Brandon Mull - Fablehaven 05 - Keys to the Demon Prison

Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven Series, Book 5)

Brandon Mull

Contents

Chapter 1 A Dying Wish 1

Chapter 2 Obsidian Waste 7

Chapter 3 Dreamstone 26

Chapter 4 Passageways 52

Chapter 5 Translocator 73

Chapter 6 Living Mirage 89

Chapter 7 Doomsday Capsule 111

Chapter 8 Bracken 135

Chapter 9 Assignments 153

Chapter 10 Nagi Luna 171

Chapter 11 Vanessa's Secret 186

Chapter 12 Rescue 204

Chapter 13 A Promise Kept 222

Chapter 14 An Unexpected Ally 243

Chapter 15 Message in a Bottle 261

Chapter 16 The Sealed Shrine 285

Chapter 17 Preparations 309

Chapter 18 Flight 330

vi

Chapter 19 Cormac 348

Chapter 20 Roon 367

Chapter 21 The Singing Sisters 386

Chapter 22 Mark 412

Chapter 23 Vasilis 432

Chapter 24 Civia 456

Chapter 25 Lady Luck

Chapter 26 Shoreless Isle 508

Chapter 27 Knights of the Dawn 529

Chapter 28 The Demon King 543

Chapter 29 Prisoners 566

Chapter 30 A New Shrine 579

CHAPTER ONE

***

A Dying Wish

S eth knew he should not be here. His grandparents would be furious if they found out. The dismal cave smelled more rancid than ever, like a nauseating feast of spoiled meat and fruit. Almost steamy with humidity, the wet air forced him not only to smell but also to taste the putrid sweetness. Every inhalation made him want to retch.

Graulas lay on his side, chest swelling and shrinking with labored, hitching breaths. His infected face rested against the rocky floor, inflamed flesh flattened in a sticky mass. Although the demon's wrinkly eyelids were shut, he twitched and grunted as Seth drew near. Groaning and coughing, the bulky demon peeled his face away from the floor, one curled ram horn scraping the ground. The demon did not fully arise, but managed to prop himself up on one

elbow. One eye opened a fraction. The other was fused shut by congealed goo.

"Seth," Graulas rasped, his formerly rumbling voice weak and tired.

"I came," Seth acknowledged. "You said it was urgent." The heavy head nodded slightly. "I ... am ... dying," he managed.

The ancient demon had been diseased and dying since Seth had first met him. "Worse than ever?"

The demon wheezed and coughed, a cloud of dust rising from his lumpy frame. After spitting out a thick wad of phlegm, he spoke again, his voice little more than a whisper. "After ... long years ... of dwindling ... my final days ... have arrived."

Seth was unsure what to say. Graulas had never tried to hide his nefarious past. Most good people would be relieved to hear of his demise. But the demon had taken a liking to Seth. After becoming intrigued by Seth's unusual exploits and successes, Graulas had helped him figure out how to stop the shadow plague, and had further assisted him in learning to use his newfound abilities as a shadow charmer. Whatever crimes Graulas may have committed in the past, the moribund demon had always treated Seth well.

"I'm sorry," Seth said, mildly surprised to find he really meant it.

The demon trembled, then his elbow collapsed and he flopped flat against the ground. His eye closed. "The pain," he moaned softly. "Exquisite pain. My kind ... dies ... so very slowly. I thought ... I had sampled ... every possible

agony. But now, it burrows... twists... gnaws... expands. Deep inside. Relentless. Consuming. Before I can master it ... the pain increases... to new plateaus of anguish."

"Can I help?" Seth asked, doubting whether anything from the medicine cabinet would do the trick.

The demon snorted. "Not likely," he panted. "I understand ... you will leave tomorrow."

"How did you know that?" His mission the next day was supposedly a secret.

"Confide ... no plans ... to Newel and Doren."

Seth had not provided the satyrs with details. He had just told them he would be leaving Fablehaven for a time. He had been at the preserve for more than three months, ever since he and the others had returned from Wyrmroost. He had enjoyed several adventures with Newel and Doren in the interim, and felt he owed them a good-bye. Grandpa would only let them discuss the mission in his office with spells to help prevent spying, so Seth had shared no specifics, but he probably should not have said anything at all to the satyrs. "I didn't give them details," he told Graulas.

"No ... but I heard them mention your departure ... as they moved about the woods. Although ... I can't see into your house ... I can deduce ... you seek another artifact. Only such ... a mission ... would prompt Stan to risk ... your safety."

"I can't really talk about it," Seth apologized.

Graulas coughed wetly. "The details are unimportant. If I heard and guessed ... others may have heard. Though I cannot... see ... beyond the preserve ... I can sense much

outside attention focused here. Mighty wills straining to spy. Be on your guard."

"I'll be careful," Seth promised. "Is that why you called me here? To warn me?"

One eye cracked open and a faint smile touched the demon's desiccated lips. "Nothing so ... altruistic. I am soliciting a favor."

"What?"

"I may ... expire ... before you return. Which would render my wishes ... irrelevant. After all this time ... my days are truly numbered. Seth ... not only ... my physical pain ... troubles me. I am afraid to die."

"Me too."

Graulas grimaced. "You do not understand. Compared to me ... you have little to fear."

Seth scrunched his brow. "You mean because you were bad?"

"If I could ... evaporate ... into nothing ... I would welcome death. But this is not the case. There are other spheres awaiting us, Seth. The place prepared for my kind ... when we exit this life ... is not pleasant. Which is partly why demons cling to this life for as long as we can. After how I lived ... for thousands of years ... I will have to pay a steep price."

"But you're not the person you were," Seth said. "You've helped me a lot! I'm sure that will count for something."

Graulas huffed and coughed differently than he had before. It almost sounded like a bitter chuckle. "I meddled with your dilemmas ... from my deathbed ... to amuse

myself. Such trivialities will do little to offset centuries of deliberate evil. I have not changed, Seth. I am merely powerless. I have no drive left. As much pain as I am now enduring, I fear that the afterlife ... will hold far greater agonies."

"So what can I do?" Seth wondered.

"One thing only," Graulas growled through clenched lips. His eye squinted shut and his fists tightened. Seth heard teeth grinding. The demon's breath came in sharp, ragged bursts. "One moment," he managed, trembling. Creamy tears oozed from his eyes.

Seth turned away. It was too much to watch. He had never imagined such misery. He wanted to run from the cave and never return.

"One moment," Graulas gasped again. After a few grunts and moans, he began to breathe more deeply. "You can do one thing for me."

"Tell me," Seth said.

"I do not know the purpose of your mission ... but should you recover the Sands of Sanctity ... that artifact could greatly alleviate my suffering."

"But you're so diseased. Wouldn't it kill you?"

"You're thinking of... the unicorn horn. The horn purifies ... and yes ... its touch would slay me. But the Sands heal. They wouldn't just burn away my impurities. The Sands would cure my maladies and help my body survive the process. I would still be dying of old age, but the pain would be lessened, and the healing might even buy me a little more time. Forgive me, Seth. I would not ask ... were I not desperate."

Seth stared at the pathetic ruin the demon's body had become. "The Sphinx has the Sands," he said gently.

"I know," Graulas whispered. "Even the thought... that there is some small chance ... gives me something to dwell upon ... besides... besides..."