Chimera: A Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 11

The door suddenly swung open and Navarog walked in crossing the room to Kendra's capsule. He didn't have Gavin with him...and he wasn't focused on Kendra at all.
He was mumbling to himself in fury: "How could he...he's such a brat...I can't believe he escaped..." Gavin escaped! It was a miracle! He was getting help. There was a way out of this! Silently biting her lip in excitement, Kendra listened to him some more. "He burned me good. He's gonna pay." Then Kendra noticed Navarog was burned. Like really burned. He looked awful! Things just kept getting better and better! Opening Kendra's capsule, Navarog unlocked the chain around her wrist and pulled her arm forward without even using a chain. Grimacing at his harsh grip, Kendra stumbled forward trying to relax her knees a little since she couldn't sit down.
She cleared her throat and asked weakly, "What happened?"
Navarog scoffed. "Let's just say you're gonna pay a little visit to your friend." he laughed. Maybe Gavin hadn't escaped...well then what was all the complaining about? Who burned him? Who escaped? Who was going for help?... Kendra shivered at the thought that no one could help her. Or Bracken and Gavin. Navarog made a few turns and unlocked a door leading back to the capsule room they had gone to when she last saw Bracken... was Gavin going to be put in here? Or would Navarog torture Bracken again...
"No!" Kendra screamed pulling toward the door, but Navarog yanked her forward where she landed on the hard ground. He didn't even bother chaining her. Instead he only went to lock the door. With the door secure, he walked to his little control room while Kendra felt her bones to make sure they were all still in one piece. Just then Navarog's voice came over his loud speaker.
"I hope this method takes a few weeks to break you." He grinned. "While it would be nice to get my relic charged early, I think I will quite enjoy putting this little brat through the pain."
Brat? Bracken was much too old to be referred to as a brat. And Gavin... he wasn't exactly a little kid, but who else could Navarog be talking about?
"I'll be back with the punk momentarily." Navarog stated as he turned to exit.
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Seth hadn't left Bracken's side since they were reunited. Bracken was so warm... and Seth felt so cold. If only he had gone through the barrel. He could have explained everything. They could have been on their way out of this whole mess.
"It's not your fault." Bracken said trying to comfort him.
Seth sighed. "It's nice that you're trying to help me feel better, but could you maybe not read my mind right now?"
Bracken shrugged. "I didn't have to."
Of course he didn't. Seth didn't think he was crying, but Backen could probably feel he really needed to.
Seth sat up. "It's weird. Usually I feel so adventurous... like nothing can stop me. Like these adventures are going to be fun! Like... Indiana Jones fun!" Bracken snickered, but Seth didn't seem to acknowledge it. He continued. "Now I just feel so... scared. Like... maybe I can't fix this one." Seth looked to Bracken who was nodding sympathetically. "Sorry." Seth said, a little embarrassed. "I should probably just suck it up like you do."
"Hey, hey, hey." Bracken said. "It's OK to be scared. You are the bravest person I know. You are the guy who retrieved a legendary magical sword on a life-threatening mission. You're the guy who stole a unicorn's first horn from a herd of centaurs. And you're the guy who helped me escape the dungeon I couldn't make it out of on my own for hundreds of years."
Seth smiled, but Bracken wasn't done.
"Forget Indiana Jones." He said chuckling. "You're Seth Sorenson. And we are going to make it out of here."
Seth's eyes watered up and he hugged Bracken. Bracken returned the favor. Just then the door swung open and Navarog emerged from the blinding light. Without saying a word, he stomped over to them and grabbed Seth by the waist hoisting him over his shoulder. Seth punched and screeched, but Navarog wouldn't budge. Bracken was crawling forward and screaming after them.
"Let go of him! He's just a kid!" Seth reached for Bracken, but he was so far away.
"Bracken! What do I do?! I can't do this without you!" he screamed desperately.
Bracken was tearing up. "Be strong!" he screamed. And just before the door shut Seth heard him cry, "You're Seth Sorenson!". That reminded him of something. He was a Sorenson.
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When Navarog finally returned he was holding someone over his shoulder. Kendra couldn't quite tell who it was at first... but when Navarog shoved him into the chair, her heart skipped a beat.
"Seth?!" she cried. Not Seth. Anyone but Seth. That meant he came here looking for her. And now he was going to pay. Seth looked up totally defeated. He smiled sadly.
"Kendra! Oh, I've been so worried!" She didn't want to say anything, but she was definitely the one who should've been worrying about Seth. She thought he was safe at home! Safe away from all of this. How could this be happening?! She loved him too much to even start believing what she was seeing was real...
When he was fully strapped in, Navarog went back to his control panel and stated, "Give in when you've had enough. I'll be waiting." Then he pulled the lever and the chair lit up like it had before just as Seth began screeching. Kendra screeched too. How could Navarog do this?! Seth was just a kid. A kid who she loved and who didn't deserve any of this...
