Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.
Warren arrived and didn't mind the relocation of the cabin to new foundations. He was cordial to Leander when they met and interested in his search for his friend Raxtus and wished him luck. There were few opportunities to socialize with him for he had his own focus and reasons for being at Fablehaven. Leander was sad he couldn't tell him who he really was but knew it was for the best.
While waiting for the proper time to 'find' the dragon remains Unleea taught Seth every shadow charmer skill she knew how to do. He caught on quickly and he did each one well. Shadow charmers could do so much more that he ever thought. He bet that even the Sphinx had no clue about some of this stuff or he would have used it on him and the others.
Unleea had grown up in a group of five shadow charmers. She saw so many different skills. Some she couldn't do but she knew of them. She also knew some of the Shadowmaster's capabilities. She could describe it to him and he tried it out. He was amazed that he figured out how to do everything she described to him. The physical stuff was all about manipulating heat and he found himself adept at it.
The most incredible thing was getting inside someone's mind. He couldn't read their minds but he could cloud and uncloud minds leaving them thoughtless, leave a shadow that he could follow and sometimes he could compel them to speak on a specific subject. Seth was disinclined to use the later ability because when he tried it, it was painful for both him and the subject. The feat left him with a bad headache for hours.
He was still amazed that Unleea could project her thoughts to him and as they became more used to each other their range increased and he could hear her from farther away.
She had started going with Seth and Leander on their 'search for Raxtus'. Bracken had been called back to help in his mother realm for a while. They kept up the pretense of actually looking for the missing dragon roaming the sanctuary in the safer places. While they walked Unleea was either teaching Seth or they practiced their skills. Leander was enjoying the walks and it kept him away from the house and his mother.
Kendra wasn't interested in going with them unless Bracken was going and so she stayed home and worked with Maeve teaching her modern history and technology.
"Why didn't we go in swamp?" Unleea asked on the third day.
"What do you mean?" Seth asked her, he thought Leander was doing a good job of fake tracking and looking for clues.
"We passed the little dragon track back there," she said and pointed back as they headed away from the swamp.
"Oh!" Leander exclaimed realizing that they had passed over Raxtus' tracks to the swamp. "I wasn't going to take you into the swamp just like I wasn't going to take Kendra into it," he lied.
"That's alright; you go into swamp. I will stay here with Seth and teach him about keeping the slime off his clothes," she told Leander. "Do you want to learn that while he tracks dragon into the swamp?" she asked Seth.
"I can keep the slime off my clothes? Yes, I want to learn that. Bye, Leander. Holler if you need help or if you find anything," Seth said and waved him on as he concentrated on something they were sharing mentally.
"Oh, whatever," Leander moaned. He walked back to the track of Raxtus that lead to the swamp.
He followed the track and found that it was easy to follow the subtle clues in the mushiness of the swamp even though Raxtus had walked through many weeks before. He was actually good at tracking and enjoyed it. He had tracked several creatures through Fablehaven the last two days. Seth and Unleea were so involved with each other they hadn't noticed where he led them. He was surprised she noticed Raxtus' track.
He found the place where the dragon had dug down into the mud and fallen to sleep. He looked around for the swamp troll and heard nothing but as he turned back to the spot where Raxtus had slept he saw a glimmer in the dried mud. He reached down and pulled out a bright metallic looking scale. Sunlight filtering through the thick swamp canopy caused rainbow iridescence to glimmer in the platinum scale, it was Raxtus' scale. There was dried blood mixed with the dried mud on the edge that hadn't washed off. Proof that he was in the swamp and someone had wounded him. He tried to remember if the swamp troll had actually done something to him besides irritate him but he couldn't remember, though the gash on his ribs was an indication maybe there had been more to the altercation than he remembered. Raxtus might remember but he wasn't going to invoke the dragon again if he could help it.
He looked around some more to see if there were any other scales or other clues. He took a few photos of the indentation of dragon footprints in the dried mud and the imprint of Raxtus' thorny jaw. He put the scale into his backpack and headed back to the edge of the swamp.
He heard the noise just a second before he felt the first pain. The swamp troll hit him from the front with a barrage of stones and sticks. He had no choice but to duck and run. He could feel blood flowing from the holes in his face, chest and stomach. He yelled, hoping that Seth could hear him or the troll yelling at him and that he could come and help him out.
The troll attacked him again tripping him. Leander fell and his face hit a rotting log. The troll hit him over the head with a rotten stick. The half-mushy stick broke but it also cut deeply into his scalp.
Leander was dazed and he thought he heard Seth screaming in trollish. He finally was able to think about turning invisible, it didn't come as automatically as it had when he was a dragon. Between disappearing and Seth yelling the swamp troll ran away.
