Chapter 27: Adlet Fever

Their next outset planted in their minds, Kendra, Seth, Warren, Grandpa, Ingrid, Bracken, Bright and Clover all walked back up the stairs leading from the dungeon to the first floor of the house.

"Ingrid, come upstairs with me," said Grandpa. "There's a few things I'd to speak with you about."

"Okay," said Ingrid, who sounded just as nervous as she looked.

"The rest of you, try to find a way through the Demon Domain. And hurry. Who knows how much time we actually have left."

"Shouldn't we go over this whole plan with you a bit more?" asked Kendra, as Grandpa and Ingrid proceeded to walk towards the foyer, away from the group.

"I don't know what it is," said Grandpa, "but I've been feeling really dizzy lately. Like I've lost a whole lot of energy."

"Sir, are you okay?" asked Bracken.

"I just need a good nap," said Grandpa. "After I speak to Ingrid and get things straightened out, I'm going to go lie down."

"Okay," said Bright. "I hope you feel better."

"What was that about?" asked Seth, as Grandpa and Ingrid headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

"We can't worry about that now," said Warren. "We've got bigger problems to deal with. Once we enter the Demon Domain, we need to find a way to reach Murdred's castle, destroy him, and rescue Sarah, if that's even still possible."

"Poor Sarah," said Seth, feeling as butterflies fluttered around in his stomach. "Why couldn't we have met under more pleasant circumstances?"

What are we supposed to do?" asked Bright. "Every time we go to the Demon Domain, it's a severe drain on our power. Coupled with the fact that we're always lost in that place, the moment we get ambushed by more monsters than we can handle, our whole mission is just a disaster waiting to happen."

"And every time, we barely make it back alive," said Bracken. "If we're going to do this, we need to not get caught."

"But how?" asked Kendra. "We've tried distractor spells and invisibility, but as long as we don't know where we're going, trying to find Murdred's castle is just a giant guessing game."

"Those adlets always seem to know where the castle is," said Seth. "So they obviously know their way around the Demon Domain."

"Lotta good that'll do us," said Warren. "What are we supposed to do? Run around the Demon Domain until we attract the adlets' attention, then ask them for directions?"

"At this point, asking for directions probably would be our best chance of survival in that place," said Clover.

"I don't know if I was being sincere or sarcastic with that statement."

"It's too bad we can't go around asking the locals for directions," said Seth. "Humans, fairies and unicorns doesn't exactly fit in in a place like the Demon Domain."

"Wait a minute," said Kendra, as the wheels in her head started to spin, "why couldn't we fit in with the denizens of the Demon Domain?"

"Gee, Kendra," replied Seth, "maybe it's because we lack massive fangs, nine inch nails, grotesque bodies, glowing red eyes and dark hearts?"

"Well, Bracken, Bright, Warren and I never would have gotten through the Floodmaze had we not been transformed into merfolk. So, what's to say that we can't assume the forms of some demonic creatures?"

Bracken placed his knuckles against his cheek. "I don't know. I don't think as fairies, that we have the power to transform people into creatures of darkness."

"Yeah," said Clover. "Non-magical creatures aren't a problem for us, but once you start getting into the kind with magical properties, it becomes more complicated."

"The merfolk transformations took a fair bit out of us," noted Bright. "And that's only half of someone's body."

"We wouldn't need to take the forms of actual dark creatures," said Kendra. "Isn't there a way to just transform us into glorified lookalikes, without any dark properties?"

"Well," said Bracken, "if we can transform bumblebees into bobcats, who's to say we can't transform humans into... dark creatures... sort of?"

"I get it," said Warren. "We'd only look like creatures of darkness. Hopefully we'd be convincing enough to get the help we need. Except, how would we communicate with the monsters? Aside from the adlets, the rest aren't exactly fluent in English or fairy languages."

"Leave that to me," said Seth. "I can understand what all of those monsters are saying."

