chapter fifteen - b r a c k e n

right after they enter Chrysie's place but before she goes crazy or whatever you'd call it

The sun was going down and they still weren't back yet. I tore my gaze away from the falling sun to face Raxtus as he landed. His scales gleamed with proud rainbows, but his nervous demeanor broke the majestic facade. "Bracken? Something's up and it's important."

"Does it have to do with my current predicament?"

He wrinkled his snout, making his skin's silvers of shine flicker. "What's your current predicament?"

"We sent out a team of five to retrieve information," I purposefully kept it vague until we're in a sealed room. "They haven't returned."

"That may coincide with the fairy queen's concerns," he pondered the thought. "I'd need more details to be certain, though. Have a protected area we could talk?"

"The attic," I pointed to the top floor. "You could fit once inside, but otherwise you'd need to revert to your avatar on the way there."

He sighed. "I'm used to it, let's go."

-

Everyone was crammed in the attic, with the pearly dragon tucked in a corner. Raxtus started to fill us in on the disturbances in the fairy kingdom. "At first, a couple weeks ago, it was a tremor that ran through the magical fibers of the elder children of light, the special kind of shiver that alerted the elders that ancient, powerful beings woke up. Several days ago, those people started to have headaches, aching minds. It started out as a soft throbbing, then eventually spiked last night. From what you're telling me, this probably was the result of your demigods and preserves interacting, especially-did you tell me Kendra and Seth took a liking?-especially when they became friends."

"So, you're telling me the demigods caused all of this?" Stan asked, his tone sharp and abrupt.

"Yes and no. You see, shields have kept the two worlds from meeting, apparently, so one of those shields must have totally reversed and set up the little trail you followed to see these demigods. That's what we think the tremor was. Those creatures, or whoever's in charge, defected from their role as the separator and became an uniter. At least, from the complied information, that's what I've come up with," the dragon, whose scales are dull in the low light, took a breath and stilled as if mind-communicating to someone. "There's been another tremor."

"You don't think..." I started.

"That's why they aren't back..." Ruth added.

"Your team of five is battling that powerful being, right now." Raxtus looked at me straight in the eye. "In a moment of weakness, the Fairy Queen got a glimpse of the fight and it's not looking too good."

present - a n n a b e t h

Everyone was looking for an exit with hands and ears, but I knew it was no use. A primordial goddess made this. She definitely wouldn't have left any seams for us to find. The most frustrating thing about our problem was that there was absolutely no knowledge to base anything off of. We were treading in an unknown landscape with bare feet, ready for lacerations.

One thing that bothered me was the fact that she fled. She wouldn't have fled an important home, as that'd waste energy. The only possibility that made sense was that this must be a temporary hideout. A single-use throw-away, if you will. Which meant that there couldn't be a fixed power source, as that'd take too much effort for such a low reward. That meant the shields would be on/off,  it'd have to come from her. Therefore, without Chrysie to fuel the metaphorical fire, it should be weak and all you need to do is overpower it.

"Guys, I've got it."

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