Chapter 22: Converging Paths
Falling down from the collapsing bridge and towards the moat of lava that surrounded Murdred's castle, Seth could feel as his heart skipped a beat. Before he could even so much as react to the situation, Sarah had managed to open a portal beneath them, which she, him and Ingrid all plummeted into.
Seth flew out through the other end of the portal and crashed onto a field of grass somewhere. He found his entire body sliding along the grass for several feet, due to the momentum he had built up from falling into the portal.
Sarah and Ingrid had also undergone a similar experience. As they all got up onto their feet, Seth could see that both of the girls had stained the front of their clothes with streaks of grass and soil. Looking down at himself, Seth had also dirtied up his clothes.
"Where are we?" asked Ingrid.
"I don't know," said Seth, looking around at his surroundings. They appeared to be in a field somewhere in the mortal world, with trees and small mountains visible in the distance. Behind him, he could see the open portal that the three of them had passed through. "Sarah, the portal! Close it before those adlets come after us!"
"Right!" exclaimed Sarah, as she darted over to the portal and began to wave her wand around frantically. After a few seconds of struggling, some sort of energy shot out of the wand and hit the portal, prompting it to seal up.
"Whew!" gasped Seth. "We're safe now!"
"Are we back in our world now?" asked Ingrid.
"Looks like it," said Sarah, examining her surroundings.
"Thank you," said Seth. "Once again, I owe you one! I guess that makes two, then."
Seth proceeded to pat Sarah on her back. She turned her head and revealed a guilty smile. Ingrid simply turned her head away and sighed.
"You should be thankful to Sarah," said Seth. "She just saved all of us! Would you have rather been eaten by the adlets? Or boiled in lava?"
Ingrid rolled her eyes. "No. Just forget it."
"Well, I may have gotten us back to our world," said Sarah. "But I haven't got a clue as to where in our world we've ended up."
"How did you end up in this forest?" asked Seth.
"Couldn't tell you. I just focused on a portal using the wand. I couldn't really focus as we were falling. Even if I knew how."
"Well, we're out of the Demon Domain. That's a huge improvement. In fact, I'll just call home on my phone, figure out where we actually are, and we'll be fine!"
Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It still had some power left in it, for he was able to turn it on. He then thumbed through the menu and auto-dialed the phone home at Fablehaven. He held it up to his ear, expecting to hear ringing on the other end.
"We're sorry," said a prerecorded female voice on Seth's phone, "but you are currently not within range of a valid service area. Please hang up and try calling again in a different location."
Grumbling, Seth hung up, put away his phone and explained what he had heard to Sarah and Ingrid.
"Great," said Ingrid. "Just great! We're stranded God-knows-where and we can't even contact anyone!"
"Wherever we are," said Sarah, "at least it's not the Demon Domain. Be thankful for that."
"Look," said Seth. "We don't have much choice right now. We've got to find civilization so that we can call for help."
"So, where is this civilization?" asked Ingrid.
"Not here," replied Sarah. "We've just got to set out and look for something. Wherever it may be. Let's go."
"Can't you just use that wand to open another portal?" asked Ingrid.
"It would probably just lead back to the Demon Domain," said Sarah. "And I've had enough of that place."
"Me too," added Seth. "Let's just explore this place and see where we end up."
Seth proceeded to walk off, accompanied by Sarah.
"Hey," said Ingrid, running to catch up with the two shadow charmers. "Wait up!"
Having just been at the bottom of the Floodmaze, Kendra once again felt the sensation of being pulled out of the sub-aquatic labyrinth by way of the Translocator. Just like the previous time, Kendra found herself reemerging on dry land.
"Nice!" said Raxtus, as everybody let go of the Translocator. "We're back at Fablehaven."
Indeed, the Translocator had brought the group back to Fablehaven. However, they had arrived in the front yard, rather than somewhere within the fog giants' territory.
"Woops," said Warren, who, along with the rest of the merfolk, was stuck on the ground due to the fact that he still possessed a tail in lieu of legs. "We've got a big problem here."
