Fablehaven I (41 page)

Kendra pulled the bottle of milk from her pocket and

handed it to Seth. Save some for Grandma and Grandpa.

But I can see-

An earsplitting roar shook the room. A creature who

could only have been Bahumat emerged from the alcove.

The loathsome demon stood three times as tall as a man

and had the head of a dragon crowned by three horns. The

demon walked upright, possessing three arms, three legs,

and three tails. Oily black scales bristling with barbed

spikes covered its grotesque body. Malevolent eyes gleamed

with wicked intelligence.

To one side of Bahumat floated the spectral woman

Kendra had seen outside her window on Midsummer Eve.

Her ebony wrappings flowed unnaturally, as if she were

underwater. The unearthly apparition made Kendra think

of a negative photograph.

At the other side of Bahumat stood Muriel, now clad

in a gown as black as midnight. She leered at the fairies

and glanced confidently at the towering demon.

No imps remained in the room. A crowd of shining

fairies faced these final opponents.

Bahumat crouched. Inky darkness gathered around

him. The demon sprang forward with a roar like a thousand

cannons firing together. A black wall of shadow flowed

from Bahumat like a wave of tar. Total darkness engulfed

the room. Kendra felt like she had been struck blind. Even

with her hands over her ears, the prolonged bellowing of

the demon was practically deafening.

There seemed to be no substance to the shadow

Bahumat had emitted. It was just darkness. Where were the

fairies? Where was their light?

The ground rumbled, and a sound like an avalanche

overpowered the demon’s roar. Suddenly daylight flooded

the room. Looking up, Kendra beheld a blue sky. The

slanted rays of the rising sun fell into the basement. The

entire church had been hurled aside!

Descending from above, and charging from all directions,

fairies swarmed Bahumat. The demon slashed a fairy

with one of its tails, raked another with an impossibly

quick swipe of its claws. Jaws snapping, the creature swallowed

a yellow fairy whole. Many fairies were falling.

While the majority attacked, other fairies laid hands on the

injured, curing most of them rapidly.

Muriel stood in a theatrical pose chanting spidery

words. A pair of fairies near her turned to glass and

shattered. She extended a contorted hand, and another

fairy turned to ash and disintegrated in a gray cloud.

Long streamers of ebony fabric flowed from the spectral

woman, entangling nearby fairies. The ensnared fairies

began to lose their luster and wither. The silver fairy

appeared, slicing through the fabric with her ax of fire.

Other fairies joined her, using gleaming swords to sever the

black material.

The fairies swirling around Bahumat now held ropes.

They looked like the ropes that had crisscrossed the front

of the alcove, except now they appeared to be woven out

of gold. Bahumat kept roaring and swinging and biting, but

the ropes were beginning to tangle him up. Knots were

forming in them. The draconic creature was slowing down.

His great jaws clamped shut, tearing off the gauzy wing of

a fairy with markings like a ladybug.

The spectral woman turned and drifted away, her ethereal

wrappings no longer quite as flowing. The fairies

ignored her departure. A pair of fairies had taken hold of

Muriel, and they flung her at Bahumat. Soon she was

bound to the demon by flaxen cords. She screeched as her

body shriveled with age and her gown turned to rags.

Three fairies alighted atop the demon’s head. They

each grabbed a horn and tore it out. The demon wailed.

Dozens of fairies seized the ropes binding the demon and

hurled Bahumat back into the alcove. Busily the fairies

began threading knotted ropes back and forth over the

entrance.

Kendra turned. The blue, furry fairy gestured toward

the orangutan, and the shackles binding it to the wall fell

apart. Another gesture and a burst of light changed the

orangutan into Grandpa Sorenson.

The albino fairy pulled the convulsing catfish from the

aquarium and changed her back into Lena. Where’s my

Grandma? Kendra cried.

The red-haired fairy who had freed Seth approached

the aquarium. She lifted out a small, putrid slug that had

been clinging to the side above the water and changed it

back into Grandma.

Grandma Sorenson massaged her temples. And I

thought my mind was muddy as a chicken, she muttered.

Grandpa hurried over and embraced her.

Do you need milk? Kendra asked, holding out the

bottle to her grandfather.

He shook his head. We have not slept, and so the veil

has not yet covered our eyes.

A group of fairies gathered near the alcove, extending

their arms, palms downward. Soil, clay, and stone began

flowing together and piling up until Hugo was reborn. The

golem stretched and let out a groan to rival the roars of the

banished demon.

The fairies busily healed one another, mending wings

and closing wounds. One circle of fairies spread their arms,

and fragments of glass skittered together, took the form of a

pair of fairies, and came back to life. Several other fairies

joined hands and started humming. Particles of ash swirled

loosely in their midst, but refused to coalesce. The fairies

released one another, and the ash dissipated. Some fairies,

it seemed, were beyond rescue.