He shook his head and pushed himself to his feet.
"Thanks Seth," he said looking around for his friend but no one was there.
Leander stumbled toward the last place he saw his friend, his eye was swollen and his head ached. He walked and walked. He became visible again to check on his injuries. He determined that he was not bleeding to death. He felt like he had holes in the chest and his leg too. Blood and swamp water covered his clothes and he had wet slime dripping off of his hair and shirttails.
Painfully, he followed his own footprints but was beginning to think he was going in circles before he finally saw them sitting on a log in the distance.
"Seth, why did you leave me, where did you go? You yelled at the troll then ran off?" he yelled in tears and ready to collapse from the pain.
Seth jumped up, shocked at his appearance.
"I didn't yell at a troll," Seth said confused. He ran over and helped Leander to the dry log where they had been sitting. "What happened? You were supposed to yell if you needed help. A troll did this to you?"
"I did yell! But… I heard you! He ran away when you yelled in trollish or something. I thought he was going to kill me," he said as he lightly touched his cheek and winced.
"No, I didn't hear you and it wasn't me," Seth denied. He was busily pulling a first aid kit from his backpack.
Unleea was staring at Leander, wincing.
"What?" he rudely asked her, her stare was too intense for him.
"Sorry," she said, "I know you hurt, you just look so beat up."
"Thanks …Ouch!" he said sarcastically and winced again as Seth started cleaning the wound on his head.
"Sorry, it's pretty dirty. We need to get you back to the house," Seth told him. "Unleea do you see any fairies around?" Seth asked her.
"No, haven't seen any for a while," she said, slowly turning around in a circle looking.
"Well, I guess we will have to get you home the hard way... unless you know of another way, Unleea?" Seth asked hoping she knew a way of carrying him using shadow skills.
"No, I don't," she shrugged, "you or me – yes, him – no."
"Let's go," Leander struggled to get up. Seth pulled him the rest of the way up and they headed back the way they had come. Leander leaned heavily on Seth's shoulder as Seth pulled him along.
A few minutes later Seth saw a fairy.
"Please get Kendra, we need help. Hugo or Mendingo would help if they are nearby," he said as politely as he could. The fairy looked didn't even look at him and flew off in the wrong direction to get Kendra.
"Great!" Seth grumbled. Fairies never forgot that he had turned one of them into an imp – by mistake but some of them didn't care.
"Do you want to go on?" he asked Leander.
"Yes, my leg hurts a lot but I can go on for a while," he replied wearily. He knew he was losing blood and he didn't really want to go on, but he didn't want to stay near the swamp either.
"What is that sound?" Unleea squeaked. She ran up to Seth and hid herself between him and Leander, she virtually disappeared.
Seth listened and heard the familiar jangle of Mendingo's metal joints as he ran. Wow, he thought, Kendra's name means something to them even if they don't like me.
"Sit, Mendingo will carry you home," he told Leander and lowered him to sit on a convenient boulder.
Leander sighed wishing he could lie down. His body wounds were aching but leg was hurting much worse now. The bloody gash in his leg felt much larger than the bloody rip in his jeans.
Mendingo arrived and Seth asked him to carry Leander carefully back to the house. Seth and Unleea ran behind the tall limberjack as he smoothly ran to the house gently cradling Leander.
The fairy had told Kendra and she and her grandmother met them on the trail not far from the house.
The main house had a small room that Grandma Larsen used as a clinic. Mendingo carried him to the room, lowered Leander's feet to the floor and stood him up.
Leander sagged weakly against Seth as Mendingo walked away. Seth helped him sit on the exam table and together they stripped off his bloody shirt and t-shirt. Using a pair of scissors, Seth cut him out of his clinging wet jeans. They both cringed when they saw the extent of his leg injury. Leander lay on the hard table in only his shorts as Mrs. Larsen approached him.
"No take everything off," she told him and shook her head. "Seth, get him a towel to wrap up in. That swamp water will likely cause infection. I'll have to clean you up good to prevent it."
She turned away and began pulling things out of several of the drawers. Seth pulled a towel from a drawer and handed it to him. Leander tried to wiggle out of his shorts but Seth took the scissors and cut them off too. Covered in only the towel he felt even more vulnerable.
Mrs. Larsen returned with a syringe. "This is a local anesthetic. It will deaden the nerves so it won't hurt when I clean and stitch up the wounds," she told him when she saw his panicked stare at the needle.
He winced at the pain of the injections but watched without pain amazed as she cleaned the wound, stitched and bandaged his leg. He kept his eyes closed as she stitched the wound under his eye.
