Ultimate Resolve (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 12)

by Sarah Noffke

  Lunis held up the snowball. “Hey, Soph, I was wondering what you’d look like as a snowman.”

  She scowled at him. “Snow woman, and if you dare, I’ll turn your hide into a better traveling cloak for me.”

  He grinned. “Nice threat.”

  “Well, you’re always threatening to eat me, so it only seems fair.”

  “Totally fair. Don’t worry. This snowball isn’t for you. Truth is, I was stalling on giving you the information until someone woke up from her second morning nap.”

  Sophia followed Lunis’ gaze and a second later observed Bell poking her head out of the Cave, not too far in the distance. The red dragon belonging to Hiker Wallace took a few more steps, exiting the Cave completely. As though stretching after getting out of bed, she unfurled her large wings.

  Lunis instantly yanked his arm back and fired the snowball through the air. It spiraled across the Expanse so fast that the sleepy red dragon didn’t have a chance to react. Sophia was pretty certain that Bell didn’t know what had hit her until compacted snow walloped her straight in the face, covering her like a frosted Christmas tree.

  Chapter Eight

  Sophia didn’t have to wonder what had Mahkah demanding her immediate presence in the Nest. As soon as she entered the place where they kept the dragon eggs, it was entirely evident. Tons of dragonettes had hatched.

  “They’re all demon dragons,” Mahkah explained as Sophia took the position next to him.

  Around the cave were roughly a dozen dragonettes making their way out of their thick shells or licking themselves after newly hatching. Some had already taken to playing with each other, which looked a whole lot more like fighting than anything else.

  Sophia didn’t have to ask how Mahkah knew the new dragons were demons. For one, she’d recognized that they were darker colors than the angel dragons, which tended to be brighter and cheerier. Also, their temperaments were evident from the beginning. Not only were the more “awake” ones fighting, but they let out murderous growls and swished their spiked tails around, destroying broken egg shells.

  Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Sophia let out a long breath. “Wow, that’s a lot of demon dragons about to be released in the world.”

  Mahkah nodded, a grave expression on his face. “My concern is that this will upset the balance.”

  She immediately knew what he meant. Demon dragons and their riders were important, she believed. They balanced out the power with the angel dragons. However, if there were too many of them, it could upset the balance.

  “What can we do, I wonder?” Sophia mused. “Can we encourage angel dragons to hatch? I don’t know how to tell which ones those are though.”

  The colors of the shells for the dragons sometimes indicated what would hatch, but that wasn’t foolproof. For instance, demon dragons had hatched out of a few brightly colored eggs, so that wouldn’t be a good method for determining what was inside.

  “That was my thought,” Mahkah began, his hands behind his back and chin held high as he appraised the scene around them, which was quickly turning to chaos as demon dragons rammed into the cave walls and let out bits of steam. Thankfully they didn’t have their fire yet. “That’s why I asked for you to join me. I wondered if you might know of a way to determine what’s going to hatch from a dragon’s egg? A device of sorts or a spell, maybe?”

  “Magitech,” Sophia muttered while thinking. “I think that’s our best bet. I’m not sure what we’d need though.”

  “Samples from the demon and angel dragons, maybe?” Mahkah suggested. “And parts of the shells too?”

  “Yeah, that might work.” Sophia worked out the details. “If I get that to one of my magitech experts, it’s possible that they can create something that gives us an indication of what’s going to hatch—either a demon or an angel.”

  Mahkah nodded with appreciation. “Yes, if we knew which of the eggs were demons, then maybe we could put them in a less fertile environment so they didn’t hatch all at once. I worry that if they overrun us, we’ll lose the balance.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea. Like before, when we put the eggs on the Expanse because we weren’t ready for them to hatch. They don’t like colder environments.”

  “Correct,” Mahkah affirmed. “We have to know which ones are which though. I don’t want to keep them from hatching. I think that if we’re overrun with demon dragons then things will get out of control very fast, which I’d like to avoid.”

  Sophia thought the idea held merit. Changing what was would be wrong. They didn’t want to get rid of all the demon dragons or the eggs before they hatched. However, if they could determine what the eggs were beforehand, they could prevent too many demon or even angel dragons from hatching at once.

  “Leave it to me,” Sophia stated with confidence. “I’ll get samples and enlist my magitech experts. I think they’ll be able to help.”

  Mahkah lowered his chin, giving her a look of pride. “I knew I could rely on you, Sophia. Really, we all do. I get that’s a lot of weight on your shoulders, but I believe you can take it. I think you can bear more responsibility than most.”

