Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Kendra shook her head sadly. "So the phony Kendra was accidentally helping him?"

"The Sphinx made sure she knew exactly what he wanted her to know. She thought she escaped on her own, but he was deliberately sloppy. Had she failed to make a move, he would have been even sloppier. Once the stingbulb got away, he had an agent follow her to ensure she made it back to Fablehaven. You’re very resourceful, Kendra, even as a clone. The duplicate required no help. The Sphinx knew that once your grandfather heard the Society had discovered where Patton hid the key, the Knights would have to send a team to Wytmroost to recover it. The Sphinx felt certain they would include Gavin Rose, the dragon-taming prodigy. He had it right."

Kendra bowed her head into her hands. "We brought Navarog with us to Wyrmroost. We opened the gate and let him in."

"A simple plan, but effective," Gavin said. "I got nervous when we bumped into Nafia. She knows me. Fortunately, she’s a fairly dark dragon. We had met before, ages ago, and she knew my reputation, so she helped me instead of blowing my cover. When she showed up at our camp in human form, she was teasing me. At first I was scared that she meant to reveal my secret, but in the end she helped my cause, pretending I had been spotted outside the gates, further clouding my true identity."

"We’re so stupid," Kendra groaned miserably.

"You keep doing a lot of our work for us," Gavin agreed. "This whole scenario has played out almost perfectly. I would have preferred to keep my identity a secret until we had left Wyrmroost. I would have preferred to devour Trask and all of them right outside the front gates, then fly away with you, Seth, and the key. But this will serve."

"Why spare me and Seth?" Kendra asked. "Didn’t you try to kill me?"

Gavin shrugged. "When I slashed at you outside of here earlier tonight, I was in a rush, and worried about you escaping with the key. You and your brother are very likable. Despite being young and innocent, the two of you are surprisingly capable. I could hardly believe it when you killed Siletta. I mean, she was a legend. A dragon of no small renown. I had no idea she was a guardian here. Seth pulling the nail from the revenant was another shocking coup. The shadow plague should have swallowed Fablehaven, but you stopped that as well. Together you have accomplished some astounding feats. When the moment to reveal myself arrived, I may have changed my mind, but I felt sorely tempted to spare the two of you. Naturally, I would have eaten all the others."

"Instead you just ate Dougan," Kendra said bitterly.

"Just him for now," Gavin grinned. The grin looked wrong on his face. Too knowing, too sharklike. The boy she had once liked would never have grinned that way.

"Have you eaten any of the others?" Kendra asked.

"I couldn’t find them," Gavin admitted. "Seth may have escaped to Thronis. I found the red dragon on the slopes of Stormcrag skewered by a huge arrow. Hard to guess where your storm blew Trask. Mara may have survived as well–I couldn’t locate her body. She’s an agile woman. She may have somehow caught herself after going over the edge. Or maybe I just missed her corpse. Don’t worry, none of your friends will be coming to help you. I collapsed part of the ledge outside of the cleft, and Nafia is standing guard."

"What’s going to protect you from me?" Kendra asked, shifting her stance, clutching the rain staff like a weapon.

Gavin laughed condescendingly. "You’re brave, Kendra, but I see no need for you to humiliate yourself." He swished his sword a few times for emphasis. "Granted, I’m more powerful as a dragon, but even in this ungainly mortal shape, I have superhuman strength and reflexes. You glimpsed what I can do when we were swept up in that battle on Lost Mesa, and even then I was holding back, trying not to blow my cover."

Kendra lowered the staff. "You killed the dragons that were fighting you? Just now, I mean."

Gavin smirked. "They were no match for me. A third dragon joined the fight against me as well, a gray beast with curved horns. But they all fell. The wind you conjured worked to my advantage. I have always outperformed other dragons in foul weather. In the end, Nafia aided me, not that I needed her assistance."

"I had hoped the wind might prevent you from reaching me."

"With enough wind, it can get risky for the best of us to stay airborne. But we can always tuck our wings and walk."

"You must have fought the hydra as a dragon," Kendra realized.

"Why else would I have gone off alone?"

Kendra scowled. "But you said you fought her with arrows and a spear. Why didn’t the collar strangle you?"

Gavin grinned. "I did fight her with arrows and a spear… at first. I changed to dragon form after that. The hydra was a dangerous obstacle. Even as a dragon, the outcome looked dicey for a time. She put up a good fight. The collar was a nuisance. It even stayed on in dragon form. It only fell off just before I came here, meaning Seth must have made it back to Thronis."

Relief swept through Kendra. At least her brother might make it out alive.

"Anyhow, enough reminiscing. I know the key is in the bag as well as the unicorn horn. We’ll need the horn to open the gate, and of course I’m not leaving without the key."

"I’m not going with you," Kendra said firmly.

"You’re mistaken," Gavin said. "You have no choice in the matter. I’d rather not knock you unconscious. As a dragon, I think I could tolerate you. As a person, I actually like you. Let’s try to keep this civilized."

Kendra chuckled incredulously. "You don’t like me. You want me along as your puppet in case you need to recharge any magical items."

"There’s that, too."

"All right," Kendra said, slouching against the wall. "I guess I don’t have much choice."

"Hand over the knapsack," Gavin said.

Kendra picked up the knapsack and held it out to Gavin. As he reached for it, she swung the staff at his head with all of her strength. He blocked the blow with the flat of his sword, wrenched the staff from her grasp, and used it to swat her on the shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

"Really, Kendra, don’t, this is embarrassing." He opened the main flap of the knapsack. "After you."

Kendra bent over the knapsack and screamed, "Warren, Gavin is Navarog and he–"

She managed nothing more before Gavin shoved her aside and dropped into the knapsack, ignoring the rungs on the wall. Kendra hesitated. Should she follow him and try to help Warren? Or should she run? If she ran, he would catch her. Or Nafia would catch her. Had he collapsed the ledge outside of both entrances? She probably couldn’t escape Sidestep Cleft without wings.