Chimera: A Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 6

Kendra opened her mouth to speak, but could say nothing. "Wait...but you can't be Gavin...Gavin doesn't exist! He's...he's a fake person to hide Navarog's true identity!"
Gavin giggled. "Is that how he covered it up?" He sighed then hit his fist against the wall of the capsule. "You must hate me then. How could he do this to me?!" He hit his head next to his fist, and Kendra quickly recovered.
"No, I thought I hated you, but...sorry...can you explain this all to me?"
Gavin looked up. "Sure." He sighed again. "How do I begin? So, after our last encounter, I was out on a classified mission to find the most dangerous dragon known to wizard-kind."
Kendra sighed. "I'm guessing you're talking about Chimera."
"Yeah...it just so happened that during that time, Navarog needed an identity to hide behind...Of course me. Me of all people." Gavin sniffed, attempting to bend his knees. "They figured a teenage boy dragon tamer who knew the Sorensons would be perfect, and I've been standing in this column ever sense!" He laughed awkwardly.
"Oh Gavin, I'm...we would have come for you if we'd known." Kendra said frowning.
"Yeah, I know." He shrugged. "But hey, when we get out of here I'd be happy to help finish finding the other artifacts." He laughed again. "Just after I sit down first."
Kendra shrugged. He really had been standing in that capsule a long time. "Actually, we won't be needing help anymore."
Gavin squinted. "What do you mean?"
Kendra filled him in on all the stuff he had missed during the last few years concerning the battle of Zzyzx. He nodded attentively at her every word.
"Wow..." he finally said.
"Yeah..."
Then Gavin looked up at her and smiled. "Now that I'm all caught up on that, can we get caught up?" He asked.
Kendra went white. Was he talking about...
"We obviously had something going on between us before all this, so what do you say? I really like you Kendra!" Yup.
Kendra liked Gavin before Wyrmroost too! Now she wasn't sure how she felt. "Umm...well...Gavin, it's complicated..."
Then the door to the capsule room burst open and Navarog paced quickly toward Kendra's capsule. "Kendra! Oh, Kendra!" He said sarcastically. "Do I have a surprise for you?" Then he quickly yanked Kendra's capsule open and unlocked the metal handcuffs around her wrists. She collapsed from standing for so long, and relief filled her legs. "Oh come on now, get up!" Navarog yelled kicking at Kendra's knees.
"Leave her alone!" Gavin shouted from his capsule. Kendra shook her head warningly at Gavin.
"Oh, what is this? This smart guy thinks he can tell me what to do? I'm gonna be honest my friend, that's a first." Navarog said walking over to Gavin's capsule. Gavin looked up in fury. "I'm not your friend." He said through clenched teeth.
"Well trust me when I say this, you won't get away with smart talking me." Navarog stated. Then he punched the capsule and Gavin flinched. Navarog laughed. "I'll be speaking with you later."
"No!" Kendra cried, but Navarog cuffed Kendra's wrists and began pulling her again, but this time Kendra didn't even care. She let her knees relax and watched as Gavin's capsule disappeared from view. Her helpless figure was dragged through halls and staircases, and when they finally arrived in the cold dome, Navarog dragged her toward the wall next to the electric chair. Kendra looked up at Navarog confused, but he just grinned at her and latched the chain cuffs to a hook around five feet from the chair while Kendra sat on the floor.
"What..." Kendra began, but Navarog interrupted her.
"It became clear to me that I need to test new methods for you to give in." Then he walked to the control panel. Kendra sat in silence wondering what Navarog could possibly do to convince her while he pressed a few buttons and turned a few knobs. Then a section of the dome slid open and someone was being lowered by Chimera into it. Chimera threw the figure in next to Kendra and took flight back through the ceiling. The figure turned over, and Kendra couldn't believe her eyes.
"Bracken?! What did they do to you? Why are you here?"
Bracken grabbed her hand. "I'm ok, I'm just worried about you! I'm glad I found you! Seth has been worried sick! I just fell of a cliff, that's all."
Kendra flinched at the mention of Seth thinking of how miserable he must be, then gasped. "Bracken, 'that's all'?!" She embraced him and sobbed. It had been so long since she'd seen him! Then Bracken was torn from her grasp and forced into the electric chair just like Navarog had done to Kendra only days before... "NO!" Kendra screamed throwing herself toward Bracken, but the chains weren't long enough...Bracken groaned and pulled at the straps, but was too beaten and weak to loosen their hold... "NAVAROG, PLEASE!" Kendra pleaded.
"Will you give me what I want?" He asked accusingly.
Kendra hid her face in her hands. "I...I can't..." Navarog shrugged and left the dome, then flipped on a switch. The whole dome turned white again and some electricity stung Kendra, but she knew it was no where near as painful as what Bracken was going through. He shrieked and pulled, but was far too weak to make a difference. "STOP IT! NAVAROG STOP IT!" Kendra screamed! He turned the knob an inch or two and the stinging grew more painful.
