Fablehaven2-Rise of the Evening Star Page 36

  at full speed, but not before a lashing serpent struck him on

  the calf. Vanessa was not in an ideal position, but used the

  opportunity to let the spear fly. It pierced the panther just

  above a rear leg. Bawling, the panther sprang at her as well,

  again achieving a phenomenal height, just missing her.

  I got nipped on the calf, Warren said.

  One of the snakes? Vanessa asked.

  Yeah. Warren rolled up his pant leg to look at the bite

  marks.

  Below them, the panther crouched near the pedestal,

  the spear still in its leg. Using small bursts of gravity and

  kicking her legs, Vanessa made her way awkwardly over to

  Warren, moving vaguely like a jellyfish.

  You'd better lend me the sword, Vanessa said. It will

  not be a gentle venom.

  One of these potions counteracts poison, Kendra said.

  And probably five of them are poison, Vanessa replied.

  Time is essential, Warren. I'll need you with me as we face

  the final forms.

  Warren gave her the sword. Vanessa dropped tantalizingly

  close to the ground, lower than Warren had been when

  the giant panther reached him. The ferocious feline charged

  and pounced. Instead of soaring up to escape, as the panther

  anticipated, Vanessa dropped, and with a sweep of the sword

  opened a tremendous wound across the great cat's

  underbelly.

  Vanessa hit the ground hard and instantly took flight,

  but there was no need-the panther was lying on its side,

  serpents thrashing, body twitching. Warren dropped to the

  ground and retrieved the spear, then rejoined Vanessa in the

  air.

  We've got another one coming, Vanessa announced as

  the body began to fold in upon itself. How are you holding

  up? she asked Warren.

  So far so good, he said, but he looked exhausted.

  Twin roars resounded through the towering room. The

  panther, much larger now than any horse, had sprouted a

  second head. The doubly fierce creature had no snakes or

  other oddities. It paced beneath them with feral intensity.

  You want to bait or throw? Vanessa asked.

  I'd better bait, he said, giving her the spear and taking

  the sword.

  Warren went lower, but not much lower. The panther

  was no longer cowering behind the pedestal; it paced in the

  open, as if daring them to come closer. Warren still looked

  to be well out of reach when the panther sprang and from

  gaping mouths expelled a spray of black sludge. The two-headed

  panther had not come up directly below Warren,

  and so the spray came at him diagonally, spattering his chest

  and legs.

  Instantly Warren was screaming. Tendrils of smoke

  steamed up from where the volatile substance clung to him.

  He dropped the sword and brushed frantically at the searing

  sludge. Thrashing and groaning, Warren rose ever higher

  until he reached the spikes in the roof and used them to

  make his way to the catwalk, where he collapsed.

  Vanessa and Kendra followed Warren and knelt on the

  catwalk beside him. His body was charred wherever the

  sludge had splattered. Acid, or something, he muttered

  feverishly, eyes wild.

  Vanessa cut open his pant leg. The flesh around the

  snakebite was swollen and discolored.

  We can't get him out of here? Kendra asked Vanessa.

  The tower will not let us leave without the artifact,

  Vanessa said. A safeguard to protect its secrets.

  Can any traps be worse than that thing? Kendra asked.

  Yes, Vanessa said. The traps that prevent a premature

  exit will be rigged to cause certain death. The guardian can

  be defeated; the traps probably cannot. Hand over the

  potion pouch. Warren is dying. Blind luck is better than

  none. Vanessa began considering various bottles, uncapping

  a few to sniff them. Below, the panther heads roared.

  No potions, Warren gasped. Give me the spear.

  Vanessa gave him a sidelong glance. You're in no condition-

  The spear, he said, sitting up.

  This might buy you time, Vanessa said, holding up a

  bottle. I think I recognize the potion. It has a distinctive

  odor. It will transform your body to a gaseous state. During

  that time, poison will not spread, acid will not burn, and

  blood will not flow.

  Vanessa held it out to him.

  Lips twisting into a grimace, Warren shook his head.

  Vanessa held out the spear.

  Snatching it, Warren rolled off the edge of the catwalk.

  He was controlling his fall with the rod, but descending

  rapidly. Warren yelled ---- a primal, barbaric challenge. The

  two-headed panther snarled up at him. Warren cried out

  again, directly above the feline monstrosity. The monster

  reared up to meet him, jaws agape.

  Holding the spear poised, Warren let himself fall at full

  speed the final thirty feet, and so it was with tremendous

  force that he plunged the spear between the two necks an

  instant before striking the unyielding floor. With more than

  half the length of the spear buried in its body, the mighty

  beast took a few drunken steps, wobbled, leaned, and

  slumped to the floor.

  Kendra grabbed the bottle from Vanessa and dove off

  the catwalk. She kept full gravity, and an incredible rush of

  wind washed over her as she plummeted downward. She

  whipped the rod around, and her fall began to slow, and

  then she brought the rod level, coming to a perfect stop

  beside Warren.