Mrs. Larsen put five stitches in his upper thigh, three more in his scalp and two under his eye. While she was working on him, Leander described his trip into the swamp. He wanted to talk because he was embarrassed and uncomfortable. He felt so exposed and awkwardly dependent on her as he had been dependent on Seth to help him out of the swamp. He had always depended on only himself; this was another new human experience. Not altogether bad but he could do without the pain.
"Seth, open my pack. I found something of interest before I was attacked," he tried to smile but the deadening in his face made him feel lopsided.
Seth opened the pack and pulled out the scale.
"No way! This is Raxtus' scale," Seth said in amazement.
"That's great! Good job," Mrs. Larsen commented as she worked on his wounds.
"I believe it is. It's a small scale and the footprints were small for a dragon, so I believe it has to be Raxtus'. I found it in the mud; it has blood on it so it means it was pulled from a dragon. It wasn't a natural shedding; something attacked him. I took pictures of his footprints and it appeared that he lay there for a while. He didn't appear to have died there nor was he dragged off. He walked away.
"I now know where Raxtus has been and that someone or something had wounded him. Probably that troll," he said as Mrs. Larsen finished stitching the scalp wound.
"It will be a while before you can go looking again," she said as she bandaged a small hole in his leg that didn't need stitching.
She bandaged seven other wounds on his face, neck and body that didn't need stitches but were still bad. Because of the swamp water she gave him antibiotics and a strong sedative and sent him to bed.
Wrapped only in the towel, Seth helped Leander up the stairs. He was very unsteady. The deadening kept him from feeling anything in his leg as they climbed the stairs but he was still weak. He had lost a good amount of blood but not enough to need a transfusion, his skin was even paler than before. The dark stitches on his blood red gashes, big 'flesh' colored bandages and red welts on his pale white body were glaringly obvious.
"You look like hell," Seth said as they reached his bed.
"Thanks, I feel like it too," he confirmed as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He felt miserable and very human.
Seth opened a couple of drawers and pulled out a pair of his gym shorts and Leander's new boxers.
"You need to be well covered, they will be checking on you often. Better be prepared for visitors," he said as explanation for the clothes he handed him.
He walked to the window as Leander slipped out of the towel and into both the boxers and shorts.
"You will be a hero though… when you wake up. Everyone will know what you found and what you went through to get it.
"I, on the other hand, am in big trouble for letting you go alone," Seth sighed, gazing out the window. He saw his father and grandfather walking quickly across the lawn toward the house. "They will continue to send me with you unless you don't want me to go but they probably won't let Unleea go any more."
"It wasn't your fault and it happened so fast that you probably would have been injured also. I would still like you to go tracking with me. I wanted to say thanks for getting me out of there," Leander replied suddenly feeling very sleepy. "As far as Unleea goes, you two will deal with it and find a way to practice and learn new stuff." He slid under the covers and closed his eyes. He didn't hear Seth's reply or see him leave the room. He slept the rest of the day.
Seth showed the rest of the family Leander's find, Raxtus' bloody scale and the photos. They were amazed that he had found something they hadn't. The find renewed their hope that he might find the little dragon.
Seth was right; he was in big trouble when he explained how Leander had gotten hurt. They grounded him through the fall.
Leander, comfortably sedated, slept and he dreamed.
Raxtus sat comfortably on his hoard feeling the dragon magic building inside him. The wall of his secret cavern unexpectedly caved inward as his father forced his way in. Raxtus rose to his full height to confront his father and to protect his treasure and lair. Celebrant towered over him, he scanned and sensed his son as he would an opponent and then he laughed, "Fire - strong but ordinary."
Raxtus breathed fire for a second time, it flowed out in great and powerful streams having little effect on his father's adamantine scales but it was still quite impressive and would have severely damaged a lesser dragon. His father huffed, "Not too bad, but you will never be anything but a runt..." he turned his back and shaking his head walked out of the cave. Raxtus, humiliated again, fell to his belly on his treasure and tucked his head under his wing.
He woke up, again shaken by a dream.
The light in the room from the window was dim, Seth wasn't in the room so it probably meant it was twilight instead of dawn. He hadn't slept the night away. He thought about the dream. Always a runt – that was Raxtus. He couldn't change that and having a breath weapon even if it could scorch his father wouldn't really change anything. He was resolved to remain human now, even if it was occasionally painful.
He heard a light knock on the door.
"Come in."
Kendra stuck her head in the door. "You're awake! How are you feeling? Need anything?"
"Um, I'm not sure," he replied but his stomach grumbled loudly and they both laughed. He winced as the laugh pulled on the stitches under his eye and the wound on his neck. The deadening had worn off. He felt dull pain all over his body.
