Chimera: A Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 13- The Finale

Sitting in the dark room with Bracken, Seth told him everything. About his powers, about how they were corrupt, about Kendra, and about how he did nothing to stop her...Bracken nodded attentively while attempting to heal Seth. It took a lot of effort since his powers had been corrupted so badly. His hands weren't glowing as much as they were, but they still let off a little light. Bracken had been desperately trying to contact Kendra as well, but something wasn't right. It was like she was blocking him... in fact, she probably was.
"Bracken..." Seth started suddenly. "Do you think there's still a way to save her?" Bracken paused and then nodded.
"Of course there is. We'll find a way... we will." Seth felt like Bracken was just in denial, but he tried to listen to him anyway. Maybe there was a way. Just maybe.
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Kendra was being led by Navarog through her previous cell room. All the prisoners that were still alive could tell something was up. They all watched her fearfully, and Kendra just kept looking forward. Soon she saw her capsule and the door next to it with the sign. The sign that used to look like perfect English to her. It looked like a bunch of scribbles now. She just couldn't believe her power was really gone...then for the first time (and hopefully not the last), Navarog opened the door and pushed her through.
On the other side of the door, there were only a few rows of capsules. Kendra didn't recognize any of the prisoners, but they all looked miserable. Obviously they had been there for a long time. The weird thing was...all the prisoners seemed to know exactly who she was. They were all murmuring things like,
"Kendra Sorenson...",
"It's really her...",
and "she actually gave in..." Kendra tried to block the comments out. She had her own problems to worry about. Navarog pulled her to a corner of the room that held a small chair, some black chains, and a beautiful blue orb about the size of a base ball resting on a small pillow. Navarog forced Kendra into the chair and chained her down to the leg of a small table behind her.
"Now," he started making the rest of the prisoners stop talking. "anyone who isn't able to charge this relic will immediately die from touching it, so I'm just going to stand over here." Kendra's heart jumped to her throat. Navarog walked to the other side of the room and gestured for Kendra to place her hands on the orb. She had to stall.
"What are you going to use it for?" She asked innocently. Navarog shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"That information is irrelevant. Start charging."
"Do you even have a plan?" Kendra continued persistently.
"That is not any of your concern." Navarog said more forcefully.
"But how is—"
"You have a job to do." Navarog stated impatiently. He was clenching his fists now and began pacing towards Kendra when just then there was a loud BANG somewhere outside the castle. Navarog paused and listened intently. It was weird because everyone in the room went quiet and began listening. Silence filled the room until a moment later they heard another loud BANG. Navarog looked to Kendra suspiciously for a moment and then began feeling around the walls. The bangs continued getting louder and more often until it was quite obvious something was off. Navarog finally left the room in a hurry to see what was going on. Good thing he was gone too. He made it near impossible to stall. Kendra looked to the other prisoners after he left. She smiled awkwardly. In the capsules stood a centaur, a goblin, a few people, some creatures Kendra had never seen, and surprisingly a Nipsie. Somehow she could see them without milk...somehow...but how was that possible if she had lost her power? The thought occurred to her that maybe she still had a little bit of power left...just maybe. But that was the least of her worries. The other prisoners all waved to her and she waved back.
"Any idea what that banging could be?" Kendra asked.
"I don't know." The goblin stated. "But my guess would be they're here for you." Kendra squinted in confusion.
"Why do you suppose that?" She asked. The goblin smirked.
"Im just saying, the girl who killed the demon king is more likely to have a rescue party than anyone else in this castle." The other prisoners all nodded in agreement.
"That would be a miracle." Kendra said hopefully. The goblin's eyes suddenly lit up and he pointed at the table Kendra was chained to.
"Really?" He asked smirking. "'Cause I would say that is more of a miracle!" Kendra turned to the table and smiled contently. The chains around her wrists were just long enough to where she could reach the top of the table. And that was coincidently where Navarog left the keys.
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There was a loud banging outside the castle. Seth didn't know what it could be, but it gave him just a tiny bit of hope. Bracken looked to Seth smiling a bit and they both stood up and walked to the wall of the dungeon cell. They put their ears to the wall and listened closely. At first they heard silence. They listened for a moment, and then the banging started again and began to get closer and louder. They suddenly heard an explosion somewhere in the castle. That was followed by another explosion. Then another. Bracken looked really on edge. He moved a little closer to Seth with caution. Then the explosions got closer and closer. They were loud, but Seth didn't worry at all until Bracken suddenly gasped. He grabbed Seth's wrist and jumped away from the wall screaming,
"GET DOWN!" Seth fell to the floor alongside Bracken just as the wall they were just against suddenly broke open letting sunlight in. Sunlight. It was a miracle. Just as Seth thought things couldn't get any better, Chimera flew in holding Gavin on her back. She landed in the cell and Gavin hopped off Chimera running to Seth's side. He hugged him excitedly and then pulled away.
