Grip of the Shadow Plague

"Well?" Seth asked, glancing over at Hugo.

Would the fairies really respond to her demand? She supposed there was only one way to find out. "This command does not apply to you three," Kendra told the reliable trio of fairies hovering nearby.

"Understood," Shiara responded.

"Fairies of Fablehaven," Kendra called out, using her best authoritative voice. "For the good of the preserve, and in the name of your Queen, I command you to outfit Hugo the golem for battle."

Fairies streaked toward them from all directions. They skirled around Hugo, forming a scintillating, multicolored tornado. Some fairies flew clockwise, others counterclockwise, weaving past each other without colliding. Vivid bursts of light began zapping the golem. Scores of fairies detached from the twirling vortex to form wider rings. While some fairies continued to frantically orbit the golem, the stationary halos of hovering fairies twittered in dozens of overlapping melodies.

The ground rumbled. Jagged stones erupted through the turf at Hugo’s feet. The golem staggered as the earth beneath him began to churn. Ropelike vines snaked up his body. Upturned soil flowed up his sturdy legs and Hugo swelled, becoming broader and thicker and taller.

The whirling column of fairies began to disperse and the chanting diminished. Numerous fairies fluttered slowly to the ground, clearly spent. The patch of soil where Hugo stood grew more stable.

Hugo let out a fearsome roar. He had grown a few feet taller, and considerably more massive. Brown vines with long thorns crisscrossed his torso and limbs. Rocks shaped like spearheads jutted from his shoulders, legs, and arms. Serrated plates of stone projected from his back. A group of fairies presented the golem with an enormous club made from a sturdy length of wood and a boulder the size of an anvil.

After delivering the club, more exhausted fairies spiraled to the ground. The fairies who retained sufficient vigor to fly coasted about languidly. A few of the earthbound fairies lapsed into unconsciousness.

"How do you feel, Hugo?" Seth yelled.

The golem’s gravelly mouth formed a gaping grin. "Big." His voice sounded deeper and rougher than ever.

"All fairies who wish to move out with us should pile in the wagon," Patton called. "I encourage those capable of movement to assist those who have fainted." Removing a small ivory box from a pocket, he beckoned Shiara and the other two emergency fairies. "You three belong in here." The fairies compliantly flitted into the box.

Lena hopped down lightly from the wagon and began gently scooping up unconscious fairies. Coulter, Patton, and Seth assisted as well. Many fairies alighted on the wagon under their own power.

At first, Kendra watched the others in silence. At her behest, the fairies had expended their energy until they were exhausted. Their weakened state could lead to hundreds of them being converted into dark fairies in the upcoming conflict, and yet none had resisted the order. The power to compel others to obey her commands was sobering, even frightening.

Kendra knelt and began gathering fallen fairies, carefully arranging the limp, fragile bodies on her palm. The handful of unconscious fairies seemed almost weightless. Their translucent wings felt sticky against her skin, like gummy scraps of tissue paper. The fairies in her hand began to glow brightly, although none awakened. Placing the delicate bodies in the cart illustrated why she would have to be very careful with her new ability. She did not want to inadvertently harm these tiny, beautiful creatures.

Patton climbed onto the cart and waved his arms. Movement in the field ceased as all eyes regarded him. "As you know, I supervised this preserve for decades," he began in a strong voice. "I have a profound love for Fablehaven and for all of the creatures who dwell here. The threat we now face is unlike any I have experienced. Fablehaven has never been closer to obliteration. Today we march on a stronghold of darkness. Some of us may not be able to enter, but I will be forever grateful to all who were willing to try. If you can help us win through to the tree beside the lake of tar, we will bring an end to the shadow plague. Shall we get under way?"

A resounding cheer answered his inquiry. Kendra watched as satyrs waved clubs, dryads brandished staffs, and dwarfs shook war hammers. The centaurs reared majestically, Broadhoof holding his sword aloft, Cloudwing shaking his tremendous bow. It was an impressive sight, until Kendra remembered that all those allies could be changed into enemies with a bite.

"Ready, Kendra?" Patton asked, reaching down for her.

Kendra realized that Seth, Lena, and Coulter had already joined Patton in the cart. The exhausted fairies were safely stowed. It was time to move out.

"I think so," Kendra said, accepting his hand. He swung her up easily.

"Hugo," Patton said, "protecting us as needed, please deliver us to the tree beside the lake of tar at the heart of Kurisock’s domain. Move swiftly, but do not outdistance those who have elected to accompany us unless I issue a special command."

At his new height, Hugo had to hunch awkwardly in order to pull the cart without tilting the front too high. As the cart wheeled forward, Kendra stared at the golem’s jutting stones and prickly thorns. It looked like Hugo had joined a biker gang.

Satyrs, dwarfs, and dryads parted to let the cart pass, and then fell into step alongside and behind. As the cart approached the gap in the hedge, the dark satyrs stationed there fell back. When the cart passed beyond the hedge, Kendra discerned no particular sensation. She glanced back; the pond and the gazebos looked no different.

The dark satyrs fled before them, scattering into the forest. Hugo turned down the road toward the hill where the Forgotten Chapel once stood. Hamadryads skipped alongside the cart, a few of them holding hands with satyrs. The tall dryads paralleled them at a greater distance, gliding through the trees, unhindered by the undergrowth. The two centaurs made their way through the woods as well, out of sight most of the time. The dwarfs jogged behind the cart, moving without grace and breathing hard, but never lagging.

"I can see your light around us like a dome," Patton remarked to Kendra.

"I can’t see it," Kendra replied.

"It didn’t take shape until we passed beyond the hedge," Lena said. "Then it became distinct, a bright hemisphere with us at the center."

"Is it covering everyone?" Kendra wondered.

"The dome reaches a fair distance beyond the farthest dryads," Patton said. "I will be interested to see how effectively it repels our foes." He pointed down the road.

Up ahead, a group of enemies awaited in an undisguised trap. Logs and brambles had been stacked across the road to form an impressive barricade. At either side of the barrier crouched dark dwarfs and evil satyrs. Kendra spotted two tall women with dull gray skin and white hair peering over the top of the blockade. The dark dryads had hard, lovely features and sunken eyes. Above the barrier fluttered shadowy fairies. Hugo strode forward, neither hurrying nor slowing. Kendra squeezed the stone in her fist. The satyrs and hamadryads held firm at either side of the cart, and the dryads whispered through the woods beyond the path. The dwarfs clomped noisily at the rear.