[Fablehaven 02] - Rise of the Evening Star

by Brandon Mull - (ebook by Undead)

  “Of course, all that would need to be confirmed,” Grandma said.

  “Carefully,” Grandpa admonished. “As with several of the most dread regions of Fablehaven, we have no idea what evil haunts the grove.”

  “What is our next move?” Vanessa asked.

  “I say we need to focus on Olloch before we try to penetrate whatever secrets lie inside the grove,” Grandpa said. “Exploring the grove safely will require all of our resources and focus. Even under ideal circumstances it is a hazardous assignment.”

  “So we wait to see if Ruth can reach your contact?” Coulter asked.

  Grandpa was picking at the frayed edge of his cast. “Ruth will keep calling on Vanessa’s cell phone. For now, the rest of us should try to get a good night’s sleep. It may be our last chance for a while.”

  * * *

  Kendra closed the bathroom door, locked it, and set the sheet of paper on the counter. She had found the blank paper beneath her pillow, but with Seth in the room, she dared not light the candle and give away her secret. Alone in the bathroom, Kendra struck a flimsy match and put the flame to the wick until it caught. Shaking out the match, she watched as glowing words came into view on the formerly empty page:

  Kendra,

  Sorry we didn’t get to talk much today. Can you believe all the commotion! We need to keep your brother on a leash!

  Let me know if this message came through all right.

  Your friend,

  Vanessa

  Kendra blew out the candle, and the luminous words vanished. Folding up the note, she climbed the stairs to the attic bedroom, pondering how she should reply to the secret message. Seth was setting up toy soldiers on the floor. One in front, with two behind him, then a row of three, and another of four. Kendra crossed the room and climbed into bed. Seth walked several paces away and bowled at the soldiers with a softball. He knocked down seven.

  “Turn off the light and come to bed,” Kendra said.

  “I don’t think I can sleep,” Seth protested, retrieving the softball.

  “I know I can’t with you rolling balls around the room,” Kendra said.

  “Why don’t you go sleep someplace else?”

  “This is where they put us.”

  “At home we each have our own room. Here, with way more rooms, we sleep in the same one.” He rolled the softball again, claiming two more soldiers.

  “This isn’t the sort of place I’d want to sleep alone,” Kendra admitted.

  “I can’t believe they took my gold,” Seth said, setting up the soldiers again, this time placing them closer together. “I bet it was worth thousands of dollars. It isn’t my fault if Newel and Doren stole it from Nero.”

  “You can’t just do whatever you want and always get away with it.”

  “I’ve been good! I’ve tried hard to be careful and keep secrets and follow all the rules.”

  “You went into the woods without permission,” Kendra reminded him.

  “Just a little ways. It would have been fine if somebody hadn’t let that demon onto the preserve. Nobody saw that coming. If Olloch hadn’t caught up with me today, he might have caught up with us tomorrow, when we were out with Vanessa, a lot farther from the house. I might have saved our lives.” He rolled the ball again. Missing the front soldier, he still knocked down eight.

  “Way to avoid taking any responsibility,” Kendra said, leaning back onto her pillow. “I’m glad they grounded you. If it were up to me, I’d lock you in the dungeon.”

  “If it were up to me, I’d give your face plastic surgery,” he said.

  “Really mature.”

  “Do you think they’ll figure out a way to stop the demon?” Seth asked.

  “I’m sure they’ll think of something. The Sphinx seems really smart. He’ll have a plan.”

  “He said you beat him at Foosball,” Seth said.

  “He wasn’t too good. He didn’t even spin his cowboys.”

  Shaking his head, Seth bowled the ball again and picked up the spare. “I don’t think Nero could follow me off the preserve. Maybe I should just take the gold and go. Then everyone will be out of danger.”

  “Stop pitying yourself.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “No you’re not,” Kendra said, exasperated. “If you take off, Olloch will hunt you down and eat you.”

  “Better than having everyone hate me.”

