Fablehaven I (40 page)

quiet morning. Kendra felt no breeze, but she could hear a

shrieking gale in the distance. As the sound of the wind

tapered off, a ferocious roar echoed across the yard. The

fairies scattered.

It could mean only one thing. Wait, please, you have

to drink this! Your queen had me make it for you! The

fairies darted around in confusion. Hurry, time is running

out!

Whether it was her words or simply that they were no

longer startled, the fairies gathered around the bowl again.

Try it, Kendra said. Have a taste.

None of the fairies took her up on her offer. Kendra

dipped a finger into the bowl and sampled the elixir. She

tried not to make a disgusted face-it tasted salty and nasty.

Mmmm… delicious.

A fairy with raven black hair and bumblebee wings

approached the bowl. Mimicking Kendra, she dipped a finger

and tasted it. In a whirling shower of sparks the fairy

grew to nearly six feet tall. Kendra smelled the fertile aroma

that had accompanied the Fairy Queen. The enlarged fairy

blinked in astonishment, then glided high into the air.

The other fairies mobbed the bowl. A blizzard of sparks

flashed across the yard as the fairies transformed into much

larger versions of themselves. Kendra backed away, shielding

her eyes from the dazzling pyrotechnics. In moments,

she was surrounded by a glorious host of human-sized

fairies, some standing on the ground, most hovering.

The fairies were uniformly tall and beautiful, with the

lithe musculature of professional ballerinas. They wore

vivid, exotic apparel. They still had magnificent wings.

They still emitted light, although the gentle twinkle had

become a brilliant blaze. The biggest change was in their

eyes. Merry mischief had been replaced by something stern

and smoldering.

A fairy with lustrous silver wings and short blue hair

alighted in front of Kendra. You have summoned us to

war, she announced in a heavy accent. What is your bidding?

Kendra swallowed. A hundred human-sized fairies took

up much more space than a hundred tiny ones. They used

to be so cute. Now they were quite imposing. She would

not want to be the enemy of these proud seraphim.

Can you restore Dale? Kendra asked.

A pair of fairies crouched over Dale, placed their hands

on him, and then helped him to his feet. He regarded

Kendra with befuddled wonder, patting himself, as if surprised

he was intact. What’s going on? he asked. Where’s

Stan?

The fairies healed you, Kendra said. Grandpa and

the others are still in trouble. But I think these fairies will

help us.

Kendra returned her gaze to the stunning silver fairy.

Muriel the witch is trying to release a demon named

Bahumat.

The demon is free, the fairy said. You have but to

command.

Kendra pressed her lips together. We have to lock him

up again. The witch, too. And we have to rescue my

Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson, and my brother, Seth,

and Lena.

The blue-haired fairy nodded and issued instructions in

a musical language. Some of the fairies began rummaging

in nearby plants. They pulled out weapons. A yellow fairy

produced a crystal sword from the soil of a flowerbed. A

violet fairy transformed a thorn from a rosebush into a

spear. The silver fairy with blue hair changed a snail shell

into a beautiful shield. The petal of a pansy became a blazing

ax in her other hand.

This is your will, the silver fairy confirmed.

Yes, Kendra said firmly.

All together, the fairies took flight. Kendra turned to

watch them go. Then a hand grabbed her left arm and

another seized her right and she was soaring between two

fairies-a slender albino with black eyes and a blue, furry

fairy. Kendra recognized the blue one as the downy fountain

sprite she had seen in Grandpa’s office.

The sudden acceleration took her breath away. They

cruised low to the ground, skimming over bushes, dodging

tree trunks, and swishing past branches. Flying near the

rear, Kendra marveled at the squadron of fairies ahead of

her effortlessly weaving through obstacles at such reckless

speed.

The exhilaration was overwhelming. The wind of their

velocity brought tears to her eyes. The pond with the

gazebos streaked by beneath her. At this rate, they would

reach the Forgotten Chapel in moments.

But what about when they got there? Bahumat was supposed

to be incredibly powerful. Even so, considering the

legion of fierce fairies surrounding her, Kendra liked her

odds.

Glancing back, Kendra saw no fairies behind her. They

had apparently left Dale in the yard.

The mad dash through the forest continued until the

fairies ahead swooped skyward. Kendra’s escorts followed,

rocketing up beyond the treetops. The sudden ascent left

her mouth dry and her stomach tingling.

And then she was no longer moving. Kendra and her

escorts hovered above the treetops, watching the others

plunge toward the Forgotten Chapel. Kendra tried to

recover from the thrill of flying and digest what was happening

below.

Four winged creatures were rising to meet the fairies.