"Seth! No!" Kendra screamed as she made her way to the chair. Seth saw her crawling closer.
"Kendra... no... stay away!" He screamed back. Smiling, Navarog again began turning up the voltage like he had for Bracken. Seth jolted forward for a moment and then began screaming louder, but he quickly came out of it and could speak again. "I've got it... stay where you are!" he shouted as he groaned in agony. Kendra knew he was in pain, but she didn't see how coming closer could help him. She complied.
"Seth, I... I want to help!" she shouted to him.
"Then stay where you are!" he stated still groaning. Navarog chuckled and with one big jolt from his wrist, Seth's torso jolted forward and Seth screamed even louder than Bracken had.
NO, NO! PLEASE NOT SETH... HANG IN THERE! Kendra thought to herself. She turned to Navarog.
"YOU MONSTER!" She screamed at him. "YOU TURNED IT ALL THE WAY UP, DIDN'T YOU?!"
Navarog shrugged. "It's what he deserves."
"NO ONE DESERVES THIS! ESPECIALLY NOT SETH!" she turned to Seth in panic.
"KENDRA!" he had begun screaming. "I LOVE YOU!" He was in pain... for her... because of her. This was all her fault. Without another thought Kendra threw herself onto the chair and wrapped her arms around Seth. The pain was unreal. It began getting both of them, and although it was so unbelievably painful she could barely feel her legs, Kendra couldn't push herself to let go of Seth no matter how hard she tried. Then something unexpected happened. All of the sudden time paused. Like literally paused. She could still move, but Navarog was frozen smirking with his diabolical smile and everything around them seemed to stop. Even the pain halted for the freeze. As Kendra searched her surroundings she could hear Seth next to her.
"What's happening?" he asked.
Relieved, Kendra stated, "Good. I thought it was just me." she said. Seth sighed. Kendra looked to him sadly. His hair was all messed up and he had tears in his eyes.
Seth rolled his eyes then stated weakly, "I know, I know. It's been a long week, OK?" Kendra nodded and surprisingly even smiled at the fact her brother was being so unlike himself. Then he scowled. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"I won't just let you suffer." Kendra replied sadly.
"OK, but I'm supposed to be saving you. Not the other way around."
"Hey, if you had this under control I wouldn't be able to tell you've been crying. Like a lot."
Seth smirked. "I can handle this. Get off."
"No, you can't." Kendra replied.
"But Kendra..." Just then a bright light shielded Kendra's vision and made her gasp. It felt like all the energy was being pulled from her starting at the tips of her fingers and toes then leading all the way back to her eyes. All the light stayed there shielding her vision for a few moments and Kendra could hear Seth still next to her.
"Kendra..." he was saying. She could tell he was terrified, so all she could really do was stay encouraging.
"It's OK, I'm feeling it too. Just don't let go." Seth squeezed a bit tighter. The light was being replaced by a dark mist. The mist filled her vision completely and then it seemed to travel and spread throughout her entire body. It encased her in darkness that she couldn't explain. The darkness soon began to fade away and when she could finally see again, Kendra gasped for air and turned toward Seth just as time began to move again and the traumatizing pain returned.
They both screamed together while Navarog turned off the chair and waited for a moment before stating, "Well I guess this is going to take a while." He rolled his eyes. "See you tomorrow I guess."
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Right after Navarog swung open the door and dumped Seth back into his cell with Bracken, Bracken rushed to Seth's side.
"Seth!" He shouted helping him sit up. "What did they do? Are you OK? Are you hurt?" Seth began sobbing again, but he was used to it by now. He had cried enough in the passed week.
"Bracken, it was horrible! There was this chair... and Kendra was there... I thought I could handle it, but it was just so painful... and..." he cried and laid his head on Bracken's legs.
Bracken growled in fury. "That torture chair?! How could they do that to you?!" Seth laid there for a while with Bracken crying. But Bracken didn't seem phased anymore. Now he just seemed angry at Navarog and hurt for Seth. It felt like he was the older brother Seth had always wanted.
Bracken finally spoke up. "You're very brave, Seth." he said. Then he added, "Just... have you noticed anything different?" Seth waited a moment and then sat up gathering his emotions.
"What do you mean?" He finally asked.
Bracken shrugged. "Oh... well, um... did Kendra make physical contact with you at all while you were um... on the chair?" Seth breathed carefully recalling the events from earlier. "Yeah... come to think of it, something really weird did happen."
Bracken nodded. "I was afraid of that." Seth squinted in confusion. Then he realized... he could see Bracken clearly. Like really clearly. Almost as if there were a light somewhere he had missed before.
Bracken sighed. "You're really bright right now."
Seth sighed. "Thank you, but can you please focus?"
He shook his head. "No, you don't understand. Like you're glowing." Seth looked down at his hands, but they seemed normal to him. "Seth," Bracken continued. "I think... Kendra accidentally made you fairy kind."