Chapter 14: Contrary Fairies
Standing at the bottom of the dreary chasm within the depths of the Demon Domain, Kendra looked down at Bracken. The poor fairy prince was laying on the ground, stomach side down, breathing wearily.
"Bracken," said Kendra, running her hand through Bracken's glistening white hair. "Bracken. Please, get up."
"I... I can't, muttered Bracken.
"Bright!" cried Warren, who was down on his knees by the other fairy's side. Kendra could see that he was also making a similar effort to try and help Bright get back on her feet.
"What's wrong with you two?" asked Kendra, rubbing Bracken on his shoulder. "You need to get up! Both of you!"
"Something's wrong," gasped Bright, as Warren held her hand. "We came in here only minutes ago at full strength, but now, it feels like all our power is gone!"
"Almost like something forced it to drain," said Warren, picking up Seth and Sarah's dropped bags. "Looks like these got left behind."
"Look, let's just get out of here now!" said Kendra. "Or you'll be too weak to do anything!"
"I don't think I can do anything now," uttered Bracken, climbing up onto his knees, using Kendra's own body as a means of support.
"You've got to open a portal," said Warren. "Only one of you needs to do so. Transfer your power to the other if that's what it takes."
Bracken and Bright both stood up, then proceeded to walk towards each other, albeit rather woozily. The two of them then held hands and closed their eyes.
"It's no good!" gasped Bright. "We barely have any light energy in us as it is."
Bracken shook his head. "NO! I will not become a nightmare again!"
"Warren," said Kendra, "what are we supposed to do?"
"If they turn into nightmares again..." said Warren, "I'm starting to wish I was in Seth's shoes right about now."
"Please!" exclaimed Kendra. "Pull it together, you two. If we don't escape now, we're all doomed!"
"We don't have the power required to open a portal," said Bright. "We're sorry!"
"Can we help?" asked a tiny voice.
Kendra turned around and saw Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod fluttering behind her. Everyone appeared to be dumbstruck, seeing the three fairies appearing in the Demon Domain.
"You three?" asked Kendra.
"Uh, you need our help, yes?" asked Passion.
"I don't know why you're here," said Warren, "but unless you help us, we'll all go down."
Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod all flew over towards Bracken and unleashed a rain of red, blue and yellow sparkles onto his body. A moment later, Bracken smiled and let out a sigh.
The three fairies, who had clearly exhausted their power by helping Bracken, slowly drifted downwards. Warren held out his arms and caught them in midair.
"Thanks!" said Bracken, wasting no time in using his power to open up a portal before the group.
"Come on," said Warren to Kendra and Bright, still holding the three weary fairies in his arms.
Bracken passed through the portal, followed by Warren. Kendra then stepped through the portal along with Bright.
When they emerged on the other side, Kendra was caught by surprise to learn that they had not emerged on the lawn at Fablehaven. Instead, Kendra splashed down a foot or so, landing in a vast body of cold water which gave her quite a shock.
Lacking the foresight to have held her breath, Kendra quickly surfaced, sucking in a huge amount of oxygen. "Bracken!" gasped Kendra, attempting to tread water against a series of small waves. " What's going on?"
"Yeah," said Warren, spitting out some excess water that had flowed into his mouth. "Where in the world are we?"
"I don't... know," answered Bracken, sounding confused.
"Are Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod all right?" asked Bright.
"I've got them," said Warren, indicating that he was still holding the trio of fairies in his arm, trying to keep their heads above the surface.
"I better close this," said Bracken, raising his hand out of the water and using his power to dispel the portal that was floating no more than two feet above the surface of the water.
"Bracken, what are we doing here?" asked Kendra, as a small wave of water crashed against her face.
"I must've not focused properly when conjuring up that escape portal. We're back in the mortal world, but I have no idea where."
"Seventy percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water," said Warren. "If we had to land somewhere, I'm not surprised it was in the middle of an ocean."
"Middle of an ocean?" exclaimed Bright. "We need to get out of here!"
"But, how?" asked Kendra. "You fairies are weak for some reason."
"I like to be prepared, so I've got the Translocator," said Warren. "But bringing it to the Demon Domain no doubt drained its power."
"Let me try restoring it," said Kendra.
Warren reached into his soaking bag and pulled out the Translocator. "Work your magic, Kendra."
Kendra placed her hand onto the artifact and felt as energy flowed through her arm and into the Translocator. "I think that did it."
"Please work," said Warren, as he, Bracken and Bright all placed a hand on the Translocator. Using his other arm, Warren set Passion Larissa and Goldenrod directly on top of the artifact. He then attempted to twist the Translocator.
"Kinda hard to work this thing when its all wet," said Warren, before successfully twisting the Translocator into working order. A moment later, the entire group found themselves being whisked out of the water and transported far away.
A moment later, Kendra opened her eyes and saw that she was now standing on the front lawn of Fablehaven, surrounded by Warren and the five fairies. Her clothes sopping wet, Kendra let go of the Translocator and proceeded to wring some out excess water out of her sleeve.
"We made it," said Bright.