"Our tails?" asked Bright. "Not a problem. Bracken and I will restore everyone."
"No, I mean a really big problem."
"How big?" asked Bracken.
Warren pointed behind Bright and Bracken, prompting the two fairy merfolk to turn their heads around. Looming behind them was Mariana, who by far towered over the rest of the group.
"Mariana!" said Kendra. "Are you okay?"
Mariana let out a roar, then nodded her head.
"A leviathan like her can't move around on land," said Geminus, flying up towards Mariana's face. "She isn't like a snake."
"My bad," said Warren, as he held up the Translocator. "Come on, Mariana, I'll take you home."
Mariana turned her head away from the others and looked over at the nearby house. She then let out a small wail. Meanwhile, Bright and Bracken held their hands together and used their powers to unleash a rainbow wave at Kendra and Warren, restoring the two of them to their human forms, as well as themselves.
"Nice to be back on my feet again," said Warren, now fully clothed as he stood up off of the ground. "Let's go, Mariana!"
Mariana shook her head.
"What's the matter?" asked Bracken. "Don't you want to go home to Duskreef Lagoon?"
Mariana let out another groan and shook her head again again.
"Come on," said Warren. "All aboard the Translocator Express!"
"She must want something," said Kendra, as the rest of her family marched out of the house.
"Welcome back!" said Grandpa, who was smiling, along with the others.
"Incredible!" said Dale, looking up at Mariana. "I've never seen a leviathan in person before! But that's mostly because we don't really have room for one on this preserve. What's she doing here, anyway?"
"It was an accident," said Warren. "I offered to take her home, but Mariana doesn't want to go."
Mariana looked down at the rest of the family and started moaning.
"What does she want?" asked Clover.
"Seth!" exclaimed Kendra. "She wants to see Seth. Mariana, we told you, we needed your help just to get the Necromaster, so that we could use its power to rescue Seth."
"So, you got the Necromaster then?" asked Grandpa.
Kendra held up the aforementioned relic, showing it off for everybody to see.
"That's incredible!" exclaimed Grandma. "Well done! Although, it doesn't exactly give me the impression of something that could be used to harm people."
"This Necromaster will need further studying before using it," said Grandpa.
"We'd love to hear about what went on," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Why don't you come inside? We'll make some lunch for you all, and you can tell us all about what went on in the Floodmaze."
"What about Mariana?" asked Bright, directing everyone's attention back to the leviathan. "She doesn't exactly want to go back."
"She's huge!" exclaimed Passion.
"Way too big!" said Larissa.
"Nothing personal," added Goldenrod.
"There's a pond at the edge of the yard," said Grandpa. "No magical creatures reside in it, just some koi. She can stay there if she wants to wait for Seth."
"But, we like that pond!" said Larissa.
"She wouldn't be able to swim in it!" said Passion.
"No room for her at all," said Goldenrod.
"A leviathan needs to keep its body hydrated," said Dale. "The pool's small and chlorinated, and we can't have her over by the shrine. The naiads would have a fit."
"We'll worry about transporting Mariana to the koi pond," said Clover. "You folks go on inside!"
As all the humans walked back towards the house, Kendra could feel her stomach rumbling. They had been on quite an exhilarating adventure after all. Until now, she had forgotten just how much of an appetite she had worked up.
Seth, Sarah and Ingrid had been walking through the forest for quite a while. If Seth's watch was anything to go by, they had already been travelling for a good three quarters of an hour. By now, Seth's feet were starting to ache.
"Look," said Ingrid, pointing forward. "A road!"
Looking forward, Seth could indeed see a road, intersecting with the direction they were travelling in, situated roughly two-hundred feet in the distance.
"Yes!" exclaimed Seth, who got so excited that he ran ahead of the girls towards the road.
"Seth, wait up!" gasped Sarah, as she and Ingrid scurried after him. Ignoring Sarah's request, Seth did not slow down until he had reached the shoulder of the highway that stretched from one side of the horizon to the other.
"Good!" said Seth. "This road has to lead somewhere!"