  Warren was a wreck, facedown, unconscious, breathing

  shallowly. Heaving with both hands, Kendra rolled him

  over, wincing as something inside of him crunched. His

  mouth was open. Tilting his head up, she tried to ignore the

  snapping sound his neck made, and dumped the potion into

  his mouth. His Adam's apple bobbed, and much of the fluid

  leaked out the sides of his mouth.

  Once again, the body of the monster was bulging and

  undulating, as if it were about to erupt. Vanessa was yanking

  on the spear, tugging it out a little at a time, leaning into it

  with everything she had.

  Get clear, Kendra, Vanessa called. This is not over.

  When Kendra looked back at Warren, he was wispy and

  translucent. She tried to touch him, and her hand passed

  through him like he was mist, dissipating him slightly.

  Kendra raced across the floor and grabbed the sword. Behind

  her, Vanessa finally jerked the spear free.

  As Vanessa launched into the air, Kendra watched the

  ninth version of the guardian emerge. Long wings unfurled.

  Twelve serpents sprouted from various spots along its back.

  Three heavy tails swayed. And three heads bellowed

  together, a deafening sound even from where Kendra stood

  behind the beast. The great wings beat down and the beast

  took flight, pursuing Vanessa.

  Kendra gaped in petrified awe. From wingtip to wingtip,

  the monstrosity stretched across half the cavernous room. It

  rose swiftly.

  Running out of room to ascend, Vanessa started falling
/>
  instead of rising, hurling the spear as she neared her pursuer.

  The weapon merely grazed the monster and tumbled toward

  the floor. All three heads snapped at Vanessa, and all missed.

  She rebounded off its well-muscled body, snakes striking

  eagerly, and tumbled toward the ground. Vanessa managed

  to slow her descent at the last moment, but she still landed

  heavily only a moment after the spear struck the floor.

  Like Errol before her, she lost her grip of the rod, and it

  floated away toward the ceiling. Quivering, snake-bitten,

  dragging a broken leg, she crawled for the spear. Above, the

  three-headed fiend descended, roaring exultantly. Beyond

  the monster, Kendra saw a pair of figures falling toward her.

  Propping herself up with the spear, Vanessa stood and

  faced the three-headed monster cat as it landed before her.

  The cat watched her from well out of reach. Kendra recognized

  Tanu and Coulter descending swiftly, both albino, and

  she waved her arms at them.

  Even as scalding sludge fountained from three mouths,

  dousing Vanessa in blistering agony, Tanu alighted beside

  Kendra, snatched his potion pouch, and upended a bottle

  into his mouth. He accepted the sword from Kendra. As

  Vanessa screamed, Tanu expanded, clothes splitting as he

  doubled in height, a huge man becoming a giant, the sword

  looking like a knife in his enormous hand.

  Too late the three-headed monster turned, as Tanu

  raged, stabbing and slashing, hacking off wings and serpents

  even as he was clawed and bitten. Tanu's heavy arm pistoned

  mercilessly until the monster crumpled, and Tanu collapsed

  atop the beast, bleeding from bitter wounds.

  Kendra watched in horror as the carcass of the monster

  began to boil. Tanu scooted away from it. But this time,

  instead of folding in upon itself, the corpse melted away and

  simmered into nothingness, as if it had never been.

  Coulter and Kendra ran to Tanu, who lay on his side.

  The white Samoan pointed at the space the monster had

  occupied. There sat a bright, copper teapot worked into the

  shape of a cat, with the tail forming the spout. Coulter

  retrieved it. Doesn't look like much, he said.

  I may need to touch it, Kendra said, taking the pot

  from him. Light at first, the pot started getting heavier. The

  exterior of the pot did not change, but Kendra recognized

  the difference. It's filling up.

  Pour it, Tanu gasped.

  Tanu had three deep, ragged gouges across his beefy forearm.

  Kendra poured golden dust from the teapot onto the

  wounds. Much of the dust seemed to dissolve on contact.

  The gouges vanished, leaving no scar. An enormous chunk

  of flesh was missing from Tanu's shoulder, but when Kendra

  filled the gaping wound with dust from the teapot, it closed

  and the skin above it looked like new.

  As Kendra shook the feline teapot over Tanu, his white

  flesh returned to a healthy brown, and all his wounds closed

  and vanished. Tanu shook his head, powdery dust rising from

  his hair.

  Kendra hurried over to Vanessa, who lay moaning, withered,

  unrecognizable, incapable of movement or speech. I

  should heal her, Kendra said.

  I would love to say no, Tanu said. But it is the right

  thing to do.

  Technically we're not on the preserve, Coulter

  reminded them. What happens in here, stays in here.

  Don't let her near any weapons, Kendra warned them.

  Coulter kicked the spear away as Kendra coated Vanessa

  with the dust from the teapot. The healing dust renewed

  itself and continued to flow until Kendra stopped pouring,

  leaving Vanessa perfectly whole and unscarred. She sat up,

  staring at the teapot in wonder. Nothing could have cured

  those burns, she said in amazement. I was blind and nearly

  deaf.

  This is over, Tanu told Vanessa. There are others

  stronger than us waiting just outside the entrance.

