Chimera: A Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 1

Kendra Sorenson sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a classic story that she loved to read over and over again especially after The Battle of Zzyzx. After she killed the demon king, she gained a completely different reputation that she wasn't all that comfortable with. To make matters worse, Bracken was back at the new Fairy Realm helping redecorate, so he wasn't around. It was really hard to settle back into old habits and hobbies, and reading seemed like the easiest hobby to ease back into first. So Kendra had settled on that.
Seth creaked the door open and peaked around the door frame. "Hey...is everything OK?"
Kendra's brother was always so nosy. She wondered if he would ever go even one day without barging into her room. "Ya...why wouldn't it be?"
He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, you've been up here for a few hours. Why don't you come get some fresh air?"
Kendra thought about this for a moment, and then sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right." she said. So she gently slipped the bookmark securely into the pages of her book, closed it lightly, and swung her feet off her bed where her sandals were waiting. She slipped them on and made her way down the stairs to the Kitchen. There were no lights on. It was a little strange, but Kendra assumed there was a good explanation. As she strolled over to the Kitchen table and searched for her grandparents, only the sound of the birds outside could be heard. Wait...birds? Kendra was fairykind, so she didn't have to drink Viola's milk to see the magical creatures at Fablehaven. Then why did she see a bird outside sitting on the tree branch instead of the magical creature that actually stared in at her? "That's strange..." she muttered to herself. She made her way to the nearest window and searched for a few fairies, but all that could be seen were different varieties of insects such as butterflies and dragonflies. What was going on? Why wasn't her ability taking effect?
"Kendra?" said a voice from behind her.
Kendra whirled around to see her brother standing in the kitchen. "You scared me!" she said.
Seth picked at his fingernails. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious by the way you jumped."
"Whatever."
"I didn't think you would actually get up." he said. "Do you want to come play Toss and Catch with me and Hugo? Well, when Hugo throws it's more of a Toss and Retrieve, but it's still fun."
"No, I'm OK."
Seth shrugged. "Suit yourself." he said. Then he turned and went out to the yard where Kendra assumed everyone else already was. Wait, if something serious was going on, she wouldn't be able to see Hugo either. So Kendra sprinted over to the door and jiggled the door knob opening the door. Then she looked outside for her brother. When she found him, he was throwing a football into what looked like a sort of tornado, and then running after it when it was spit out. It looked like a lot of fun, but Kendra knew that "tornado" was no tornado at all. It was definitely Hugo.
"SETH!" she screamed in her brother's direction. He paused and looked over at her just in time for the football to soar past him and land in the grass a good ten feet away.
He through his hands up in the air obviously annoyed that she had caught him off guard. "What?"
"I can't see Hugo!!!"
Seth looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I can't..."
"Hello there child." came a voice from behind Kendra. She whirled around to see the largest dragon she had ever seen. Her voice sounded rather normal, except that there were three of them speaking at the same time. Three voices. The dragon had a sky blue vesicular looking color to her body and a large head with scales going all the way down her back. The sight of the dragon stunned Kendra with magical fear. The dragon took advantage of this and wrapped her long, slithering tail around Kendra's midsection and lifted her to her face.
Kendra breathed deeply searching for things to say. She had so many questions. And she could only speak, not move. "Who are you?" Is what she managed to say.
The dragon laughed. "Of course you don't know who I am. My name is Chimera. I was named this because you may want to defeat me, but as far as anyone is concerned, that is impossible. And also because I am a very rare dragon with a very special gift."
"And that is?" Kendra wondered.
Chimera grinned a nasty grin. "A wizard put a spell on me."
"What?!" Kendra exclaimed. Wizards are former dragons, so why would a former dragon cast a spell on a current dragon? Don't wizards know how dangerous they used to be?
"Yes." Chimera said interrupting Kendra's thoughts. "It was my brother Agad who cast this spell on me."
"Agad?!"
"Yes." Chimera said getting slightly annoyed. "He cast it upon me nearly seven centuries ago." she continued. "I told him I would use the power he gave me to do good in the world. He believed me, and gave me this power."
"Why have I never heard of you before?" Kendra wondered recalling the multiple times Agad had talked about his history.
"Well, because my brother thought that he had killed me many years ago. But I fooled him."
"How?" Kendra asked getting slightly interested.