  “Nobody hates you. They just want you to be cautious, so you’ll be safe. The only reason they get mad is because they care about you.”

  Seth arranged the soldiers in the tightest formation yet. “Think I can knock them all down with one roll?”

  Kendra sat up. “Of course, you set them up like dominoes.”

  Seth took his position and rolled the ball, totally missing all of them. “Looks like you were wrong.”

  “You missed on purpose.”

  “I bet you couldn’t knock all of them down.”

  “I could easily,” Kendra said.

  “Prove it.”

  She got out of bed, grabbed the ball, and went and stood by her brother. Taking careful aim, she bowled it hard, right down the center, and all the soldiers fell. “See?”

  “Almost like I let you win.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Who do you think is the traitor?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like any of them.”

  “My guess would be Tanu. He’s too nice.”

  “And that makes him evil?” Kendra asked, getting back into bed.

  “Whoever is guilty would be trying really hard to act nice.”

  “Or they would know that everyone would expect that, so they would try to throw us off by acting grumpy.”

  “You think it could be Coulter?” Seth turned out the light and jumped into bed.

  “He’s known Grandpa for too long. And Vanessa could have handed us over to Errol instead of rescuing us. They all seem innocent. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be another explanation.”

  “I hope so,” Seth said. “They’re all really cool. But keep your eyes open.”

  “You do the same. And please stay out of the woods. You’re my only brother, and I don’t want you to get… hurt.”

  “Thanks, Kendra.”

  “Good night, Seth.”

  * * *

  Seth awoke in the dead of night with a hand covering his mouth. He grabbed at the fingers but was unable to pry them from his lips. “Don’t be alarmed,” a voice whispered. “It’s Coulter. We need to talk.”

  Seth turned his head. Taking his hand from Seth’s mouth, Coulter held a finger to his lips, then curled it beckoningly. What was Coulter up to? It was an odd hour for a conversation.

  Turning his head the other way, Seth saw Kendra asleep under her covers, breathing evenly. He eased out of bed and followed Coulter to the door and down the stairs to the hall. Coulter took a seat on the last couple of steps. Seth sat down beside him.

  “What’s going on?” Seth asked.

  “How would you like to set things straight?” Coulter asked.

  “Sure.”

  “I need your help,” Coulter said.

  “In the middle of the night?”

  “It may be now or never.”

  “No offense,” Seth said. “This seems kind of suspicious.”

  “I need you to trust me, Seth. I’m about to try something I can’t do alone. I think you’re the only person with the courage to help me right now. You have no idea what is really going on.”

  “You’re going to tell me?”

  Coulter looked around, as if he were nervous that somebody might be spying. “I have to. I need somebody like you on my side here. Seth, the artifact we are looking for is very important. In the wrong hands it could be extremely dangerous. It could even lead to the end of the world.”

  That seemed to agree with what Seth had heard from his grandparents. “Go on,” he said.

  Coulter
sighed and rubbed his thighs, as if hesitant to continue. “I’m taking a big risk here because I believe I can trust you. Seth, I’m a special agent working for the Sphinx. He gave me specific instructions that at all costs, I had to recover the artifact, especially if the integrity of Fablehaven was ever compromised. Now that we’re nearly certain where the artifact is hidden, I’m going to go prepare the way to get it, tonight, and I want you to come with me.”

  “Right now?”

  “Immediately.”

  Seth wiped away an eyelash that was starting to poke his eye. “Why not get help from the others?”

  “You heard your grandfather. He wants to wait and take care of Olloch first. That poses a problem because, in a day or two, Olloch could become too powerful, Fablehaven could fall, and the artifact could be placed in extreme jeopardy.”

  “How could I come with you?” Seth said. “The second I leave the yard, the demon will be after us.”

  “It’s risky,” Coulter conceded. “But Fablehaven is a big place, and the demon is off foraging. Hugo is waiting outside. He’ll take us to the grove and keep Olloch off of us if the glutton makes an appearance.”

