Seth broke into a run. Because a lot of this would be trial and error, the faster he covered ground, the more likely he would be to get out in time. When he hit dead ends, he reversed his course instantly. Same when he headed down a corridor that led him to a section of the room he had not travelled in the wheelbarrow. Soon he was panting and sweating. The muscles in his legs began to ache.
Fatigue forced him to slow his pace. He took encouragement whenever a particular intersection or series of switchbacks felt familiar. Most of the time nothing seemed recognizable.
He kept checking his watch. He may have failed to look at the time when he had first entered the cavern, but he knew how long it had been since he had started back to the entrance. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. Hope began to fade with every minute that sped by.
As he kept watching the ceiling, Seth finally found himself on the side of the room near the exit. Since he had only been in this area right at the start, he doubled back whenever corridors led him too far away. He abandoned his rule to generally turn right, and soon began to feel he was passing along the same corridors multiple times. A certain intersection with five choices began to look familiar. Upon reaching it again, he felt certain he had tried four of the five branches, so he jogged down the unfamiliar iron hall. After two more turns, he emerged from the maze, the tunnel to the surface gaping before him.
Seth glanced at his watch. More than thirty minutes had passed since he had started back., Breathing hard, Seth dashed up the steady incline of the tunnel until he reached the pit. Overhead, the giant stone was drifting into position, blocking out the light from the hillside torches. The megalith already covered more than three-quarters of the pit.
Observing no centaurs, Seth quietly climbed the side of the pit opposite the hill, hesitating just below the top. If he timed this right, he could use the giant stone to screen him from view. If he timed it wrong, he would be fatally mashed into the dirt.
The colossal stone hovered directly above the pit and began to sink. Moving slowly, Seth climbed out, then held still as the stone settled behind him. Ahead of him were evergreen trees, their needles visible at the edge of the firelight from the hill. Most of the intervening ground was shadowed by the megalith.
Seth crawled slowly forward. If he rushed now, he might get spotted and spoil everything. Little by little, the evergreens drew near. When he paused to glance back, the centaur sentries stood at their shadowy posts, frowning into the night. They appeared to harbor no suspicions that the horn had been removed from its socket.
Once he reached the shelter of the evergreens, Seth arose and ran to the brink of the swamp. He saw neither the troll nor the raft.
"Nero," he hissed into the darkness. "Nero, I'm back." He was tempted to sweep his flashlight over the water, but decided not to risk a centaur noticing the shine. "Nero!" Seth cried in a louder whisper.
A voice from the darkness shushed him. He waited in silence until he heard water lapping against the raft. As it drew near, Seth could see the troll.
"Come aboard," Nero whispered.
Seth obeyed, the raft rocking and sloshing as he landed. Nero used the momentum from the jump to pole away from the shore.
"I can see you," Seth whispered.
"Dawn begins to color the sky. We must hurry back to the golem. If a fog giant spies us, it will not end well. You achieved your aim?"
"I got the horn," Seth said. "The centaurs haven't realized."
As if in response to his words, they heard the long, low moan of a distant horn. As other horns took up the call, sonorous wails echoed through the swamp. "They know," Nero spat, licking an eye. He began to pole them forward louder and faster. "You are now a fugitive. The golem must smuggle you to the safety of your yard as soon as possible."
"Will the centaurs be looking everywhere?" Seth asked.
"Everywhere. Fortunately, they cannot run on water. They'll have to come around the marshes to get at you. If the golem hurries, you should be fine."
By the time they reached Hugo, the east was gray and Seth could see quite well. Seth leapt from the raft to the muddy shore. "Thanks, Nero."
"Away with you," the troll urged.
"Home, Hugo! Fast as you can! Avoid centaurs at all cost!"
The golem swept Seth into his arms and loped away into the trees.
Chapter 15 Horns
Kendra awoke disquieted. She rolled over and squinted at the gray predawn light filtering through the attic window. Twisting the other way, she peered at Seth curled up on his bed, the blankets up over his head. She closed her eyes. No need to rise before the sun.
