by Sarah Noffke
The men all backed up. Some of them reached for sticks on the ground and brandished them against the dragon.
“You see,” Tanner continued, puffing out his chest and rotating for the crowd like he was giving a show in the middle of a big top, “the Rogue Riders are here, and we need this spot of land. We’re expanding. You’ll hear more about us as we take over.”
Sophia nearly charged forward but stopped when Wilder put his hand on hers and gave her a look that said, “Wait.”
She nodded and turned her gaze back on Tanner, who continued to display his dominance to the natives.
“You can leave this island now,” Tanner went on, “or you can wait until the three-day mark.” He held up his wrist, where he brandished a shiny watch. “But tick tock, you better start packing because when the time comes, whoever is still here will pay.”
“You can’t do this!” a man carrying a rusted machete yelled and charged forward.
Coal swiped his leg through the air and knocked the man to the ground with ease, sending him into a crumpled mess.
Again, Sophia tensed, wanting to step in and defend the innocent villagers. Once again, Wilder stopped her with a gentle hand.
“We have to watch,” he whispered. “If we step in now, we’ll ruin our chances of getting to the main elfin island they took over.”
“He’s hurting people,” Sophia urged.
“I know,” Wilder stated, grief clearly written on his face. “But we need to think big. We can’t force the Rogue Riders out of the elves’ land unless we can get in there. We need the key. We have to find out how to get through the barrier.”
Many of the natives had retreated after watching the man thrown to the ground. They were more scared than defensive, which gave Tanner more confidence as he strode around the open area and gave orders.
“Over the next couple of days, my friends will join you here,” Tanner boldly stated. “You’ll make them feel at home. You’ll not threaten them as they make this pit fit for our expansion.”
Children cried in the background. Sophia’s heart ached, but she stayed still, watching and listening. Wilder was right. They needed to strategize rather than charge in. That was her style, after all. She was surprised that it was Wilder who encouraged it rather than her when she wanted to fight this newbie dragonrider.
Sophia let out a hot breath and returned her attention to Wilder. “What do you propose we do?”
He nodded as if he’d already worked it out. “I stay.”
“You what?” she asked, repulsed by the idea.
“I stay,” he repeated. “I’ll observe these Rogue Riders as they take over. Hopefully, I learn what the key is to get through the barrier. Then I’ll report back.”
Sophia didn’t like the idea at all. However, Wilder was right. The priority was to push the Rogue Riders out of the elfin territory. If they couldn’t get in there, then they couldn’t do that. If they fought Tanner here, it would only cue the others they were there and onto them, and raise their defenses. What they had to do was observe. Study the Rogue Riders. Find out their weaknesses.
Then attack that.
Sophia looked at Wilder with a heavy heart. She wanted to hold onto him forever and knew she had to leave him behind.
“If you need anything,” she began, “message me. Tell me that you’re okay regularly. Please be safe.”
He nodded. “Sophia, I’ll get the information we need and return to you. I promise.”
She tried to believe him. Needed to believe him. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed his lips, hope written in the gesture.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Wilder knew that Sophia didn’t want to leave him, but he reassured her that he’d stay hidden and simply observe what the Rogue Riders were doing as they took over the small island and bullied the natives. She hoped that he wouldn’t be tempted to intervene as she had been. It was hard to watch the mortals get tossed around and their possessions pillaged by the demon dragonriders.
Yes, they were new to their skills and probably felt big having newly magnetized to majestic dragons. But that didn’t give them any right to take that which wasn’t theirs, Sophia thought bitterly as she hurried through a portal onto Roya Lane, hoping to take her mind off Wilder and the perils he could be in as he stayed behind to do reconnaissance.
She was hopeful that he’d find something for them to use to get onto the main island. Without that, it would be impossible to force the Rogue Riders off the elfin land. Before she had left, Sophia had put one of her famous disguises on Wilder and Simi to make them look like a mortal and an old beat-up beached boat. It would last for as long as she kept her magical reserves mostly full.
If it dropped to below the mid-point, then they’d be exposed, and that would put them in danger. Although Wilder was much more skilled than the newbie Rogue Riders, they outnumbered him, and Sophia assumed that the demon dragonriders didn’t fight fair. They would undoubtedly stab one of their own in the back without a second thought. The most despicable part of that for Sophia was that all dragonriders were supposed to be part of the same brotherhood.
Sophia’s business on Roya Lane brought her to the Rose Apothecary. While she’d been discovering what the Rogue Riders were up to, she’d gotten a message from the potions expert. Bep gave her what sounded like good news. However, she reasoned that she might be reading into it, hopeful for a solution to fix fairy godmother college. All the message from the no-nonsense shop owner said was: If you want information on your toxic sludge problem, see me at the Rose Apothecary.
The potions shop smelled strongly of bath soaps when Sophia entered, which made her nose itch from the many different aromas vying for her olfactory center. She sneezed, covering her mouth and nose. Her eyes watered from a floral scent that smelled like something that would make a bee go insane.
“Don’t bring a cold in here,” Bep said matter-of-factly, her back to Sophia as she molded something sparkly with her hands in the corner.
