Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.
Only six people knew the actual components to one or the other spell. Even Bracken who had seen both spells and had a perfect memory didn't know what some of the items were. Although the others who knew the reShape spell's requirements and knew the names of the components, only the Fairy Queen knew whether they existed on the planet or in her realm. She was also the only one who knew what the components were or in some cases who they were.
She was in charge of getting everything setup for the summer solstice. All timed and subtlety arranged for Bracken and Kendra to perform the two spells without anyone else knowing what they were really going to do.
The reShape scroll contained a detailed drawing of a table with intricate woodcarvings. The tabletop had to be a solid two inch slab of chestnut wood. The design carved into the slab of wood was the main component of the ritual. Sizeable legs of the same type wood supported the table top.
Bracken drew up a simplified drawing for the basic table and gave it to Stan Sorenson. He described it to him as a task for the Fairy Queen but didn't tell him why she needed it.
Trusting Bracken, Stan did what he asked to do. He, Dale and Hugo the golem went into the forest and cut down an American chestnut tree that was 4 feet in diameter. Stan was sad because it was one of the few that had survived the chestnut blight of 1890-1900. It and four others that were growing protected in Fablehaven survived because of the magical field surrounding the sanctuary. It was the smallest of the five trees. The trees used to grow everywhere but now were extremely rare. They took it home and sawed it up as the drawing described.
Mendingo, Seth and Bracken were busy with their own project. They were constructing a protective building for the private performance of the spell. It had to be large enough for Raxtus to walk into and turnaround comfortably. Since Celebrant had said that Raxtus would be sleeping for a while, they wanted to make sure it was long enough to accommodate a sleeping dragon. Even as small as Raxtus was (for a dragon) it was still going to be a good sized building.
Mendingo was limberjack. He had been a witch's toy, a wooden doll with loose joints on the end of a long stick, her toy puppet. She had cast a spell making him a 6' tall animated magical construct, like a golem, made of wood with metal hooks for joints. The witch sent him to attack Kendra but with the help of fairies he had become an ally. He obeyed orders but he had certain amount of free will and he was part of the 'family' like Hugo. He was very strong and was able to hold and carry as much as Hugo could. They didn't need a wench or crane with Mendingo around.
Hugo joined their endeavor once they got the walls built. The ten foot tall dirt and stone golem assisted by holding up two of the heavy walls against the corner posts as Mendingo nimbly scaled the wall to join the walls to the corners. After the walls were up, Seth started calling it the 'little barn'. It was actually a pretty good sized barn; it just wasn't anywhere the size of Viola's five-story barn. Hugo and Mendingo were instrumental in getting the heavy wooden roof beams positioned so Bracken and Seth could bolt them into place.
Fairies transplanted all of the grass so that the floor could be dirt. A week before the solstice the little barn was finished. Stan had Hugo carry the heavy slabs of chestnut wood into the building.
The Fairy Queen sent a master carver from her realm to carve the intricate drawing on the slab of wood. The old woodcarver was creature who looked like a gnarled tree trunk in the shape of a man. He was an ancient and rare entity, who left part of itself in any carving he made and so was part of the design and an ingredient also. That was one of the details she didn't want to share.
The old woodcarving creature was an integral part of the table's construction, without him the table wouldn't have worked no matter how long any other carver worked on it. He worked quickly and quietly; it only took him three days to carve the elaborate design the pattern that only he knew. Powders and pastes of the other ingredients were mixed and infused into specific parts of the carving. Once the top was finished, he fitted the wooden slabs together into a table.
Other than the very small group no one really knew what they were going to do in the little barn, only that Bracken, Kendra and Raxtus were involved and all activities had the Fairy Queen's approval. So when the woodcarver left Bracken sealed the building against anyone entering except him. Then Bracken sent a message to Raxtus via Shiara that the preparations were complete.
Only those with fairy magic could come to the invoking of the first spell though they didn't know exactly what they would be observing. It would be hard enough to keep the curious out so there were a few spells put on the building. Bracken further protected the building with a distractor spell. To come near the little barn either Bracken or Kendra personally had to invite you though they didn't share this information with anyone. Those not invited couldn't see or find the building at all.