Bright nodded. "This plan's crazy enough, it just might work. But, plan or no plan, it'd still be hazardous for us fairies to be out and about in the Demon Domain, even with a disguise."

"Hold on," said Kendra, "back when you, Clover and the others were fairy angels, you stayed hidden in those pocket dimensions. Wouldn't that trick still work?"

"Hypothetically it might," said Bracken, "but we've never tested it in the Demon Domain. We could just conceal ourselves another way if need be."

"Hold on," said Kendra. "This whole thing sounds pretty risky. What'd happen if the transformations were to wear off somehow?"

"Transformations don't normally just wear off," replied Bracken. "Of course, with fairy magic being the source behind this, we have no idea how long they would last within the Demon Domain."

"It'd just be a risk we'd have to be willing to take," said Warren.

"So what do we do if they do wear off?" asked Seth.

"We get out of the Demon Domain and rethink our strategy."

"So the plan," said Clover, "would be to transform Warren, Kendra and Seth into faux-monster creatures?"

"Sounds like it," said Warren.

"And from there, you three need to find your way to Murdred's castle," said Bracken, "rescue Sarah if she's even there, and kill Murdred?"

"We don't really have a choice," answered Seth.

"This plan seems kind of flawed," said Kendra. "Even if we're disguised as three random creatures, what exactly would allow us to just waltz into Murdred's castle and run amok in there?"

"You've got a point," said Seth. "There's sentries positioned throughout the castle. Even as monsters, we still wouldn't have free reign of the place. And even if we could get past them, I don't think Murdred or the negafae would be too keen on us just barging on them."

Warren sighed. "It's too bad we can't get backstage passes to Murdred's castle."

Suddenly, Seth's eyes lit up. "Maybe we can! I just got an idea! The adlets!"

"What about the adlets?" asked Bright.

"Why didn't I think of this before? The adlets have the run of the place at Murdred's castle."

"Good for them," said Kendra.

"Good for us," retorted Seth. "As long as we're getting turned into creatures, why can't those creatures be Xipp, Xeero and Xillch?"

"You mean go in undercover?" asked Kendra. "Disguised as the adlets?"

"Yeah, what do you think?"

"It could work," said Warren. "If all we have to do is resemble the adlets, and we do a good enough job, it might be enough to fool the other creatures. Maybe even Murdred."

"Let's hope so," said Clover.

"Our only concern is that we don't know what the adlets really look like," said Bright. "Bracken and I have only seen them twice, briefly."

"Stan's got all sorts of books that talk about magical creatures," said Warren. "Surely one of them's got to have a picture of an adlet that we can use to help us get started."

"Good," said Bracken. "Let's get our stuff together and meet up in the garden in ten minutes."

Before long, everybody had regrouped in the garden. Kendra, Seth and Warren were all wearing their adventuring gear, while Warren was also holding a book.

"We're in luck," said Warren, flipping open the brown, hardcover book that was in his hands to a marked page. "We've got a reference. Look!"

Kendra and Seth both peered down at the pages that the book had been open to. One page was filled with lines of text, while the other contained a well-drawn sketch of an adlet. From what Seth could tell, the sketch, which was in black and white, didn't quite resemble Xipp, Xeero or Xillch, but at least it was something.

"They kinda look like that," said Seth. "But if we want to look like the adlet trio, our disguises will need to be perfect."

"Think you can tell us what perfect looks like?" asked Bracken.

"Well, you've seen the adlets before, even if it was only briefly."

"I've got an idea," said Warren. "Clover, I need a pencil, some paper and a board"

Clover nodded, then used her magic to produce a pencil and a sheet of paper attached to a hard board on top of Warren's book.

"Thanks, love," said Warren, as he sat down on the grass, crossing his legs. Picking up the pencil, Warren proceeded to sketch an adlet of his own. After a minute or two he had finished.

Seth looked at Warren's sketch. It wasn't nearly as detailed as the sketch in the book, but by no means bad for something that had been drawn rather quickly. In a way, it more closely resembled Xipp, Xeero and Xillch.