“I’m not sick,” Sophia argued. “It’s whatever you have on display all around.” She glanced at the various shelves that had been restocked with shiny balls of gritty material, about the size of baseballs. There were hundreds in all different colors. Some sparkled and others dull, but still interesting with swirling colors and depths of patterns.
“What is all this?” Sophia dared to lean over and smell one of the balls. Its scent was reminiscent of salt and milk with an undertone of something sweet that reminded her of her childhood for some strange reason she couldn’t pinpoint.
“Those are bath bombs.” Bep turned and brandished a white ball that glimmered with bright bits of glitter.
“Bath bombs?” Sophia questioned in disbelief. “Why is the famous potions expert making bath bombs? That seems a bit beneath your skillset.”
Bep harrumphed at her and shook her head. “That’s what’s wrong with people.” She hurried by Sophia and set the newly made bath bomb on a shelf, next to a row of them.
“What is it that’s wrong with people?” Sophia asked after a long moment. She’d expected that Bep would continue and explain herself, but she didn’t.
“You people think that because something is simple, it isn’t complex.” Bep stood back to look at the display of shimmering bath bombs.
Sophia blinked at her for a moment. “I’m not sure where to start with that statement. Why is it that you refer to it as ‘you people,’ like you’re not one of us? And by definition, simple things aren’t complex or vice versa.”
“You people are different than me because you rarely use your common sense paired with your refined expertise.”
Sophia drew in a breath and refrained from rolling her eyes. “Again, I feel like we’re playing the oxymoron game.”
“You’re allowed to feel however you like,” Bep imparted. “The only morons are the ones whose cauldrons are too full for any more pig’s hearts or rabbit’s feet and therefore overflow.”
“Again, I’m speechless,�
� Sophia muttered. “Can we get onto why you’re making bath bombs? Or, more importantly, the information on the gunk messing with fairy godmother college?”
“First the bath bombs,” Bep demanded with authority.
Although Sophia wanted to get to the solution for Happily Ever After College, she knew that enduring the explanation about the bath bombs was important.
Very stoically, Bep stood in front of one of the displays and appraised them appreciatively. “There’s a proverb that goes, ‘Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.’ Are you following me?”
“You aren’t going anywhere as far as I can tell,” Sophia joked and pretended to look around like she was supposed to be following a path.
Bep sighed dramatically. “If you joke, then you miss the reason. My point is that many go to the waterfalls looking for enlightenment. They go on walkabouts. They search and come up short. If by some strange stroke of luck they find it, then they think they’re done. The gifts are found in the mundane. They’re found when you wash the dishes or sweep the floors, make the bed. That’s when the little voices come through.”
Sophia glanced at Bep sideways with a curious expression on her face. “What do your voices say?”
Thankfully realizing that she was teasing, Bep grinned slightly. “They say all sorts of things. Mostly they tell me that I’m never too good for the small chores. We don’t suddenly get too good to wash our butts if you know what I mean.”
Sophia nodded. “I think I do. I’ll always make that chore all mine.”
“My point is that I make the bath bombs in my spare time, the offseason to fill the store because I’m never too good for the small things,” Bep explained thoughtfully. “They return me to the mundane. The small tasks that give my mind the ability to rest up for the more complex ones to come. That’s where I come to the reason that you’ve joined me.”
Sophia turned to her. “Yes, the fix to fairy godmother college? Do you have the remedy?”
Bep shook her head. “Not yet.”
Sophia deflated a little, wishing for better news.
The woman’s eyes brightened as she held up a single finger triumphantly into the air. “But I know what you shall need for me to make it.”
“Oh, well that’s something.” Sophia stepped forward, hopeful.
“Don’t get so confident yet,” Bep said, a warning in her voice.
Sophia shrank back an inch and remembered herself. “I would never.”
“To obtain the ingredient I need to create the potion that will fix fairy godmother college, you’ll have to endure many challenges.”
Sophia nodded. “Welcome to Thursday.”
“You’ll need to find a specific thistle that only grows in a certain area,” Bep went on.
“Okay, so far, that’s pretty much status quo,” Sophia was almost bored.
“You’ll have to pick it out of a bounty that will confuse matters greatly,” Bep continued.
“I wondered when you were going to throw this curveball.”
Bep shot her a mischievous glare. “You can’t simply pick the flower.”
“I have to do it with my teeth?” Sophia guessed.
Bep shook her head. “No, it has to be picked simultaneously by the hands of two married people. Two people joined by the bonds of holy matrimony.”
Sophia sighed and stomped slightly. “Seriously, can I not blast down an army with fire by my dragon’s mouth and battle a deranged villain with my sword instead?”
Bep trotted off toward the back of the shop. “I’m afraid not. The hardest tasks are usually the easiest. You can sweep the floor to find your shattered heart. Or chop the wood to realize how much your demons are crying for your help. It’s when you’re in the belly of the beast that you forget the skeleton in your closet. They come alive when you’re asleep. When you’re folding the clothes. When you dust the blinds. When you’re preparing for battle.”
