Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.
They slowly pulled up to the house. Seth and Kendra saw both sets of grandparents, their mother and father and Dale standing on the front porch expectantly waiting to meet the Tracker that would help them find Raxtus.
Bracken led the way as they exited the truck, Leander followed. Kendra and Seth stood next to the truck.
"This is Leander Day. Leander, these are the caretakers of Fablehaven," Bracken said then introduced him to each of the adults. Leander politely said hello and shook hands with all of them.
"Welcome to Fablehaven, we want to thank you for agreeing to look for Raxtus," Grandpa Stan said to him after the introductions were finished. "Tomorrow you will go out to where he was last seen. No one has disturbed the evidence. Consequently, it should be the best place to find his trail. The building's protection is still in effect so Kendra will have to escort you. I hope you have success where we have failed."
"I will do my best to find him or tell you if he is no longer here," Leander said confidently.
"You can do that?" Kendra asked coming forward, getting into the role they practiced in the truck earlier as the distraught friend. "You can tell if he has gone."
"If there is evidence that he has left, I will find it," Leander said seriously, as he turned to face Kendra for a moment before he turned back to the adults. Kendra noticed his eyes twinkling with mischief.
"I asked him if he wanted to stay here and he said yes," Seth added smiling at the group on the porch. "I'll let him see the room before he makes any other decisions."
"Come in, come in. We don't need to stand out here all night," Grandma Ruth invited everyone back into the house. "Anyone for desert," she asked.
"Yes, please," Leander said, as his stomach grumbled.
"Didn't they feed you in town?" Stan asked amused by his grumbling stomach.
Seth went to the back of the truck and pulled out Leander's suitcase and backpack. He followed them into the house chuckling at Leander's growling stomach.
"Yes sir, but I didn't get any desert," Leander accused as he followed him into the house.
Two hours later the young conspirators retired to Seth's room for Leander's 'room choice' and Bracken's farewell.
"That went well," Seth said satisfied with the night's work.
"We will see how the next few days play out. I need to find a way to fall asleep in the building," Leander said.
"Well, you will have to roam around, that ought to tire you out. While you are gone searching in Fablehaven, I can go bring home some of your hoard." Seth winked conspiratorially. "How many people know where your hoard is?"
"No one knows where it is, Seth," Leander said surprised. "All dragons keep their hoards secret. Didn't you know that? I always enter it invisible and anyway it's in Wyrmroost."
"Wyrmroost? That may be a problem. Not only is it dangerous, Celebrant doesn't let just anyone in," Bracken said. "We've returned the scroll, I can't think of any reason to get Seth in there."
"Let me think about it overnight I may come up with something," Seth said, the blaze of an impending treasure hunt gleamed in his eyes.
Kendra could see the wheels turning as his eyes flitted back and forth. He was devious and a born schemer.
"Oh! I need to tell them you've decided to stay with me in the attic," Seth exclaimed, popped out of his chair and ran out the door.
"I've got to go too," Bracken said and he got up from his chair.
"I'll see you out," Kendra said and went with him leaving Leander alone in the attic room.
Leander didn't know whether to go with them or just stay, they hadn't specifically invited him so he stayed. He went to work moving in, emptying his suitcase into the dresser drawers Seth had designated for him, enjoying the hominess of it all.
Leander was more comfortable that night when he didn't have to sneak around to take a shower. He lay in the bed listening to Seth's sleepy breathing. The house was quiet. He was warm, tired and his stomach was full again. He was even happier about his life now that the Caretakers accepted he was human and a tracker. Best of all he was still friends with Bracken, Seth and Kendra. He fell asleep comforted by that thought.
The next morning Seth brought Leander down for breakfast early. Kendra was up early as usual so she was surprised when Seth accompanied Leander down. Seth was always the last one up.
Grandma Ruth was in the kitchen with Kendra, the other adults had already left for early morning chores.
"Sorry, I didn't come up with anything yet but I haven't given up," Seth whispered as he yawned. He sat at the table on one side of Kendra.
"Good morning, something certainly smells delicious," Leander said, smiling as he sat at the table on the other side of Kendra.
Kendra smiled back at him. He certainly knew how to get on the good side of Grandma Ruth. He had been a polite dragon and she was glad he kept that part of Raxtus. He was handsome, charming and had an easy natural way about him. It was hard to believe he was new at being human.
