Chapter 11: Devious Deviants
Seth and Sarah walked between Xipp, Xeero and Xillch, as the sentry escorted them all back to the entrance of the dungeon.
"I thought you three just came down here to bring the prisoners something to eat," said the sentry, giving each of the adlets a disconcerted look.
"Orders from Lord Murdred himself," said Xeero, still speaking in a monotonous tone of voice. Seth turned his head towards Sarah, and saw that she appeared to be in a trance-like state. No doubt a consequence of using her shadow charmer power to overwhelm the adlets.
"Lord Murdred feels that these guests are more deserving of better accommodations," said Xipp.
"Yeah, so just do your job, horn-head, and don't even think of abandoning your post!" said Xillch.
"What about the pizza?" asked the sentry, pointing back towards the fallen entré.
"You clean it up!" blurted Xipp. "That's an order!"
"That's your dinner," said Xeero. "Consider yourself lucky."
Seth, Sarah and the adlets made their way up the stairs that served as the entryway to the dungeon. Although the stairs had been designed for use by creatures larger than humans, the steps were not too massive to the point where Seth and Sarah were unable to leap up each and every one.
"Man, that was awesome," said Seth, once they reached the top of the stairs and emerged in a hallway, with the adlets standing directly behind them. "With your power, we could go up and overpower Murdred right now!"
Sarah shook her head. "Not happening."
"But, you took control of the adlets so easily!"
"What I'm doing right now is taking a lot of out of me. These adlets are rather simple-minded creatures, so they're pretty manageable. Taking on Murdred or one of those negafae... That's a little out of my league."
"Sarah, you said that you don't live at Mythic Grove," said Seth. "Where do you get your magical milk from?"
"Oh. My parents keep butter in the fridge at home."
"Makes sense," said Seth. "I kinda take our milch cow for granted. So where do you propose we go from here?" Seth looked up and down the empty hallway. "As long as we've got the The Three Stooges on our side, the other monsters won't bother us."
"True," said Sarah. "But if Murdred, Helwic or Demoric spot us, they'll know something's up, and I don't have the power to counter them."
"We could escape from this castle, if nothing else."
"But Murdred could still sense our presence using his evil eye."
"Then what's to stop him from finding us, wherever we go?" asked Seth.
"I don't know. Murdred was able to pinpoint my exact location in the mortal world, and the adlets managed to come through using a nearby portal."
"So no matter where we go, we ultimately cannot escape them."
"We may have a chance, if we can get back to the mortal realm.," said Sarah.
"But we'll need a portal to get back. And I'm pretty sure neither of us has the power to open one of those. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless my friends are still out there, searching for me," said Seth, displaying a smile on his face.
"Those allies you mentioned?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah! They can use portals to travel between this world and our own. But I don't have the slightest clue as to where they are, how to find them, or if they're even still here!"
"Well, we'd better get out of this stupid castle and start looking now!"
"But what if they're not there, or we get caught?"
"We'll have to take that risk," said Sarah. "Come on."
Still controlling the adlets, Sarah had them guide Seth and herself towards the entryway to the castle. The moment they stepped outside, the sentry from earlier who had been standing guard began to snarl at the group the moment he noticed them.
"Hey, where are you three going with those humans?" asked the sentry, crossing his beefy arms.
Closing her eyes, Seth watched as Sarah used her powers to make Xipp, Xeero and Xillch all pounce upon the sentry, knocking him down onto the ground. They then proceeded to start beating up on him.
"Cool!" said Seth.
"We'd better get out of here," said Sarah, as Xipp and Xeero proceeded to lift up the sentry and carry him over their heads. The adlets then marched inside with the sentry, and Xillch closed the door behind them.
"Come on!" said Sarah, as she began to run across the bridge that spanned over the moat. "My hold on the adlets won't last much longer!"
Following Sarah's lead, Seth scurried across the bridge as well. Worried that the adlets would come after him, Seth was running as fast as his legs could carry him. Once they had crossed the bridge, Seth looked around at the landscape. There was nothing but rugged, uneven terrain as far as the eye could see.
If they were lucky, there was the possibility that they could ultimately escape from the Demon Domain, so long as they managed to run across the unicorns. But where were they?
Riding upon Bracken, Kendra surveyed the landscape around her. There appeared to be no familiar landmarks for them to work with. Various points across the land had nothing to differentiate themselves from one another.
They were lost. A fair amount of time had passed since the incident with the gerbil monster and the serpent, but it felt as though the group had made absolutely no progress since then. If they had been walking around in circles or traversing new ground, none of them would be any the wiser.
Kendra looked over at Bright, who was carrying Warren upon her back. Both of them looked to be exhausted. Especially Bright.
"Are you two unicorns feeling okay?" asked Kendra.
"I've felt better," replied Bracken. "A lot better."
"We've been here way too long," said Warren. "Maybe we should just call it a day and head home?"
"But what about Seth?" asked Kendra. "We can't just give up on him. We're the only hope of rescue he has!"
"I commend your enthusiasm," said Bright. "But there's nothing more we can do. I'm sorry."
