Chapter 20 – Resurgence

Feeling his body fade out of existence, Seth was not sure what to think of it; it all happened so fast. The world around him was dissolving once again, only for him to reemerge in the sky somewhere else, as his body became solid again as well.

As Seth's body materialized in what appeared to be Earth's sky, the force of gravity immediately began plunging him downwards. As he fell, a torrent of raindrops splashed against his body, while he spiraled uncontrollably towards the ground.

If Seth didn't take action, he was bound to hit the ground and possibly kill himself. Again. Fortunately, he was a dragon now, and had the wings to handle the situation, although he had never properly used them on his own.

Thinking back to his days as Navarog, Seth unfurled his wings outwards. Raindrops shot against them like bullets but his wings were at least slowing his descent. Having gained more control, Seth swerved his body forward, aligning himself in a proper flying position. Now that he was properly flying and not falling, Seth was overcome with a feeling of relief.

Seth gazed down as the rain continued to pour past him, and could see the rooftops of highrises spanning several miles in every direction, stopping only at bodies of water. Seth assumed that he was back in Manhattan, but how? And why?

Wanting to stop for a moment and gather his thoughts, Seth soared down towards the rooftops, looking for a place to seek shelter from the rain. As he landed upon a rooftop, Seth was quick to notice that it provided him with absolutely no shelter whatsoever. However, he did see a door which presumably led to a stairwell into the building.

Seth trudged over to the door and twisted the knob with his dragon claw. To Seth's surprise, the door was unlocked, allowing him to enter. As he stepped inside, Seth pondered as to whether or not he could have busted open the door with his dragon body if he had to.

Although he was out of the rain, his problems were far from over. As a dragon, or whatever he resembled to anyone who didn't drink magical milk, Seth was uncertain as to where he should go, as he did not have Matthew's address, or even information needed to contact any of the Knights of the Dawn. He didn't even know where he could stay, although he figured that at least he could reside at the top of the stairwell if no one was around to stop him.

Regardless, at least Seth was no longer in the Netherworld. Looking back, the whole experience had felt more like a dream than a reality. Had he actually been to the Netherworld? Or did he enter some sort of trance upon drinking the potion, fly around aimlessly, only to awaken in the sky? Either way, Zavarok did not seem to be with him any longer. If this really had been a dream, then where had Zavarok even gone? Could Seth really still stay mad at him, if crossing into the Netherworld never even happened?

As it stood, Seth was completely at a loss. He had no idea how to find his family or anyone who could help. Fablehaven had been destroyed, along with any useful information his family might've kept there. He didn't know where to find any allies of the Knights of the Dawn, and didn't have the phone number or addresses of anyone he knew, including people like Grandpa and Grandma Larsen, Agad, or Trask. He could try to find his way to a place like Living Mirage, but only knew that it was somewhere in Turkey. The fact that he was not a human only hindered his chances even further.

Seth then remembered that dragons possessed the power to transform into humans. While he was only a pseudo dragon, he mulled over the idea as to whether or not such a thing would even be possible. Alas, he had no idea as to how he could make use of his dragon powers, if he even had any. At least he presumably still had his shadow charmer powers, not that they could help in this situation.

But maybe his shadow charmer powers could help. He remembered how fairies were able to detect one another through sensing their aura. Although Seth's powers relied on darkness, maybe there was a way for him to sense the light energy emitted by Kendra and the others at Matthew's condominium. Giving the situation more thought, Seth then recalled that they were presumably still confined to their light-consuming orbs, probably making their detection an impossibility.

Seth tried to think of a solution, until one hit him. Umbriel! She had stayed back in Matthew's condominium when he passed through to the netherworld. Wherever she was now, could there be a chance he could try to pinpoint her presence? Seth didn't know how, but he had to try.

Seth knew that back when Bright and Clover tried to search for Kendra after she'd been kidnapped by Matthew and Ashley, they had to close their eyes to search for her, and that being up in the air would increase their success rate. Seth didn't have the first clue as to how this type of thing even worked, or if it was even possible, but one thing was for sure; He had to at least try.

Seth closed his eyes and focused entirely on darkness. He tried to sense if there was an ominous presence within his vicinity. He'd utilized this ability in the past, and could tell if there were other beings of darkness nearby, but never to detect signs of light energy. He was hoping he could luck out and detect light energy through a false-positive sensing for darkness.

After trying for a good minute, Seth gave up, as he knew he was going nowhere fast. But what was he to do? Although he knew that Matthew lived in Manhattan, the island was a congested place filled with millions of people. Even if his powers could detect light, he'd have to go all over Manhattan, testing out his theory constantly, or at least until he lucked out. Of course, if there was anything Seth had been lacking lately, it was luck.

There had to be a smarter way to go about doing this. There had to be somewhere where Seth could radiate his detection to a larger portion of the island. He needed to properly broadcast it. Of course! He could fly to the top of a tall building and try his power out there.