  Chapter Nine

  There it was again… Another insinuation that she was meant to have more responsibility. The first time had been when she’d read through Oscar Beaufont’s journal of prophecies. Lunis had mentioned it too. Now Mahkah… How could she do more than be a rider for the Dragon Elite and their second in command? Did someone want her to organize a bake sale too, she wondered with a laugh. Maybe she needed to add volunteering work to her résumé. Or she could join a local Rotary club or something, she joked to herself.

  The last time that Sophia had visited Happily Ever After College, she’d noted many changes. After the green sludge had infected the place, the fairy godmother college had to undergo many renovations, according to Mae Ling.

  The headmistress, Willow Starr, had apparently taken all of the design ideas from the college’s professors and rolled it all into one large building for the campus. Now Happily Ever After College looked like a compendium of architectural designs all mixed into one.

  However, the new look of the building, which Sophia hadn’t entered yet, wasn’t what struck her as odd. She studied it from the lush grounds of the college, which had transformed from an overly manicured lawn and garden to an overgrown magical forest that seemed endless.

  Mae Ling, Sophia’s fairy godmother, had explained that when the love potion had gone awry, unleashing the green sludge, it reminded the fairy godmothers that love needs whimsy. Mae Ling had said, “We’re about creating love here, and that never blossoms if pruned too much. No, the best place for love is in a fertile forest where trees grow on top of trees and seeds are allowed to scatter on the wind, rather than be planted by a gardener.”

  That all made sense to Sophia. She liked the new campus building, which was large and had Modern, Gothic, Art Deco, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Functionalism designs. It felt as though the inside of the building must be as diverse as the outside, expressing the many different personalities of the professors who resided within it.

  However, what gave Sophia pause were the various students and professors passing her on the grounds, most of them hurrying into one of the doors of the main building. Before, the students had worn pleated skirts in a rainbow design and pink tops. The professors wore whatever they liked, not having a uniform. Presently though, everyone wore a pale blue gown made of silk. Some had pink bows fastened around the collar. Some had their hoods up, covering their heads, although the weather was as it always was at Happily Ever After College—a perfect seventy degrees.

  Sophia wondered if she’d ended up at the wrong place after stepping through the portal. Or if something was wrong at the college once more. She also wondered how she’d find Mae Ling to ask her about it and the reason that she’d come to fairy godmother college that day. Before the redesign, she knew where her fairy godmother’s office was. Now, she didn’t know exactly where the front doo
r was since there were many and it was such a scatterbrained building with multiple designs.

  Also, she thought it might be hard to locate her fairy godmother when everyone looked the same, covered in their blue robes and rushing around the front of the building.

  “You know you never have to look for me,” a familiar voice said at Sophia’s back. She turned to find none other than her fairy godmother Mae Ling standing behind her, wearing her usual plain clothing and looking quite different from all the rest at the college. The small woman with short black hair smiled, wrinkles lining her kind eyes. “You know that I’ll always find you. That’s what a good fairy godmother does when she knows her charge is in need.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Hi!” Sophia squeaked, surprised by Mae Ling’s words and how she looked so different from everyone else at the college.

  “Hello,” Mae Ling replied with a twinkle in her eyes.

  Sophia wasn’t surprised that Mae Ling had found her or knew that she needed her help, but she knew how things worked with the fairy godmother. Sophia had to ask for what she needed directly. However, before that, Sophia had other questions vying for her attention.

  She pointed over her shoulder in the direction of the college and the various fairy godmothers. “There’s a new uniform at Happily Ever After now?”

  Mae Ling shook her head. “An old uniform.”

  “Old?” Sophia turned to study the fairy godmothers wearing their long blue robes. Now that she looked at them, she noticed that all of them had the same color hair—a bluish-gray. Some had their hair down or braided, but most wore it in a bun on the top of their heads. “They all look old.”

  Mae Ling stepped up next to Sophia and nodded. “Yes, they’re mothers. This is the way we’ve looked from the beginning.”

  “You don’t look that way,” Sophia pointed out while glancing at the woman’s dark hair and normal gray clothes.

  “That’s correct. I’m not a normal fairy godmother. I don’t deal only in matters of the heart and never have.”

  Sophia thought about this. “Yes, you help me with my missions. Do most of the other fairy godmothers only help with romance?”

  “All of them,” Mae Ling corrected. “Yes, that’s the college’s main goal, to teach fairy godmothers how to create true love for their Cinderellas. It’s the mission given to us by Saint Valentine.”

  Sophia remembered when she met the saint. He was an exceptionally handsome man and finding him was complicated and also dangerous. She should have guessed that he was the one behind Happily Ever After College.

