Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

"Let me guess," Seth said. "That’s the car."

The duplicate nodded. "Her address is on the driving directions in the passenger seat. Maybe you guys can fulfill my promise to her. Either way, I had to get here."

"You’ve been through quite an ordeal," Grandma said. "You’re lucky you weren’t apprehended by the police, let alone the Society. You used the credit card to buy gas?"

The duplicate nodded. "It didn’t work the last time I tried. The tank is almost empty."

"We’ll see that the woman gets a new car and a generous reward," Grandpa promised. "For now, we had best get you into the house. Tanu will see to your injuries."

Tanu scooped up the duplicate. She grimaced, then settled into his arms. He carried her gingerly.

"Good job," Kendra said to the duplicate.

"I’m relieved I found you. Getting here felt like a long shot."

The endless honking stopped abruptly. Dale and Warren had pried open the hood and stood hunched over the crippled engine.

"She seems just like you," Grandma murmured to Kendra as Tanu moved away. "It’s uncanny."

"And she won’t last more than another day or two," Kendra said. "The second dead Kendra this week."

* * *

Seth sat on a sofa in the living room, tapping his knees as if playing the bongos. Grandpa had called an emergency council. They were all waiting for Tanu to come down from examining the stingbulb. Everybody was quiet and thoughtful.

Seth frowned as he looked around the room. With the Sphinx coming ever closer to his goal, were these the people to stop him? More than half of them looked too old or too young. Sure, they had weathered some attacks from the Sphinx, but generally he kept getting what he wanted. And nobody had launched any sort of successful counterattack against him. Seth felt certain the time had come to go on the offensive.

Tanu came down the stairs and entered the room.

"How is she?" Grandma asked.

"Her wrist is badly sprained. The leg is broken, but could be worse. A minor fracture. She also picked up plenty of road rash and a fairly severe concussion. Who knows how she managed to drive so far? She definitely has a lot of heart. I gave her some substances that will dull the pain and speed her recovery."

"Not that she’ll live to enjoy a recovery," Kendra muttered.

"She’s aware of her tiny lifespan," Tanu said. "She kept asking to speak to you, Kendra. She hopes there is some other way she can serve you before she dies."

"We could pack her in the Quiet Box," Seth said. "I’d rather preserve her in limbo than the evil Maddox. You never know when a duplicate Kendra might come in handy down the road."

"Wouldn’t that be torturous for her?" Kendra asked.

"Seems like she’s content as long as she has a purpose," Tanu said.

"Wouldn’t hurt to make her the offer," Grandma suggested. "See what she thinks."

"We’ll explore those possibilities with the duplicate after the meeting," Grandpa said.

"I have an unpleasant question," Warren said. "Could the Kendra stingbulb have been corrupted? Or could it be a different stingbulb than the one Kendra left behind at the house in Monmouth?"

"Stan and I have thought this through," Grandma said. "The Sphinx has clearly learned about the key at Wyrmroost. He didn’t glean the info from Kendra or a stingbulb, because Kendra didn’t learn that information until after she escaped. We see no strategic value he might gain in letting us know what he has discovered. In fact, the Sphinx would want to keep that discovery a secret in order to pursue the key at Wyrmroost uncontested. We’ll keep an eye on the replicated Kendra, but Stan and I feel comfortable trusting her report."

"Wait a minute," Seth said, eyes widening. "What if the Kendra we rescued is just another replica? What if this isn’t actually Kendra! She could have led the bad guys to our hotel room! We may not have seen the real Kendra yet! She might still be their prisoner."

Everyone turned to Kendra. "It’s really me," Kendra assured them. "Isn’t there some sort of test? Some way to differentiate for sure?"

"She could read the message Patton left in the hidden chamber," Grandma said. "That ability could not have been replicated by a stingbulb. Only potent fairy magic could bestow the capacity to read those words."

Grandpa nodded. "Agreed. But I appreciate your vigilance, Seth. We must remain wary. Question everything. Take nothing for granted. I want to turn our attention to the matter of the Sphinx and the Translocator." Grandpa summarized what he, Kendra, and Coulter had learned about the location of the Translocator and where Patton had hidden the necessary keys.

"What are the chances of the Sphinx acquiring the first horn of a unicorn?" Grandma mused.

"What were the chances of him finding stingbulbs?" Coulter replied.

"How rare are unicorn horns?" Seth asked.

"Unicorns are among the least encountered of all magical creatures," Grandpa said. "We believe they still exist, but there is no certainty on the matter. They are elusive creatures of extraordinary purity, and their horns exhibit potent magical properties. Long ago, they were hunted to near extinction by greedy wizards. During the lifespan of a unicorn, each grows three horns. They shed the first two as they mature, sort of like humans losing baby teeth. The horn here at Fablehaven is the only first horn I know to exist anywhere."

"But that doesn’t mean the Sphinx will fail to find another one elsewhere," Coulter emphasized.

"We would be unwise to count on him failing," Warren agreed, "especially if he’s gaining mastery over the Oculus. Somehow, somewhere, he’ll find one."

"For all we know, he may already have one," Grandma said bleakly.

"If this is our worry," Grandpa said, "I see no other option than to try to beat the Sphinx to the key at Wyrmroost. We have all witnessed the Sphinx’s resourcefulness. Knowing the location of the key to the Australian vault, he will find a way to get Navarog into the dragon sanctuary. And once he recovers the vault key, his acquisition of the Translocator will not be far behind."

"But can we protect the vault key better than the dragons of Wyrmroost?" Tanu asked.

"At least we can keep the vault key in motion," Grandpa replied. "We can use it or transfer it. Since the Sphinx knows the current location, it is only a matter of time before he claims it."

"Then our first task is to retrieve the horn from the centaurs," Grandma said.