Chapter 16 – Cleansing
Wind blasting against their bodies, Raxtus and Geminus climbed up the tail of the moving plane, and onto the rear part of the fuselage, their passengers holding onto them tightly.
"Where do you want us to go?" blared Geminus, her voice partially muffled by wind, as the two dragons crawled forward towards the front of the plane.
"Well, we don't exactly have tickets for this thing," said Warren, "and I can't think of a safe way to get on-board the plane without attracting attention."
"How are we supposed to survive up here?" exclaimed Lance, covering his ears. "It's cold and way too windy!"
"I've got an idea," said Kendra, clenching the fingers of her right hand into a fist. At that moment, Ariel popped out of her ring. She almost got swept away by the wind before she could even react, but Kendra managed to grab her with her free hand.
"What's going on?" squeaked Ariel.
"It's a long story," said Kendra. "But I'll cut to the chase. Can you encase us in a protective dome?"
"I think so," said Ariel, raising her arms out of Kendra's hands. Bolts of magic shot out of Ariel's own tiny hands, causing a translucent, but otherwise clear, dome of energy to surround everyone in the group, with just enough space for them to move around.
Suddenly, the pressure and noise caused by the wind seemingly vanished. Kendra and Seth looked around. It was if the plane had suddenly stopped moving, even though it was still in motion.
"What happened?" asked Lance, pressing his hand against the barrier to test it.
"It's a protective barrier," replied Kendra. "Courtesy of Ariel. Now we can ride on this plane more comfortably."
"About as comfortable as a metal floor with no seats can get," said Seth, wiggling his butt around the spot where he was seated.
"Sorry, but I can't do everything," said Ariel sincerely.
"That's all right," said Seth, brandishing the ring he was wearing. At that moment, Umbriel popped out, and looked around.
"What do you want?" Umbriel asked disinterestedly, as she crossed her arms and turned away from Seth.
"This ride we're on isn't all that comfortable," explained Seth. "Think you could conjure up some cushions or something for us to sit on?"
"Why should I?" asked Umbriel.
"Because you're my Fairy Guardian. And it's your job to help me should I so ask," stated Seth.
"I don't care."
Ariel flew over from Kendra and up to Umbriel. "Come on. Don't you want to be a Fairy Angel someday?"
"Leave me alone."
"Great," said Warren. "Zavarok must've influenced Umbriel at some point. Just great."
Umbriel scoffed. "So what?"
"If you're going to be this way," said Seth, as he recalled Umbriel back into his ring.
"Sorry about that," said Ariel. "Umbriel's always had a mean streak, but this is something else."
"Maybe I could persuade her," said Kendra. "All fairies must obey me if I command them."
"Not if they're corrupted," said Ariel. "I'm afraid this problem is out of our control."
"Why did I have to get Umbriel?" asked Seth. "Why not a nice fairy? It's because I'm a shadow charmer. I guess I deserve a bad fairy."
"Look, I'd help you if I could," said Ariel. "But this shield took a lot out of me."
"It's okay," said Warren. "We can just unfurl our sleeping bags and sit on them. Not a huge deal if they get dirty."
Following Warren's advice, everybody pulled out their sleeping bags and arranged them all atop the roof of the plane, around the enclosed area that Ariel had provided them with. For now, their only option was to wait out the rest of the plane ride.
Kendra and Seth both knew that the ride would be a test of patience. Unlike being proper passengers on a plane, they would not be served any food that wasn't their own, nor would they even have so much as access to a washroom. Instead, everyone got by on food they packed, and kept themselves occupied either by reading material or a hand-held video game. Raxtus and Geminus kept to themselves, Raxtus trying to wait out his weakened condition.
A few hours later, the plane began descending downwards. "Kendra!" exclaimed Warren. "We're going down! You need to get Ariel to disable her shield so we can get off the plane!"
Kendra nodded, then released Ariel from her ring, and gave her Warren's directions. As soon as the shield vanished, air and noise came blasting through, making Kendra imagine how they ever would've survived without it.
Warren directed the others onto the backs of Geminus and Raxtus, then climbed on-board Raxtus himself.
"How're you feeling, Raxtus?" asked Warren, patting his neck.
"A bit better, but still kinda weak," replied Raxtus. "Don't know how long I can fly for, though."
"Just give it your best," said Kendra.
Raxtus nodded, then flapped his wings and leaped off of the plane as it sunk beneath the clouds, with Geminus following his lead.
"Wyrmroost should be in... that direction," said Warren, pointing with one hand and holding a compass in the other. The dragons acknowledged where Warren was pointing, and set their flight path accordingly.
"How long is this going to take?" asked Seth.
"We're above Calgary right now," replied Warren. "Wyrmroost is due south from here. Should take... no more than an hour."
"An hour?" moaned Raxtus. "I don't know..."
"Just hang in there, Raxtus," said Kendra. "Everything's going to be all right."
The two dragons continued flying southbound. After some time, all the humans besides Kendra began to feel wary.