"Make the eyes a little bigger," said Seth, prompting Warren to rub out the eyes with his eraser and redraw them.

"More fur around the ears. Longer claws on the hands and feet. Bigger teeth."

"The better to eat us with," chuckled Warren, drawing longer fangs than he had before. "Sounds like these big canines have big canines."

"That's pretty good," said Seth. "Think you fairies could make us look something like that?"

"We'll try," said Bracken, "but, how're we supposed to make you look like perfect replicas?"

"A bit of practice is in order," said Warren. "We need to start with one of us to use as a guinea pig."

"A guinea pig?" asked Clover, as her hands started to glow green.

"Don't start with that," said Warren, pulling on Clover's arm. "I mean, one of you fairies needs to try to turn one of us into what I drew."

"Who should it be?" asked Seth.

"Well, Seth needs to oversee the transformation with his own eyes, and I drew the picture... Kendra, would you mind?"

Kendra took in a deep breath. "You mean, allow the fairies to transform me into a mock adlet?"

Warren nodded.

Kendra winced. "Okay. Let's get this over with."

"I'll give it a shot," said Bracken, as he stood before Kendra, and took a good, solid look at the picture in the book, then at the sketch in Warren's hands.

"Maybe start with a wolf and work your way from there?" said Warren suggestively.

Bracken nodded, then extended his hands towards Kendra. White sparkles then expelled from Bracken's hands and engulfed Kendra. Her entire body tingling, Kendra could feel as she began to transmogrify from a bipedal human into a quadruped. Before long, fur replaced her clothes, the structure of her face had changed drastically, and she had grown a tail.

"Cool," said Seth, who could see that Kendra had now been transformed into a grey wolf. "Now you just gotta put the were into this werewolf,"

"Adlets aren't werewolves," said Warren, "they don't change their shape."

Kendra tried to speak, but could only utter soft growls.

"It's okay," said Bracken, unleashing his magic on Kendra a second time, keeping an eye on Warren's sketch.

Kendra could feel as her body grew larger, and her anatomy regressed back into more of a bipedal form. She stood up on her hind legs, sensing as her upper body grew stronger and more muscular. Her front paws had also become more hand-like.

"That looks pretty good," said Seth, observing Kendra. Standing upright, Kendra appeared to actually resemble one of the adlets. All in all, it wasn't bad, considering they didn't have an accurate reference. "Only thing now is the fur. Xipp, Xeero and Xillch are red, blue and green."

"Is this better?" asked Bracken, as he zapped Kendra with a blast of magic from his hand. The grey fur all over Kendra's body then suddenly changed its color to red.

"What happened?" asked Kendra, running her fingers through the long, red fur she sported on her arm. "Hey, I can talk!"

"It takes more effort on my behalf," said Bracken, "but it's entirely doable."

"I want to say you look and sound like Xipp," said Seth, "but you don't sound anything like an adlet. Try and sound more dog-like when you talk. But be more like a guard dog and less like Scooby Doo."

"It's hard," said Kendra, trying to speak in a gruff voice. "I'm a human girl trying to sound like a male monster."

"Let's just get these transformations done first," said Clover.

"If Kendra's good to go," said Bright, "we might as well do the two of you."

"Okay," said Seth. "Let's just get this over with."

Bright held out her hands and expelled a stream of rainbow sparkles at Seth. He then experienced the same sensation as Kendra, as his body transformed from that of a human into a wolf. Next, Bright used her magic to transform Seth from a wolf into an adlet.

"And now, the color," said Bright, using her magic to turn Seth's adlet fur from grey to blue.

"If I look like Xipp," said Kendra, "then you must be Xeero."

"That just leaves Warren," said Seth.

"I don't like the idea of changing Warren," said Clover. "I like him just the way he is."

"Too bad Murdred doesn't," said Warren. "We don't have any other choice, Clover."

