposed to just get to this place," responded Seth. "Not only is it underground, but it's between streets!"

"You think maybe it's in the basement of some building?" asked Lance.

"Why would a huge office tower in the middle of a big city house a witch in one of its sub-basements?" asked Seth. "It doesn't make sense."

"Wherever this witch is being held," said David, "has probably been completely developed over years ago. The entrance would've been sealed off. We'd have to dig our way in, and no landlord's gonna let us waltz into their basement and start digging around."

"At least not without a building permit."

"These Singing Sisters," said Lance, "they wouldn't happen to have a hotline we can call?"

Seth shook his head. "The advice they gave me last time was solid enough."

"We need to get underground," said Lance. "But, we can't just jump into the sewers and start running around!"

"No kidding," said Seth. "Sewers stink, and you wanna know why?"

"Hold on," said Lance, as he darted back towards the newsstand.

"I say we just get as close to this spot as possible," said David. "Maybe we can find a hidden entrance or something around there."

"There could just be a distractor spell that's warding people off," said Seth. "We might as well try it."

"Look at this," said Lance, returning to Seth and David with an unfolded map in his hands. "It's a map of the subway system."

Seth's eyes lit up as he studied the subway. "Is there a subway station where the witch is supposed to be?"

"No," said Lance. "But look where the place would be on this subway map. See how that subway line splits into two just around that same point?"

Seth and David were both befuddled by the discovery. Why did the line just branch off into two at that very point, only to reunite shortly after? Were the people who built the subway secretly deterred by a distractor spell?

"How are we supposed to get there?" asked David. "It's between stops."

"We can't get there by train," replied Seth. "We'll just have to ride Raxtus through the subway instead."

The boys then made their way over to the nearest subway station, where they headed to the lower level and waited for the next northbound train to arrive. They boarded it, knowing to get off at the fifth stop. It had been Seth's first time on a subway train, though he was enjoying the experience fairly well as it rumbled through the tunnel.

At the fifth stop, the boys got off and waited for the train they had disembarked to pull out of the station.

"Now what?" asked Lance.

Seth led Lance and David over to the northern end of the platform, then stood behind David and opened up his backpack. He reached in and helped Raxtus climb out, then placed him on the floor. Seth then looked around to make sure that nobody else was nearby.

"Okay, Raxtus. Turn back into a dragon and quickly render yourself invisible."

Without speaking, Raxtus' body began to expand. It grew back into a dragon, who wasted no time in turning invisible before the boys' eyes. Seth climbed onto Raxtus' back, seemingly floating in midair.

"Come on, you guys," said Seth, prompting Lance and David to join him, although they were more cautious of the whole idea. "Okay, Raxtus. Fly us into that tunnel."

The boys could feel as Raxtus leaped up into the air and floated above the subway tracks, then slowly soared into the tunnel. The tunnel itself wasn't too dark, thanks to all the lights that were arranged between the ceiling and the wall. However, as Raxtus flew further away from the station, the lighting did get significantly dimmer.

Up ahead, Seth could see where the tracks branched off in two directions. Beyond where the tracks split, stood a large, bleak wall. Could this be what they were trying to reach?

Seth instructed Raxtus to land just beyond where the tracks split. He did so, and the boys climbed down off of him. Raxtus then became visible as soon as Seth requested it.

"There's nothing here," said Lance, examining the wall with a flashlight. "Maybe the sisters were wrong on this one."

"I guess those sisters don't get out much," said David, also looking around with a flashlight. He then shook his head in disbelief. "No way, I see it!"

"See what?" asked Seth.

"Through Zavarok," said David. "He can sense a large opening in the wall!"

"Are you serious?" asked Seth doubtfully. "If there were an opening, Raxtus would've noticed it."

"Maybe Raxtus didn't say anything because he can't speak for himself," said Lance suggestively.

Seth smacked his forehead. "Of course. Raxtus, do you see an opening in this wall?"

"I do."

Seth didn't know whether to be relieved or dumbfounded. "I can't see it, but I'll take your word for it. It feels like the distractor spell must be trying to keep us away or something."

"What do we do?" asked Lance. "I've heard about distractor spells before."

"Just get onto Raxtus' back and don't let go," said Seth climbing back onto the dragon. He waited for Lance and David to join him. "Okay, Raxtus, take us through the opening. And you two, close your eyes."

"Of course," said Raxtus. Not wanting to be deterred by the distractor spell himself, Seth closed his eyes and felt as Raxtus walked closer towards the wall. A large trembling sound to his left startled him, until he realized that a train was passing him on that side.

"Are we okay?" asked Lance.

Seth opened his eyes, and could see that they were now in a smaller tunnel, barely large enough for Raxtus to stand in. He turned around and could see the entrance to the tunnel they had entered, beyond which lay the larger subway tunnel.

Looking forward, the group of four progressed through the small tunnel. After only what felt like several yards, they came across the end, finding only a large hole in the ground. Seth gazed down the hole, unable to sense where the bottom could even be.

