Chapter 22: Auxiliaries

Several hours later, Kendra was woken up from her sleep by a hand that had been placed upon her arm and was shaking her body.

"Wake up, Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "Agad has arrived."

Kendra immediately opened her eyes, taking a few seconds for them to adapt to the light. Feeling a little bit groggy, Kendra woke up and saw that most of the others were already awake. Standing towards the front of the room next to Trask, was Agad himself.

"Good morning, all," said Agad, as Kendra got up onto her feet and turned towards him.

"I believe everybody is awake now," said Trask, glancing over at the people in the room.

"Good. We may not have all that much time. Now, I have already been filled in on everything that has happened. We must take action as quickly as we can, and hopefully we'll be able to come out on top."

Agad proceeded to pick up a suitcase and placed it down on the coffee table in the centre of the room. He then opened it up and revealed its contents for everyone to see. Inside the suitcase were what appeared to be the five artifacts, or at least seemingly perfect replicas of them.

"Are those really the... backup artifacts?" asked Bright, as Agad picked up the duplicate Font of Immortality. Kendra observed it as best she could. As far as she could discern, it really did seem to perfectly resemble the actual artifact.

"I'd recognize that horn anywhere," said Bracken. "But it can't be."

"These artifacts are identical in appearance and function to the originals," said Agad. "Except that they will not work as keys for opening Zzyzx, of course."

"So, do they really work?" asked Clover.

"I hope so. These artifacts have never been used, let alone tested. However, I'll need the help of Kendra and the fairies to restore them all."

"Hold on a second," said Grandma. "Should we really be powering up all of the artifacts at once? I mean, these artifacts are tools of power that not only we can use, but could also wrongly be used against us should we lose them."

"Ruth raises a good point," said Agad. "At the moment, the only artifacts that we should consider using are the Oculus, the Translocator and the Sands of Sanctity. The Oculus is good because should we lose it, few others could even use it safely. The Translocator is useful, but would be easy for our enemies to use as well. Lastly the Sands of Sanctity would be very helpful for us to have in a pinch. Even though it could benefit our enemies, they couldn't use it against us directly. Likewise, we have no use for the Font of Immortality, and the Chronometer is too dangerous for the moment."

"It's too bad we don't know how to effectively use the Chronometer," said Seth. "We could just go back in time and stop this whole mess from ever happening."

Warren sighed. "Next time you wish for another Chronometer, wish for an instruction book to go with it."

"We'll just have to make due with the more practical instruments," said Bright.

"I'm ready to charge them," said Kendra, as she gestured for someone to pass her an instrument.

"Here you go," said Agad, presenting Kendra with the Oculus. He then presented the Translocator and the Sands of Sanctity to Bright and Clover, respectively. "You do these two. It's faster."

As Kendra clutched the Oculus within her hand, she could feel power surging through her body and into the artifact, and could sense as the instrument was being reactivated.

"I think we did it," said Clover, examining the Sands of Sanctity that was in her hands.

"We might as well get this over with," said Trask. "Kendra, please take a seat."

Kendra sat down on the couch and grasped the Oculus firmly with both of her hands. "So, this thing works just like the original?"

"I would assume so," replied Agad.

"All right, Kendra," said Grandpa. "Focus on Matthew. Try to locate him. Don't worry. Bright, Bracken and Clover are all by your side."

"Okay," said Kendra hesitantly. She was not very fond of using the Oculus since the process made her feel very dizzy. However, she didn't know what other choice that the Knights of the Dawn really had at this point.

Kendra closed her eyes and pictured Matthew in her mind. The image of Matthew himself, while originally just a thought, seemed to become real. He was now sitting in a seat without any effort from Kendra's imagination. Kendra couldn't just tell where he was, as his surroundings appeared to be blurred.

Kendra concentrated upon not Matthew, but rather the area surrounding him. Concentrating harder than before, Kendra could see the area becoming clearer. He appeared to be inside some sort of large vehicle that he was not driving. Sitting in the seat right next to Matthew was none other Hespera, now dressed in more sensible clothes than the old robes she had previously been wearing.

As the surrounding area became clearer, Kendra could see that Matthew and Hespera were in fact passengers on airplane, and that they were riding in first class.

Kendra shifted her focus so that she could see outside the plane. It was a large aircraft, and the power of the Oculus enabled her to follow it as it soared through the sky. But where was it going?

Still keeping her view fixated on the plane, Kendra backed away from the aircraft, looking down on it from above. As she got higher, the plane appeared to be getting further and further away from her. Before long, Kendra had risen above the sky, and was looking down at the Earth from space.

From what she could tell, the plane had been flying eastbound over the Atlantic Ocean, was roughly halfway across, and was presumably heading towards Europe. If she had to guess, Kendra assumed that it was heading to the United Kingdom.

Kendra opened her eyes and placed the Oculus down on the table before her, allowing her view to shift back to reality.

"I saw them. They're riding on a plane to Europe. United Kingdom, I think."

"The United Kingdom?" asked Grandma. "What could they want there?"