Seth crawled out from the open stairwell and into the rain, where he gazed around the surrounding area for a tall building. It didn't take too much searching to find an ideal one; the Empire State Building. With not a moment to waste, Seth spread his wings and leapt off the rooftop. He soared between buildings, the rain pouring down upon him relentlessly. Before long, Seth approached his destination.

The Empire State Building was a glory to behold, but it was not the time for Seth to admire the scenery. He made a beeline for the very top of the building, where the antenna was situated, and landed by its base. The sign of a rainstorm drew the possibility of the antenna getting struck by lightning, but Seth was determined to take the risk regardless.

As he did before, Seth focused on spreading his dark vibes down upon the city, in the hope of possibly finding a sign of light. At first, Seth was unable to sense any irregularities, be they light or dark. Everything appeared to be normal. Seth concentrated harder than before, hoping to find something out there. It seemed futile, as Umbriel was but a tiny fairy in a big city.

Seth focused as hard as he could on sensing the city. There had to be something, he just wasn't sure as to how he could detect it. He rotated his body around on the spot, doing slow, complete revolutions, hoping to discover something.

As Seth continued to sense around, he felt as through something had gently tickled his brain at one point, but not through physical means. Seth tilted his head in the direction he had sensed the feeling, and could feel it once more. It was very faint, but at least he could feel something.

Seth then took off from the top of the Empire State Building, flying in the direction from which he could sense the minor feeling of light energy. He flew forward a few blocks, then landed down upon another rooftop.

Facing in the same direction, Seth exerted his dark vibes again, hoping to pick up that same feeling as before. He felt it, and it was a fair bit stronger than it had been previously. Seth figured that if he continued like this, he would eventually find the source. Of course, if he flew too far, there was the chance he would overshoot his goal, as he didn't know the exact strength of the wavelength he had been sensing.

Seth proceeded onward, stopping every few blocks and attempting to sense the light energy each time. Sure enough, each attempt got stronger and stronger. At one point, he stopped upon a certain building, and could feel the light energy coming from beneath him.

Seth jumped off of the roof and clenched his claws upon the wall, so that he was gripping the side. He proceeded to climb down several stories, utilizing his claws as picks. The energy source he had been sensing had to be inside this building, he could feel it. But if it really was Umbriel, Seth couldn't help but wonder how he had been able to sense her from so far away. But what if Matthew and Hespera had found out what had happened, and had deliberately set up a trap to draw him in? Either way, Seth was willing to take the risk.

Using his power further, Seth climbed down until he was in front of a particular window, one that took up the entire wall of a room. The energy vibes he was feeling were pulsating more from this window than from any other point on the building. Although he could not see through the curtains on the other side of the glass, he could indeed sense something.

Seth placed the nail of his index finger against the window and proceeded to push it through the glass like a blade. Either his nail was sharp enough, or his body possessed sufficient strength. He then moved his claw from side to side, creating a groove in the glass. Seth proceeded to cut several more grooves in the glass, until he had created an opening large enough for him to fit through.

Seth gently lowered the sheet of glass he had cut out through the the curtain and placed it down on the carpeted flooring, then stepped through himself. Amazingly, his guess had been correct. Out of the rain, he was back in Matthew's living room, and sleeping on the couch was Hespera!

This was Seth's chance! Hespera was asleep, and Seth was free to attack her with a preemptive strike.

"Seth!" exclaimed a high-pitched, familiar voice. "You are Seth, right?"

Umbriel flew up to Seth, a confused look visible on her face. Just to confirm his theory, he could sense that the energy he had detected had indeed been Umbriel.

"Yup, I'm back," said Seth quietly.

"Where'd you go?" asked Umbriel.

"Long story. I'll tell you later. Right now I just want to kill theses two jerks and save everyone."

Seth crept across the room, making his way towards the couch. Although he did not feel afraid, Seth was still fearful of what would happen if Hespera somehow woke up and managed to counter him.

"Seth!" cried Umbriel, flying up in front of Seth's face. "Something feels very... wrong."

"Not now," muttered Seth, wincing in response.

"Help me!" she gasped, placing her hands upon her face.

"Just a minute!" huffed Seth.

At that moment, Umbriel let out a very shrill scream, as though she was doing it involuntarily. Despite her diminutive size, the scream was loud enough that Seth had to stop and cover his ears.

The noise only lasted a few seconds. But by the time it stopped, Seth witnessed Umbriel undergoing a transformation; she had turned into an imp!

"No!" gasped Seth, looking down at Umbriel. Now a spider-like imp, she had fallen down to the floor and was running around aimlessly.

"You don't fool me, you must be Seth," said Hespera, who had woken up during all the commotion. "And you deserve a fate worse than death."

Not knowing what else to do, Seth lunged at Hespera, who quickly deflected him away with some sort of energy shield before he could make contact with her. The force of the shield sent Seth flying across the room, causing him to crash into a wall.

"I do not know what you have done. Except that now you're a dragon."