"Do you want me to bring you something to eat or are you coming down? Dinner is just over and the food is still hot," she said invitingly.
"Let me see," he said, threw back the covers and slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. Kendra entered the room when she saw he had on shorts. He turned his whole body instead of just his head to look at her. "I think I can come down," he affirmed. He slowly stood and didn't wobble. He ached but it wasn't unbearable.
Kendra flinched as he stood up. She didn't know which leg he had injured but the description Seth gave her and the look of the stitches under his eye and the wounds on the rest of his body were enough for her to feel sympathetic pain.
"Should I change into regular clothes?" he asked her unsure of what he should do. He was self-conscious wearing only shorts.
"No just put on a shirt, you have a reason for not dressing for dinner," she laughed glad he was feeling well enough to get up. She opened a drawer and handed him a t-shirt from the dresser.
Leander pulled on the t-shirt wincing a few times. Moving around let him know he was still very sore. She helped him by straightening the back of the t-shirt.
"I'll walk with you – just in case," she smiled and they walked down the stairs slowly. The stitches tugged uncomfortably on his thigh.
"Congratulation Leander, another good find, too bad you found a vicious troll also," Scott said jovially when he saw them coming slowly down the stairs.
"Thanks," he said and stopped mid-smile as the stitches on his face tugged painfully.
Mrs. Larsen met him in the kitchen with a pill in her hand. "This will help with the pain I know you must be feeling by now," she said sympathetically.
"Thanks," he replied and took the pill. He looked at Kendra uncertainly.
"Swallow it with milk. Don't chew it," Kendra whispered and handed him a full glass of milk.
He managed swallowing it after the third try using most of the milk.
He ate only one plate of food, rationing himself. He wasn't hungry after one plate but he was far from full.
After he ate, the adults invited him and Seth to join their discussion. They sat in the study with Stan, Scott, Ruth and Maeve as they talked what the next step was.
"I think I need to follow the trail through the swamp and see where it leads," he stated looking only at Stan or Scott. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Maeve sat, holding the small scale in her hands. She silently stroked the smooth surface of the scale, looking toward whoever was speaking but not focusing on them.
He wondered what she thought. The size of the scale was not that of a fully grown dragon but of a very young dragon, she had to know he wasn't normal. His imagination led him to believe that the sadness on her face was because she was disappointed in the size of the scale.
Maeve was worried that Raxtus was wandering around injured because someone had forcibly removed the scale. What other damage had been done? She was also amazed how much the scale reminded her of Celebrant, she longed to see both him and her only son.
"Yes, I agree it warrants more investigation but you need to take Seth and Hugo with you," Stan said sternly.
"Believe me, I will not go into it alone again," he readily confirmed, focusing on the conversation.
"You will need to let your stitches heal for a few days before you walk very far. Even if Hugo carried you, it wouldn't be good to start too soon. Give it a couple days," Ruth advised him.
Leander nodded. He didn't feel like walking around anyway. The thought of the return trek up the stairs to bed was daunting enough for him at the moment.
"Hugo and I could go in there and see what we can find while he recovers. I'll give that troll a good talking to," Seth volunteered.
"You should have gone in with him instead of playing shadow games with Unleea," his dad reprimanded him again.
"I know. It won't happen again," he replied apologetically. He had told them earlier his reason for not going in the swamp. His mom and dad thought learning to keep slime off of his clothing was a poor excuse for letting a troll almost kill Leander. He agreed. He was sickened by the almost tragedy.
Ruth gave Leander another pain relieving pill to take with him in case he needed one in the night and sent the two boys upstairs to bed.
Leander put the pill on the table next to the bed and Seth got him a glass of water and left it next to the pill.
"Why didn't you turn back into dragon and eat that troll?" Seth asked as they both lay in bed.
"If I'm going to be human, I have to take the bad with the good," he replied. "I can't become a dragon every time I'm in a bad situation besides what if someone saw me change, and then my secret would be out. I'm not ready for that," he yawned as the first pill's effect took hold of him. "Goodnight, Seth."
"Night." Seth mumbled. He lay there thinking about not using the ability to change into a dragon while a troll is beating you almost to death and couldn't get a grasp on it. Leander must really be afraid of the other dragons to risk dying as a human. Seth fell asleep thinking about turning into a dragon and killing the troll for Leander.
Seth and Hugo went out the next day hoping to find more clues.
