Grip of the Shadow Plague

Seth uncapped the potion he had swiped and guzzled the contents. By the time Mendigo and Hugo reached him, an effervescent tingling raced through his limbs, and he hovered in the air, a vaporous rendition of himself. Mendigo and Hugo tried in vain to lay hands on him.

Of course Grandpa hadn’t trusted him. Of course Mendigo and Hugo had been stationed with orders to prevent him from leaving the yard. Was it Seth’s fault that Grandpa had neglected to hide Tanu’s potions?

Coulter and Tanu motioned for Seth to follow. Willing himself forward, Seth drifted behind them as quickly as he could. Mendigo stayed with him, ceaselessly trying to seize him, causing bubbly tingles wherever his wooden hands grabbed. His progress was frustratingly slow. Hugo went to the house and started thumping on the wall. Seth tried to ignore the lights turning on inside.

He was most of the way to the woods when Dale called out after him. "Seth, you mind your grandfather and come back right away." Refusing to even look back, Seth shook his head.

When Seth reached the edge of the woods, Grandpa spoke from the deck. "Wait, Seth, come back! Tanu! Coulter! Hold on, listen, if you’re going to do this, at least let me join you." The shadowy figures stopped. Shaking his head emphatically, Seth crossed and uncrossed his arms. This was a trick. As soon as he became solid, Grandpa would drag him home. He waved a hand, goading them to continue.

"Seth," Grandpa demanded, "don’t wave them onward. Tanu, Coulter, if you really are in possession of yourselves, wait for me."

The shadowy figures shrugged at Seth and stood their ground. He waved more frantically for them to proceed. Did they know his grandfather at all?

"Mendigo," Grandpa called. "Stand down. You will accompany Seth and me. Hugo, fetch the cart. I take it the cart would be the quickest means to reach our destination?"

Tanu nodded. Seth turned and nodded at Grandpa.

"We’ll have to wait for you to solidify," Grandpa said. "Let me grab a flashlight and put on more appropriate clothing."

He went back inside. Seth waved for Tanu and Coulter to lead on, but they shook their heads.

"I saw that," Dale called from the deck. "Don’t keep egging them on. Your Grandpa is as good as his word. He means to come with you, and if you ask me, you’ll fare better with him than without him."

Seth relaxed, hovering in the darkness near the shadows of his friends. If Grandpa was tricking him, he supposed he could always devise a fresh strategy for running away.

Grandpa returned dressed for travel. He instructed Dale to wait with Grandma, and to flee Fablehaven if they failed to return or returned as shadows. Seth glided over to where Hugo stood ready to pull the wooden cart like a giant rickshaw. Tanu and Coulter climbed up into the wagon, as did Grandpa and Mendigo. Seth floated alongside, waiting to transform.

At last the tedious wait ended in a fizzy rush, and Seth boosted himself up into the cart with the others. The shadowmen sat up front. Grandpa and Seth hunkered down in the rear.

"I do this against my better judgment," Grandpa said.

"We need to take the risk," Seth maintained in his best grown-up voice. "I’m not going to abandon Tanu and Coulter when I might be able to help them."

"Let’s go, Hugo," Grandpa commanded.

The cart lurched forward and Hugo bounded down the path, setting a brisk pace. The warm night air washed over Seth as the cart advanced through the darkness. When the trail forked, Tanu indicated which direction to take, Seth relayed the gesture, and Grandpa issued a directive to Hugo.

With Hugo lolloping tirelessly in front of the cart, they traveled down the road toward where the Forgotten Chapel once stood, then took several other paths, until they ended up on a rugged, overgrown track that Seth had never traveled. The cart bounced and jolted over the uneven lane, until Tanu and Coulter waved them to a halt.

Grandpa switched on his flashlight, revealing a gradual, grassy slope that led to a steep hill with a cave in the side. "Tell me they aren’t pointing at the cave," Grandpa said.

"Yes," Seth replied. "They already jumped down from the cart."

"We may as well turn around right now," Grandpa said. "That is the lair of Graulas, one of the major demons of Fablehaven. To enter his lair would place us in his power. It would be suicide."

Coulter gestured at the cave, then tapped a shadowy finger against his temple.

"Graulas knows something important," Seth relayed.

Tanu and Coulter both nodded and motioned for them to follow.

Grandpa leaned close to Seth, speaking for his ears only. "Graulas is arguably the most powerful demon at Fablehaven, although he has hibernated in recent years. He would be the last being to share information with us willingly."

Tanu pointed at the cave, gave a thumbs-up, opened and closed his free hand like a mouth talking, and pointed to Seth.

"Graulas wants to speak with me?" Seth asked.

"Grandpa, they’re both giving me a thumbs-up. This is where they meant to take me. You wait here, and I’ll go see."

Grandpa gripped Seth’s arm. "I came along to see what they had in mind. If the venture held promise, I would continue. But this is folly. Mendigo and Hugo won’t be able to set foot on his territory. The treaty will offer us no protection. We’re turning back."

"Okay," Seth said, slouching against the back of the cart.

Grandpa relaxed his hold on Seth’s arm. "Tanu, Coulter, this is too much to ask. We are going to return."

Tearing free from Grandpa’s grasp with a sudden lunge, Seth sprang off the cart and started running up the slope toward the mouth of the cave. If Mendigo and Hugo couldn’t follow, then Grandpa couldn’t stop him.

"Mendigo, bring Seth back here!" Grandpa barked.

The wooden puppet vaulted from the cart, rapidly gained on Seth, then came to an abrupt standstill about fifteen paces from the road. Seth continued up the slope, but the puppet could proceed no farther.

Grandpa stood up, fists on his hips. "Seth Michael Sorenson, you return to this cart this instant!"

Seth glanced back but did not slow. The shadowy Coulter and Tanu jogged along at either side of him. The mouth of the cave drew near.

"Seth, wait," Grandpa shouted anxiously from down the slope. "I’m coming with you." Seth did not like the resigned tone in his voice.

Seth paused, watching Grandpa trudge through the tall grass, flashlight in hand. "You can come, but don’t get close enough to touch me."

Grandpa glared, the muscles in his jaw tightening. "The only thing more alarming than what is in that cave will be your punishment if we somehow survive."