by Sarah Noffke
He ran his hands through his beard, seeming to wrestle internally with something. “There is something about you, Sophia, that is changing everything. Things that have stayed buried for a long time aren’t anymore. You brought back Mama, and although I love that woman, along with her came problems I can’t hide from anymore.”
“You mean, Thad Reinhart?” Sophia guessed.
He nodded. “He’s gotten too powerful, and it’s all my fault.”
“Because you thought you killed him and didn’t?” she asked.
Hiker shook his head. “No, because I was supposed to kill him and didn’t. I failed on purpose.”
“You what?” Sophia exclaimed.
He hung his head. “Well, I think it was more subconscious than anything, but looking back, I didn’t really try, not like I should have.”
“Didn’t you say the Dragon Elite leveled his castle with Thad in it? That sounds like trying,” Sophia offered.
“It does,” he replied. “I also knew Thad was in the basement where he would probably be safe. It gets worse.”
Sophia didn’t know how it could. Hiker had allowed a bad man to live, but for what reason.
“Even when we bombed his Castle,” he continued, “I knew he wasn’t dead. I thought he’d wither and fade without his dragon, but deep down inside, I’ve known for quite some time Thad wasn’t dead, that he was out there and alive.”
“How could you know, sir?” Sophia asked, her attention piqued.
Hiker faced her directly, his sober gaze hanging on her. “Sophia, I’m going to tell you something that has far-reaching implications. Only Quiet and Mama know it, but I realize now, everyone needs to, and it starts with you.”
“Why, sir?” Sophia asked.
“Because if it wasn’t for you, none of this would change,” he reasoned. “And also, you and I are a lot more alike than we are different.”
“What?” she questioned.
“Sophia, Thad Reinhart is forever connected to me. I often knew in the past where he was or what he was doing, or even now, I know he’s alive and growing more powerful,” Hiker admitted slowly. “He is my twin brother.”
Sophia blinked at the leader of the Dragon Elite. She didn’t understand the implications of this confession, although it seemed very important.
“Mama said she wasn’t making anymore twin dragonriders after us, but then you came along,” Hiker stated.
“Oh, yeah,” Sophia said. She usually forgot she was a twin. “But Jamison died at birth.”
“Yes, which explains why you are so powerful,” Hiker said almost dismissively.
“What?” Sophia asked.
He sighed. “When there are two, they both are as powerful as normal magicians. However, when one dies, the power they own transfers to the other, making the other more powerful. This used to be common knowledge, but then twins began to learn this and would murder each other.”
Sophia gasped in shock. “That’s horrible.”
Hiker nodded. Gulped. “I agree. It was a really dark part of the magician’s history, and that’s why many don’t know the information anymore.”
“I inherited Jamison’s power,” Sophia said, computing the implications of what she’d learned.
“Yes,” Hiker affirmed.
“Why wouldn’t you want Mama to have twin dragonriders anymore?”
“Because twins as dragonriders go a step further, but I’m not entirely sure why,” Hiker began. “Only the angels above do. When a twin is chosen as a dragonrider, the other is automatically chosen by a different dragon. If one magnetizes, the other will too. Maybe to model the light and dark of the world, or to mirror yin and yang, one is always inherently good and the other one bad.”
The laugh that spilled out of Sophia’s mouth seemed abrupt and then rude. She covered her mouth. “Wait, do you think I’m bad?”
He shook his head. “It’s obvious you aren’t. If your twin had survived, he would have been, though. I’m certain of that.”
A cold chill ran down Sophia’s back. She couldn’t fathom that the twin she’d never known and always thought of so fondly would have been evil. So many fantasies about having Jamison to play with had always taken up her childhood. She’d been sure if she’d only had him, then her childhood wouldn’t have been so lonely, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Jamison would have been bad.
Then it hit Sophia hard. Her mouth popped open. “Thad is the bad twin.”