Clover nodded, then held out her hands at Warren and released a stream of green sparkles at him. As was the case with Kendra and Seth, Warren first transformed into an ordinary wolf. Clover then continued to expel magic upon her husband, changing him from a wolf and into an adlet.

"At least you get to be our favorite color," said Clover, as she used her power turn Warren's adlet fur from grey to green.

"I'm happy with blue anyway," said Seth, who couldn't help but admire the blue fur that was growing on his body.

"We've still got the problem of our voices," said Warren.

"I've got an idea," said Bright. "Bracken, Clover, stand to my sides and each take one of my hands."

Heeding Bright's suggestion, the two fairies stood next to Bright and each held one of her hands.

"Now, using your other hand, unleash your magic upon Kendra, Seth and Warren."

Rainbow sparkles flew out of Bracken and Clover's free hands and flowed all over the three adlets' bodies for a moment, then died down.

"Hey," said Seth, speaking in a deep, growling voice. "My voice! What happened to my voice?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Warren. "Me too!"

"Me... three?" asked Kendra, who sounded nothing like her normal self. "Bright, what did you do?"

"It's not permanent," said Bright. "Relax."

"Well," said Seth, "we look and sound like actual adlets. Hopefully it'll be enough to actually fool the monsters."

"What's going on?" asked Passion, as she, Larissa and Goldenrod flew up towards the group.

"Those look like... monsters!" said Larissa.

"But, I don't feel a dark presence coming from them," said Goldenrod. "I don't feel fear emanating from you three."

"It's us," said Kendra. "I'm Kendra!"

Passion flew up towards Kendra. "No way. I mean, I can sense light energy radiating from your body, but you don't resemble Kendra at all."

"And are you two supposed to be Seth and Warren?" asked Larissa.

"This one's gotta be Warren," said Goldenrod, floating up towards the green adlet. "He's giving off a soft energy flow."

"Yes, they are who you think you are," said Bracken.

"Prove it," said Passion, crossing her tiny arms.

"You three," said Kendra, "I command you to float in the air upside-down."

Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod then rotated their bodies vertically, so that were indeed floating upside down.

"Okay, you win!" said Goldenrod.

"At ease," said Kendra.

"That was cool," said Seth. "Even as an adlet, you're still fairykind."

"Not cool," said Warren, "if Kendra and I are emanating traces of light energy, don't you think that the monsters in the Demon Domain are going to notice?"

"Monsters in the Demon Domain?" "asked Passion.

"We've got some unfinished business there we need to take care of," said Seth.

"And don't you three even so much as think of tagging along," said Bracken.

"But, what's with the monster getups?" asked Larissa.

"We have to do this incognito," said Warren. "That's why we resemble Xipp, Xeero and Xillch."

"Who're they?" asked Passion.

"They look like we do right now," replied Seth.

"You know what," said Kendra, "I just realized a huge flaw in our plan. What do we do if we actually run into the real Xipp, Xeero and Xillch?"

"I don't know," said Bracken. "As it stands now, the thee of you are just glorified wolves. The real adlets are undoubtedly a lot stronger and more ferocious than you three."

"We can't even carry our weapons around in these forms," said Warren. "So it's best we avoid any fights while we're like this."

"We'll hold onto them for you," said Clover. "My only suggestion would be to watch your step and pray that you never run into the real adlets."

"I guess we'd better get going," said Kendra. "Once we leave, can you three tell the others what's happening? It's easier than rounding them up and explaining everything to them ourselves."

"You got it," said Goldenrod, who nodded along with Passion and Larissa.

"Let's hope to god that this works," said Warren.

"We've got your stuff," said Bright. "Any time you're ready..."

"We're ready," said Seth.

Bright then used her power to conjure up a portal in front of the group.

"Let's get going," said Kendra, prompting Bracken, Bright and Clover to vanish in flashes of light. No doubt the three of them were tagging along within their own pocket dimensions.

"Goodbye!" said Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod, waving at the group. "And good luck."

"We'll need it," muttered Warren, as he, Kendra and Seth all proceeded to step into the portal.