Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5)(127)

As Warren explained the situation, Bracken hurried over to Kendra.


"Are you all right?" he asked, extending a hand and helping her to her feet.


"She's dead," Kendra said numbly.


"I know," Bracken replied.


Kendra gritted her teeth, fighting back tears. "We blew it."


"It's a terrible blow," Bracken admitted. "What are we going to--"


Bracken thrust Kendra aside and held up his shield. An arrow thumped against it. Down the aisle, Torina knelt with her bow in hand. She had deep gouges in her side where the dragon had swiped her, and road rash on one arm and leg from her fall off the van. Raxtus landed on a van behind her, the vehicle wobbling beneath his weight. After a hasty glance over her shoulder, Torina tossed her bow aside and ran toward Bracken, hands in the air. "I surrender!"


"On your knees," Bracken ordered, striding toward her.


She complied immediately, wide eyes frightened and innocent. Even injured and with her hair disheveled, she looked strikingly attractive. Bracken kept walking toward her.


"Careful, Bracken," Kendra warned. "She bites! She can drain your life."


Reaching her, he turned and looked back. "I've got it covered. She can't possibly--"


Torina lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Bracken's torso and sinking her teeth into his neck. Bracken went limp in her arms.


"No!" Kendra shrieked.


Torina latched on a second time. Her skin shone with an inner glow. The brilliance intensified, making her veins and bones temporarily visible. And then she burst apart in a stunning surge of white flame.


Tears falling, Kendra ran to Bracken, who rose to his feet and caught her in an embrace. She squeezed him as hard as she could, burying her face in his shoulder.


"Are you all right?" she gushed, confused.


He pulled back and smiled down at her. "Not many viviblixes get the chance to drain a unicorn. Those who do never get to warn the others. They can sense the immense supply of vitality, and they ardently crave it, but none have ever been able to handle it."


"Kind of like filling a water balloon with a fire hose?" Warren remarked, approaching with Trask.


"That's the idea," Bracken agreed.


"Did you cure him?" Warren asked, jerking a thumb at Trask.


Bracken gave a nod. "With my horn back, I can undo most curses, heal most injuries." Bracken placed a hand on Trask's shoulder. "The narcoblix no longer has any hold on you.


"You have my gratitude," Trask said. "Sorry for any part I played in your troubles."


Warren looked up and down the aisle. "We're leaving a trail of destruction wherever we go."


"All in a day's work," Trask mumbled.


"We came so close," Warren grumbled in frustration. "What do we do now? This was our last chance." Warren had always been resilient. Kendra had never seen him so defeated. She felt the same way, but was striving to hold herself together.


"Our last chance to prevent Zzyzx from opening," Bracken clarified. "Unpleasant as our prospects may be, this still isn't over." He turned to Raxtus. "You get the firedrake?"


"Got him," the dragon replied. "My scales are tougher than I ever knew. I'd never really tested them. The fire barely tickled. And even though the wizard jinxed my invisibility, I managed to handle the wyverns."


"You're a chip off the old block," Kendra said.


"Hardly," Raxtus huffed. "At least I'm learning to stand my ground and fight. Small as I am, I must have inherited my dad's scales. His armor is almost impenetrable."


"What now?" Kendra asked.


"Your role in this is over, Kendra," Bracken said. "Our paths part here. I'll be going to Zzyzx. I have to make a last stand."


"You're not leaving me behind," Kendra argued. "The end of the world is coming. I'd rather help prevent it than be another random victim."


Warren folded his arms. "Just because missiles are flying doesn't mean you have to run to ground zero."


"You should go to a stronghold like Wyrmroost," Trask said. "There are a few places that might stand even against the demon horde."


Bracken took Kendra's hand in his. "I'll be sending Raxtus to Wyrmroost. You can ride with him. We'll need him to recruit whatever help Agad might offer."


"No way," Kendra said. "You need me. You need warriors, and I can restore the astrids. I'm not hiding. I'm coming."


"Not long ago, the astrids left Wyrmroost," Raxtus said. "I'm not sure where they went."


"She has a point about the astrids," Warren said. "She's as likely to find them with us as anywhere."


"Perhaps more likely," Bracken murmured, pinching his lower lip.


"And she's been incredibly helpful during past emergencies," Warren added.


Trask nodded. "It's true that she's a full-fledged Knight of the Dawn."