Determine the Future (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 10)

by Sarah Noffke

  The guy didn’t have a chance to react before Ainsley whipped the stick down cleanly on his head and hit the exact right spot to make him instantly unconscious. He slumped onto the tank, which he wouldn’t be using.

  Grossed out by what she had to do, Ainsley dropped the stick like it was made of sewage and turned her attention to the trebuchet. That weapon could be the demise of the Dragon Elite members.

  Ainsley smiled to herself. But not if it wasn’t working…

  Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Nine

  Evan split off from the group when he spotted the redhead on the green dragon. That guy was his to take down. The demon dragonrider seemed to agree and want the beating because he recognized Evan right away and flew straight in his direction.

  After the battle over the ocean and getting bested by Evan’s water spirals, the Dragon Elite member guessed it was personal for him. He couldn’t blame the guy. Many had to suffer from defeat after going after Evan, thinking they’d win.

  “Too bad for you sucker,” Evan taunted as the two raced at each other. “Today isn’t your lucky day. The last time wasn’t either. You’re not the lucky type, methinks.”

  When they were close, the redhead held up his hand, which telegraphed his next move.

  “So predictable,” Evan called with a loud laugh and waited for what came next, not at all scared about it.

  When the bolt of lightning shot from the pale guy’s hand, Evan simply dove into a spiral and easily dodged the attack. He caught sight of the other Dragon Elite members, who were doing their best to deflect assaults from the cannon on the ground or the Rogue Riders in the air. It had quickly turned into chaos with dragons shooting fire at each other and the sharp sound of swords clanging.

  Freckles probably expected Evan to rely on his water magic again, but he was going to be in for a surprise because he and Simi weren’t one-trick ponies. Besides, bringing water onto the island would destroy it, and that was a no-no. They were going to preserve the integrity of the land so that way when the elves returned to their home, they could go back to their way of living.

  “You all have made a mess of this place.” Evan held out his hand as Simi flew low over the island. “When you leave, you need to take all this stuff with you and give it back to the people you stole from. Better yet, take this stuff with you to the junkyard where you’ll end up living, and the Dragon Elite will replace what you stole.”

  After his speech, Evan telekinetically picked up a large flatscreen TV that lay in the pile of electronics that the Rogue Riders had accumulated through theft. It rose in the air. The redhead didn’t see it—he was too busy chasing Evan. The Rogue Rider extended his hand, no doubt about to unleash another bolt of electricity. Before he had a chance, Evan threw his arm up and the TV he telekinetically held flew through the air, straight at Freckles.

  He saw it racing at him as he was about to release the lightning. The redhead swerved hard to the side as the bolt shot from his hand. It missed Evan and hit one of the Rogue Riders as they soared by, going after Mahkah. It instantly electrocuted the guy and his dragon. The pair violently spasmed before they dropped to the forest below.

  Evan shook his head, hating to have seen such a thing. He seemed more upset by that incident than Freckles though. He and his dragon didn’t seem to notice but instead continued their pursuit.

  “Boy, you’re heartless.” Evan picked up a large printer from the stack of electronics using his telekinetic spell and threw it at the guy.

  Deciding it was better to throw as many attacks at this guy as possible rather than watch to see if any hit home, Evan extended his hands, and a dozen electronics rose into the air.

  The whites of the Rogue Rider’s eyes were distinct as he realized what was about to happen next and that he wouldn’t be able to dodge all those attacks at once.

  Evan cackled. “You wanted all this stuff you stole. Now take it!” He swept his arms forward and watched with glee as the dude tucked tail and turned his dragon and raced away as the objects all sped after him.

  “I expected nothing less from a coward,” Evan said to Simi and shook his head as the guy flew away from the island, saving himself rather than staying to help his own. A Dragon Elite would never do that.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty

  Sophia wasn’t surprised to see Evan laughing and seeming to enjoy the battle like it was a big game for him as he telekinetically threw objects at the redhead on the green dragon.