Then she heard the long, distant call of a horn. Was that what had awakened her? Another horn answered on a different pitch. She had never heard horns resounding from the woods of Fablehaven before.
She glanced over at Seth again. He was sure curled up tight. And he didn't normally sleep with his head under the covers.
Crossing to his bed, she peeked under his wadded sheets and found only his pillows. She checked under his bed and found his emergency kit missing.
Kendra did not relish her role as tattletale. But with a brother like Seth, what was she to do? It wasn't like he was stealing from the cookie jar. At Fablehaven, his adventurous nature sometimes led to life-threatening situations.
At the door to her grandparents' room Kendra knocked softly, then entered without waiting for an invitation. Their bed was empty. Maybe Seth wasn't gone after all. Perhaps everyone was awake but her. But why would Seth have disguised his bed?
She hurried downstairs and found her grandparents on the back porch with Tanu and Coulter. They all stood against the railing, gazing out over the yard. The sonorous moans of horns drifted to them from different parts of the woods. Some sounded nearby.
"What's going on?" Kendra asked.
Grandma turned her head. "The centaurs are agitated about something. They seldom range this far from Grunhold, and never wind their horns so freely."
Chills tingled through Kendra. "Seth is gone."
The others whirled. "Gone?" Grandpa asked.
"I don't know when," Kendra reported. "He stuffed pillows under his covers. He took his emergency kit."
Grandpa bowed his head, clapping a hand over his eyes. "That boy will ruin us yet."
"We wouldn't be hearing horns if they had caught him," Coulter observed.
"True," Grandma acknowledged.
Warren approached from behind, rubbing sleep from his eyes, his hair matted erratically. "What's going on?"
"Apparently Seth has riled the centaurs," Grandpa said.
"Would he have gone after the horn?" Grandma asked. "Surely he couldn't be so foolish."
"If he had gone after the horn, the centauts would have him," Warren said. "More likely he was mad he didn't get to accompany us to Grunhold. He probably went sightseeing."
Grandpa was gripping the porch railing hard enough to make the veins stand out on the backs of his hands. "We'd better send Hugo after him." He raised his voice. "Hugo? Come!"
They waited. Nobody came.
Grandpa faced the others, looking sick. "He couldn't have cajoled Hugo into joining him?"
"Mendigo?" Grandma called.
A moment later, the human-sized wooden puppet came dashing across the lawn, the golden hooks of his joints jingling. He stopped near the porch.
"Did Hugo leave with Seth?" Grandma asked.The puppet pointed towatd the woods.
"No wonder the centaurs haven't caught him," Tanu said. "If he's on the run with Hugo, he should make it back."
"And I'll have to deal with the aftermath," Grandpa grumbled. "The centaurs don't smile on trespassers."
"What can we do?" Kendra asked.
Grandpa harrumphed. "We wait."
"Who would like a smoothie?" Grandma asked.
Everyone but Grandpa asked for one. Grandma was walking into the house when Tanu spoke up. "Here he comes."
Kendra looked across the yard. Hugo came loping out of the woods at full speed with Seth tucked under one arm. The golem charged straight to the deck and placed Seth on his feet. At first her brother looked worried, but then he started trying to resist a smile. The call of horns continued to echo across the woods, the forlorn notes occasionally overlapping.
"Is something funny?" Grandpa asked in a severe tone.
"No, sir," Seth said, still wrestling against a smirk.
Grandpa trembled with anger. "The centaurs are not to be trifled with. And you are not to be trusted. You are grounded indefinitely. You will spend the rest of your time here locked in a cell in the dungeon."
Grandma laid a hand on Grandpa's arm. "Stan."
Grandpa shrugged away from her. "I'll not lighten the punishment this time. We've clearly been too gentle in the past. He is not an imbecile. He knows that this type of behavior puts himself and his family at risk. And for what? To sneak a peek at some centaurs! Frivolous amusement! Hugo, how could you have joined him in this?"
The golem pointed at Seth. "Horn."