"That's only if Kendra's even sure that they are going there," said Grandpa. "But at least Kendra can track them. That's a good thing. But we still need to hunt them down and stop them once and for all."

"I don't get it," said Seth. "When I was eavesdropping on Matthew and Hespera, they were talking about trying to bring back Navarog and seize the Fairy Kingdom. Why would they be travelling across the world?"

"I don't know," replied Grandpa. "They may just be trying to get far away from us now that we've escaped and are aware of their presence. Remember, they likely have no idea about the secondary set of artifacts, and that we have the means to track them down."

"So let's get this over with already! The sooner the better, before they cause us any more trouble!"

"One step at a time," said Warren. "Right now Matthew and Hespera are on an airplane. Remember the last time we attacked a powerful enemy on a plane? It ended in a horrific accident and innocent peoples' lives were put in danger."

"So when should we go after them?" asked Kendra.

"I say we at least wait for the plane to land before making any moves. Once Matthew and Hespera are out and about, we can go after them with less at stake."

"In the meantime, we can all make preparations," said Grandpa. "But first, lets have something to eat. I'm famished, and we haven't eaten since yesterday."

"That's our cue," said Bright, as she conjured up a tray of blueberry muffins in her hand. Clover responded by conjuring up a pitcher of orange juice in one hand, and a steaming hot coffee pot in the other

"Those fairies are incredible," said Trask. "Think of the time I'd save if I had one of my own."

"Don't get any ideas..." said Bright.

"Just joking," said Trask, blushing in response.

Once everyone downed their breakfast, Grandpa was ready to announce his plans for everyone.

"All right, everybody. I've decided upon what's going to happen next. "Trask, myself, Ruth, Dale, Scott and Marla will be travelling back to Fablehaven to inspect the place and salvage what we can of it. Bracken will also be accompanying us in case we are in need of his magic."

Grandpa then turned to face the others.

"Warren, you are to lead Kendra, Seth, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus to the United Kingdom and see if you can fell Matthew and Hespera once they arrive."

"What about Vanessa?" asked Geminus. "I need to know if our baby is safe!"

"I understand how you feel, but your capabilities would serve more useful with Warren's group than back at Fablehaven. We don't know where Vanessa could possibly be, but we'll do our best to search for her."

"The Oculus!" exclaimed Raxtus. "Couldn't Kendra use it to find Vanessa and all the other missing creatures at Fablehaven?"

"Well, theoretically yes," said Grandpa. "But the Oculus puts a strain on Kendra, and it would still take a very long time to find everything. And the Knights need it to find Matthew and Hespera."

"There's no reason I can't look for Vanessa right now at least," said Kendra. "Raxtus and Geminus are my friends, and I want to help them find their missing daughter."

"Oh, could you?" asked Geminus.

Kendra nodded and picked up the Oculus. She began to focus on Vanessa, the small, purple hatchling. Suddenly, the baby dragon came into focus. She appeared to be inside some sort of cave. Looking around the cave, Kendra could see that it looked somewhat familiar. The next thing she saw was none other than Nero.

"Nero!" exclaimed Kendra, once she put the Oculus down. "Vanessa is alive, but she's with Nero!"

"She's alive!" gasped Raxtus. "That's great! Who's Nero?"

"A very greedy cliff troll who lives at Fablehaven," replied Grandpa with a strong frown on his face. "He's very reluctant to help anybody unless they're willing to pay a steep price. Getting Vanessa back from him may prove to be tricky, and he'll most certainly be expecting some reward for rescuing her."

"At least we know she's safe," said Geminus. "But please, do what you can to can to get her back please!"

"Of course we'll get Vanessa back," said Grandma. "Even if we have to massage Nero for a year. Yuck."

"What about us?" asked Lance.

Grandpa shook his head. "I completely forgot about you two. I'm sorry. Now, it's nothing personal, but you two were involuntarily thrown into this whole affair against your free will. You should just go home now. However, because of David's connection to Zavarok, as irrelevant as it may be, it might be best to keep him around at Fablehaven, just in case. Lance, you know David better than any of us, plus you have some experience already. You can stay with him. But you're staying with us at Fablehaven. Neither of you should take a chance against Matthew and Hespera.

"Hold on a second!" cried Seth. "We've got another Translocator now, right? Well, why can't we just go back to the Fairy Kingdom and ask for their assistance? They could use the Omega Star and fix everything right away! It wouldn't be like when you were trying to explain Zavarok to them!"

There was a long pause. "That's brilliant!" exclaimed Kendra. "Surely the fairies would agree to help with that!"

"It's worth a try," said Warren. "Before Matthew and Hespera intervened, one of our goals was trying to get back to the Fairy Kingdom. Now that we can, and now that we have a more plausible threat on our hands, we're much more likely to receive their help."

"What are we waiting for?" asked Clover. "Let's use this Translocator and go back already!"

"Considering that it would solve our problem in a safe and efficient manner," began Grandpa, "I say go for it!"