As the unicorns continued walking, Kendra could feel as Bracken's body began to shake rather abruptly.
"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra. "What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know," said Bracken cautiously, as his entire body continued to wobble around.
"Me too!" cried Bright. Kendra looked over at the other unicorn and saw that she too was beginning to shake around uncontrollably.
"Are you two okay?" asked Warren. "Take it easy. Both of you."
Bracken and Bright both came to a halt, as Warren got down off of Bright's back. He then placed his hand onto Bright's forehead and gently rubbed it around.
"I don't know what this is," said Bright.
"You feel okay," said Warren.
"Oh no," said Bracken. "Kendra, get off of me. Now."
Overcome with a feeling of turmoil, Kendra wasted no time in slipping down off of Bracken's back. "What's going on?"
"The darkness..." said Bright, squinting her eyes shut. "It's too strong! Bracken, you feel it too?"
"It's got us both!" exclaimed Bracken, who also seemed to be experiencing the same sensation.
"We need to get out of this place!" said Warren. "Right now! Open a portal immediately!"
"I... can't!" muttered Bright.
"Something's happening to me!" gasped Bracken, as his silvery-white fur slowly faded into a darker shade of gray. Looking over at Bright, Kendra could see that the mare was undergoing the same transformation.
"The darkness!" screamed Bright. "It's too much."
At this point, the fur, manes and tails belonging to Bracken and Bright had turned entirely pitch black.
"Oh no," said Warren. "They're turning into... nightmares."
"Get away from us!" moaned Bracken, whose voice now sounded rather warbled.
"I won't leave you!" shouted Kendra.
"Now!"
"But..."
"It's too late," said Bright, as spikes sprouted out like branches upon her darkened horn.
"Run, Kendra!" shrieked Warren. "Once they lose their sentience, they'll be true monsters!"
Not knowing what else to do, Kendra began to run off, following Warren's lead. She looked back at Bracken and Bright, watching as they writhed and squirmed while they underwent the last portion of their descents into nightmares.
"Warren, what are we going to do?" asked Kendra.
"I don't know," replied Warren. "We need to get away from them before they become proper nightmares."
After running away for roughly two acres, Kendra and Warren stopped once they reached the edge of a cliff. Looking downwards as they caught their breaths, they could see a steep drop to the lake of lava that was flowing at the bottom.
"We can't get away!" exclaimed Kendra. "It's a dead end!"
"They'll be true nightmares any moment now," said Warren.
"We have to help them!" cried Kendra, as Warren reached for the hilt of his sword.
"How do you propose we do that?"
"They need light energy! Maybe that might counter their transformation."
"But neither of us have that power. Unless you can suddenly go fairyprime, it ain't happening."
Kendra looked back and saw that Bright and Bracken, who were presumably full nightmares, were galloping towards them, neighing maliciously.
"No..." said Warren fearfully, his eyes fixated on the incoming nightmares.
"I know it's just us," said Kendra, "but I need your power to go fairyprime!"
"Are you crazy? I'm only fairystruck! I'm about as magical as a box of Lucky Charms!"
"Please, Warren! I know it might not even work, but it's our only hope!"
"I've never done this without any additional support," said Warren, as the two nightmares came closer, "but we are desperate, so I'll try anything."
Standing by Kendra's side, Warren grabbed Kendra's left hand in both of his and closed his eyes. At that moment, Kendra could now feel a small amount of power flowing out of Warren and into her body. It wasn't nearly enough to unleash her true fairyprime form, but it was something.
The nightmares were now only several yards away from reaching Kendra at this point. Not knowing what else to do, Kendra held out her right palm at the two nightmares. She focused on conjuring up a rainbow. Instead, a faint beam of green energy shot out of her hand and collided into the nightmares.
The nightmares slowed down at this point. Unable to differentiate between the two, Kendra aimed the beam back and forth between both of them. Beyond slowing their gallops to walking speed, the energy seemed to have no real effect on them.
"It's not enough," said Kendra. "They're too powerful!"
One of the nightmares shot a bolt of black energy from its horn at Kendra, knocking her onto her rear, which caused her and Warren to let go of their hands and for him to land next to her. Now less than fifteen feet away, the nightmares slowly approached Kendra and Warren.
"It didn't work," said Kendra, as Warren got up and drew his sword. "Warren! Stop!"
"I wasn't looking forward to this," said Warren, as he leapt away from one of the nightmare's energy bolts.
The other nightmare shot a bolt towards Kendra. Kendra backed away to avoid getting hit, but accidentally slipped off the edge of the cliff. Before she could plummet down, Kendra decked her body forward and grasped her hands onto the ledge, gripping as tightly as she could.
"Warren!" screamed Kendra, looking down at the boiling lava that was a good fifty feet beneath her. "Help!"
"Kendra!" blurted Warren, as he bent down, grabbed both of Kendra's hands and pulled her up onto the cliff.
Standing less than two feet in front of them were the nightmares. Worst of all, Warren had dropped his sword on the ground in order to help Kendra up the cliff. The two nightmares stood before them, like two cats looming over a pair of cornered mice, knowing full well that they had won by this point. Both of their spiny horns were emitting black auras.