"Yes, we hear the war horns," Grandpa said impatiently. Then he paused, his expression softening. "Are you telling me that you went to rescue Seth after you heard the horns?"
"No," Seth said, no longer smiling. He took something from his emergency kit. "He's telling you that we got the Soul of Grunhold." He held up the pearly unicorn horn.
Everyone on the deck gaped in disbelief.
"I'll be jiggered," Coulter murmured.
Grandpa was the first to recover, his eyes intently roving the trees. "Inside. Now."
Seth returned the horn to his emergency kit and climbed over the porch railing. Warren clapped him warmly oh the back. "Well done!"
"Hugo, resume patrolling the yard," Grandpa said. "Your excursion with Seth never happened."
Kendra followed her brother into the house, her mind reeling. How could he have possibly gotten the horn? Had there been some sort of total centaur malfunction? What about the guards and the maze and the troll? What about the guilt that prevented the horn from being taken?
They took seats in the living room.
"So, how mad are you?" Seth asked, holding up the lustrous horn, a grin creeping back onto his face.
"Less mad," Grandpa admitted, fighting a smile himself. "At least you weren't endangering us frivolously. Although it was still unwise. How was this accomplished?"
"First I went to Graulas."
"The demon?" Grandma exclaimed.
"When I was outside with the satyrs, I heard him calling to me, summoning me, just like when I heard the wraith in the dungeon. I figured Graulas could explain what was happening to me, since dark stuff is his specialty. He told me that the nail turned me into a shadow charmer."
"A shadow charmer?" Coulter repeated, frowning.
"Yeah," Seth replied. "That was why I could see the invisible goblin at the hotel, and how I heard the voices. I already had most of the powers. Graulas just explained the details and made it official."
The adults traded uncomfortable glances.
"Finish recounting how you obtained the horn," Grandpa prompted.
Seth telated the whole adventure, from the help he received from Nero, to crawling past the centaurs, to tricking the mountain troll, to his hasty retreat to the yard.
"No centaurs saw you," Grandpa said.
"Not a glimpse," Seth assured him.
"And you told the troll your name was Navarog," Grandma confirmed.
"Right."
"The centaurs will undoubtedly suspect us," Grandpa said wearily. "But without proof, they cannot go to war. Our story will be that we tried to warn them as soon as we learned that the Society might be after the horn. They will be reluctant to admit that we stole the horn out from under them, and may embrace an alternate explanation."
"Meanwhile, we should head for Wyrmroost," Warren said. "Once we retrieve the key to the Australian vault, we can return the horn to the centaurs. We'll pretend we recovered it from the Society."
"We mustn't move hastily," Grandpa replied. "We should consult with the leadership of the Knights of the Dawn. This mission to Wyrmroost must succeed. We don't have the expertise in this room to form a proper team."
"I'll second that," Coulter muttered.
"We'll need dragon tamers," Tanu agreed.
"For sure I'm going," Seth announced. "I got the horn."
Grandpa turned to him. "You aren't out of the woods yet, young man. Don't start making wild presumptions. You took a huge unauthorized risk going to the centaurs."
"Would you have ever authorized it?"
"We're all fortunate you succeeded," Grandpa continued, ignoring the comment. "Had you failed, you would be dead and we would have a war on our hands. Additionally, this shadow charmer business will require further investigation. Shadow charmers are the stuff of old bedtime stories. They are generally the villains. We have no idea what kind of access dark creatures may now have to you."
"What if Graulas can now spy on us through your eyes?" Grandma said.
"I don't think it works like that," Seth said.
"We possess little sure knowledge of shadow charmers," Grandpa reiterated. "We'll do what we can to acquire more."
"Don't hold your breath," Coulter mumbled.
Grandpa leaned forward, regarding Seth kindly. "I honestly don't know what to do with you. Facing Graulas was incredibly brave. So was retrieving the horn. I know you had good intentions, that you took a calculated risk. Moreover, you weren't wrong. You pulled it off. Recovering the horn was a major coup. But until we learn more about your status as a shadow charmer, and because you took a potentially disastrous risk without permission, I'm afraid I still have to punish you."