Brandon Mull Quotes

“Seth was altered by magic imposed upon him. But the potential to fall and become an imp is a fundamental aspect of being a fairy […] Muriel might be able to undo the enchantments forced upon Seth. Reversing the fall of a fairy would be far beyond her capacity.”

″‘The fairies aren’t safe?’ Seth asked. ‘They aren’t out to harm anyone, or I wouldn’t allow them in the yard. I suppose they are capable of good deeds, but they would not normally do them for what we would consider the right reasons.‘”

“Mortality is a totally different state of being. You become more aware of time. I was absolutely content as a naiad. I lived in an unchanging state for what must have been many millennia, never thinking of the future or the past, always looking for amusement, always finding it. Almost no self-awareness.”

“Powerful magic holds the knots in place. When released, Muriel can channel that magic into granting the favor.”

“There was no way she was really seeing this, right? There had to be an explanation. But the fairies were everywhere, near and far, shimmering in vivid colors. How could she deny what was before her eyes”

“In a world where mortal man has become the dominant force, most creatures of enchantment have fled to refuges like this one.”

“In her current situation, her family would die if she failed to act. She had to stand by her previous decision and carry out her plan, regardless of the consequences.”

“The moment of truth had arrived. When she set foot on the island, either she would transform into a cloud of dandelion fluff and drift away, or she wouldn’t. Almost indifferent at this point, Kendra leaped out of the boat and landed on the shore.”

“There was no way she was really seeing this, right? There had to be an explanation. But the fairies were everywhere, near and far, shimmering in vivid colors. How could she deny what was before her eyes”

″‘That is my right. I am your grandfather. And this is my property.’ ‘I am your grandson. You should tell me the truth. You’re not setting a very good example.‘”

“Fairies are vain, selfish creatures. You may have noticed I drained all the fountains and the birdbaths outside. When they are full, the fairies assemble to stare at their reflections all day.”

″‘How did you become a chicken in the first place?’ Seth asked. ‘Pride made me careless,’ Grandma said. ‘A sobering reminder that none of us are immune to the dangers here, even when we imagine we have the upper hand.‘”

“Unlike her little brother, Kendra was not a natural rule breaker.”

“Seth jumped off the bed. Crouching, he scooped up two handfuls from the circle of salt and charged the wiry goblin.”

“I know the mistakes you made were not deliberate or malicious […] Your grandfather must share the blame for placing you children in a situation where opening a window with kind intentions could cause such harm and destruction. And clearly the fiends who abducted him are ultimately the most culpable.”

“A fairy with raven black hair and bumblebee wings approached the bowl. Mimicking Kendra, she dipped a finger and tasted it. In a whirling shower of sparks the fairy grew to nearly six feet tall.”

“My dad says people who insist that you trust them usually don’t deserve it. You don’t need to give me more candy, but I earned the candy that I have. Everything you’ve had us do so far has seemed shady, and this new assignment is the shadiest yet. I just don’t trust you.”

“Can’t you home school me?” Nate pleaded. “You would never do any work.” [Nate’s mom] “Sounds perfect!”

″‘Could you just call me Pigeon?’ he asked the teacher when she read his name. ‘Does your mother call you Pigeon?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then to me you are Paul.’ ... ‘Nathan Sutter,’ the teacher read. ‘My mother never calls me Nathan.’ ‘Is it Nate?’ ‘She calls me Honeylips.‘”

“Very well, my arrogant young adventurer. Why not test your courage? Every explorer deserves a chance to prove his mettle.”

″‘Are you her boyfriend?’ ... ‘No, I’m her fiancé.’ Nate said. ‘We’ve been promised to each other since birth,’ Summer added. ‘Our wedding isn’t until March.‘”

“But what about when they got there? Bahumat was supposed to be incredibly powerful. Even so, considering the legion of fierce fairies surrounding her, Kendra liked her odds.”

“Kendra turned. All she saw was a butterfly and a couple of hummingbirds. She looked back at Seth. He was turning in circles, eyes darting around the garden, apparently perplexed and amazed. ‘They’re everywhere,’ he said in awe. ‘What are?’ ‘Look around. The fairies.‘”

“On the festival nights, nightmares take shape and prowl the yard. Ancient entities of supreme evil patrol the darkness in search of prey.”