"What would you like? We have pancakes or eggs with bacon this morning or would you like both?" Grandma Ruth asked him.
"Could I have both, please? It smells so good," he said politely. He was starving… again.
"I'll make toast. Seth, you want toast?" Kendra asked as she got up from the table.
"No, I'd rather go back to bed," he yawned again and laid his head on the table.
"What do you want to eat Seth?" Grandma Ruth asked insistently. "You can't go back to bed so forget it. Your dad and grandfather wanted me to tell you that your job is to give Leander all the support he needs. You have work to do – helping him get to know the layout of Fablehaven."
So much for dragon hoard hunting, Seth thought and groaned.
"Okay, I'll take pancakes so I don't need toast," he said and sat up. "Kendra can we have some milk? I can't speak for Leander but I like knowing what is running around in front of me."
Kendra was standing next to the refrigerator so he wasn't being extremely rude by asking.
"Sure," Kendra said surprised that she had forgotten that Leander would need milk just as much as her brother did or at least they had to pretend that he did.
"We use Viola's milk here," Seth clarified. "She is the largest magic milch cow in the United States. Her mom is in Europe somewhere, she is a little bigger but not much. Anyway we send a lot of different sanctuaries her milk. Some people don't like walrus butter." Seth made a face meaning he was one of those people. He kept some in his emergency kit because it was easy to carry and didn't spoil, but it was just for that – emergencies.
Kendra poured the milk into glasses and sat them down in front of the two boys. Leander took a drink but made no comment as Seth downed his immediately.
"Drink up, you will need it," he whispered.
Leander finished his glass of milk just as his plate of food was set in front of him.
"Looks great, thank you," he said and immediately started eating as his stomach grumbled again.
They left the garden headed for the 'scene of the crime' as Seth put it. They loaded up their backpacks and were ready for adventure.
"Wow! I didn't see how many fairies were here yesterday when we left," Leander said. "Hmm, I don't remember seeing any fairies since I flew over Fablehaven the other day."
"Sorry, that's because I forgot to get you some milk, humans need something to help them see magic creatures, we use Viola's milk. I'm sorry I didn't think that you would need milk. When you didn't react to the fairies swarming around Bracken last night when we got home I remembered. But with everything that went on I lost my thought until this morning or I would have said something last night to sort of prepare you," he apologized.
"Those bugs swarming around us were fairies? Wow, I didn't realize that humans don't 'see' without help.
"I'm learning to keep my mouth shut until I am sure what I need to say. You are very good at what you do Seth but I can't expect you to remember to tell me everything I need to know before I need to know it," Leander told him appreciatively.
"Thanks, I'm trying," Seth shrugged. He looked at Leander but he was just smiling and eager to go. This was the first time he seemed something more than just a teenager like him. As a dragon, he was playful and young, as human he seemed just like a normal teenager. For a moment, there was evidence of a deeper maturity, something Seth hadn't seen before. Now it was gone and his friend was just as anxious as he was to get to the little barn.
Kendra had gone in the opposite direction to wait for Bracken in the Pavilion Garden. They were all going to the place where Raxtus disappeared. Seth and Leander wouldn't be able to find it unless Kendra was with them but Bracken wanted to be there, also.
Bracken and Kendra met up with them at the cairn stone marker near the building. Both Leander and Seth were facing away from the building; Kendra could see it plainly directly behind them.
"So take us to the 'scene of the crime'," Seth asked.
"Where is it?" Leander asked.
"Right behind you," she said smiling knowing that he couldn't turn around and look.
He turned and said, "I don't see anything." His mind refused to see anything. He thought he had turned all the way around when in fact he hadn't.
"I know," she said to him. "Just hold on tight don't let go. Leander grab Bracken's arm."
She reached out and held Seth's hand. "Off we go. Oh… um, close your eyes, it helps." She instructed Leander.
Kendra turned Seth in a complete circle first, she knew better than to head toward the building immediately. Kendra and Bracken headed for the building followed by two pair of unwilling feet.
"Are you sure we are going the right way?" Seth asked.
"Yes. Seth, just keep walking and don't let go," Bracken said. "Leander, how are you doing?"