  “Grandma said the demon could eat Hugo,” Seth said.

  “Eventually. Until Olloch gets more powerful, it would take him a long time to best Hugo. I wouldn’t chance this tomorrow. But Hugo handled the demon just fine not so many hours ago. And Hugo is faster than Olloch. If we have to, we’ll just have Hugo escape with us back to the yard.”

  “Why me?” Seth asked. “I don’t get it. Part of me thinks I should go tell Grandpa Sorenson right now.”

  “I can’t blame that instinct. I know this is unusual. Just let me finish. You know that if you go to your grandpa, he will never let you come with me. And he is in no position to help me himself. I came to you because I’ve spent the evening trying to convince the others to go after the artifact now rather than later, but they are all too afraid to take definitive action. Yet my private mandate from the Sphinx remains — with the threat of Olloch looming, I need to secure the artifact right away.”

  “Why me?” Seth repeated.

  “Who else can I trust besides your grandfather? Your grandmother is good at a lot of things, but she doesn’t belong on this kind of mission. Neither does Kendra. I can’t do it alone. I think I know what is haunting the grove, a phantom, and I need somebody brave to join me if I’m going to defeat it. You’re my only hope. You’re young, but honestly, Seth, as far as courage goes, in my book, you’ve got all the others beat.”

  “What if you’re the traitor?” Seth asked.

  “If I were the traitor, I’d already have somebody to help me bypass the phantom. Christopher Vogel and I would be off taking care of business. You and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. Also, we can’t actually get the artifact tonight. We need a key your grandfather has in order to access it. But if we can get rid of the phantom and confirm the location of the artifact, I’m confident that I’ll be able to convince the others to join us in retrieving it tomorrow.”

  Coulter’s mention of the key also corresponded with what Seth had heard from his grandparents. Without the key, Coulter couldn’t access the vault. If he couldn’t access the vault, his goal couldn’t be to steal the artifact. And if Coulter harmed Seth, it would blow his cover and prevent him from ever getting Grandpa to hand over the key. Still, even if Coulter was telling the truth, the adventure would certainly be dangerous. Seth knew that his life would depend on whether Coulter really could handle the phantom in the grove. It had been too much for Warren. He wished he could get advice from somebody else, but Coulter was right — if Seth told anyone, from Grandpa to Kendra to Tanu, they would try to stop them.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Seth said.

  “Once we have the artifact, we can all escape and lock down Fablehaven, trapping Olloch inside until your grandparents and their not-so-secret friend figure out what to do with him. Everybody wins, and we keep the artifact out of evil hands. I’ve thought it through, and this is our last chance to set everything right. If we stall, it is going to end badly. By tomorrow night, Olloch will be too strong. I can only do this with your help, Seth. Warren failed because he attempted it alone. If you refuse, we may as well both go back to bed.”

  “It seems like every decision I make is wrong lately,” Seth said. “People keep tricking me. Or I just do stupid things on my own.”

  “Not everybody is out to fool you,” Coulter said. “And bravery is not always a liability. Often it is quite the opposite. I happen to know your grandfather has great admiration for your adventurous spirit. This could be your chance to redeem yourself.”

  “Or to prove that I’m the most gullible person in the world.” Seth sighed. “Hopefully this will end the streak. Do I need to bring anything?”

  Coulter beamed. “I knew I could count on you.” He patted Seth on the shoulder. “I have everything we need.”

  “Can I grab my emergency kit?”

  “Good idea. Quiet, though. We mustn’t disturb the others.”

  Seth slunk back up the stairs and into the attic bedroom. Kendra had shifted position but was still sound asleep. Crouching, Seth pulled the emergency kit out from under his bed.

  He felt uncommonly nervous. Was he making a mistake? Or was he just anxious at the prospect of facing a terrible phantom in a cursed grove with a short old man in the middle of the night? Coulter seemed to be the most cautious of all the adventurers. He had known exactly what to do when they met the fog giant, and he seemed confident that together they could handle the phantom. Seth stared at his emergency kit. If he just followed instructions, he would be fine, right?

