Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5)(149)

"What say you?" the Fairy Queen asked, turning to Bracken.


"You mean my horn?" Bracken asked. "By all means, use it as you used it before. I'm accustomed to this mortal shape. Seal those fiends away for as long as you are able."


Agad nodded pensively. "The former prison lasted for millennia. This new prison will endure far longer."


"What will you do?" Kendra asked the Fairy Queen. "Where will you go?"


"We will inherit a new home," the Fairy Queen said, regarding Agad.


"I will remove the bindings placed on Zzyzx," Agad said. "There is actually three times the space inside of Zzyzx as you had in your former kingdom."


"You'll live in the demon prison!" Seth exclaimed.


The Fairy Queen smiled. "Creators have many advantages over destroyers. It takes much more talent to build something beautiful than it does to tear it down. Before long, the demons will render my former realm as ugly as Zzyzx. But they will never re-create what they have spoiled. Conversely, with time and effort, one day Zzyzx will become as lovely as my former realm."


"More beautiful," Bracken promised. "We'll have more space to work with. And we'll have an eager force of workers. Considering the peril, our casualties are minimal. Two dozen fairies, eight astrids, two unicorns, a few others. The Sands of Sanctity are quickly restoring the wounded."


"You'll join me?" the Fairy Queen asked her son hopefully, tears in her eyes.


"Of course," Bracken said. "I love a challenge. I'll help supervise the rebuilding."


Kendra felt a heavy weight on her heart. Did that mean she would never see Bracken again? It sure sounded like it.


Agad bowed to the Fairy Queen. "You are most wise, your majesty. Some imagine the difference between heaven and hell to be a matter of geography. Not so. The difference is much more evident in the individuals who dwell there."


"We have much yet to accomplish," the Fairy Queen said. "Grant Agad his artifacts and let us be about our respective duties."



"I have a problem," Kendra said quietly.


"Speak, Kendra," the Fairy Queen invited. "We are all forever in your debt. If our aid is desired, it will ever be yours."


"My parents and grandparents and many of my friends remain imprisoned at the Living Mirage preserve. Can any of you help us rescue them?"


"It would be my honor," Agad said. "Dragons can be very-persuasive."


"As can astrids," Bracken promised.


"I expect the Sphinx himself would help convince his minions to stand down," the Fairy Queen suggested.


"Fablehaven is kind of a mess too," Seth reminded everyone.


"I will personally make sure all is set right at Fablehaven and Living Mirage," Agad pledged.


"And I second the promise," Bracken added.


Kendra felt relieved, mostly because her family would be safe and have Fablehaven restored to them, and partly because it sounded like she would get to see more of Bracken before he went away.


"There will be other odds and ends to tidy up," Agad said. "For example, Bracken mentioned to me that you received advice from your ancestor Patton Burgess. I would like to travel back toward the end of his life and tell him how everything worked out, for his peace of mind. He was a good man."


"Could that change the information he sends to us?" Seth asked. "Could it change how all of this turns out?"


"You already know what he told you," Agad said. "Your visits to Patton are already part of the past, even the visits you haven't made yet. The information he left for you is a consequence of all those visits. I'm sure he made tough choices regarding what information to share and what to withhold. I will make sure he knows that the information he shared was exactly what you needed. Everyone involved walked a delicate path to reach this victory."


"Could we have Patton let Coulter know we win?" Seth asked. "Coulter visited him right before he died."


The wizard winked. "I think we can help make sure that happened, although I can make no certain promises. Time travel is strange. When we try to alter the past, we inevitably find our involvement was already part of the past. The few wizards I have known who actively chased time paradoxes have all gone into the past without returning, so I strive to keep my interactions with history simple."


"A wise policy," the Fairy Queen said.


Seth cleared his throat uncomfortably. "While I have your attention, I have one more question." He began to rummage in his emergency kit. "We had a wooden servant named Mendigo who helped us survive Wyrmroost, but got destroyed in the process. I have the hooks that held him together." He showed Agad his palm, which held several hooks.


Agad picked up a hook and held it up to one eye, squinting. "Yes, I recall Camarat telling me about your automaton. The hooks are a good start. You said he was wooden. Did any of the wood happen to survive?"


Seth frowned. "It all got dissolved by Siletta's poison."


Agad scowled thoughtfully. "Then I'm not sure I can--"