"NO!" screamed Kendra, still holding onto Warren's hands. Her soul had been overcome with fear as the two nightmares prepared to make contact with her and Warren with their fatal touch.
Without any warning, a huge blast of colorful light crashed into Bracken and Bright from behind Kendra, stopping the two nightmares just before they would've reached her and Warren. The light, which was glowing in a vivid array of colors, had stopped the nightmares dead in their tracks.
Kendra and Warren turned around and saw the source of the light show. Floating in middar were Brillia, Bravia and Brook in their unicorn forms, along with Clover, Tiara and Opal. The three unicorns were shooting spiraling rainbow beams from their horns at the two nightmares, while Clover, Tiara and Opal were expelling green, orange and purple blasts of energy respectively.
Unable to speak, Kendra and Warren watched in awe as the unicorns' and fairies' magic continuously flowed from their horns and hands into the bodies of the two nightmares, who looked to be petrified from the sheer power of all the light energy they were absorbing.
Before long, Bracken and Bright reverted back from nightmares into their proper unicorn forms. This regression prompted the other unicorns and fairy angels to put an end to their unleashed power.
Not knowing what to say, Kendra stepped forward and placed her hands on the restored foreheads of Bracken and Bright. "Are you two... okay?"
"Clover!" exclaimed Warren, looking back at their surprise group of supporters. "All of you. What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't bear the thought of you four heading out into the Demon Domain all on your own," said Clover, as she and the five keepers landed on the cliff next to Kendra and the others.
"Clover was worried about you," said Bravia. "After you four left Fablehaven, she traveled to the Fairy Kingdom and enlisted us for our help."
"It's a good thing too," said Warren, giving Clover a firm hug. "We would've been goners had you not gotten here. We owe you one."
"About that," said Bracken. "I am so sorry. I just... lost control."
"Me too," sighed Bright. "I couldn't... control myself."
"It was the darkness of the Demon Domain," said Brillia. "You wouldn't have been at fault for your actions."
"But we nearly died!" exclaimed Warren.
"Had we not come to your rescue, all of you would've been doomed," said Brook.
"The important thing is that we're all okay," said Bracken. "Look, let's just get out of here now, before it's too late to save any of us."
"What about Seth?" asked Kendra, stomping her foot on the ground. "If we quit now, we'd just be abandoning him! Again!"
"So much for the cavalry," said Warren. "But Bracken's got a point. This whole expedition has been, regrettably, nothing but danger and huge disappointment. We're never going to find Seth at this rate."
"Poor Seth," said Kendra. "I just feel so... worthless."
"You guys!" cried a familiar voice. "It can't be! Is it really you?"
Everybody looked in the direction the voice had been coming from, and saw Seth running towards them, accompanied by Sarah.
"It's him!" cried Opal.
"I don't believe it!" gasped Tiara.
Seth ran over towards the rescue party as fast as his legs could carry him, his heart racing ferociously. Was this for real? For all he knew, this could've just been an elaborate trap set up by Demoric and Helwic as some sort of sick joke.
Likewise, Kendra wasn't sure if the boy running towards her was actually her brother, or just a monster in disguise. Trusting her gut, Kendra opened her arms as Seth charged towards her.
Seth continued running up towards Kendra and threw his arms around her shoulders the moment he approached her. Without a second thought, Kendra hugged Seth back in response.
Both Kendra and Seth were elated to be back together again. As much as they had fought and quarreled in the past, it meant nothing compared to the true love and admiration that they shared for one another.
"Seth," said Kendra, as she released her brother from her grasp. "What happened to you?"
"It's a long story," uttered Seth. "But I'm back thanks to..."
"Seth, who's this?" asked Bright, as she and her kin all crowded around Sarah.
"Sarah," said Seth. "I'm back thanks to Sarah over here."
Sarah made a nervous smile and held up her hand. The expression she displayed on her face made it seem like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"Uh, Seth," said Sarah. "Do you actually know all these fairies and unicorns?"
"Well, uh yeah," replied Seth nervously.
"Who exactly are you, Sarah?" asked Bracken, circling around the new girl, whist keeping a close on her. "I'm sensing something... unusual about you.."
"I can explain that," stated Seth. "See, Sarah is a shadow charmer, just like I am. Also, we are in the Demon Domain."
"Another shadow charmer?" questioned Clover.
"It's a long story," said Sarah.
"When we get back, I promise to explain everything!" exclaimed Seth.
"But we still need to defeat Murdred," said Bright.
"If we don't get out of this place soon, we'll all be doomed," said Brook.
"All right, let's just get out this accursed Demon Domain already," said Warren. "Can somebody please just open a portal back to our world so that we can all get out of here?"
Bright then conjured up some energy within her horn and used it to open a portal that would lead everyone back to Fablehaven. Without even crossing over, Seth could sense the freedom that was awaiting him on the other side.
"Come on, Seth," said Kendra, as the group began to enter the portal one by one. "Let's go home."