"Ah, now you're asking good questions. My brother Agad gave me the power of illusion. Anyone within a certain distance of me sees only what I want them to see. Nothing more, nothing less."
"So you tricked him into thinking he killed you..." Kendra realized.
Chimera looked impressed. "Yes. That is exactly it."
That's when Kendra realized. Nothing more, nothing less. This explained why she couldn't see any of the magical creatures! Chimera didn't know that Kendra was fairykind...
"Well, what do you want with me?" Kendra asked.
Chimera smiled. "An old friend of mine wishes to speak with you."
"Who?!" Kendra asked.
"You'll see." she said walking away.
Kendra sat confused for a minute as Chimera left her presence. "Are you gonna fly me or something?" she finally asked.
"Oh child, when will you learn." she turned her head to meet Kendra's eyes. "You're already here." She said with a grin. Then Kendra remembered how she had woken up multiple times the night before. When she had woken up, there was no one else in her room, but now she assumed that was an illusion. All of the sudden, the trees looked as if they were made out of pixels and they all disintegrated together. Then the grass became pixels too...and the edges of the yard began to fold in on top of Kendra. She began to scream as the the grass void was about to consume her, but then the grass disintegrated too, and Kendra found herself in a dark room with no lights. She could still somewhat see because of her fairykind abilities, but not very well. She could see that her wrists and ankles were bound by chains. The chains were securely linked to the wall only giving her a few feet to move around. There were no windows or doors she could see, and only the wall that the chains were linked to was visible. For all she knew, the rest of the room could go on forever in infinite darkness.
"SETH?" Kendra called. "WARREN?" No answer. She wiped her teary eyes on her sleeve and then continued calling for help. "MOM? DAD?" Still no response. "BRACKEN?" She practically screamed. Then all of the sudden the realization hit her that she may never see Bracken again..."BRACKEN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Nothing. Kendra thought about the first time they had met. She didn't even know if he could be trusted, but now she would trust him with her life. They had been through so much together, and now all she wanted to do was see him. "BRACKEN!" She called one last time. Still nothing could be heard except for her cries in the cold dark room. Kendra remembered the talk she and Bracken had the day before...
"Kind of dark out tonight ain't it Unicorn Boy?" she had said to him.
He chuckled and replied, "Not with all the light you betray."
Kendra blushed. "What ever happened to the whole 'just friends for now' thing?"
He smiled. "I mean it in the most friendly way." they both laughed together while looking up at the stars. A few minutes later Bracken stated, "I do like you more than just a friend though..."
Kendra turned to him. "I know."
"You do?"
"Of course I do."
Bracken blushed. "Well, can we maybe be more than just friends?" They both sat up.
"Someday..." she replied. Bracken looked down. "I like you too Bracken. More than just a friend," she continued. "But I think it should wait until after you handle things in the new fairy realm."
Bracken nodded, and then looked her in the eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right." He said. As they both peered up at the stars for one last moment, Kendra stated, "Well, goodnight Unicorn Boy." And went inside.
"Goodnight! See you tomorrow!" Bracken called in after her. She wished that moment would have lasted forever. Just her and Bracken sitting together under the stars. But now here she sat in the middle of who knows where with no one she knew in sight and no visible possibility of escaping. Kendra began to sob right there on the floor. What else was she supposed to do? It's not like any of her family knew where she was. She didn't even know where she was. Then a figure came walking up to her out of the darkness. It looked like a kid...could it possibly be Bracken? No, Bracken wasn't that skinny. No one else came to mind as to who it could be. As the figure approached, Kendra realized who she was looking at and couldn't believe her eyes.
"Navarog!?" she exclaimed.
Navarog stopped where he was and tilted his head. "I'm surprised you even recognize me in this environment."
Kendra sat in disbelief. "But...how?"
"Oh, Kendra. So naive and sweet..." he kneeled in front of her and and grasped her chin. "You've learned quite a bit about illusions in the last hour. Wanna take a quick guess on how I am here?" Kendra gasped. It couldn't have been an illusion, right? "Ah, now you understand." Navarog continued. "I figured you might have a few more tricks up your sleeve. No way was I about to walk into a cave without protection. Chimera was with me the entire time. In fact, a lot of what you saw happen at Wyrmroost never even happened."
"So Raxtus ate an illusion of you?!" Kendra clarified.
"Precisely." He grinned. "I believe you and I have some unfinished business."