The huge gargoyles were at least ten feet tall, with razor

claws and horns like rams. A few fairies broke off from the

main group to intercept them. The winged beasts clawed

at their smaller opponents, but the fairies adroitly evaded

the blows and slashed off their wings, sending the gargoyles

hurtling to the ground.

Something flashed in Kendra’s eyes. The sun was peeking

over the horizon. Let’s go, Kendra said to her escorts.

The fairies dove. Kendra felt her stomach rise to her

throat as they plunged toward the church. Human-sized

imps were spilling out of the front doorway, shaking their

fists and hissing at the incoming fairies. Many of the fairies

cast their weapons aside and soared straight at the imps,

catching them in vicious embraces and kissing them on the

mouth. In radiant bursts of sparks, every imp that was

kissed transformed into a human-sized fairy!

Kendra saw the silver fairy with blue hair plant a kiss

on an obese imp. The imp instantly metamorphosed into a

plump fairy with coppery wings. As the silver fairy glided

away, the plump fairy tackled another imp, forced a kiss,

and in a flash the imp became a thin, Asian-looking fairy

with hummingbird wings.

The fairies streamed into the church. Most did not

bother with the door. They glided through windows or

smashed through the corroded roof.

Kendra’s escorts held her over a gap in the roof. She

saw fairies kissing imps. Other fairies drove back a variety

of foul beasts. One fairy used a golden lash to send a toad-like

monstrosity crashing through the wall. Another fairy

grasped a scabby beast by its mane of white hair and hurled

it through a window. A gray fairy with mothlike wings

chased a brawny minotaur out the front door with a scalding

blast of steam from the end of her rod. Many of the

unsavory creatures voluntarily fled before the terrible

onslaught.

Others fought back.

A demonic dwarf with a hide of black scales bounded

around the room wreaking havoc with a pair of knives. A

rampaging atrocity that looked like a cross between a bear

and an octopus battered fairies with its thrashing tentacles.

A greasy creature coughed globs of slime into the air. It had

the general appearance of a large tortoise without a shell,

its body an amoeboid puddle beneath a long neck. Several

fairies crashed to the church floor, wings snarled in the

goopy substance.

The undaunted fairies counterattacked. The bottom

half of the dwarf was turned to stone. Tentacles severed,

the octobear retreated. A torrent of water flushed away the

greasy creature. Some fairies attended their fallen comrades,

healing injuries and washing away slime.

As the room cleared, fairies charged through the door

to the basement.

Take me to the basement! Kendra said. Her escorts

immediately responded, nearly giving Kendra whiplash as

they plummeted into the church and glided to the basement

door. The fairies had to tuck in their wings to

descend the stairs, so Kendra ran down beside the furry

fairy and the albino.

The basement had expanded. A massive excavation

and renovation had occurred. It was deeper, broader, and

longer. The alcove at the far side had grown as well, now

completely unfettered by knotted ropes.

The basement was not lighted as brightly as before,

although the fairies carried their own luminescence with

them. Hideous carvings sneered from the walls. One

corner was piled with strange treasures-jade idols, spiked

scepters, and jeweled masks.

Kendra scanned the room for her family. The easiest to

spot was Seth. He was inside an enormous jar with breathing

holes punched in the lid. There were some leaves and

branches in it with him. He had grown no taller, but he

looked a hundred years old. Saggy wrinkles creased his face,

and he had only a few wisps of white hair left atop his head.

He placed a pruned palm against the glass.

Kendra guessed that the orangutan chained to the wall

was Grandpa. The large catfish swimming in the tank

beside him was probably Lena. She saw no sign of

Grandma.

Flanked by her fairy escorts, Kendra dashed toward her

family. Scores of hideous imps scuffled with fairies. Those

fights did not last long as kisses transformed the imps back

into their original forms.

Kendra reached the gigantic jar. Are you all right,

Seth?

Her elderly brother nodded feebly. His smile showed

that he had no teeth.

A snarling imp pounced at Kendra. The blue, furry fairy

caught the creature in midflight, pinning its arms to its

sides. It resembled the same imp that had apprehended her

brother earlier. The albino fairy flew up and gave the imp a

kiss on the mouth, and it became a striking fairy with fiery

red hair and iridescent dragonfly wings.

Seth began tapping on the glass. He was pointing

excitedly at the fairy. Kendra realized that it was the fairy

he had unwittingly transformed.

The redheaded fairy approached the jar, shaking a

scolding finger at Seth. I’m sorry, Seth mouthed from

inside the container. He clasped his hands and made pleading

motions. The fairy regarded him through narrowed

eyes. Then she snapped her fingers, and the jar shattered.

She leaned forward and kissed Seth on the forehead. His

wrinkles smoothed and his hair filled in until he promptly

looked like himself again.