″‘Not kill us,’ Pigeon corrected. ‘She was mainly just trying to turn us into mindless slaves.‘”

“Nate sat at the end of a sheetless mattress, bouncing a small rubber ball off the bare wall, keeping count of how many consecutive times he caught it.”

“You say you are aware of a plot by Belinda White?”

“Nate had considered using a Moon Rock to reach Mr. Stott’s house faster, but in broad daylight he felt he would be too conspicuous. Not everyone in town was consuming white fudge. Besides, leaping with a Moon Rock wasn’t that much faster than running. Thankfully, most of the way to Mr. Stott’s place was downhill.”

“Summer pretended to sneeze and spit her Moon Rock into the weeds. Her body grew heavier. ‘I don’t have time to stand around talking,’ she said. ‘Let’s just say, if I were you, I wouldn’t mess around with us anymore.’ She turned and walked away hurriedly.”

″‘What assignment?’ Nate inquired. ‘You told me that you’re explorers,’ Mrs. White said, leaning against a worktable. ‘I have a need specific to your talents. If you accept the mission, I will provide you with a variety of new candy to get the job done, with more as a reward upon completion.‘”

″‘We have a club,’ Pigeon said, receiving a glare from Summer. ‘What sort of club?’ Mrs. White asked. Pigeon looked to Summer. ‘We explore stuff,’ Summer said. ‘And ride bikes,’ Nate added.”

″‘Okay, I’ll do it first.’ He popped the Moon Rock into his mouth. ‘Feel any different?’ Pigeon asked eagerly. ‘A little,’ Nate said. ‘Sort of tingly. It tastes really good. I almost feel . . .’ He moved to take a step and floated up into the air. He rose slowly, his feet reaching the height of Trevor’s eyes before he drifted downward to land gently on the ground. ′ . . . lighter,′ Nate finished, bewildered.”

″‘Maybe I should have offered some of my secret candy instead,’ Mrs. White sighed in a quiet tone, as if talking to herself. ‘Secret candy?’ Nate asked, instantly intrigued. ‘My goodness,’ Mrs. White said. ‘Forget I mentioned it. I never bring up my secret candy on a first meeting. Which will it be, eggnog or brownie?‘”

″‘Are you the real Nate?’ Pigeon asked. ‘We’re all the real Nate,’ Nate said. ‘It’s complicated.‘”

“Nate had been spying on the candy shop for almost thirty minutes. His hour had to be waning. If he was going to risk a direct assault on the shop, he knew it was now or never.”

″‘Five days!’ Nate exclaimed. ‘Breaking a curse is no small matter,’ Mozag said. ‘Five days with greenish skin is a small price to pay. While you’re waiting, help yourself to the sardines.‘”

″‘No pulse,’ Nate confirmed. ‘Our hearts don’t need to beat, we breathe only out of habit . . . no wonder Mrs. White said we could get trapped in here forever.‘”

″‘Nate, why don’t you go outside for a while? I saw some kids playing out there.’ ‘But I don’t know them.’ ‘Then go get acquainted. When I was your age, I was friends with whoever happened to be out roaming the neighborhood.’ ‘Sounds like a good way to get stabbed by a hobo,’ Nate grumbled. ‘You know what I mean.‘”

“They hopped the curb and rode a short distance down the jogging path, stopping at the top of a steep slope covered in dry brush. Near the bottom of the slope, just before the ground leveled out, a ramp had been constructed. ‘You have to take that jump going full speed,’ Summer said. ‘Whatever!’ Nate exclaimed. ‘I’m not a stunt man. What are you planning to do, rob my corpse?‘”

″‘You should have Hugo throw you in the pool.’ The golem turned his head toward Seth, who shrugged. ‘Sure, that would be fun.’ Hugo nodded, grabbed Seth, and, with a motion like a hook shot, flung him skyward. ... Her brother sailed nearly as high as the roof of the house before plummeting down and landing in the center of the deep end with an impressive splash. Kendra ran to the side of the pool. By the time she arrived, Seth was boosting himself out of the waster, hair and clothes dripping. ‘That was the freakiest, awesomest moment in my life!’ Seth declared. ‘But next time, let me take off my shoes.‘”

″‘Can you see the power emotion has to distort our outlook? Makes you wonder, did you have a bad day, or did you make it a bad day.‘”

“Mr. Stott had warned him that he would not be able to change the past. He had explained that everything he did would be something that had already happened. Which meant that trying to convince his friends he was a time traveler would be a dead end. He had already failed! With less than an hour to burn, he had to make the most of his time.”