"Guess wh...who!" He shouted. Seth couldn't believe it. Gavin was here! And he was alive!
"Gavin, no way! I wasn't sure you were coming back!" He said laughing. Gavin smiled.
"Well, you s...saved my life, so there is n...no way I would pass up the ch...chance to save yours'."
"Please tell me this isn't an illusion!" Seth exclaimed. Gavin laughed.
"This is real." He said climbing on to Chimera and hoisting Seth up after him. Bracken looked hesitant, and looked to Seth for approval.
"It's Gavin. You can trust him." Seth assured. Bracken frowned.
"It...it just feels to good to be true." he said, but Seth shook his head.
"Chimera saved me, Bracken." Bracken looked up confused.
"She did?" He asked. Seth nodded.
"Now, let's go find Kendra."
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Flying over the castle, it looked like there were at least fifty dragons shooting fire at the castle. Gavin had informed them that the only other dragon really there was Raxtus.
"How are we gonna find Kendra?" Seth asked worriedly scanning the castle. Gavin laughed.
"I know exactly where she is." He said. Flying over to the very edge of the castle, Chimera burst the roof open in the corner. Inside, right where the wall crumbled, Navarog was standing in disbelief. He started to make a run for it down a hallway and Chimera kept flying forward. After he was far enough away, she shot another hole through the floor behind Navarog into a room where Kendra could be seen. She was in a room full of empty capsules and a couple of creatures. Looking up at them, Kendra smiled and began running to the opening of the hole. Navarog turned in disbelief. Scowling, he ran full speed back down the hallway and jumped into the hole in front of Kendra. Kendra screamed, and all of the sudden the room holding her and Navarog went black. Chimera must have been using an illusion because the only thing they could see was Navarog. Seth and Gavin hopped off Chimera onto the hallway floor just next to the gaping hole that held Kendra. Navarog looked up to Chimera darkly and looked around the black room. Everything was silent except for the occasional sound of a castle wall being blown up by a dragon.
Navarog suspiciously felt around the room. Gavin grabbed a pebble and threw it behind Navarog. Navarog whirled around and punched the air behind him, but of course nothing was there. Then again, silence. Kendra suddenly appeared in front of Navarog and he tackled her only to go right through her and fall to the ground.
Clever. Seth thought. Fake Kendras began appearing all around the room while Navarog leapt at every one he saw.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" He was screaming. "YOU FREED MY PRISONERS!!!" Right after he said this an invisible hand grabbed the ground in front of Seth. Seth pulled the hand up over the edge of the hole in the ground where the being was revealed to be a goblin. He smiled and ran off. Who knows where he was going? Probably just away. One by one invisible hands grabbed the ground in front of Seth trying to climb out of the room. Seth and Gavin helped all of them out and they were all revealed to be numerous creatures and a few people that weren't Kendra. They were all prisoners she freed, and they all looked extremely grateful. Seth searched the room frantically for the real Kendra not even being able to tell the difference himself. She didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.
Then another invisible hand hit the top of the pavement next to Seth's feet. He hoped this one was Kendra's hand. Grabbing it, it sure felt like hers. Seth pulled her out of the hole and she sat next to him, still invisible, sitting at the edge.
Seth hugged her and she hugged him back.
Finally. Seth thought. Just as they were about to leave, there was a loud crash and what sounded like a dragon wailing...it sounded like...Raxtus.
Chimera roared and left suddenly. With her gone, the illusions could fail...but that wouldn't happen...right? Wrong. Suddenly the illusions disappeared and Navarog turned to face them darkly, rage in his eyes. Seth frantically grabbed Kendra's hand and tried to pull her to her feet, but Navarog leapt toward Kendra and pulled her legs back down.
"KENDRA!" Seth shouted after her as she fell back into the room screaming. Seth jumped after her without thinking filled with rage. Navarog was pushing Kendra toward an orb in the corner of the room. Kendra was struggling and screaming frantically.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She tried to jump out of his reach, but he clutched her shoulder and shoved her forward. Seth's hands began to glow as his rage grew and he held them out toward Navarog.