"But where?" asked Ingrid.
"Who cares? Right now anywhere would be an improvement! All we have to do is follow the yellow-lined road!"
"More walking?" asked Sarah.
"If only there were some cars," said Ingrid, "maybe we could hitchhike to the nearest town. But this place is empty."
Seth, Sarah and Ingrid proceeded to walk along the shoulder of the highway. They were walking on the left side, which would've been against traffic, not that there was even all that much traffic. Very few vehicles passed by them as they walked, none of which stopped when they signaled for attention.
After a good twenty minutes or so, the group came across a gas station located on the side of the road.
"Finally," said Sarah. "Whoever's here can tell us where we are!"
Looking past the pumps, Seth noticed that there was a payphone along the front of the gas station's main building.
"All right!" exclaimed Seth. We can call for help here!"
The three kids made their way past the pumps, none of which were currently being used, until they made it to the front of the building.
"I've got to find out where we are first," said Seth, as he pulled open the door to the store, allowing Sarah and Ingrid to enter before him.
"Can I help you?" asked the young man standing behind the checkout counter.
"You bet!" said Seth. "Can you tell us where exactly we are?"
The clerk looked out the window. "Um, where's your car?"
"Just answer the question," said Sarah.
"Well, you're on Route 57, between Roehampton and Johnsville."
"And that's where?" asked Seth.
"Massachusetts. The United States of America. Do you kids need any more information?"
"We're good, thank you," said Seth, breathing a sigh of relief. He and the girls then rushed out of the store and to the phone outside.
"Massachusetts," said Sarah, "that's not too far from Fablehaven, is it?"
"How'd you manage to end up here?" asked Seth.
"I guess I just got lucky when I tried the wand. I focused on Fablehaven, and I knew it was in Connecticut. I guess this was just the best I could do."
Not even worrying about change, Seth picked up the phone's headset and called collect to dial home.
"Seth!" exclaimed Grandma, who had answered on the other line. "Oh my goodness! Where are you?"
Seth told Grandma about how he got out of the Demon Domain and revealed his current location as best he could, at least according to what the clerk had described to him.
"I've written this all down!" said Grandma. "We're just finishing lunch now, but I'll send Warren to come and find you! This is great! The others just got back from the Floodmaze! They found the Necromaster!"
"Awesome!" said Seth. "The three of us are very hungry, so is it all right if we get something to eat now?"
"The three of you?"
"Yeah, Sarah and I met this other girl. Ingrid. It's hard to explain, but can we at least try to help her? She knows about the magical world because she was wrongly brought to the Demon Domain."
"I don't know..." said Grandma.
"Please! I'm begging you! We've all had a bad day!"
"All right," said Grandma. "If there are three of you, Geminus will accompany Warren and Raxtus. I'd prefer to not reveal the existence of Translocator to the others."
"Sounds great!" said Seth. "I'll see you soon!"
"I'm relieved to hear that you're okay. Goodbye!"
"What's that all about?" asked Ingrid, as Seth hung up the phone.
"Oh, this is gonna be awesome!" said Seth. "My cousin and some friends are coming to pick us up! They should be here soon. You two want anything to eat? I'm starving!"
Without waiting for a response, Seth went back inside the store and over to an area lined with shelves of food, as well as a microwave. He then opened a small freezer cabinet and pulled out three individually-wrapped burritos.
"Seth, I can't afford anything," said Ingrid. "I have no money."
"Yeah, and my wallet's still at home," added Sarah. "My home."
"I've got you covered," said Seth, as he opened up the three packages one at a time. "Let's get some drinks as well."
Seth placed the three burritos into the microwave and turned it on, then walked over to where several beverage coolers were situated.
"You mean it?" asked Ingrid, as she opened up one of the doors and pulled out a bottle of lemonade. "Thank you."
Seth then realized that the store had a slushy machine and found himself drawn towards it. He grabbed a large, clear plastic cup and proceeded to fill it up with blue raspberry slush.
"That's the same thing I wanted!" said Sarah, holding up her own cup.