"Down there?" asked Lance.

"This has to be the place," replied Seth. "Unfortunately. Guess the rent in Manhattan was too high for anything better."

"How are we even supposed to get down?" asked David. "The walls look too smooth for someone to climb."

"Raxtus might not be able to fly down it," said Seth. "But I bet he could climb down, with us on his back."

"I don't see what other choice we have," said Lance, looking back and forth between Raxtus and the hole.

Seth climbed back onto Raxtus, leading Lance and David to do the same. He then told Raxtus to attempt to climb down the hole. Raxtus turned his backside toward the hole, and lowered his talons down into it, keeping his claws grasped onto the ledge.

Raxtus made his way down the hole, his nails piercing into the wall for support like pitons. After a few moments, all three boys instinctively shone their flashlights downward, unable to locate a bottom.

"How deep is this thing?" asked David.

"Wish I knew," said Seth. "Only clue we got was a map with a circle on it."

Lance looked back up. "Hey, we had to have gone deeper than that!"

Seth and David both looked up. What Lance spoke of was correct. The top of hole was no more than six feet above Raxtus' claws. But Raxtus had certainly gone deeper than that, hadn't he?

"Raxtus, stop!" said Seth, ordering the dragon to refrain from descending deeper.

"We've been going down this whole time," said David. "What gives?"

"Is this part of the distractor spell?" asked Lance.

"I... don't think so," answered Seth. "Unless it's some other kind of spell that's playing tricks on us. Let's try going down again, only, we'll look up and see how deep we actually get. Raxtus, continue climbing down."

Raxtus made his way further down the hole. This time, however, Seth, Lance and David kept their eyes fixated at the top, watching as it shrank from view as they went lower into the pit.

"I wonder if we're almost there," said David after a minute had passed, prompting the boys to all look down the pit. Still no bottom was in sight. When they looked back up, they were startled to see the top, which was only a few feet above their current position.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Lance. "We're right back where we started!"

"No kidding," commented David. "But, how?"

"I know," said Seth. "We'll try this again. You two look down, and I'll keep looking up. Raxtus, climb down again."

Raxtus proceeded with climbing downward. Seth looked back up at the top, while Lance and David gazed down the hole. As Raxtus descended the hole for several yards, it appeared to Seth that they were indeed going deeper than they had before.

"We're getting somewhere," said Seth.

"Still a long way down on our end," noted Lance.

Seth looked down and could still not see the end of the seemingly bottomless pit. Reluctantly, he turned his back up and was startled to see that they were now only a few feet from the top again.

"This isn't working!" moaned Seth, as he explained the situation to Lance and David.

"Maybe Raxtus can detect the bottom," said Lance.

"I hope you're right," said Seth. "Raxtus, what do you see down there?"

The dragon looked down the pit for himself. "Nothing. Just a long, winding hole."

"This pit is playing a trick on us," said Seth. "Maybe we're not climbing down fast enough. If this pit really is bottomless, it'd be fun to jump down."

"Are you nuts?" asked Lance. "Say this pit really is bottomless. After falling for too long, you'd kill yourself."

Seth looked down the pit again. "It doesn't look so scary. Besides, magical places like these are always filled with improbable riddles. I'd bet that this pit isn't bottomless, but just a way to trick us."

Seth then leaped off of Raxtus, and let himself plunge down the pit. Lance and David shrieked in horror, just as Seth could feel his feet hitting solid ground painlessly.

In front of Seth stood another dank tunnel. He turned his head back up the pit, where he could see Raxtus and the boys dangling roughly ten feet over him.

"You guys!" shouted Seth. "It's safe! The bottomless thing is an illusion! Trust me!"

"Seth!" shouted David. "Is this a trick?"

"I don't have time for this," Seth said to himself. "Raxtus! Let go of the wall!"

Lance and David both screamed as Raxtus let go of the wall and let himself plummet down the pit with the boys on his back, landing next to Seth.

"Holy geez!" gasped Lance. "Don't scare us like that!"

"I knew it was a trick," said Seth. "The only way to get down the hole was by avoiding your instincts. Keeps most souls out of a place like this. Otherwise, we could be climbing down forever."

"Let's just get a move on," said David. "The sooner we can get this over with, the sooner we can get back to Fablehaven and apologize to everyone."

"We are gonna get sooo busted," lamented Seth. "Too bad there wasn't some treasure to find that we could take back with us. That'd show them."

The three boys and Raxtus made their way down the tunnel, which was no more than fifty feet long. At the end of the tunnel stood a large, mahogany door with a rounded top. The large metal knob was circular, like the kind Seth associated with doors found inside castles.

Seth placed his hands on the doorknob and proceeded to slowly pull the door forward. As the door creaked open, it revealed a small room, no larger than a closet. In the center of the room, sat an old, feeble-looking hag. Undoubtedly, it was none other than the aforementioned witch that the Singing Sisters spoke of.