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"Warren, how did you get down here?" Kendra asked

"I wish I could say through my own brilliant innovation," Warren said "I had help"

"From who?" Bracken wondered

"The Sphinx"

"What?" Kendra exclaimed

"I kno it sounds," Warren said "Hear ," Bracken said skeptically

"Tonight changed everything for the Sphinx," Warren explained "He has lost control of the Society"

Bracken scowled doubtfully "How?"

"Graulas is here"

"The demon who helped Seth back at Fablehaven?" Kendra asked "Isn’t he dying?"

"Not anyi Luna here at Living Mirage had an agent slip Seth the Translocator and the Sands of Sanctity Seth escaped the dungeon and went to heal Graulas Once healed, the demon stole the artifacts, acquired the Chronometer, and came here"

"Seth healed Graulas!" Kendra cried

"Hekind," Warren inferred

"So now the Society has all five artifacts," Kendra said

"And so the Sphinx never counted on," Warren said

"A powerful de for control," Bracken surmised "The Sphinx always maintained he would open Zzyzx only on his terms"

"But his plans have fallen apart," Warren said "Graulas has already won overfelt the Sphinx was too lenient and conservative If the Sphinx doesn’t play along, he’ll end up a prisoner in his own dungeon Blixes are s, and Mr Lich has been with the Sphinx al from the same Font of Immortality With or without the Sphinx, Mr Lich can use the Translocator and the Chrono Zzyzx"

"And the demons can finish it," Kendra said

Bracken pounded a frustrated fist into his palm "Deluded as the Sphinx e’re all worse off than before"

"We have one ray of hope," Warren said "If he can’t do it on his ter of Zzyzx He wants to stop Graulas as badly as we do He can’t let the demons know his intentions He wants to re them down from the inside But he provided me with some key information"

"How did you ht, I was part of a rescue attempt," Warren said "Kendra came here as part of the same mission I was dropped off separately froan evasiveI did Minutes later I was the target of a manhunt Coulter, a friend of ours, had lent love, which ied to elude e, the Sphinx decided to personally lead the hunt for me Accompanied by a feraiths under his control, the Sphinx trackedave e into the depths of his dungeon"

"You can lead us out of here?" Bracken exclaimed

"By a pathway known only to the Sphinx," Warren confirmed

"Then what?" Kendra said

"He wants us to protect the Eternals," Warren said

Bracken laughed bitterly "The world is upside down"

"He said there are three Eternals left He recently learned the location of one, aoccupied a heavily fortified stronghold in Finland"

"Okay," Bracken said uncertainly

"The Sphinx feels certain Graulas will ainst Roon i for support to reeon The Sphinx believes it will not be long before Nagi Luna holds the Oculus in her hands Once she does, he believes she will speedily discover the re Eternals Bracken, he wants you to leave one of your psychic communicators in your room He will retrieve it and feed us inforame," Bracken whispered "You understand, our interests enda His end goal is not to stop the opening of Zzyzx, but to regain control of the situation and open it on his teret it," Warren said "But keep in mind, if Graulas is here and healthy, what are the odds of the Sphinx regaining control?"

"I see your point," Bracken said "Nevertheless, we mustn’t underestireed," Warren said "However, for the moment, I think it benefits everyone to use each other"

"How can we get out of here?" Bracken asked

"It has to look like we escaped," Warren said "The Sphinx said theto him, our best bet is to head to the fairy shrine"

"The shrine here is sealed," Bracken said resentfully

"Right," Warren said "By the Sphinx He gavethe odds "So we hope the Fairy Queen can conjure a way out of here"

"Seems like our best bet," Warren said

"What do you mean, the shrine is sealed?" Kendra wondered

"The Sphinx didn’t want the Fairy Queen to be able to spy on him," Bracken said "He lacked the power to destroy her shrine here, so he sealed it off, covering it with an ensorcelled iron dome"

"The dome has an access port," Warren said "And I now have a copy of the key"

"Getting to the shrine will be no simple affair," Bracken warned "This is not a mild preserve"