″‘You act like I think I’m some big shot,’ Kendra said, ‘I think you’re projecting. I know I’m just a girl. Without the help of all the fairies I would have died last summer.’ ‘False humility is more insulting than open pride!’ the fairy sniffed.”

″‘Funny you guys should mention brownies,’ Seth said. ‘We need a favor.’ ‘Does the favor involve demons trashing our shed?’ Newel asked.

″‘This is the Quiet Box,’ Grandma said. ‘It is much more durable than any cell in the entire dungeon. It holds only a single prisoner, but it always holds a single prisoner. The only way to get the captive out is to put another in.‘”

″‘This is more like it,’ Seth said happily, placing the gold inside his emergency kit. ‘What does the ‘N’ stand for?′ Newel scratched his head. ‘Nothing.’ ‘Right,’ Doren said hastily. ‘Stands for ‘nothing″”

″‘Tingly,’ he said. His eyes widened. ‘Really tingly!’ His clothes suddenly looked very loose. He looked up at Kendra, craning his neck at his much taller sister...The shrinking accelerated, and he seemed to disappear.”

“Without warning, the statue squirmed and bit the side of his thumb. Yelling in surprise, Seth dropped the figurine and the flashlight onto the carpeted floor.”

“Seth pictured the gaunt man with the lank hair and the unphotogenic smile rocking the cocoon. ‘He can’t get in, he can’t get in, he can’t get in,’ Seth repeated softly to himself.”

″‘He paid a severe price to est the revenant-it was evidently a very close contest. Potion or no potion, your brother must have the heart of a lion!’ ‘He’s very brave,’ Kendra said, tears pooling in her eyes.”

“Pausing, he set down his things and began throwing punches to warm himself up. Wow, he hadn’t realized how fast his right had gotten! His left was pretty good too. He was a machine!”

″‘The entire preserve is in danger. Members of the Society of the Evening Star have taken over the house.’ ... He raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re saying there isn’t going to be a Welcome-Back-from-Your-Coma-Party?‘”

″‘Why did you betray us?’ Kendra accused. ‘One day those I serve will rule all,’ Vanessa said. ‘I do no more harm that I must. At present, our needs align. We must defeat the guardian to escape this place, and neither of us will succeed alone.‘”

“This surpassed the fear of death. Death would be a mercy if it would make the feeling stop, the uncontrollable panic mingling with the mind-scrambling certainty of something sinister approaching, something with no need to hurry, something that would not be so kind as to let him die. The fear was palpable, suffocating, irresistible.”

“Seth realized he had made the worst mistake of his life, and that now he would die. Why hadn’t he waited to open the cocoon? Why was he so impatient?”

″‘I can’t believe I missed the coolest thing anyone has ever seen,’ Seth complained...‘A giant, flying, snake-covered, three-headed, acid-breathing panther. If you didn’t have witnesses, I’d be sure you made it up just to torture me.‘”

“The car trembled and skidded, and for a terrible moment Kendra thought they were going to sail off the road, but Vanessa regained control and they raced away.”

″‘Maybe you should just feed me to him,’ Seth said. ‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ Grandma said. Seth stood up. ‘Wouldn’t it be better than letting Olloch destroy all of Fablehaven? Sounds like he’ll get me sooner or later.‘”

″‘Do you think you could go back to bed?’ Grandpa asked. ‘Not likely,’ Kendra said. ‘I’ve never felt more awake. And I’ve never wished more that I was dreaming.‘”

″‘Seth, the artifact we are looking for is very important. In the wrong hands it could be extremely dangerous. It could even lead to the end of the world.‘”