  Coulter did seem a little desperate to comply with the assignment from the Sphinx. He was probably putting them in a situation more dangerous than he would normally prefer because the stakes were so high. But he was right. The stakes really were high. Fablehaven was once again heading toward destruction. And Seth knew it was mainly his own fault. Last time, Kendra had saved the day. Now it was his turn.

  Seth crept down the stairs.

  “Ready?” Coulter asked.

  “I guess.”

  “Let’s get you some milk.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Peril in the Night

  Deadfalls snapped and popped like firecrackers as Hugo pounded through the dark woods. No starlight penetrated the balmy darkness beneath the trees. Hugo maintained an unflagging pace, clutching Coulter under one arm and Seth under the other, like a running back with two footballs.

  They emerged from the woods briefly and thumped through a covered bridge spanning a deep ravine. Seth recognized it as the same bridge he had seen when Grandma took him and Kendra to barter with Nero. Not far beyond the bridge, Hugo left the path again, resuming their noisy, loping dash through oblivion. Only the occasional clearing allowed the faint glow of the stars to interrupt the blackness.

  Seth remained tense, anticipating the appearance of Olloch. At any minute, he expected a supersized glutton to attack Hugo, splitting the night with a ferocious roar. Instead, Hugo continued tirelessly forward, fluidly dodging obstacles.

  When Hugo reached the top of a steep slope, he charged down without hesitation. Seth felt like they were on the verge of tipping over with every step, but the golem never stumbled. When they reached a dead tree leaning against a cliff, without using his hands, Hugo raced up the rotten trunk like a ramp. Seth’s stomach lurched as the ground grew distant, and he felt certain they would fall, but although the tree creaked beneath them, the golem did not falter.

  At length they reached a large, open valley with a rounded hill at each corner. After the complete darkness of the forest, the starlight proved sufficient to reveal the surrounding terrain. Tall brush covered the ground, mingled with prickly weeds. A dark stand of trees loomed at the far end of the valley, between the two largest hills.

  Hugo bounded across the valley, coming to an abrupt stop near the edge of the shadowy grove. “Forward a
few more steps, Hugo,” Coulter said.

  The golem leaned forward, trembling. He rocked back, and the shaking stopped. Slowly Hugo lifted a leg. As he tried to move it forward, he began to shudder.

  “Enough, Hugo,” Coulter said. “Set us down.”

  “What’s the deal with Hugo?” Seth asked.

  “Just as most magical creatures cannot enter the yard back at the house, Hugo cannot enter this grove. There is an unseen boundary here. The ground is cursed. Fortunately, as mortals, we can go wherever we choose.”

  Seth raised his eyebrows. “We have to go up against the phantom without Hugo?” he said.

  “I expected this,” Coulter said. “Though I would rather have been mistaken.”

  “Are we sure we want to go someplace Hugo can’t?”

  “This has nothing to do with what we want. This is a matter of duty. I don’t want to go in there, but I must.”

  Seth stared at the dark trees. The night seemed suddenly cooler. He folded his arms. “How do you know a phantom is in there?”

  “I did some private reconnaissance. I ventured far enough into the grove to read the signs. It’s clearly the abode of a phantom.”

  “How do we stop a phantom?”

  Coulter pulled a short, crooked stick from his belt. “You hold this holly wand high. No matter what happens, keep it above your head — change hands if you must. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “That’s all?”

  “The holly will protect us while I bind the phantom. No small task, but I’ve done it once before. The phantom may try to frighten or intimidate you, but if you keep the wand high, we’ll both be fine. Now more than ever, whatever you see and hear, you must remain stouthearted.”

  “I can do that,” Seth said firmly. “What if Olloch shows up?”

  “Golems make fabulous guardians,” Coulter said. “Hugo, keep Olloch the Glutton out of the grove.”

  “Should I wear my medallion?”