by Sarah Noffke
Sophia, I’ve never believed, even with the knowledge I have of my ancestors, that I need to suffer to be a better dragon. Maybe I’m naïve or young or inexperienced, but I’ve known since the beginning the only thing that makes me better is you.
Sophia tensed inside and held in tears, knowing she couldn’t cry—mostly because she needed all her fluids, but also because she didn’t want to interrupt.
No, you can’t always save me due to our obvious size and magical differences, Lunis continued. What you do for me is better than swooping into a battle and rescuing me. Every day since I hatched, you’ve reminded me what is most important in this world. The dragons have almost forgotten, so consumed with experiencing constant suffering. They have their riders but think the humans are to provide perspective and partnership. In all honesty, without you all, we’d lose sight of why we fight, why we started fighting. Dragons have a long history of killing each other and other creatures because of our constant desire for war. We are given our history through the collective consciousness, but it’s so long we forget how it started. It is humans—our riders—who remind us why we started fighting. It was for love.
Sophia’s feet brought her forward as Lunis’ head lowered. She caught it in her hands and looked deep into his eyes, seeing more than just his pure intention and deep affection for her. Sophia, at that moment, saw the very soul of her dragon—intertwined with hers for all time.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Never again did Sophia want to be mad at Lunis. It felt exactly the same as being mad at herself. Warring with one’s self was impossible to win.
She knew there would be other conflicts between her and her dragon. They had to remember they were connected but weren’t the same. It was their unique abilities that made them so good for one another.
“Okay, so I vote we move away from the graveyard of gross spider carcasses,” Sophia said, still feeling tender and raw inside.
Oh, I thought this was our forever home, Lunis joked. We’d plant a bed of tulips over there and use the dead bodies of our enemies as fertilizer.
She laughed. “I don’t think tulips or anything that isn’t strong and hearty as hell can grow in this place.”
We should probably think about food for you before the sun goes down. Lunis’ gaze drifted off to the area around the lake where the mountains provided some shelter.
“And we need to set up a camp and start another fire,” Sophia offered.
Leave the fire to me, Lunis said proudly.
“No fair,” Sophia complained. “You get to fly and use fire and call helpers to you, and it’s not considered magic.”
And you get to benefit from my loophole, Lunis retorted. Also, you get to use all your skills and charm because they also aren’t considered magic, but we both know better. It’s all relative.
Sophia winked at him. “Good point. Okay, you make a fire over there, and I’ll catch something for dinner.” She pointed to an area of the rock wall with a series of corners that would be ideal for shelter.
What are you planning for food? Lunis asked, obviously trying to keep his skepticism out of the question.
She pulled her sword from its sheath. “How hard can it be to fish?”
The answer was very hard. It was extremely difficult to fish with a sword. Sophia had remained frozen, standing in the shallow and patiently waiting for a fish to swim by. Then she’d spear her sword at the creature, but it invariably hurried away before being impaled.
You’re using force, Lunis said.
Am I supposed to persuade them to jump onto the end of my sword? Sophia joked.
No, but if you soften your mind, you might find attack is more proactive and less reactionary, Lunis offered, gathering wood for the shelter. The abruptness of your movements frightens the fish. If you strike with more precision and fluidness, they will be speared before they even know what hit them.
Haha, Sophia replied, laughing at his pun. Is this like that Bruce Lee, “Become the water” thing?
Yeah, that works, Lunis replied, starting to arrange his shelter.
Sophia pulled in a long, meditative breath and tried to calm herself. Lunis was right. She had been tensing while waiting for the fish to approach. As soon as she saw one, she threw the sword at it, a very reactionary movement.
Trying not to rush and edging the constant hunger from her mind, Sophia waited for the next fish to swim into her area. It became apparent that when one was hungry, the screaming desire for food made one reckless and drove away that which one wanted. The desperation was a loud siren sending everything nearby into chaos and making it scatter, which wasn’t the way dreams were realized.
She breathed when she felt anxious and impatient. She embraced the uncertainty. She invited in the waiting and got comfortable with it. This felt like what she was supposed to do with her demons per Bermuda and Smeg’s advice.
Running from one’s problems usually only brought them closer. This brought a poem to Sophia’s mouth. The words echoed in her mind, although she didn’t remember memorizing the words of the great poet Rumi:
“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.”
When she’d finished whispering the poem, Sophia found herself close to tears again, amazement dancing in her being. She didn’t know how she knew the poem or where it had come from, but its words were perfect and reflected her current evolution.
The chi of the dragon, Lunis offered. It is connecting you with all.
Sophia nodded and felt a delightful chill running over her arms even though it was still hotter than hell in the Outback.
“Invite them in,” she said mostly to herself, holding her sword and welcoming the impatience. Welcoming her imperfections. Welcoming more failure if that was what it took to get where she needed to go.