Hespera fired a blast of energy from her hand towards Seth, who leaped away from it. The energy shot missed Seth, but left a burn mark on the wall.

"What's going on here?" asked Matthew, who was standing in the hall between his room and the living room. "Hespera, who's this dragon?"

"It's Seth who caused all of this commotion. He somehow got hold of my dragon potion!"

"I don't know how you did it," said Matthew, "but you're dead, you little prick!"

Matthew stretched out his arms and proceed to charge up energy in his hands. Seth then lunged at Matthew before he could react and knocked him over. Seth still on top of him, Matthew allowed his entire body to magically become engulfed in flames.

The heat being too intense for him to bear, Seth backed away from Matthew, only to crash into Hespera. However, she did not manage to deflect him like before.

Seth then realized he was standing next to the closet that the others were presumably still trapped inside. Without hesitation, he grabbed the door with one claw and ripped the whole thing off of its hinges. He swung the door back at Hespera, then slammed it at Matthew.

Seth looked down and saw the duffel bag still lying on the floor on the closet, the zipper only open partway. He lowed his arm, slung the strap of the bag over it, and hoisted it into the air. From what Seth could tell, the others were all still inside.

"Put that down!" exclaimed Matthew, as he blasted Seth with a bolt of energy. The force of the blast knocked Seth back a few feet, causing him to loose his footing and fall over onto his front end in the living room.

"That was supposed to turn you into a toad!" snarled Matthew, as he fired another bolt towards Seth. However, Seth mustered up the strength to leap away from it.

Not knowing what his chances were against two powerful magicians, Seth darted towards the window and leaped out of it. He knew that Matthew and Hesepra could easily follow him, but Seth didn't care. He had to at least try and get away.

Now out in the rain again, Seth weaved between many high-rise buildings, hoping that he would lose Matthew and Hespera, had they made an effort to follow him. But right now, Seth just needed a place to hide more than anything. He'd gladly go back to the stairwell, if only he had any idea where it was.

After flying for a few minutes, Seth came to the conclusion that if Matthew and Hesepra had been following, they lost track of him by now. Seth then flew upwards towards the rooftop of another building and landed next to the stairwell. Placing his hand on the doorknob, Seth was relieved to see this one was also unlocked, and entered the stairwell.

As the door closed behind him, Seth let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor. He felt safe, but for all he knew, Matthew or Hespera could suddenly come marching through the door at any moment.

Seth placed the bag down on the floor in front of him, and pulled open the zipper. Looking down inside of the bag, Seth could see his friends and family still trapped in the orbs. From what he could tell, they were all terrified.

"Seth?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "Is that you?"

"Yeah..." replied Seth. "We're safe now. How'd you-"

"Umbriel told us," said Bright. "She said that you found and consumed a dragon potion, but just after it transformed you, you disappeared."

"Umbriel!" gasped Seth. "I forgot about Umbriel! She's back at Matthew's! She... turned into an imp when I returned."

"No!" cried Kendra. "How?"

"She was inside overnight for too long," said Grandpa. "Unlike fairy angels, guardians are still susceptible to the transformation. And it's possible that your dark essence accelerated it."

"About your... transformation." said Grandma.

"Look, I can explain!" cried Seth. "Or at least, I can try. I only drank the dragon potion because I didn't know what else to do!"

"We understand," said Grandpa. "You were desperate."

"But what I don't get, is, why I went to the Netherworld."

"You... can't be serious," said Warren. "Only deceased demons ever go there."

Seth proceeded to explain his misadventure into the Netherworld to everyone, and how he parted ways from Zavarok, only to wind up at the mercy of Mahkenchodi, before he suddenly returned to this world.

"Hmm," said Grandpa. "I suspect that you got pulled into the Netherworld due to your connection with Zavarok. The combination of you being a shadow charmer, along with a monster, with a dying demon clinging onto you, may have unintentionally pulled you through. Or at least, that's what I figure."

Well, how'd I get back?" asked Seth.

"Probably because you parted from Zavarok. With him no longer around, the forces of the Netherworld didn't want a living being like yourself just floating around, so they spat you out, but at a different point from which you entered, since you had moved around a bit. Of course, nobody's certain as to how the Netherworld operates, so this is purely speculation on my part."

"So, what do we do now? Matthew and Hespera want to rescue Navarog somehow and use him to help overthrow the fairy realm!"

"As if we didn't already have enough problems on our plate," said Grandpa.

"You can start by getting us out of these stupid orbs," said Warren. "If the fairies are free, they can use their magic."

"I hope I can do that," said Seth. "Last time I needed Zavarok's help."

"Right now," said Grandpa, "I suggest you take us to visit Trask. He too has an apartment somewhere here in Manhattan. Don't worry, I have his address stored in my cell phone."

"With any luck, we'll be able to get more support from the other Knights of the Dawn," said Grandma. "It's a miracle that we've survived so far, but I have a feeling that things aren't going to be any easier for us."