"This feeling is very strange, I don't want to go where you are leading but I will trust you," he said.
"That's all we can ask, we are almost there," Kendra said as she took the last few steps to the safe zone. Seth was dragging his feet but he was silently moving forward.
Bracken was pulling Leander along now.
Seth's reached the interior of unwarded circle and his feet stopped dragging as he took his final step into safe zone of the building.
"We are here 'cause I don't want to walk in the other direction," Seth said as he opened his eyes. Leander opened his eyes too.
"Yes we are here. Look where you are standing because if you go out further than you are the spell will immediately compel you to start running away from the building." Kendra told them both. She had told Seth before but it always helped to remind him.
Bracken pulled one of the large doors open.
"It is so much bigger than I remember," Leander said as he walked in looking around. He saw his dragon footprints on the dirt floor. "Well, there definitely was a dragon here," he said stone faced and deadly serious pointing at the prints on the floor.
Seth burst out laughing; he thought Leander sounded like an exaggerated TV detective.
Leander smiled he liked making Seth laugh. He squatted down by the large footprint and stretched his hand out over it. His fingers stretched from side to side inside the large pad or palm print. It was a good sized foot, he thought, longer than his human foot and wider than his out stretched fingers and his clawed toes were even longer.
"Sleepy dragon," he said and pointed. He noticed how the back feet had dragged in the dirt indications of his drowsiness when he left. He also noted the evenly spaced grid of footprints that Stan had made. He had carefully stepped over each print to keep from disturbing them.
Bracken was amazed that Leander was actually looking carefully. He was responding to something from the evidence, he apparently had a natural knack for tracking.
"It's up to me as usual to have the gear for the job," Seth said. He pulled the backpack off his back and sat it on the floor. He sat down next to it and pulled out a beach towel and a small camping pillow. "I didn't think you'd want to sleep with your face in the dirt," he told Leander.
"That's very considerate of you Seth," Kendra said.
"It's very serene in here isn't it," Leander said as he walked the perimeter of the large open space.
Kendra, Seth and Bracken stayed at the door watching Leander wander around. Seth wondered what was going through his mind. His face was unusually uncommunicative and impossible to read at the moment.
"What is this?" he asked as he neared the broken pieces of the table that made his change possible.
"It's the ritual tab…" Kendra started to tell him.
"That's it! That's how we can get back into Wyrmroost." Bracken exclaimed. "They will want the table back, it has the carving on it and that isn't something that should be left sitting around."
"Yes, it is an interesting design," he said staring at the top as he walked around it. "Why is it broken?"
"Don't touch it! I don't know if it could do something to you," Bracken told him. "Raxtus fell on it and broke it. It was part of the spell. We will move it out of the building later so we can take it to Wyrmroost."
"So am I just going to be a helper to drag this stuff back? How am I going to run around to get his stuff?" Seth asked indignantly.
"I can't think of everything Seth, if I get you into Wyrmroost the rest will be up to you. You need to put a little effort into it," Bracken goaded him good naturedly.
"So… Raxtus went to sleep right here beside this table?" Leander looked at the scuff marks on the ground, the overlapping dragon and human footprints and the scale imprints in the dirt. He could see the imprint of his wingtip several feet away.
"Yes, that is where you were," Kendra answered walking up and standing next to him also looking at the disturbed ground. She shivered at the memory.
He noticed the grimace on her face and her shiver. She must be thinking of something that occurred that she didn't like, he thought. He disliked that he couldn't remember what had happened. He looked around the room again in one sweeping glance.
Time to try to sleep, he walked over to Seth with a look of determination and took the towel and pillow from him. He walked back to the disturbed ground, spread the towel out over the imprint of dragon scales and lay down on his side pushing the pillow under his head.
"Sweet dreams," Kendra said as she walked back to the door to stand with her brother and Bracken.
"Good luck," Seth chuckled.
"Thanks," he replied and closed his eyes.
Seth, Kendra and Bracken watched him as his breathing slowed.
"Let's play a quiet game of Garbage," Seth softly challenged them and pulled a deck of cards from his backpack. He shuffled quietly and dealt the cards. They sat on the ground next to Seth and played. Occasionally one of them would look over at Leander to see if he was dreaming yet.
