Grip of the Shadow Plague

"Hello, Lizette," Patton said amiably to the dryad in the middle.

"Don’t ‘hello’ me, Patton Burgess," she said, scowling down at him, her voice melodious but hard. "What have you done to the shrine?"

"The shrine?" Patton asked, checking quizzically over his shoulder. "Is something amiss?"

"It has been destroyed," the blond dryad announced firmly.

"After you sent us away," the Native American added.

Lizette gazed at Kendra, her eyes narrow. "And your friend is outshining the sun."

"I hope you aren’t insinuating that we overthrew the monument!" Patton objected scornfully. "Not only do we lack the desire-we lack the means! The Fairy Queen dismantled the shrine for reasons of her own."

"You realize the preserve has permanently lost contact with her highness," Lizette said. "We find this unacceptable." She and the other two leaned forward menacingly.

"Less acceptable than Fablehaven and all who dwell here descending into irredeemable darkness?" Patton asked.

The dryads relaxed slightly.

"Do you have a plan?" Lizette asked.

"Has Kendra ever gleamed any brighter?" Patton exclaimed. "Her glow is a token of good things to come. Lend us a few minutes to confer in private, and we will announce our plot to reclaim Fablehaven, a strategy formulated by the Fairy Queen herself." Patton glanced at Kendra as if hoping his words were true. Kendra gave a slight nod.

"There had best be a satisfactory explanation for this desecration," Lizette threatened darkly. "This day will be mourned until the end of leaf and stream."

Reaching up, Patton patted Lizette on the shoulder. "Losing the shrine is a grievous blow to all who love light. We will avenge this tragedy."

Lizette stepped aside, and Patton led the others between the somber dryads. Although temporarily appeased, the towering women clearly remained unsatisfied.

When Seth, Kendra, and Lena reached the tent, Patton followed the others inside, dropping the flap to cover the opening.

"What happened?" Seth asked.

"The Fairy Queen destroyed the shrine in order to make this." Kendra held up the pebble.

Patton squinted. "No wonder you have been gleaming so much brighter."

"I don’t see any light," Seth complained.

"Only some eyes can see it," Lena said, eyes narrowed.

"Why can’t I?" Kendra asked. "The pebble only looked bright while the Fairy Queen was making it."

"The light of the stone must have united with your inner light," Patton said. "Your own light can be difficult to distinguish. I imagine you can see in the dark."

"I can," Kendra said.

"Whether or not you recognize it, Kendra, you carry much light within you," Patton said. "With the stone, your radiance has grown even more brilliant. To those who can perceive such light, you glare like a beacon."

Kendra curled her fingers around the stone. "The Fairy Queen filled the stone with all of the power protecting the shrine. When I remove the stone from this area, dark creatures will be able to enter. If we touch the pebble to the nail in the tree, the objects will destroy each other."

"All right!" Seth exclaimed.

"There’s a catch," Kendra said. "The Fairy Queen said that whoever connects the objects will die."

"Not a problem." Patton dismissed the concern with a wave of one hand. "I will personally resolve this dilemma."

"No you won’t," Lena said anxiously. "You have to return to me. Your life can’t end here."

"What we shared already happened," Patton said. "Nothing I do here can change that."

"Don’t you try to con me, Patton Burgess," Lena growled. "I’ve put up with your pacifications for decades. I know you better than you know yourself. You’re always stretching for an excuse to protect others at your expense partly out of a noble sense of duty, mostly for the thrill. You’re well aware that if you fail to return to the past, you may wipe out the majority of our relationship. My whole history could change. I refuse to lose our life together."

Patton looked guilty. "There are many uncertainties with time travel. To my knowledge, the Chronometer is the only successful time travel device ever created. Most practicalities remain untested. Keep in mind, in your past, I returned after I traveled through time. Some would argue that nothing I do now can possibly contradict that reality. If I die during my visit here, somewhere else, along some alternate timeline, there might be a Lena I won’t see again. But your history is secure. Regardless of what happens to me, you will very likely persist here as if nothing in your past has changed."

"Sounds like a flimsy theory," Lena refuted. "If you’re wrong, and you fail to return, you could completely alter history. You have to go back. You have important duties to perform. Not only for my sake, for the good of countless others. Patton, I’ve lived a full life. If any of us must expire, it should be me. I could move on with no complaints. Seeing you again is the perfect culmination of my mortality." She gazed at Patton with such undisguised adoration that Seth averted his eyes.

"Why does anybody have to die?" Seth asked. "Why not throw the stone at the nail? Then nobody would actually connect the objects."

"We could try," Patton said. "It introduces an additional element of risk. Merely getting close enough to the tree will be a challenge."

"I could do it," Seth said.

Lena rolled her eyes. "As candidates for uniting the talismans, you and Kendra are out of the question."

"Am I?" Seth asked. "What if we get there and everyone but me ends up paralyzed by fear?" "Ephira may not be able to radiate magical fear as readily as she could inside of her lair," Patton said. "She may not even be able to reach Kurisock’s domain. Besides, as a dragon tamer, I’m fairly resistant to magical fear."

"You froze back at the house," Seth reminded him.

Tilting his head, Patton gave half a nod. "If needed, you can hold my hand and get me close, then I’ll take the stone the rest of the way."

"I’m supposed to hold the pebble as long as I can, to keep it stable and fully charged," Kendra said. "Maybe I should do it."

"No, kids," Patton emphasized. "My newest goal is to go my entire life without any children sacrificing themselves on my behalf."

"As part of being fairykind, I can command fairies," Kendra said. "Is there something they could do?"