  Mahkah was expertly flying circles on Tala around the Rogue Riders. He wasn’t attacking them but instead led them in such a convoluted pattern that they ran into each other.

  One wasn’t paying attention as he tried to avoid the objects that Evan was throwing through the air and ran straight into one of the lookout towers.

  Sophia let out a low growl. “Oh, man. That had to hurt.”

  Although the air was chaotic, the Dragon Elite were handing the Rogue Riders their butts. She glanced around at the barrier. At this rate, it would destroy the elves’ island. They needed to get the Rogue Riders out of there. Hiker had stated he didn’t want to kill them if they could avoid it.

  He wanted to give them a chance to reform and maybe after getting booted from the island that they stole, they’d straighten up. But before they could successfully get the Rogue Riders off the land, they needed the barrier dissolved. Sophia suspected that Liv and Stefan were hard at work on it. It shouldn’t be much longer.

  The problem for Hiker was restraining himself, and Sophia was witnessing that firsthand as he and the leader of the Rogue Riders circled each other in the air. The woman with long black hair and wearing clothes that looked like they came off a Kardashian rode the orange dragon better than her other dragonriders on theirs. However, she paled in comparison to Hiker and Bell, who moved as one.

  All the other riders gave the two leaders a wide berth and fought each other around them. Sophia got the impression that the woman’s dragonriders were afraid of her. And she got the impression that they were terrified of Hiker Wallace, as they should be.

  If this woman went after Hiker, she wasn’t going to survive. Maybe she sensed this, which was why she was circling rather than going straight in for the attack. She seemed to be trying to size Hiker up. The leader of the Dragon Elite was simultaneously keeping an eye on his riders, Ainsley on the ground, the barrier, and also this enemy facing off with him. Conversely, the woman didn’t seem to care that one of her riders was fried with electricity by her very own.

  The leader of the Rogue Riders did seem interested in something on the ground as she flew further in that direction. Hiker followed.

  An explosion stole the sky as one of the demon dragons sent fire at the ground, trying to go after Mahkah and missing. It hit the Bentley. The gas tank exploded and sent the expensive car straight into the air. Fire went everywhere, followed by smoke and shrapnel.

  Sophia shielded her face with her arm, suddenly worried about the fire that would spread and burn down the elves’ island. To her relief, she saw Evan speeding in that direction with Mahkah beside him and guessed they had the same concern and would handle things.

  However, the explosion had stolen Hiker’s attention, and the leader of the Rogue Riders had capitalized on it. She gestured to someone on the ground, and it only took an instant for Sophia to realize what was about to happen. That person aimed the cannon and fired it straight at Hiker Wallace.

  “Watch out!” Sophia yelled while speeding over on Lunis. Due to the intensity of the moment and the need, the blue dragon was able to instantly supersize although it was daytime and there wasn’t a full moon. It would deplete his reserves, but it was worth it. Faster than he’d be able to otherwise, Lunis sped through the air and knocked straight into Bell. The move pushed her out of the trajectory, and the momentum took them to safety as well as the cannonball flew by them, narrowly missing the dragons and their riders.

  It hit in the center of the island and created another huge explosion. Sophia glanced
briefly at Hiker, who had righted Bell, to ensure he was okay. He was startled but fine. And alive.

  She didn’t waste another moment before turning Lunis around as he shrank back to his regular size. Now facing the leader of the Rogue Riders, Sophia scowled and screamed as she and Lunis raced straight for the woman. There would be no more dancing around each other. This woman had threatened her own, and now she was going to pay—with her life.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One

  Wilder’s heart nearly exploded when he witnessed Sophia and Lunis speed in front of the cannonball to save Hiker. Watching the blue dragon instantly supersize had been incredibly inspiring. Lunis was an amazing dragon, and there was proof of it. However, he hadn’t maintained it long due to the absence of the full moon.