Bracken jolted his body forward as if he had a sudden seizure and a scream of pure misery escaped from his body and echoed across the dome. "Don't...do it...Kendra..." he managed to say. "I...I love you too much!"
Kendra fought at the chains and pulled toward Bracken. "I love you too..." she cried. Then she turned toward Navarog and tried again. "Navarog! Please, I beg with all my heart!" But he shook his head and turned the knob a few more inches. Kendra's skin went numb, and Bracken's scream grew louder than she'd ever heard. Kendra looked back at Bracken.
He gasped for breath, tears running down his face." Make it stop!" He pleaded gasping once more. "PLEASE!" He continued to sob and scream. She couldn't! She couldn't do it!
"NAVAROG!!!!!!" Kendra screamed. Navarog shook his head and turned the knob down. When the dome finally lost all of its lighting, Kendra looked to Bracken whose nose was bleeding, hair was messed up, and Kendra saw for the first time how badly beaten he was...the bands around Bracken's waist had singed off of the chair, and Bracken tumbled onto the floor. Kendra tugged desperately at the chains crying "Bracken!" He attempted to crawl closer, but every attempt at movement made him sob. "Stay there Bracken, stay there." Kendra told him.
He looked up red-eyed. "Thank you..."he whimpered.
Kendra smiled sadly. "No, thank you Bracken. Thank you for everything." She turned to Navarog. "How could you do this?" She asked darkly. Navarog shrugged.
"Fine then, princess. If you still won't give me what I want, I'll have to step it up a notch."
————————————————————————
Hands clasped around his knees, Seth rocked back and forth on the couch waiting for news from Grandpa. They had sent out a search party, and he was desperate for the results. Kendra and Bracken's disappearance just about broke him. His hair was messed up, he hadn't bathed in days, couldn't remember the last time he slept, and hadn't had food or water since the search party left.
Grandma suddenly entered with some water and a bowl of cereal. "You know, you should eat."
Seth shrugged not making eye contact. "I'm good. Thank you, though."
"Let me rephrase that." Grandma started walking to the couch and sitting next to Seth. "You're too stressed. Eat. Now."
Seth smiled and walked to the table with Grandma. He ate for a good five minutes, then Grandpa walked in.
Seth pounced up from his seat. "Anything?" He asked.
Grandpa scratched his head. "There's um...someone who needs to speak to you." Then Agad entered the kitchen as well.
"Good evening, Seth." He said.
Seth combed his hands through his hair quickly.
He turned to grandma and whispered, "I can't talk to Agad! I'm a mess!"
"You look fine." She whispered back pushing him gently. "He knows what you're going through."
————————————————————————
"So you think Chimera took Kendra?" Seth finally asked after the tiring explanation.
"Yes." Agad replied calmly. "And possibly Bracken too."
Seth put his head in his hands. "How could he be so STUPID?!" he finally blurted. Everyone flinched in surprise. "Sorry, sorry. That was unprofessional. It's just...he can't..."
"We know." Grandpa interrupted. He turned to Agad. "Do you have any evidence of this?"
Agad grinned. "Chimera takes advantage of her ability. She must have been caught up in her illusion because I found some dragon footprints in the forest."
"How do you know they belong to Chimera?" Grandpa asked.
"The footprints showed the family marking."
Seth pounced up. "So you know where she is?" He asked jumping up and down.
"No..."
Seth sat back down.
"But I know where she might be." Agad continued. "Hundreds of years ago, I thought I had killed Chimera, but only after she made an alliance with Navarog."
Seth opened his mouth to speak, but Agad continued. "Navarog owned a prison under Wyrmroost."
"Yes," Grandpa tuned in. "but that prison can only be opened by Navarog himself. And as we all know, Navarog was devoured by Raxtus."
Agad shrugged. "Was he?" The room was silent. How? It wasn't possible for him to be alive...right? "How do you know he was killed?" Agad asked.
"Kendra saw it." Grandpa said. "She saw the whole thing! There's no way..."
"Ah, yes." Agad interrupted. "With Chimera alive, nothing is certain. You can't rely on sight for evidence when an illusion dragon is on the loose." Seth closed his eyes, realization hitting him that Navarog may have Kendra, and if that was the case...
"NO!" Seth screamed running to the stairs and up to the attic.
As he closed the door he could hear the others downstairs, "This is going to be the hardest for him." Agad said.
He ran to the bed. How could Navarog be alive? What horrible things was he planning? Why him? Why?! He could only think about Kendra and how lost and afraid she must feel... it was the only thing filling his thoughts when he felt invisible hands grasp his ankles and yank him from the bed.