Raxtus flew to the area that Bracken had told him about earlier. He had given him directions a week before the Solstice. He was so excited. It was hard to stay away. The three days since Shiara had told him that everything was ready were the longest days of his life. She was curious but he couldn't tell her what was going to happen, she would have to wait also.
He was only slightly nervous about this ceremony or spell or whatever it was but he was terribly excited. He trusted both Kendra and Bracken. They were necessary components of the procedure so they told him. He was sure that this would cure his predicament. He believed that his avatar would either become either fully human as it was supposed to be or fully fairy. The uncertainty of this outcome did not concern him. He could stand being one or the other. It was this freakish in-between-ness that really bothered him. He had been this way for all of his adult life. As soon as he was old enough to invoke his avatar, he had been a pitiful oddity, too big to be a fairy and too small to be human, never mind the wings.
He arrived early and invisible. Flying high above the little barn, circling at first then he landed on the thick grass outside the north wall. He wandered around smelling the freshly turned earth and newly cut wood. The building was unpainted and had a large two door opening on the south side. There was one window high on the western wall. On his second time around the building, he saw Bracken smiling and standing in the open doorway. As he moved closer, he saw the reason for Bracken's smile. Kendra was just inside the door.
Raxtus became visible twenty feet away greeting Bracken with his own toothy smile. Bracken was only briefly startled at Raxtus' sudden appearance.
"This way, we are set up in here. You can come in now if you want," Bracken called to him.
"Hi Raxtus," Kendra smiled as she moved closer to Bracken.
He walked in the large opening, swinging his head back and forth taking in the details of the building. It was one open and airy room.
"Hi Kendra. Bracken. Is everything set?" He walked toward the center of the room.
"Yes everything is ready. How are you?" Kendra smiled as she asked him. She raised her hand and he lowered his head and nuzzled it. She loved the cool smoothness of the small scales on his face and he loved the warmth of the fairy magic that flowed from her.
"I'm great. What do I need to do?" he asked, looking around eagerly while keeping contact with her hand.
"We have a window of opportunity to get this done or we will have to wait until winter. Our time starts in five minutes and lasts less than 3 hours. We have plenty of time," Kendra told him as she lowered her hand.
The room was large enough for him to get into and out of in his dragon form. He had no trouble turning around in the place. He even thought it was big enough to spread his wings if he needed to. He had no idea how he was going to come out of this room, either as a dragon or as his new avatar.
There were no furnishings except a single large table close to the northeast corner. The walls were plain wood and the floor was packed dirt. The building looked old but felt and smelled new. He didn't remember ever seeing it before. He thought maybe they had built it specifically for this occasion, he was grateful if that was the case.
The room was lit by sunlight streaming in from the western facing window and from a small glowing orb floating close to the ceiling in the center of the room about 8 feet above Raxtus' head. The other light in the room was from Kendra, she glowed with her own internal light.
Bracken closed and latched the door behind them, darkening the room but showing just how brightly Kendra glowed. Kendra and Bracken began walking toward the table.
There was a large clock on the north wall. Raxtus thought it had something to do with timing the solstice. He continued to look around and noticed several small groups of fairies. He sighed to himself. They followed him everywhere even here.
Raxtus was excited though even with a room full of nosey fairy observers.
"You have to be in your avatar form Raxtus. This won't work if you aren't," Bracken told him when he had arrived at the table.
"Oh alright," he sighed suddenly embarrassed. "Why do they have to be here?" Raxtus asked pointedly glancing at the small gathering of fairies assembled in groups at the edges of the room.
"I can't keep them out. They love you and are worried about you," Kendra told him, refraining from telling him she invited the garden fairies, Shiara and her sisters.
"Oh right," he said sarcastically and sighed.
A fairy with silver wings and bright blue hair flew up to him and gave his huge head a hug. Although when first hatched Raxtus had been officially been a ward of the Fairy Queen, Shiara held a special place in his heart, even now, as his 'foster mother'.
"Be good," she admonished him.
"Oh… okay." He reluctantly agreed like a spoiled child. He watched as she flew back to a group of fairies hovering just below the window in the west wall. He clenched his jaw and prepared himself for humiliation.