"Geminus," said Lance. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
In the distance, Kendra could now see the glowing walls that served as the border around Wyrmroost. Up until now, she had no idea that they extended up so high into the sky.
"Everyone hang in there!" said Kendra. "Wyrmroost's distractor spell doesn't affect me or the dragons, but it does affect the rest of you. Trust me, you're going to be okay!"
"Doesn't matter how many times I hear that!" exclaimed Warren, squeezing his eyes shut. "I always get the impulse to flee."
"I'd flee," said David, "but I'm not about to leap from a dragon that's this high in the air!"
"Everyone, just keep quiet and hold on tight!" said Geminus, as she and Raxtus soared forward. They approached the glowing wall of the sanctuary and proceeded to fly through it. Once on the other side, the male passengers no longer felt intimidated, and opened their eyes.
"We're here!" said Geminus.
"About time," gasped Raxtus. "Let's get to the shrine already before the other dragons kill us!"
Raxtus and Geminus spiralled downwards, their turbulence proved to be exasperating for their riders. It felt like being on a roller coaster, only it didn't let up after a few seconds, they just kept falling and falling.
Before long, the rocky terrain of Wyrmroost came into view. Although they were still too high up to make out any distinguishing landmarks, Raxtus and Geminus seemed to know where they were going.
The dragons flew down towards a plateau and landed safely. Kendra was starting to recall the spot in her mind. They were near the spot where the Fairy Queen's old shrine stood! Kendra assumed that the fairies were rebuilding the new shrine in the same spot.
"How did you just get into Wyrmroost so easily?" asked Seth.
"We have our ways," said Raxtus. "Not only are we fairy dragons. but we're welcomed residents of Wyrmroost, so the barriers don't affect us. As for not getting spotted, the creatures here know who we are and don't bother us."
"They would've bothered us had they seen that we had passengers on our backs," said Geminus. "Things would've gotten pretty ugly. Ugly as in, we could've all been massacred."
"I don't quite get why you fairy dragons choose to live in a place like this," said Seth. "Your neighbors aren't exactly... friendly."
"It's where I was raised," said Raxtus. "Not that I had the easiest time throughout the ages, so I tended to stray away from there whenever I got the chance. Now that I've proven myself as a dragon, I get more respect, but I'm still not on the best of terms with everyone."
"There you are!" shouted a familiar voice from nearby. Everyone turned to look and saw that it had come from Bracken himself, who was surrounded by several other full-bodied fairies.
"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra, running over to the unicorn and giving him a hug. "I've never been so relieved to see you."
"Kendra," said one of the other fairies. "We've heard great things about you. But, you're so... young!"
"What's she saying?" asked David, displaying a confused look on his face. "It sounds strange."
"She's speaking in Sylvian," replied Bracken, receiving blank looks from David and Lance. "It's a language spoken by fairies. With a few exceptions, most fairies aren't fluent in a human tongue."
"Right," said Lance. "Last time I was at Fablehaven, I had to communicate with the fairies there through actions, not with words."
Bracken nodded. "I hate to cut short the small talk, but I believe you are here on a more serious note, correct?"
"That's right, said Warren, looking back at both Seth and David. "Did Stan tell you everything that you need to know?"
"Everything I'd expect him to know and tell me. So, this Zavarok. Where is he now?"
"We think he's still confined to David," said Seth. "But, he was posing such a threat, that we suppressed him by having David wear my bracelet that I normally wear to restrain my shadow charmer prowess."
"I see," said Bracken, admiring the aforementioned bracelet that was snug on David's wrist.
"But before you do anything, you have to promise me that you won't harm Zavarok," said Seth.
Bracken sighed. "I don't know if we can do that. Our fairy magic does not go hand-in-hand with darkness, While we could no doubt extract Zavarok, the process could infect him, and potentially destroy him."
"But-but-but..."
"Enough," said Warren. "I'm sorry, Seth. But Zavarok's caused enough trouble, even if it was accidental. We need to do something about this, whether he survives or not."
Seth placed him palm up to his head. "I give up. You guys win. Zavarok's just too big a problem for me to deal with. I tried everything, and I failed."
Warren placed his hand upon Seth's shoulder. "Don't feel bad. Even though you never proved it, I still felt that in my heart, you've been truthful about this whole Zavarok thing. But at the end of the day, helping him safely is just something don't know how to do. What's done is done."
"Well, if you folks will follow us to our base camp, we can get this procedure underway," said Bracken.
"Sorry to butt in," said Raxtus, "but I've been overwhelmed with dark magic. "Care to help me?"
The fairies all unleashed their magic in beams of light at Raxtus for a few seconds, then stopped.
"Much better. Thanks!"
Bracken led the group across the plateau a short ways until they reached a small grove where several white tents had been set up.
"It's not much," said Bracken, "but we like to think of it as our home away from home "
"Please direct the young patient into this tent," said one of the fairies, pointing to one of the tents.
"Right in here, David," said Bracken, leading the group into the tent. Roughly the size of Seth's bedroom, the tent contained a large, legless table situated in the center. "All right, David. If you're ready, please lie down on the table before you."