Bright picked up the Translocator. "I can't wait! Kendra, would you please come with me?"

"You bet!" replied Kendra. "Why go running around risking our lives now that we have access to the Omega Star?"

"This shouldn't take long," said Bright, as she twisted the Translocator in her hands. "All right, Kendra. Let's do this!"

Kendra gripped the Translocator with her hand, and watched as Bright fantasized about the Fairy Kingdom. After a few seconds had passed, nothing seemed to change. She and Bright were still inside Trask's apartment, surrounded by the others.

"Well?" asked Seth.

"I'm trying," said Bright. "The Translocator isn't doing anything."

"You sure you charged it right?" asked Trask.

"If I didn't, then Kendra should've seeing as how we've both touched it now."

"Maybe it's defective?" asked Grandma.

"I can't imagine why," said Grandpa. "Kendra was able to use the Oculus just fine. And these artifacts allegedly have the same capabilities as the originals, so I don't know what the problem is."

"Let's try something simple," said Warren. "May I have the Translocator, please?"

"I guess," said Bright. "It's not doing anything for us."

Warren clenched the Translocator in his hand and vanished, only to reappear next to the far wall.

"It works," he said. "Let me try something a little more long distance."

Warren twisted the Translocator and disappeared completely. Several seconds later he reappeared back where he had been standing.

"I forgot it's still night in Hawaii. I was hoping for a bit of sun."

"Okay, so it does work," said Seth. "But why couldn't they get to the Fairy Kingdom?"

"I remember back when we reclaimed the original Translocator from Labrador Labyrinth," said Kendra. "We couldn't access the Fairy Kingdom with it, so we had to circumvent our way in through the knapsack."

"That's only because Oblivion had set up that dimensional barrier between this world and the Fairy Realm," said Clover.

"You don't think Matthew or Hespera tried the same thing?" asked Trask.

"But how would they even go about doing that?" asked Bracken. "It was one thing for Oblivion to do it, but I don't know how non-fairies could ever accomplish such a feat. It'd be too improbable for them to actually be connected to fairies anyway."

"I have a theory," said Agad. "It's possible that the fairies, when they wished for this second set of artifacts, made the Translocator so that it could not pass through to the Fairy Kingdom as a security measure."

"If that's the case, what are we supposed to do in an emergency? The Fablehaven shrine was destroyed yet again, and the fairies at Wyrmroost are still working on the shrine there."

"Why do these shrines have to take so long to build?" asked Lance.

"Fairy shrines must be erected entirely by fairies, and done so without any use of magic. They need to represent the most sincere and truthful feelings of the fairies who build them. By doing a rush job, the fairies would not be using their hearts, which is where the magic needed to sustain a shrine comes from."

"Think we could slip into the Fairy Kingdom by way of the knapsack?" asked Seth. "It worked last time when there was a barrier."

"I don't know," said Agad. "The Fairy Queen knew about the knapsack entrance, unlike Oblivion."

"It's worth a try," said Bright, grabbing hold of the Translocator and twisting it. "I'll see if I can slip through, then come back."

Bright placed the Translocator down onto the table. She then used her magic to shrink herself down to her diminutive size.

"Why're you doing that?" asked David.

"The passage into the Fairy Kingdom is through a vent in the knapsack," replied Clover. "It's the only way she'll fit."

Bright then placed her hands upon the Translocator and started to concentrate. Nothing happened. "It's not working," she said regrettably.

"It only makes sense," said Agad. "The Fairy Queen doesn't want unauthorized visitors in her realm. Even a fairy like Bright can't get through."

"Mother expects us to use the fairy shrines," noted Bracken. "In her mind, we'd have no need to use the Translocator. She thinks we'd be fine without it, unless there was something crucial going on."

"You know we could use a shrine, if we had access to any that were functioning..." said Clover.

"Hey if this Translocator isn't working, why don't we try using the original?"

"The original Translocator has been hidden away again," replied Agad. "On top of going through the trouble of retrieving it, it might also not allow access to the Fairy Kingdom. I don't know what the Fairy Queen has done to increase security, and I'm not keen on everyone wasting their time seeking out the original when it too might not even work."

"All right," said Grandpa. "So much for resolving this the easy way. I propose that we start making our preparations for our missions. First, we will go shopping and stock up on any tools and supplies we may need. After that, my group will travel to Fablehaven and try to restore what we can of it. Meanwhile, the other group will travel to the United Kingdom and hopefully they will be able to intercept Matthew and Hespera at some point, putting a stop to their plan."

"Wait a second!" snapped Seth. "What about Umbriel? She turned into an imp during her stay at Matthew's apartment. Only, I think that they might've destroyed her, since they did spot her."

"I'd prefer it if we did not return to that place to find out," said Grandpa. "They may have set up a trap for us, knowing that we might return for Umbriel."

"But if she's an imp..." exclaimed Bright.

"I'm sorry, but we can't afford to take the risk. "Instead, we'll call in some specialists to inspect Matthew's apartment. Although if Umbriel has perished, it may be too late to help her."