Leander woke to bright sunlight streaming into the room. He was in pain and he still ached, so he took his waiting pain pill. He was surprised that he had slept later than Seth and that he was gone. That afternoon Leander spent a little time in the garden with Kendra. His stitches uncovered and exposed to the sunlight made them feel better. The fairies were interested in any news of Raxtus. Kendra told them that Leander had found one of his scales. They were excited that maybe he would be found soon. Leander's day passed in fog of altered reality thanks to the pills.
Seth and Hugo returned when they found nothing more of Raxtus. He had nothing to report when they arrived but Seth was sullen the rest of the evening.
Fairies, being the gossips that they are, spread the news Kendra had given them. It eventually got to the Fairy Queen's shrine and made its way to the Queen. Bracken heard about the find and Leander's wounds and came the day after.
"What did you find out there in the swamp?" Bracken asked Seth as they sat at the table in his bedroom.
Leander listened, stretched out on his bed, the pain reliever Ruth had given him today was less potent but still kept the aches and pains tolerable. Leander refused Bracken's offer of healing, he wanted to see how his body worked on its own.
"We found the troll's lair a large dry island covered with the bones of animals. It has one large tree that covers most of the island so you can't see it from the air. Um… and ah… well…" Seth reluctantly stammered. "Hugo accidentally killed the swamp troll. I didn't want to tell Grandpa… but he attacked us … I used my power, commanded him to stop and stopped him dead in mid attack but Hugo was all ready to defend us. Um … he crushed the troll's skull."
"Good for him," Leander mumbled spitefully.
"An island covered with bones, huh. Dead troll, hmm. Let's go take a look tomorrow. Leander, you can go with us can't you? Sounds like a great place to set up an astounding find," Bracken considered with a smile.
"Yes, if Hugo will carry me. Tomorrow will be three days, they won't try to talk me out of going," he said smiling at Bracken's train of thought. The stitches didn't hurt so much when his smile pulled on them.
They arrived on the island about ten in the morning. The whole island was more than a foot deep in bones. The troll and other predators that used the dry island were busy killers and eaters. The lowest bones were mushy and chalky. The body of the troll was gone though there was plenty of dried blood to show that predators probably tore him apart.
"Don't worry about your grandfather finding out that the troll is dead. He wouldn't last forever out here anyway. He has fed lots of other creatures even if they weren't happy with his taste," Bracken told Seth.
"Raxtus almost ate him when he started a fight. I wish he had since the troll almost killed me. I'm achy all over and I hate these stitches, they are itchy," Leander complained. The pain pills kept him from hurting too bad but they didn't stop the itching.
"I offered," Bracken shrugged reminding him that he was still available to rush the healing process.
Leander smiled and shook his head. He wanted to go through the healing process normally.
"I don't think this will do as a site for our ancient bones they would have disintegrated by now," Leander said kicking the mushy bones with his boot toe.
"You're right. We will need a cave," Seth agreed glad he didn't need to admit his and Hugo's part in the death of the troll.
"Seth, think of a cave well protected from intruders. Somewhere dragon bones would be safe for 800 years," Leander encouraged.
"Yeah, I can think of one. The demon Graulas' cave, no one went there. He was there since they formed Fablehaven. He set up his 'home' near the entrance and didn't travel back into the cave. Raxtus could have gone in there to sleep now that it's just an empty cave. It's not too far from the swamp and the trail there isn't too dangerous," Seth answered.
"Let's go," Bracken agreed.
They traveled back to dry solid ground where Hugo waited for them.
"Hugo, take us to where Graulas' cave was," Seth told him.
Hugo carefully settled Leander in the crook of his forearm while Seth and Bracken climbed up on his shoulders. Hugo ran for the cave.
Without Graulas' protective wards in effect Hugo was able to enter the stone floored cave still carrying the three young men and walked past the remains of Graulas' residence. Bracken cast one of his orbs of light to lead the way. They went deeper into the cave until they found the perfect spot for what they needed.
Leander and Bracken waited in the cave and planned the photo angles while Seth and Hugo went to get Axezeles' artifacts from their hiding place. Bracken took one photo of the stone floor near Graulas' pile of junk showing a scuffed area behind where Graulas did not go. Not proof that Raxtus had been there but it was a possible clue, enough of a clue to cause them to check out the cave.
Seth and Hugo returned an hour later with the artifacts. Leander and Bracken set them up in the cave so that the pictures they took even at different angles were ambiguous. They didn't have to pass heavy inspection since it was only a temporary hoax.
When they finished photographing, they took the artifacts and moved back to the entrance of the cave. Hugo went back into the cave to the open seam Bracken had found and broke the ceiling rock and caused enough of a cave-in to appear to 'bury' the body of Axezeles. He took more photos, though the rock fall actually covered very little it looked impressive in the photos but it didn't have to pass heavy inspection.