Hiker nodded, his eyes red and full of regret. “I’m afraid so, and I knew he wasn’t dead all these years because I can feel him. Worse yet, I knew he was growing powerful and taking over, or at least I knew on a subconscious level.”
“Your connection to him is how you knew he was up to something horrible just before the dark ages,” Sophia said mostly to herself as she remembered the memory from the reset point.
“What?” Hiker asked.
“You warned the House of Fourteen about the magitech,” she explained. “It wasn’t because you had intel like Adam, it was because you could sense something about Thad. You two have a connection like all twins do, and therefore you share information.”
“I don’t know where you get your information, but yes, that’s correct.”
Sophia explained about the gold token and the reset point and everything she’d seen.
“Then you probably want to know what happened to change everything that night,” Hiker began, regret in his voice. “The battle was supposed to be swift. Thad’s numbers were low. We were strong. He had one advantage over me, and he knew it.”
Sophia sucked in a breath. She knew not to interrupt, but the silence between them was almost too much.
Finally, Hiker said, “I knew long ago I needed to kill my brother, but I couldn’t do it. And he knew that better than anyone.”
And there it was. Hiker had hesitated when his greatest enemy had opposed him. He’d allowed evil to survive when his job was to fight it.
“This was why Adam took out Ember, Thad’s dragon, when it should have been me,” Hiker continued. “Adam was trying to stop Thad, but instead, he killed the dragon. None of it would have happened if I had been willing to stop my twin. Adam knew I couldn’t harm my brother, no matter what he did. Later, when the final battle was almost over, it was up to me to take down the leader of the Rogue Riders. I hesitated, and Thad did what he did best and took the advantage. He came in to take me out, delivering an evil blow.”
“He was going to kill you,” Sophia guessed.
“Yes, but I didn’t fight him. I couldn’t. Only one person was willing to do that for me.” Hiker sucked in a breath and gave Sophia the most pained expression she’d ever seen on anyone’s face.
“Who was it, sir?” Sophia asked, although she felt she already knew. “Who fought Thad for you?”
“It was Ainsley,” Hiker admitted. “She saved my life.”
Chapter Seventy
“Ainsley jumped in front of the attack meant to kill me,” Hiker continued, “and it nearly destroyed her. It is because of her I stand before you now. She paid the ultimate price for her bravery. The attack didn’t kill her; the Castle saw to that. However, it wiped her memory, and nothing I’ve ever done has ever been enough to recover it.”
Now she knew.
Sophia understood so much. Hiker’s regret. His inability to take proper action against Thad Reinhart. Why Ainsley had the scar, and why she couldn’t remember so much. It also told her something only those looking between the lines would know.
“She must have loved you very much,” Sophia said softly.
Hiker’s head jerked up. “No. We were associates. Maybe friends, but that’s it. Why would you say that? She was an advisor for the Dragon Elite.”
Sophia smirked. “Sir, if I may, one only risks their life like that for someone they love deeply. Maybe you didn’t know about her heart, but it is the only reasonable explanation for her actions.”
He shook his head adamantly. “It wasn
’t like that. We were on the battlefield. Negotiations were going to commence. I knew I needed to kill Thad. I knew he’d never face his punishment as he hadn’t when he tried to flee the first time when Adam tried to stop him and accidentally killed Ember. It all happened so fast. He threw a curse meant for me. Ainsley jumped in front of it. I tried to deflect. It worked, but not well enough. Thad fled, and Ainsley paid the price for my cowardice.”
“Not being able to kill your twin isn’t such a bad thing,” Sophia reasoned.
“It is when he’s the worst human being, capable of so much corruption,” Hiker said, stomping. “And now he’s back, and I know what needs to be done, but doing it, well…”
“You have your demons to face first,” Sophia said. “Are you going to tell Ainsley the truth?”
His eyes cut to her. “I can’t.”
“But sir, you said you’d tell the others the truth,” she argued.
