Seth motioned for the giant to proceed. "Have at it."
"When the storm has been called, I shall return with some victuals."
"If that means food, count me in."
* * *
Freezing gusts howled through Sidestep Cleft, carrying the smell of snow. Thunder crackled and boomed. And
Kendra relentlessly kept shaking the staff, hoping that if she shook hard enough, long enough, the dragons would be forced to seek shelter while her remaining friends got away.
Although she could see in the dark, Kendra could see farther with the flashlight lit, so she kept it on, repeatedly shining it in both directions to avoid being taken by surprise. Consequently, she identified Gavin while he was still a good distance off, approaching along the tall, narrow passageway. A dragon no longer, he bled freely from a wound on his neck and walked with a pronounced limp. Her flashlight beam reflected off the sword in his hand. As a heavy gust tore through the passage, he lifted his free hand to shield his face.
"You can stop shaking the stick," Gavin called.
"I'd rather not," Kendra replied.
"I was trying to be polite," Gavin said, coming closer. "What I mean is, stop shaking the stick or I'll kill you."
Tears stung Kendra's eyes. A disturbed laugh threatened to fly from her lips. Gavin had killed Dougan. He had killed Mara. "Won't you kill me anyhow?"
"As a dragon I would," Gavin said, limping nearer. "In this form, I'd rather not."
"Who are you, Gavin?"
He grinned. "Haven't you guessed? You're no dummy. Give it a shot."
She knew. She had tried not to admit it to herself, but she knew. "Navarog."
"Of course."
"How can you be Navarog?" He had been her friend! He had protected her! She had hoped he might become her boyfriend! She had held his hand and written him flirty letters! Kendra felt ill. She wanted to curl up into a ball and weep.
"A better question might be how the rest of you missed it. I thought it was obvious after Lost Mesa. I guess oftentimes we only perceive what we expect to see."
Kendra shook her head, horrified and baffled and curious all at once. "So you were the hooded prisoner inside the Quiet Box?"
"Despite how the hood masked my senses, I can still remember the smell of your nervousness. Not unlike the scent I'm picking up at the moment. The Sphinx got me out, and then turned me loose just before he exited Fablehaven. I went and found the nail Seth had pulled from the revenant and gave it to Kurisock."
"And then you left," Kendra said.
"My business at Fablehaven was done. I went to a dragon sanctuary in the Himalayas."
"You were the dragon who ate Charlie Rose. He never had a son, did he?"
"I knew you could piece this together. The Sphinx recommended I visit Chuck Rose. Chuck's longtime friend Arlin Santos is a Knight of the Dawn and a traitor. Chuck would disappear in the wild for many months at a time. Arlin helped me find Chuck. Killing him was simple. After the deed was done, Arlin helped me pretend that his death happened longer ago than it actually had, and helped establish my avatar as Chuck's secret son. Gavin Rose, the stuttering w-w-w-wonder."
"I liked your stutter."
"It served a purpose. Made me seem more human, more vulnerable."
Kendra scowled. "What really happened at Lost Mesa?"
"What do you think?"
She knew it was bad, but there was too much to process. "You could talk to Chalize because you were a dragon."
"Before the rest of you entered the room, I showed Chalize my true form. Scared her to death. She almost tried to fight me. Once I established my dominance, I warned her that I'd kill her if she tried to attack you guys. Then I promised that if she would let us pass, I would free her. She was so young and inexperienced that I was worried she would do something stupid. But it worked out."
"You released Chalize? You destroyed Lost Mesa."
Gavin grinned. "And I framed poor Javier, the guy with no legs. He wasn't a traitor. I ate him. Then I stole the decoy artifact, slashed some tires, and moved a pickup truck. That same night I released Chalize, but commanded her to wait until after we were gone before wreaking havoc. Freed from confinement, Chalize was powerful enough to overthrow the treaty. She breached the gate and got Mr. Lich involved freeing the zombies and animating the dead."
"I can't believe it," Kendra mumbled numbly. "You're the demon prince of dragons. And now you're in the perfect position to help the Sphinx steal the next artifact."
Gavin seemed to relish her astonishment. "By now you must realize that the Sphinx deliberately let your duplicate escape. The stingbulb version of you, the one you left behind. He knew she was a fake when her touch failed to restore energy to an item he wanted recharged. He had given the item to her casually, so she had no idea he knew."
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.
Kendra climbed down the rungs. By the time she reached the bottom, Warren was unconscious.
"This has been a tough week for Warren," Gavin commented. "Should I just put him out of his misery?"
"No, please," Kendra begged.
"Why should I heed your wishes?" Gavin asked. "You tried to club me in the head!"
"I'll be good if you leave him alone," Kendra promised.
"It really doesn't matter if you behave. But, sure, I'll spare you having to watch me kill your friend. Go on up the ladder." He already held the unicorn horn. He crouched, easily picking up the iron egg in his other hand.
Kendra scaled the rungs. If good behavior might spare Warren, she would behave. Besides, Gavin was right. If she resisted, all he had to do was knock her out and drag her wherever he wanted.
Gavin exited the knapsack, set aside the egg and the horn, and removed a flask from a pocket. Unstopping the flask, he began drenching the knapsack with a pungent fluid.
"What are you doing?" Kendra asked, fear creeping into her voice.
Producing a lighter, Gavin set the knapsack on fire. "No!" Kendra cried, lunging toward the burning knapsack.
Gavin grabbed her, firmly holding her back. She struggled, staring in horror as the flames rapidly consumed the backpack. Eventually the fire began to burn lower. Flinging Kendra to the ground, Gavin poured more fluid on the fire, the resurgent flames throwing devilish highlights across his features. As the fire burned down a second time, he hacked up the blackened knapsack with his sword.
"You said you wouldn't hurt him if I behaved," Kendra sobbed, hands trembling.
"No, I said it didn't matter if you behaved. And I said I wouldn't make you watch me kill your friend. Instead, you watched me trap him in an extra-dimensional space forever. He has provisions, and the room is magically ventilated. I bet Warren will get really good at Yahtzee."
"You're a monster!" Kendra yelled.
"You're finally catching on. I'm much worse than most monsters, Kendra. I'm a dragon, and a demon prince."