  Thankfully Sophia had been successful, saving Hiker and Bell as well as avoiding getting hit. But now Sophia was mad and speeding toward the leader of the Rogue Riders on a dragon that had to be low on reserves. To Wilder’s relief, Hiker wasn’t going to let her have this fight on her own. The leader of the Dragon Elite quickly followed her. That meant that Wilder could take care of the other potential problem on the ground—the cannon.

  Wilder reasoned that Ainsley was probably still devoting her attention to sabotaging the other weapons and hadn’t gotten around to the cannon.

  “Looks like we have that honor,” Wilder said to his dragon, Simi. He bore down and raced for the weapon. At the back, he spied the loser Rogue Rider who was loading it and preparing to fire again.

  “Not on my watch, you old bugger.” Wilder raised his hand and pulled on his wind magic. His ability to focus the wind was what made it the most impressive of his skills. Unlike the wind magic that many magicians had due to their alignment with the element, Wilder didn’t send out a wide wall. That was an option for him, but so was sending a neat stream.

  The cannon was the only thing affected by the force that Wilder used. He hadn’t wanted to hit the trebuchet in case Ainsley was somewhere nearby.

  The weapon flew backward and took the dragonrider loading it too. It toppled back, and the barrel bent in two from the force of the wind. The dragonrider wasn’t dead but was pinned.

  One of the Rogue Riders nearby witnessed the whole thing, and instead of running over to help him, he simply turned and fled at the sight of Wilder racing past. While shaking his head, Wilder sighed at the horrible display of teamwork. He sent another neat bit of wind at the cannon and man, making it roll off him, allowing him freedom—not that he deserved it, but Wilder didn’t want his blood on his hands. He hadn’t wanted Tanner’s either, but the Rogue Rider had left him no choice.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two

  Sophia knew that she was allowing her emotions to direct her, but the Rogue Riders had gone too far, and she’d had enough of it.

  She sped after the leader of the demon dragonriders, Lunis also urged on by his disdain of these people. The blue dragon soared across the space, moving stealthily.

  The woman caught sight of the pair racing toward her and the orange dragon. To her credit, she didn’t retreat like many of the demon dragonriders did. She bent low on her dragon and whipped him with the reins, urging him forward.

  This was it. Sophia was going to take this woman down—ridding the world of her and all the problems she’d brought with her. She pulled Inexorabilis from its sheath and brought the sword up, both hands on it as she held onto Lunis with only her legs.

  The other rider yanked her sword from her back but held it in only one hand, unable to let go completely.

  With a guttural scream, Sophia stood on her dragon. She felt as steady as a rock and knew what Lunis would do before he did it. The pair sped by the woman and orange dragon.

  There were roars of protest. Claws raked through the air. Wings flapped.

  Sophia blocked all that out as she brought her sword around and swung it straight at the woman. For a moment, they paused in the air on their dragons. The leader of the Rogue Riders blocked Sophia’s attack, but barely.

  Sophia’s blade pressed down hard against her opponent. They were close enough that she could see the yellow-flecked purple color of her eyes. Sophia gritted her teeth together and pushed, but the woman was strong and fought back, the two in a standoff. One more inch and Sophia would have the advantage and would have her enemy out of her saddle and tumbling toward the Earth.

  The woman must have known that because she ducked and yelled at her dragon, “GO!”

  The orange dragon dove and Sophia had only a second to recover her balance as Lunis righted himself. The leader of the Rogue Riders flew away while looking over her shoulder. She seemed like she was trying to figure out if she’d turn back and suffer another attack from Sophia, who regarded her with pure menace in her eyes.

  However, there was a shattering noise all around the island, like a glass dome was breaking. The barrier came down all around them and looked like dust settling to the ground before it magically disappeared.

  They had done it, Sophia thought with triumph. Liv and Stefan had brought down the barrier.

  Not a moment too soon either, Sophia realized as she looked over her shoulder to see the friends they’d invited to attend.