  Vanessa said nothing more.

  Coulter remained near her, sword in hand. I suppose it

  goes without saying, if you slip into a trance, you'll never

  come out of it.

  Kendra went over to Errol and dumped dust on him.

  Nothing changed. He was dead.

  We may be able to save Warren, Kendra said.

  I noticed he was gaseous, Tanu said, having tied his

  torn clothes together into a loincloth. Which means he is

  alive. The potion would not have worked if he were dead.

  He must be nearly gone, or he would be able to move around

  freely in his gaseous state. Instead he lies in a daze.

  Considering the power of the dust in that artifact, I'm sure

  we will be able to restore him. Dale will thank you forever.

  Vanessa said she found you in the woods and put you to

  sleep, Kendra said.

  Then she was lying, Tanu said.

  Bluffing, Vanessa rephrased.

  When I came to myself, I returned to the house, Tanu

  continued. I approached cautiously, and must have arrived

  not long after Vanessa departed to come here. I picked the

  locks to the dungeon. It is much easier to sneak into that

  prison than to sneak out. Your grandparents are fine. They

  retrieved the register, and we found friends waiting outside

  the gates of Fablehaven.

  Not long after that, Tanu returned to his regular size and

  adjusted his clothes. They stood next to the ghostly, smoky

  form of Warren until the gas coalesced and he became solid

  once more. As soon as he became tangible, Kendra covered

  him with dust from the teapot, mending broken bones and

  poisoned tissue and burns and ruptured organs. He sat up,

  blinking, unbelieving. When he removed the blood-soaked

  shirt from his abdomen, he found no mark beneath it.

  Warren was no longer albino. He had dark hair and intense

  hazel eyes.

  Kendra also dusted Coulter, curing his albinism.

  We should hurry, Tanu said. Dale will be needing

  some healing himself. The hobgoblin left him lame.

  They bound Vanessa's hands with the same rope that

  had bandaged Warren, and levitated up to the catwalk, Tanu

  holding Vanessa. They replaced their rods in the alcove. No

  monkeys stirred as they crossed the mosaic, though they still

  had to tread carefully on the stairs. They found Dale in the

  sandy room, where only the blue woman, the half-spider,

  and the dwarf remained on the walls.

  Dale shouted in ecstasy upon seeing his brother revived

  and well, and they embraced for a long while before Kendra

  could get near enough to heal his legs. Once his legs were

  well, Dale stared at the teapot in wonder, wiping away tears

  of joy, and proclaimed that now he had officially seen

  everything.

  One final surprise awaited Kendra. When at length they

  reached the uppermost chamber in the tower and climbed

  the knotted rope to reach the stone platform in the formerly

  cursed grove, she found the Sphinx and Mr. Lich waiting to

  welcome them.

  The Quiet Box

  T
ell me about the cat again, Seth said, sitting on the

  bed with his legs crossed, trying to juggle three blocks.

  Again? Kendra said, looking up from her book.

  I can't believe I missed the coolest thing anyone has

  ever seen, Seth complained, losing control of the blocks

  after two tosses. A giant, flying, snake-covered, three-headed,

  acid-breathing panther. If you didn't have witnesses,

  I'd be sure you made it up just to torture me.

  Being there wasn't much fun, Kendra said. I was

  pretty sure we were all going to die.

  And it hosed down Vanessa with a massive acid blast,

  he continued enthusiastically. Was she screaming?

  She couldn't scream, Kendra said. She was just sort of

  moaning. She looked like she'd been dipped in lava.

  All that to guard the lamest thing ever: a shabby old

  teapot.

  A teapot that cured all your zombie wounds, Kendra

  said.

  I know, it's useful, but it looks like a bad decision from a

  really pathetic garage sale. You just like it because your fairy

  voodoo made it work. He started trying to juggle again and

  immediately lost the rhythm, one of the blocks falling to the

  floor.

  Grandpa opened the door to the attic bedroom. The

  Sphinx says he's ready, if you still want to join us, he

  reported.

  Kendra smiled. It was nice seeing Grandpa walking

  around again like his old self. To her, healing Grandpa

  Sorenson had seemed like the most miraculous consequence

  of retrieving the artifact. The other injuries were so recent

  that they had somehow not sunk in as being real. It had

  been as if the teapot were washing away the memory of a bad

  dream. But Grandpa had been in a wheelchair ever since she

  had arrived at Fablehaven this year, so watching him cut the

  cast off and walk around was particularly impressive.

  Heck, yeah, Seth said, bouncing off the bed. I've

  missed too much! I'm not missing this.

  Kendra got up as well, although her feelings were more

  conflicted than Seth's. Rather than wanting to witness

  Vanessa's final sentence as a novelty, or perhaps to gloat, she

  hoped to reach some sense of closure for the betrayal

  Vanessa had enacted.

  It had been the Sphinx who had recommended the

  Quiet Box. The previous day, after Vanessa had been incarcerated

  in the dungeon, they had all sat around filling in the

  blanks for each other. Grandma and Grandpa knew almost

  none of the story. Seth held them enthralled with how he