Nodding in response, David then stepped up to the table and climbed on top of it. After looking around at the fairies, he sighed, then laid back on the table, with his front side facing up.
"Like this?" asked David.
"Perfect," said Bracken. "Oh, and take off your bracelet too, please."
"This won't hurt him, will it?" asked Kendra, as David removed the bracelet from his wrist.
"It could be very excruciating," replied Bracken, receiving several gasps. "For Zavarok. But we've gone over the risk already."
The five other fairies gathered around the table, although their bodies did not prevent spectators from watching David.
"Okay, girls," said Bracken, "let's do this."
"What'd he say?" asked David, looking worried. He was unable to understand Bracken as he spoke in Sylvian.
"Just relax," said Kendra assuredly.
Glowing auras in a myriad of different colors spawned from the hands of the five fairies as they raised them above their heads. The fairies then lowered their glowing hands, before unleashing their magic upon David. Soon David was consumed by a rainbow of magic that was so intense, it lit up the entire tent like bright lights at a dance party.
Nothing seemed to be happening, but from the intense looks that Kendra and Seth could make out in the fairies' eyes, they had to be doing something. After a few more seconds passed, the vibrant colors all died down, and the fairies lowered their hands away from David.
"I'd say they're done," said Bracken, crossing his arms together.
"It's over?" asked David, stroking an arm with his other hand.
"Where's Zavarok?" asked Kendra.
Bracken sighed. "I don't know what to make of this, but I'm afraid that I don't know."
"Is he... alive?" asked Seth.
"The fairies used their magic to cleanse David of any dark essences that might be lurking within him. Essentially, Zavarok would've been flushed out of David's body and soul."
"So where is he now?" asked David, sitting up on the table.
"Hard to tell," said Bracken. "Fairy magic is like poison to demons. If anything, he disintegrated and passed on to the netherworld."
"You mean, he's gone?" asked Seth worriedly.
"Unless he survived somehow," said Bracken. "The process isn't instantaneous. Could take a while."
"Why does it have to destroy him outright?" asked Lance.
"He's a demon," said Warren. "It had to be this way."
"Zavarok?" asked Seth, looking around and expecting a response. Any response would suffice, no matter how meek and faint it might be. "Are you there? Answer me!"
"The fairy magic severely weakened Zavarok," said Bracken, "assuming it didn't outright kill him."
"Look at the good side of all this," said Kendra. "Zavarok can't cause any more harm to creatures of light, even if it had been unintentional."
"But... he's gone," said David. "I didn't want him to die. I mean, I don't even live at Fablehaven. "I could've gone home with Zavarok still lingering around, and it wouldn't have made any difference."
"And aside from keeping Zavarok around, what would that accomplish?" asked Warren. "He'd still be tied to you in perpetual limbo. And don't you want to become a Knight of a Dawn when you get older? They'd have to turn you down because being tied to a demon kind of makes you a hazard to creatures of light."
"But, if Zavarok dies, he'll go to the Netherworld for eternity," said David. "And that's the last place he wanted to end up."
"Are you absolutely sure Zavarok is gone?" asked Seth.
"I trust that my kin did a more than adequate job," said Bracken. "But if you'd like, I can see for myself."
Bracken suddenly began to transform. His body fell forward, and he transmogrified into his silvery-white unicorn form. Kendra, Seth and Warren had only had the honor of seeing this only once before, but they were still just as amazed as Lance and David.
"What are you doing?" asked David, as Bracken rested his glowing horn against David's chest, making sure not to prick it.
"He's clear," said Bracken. He then backed away from David and proceeded to slowly wave his head back and forth, horn still glowing.
"Uh, Bracken?" asked Kendra.
"I'm checking to see if Zavarok is anywhere in the vicinity," said Bracken. "Doesn't seem to be anything."
"Could there be any interference?" asked Kendra. "Like from the light energy you fairies exert?"
"Shouldn't matter," said Bracken. "And I'm not finding anything. "Either Zavarok got as far away from here as fast as possible, or he's been obliterated. And I wouldn't hold my breath on the former."
"I give up," said Seth, as Bracken returned to his human form. "I really wanted to help Zavarok, but I guess it was just a lost cause."
"I understand," said Warren, "but you caused a lot of trouble trying to fix things your way. Now, we still have Hespera to deal with."
"Yes," said Bracken. "Stan told me about her. But, aside from offering support, we don't have any leads on her ourselves. She was never an immediate concern to our kind."
"Any help you can offer is better than no help at all."
"How do we track her down?" asked Seth.
"Trask is supposedly looking into that," said Warren. "But, I don't know how far he intends to get. No one really knows who Hespera is, and she could be anywhere."
"Would you fairies be able to help?" asked Seth.
"Maybe," said Bracken. "I know my job here isn't finished, but things sound pretty grim. I'll head back to Fablehaven with you folks and help restore all the fallen creatures. Although I don't like calling us fairies creatures at all. We're above that sort of terminology."
"Thank you so much for helping us," said Kendra, hugging Bracken. "I don't know what we'd do without you."