  Speeding toward the island from the side that the Dragon Elite had entered was a huge fleet of United States of America jets, all loaded and ready to fire. The United States government owed the dragonriders a ton of favors, most recently for ridding the world of Nevin Goosemen and the monsters he’d unleashed. Hiker had decided to call in the favor.

  Sophia turned to watch as the Rogue Riders all rose from the ground or raced around the Dragon Elite. Hiker joined Sophia on the right, the other riders at their back.

  For a moment, the Rogue Riders and their leader simply hovered in the air on their dragons while watching the Elite and the army storming in at their backs. They weren’t going to win this fight anyway, but now they had only one choice: Retreat.

  “Don’t ever come back here,” Hiker boomed. “Don’t ever steal land that doesn’t belong to you. And watch your back. If you continue to abuse the world at large, you will answer to me, and next time, you won’t survive it.”

  The woman looked like she was on fire with anger. She narrowed her eyes at them. “My name is Versalee. I am the leader of the Rogue Riders, and I will build my empire so strong and powerful that when I return, you will beg for my mercy. I will reign supreme.”

  Before Hiker could respond or Sophia could take off after Versalee again, the coward and her riders turned and raced away as the jets rumbled at their back, flew past the Dragon Elite and higher into the air before they turned back the way they’d come and let the Rogue Riders go. There would be another day to fight. For now, it was time to return the elves to their home and protect what had been lost.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three

  When Sophia exited her bedroom in the Castle, she found Wilder with his arm in front of his face in a Dracula pose. The cape he wore obscured most of his body, and the collar was pulled up high. He’d gelled his dark hair back and put white makeup on his face, making him really look like a vampire.

  “Well, don’t you look tasty,” Wilder said in a Romanian accent. He pulled his arm down dramatically and made his cape whip in the air to show his full costume. He wore a full suit with ruffles and looked very much like the famous vampire, Dracula.

  “You dressed up,” Sophia said with surprise.

  “And you didn’t,” he said with a frown.

  Sophia laughed and looked down at her trapeze costume. “I do believe this isn’t my everyday attire.”

  He grinned at her while looking her up and down. “But it should be.”

  “Well, if this whole dragonrider business doesn’t pan out, then I’ll run away and join the circus.”

  “I’ll be your ringmaster, madam.” He offered his arm. “Shall we? I hear we have a party to attend.”

  Sophia took his arm and nodded. “Yeah, and I have to throw up the decora
tions. Maybe you can help.”

  “What are you thinking?” He led her down the stairs of the Castle.

  “Well, since Lunis will attend and maybe some of the other dragons, I thought it should be on the Expanse,” Sophia explained. She hadn’t had a lot of time to devote to this whole thing. “We throw out some pumpkins, and I’ll figure out some food options. It won’t be big or lavish, but it will be fun.”

  “No doubt,” Wilder agreed.

  When they came to the entrance, Sophia was surprised to find the rest of the Dragon Elite, Ainsley, and Mama Jamba standing at the front door with strange expressions on their faces. None of them were in costume, but that didn’t surprise her.

  “What is it?” She saw the hesitant expressions on their faces. “Is everything okay?”

  Hiker nodded and stepped forward. “Yes, besides the fact that two of my riders look like they belong in a sideshow.”

  “I think they’re cute.” Mama Jamba smiled at the pair.

  “You were supposed to put on the party outside,” Evan nodded at the door.

  “Yeah, that’s what I told y’all I’d do,” Sophia stated. “I’m running a little late, but I can magic up some decorations and food. Give me twenty minutes.”

  “That’s the thing,” Ainsley began. Her voice hid something.

  “What’s the thing?” Wilder sounded worried, about like Sophia.

  “It’s better if you look for yourselves,” Mahkah offered as he opened the door and pulled it wide.

  Sophia stepped forward as her mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe the sight before her. On the Expanse, taking up a huge portion of the lawn, was a large, orange and purple big top tent. It was open on the sides and covered in sparkling orange and white twinkle lights that made it glow in the darkness.