Grip of the Shadow Plague (Page 52)

Seth squatted on a corroded, overturned bookcase.

"The revenant was nothing without the nail," Graulas rasped. "A feeble being fortified by a talisman of tremendous dark power. Your friends should have striven more earnestly to recover it."

"Tanu searched for it for hours," Seth said. "He finally decided it must have been destroyed when I pulled it out."

"A talisman of such potency is not easily unmade. By the time your friend started looking, he was too late."

"What happened to it?"

"First consider what happened to you. Why do you suppose that only you can discern the shades of your friends?"

"Did the nail do that to me?"

Graulas leaned back and closed his eyes, a pained expression flashing across his revolting features, as if he was coping with a sudden surge of agony. After a moment, he spoke, dark eyes still squeezed shut. "The talisman left its mark on you. Be glad you did not touch the nail with your flesh, or it would have taken possession of you. You have been enabled to see certain dark properties that are invisible to most eyes. And you have acquired an immunity to magical fear."

"Really?"

"My presence inspires a paralyzing horror in humans, similar to the aura that surrounded the revenant. Exuding terror is part of my nature. Look to your grandsire if you harbor any doubt."

Seth stood up, shaking his arms and flexing his fingers. "I really don’t feel scared. I mean, I’m worried that you might be tricking me, and that you might kill me and Grandpa, but I don’t feel petrified like with the revenant."

"This sight you have been endowed with might help you locate the source of the magic transforming the creatures of Fablehaven," Graulas said. "Your darkened friends remain reliable. For such fragile creatures, humans sometimes have surprising strengths. One is self-possession. The same magic that has altered the creatures of Fablehaven has failed to overthrow the minds of Coulter and Tanugatoa."

"Good to know," Seth said.

Graulas paused, eyes still shut, his breathing loud. "Would you care for my insights on how the current trouble at Fablehaven originated?"

"Did it have something to do with the prisoner the Sphinx released?"

Graulas opened his eyes. "Very good. Do you happen to know the identity of the captive?"

"So the Sphinx really is a traitor?" Seth exclaimed. "No, none of us know who the prisoner was. Do you?"

Graulas licked his lips, his tongue a bruised color and marked by sores. "His presence was unmistakable, although most would not have been able to sense his true identity. He was Navarog, the demon prince, lord of the dragons."

"The prisoner was a dragon?"

"The foremost of all dark dragons."

"He looked human-sized."

"He was in disguise, naturally. Many dragons can assume a human form when it suits them. Navarog did not revert to his true shape while on this property. His business at Fablehaven was of a stealthier nature."

Seth sat back down on the corroded bookcase. "You say ‘was.’ Did he leave?"

"He left Fablehaven on the same day the Sphinx set him free," Graulas said. "He was never formally admitted to the preserve, and so the walls could not hold him. But he did not depart until after performing some mischief. First he went to the grove and retrieved the nail. The dark talisman had already burrowed deep into the ground, which is why Tanugatoa missed it, but it surfaced when summoned. Then Navarog took the nail to Kurisock."

"The other demon?"

"There are a few places my senses cannot penetrate at Fablehaven. One is the house and yard where you live with your grandparents. Another is the mansion that was once the residence of the caretaker. And a third is the tiny domain ruled by Kurisock. I cannot say precisely what Navarog did with the nail, but he had it when he entered Kurisock’s domain, and when he left, the talisman was no longer in his possession. After delivering the nail, Navarog fled the preserve."

"Where’d he go from here?" Seth asked.

"Ever since I tied myself to this preserve, my sight does not carry beyond the boundaries," Graulas explained. "I have no guess where a dragon as mighty as Navarog might have gone."

"So to save Fablehaven, I have to stop Kurisock," Seth said.

"It would be intriguing to watch how you fared against him," Graulas mused with a glint in his eye. Something about the stare convinced Seth that the demon was somehow toying with him. "Do not ask me why Navarog went to Kurisock. If Kurisock has accomplished great deeds, I have not heard of them. He has wrought devastation on occasion, but lacks the faculties of a master strategist. There was a time when Navarog would have brought the talisman straight to me."

"Do you just want to use me to trip up a rival?"

"Rival?" Graulus rumbled, almost chuckling. "I long ago ceased measuring myself against others."

"How do I stop Kurisock?"

"Kurisock is more shadow than substance. To interact with the material world, he binds himself to a host. In return for a borrowed physical form, he imbues the host with power. Depending on whom Kurisock symbiotically unites with, the results can be impressive."

"Then he’s not working alone."

"In my long years, I have never seen darkness transform beings as infectiously as is happening on this preserve. I do not know how it is being accomplished. By binding oath, Kurisock cannot go beyond the limits of his domain here at Fablehaven. He must have partnered with a powerful entity, and the nail must be amplifying his abilities."

"Would the nail do different things for Kurisock than it did for the revenant?"

"Undoubtedly," Graulas agreed. "The nail is a reservoir of dark power. Without it the revenant would not have been very intimidating. With it he was among the most dangerous and powerful creatures at Fablehaven. Kurisock was formidable without the nail. With the talisman, his abilities may have become sufficiently augmented to explain this virulent darkness." "You’re a demon, right?" Seth said dubiously. "No offense, but shouldn’t you be happy about this plague?"

Graulas coughed, moribund body heaving. "The pendulum swings back and forth between light and darkness. I lost interest long ago. What rekindled my interest was you, Seth. I am curious to see how you fare against this threat."

"I’ll do my best. What else can you tell me?"

"You must figure out the rest with the help of your friends," Graulas said. "You do not have much time. The infectious darkness is spreading inexorably. There are only two safe refuges on the preserve, and even they cannot hold out indefinitely. I cannot see the shrine of the Fairy Queen. It repels darkness. Many of the creatures of light have sought sanctuary around her pond. And the centaurs, among others, have withdrawn to protected ground in a far corner of the preserve, within a ring of stones that will not admit darkness. Those will be the last places to fall."