She didn’t startle like before when a large shiny fish swam into the waters by her feet. Also, unlike before, she didn’t plunge her sword into the water, missing the fish and scaring it away.
Sophia didn’t move at all. She simply watched the fish peck around at the rocks. She studied it as it curled and moved through the water, managing its path with the current pushing it one way and then another.
To her amazement, Sophia felt no quick impulse to kill the creature she desperately needed for replenishment. Yes, she wanted the fish, but something inside of her had changed. She didn’t feel the need to chase it. To trap it before it got away. Deep within her being, she knew the fish was hers, and it would come to her if she simply relaxed.
It was that thought that led to another: All things which were truly hers couldn’t be scared away. They were all there for the taking as long as she remained keenly focused on them, knowing they belonged to her.
A man who desperately desires gold pushes it away when he races for it. But the man who knows the gold is already his simply has to shut off the light at night and wait for it to be delivered to his door in the morning.
Sophia had the strange desire to close her eyes as she kneeled soundlessly, not disturbing the water where she stood with a single ripple. With her free hand, she reached blindly into the water, not in a rushed movement, but definitely a stealthy one and grabbed the fish, pulling it out of the water and holding it victoriously above her head.
She learned what she wa
nted was merely a thought away, no more, no less.
Chapter Ninety
The water was boiling over the fire in a large rock Lunis had thrown against the ground and broken to hollow out. The many fish Sophia had caught were roasting over the flickering flames. Rider and dragon were hard at work creating their individual shelters.
Sophia hadn’t played with building blocks much growing up, but she was pretty happy with what she’d constructed when she stepped back to admire it. She’d taken a series of sticks and created a rooftop to provide shelter from the unrelenting sun. It was built between the corners of two rock walls to give her protection from multiple directions. It wasn’t a resort with central air and plumbing, but it would do until she found more supplies and maybe added another wall and a door.
Lunis stepped even with her, similarly admiring what he’d done. Sophia couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing at the sight of his shelter, nestled adjacent to hers.
What? he asked, sounding offended.
“Let’s see how you did,” Sophia began, using the voice of the host from Lunis’ favorite Netflix show, Nailed It where amateur bakers were expected to replicate seriously difficult cakes and follow the complicated design. “This is what you were trying to make.” She held her hand out at the shelter she had made, which had a clean design and was practical in every way. “And here’s what you made.”
The structure Lunis had crafted looked like a bonfire with long logs that poked up in different directions in the corner of his rock wall.
Nailed it, he sang with no enthusiasm.
“Where exactly were you planning on sleeping in there?” Sophia asked, craning her head to check out the awful structure.
“Over there to the left…or right.” He shook his head. “I was just going to wedge in there and have the sticks cover me.
“Good idea.” Sophia laughed. “But how about you share my structure? It should be large enough for the two of us.”
He nodded appreciatively. “It’s nice that what I suck at, you do competently.”
Sophia admired their camping area as the cooking fish filled the air with a smoky, savory smell. “I agree. Good job to us for surviving the first day.”
Only six more to go, Lunis said, settling down close to the flames as Sophia went to work pulling the fish and water off the fire.
She was desperately hungry and thirsty, but it didn’t bother her as much because she felt fulfilled from within.
Chapter Ninety-One
For not having any seasoning, the fish wasn’t bad, although Sophia wished she’d eaten fewer bones.
She’d drunk as much water as she could, feeling as though she’d never feel properly hydrated.
You’re going to be peeing all night, Lunis said, settling down into the shelter when the sun began to set, sending an array of oranges and pinks across the sky.
The thought of having to venture off into the Australian Outback at night by herself without magic made Sophia set down the bowl of water. She ran her hand across her mouth and realized how dirty she was. Half of her pant leg was missing and there was dirt in every crevice she had, even some she didn’t remember having. They had survived the first day, and Sophia was grateful.
She crawled in beside Lunis. He opened one of his wings to create a spot for her just as a chill hit the air, cued by the sun going down.
Sophia could hardly believe how fast it went from hot to cold in the Outback. She nestled into the warmth of her dragon, grateful when he laid his wing over her like a blanket and tucking her into him.
She found her eyes closing as the sounds of the Outback began to hum them to sleep. It was a strangely peaceful arrangement even though they were sleeping in the middle of nowhere after one of the hardest days either had ever experienced.
Sophia listened to Lunis’ heartbeat under her ear and found herself smiling about the simple sound that meant the world to her. She cracked her eyes open and spied the stars peeking out in the vast sky. As they said their hellos to the world, Sophia decided it was her time to say goodnight to the Outback.
“Good night, Lun.”
Good night, Soph, he said, holding her tightly, sweet need expressed in the small movement.
The growling awoke Sophia, making her stir out of Lunis’ embrace. She knew at once he was already awake.