"But Seth," said Kendra. "He's still back in the Demon Domain. Xipp, Xeero and Xillch have him. And Sarah too!"
"There was nothing we could do," said Bracken. "I'm sorry."
"Sarah's parents are going to kill us," said Warren.
"If mine don't already," noted Kendra.
The front door to the house opened up. Grandpa, Grandma, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson all stepped out through the doorway and onto the porch.
"What happened to everybody?" asked Grandpa. "Where are Seth? And Sarah?"
"They got captured," answered Bright.
"Not again!" moaned Mr. Sorenson, placing a hand to his forehead.
"How could you let this happen?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, giving her husband a hug.
"We don't understand!" blurted Bright. "Bracken and I lost our power almost immediately after entering the Demon Domain. "Then the adlets came out of nowhere, nabbed Seth and Sarah and high-tailed it out of the area."
"Well, how come all of you are all drenched?" asked Grandma.
"I think we missed a left turn at Albuquerque," said Warren. "Soaking or not, I'm just grateful we were able to get back here at all."
"And you three," said Grandpa, pointing at Passion, Larissa and Clover, "I can see by your soaked bodies that you tagged along uninvited."
"Let's not be too rash," said Bracken. "We've got a larger crisis on our hands already."
"This is horrible," said Mrs. Sorenson, shaking her head in disbelief. By this point, Clover, Dale, Raxtus, Geminus and several reindeer had approached the group.
"Look, we really need to freshen up," said Bright. "We're dripping in salt water, and Bracken and I are dangerously low on light energy."
"What Bright means is," stated Clover, "is that she and Bracken need to go back to the naiad's pond, freshen themselves up and be rejuvenated."
"Kendra, you and Warren could both use a shower and a fresh set of clothes," said Grandma.
"No kidding," said Warren.
"Why don't you both head upstairs and wash up? Warren, you're welcome to use my ensuite, rather than having to go back and forth between your cabin."
"Thanks," said Warren.
"Dasher, Cupid," said Dale, making a hand gesture at two of the reindeer. "I want you to take Bracken, Bright and the other fairies down to the naiad's pond."
The two reindeer trotted over to the group. Bracken and Bright each climbed on top one of them, while Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod clung onto Bracken's shirt.
As Dasher and Cupid trotted off towards the pond, Kendra and Warren headed inside the house. Kendra looked down at the carpet in the entry hall, and saw that water was still dripping down from her hand and onto it.
"Don't worry about the water," said Grandma, who was standing behind them. "It's more important that you just wash up already."
Seeing that Warren had begun taking off his boots and soaked socks, Kendra followed his inspiration and took her footwear off as well, leaving her barefoot.
Kendra scurried up the stairs with Warren by her side. In her mind, she commended Warren for the idea to go barefoot, since she hated the feeling of walking around with drenched socks, which happened the odd time she stepped in a deep puddle.
Kendra made her way into the bathroom, while Warren continued down the hall to Grandma and Grandpa's room. Now alone, Kendra tossed off her clothes, stepped into the shower stall and turned on the hot water.
The warm shower was the most refreshing thing Kendra had experienced all day. Even though she had already showered before heading out into the Demon Domain, it was this second one she was far more appreciative of.
Once Kendra was fully washed up, she wrapped a towel around herself and made her way up to her bedroom in the attic, where she changed into a fresh set of clothes. Afterwards, Kendra headed downstairs and met up with the others who were all waiting for her in the living room.
"Thanks for bringing me a change of clothes, Clover," said Warren, patting his wife, who was seated next to him, on her shoulder. He was indeed wearing a fresh set of clothes, as were Bracken and Bright.
"I don't know how to say this," said Grandpa, "but things just keep getting worse,"
"What happened?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "And why so fast this time, too?"
Kendra, Warren, Bright and Bracken all relayed their most recent misadventure to everybody in the room.
"Bright and Bracken, you two lost your energy that quickly?"
"It doesn't make any sense," said Bracken. "There's no plausible reason for us to have lost our power so abruptly."
"At least we were able to ward off the three adlets," noted Bright. "But once they were dealt with, we didn't even have the power within us to open up a portal to get out of the Demon Domain."
"Lucky for us, Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod showed up," said Warren. "Without them, we never would've gotten back."
"About that," said Grandpa, clenching his fingers together. "Why exactly were they with you?"
"We don't know," replied Bright. "They begged us to come along to the Demon Domain. And even though we said no, they heeded our demands and and followed along anyway. Although we're disappointed to learn that they were being irresponsible, we're also grateful that they were there to bail us out."
"Let's worry about what the three fairies did later," said Grandma. "Although I would like to know, how is it that you and Bracken lost your energy so quickly, while Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod retained theirs?"
"A few theories," replied Bracken. "One is that the magic we used to conceal ourselves while in the Demon Domain were losing an excessive amount of energy due to being in a world that they cannot withstand, Bright and I were drawing too much energy from ourselves, and we depleted our powers far sooner than expected.
"But you used the distractor spell the last time," said Clover, "and you stayed in the Demon Domain for significantly longer then, too."