Seth smiled at Sarah as he removed his filled cup, just as Sarah set hers down to be filled. Soon after Seth had placed a cap on his cup and inserted a straw, the microwave beeped.
Seth removed the warm burritos from the microwave, then brought them up to the front counter. Sarah and Ingrid brought their drinks up as well.
"So that's three burritos, two large slushies and a lemonade," said the clerk. "Is that all together?"
"Yes," said Seth, handing his credit card to the clerk. Although he was told to only use it under special circumstances, Seth had a credit card he could use for expenses, provided that they were related to his duties as a Knight of the Dawn.
"Thank you," said Sarah, grabbing her burrito and drink once the transaction had gone through.
"That was very kind," said Ingrid, as she picked up her stuff.
Seth, Sarah and Ingrid carried their food outside and sat down the curb in front of the store. As Seth and Sarah ate their burritos at a casual pace, Seth watched as Ingrid devoured hers. Ingrid then went on to drink her entire bottle of lemonade almost immediately.
A few minutes later, Seth and Sarah finished their burritos at roughly the same time. They then proceeded to slurp down their slushies, which gave them little opportunity to talk.
"Hey, Seth," said Warren. His slushy now almost finished, Seth looked up and saw that Warren was now standing next to the group.
"Warren!" exclaimed Seth, as he stood up to receive a hug from his cousin. "Oh, I'm happy to see you now!"
"Hi," said Sarah, smiling at Warren. Seth noticed that Sarah's lips were now stained blue from the slushy, and presumed that his were as well. Seth then stuck out his tongue and could see that it was also blue.
"You must be Ingrid," said Warren, extending his hand. "I'm Warren, Seth's cousin."
"Hi," said Ingrid, who sounded somewhat cautious. She refused Warren's handshake.
"Warren, you got here really fast," said Seth.
"I took a shortcut," said Warren, winking at Seth. From the way Warren said it, he had to have been talking about the Translocator.
"How'd you get here?" asked Ingrid. "I didn't see a car pull up or anything."
"I kinda parked in the back. Come on."
Warren led Seth, Sarah and Ingrid around the back of the store. It appeared to be nothing more than a vacant plot of land overrun with long grass and weeds. Trees surrounded the outer perimeter.
"I don't get it," said Ingrid.
"Raxtus?" asked Seth. "Geminus? It's cool. Reveal yourselves!"
Geminus, who had been in the grass all along, only in her fairy form, allowed herself to grow back into a dragon. At the same time, Raxtus went from invisible back to being visible.
"Cool!" said Sarah. "I didn't even get to the meet the dragons before!"
"Where are our manners?" asked Warren. "Sarah, Ingrid. This is Raxtus and Geminus. Raxtus and Geminus, Sarah and Ingrid."
"Dragons?" asked Ingrid. "I just see two large birds. Are they albatrosses or something?"
"The milk," said Warren. "She hasn't had milk, has she?"
"Milk?" asked Ingrid. "What milk?"
"Oh boy," said Seth. "I think we've got a bit of explaining to do."
"Well, come on," said Warren. "We've got to get going. Seth, why don't you and Sarah ride on Geminus? I'll go with Ingrid on Raxtus."
"Okay," said Seth, as he climbed up onto Geminus' back, with Sarah sitting down behind him.
"You want me to ride on that huge bird's back?" asked Ingrid.
"It's okay," said Warren. "But he's not a bird. Trust me on this."
Seth watched as Warren helped an uneasy Ingrid climb up onto Raxtus' backside. Warren then climbed up behind Ingrid himself.
"Are we good to go?" asked Warren.
"Yup," replied Raxtus.
"Me too," added Geminus.
"Great!" said Warren. "We're off!"
The two dragons proceeded to flap their wings, and soon took off into the air.
"Awesome!" said Sarah, looking down at the rural road beneath them. "This is incredible."
"We're flying!" gasped Ingrid. "We're really flying!"
Seth smiled. "You haven't seen anything yet. Let's go home to Fablehaven!"