Several fairies took hold of Hugo and lifted him out of

the basement. Others did the same for Grandpa, Grandma,

Lena, Seth, and Kendra. Airborne again, Kendra had a

view of the destroyed church. The wreckage spread across

the clearing for a couple hundred yards. The Forgotten

Chapel had not simply been flung aside-it had been

obliterated.

The fairies set them down a good distance from the

wreckage and the basement. All except Lena. Two fairies

were carrying her away. The former naiad was having harsh

words with them in a foreign tongue, struggling in their

grasp.

Kendra touched Grandpa Sorenson’s arm and nodded

toward the commotion.

Nothing to be done about it, he sighed as the fairies

hauled Lena away. He had an arm around Grandma, holding

her close.

Hey! Kendra shouted. Bring Lena back here! The

fairies holding Lena paid her no heed, passing out of sight

into the woods.

The remainder of the fairies assembled above the basement,

floating in an enormous ring. They had more than

tripled their numbers with all the imps they had reclaimed.

Kendra had seen many fairies fall during the battle, but

most had been revived and healed by the magic of their

comrades.

The radiant fairies raised their arms together and

started singing. The music sounded impromptu, full of

hundreds of interweaving melodies with almost no harmonies.

As they sang, the ground in the clearing began to

undulate. The wreckage from the church slid across the

field, clattering into the open basement. The ground began

to quake. The walls of the basement crumbled. The surrounding

area folded in and swallowed it up. The field

heaved like a stormy sea.

As the undulations subsided, the basement had been

replaced by a low hill. The fairy choir became more shrill.

Wildflowers and fruit trees began sprouting throughout the

clearing and on the hill, coming to full bloom in a matter

of seconds. Flowers blossomed all over Hugo, who offered

no reaction. When the singing finally ceased, a cheery hill

covered by a fragrant array of brilliant blossoms and mature

fruit trees had replaced the Forgotten Chapel.

They made Hugo look all fruity, Seth complained.

The legion of fairies glided toward them, scooped them

up, and carried them on a breakneck flight for home.

Kendra relished being part of the mercurial procession,

overjoyed at the fortunate ending to the terrible night.

Seth whooped the whole way, as if he were riding the

coolest roller coaster on the planet.

Finally the fairies deposited them in the yard, where

Dale stood waiting. Now I’ve seen everything, he said as

Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson were set down beside

him.

The fairy with short blue hair and silver wings stood

before Kendra. Thank you, Kendra said. You did wonderfully.

We can never repay you.

The silver fairy gave a single nod, eyes glittering.

As if responding to a signal, the fairies crowded Kendra,

each in turn giving her a quick kiss. As each kiss was

bestowed, the fairy reverted to her former size amid dazzling

sparks and darted away. The rapid succession of kisses

brought overpowering sensations. Again Kendra smelled

the earthy aromas of the Fairy Queen-rich soil and young

blossoms. She tasted honey and fruit and berries, all sweet

beyond comparison. She heard the music of rainfall, the cry

of the wind, and the roar of the sea. She felt as if the

warmth of the sun were embracing her, flowing through

her. The fairies kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her ears, her

brow.

When the last of more than three hundred fairies kissed

her, Kendra stumbled backwards and sat down hard on the

grass. She felt no pain. In fact, she was mildly surprised that

she did not float away, she felt so light and drowsy.

Grandpa and Dale helped Kendra to her feet. I would

wager that this young lady has quite a story to tell,

Grandpa said. And I would also wager that now is not the

time. Hugo, attend to your labors.

Dale was helping Kendra to the house. She felt

euphoric and distant. She was glad her family was safe. But

she felt so inexplicably blissful, and the troubles of the

evening seemed so remote, that she began to wonder

whether it had all been a surreal dream.

Grandpa was holding hands with Grandma. I’m sorry

it took so long to get you back, he said softly.

I can guess at the reasons, she said. We need to talk

about you eating my eggs.

They weren’t your eggs, Grandpa protested. They

were the eggs of the hen your mind was inhabiting.

I’m glad you can be so detached.

There may still be a couple in the fridge.

Kendra stumbled on her way up the porch steps.

Grandpa and Dale helped her onto the porch and into the

house. The furniture was back! Nearly all of it had been

restored, with some alterations. A couch had been reconstructed

as a chair. Some lampshades were made of different

material. Jewels had been added to a picture frame.

Could the brownies have worked so fast? Her eyes were

drooping. Grandpa was holding Grandma’s hand, whispering