“I meant about Thad,” Hiker stated. “I didn’t know you’d seen the past—the portion about Ainsley.”
“She deserves to know.”
Hiker pulled his beard. “I can’t. Even if I did, I’m certain she’d just forget again. Anything connected to that part of the past, she won’t remember. It was the only way, I’m guessing, the Castle was able to save her from a curse which would have otherwise killed her. She had to forget it all.”
“Ainsley hasn’t always been the housekeeper for the Castle,” Sophia mused.
“No,” Hiker answered. “She was once a powerful strategist for the elves and one of the most trusted advisors of the Dragon Elite. After the incident, it was clear she couldn’t leave the Castle on a long-term basis. If she does, she grows confused and gets sick. She must always live within these walls or she’ll perish.”
“But she’s a housekeeper,” Sophia argued. “That can’t be the life she wanted.”
“And it’s not the one I wanted for her!” Hiker boomed. “What choice did I have in any of this?”
Sophia didn’t answer, but she hoped her defiant expression said enough.
“I get this is all my fault,” he said in a hushed voice a moment later. “If I’d stopped Thad, this never would have happened. Now he’s back, and another war is brewing. I feel it. I know he’s got many plans for corruptions which have already been set in motion.” He thrust his hands into his hair on either side of this head. “I-I-I lost my confidence that day, Sophia. And all these years since, I’ve been…”
“Holding it together,” Sophia said, finishing his sentence. She suddenly saw Hiker Wallace so clearly. She was grateful for the opportunity to see him at the reset point in the House of Fourteen. It gave her a glimpse of the leader that brought all this together. He had once been a competent leader, leading the Dragon Elite, the most powerful magical group on Earth, to greater heights. Being pitted against his twin had nearly ruined him. Sophia couldn’t imagine having to fight one of her siblings. It would probably break her too.
“Sir,” Sophia continued, realizing Hiker was still processing his confession, “I know you failed in the past to stop Thad, but I believe the experience has taught you something valuable. And you have us. We will help you. Together, I think we can win this; stop Thad once and for all and preserve this Earth for future generations.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “This is when I remind you our numbers are small and Thad has built an empire and an army.”
“We have strategy,” she argued. “We have each other. And I want to believe being good makes us more powerful.”
A small smile rose to his eyes. “I want to believe you’re right.”
“What now?” she asked.
“I tell the others what we’re up against,” Hiker promised. “Once you all know, I will be back into a position of accountability. And we prepare. We build our reputation as adjudicators. We rise up. I suspect Thad will come at us with everything he has. All he’s ever wanted was my demise.”
“So he could have the power you share as twins,” Sophia guessed.
Hiker nodded. “And we are the dichotomy. Good versus evil. He represents everything I oppose. He’d rather this Earth perish than be at peace.”
“Then we will stop him,” Sophia said with conviction.
“No,” Hiker argued. “This time, I have to do things right. When it gets to that point, it needs to be me. I have to be the one to stop my brother, and I can’t hesitate. Otherwise, I’m certain everything will be lost for good this time. You don’t get a third chance to do things right.”
Sophia sucked in a breath. “Okay, then we will help you prepare.”
“Thank you.” He smiled faintly.
“Thank you for telling me this.”
He glanced at her. “It was what you said about hiding secrets to protect myself. I’d been telling myself for the longest time I needed to hide the truth to protect the Dragon Elite. To protect my men…I mean, you all. To protect the world from an evil I didn’t know how to fight.”
He worked his lips, wrestling internally. “When you said that, I realized I didn’t want to face the truth. I didn’t want you to know my secrets and weaknesses because then I’d have to deal with them, which is how it should be. So there it is. Those are the things I’ve kept from you. If you had the book, you’d find out on your own.”
Sophia was about to say something, but the explosion of events that happened right then cut her off. Before their eyes, Hiker’s office shifted suddenly, expanding, furniture materializing, a row of windows taking shape across the far wall and books filling the shelves on the walls.