"Another theory is that it could've been that large skeleton monster that neared us in the chasm," said Warren. "It could've had some influence instead of the spells, or possibly in addition to them."
"I think it might've be Sarah," said Bright. "Not on purpose, though. But we don't know her very well. Or the extent of her power. Combined with Seth, the two of them may have been radiating an excessive amount of darkness."
"Possibly," said Mr. Sorenson. "But, aren't the two of them wearing those bracelets that suppress their darkness?"
"They were," replied Bracken. "But, you need to remember that Seth's power grew too strong for his bracelet."
"Of course," said Warren. "That's why the fairies went rogue on him the other day by turning him into a one-man zoo. But, Brillia restored its power just recently. And Sarah's was brand new. When we went into the Demon Domain, she was wearing it for the very first time."
"Perhaps the Demon Domain is too strong for the bracelets altogether," said Grandpa.
Kendra shook her head slowly. "Maybe we're going about this whole thing the wrong way. Seems like every time we enter the Demon Domain, we get targeted, and the unicorns end up losing their energy somehow. On top of that, both of the times I went to the Demon Domain, the group got bailed out by another party of fairies who weren't even invited to come along."
"It's a good thing, too," said Warren. "Or we wouldn't be alive right now."
"It's obvious that we need to be using a better plan right now," said Grandpa, rubbing his chin. "Blindly running into the Demon Domain, not knowing where to go, is only going to continue to get you lost, if not killed."
"And not only that," said Bracken, "but as long as Bright and I need to rely on light energy, in a world sustained by darkness, some of those monsters there will always have a great advantage over us."
"Our weapons are only so strong," said Warren. "And if you and Bright rely on your magic too much, it could result in us losing our trip home."
"So, what should we do?" asked Kendra.
"I was thinking," said Grandpa, "it may be unorthodox, but perhaps that Necromaster thing might help you. If it really is from the Demon Domain, I have reason to believe it should work in that realm."
"It would work a lot better than relying on fairy magic," said Warren. "If we had it, we'd be fighting fire with... um... better fire."
"That Necromaster sounds dangerous," said Bracken. "But as much as it goes against fairy honor, dangerous may be just the thing we need to conquer the Demon Domain."
"So Grandpa," said Kendra, "you're proposing that instead of returning to the Demon Domain again, we take a detour and recover the Necromaster?"
"Precisely," replied Grandpa.
"Wait a minute," said Mr. Sorenson. "What about Seth? And Sarah? They're in real trouble! If you guys put your obligation to rescue them on hold, who knows what Murdred might do to them?"
Grandpa sighed. "I care about both Seth and Sarah. I realize that they must be terrified. But remember, they told us that Murdred just wanted to keep them locked up until they gave into his demands. They're invaluable to Murdred, so I don't foresee the Demon God causing them any malice. However, I don't believe getting to them will be easy. If anything, Murdred and his crew will take extra precautions to make sure that Seth and Sarah don't have such an easy time fleeing from his castle."
"It's up to us to rescue them this time," said Warren. "And this Necromaster, if it really is all that, might be our best shot at getting through the Demon Domain. While saving Seth and Sarah is far more important to me and everyone in this room, the Necromaster may be just the ticket we need to help them."
"Going after this Necromaster," said Clover. "It's got a vault to tackle, just like going after one of those artifacts, or instruments of eternal power."
"After enduring the Demon Domain," said Kendra, "plus all those other vaults, I'm not afraid of anything that the Floodmaze might throw at us."
"That's the spirit," said Warren, as he clapped his hands.
"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "If this vault is just underneath Lake Superior, then it, along with the Necromaster, are within this world. So, why don't we just form the Omega Star and simply wish for the Necromaster?"
"Of course!" said Warren. "We never had the option to use the Omega Star to wish for an artifact from a vault! But this would save us a heap of trouble. Let's do it!"
"Bright and I will be back shortly," said Bracken, as he and Bright got up from their seats. "See you soon!"
No more than twenty minutes later, the five keepers had arrived at Fablehaven, each bringing with them their respective instrument of eternal power. Now in the living room, each keeper placed her instrument down on the coffee table, successfully forming the Omega Star.
"Okay," said Kendra, placing her hands upon the completed Omega Star. "I wish that the Necromaster would appear on the table in front of me."
There was a brief pause. The Omega Star failed to glow, as it did not react to Kendra's wish.
"I knew it," said Warren. "I had a feeling it would be too good to be true."
"Maybe there isn't a Necromaster," said Grandma. "It might have been destroyed, or it's in the Demon Domain, or it's a hoax."
"One way to find out," said Warren, placing his hand on the Omega Star. "Hopefully this'll work. I wish to know... Is the Necromaster real? And why can't we wish for it?"
The Omega Star glowed, and a small piece of paper appeared on the table. Kendra picked it up and read the was was written on it aloud.
The Necromaster is real. It is a tool of demonic origin, and the light magic of the Omega Star is unable to retrieve it.
"If wishing for it is impossible," said Grandpa, "then I see no other choice. Our top priority is recovering the Necromaster, so that you can use it to get through the Demon Domain and save Seth and Sarah. Hopefully."