"Uh-huh!" Seth finally positively commented as he turned back to the game.
"Good," both Bracken and Kendra sighed.
"Oh, we didn't bring extra milk." Seth whispered and hit his forehead. "When he wakes up he will need milk again. At least I have walrus butter. Funny how we talked about it and I didn't snap to him going to sleep and needing more milk." Seth was disappointed in his lack of forethought.
"He doesn't need milk, he's a dragon," Bracken said softly shaking his head.
"But he does. He couldn't see the fairies last night and he commented on it this morning." Seth replied confused at Bracken's claim.
"Huh?" This was strange news for Bracken. He didn't understand its implication.
They had just started their second game when they heard Leander moan and looked to see his body twitching; his eyes swiftly moving back and forth. He was having a very energetic dream.
Raxtus was flying high above Fablehaven with Kendra in his grip. He was soaring happily toward the main building. He wanted badly to recapture the thrilling feeling of being human. It had faded rapidly when he walked toward her to grasp her waist with his foot and clawed toes.
His muscles stretched as his wing cut through the air. He didn't have to work hard to rise, carrying Kendra's extra weight. He knew how much she loved to fly and he was enjoying flying with her.
He could see the huge barn in the distance knowing just beyond lay his destination. Excitement hit him again as he tried to remember the feeling, the emotions of being human and how she had felt in his arms when she hugged him. He felt himself wanting to be human so badly that he inexplicably became his avatar in mid air. However, this was not a normal invoking, he did not flash into his avatar. He slowly transformed into a man and as his large front foot became a small human hand, he lost his grip on Kendra. As he dove to catch her, his wings disappeared and they both fell from the sky.
"No!" he yelled, his arms flailing as he reached for Kendra in vain. His heart was pounding in his chest as he suddenly sat up wide awake on the floor of the little barn. His startled friends stared at him and he stared back as he adjusted to the lack of a real emergency.
"What?" Seth asked excited, already in a half crouch ready for action of some kind.
"Oh! I was dreaming that I fell from the sky," Leander apologized for frightening them. He took a deep breath relieved that it was just a dream, a terrifying dream, but just a dream. He had dreams as a dragon, tons of them but they never affected him physically like this.
"No dreams about the girl?" Seth asked disappointed as he sat back down on the dirt floor.
"No, nothing," he answered disappointed himself.
"What do we do now?" Kendra asked to no one in particular.
They sat silent for a few moments expectantly watching Leander. He had to look away from them to think. He stared at the scale prints on the floor next to him. The girl seemed to know he was a dragon, seemed to know that he needed to invoke his avatar. He knew his mind was so different when he was a dragon maybe she could only reach him if he was a one.
"Hmm, maybe it is my dragon mind she found. I'm human maybe she can't find me this way," Leander sullenly decided.
Bracken wondered about that. Was Leander too human? That he needed milk to see magical creatures was bizarre and unsettling. He reverted to his dragon form once shortly after he first invoked his new avatar. Could he do it again?
Leander stood, walked to where Seth was sitting and handed the towel and pillow back to him. "I won't need these," he sighed. He felt almost like he was invoking his puny fairy-boy avatar instead reverting to his dragon form. He dreaded feeling Raxtus' emotions.
If I fall asleep fast I won't have to put up with it long, he thought. He walked to the center of the room and took a deep breath, light flashed and Raxtus stood where Leander had been. Without a word, he curled into a ball, wrapped his tail tightly around his body and tucked his head under his wing and closed his eyes.
Bracken sighed with relief. He was still a dragon.
Kendra and Seth sat still for a few minutes watching the dragon slowly breathing and then finally went back to their game of cards.
An hour later the dragon stirred, his head rose abruptly. Light flashed and Leander sat on the ground.
"I have to go to the cabin. NOW!" he yelled, excitement shown in his eyes. He jumped up from the ground and headed for the door running, he stopped at the door and struggled with the latch.
"I'll go with you," Bracken said as Leander opened the door. "Kendra, together he and I can run there really fast. You and Seth can follow at your own pace."
He ran out the door following Leander, who was sprinting through the distractor spell.
"Ok!" she called as they disappeared across the grassy field.
"That was unexpected," Seth said. He was already repacking his backpack.