The potions expert turned at the door to the back and gave Sophia a knowing expression. “Bring me the thistle from Penicuik Hill, picked by two bonded by marriage. Only then will I be able to create the potion you need. If you don’t, then your fairy godmother college will hang in the balance, sure to be destroyed.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sophia had so many questions for the potions expert, but question time was over. The woman disappeared before explaining how to find the thistle or how it was different than the others or anything else.
Sophia slumped in the doorway of the Rose Apothecary while thinking of a married couple who would be willing to drop everything for an expedition of this type. There were only a few options, and they weren’t promising. Sophia chose her top option and set off down Roya Lane, hoping to make quick work of this mission, but realized straight away that her companions would undoubtedly make this a long and arduous task no matter what. They would be the challenge.
Sophia ducked as soon as she entered the Crying Cat Bakery. A meat cleaver soared over her head and stuck into the wall behind her, narrowly missing taking her hair off. After checking that it was safe, Sophia searched the front of the bakery.
Lee the baker assassin stood with her hands on her hips and back to Sophia, to one side of the entrance. Cat was on the other side of the counter with a pinched expression and her face as red as her hair.
“Your aim is about as good as your cooking,” Lee fired at her wife defiantly.
“I wasn’t aiming for you,” Cat replied bitterly. “I wanted to see if you could move. It appears that your lazy butt can when you’re motivated.”
Cat picked up another knife and held it like a dart she was about to throw at a target.
Sensing that things were escalating fast, Sophia stepped forward and held her hands out in a nonconfrontational manner. “Hey, maybe we all take a break for a second to calm down.”
“Why would I do that?” Cat indicated Lee. “Then I might forget what this one said about me.”
Lee sighed. “I said I need to fix that pane of glass.” She nodded at the cracked display window.
“You said I’m a real pain in the—”
“What happened to the glass?” Sophia interrupted the fuming baker, who only seemed to get angrier as she spoke.
“Yeah, what happened to it?” Lee asked her wife, accusation heavy in her tone.
“I don’t know,” Cat replied dismissively. “I bumped into it or something.”
Lee glanced at Sophia sideways. “With her head. Unsurprisingly, the glass broke but not her skull.”
“Wow, that must have hurt,” Sophia related.
Cat shrugged. “Probably did. Don’t remember it.”
“A bottle of whisky will do that for you,” Lee added.
“This might be a bad time,” Sophia began. “But I hoped that you two could help me out with a mission. I need a married couple to go with me to pick a thistle.”
“We can’t,” Lee stated at once.
“I know that you’re busy and all,” Sophia argued at once, trying to sound convincing. “I assure you that I’ll make it as fast as possible. It should be pretty easy, and it’s for a really good cause.”
“Regardless, we can’t,” Lee stated. “I have a job to do, and Cat has to work on her behavior so that when I return, I don’t want to kill her as well.” She glared at her wife. “Your goal in life should be to make it so I don’t want to murder you.”
Cat batted her eyelashes at her. “It was in our vows wasn’t it?”
Lee nodded. “Yes, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part, or until we murder each other, which we are going to really try not to do.”
Cat softened slightly. “Oh, Lee, I’m sorry that I’ve nagged you so much lately. I know that you’re working hard to kill all the people while also helping me run the bakery.”
Lee smiled at her. “Thanks. It’s nice to be appreciated. The jobs lately are especially difficult because the targets are incredibly hard to kill.”
/> Sophia rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I’m going to have to report you if you talk about this assassin business so openly.”
“Does it make a difference that the targets have mostly been hipsters lately?” Lee asked.
Sophia shrugged. “Sort of. At least tell me that they’re bad people.”
“They’re the kind of people who cheat on their taxes,” Lee stated.
“I’m not sure that warrants death,” Sophia muttered.
“And still use typewriters,” Lee continued.
“Still don’t think that’s enough,” Sophia imparted.
“Oh, and they’re Instagram influencers,” Lee added.
Sophia’s eyes widened. “Take them out. All of them.”
Lee nodded. “Then there’s the whole thing about breaking laws, harming the environment, and stealing.”
Sophia shrugged. “I guess that’s a good reason too.”
“Anyway, business is booming lately,” Lee explained. “I’d normally help you out, but my schedule won’t allow it.”
“And I’m sort of sober,” Cat stated. “I need to do something about that post-haste. It’s almost mid-afternoon.”
Lee nodded. “You take care of that. I’ll go take out a hipster. Then we’ll finish this fight later when your reflexes have slowed down.”
“Sounds good,” Cat sang and headed for the back.
Sophia deflated upon realizing that she would have to rely on her second, less best option. It was pretty sad if she had considered going on this mission with Cat and Lee over the other couple.
Resigning to her fate, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed. After a moment, the person on the other side answered.
“Hey.” Sophia sounded defeated. “Yeah, I need your help with something. Can you meet me on Roya Lane?”
She rolled her eyes as the person pretended to think about it. “I’ll owe you one for this,” Sophia continued and paused to wait for the reply. She gritted her teeth.
“Yes, fine. I’ll say it,” Sophia mumbled. “Get here already. Would you?”