We’re surrounded, he told her in her head.
How? Sophia asked, attempting to make no noise as she sat up.
Lunis adjusted to make room for her to move. I’m guessing because we were both so exhausted that whatever it is got in without waking us. I’m sorry.
Don’t be, she reassured at once, knowing she’d slept through it all too.
Pushing the grogginess from her head, she willed her eyes to adjust to the dark. The fire had burned out, and the Outback was mostly blackness, save for the stars twinkling in the sky.
The growls came from different directions, meaning Lunis was correct. They were surrounded.
What are they? Sophia asked, spying pairs of reflective eyes here and there in the darkness before they jerked away, the animals scampering to the side.
My first guess was dingoes, Lunis responded.
Sophia caught the outline of one of the beasts as they moved closer. It indeed had the hunched back of a dingo, its sharp teeth shining in the darkness. However, when it growled, its eyes glowed red.
Oh, hell, Sophia said, grabbing for Inexorabilis beside her. Those aren’t normal dingoes.
Chapter Ninety-Two
The growling was almost deafening as Sophia and Lunis rose to their feet, the rock wall at their backs and an unknown number of enemies spreading out in front of them.
She could hear the strange dingoes charge around them, creating what she thought was an arch from wall to wall. They were, in fact, surrounded.
Sophia wasn’t worried. She had Lunis. And Inexorabilis. What she wished, was that she could see something besides the strange flash of red eyes every now and then as the monsters ran past each other, their energy building as they got more excited, feeding off one another’s eagerness.
Don’t be overly confident, Lunis warned. Even a regular dingo shouldn’t be underestimated when in a pack. They know how to work together to bring down a water buffalo.
Sophia nodded, knowing he was right. Too much confidence was the curse of any warrior. Sophia’s sister, Liv, had told her once, urging her to always remain humble.
We need light, Sophia said.
Well, I could blast them with fire, and then we can go back to sleep, Lunis offered. I was having this great dream about gorging on nachos and binge-watching the new season of Lost in Space. I’d like to get back to that.
I’d like to get back to that dream too, Sophia related. However, I don’t think blasting fire at these creatures blindly is a good idea. Can you relight the fire?
You know I can, Lunis said and spat a neat stream of fire in the direction of the campfire, relighting the kindling. It wouldn’t last long since it was almost burned out, but it stayed lit long enough for Sophia to make out the details that told her more of the story.
She shook her head and reflexively stepped in closer to Lunis. “Well, of course,” she complained, speaking out loud. “They would have to be zombie dingoes.”
Chapter Ninety-Three
The fire illuminated a pack of dingoes who were uglier than most, which was saying a lot. Many of their red eyes were hanging loosely in the sockets of their rotting heads. The sides of many of them were missing, their flesh hanging and bones exposed. They were bits of blood and fur, hissing and growling at the pair backed up to the rock wall.
Of course, they are zombies, Lunis echoed. Why would we expect anything normal at this point?
Sophia brandished her sword and revolved in a half-circle, doing her best to intimidate each of the dingoes she faced off with. “Right. Well, after magical, giant spiders and talking crocodiles, I really should have expected this. Are there no normal animals out there anymore?�
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I don’t think the normal ones want anything to do with us, Lunis offered as the howling grew louder.
“Well, any bright ideas on how to deal with these guys?” Sophia asked.
Since they are zombies, I would speculate that killing them won’t work, Lunis mused.
Sophia nodded and watched as one of them limped closer, drool flooding his mouth. “Yeah, they appear to have been killed a few times already.”
I guess there’s only one way to find out, Lunis remarked. Shall I?
Sophia knowing what he was asking, simply nodded.
He opened his mouth and pointed it to the north of their camp area where the pack started and spread out to the other side. After drawing a breath, the dragon sent a roaring blast of fire at the closest zombie dingo. The creature didn’t retreat as one would expect.
Sophia watched as it dared to come in closer, jumping straight into their campfire as the flames licked at its body. It growled furiously, crouching low, and preparing to jump in their direction.
Lunis focused on the pack and started to revolve his head to the right to blast the rest of the creatures.
“Stop!” Sophia yelled, her hands vibrating with her sword. “The fire doesn’t bother them.”
This was abundantly clear when the fire halted, and two dingoes ran around their camp area, flames rising off them as they seemed to get more excited like the party had just started.
The closest one ran straight at them, his red eyes locked on the pair. When he was only a few yards away, he jumped, mouth wide and teeth bared. Flames engulfed him like he was a fireball. Sophia stepped in front of Lunis, trying her best pose of intimidation. She didn’t waver as the beast soared straight at her. When it was about to clobber her, she stepped to the side and knocked her blade against the dingo’s side. The beast dropped to the dirt, where it rolled, extinguishing some of the flames.