"YOU WILL STAY HERE FOREVER!" Navarog screamed. Kendra let out a sob as she fell to the ground. And at that, a large jolt of energy escaped Seth's hands and hit Navarog in the back. Navarog was thrown into the wall and the rest of the energy was absorbed into Kendra's body. It was as if...it belonged there. Seth ran toward Kendra and pulled her to her feet.
"Come on!" He shouted as they both ran towards Gavin's outstretched hand, but Navarog wasn't done yet. He jumped up and attempted to pull Kendra away from Seth, and Seth threw himself on top of Navarog punching forward without even aiming. Gavin pulled Kendra out of the room and then yelled to Seth,
"Pull away! Quick!" Seth attempted to jump up, but Navarog grabbed his hands making Seth land on top of him. Seth looked up at Navarog's face and noticed he was staring at Seth's glowing hands, scowling.
"You..." he said softly. "You have the power I want." Seth frantically pulled away, but Navarog just tackled him and then began pulling him towards the orb instead. He tried to jump away, but Navarog grabbed his arm and threw him at the ground. Seth was screaming,
"GO! LEAVE ME!" But Gavin and Kendra refused. Seth tried once again to get rid of Navarog and raised his hands toward him. He shot all the energy he could manage with his hands. It threw them both in opposite directions. Seth fell to the floor near the orb panting and Navarog hit the wall on the other side of the room. The energy was absorbed by Kendra who began to glow again like normal. Seth was panting after using so much power. And as he looked down, he realized his hands were no longer glowing and the room seemed a bit darker than before.
His power was gone, so he had to make a run for it. Seth began sprinting to Gavin, but as soon as Navarog could see straight, he threw himself at Seth and Seth fell against the orb.
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"NO!" Kendra screamed as Seth's body fell into the orb and then went immediately limp. His hands had stopped glowing only moments before, and now he was gone. Gavin grabbed Kendra's wrist and began pulling her toward Raxtus, but she pulled away and ran to Seth. He was gone... Picking up Seth's hand and squeezing it, Kendra began to sob dramatically.
"Seth...Seth, no! Speak to me...Speak to me, please!" She cried. It should have been her, and now he was gone. She did nothing to help! How could she be so dumb! She reached out and hugged Seth's body never wanting to let him go. She knew he was gone, but wouldn't accept it. Tanu suddenly grabbed Kendra and picked her up like a baby to take her away from Seth. Navarog was running toward them, so Tanu began to sprint. Kendra struggled to get away from him, but Tanu wouldn't let her go. He just kept running forward. As soon as Tanu reached him, Raxtus grabbed Kendra's waist while holding Gavin and Bracken on his back. Then he took off towards Fablehaven.
In the air, Kendra was still sobbing and reaching out towards the castle. She could see Warren cradling Seth's lifeless body as he and Tanu ran from Navarog. They hopped on Chimera and she took off just before Navarog could get to them. Both Gavin and Bracken looked at Kendra with empathy, but she was ignoring them. Seth was gone, and no one could fix that.
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Weeks had passed since the rescue. Kendra hasn't left her room much, but when she did it was for the funeral and for meals. The house just felt so different now that Seth wasn't there. There seemed to be a sort of essence missing. Everything was quiet. Kendra knew she might never be able to live with herself. How could she? It was her fault Seth jumped in the hole after her. She laid in bed now at about two in the morning wishing Seth were there to come in and wake her up. She used to hate it when he did that, but now that was really all she wanted.
There was a knock at the door, and someone walked in. It was a person Kendra didn't know...and it was kind of alarming until the person pointed at Kendra's window. She turned and saw Chimera staring in at her. Smiling, she stood up and went to open the window. Chimera nodded.
"Hello, Kendra."
"Hi." Kendra said sadly.
"I know you're upset about Seth...what can I do for you?"
Kendra laughed lightly.
"A month ago you kidnapped me and took me to a castle. Funny how quickly things change." Chimera smiled.
"I serve those who are in need. Right now, you are in pain and you are the one I'm choosing to serve." Kendra stared at Chimera surprised by this remark. Then she sighed and shook her head.
"Well, the only thing that would help me is if you could bring Seth back." Chimera nodded thoughtfully. Then sighed and replied,
"Okay then, when do we start?"
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To be continued...