The leader of the Dragon Elite rotated and watched as the transformation happened. When he completed a circle, he blinked at the space in awe. His gaze finally centered on Sophia, astonishment heavy in his eyes.
“I knew it,” he whispered.
“The Castle…” Her voice trailed away.
“It was punishing me for keeping secrets,” Hiker admitted. “When you and I argued about the book, I had an inkling of what it wanted me to do. It wanted me to confess, and now that I have, it has given me back that which I held dear.”
Hiker reached out and ran his fingers over the Elite globe. “Every leader of the Dragon Elite has led from this office with the tools I once had.” He brought his gaze up and ran it affectionately over the hundreds of books lining the shelves, an array of muted colors. “The Castle was trying to tell me I wasn’t being the leader you all deserved.”
“You are now because you know what you have to do,” Sophia confirmed. “And you know you can’t run from it anymore.”
Hiker’s blue eyes shone across the space as he nodded. “Yes, Thad Reinhart, my twin brother, must die, and only by my hands.”
Chapter Seventy-One
Everything lately had been about books for Sophia. She figured it made sense, though, since they had always been her most steady friend—her companion when she couldn’t show the world who she was.
She and Hiker weren’t so different. They were both twins. They both had secrets. Sophia’s was she was powerful from a young age, having magic before children should. Still, she knew what it was like to hide, as Hiker had done.
And now, she understood exactly why she’d come into her magic so early on in life. It was because of Jamison. Having lost her twin at birth transferred his power to Sophia. It confounded her how different her life would have been if he had lived.
They would have both gone on to become dragonriders. One of the five shimmering eggs in the Cave would probably have magnetized to Jamison. He wouldn’t have joined the Dragon Elite, as she had. If what Hiker had said was true, he would have gone away on his own and pursued plans of a selfish nature like Thad and Logan and other dragonriders who hadn’t been cut out for the Elite.
It was strange to be relieved for the first time in her life her twin was dead. She couldn’t imagine having to kill him, as Hiker would have to do with Thad. All of this suddenly begged the question of why twins who were dragonriders were divided as g
ood and evil.
It must have to do with the dragons, Lunis offered, talking in Sophia’s head.
There is nothing in the collective consciousness of the dragons that explains it, she questioned.
Not that I’m aware of, he stated.
I feel like we’re on the precipice of learning a lot of why things work the way they do for the dragons and their riders, Sophia said, pausing outside Liv’s apartment and holding the small wrapped package to her chest.
I think you’re right, he offered. Something opened up with Hiker’s confession.
Just imagine when he tells the others, she stated.
I have a feeling it will change very little, he said. I think you and I completing training will change everything, though.
Why do you think that?
Because of something Mama Jamba said to me the other day, he replied.
Oh? she questioned curiously. What is that?
Well, when you were having your conversation with Hiker, he began, Mama Jamba told me to put everything into our training.
Well, that doesn’t mean much, Sophia contemplated.
Yeah, but then she said, “Completing your training will change everything.” Lunis snickered.
Sophia rolled her eyes. You’re so clever with your remarks and how you time them.
Aren’t I, though, he said, sounding proud of himself. You know what the key to good comedy is?
Wha—
Timing, he interrupted.
Sophia giggled. You should go into standup comedy, she joked.
Can you just imagine? he asked. A dragon up on a stage, telling jokes about things like how we’re depicted so poorly in films. The stereotype of angry dragons is giving us a bad rap. Lunis’ voice took on the tone of a comedian leading into a joke. Why do the dragons in Game of Thrones have to be so hostile? Sure, we roast those we don’t like and have claws for days, but so does every diva in LA.
Ba-dum-DUM, Sophia said, shaking her head. You will have to work on your jokes.
Yeah, I’m not quitting my day job just yet.
Good, she said, stopping by the door, her excitement building. Okay, I’m ringing off. I have to see a Warrior about a thing.