  “If all the others are supposed to create true love, then why don’t you?” Sophia asked.

  “I do,” Mae Ling replied. “I also take on other missions, and Mama Jamba specifically assigned me to you. My rebellious nature as a fairy godmother grants me the opportunity to dabble outside our parameters.”

  Sophia laughed. Of course, she’d have the rebellious fairy godmother. “Which is why you don’t dress like the rest then, right?”

  “I always tripped on that gown,” Mae Ling joked. “But yes, it doesn’t suit me so after a century, I decided not to wear it anymore, and the higher-ups haven’t argued with me on the subject.”

  “Then the dress code changed, huh?” Sophia questioned and gestured at the college.

  “And changed back,” Mae Ling answered. “Now and then, we stir things up. Willow tried to do something different when she took the role as headmistress. When the love potion went wrong, she decided that we were diverting too much from our original mission and needed to return to tradition. Magic potions and other things related to science were never part of our curriculum before.”

  Sophia glanced at the college and noticed a cluster of fairy godmothers in training conversing while holding strange instruments she hadn’t seen in a while. “No, it was wands, right?”

  Mae Ling nodded. “Yes, it’s more for show, as you know as a magician since you can point and make magic happen. Still, mortals have always enjoyed the effect of seeing a wand. Appearances are important, and Willow thinks we need to look the part.”

  “But not you,” Sophia stated.

  “Well, again, I’m different. Also, a lot of this is the result of mortals being able to see magic again. Before, we operated unseen by our Cinderellas, so it didn’t matter what we looked like. Now things have changed, and it’s believed that we should look the part as fairy godmothers.”

  Sophia nodded. “I guess that all makes sense.”

  “I’m glad that I could clarify it for you,” Mae Ling stated proudly. “Now, it seems that you’re here because there’s something else you need explained. Ask away, and I’ll try to shine some light on the problems that currently plague you.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “The wars that are brewing all over the world…” Sophia began, knowing she didn’t have to say much more than that.

  “Oh yes.” Mae Ling pushed her palms together and nodded. “You suspect there’s someone or something behind all of them.”

  It was more of a statement than a question. “Well, yeah,” Sophia began. “I mean, the timing of all the conflicts arising at once is suspect, not to mention the way they’ve been instigated seems suspicious.”

  “I would agree,” Mae Ling stated calmly. “I think your assumption of who is behind it is probably correct.”

  “The Rogue Riders,” Sophia agreed. “You can’t confirm that it’s Versalee?”

  Mae Ling shook her head. “Unfortunately, I don’t know everything. Only glimpses. It’s the way a fairy godmother’s magic works. We know how something will happen or see certain realities, but not all of them. I do think the notion not to accuse the Rogue Riders is the right one.”

  Sophia sighed, willing to admit that Hiker was right on this one. “Yeah, I need evidence first, don’t I? Before I point the finger and go after them.”

  “I think so,” Mae Ling said. “Otherwise, I fear that you’ll look like the bad guys since the Rogue Riders appear to be lying low and minding their own business.”

  The dragonrider clenched her jaw and swallowed hard. “I suspect they’re stealthily creating all these problems between nations and instigating war after war.”

  “I suspect that you are correct,” Mae Ling replied. “I’ll try and determine how I can help you with this. Once I know more, I’ll message you, but I fear that the solution will not be straightforward.”

  Sophia nodded, wishing that she could stay at Happily Ever After College, where there didn’t seem to be an issue in the world. She sighed and thanked her fairy godmother, realizing that she had to be on her way and devote herself to fixing her problems, which were the world's troubles.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cat nearly bowled Sophia over when she entered the Crying Cat Bakery. For such a tiny woman, she was quite the force, rushing by Sophia, her face as red as her hair.

  “Move out of my way!” the baker exclaimed in her thick French accent.

  Sophia slid to the side, holding up her arms in surrender. “Is everything okay?” She glanced at the counter where Lee stood, looking quite amused. Sophia gave her a questioning look, trying to decide if the assassin baker wanted her to intervene somehow or run for her life. Sophia had faced many deadly beasts, but something about the tiny French woman threatened her on a whole new level.

  “Is everything okay?” Cat shot back, impersonating Sophia—well, trying to but it wasn’t the best parody of her American accent. “No! Things are never okay when that one is around.” She pointed an accusatory finger at Lee.

  Her wife simply smiled. “And to think, you only have the rest of your life to celebrate all the bad times we’ll have together.”

  “No,” Cat argued, visibly shaking. “I have the rest of your life, which shouldn’t be too much longer.”

  “Because you’re going to try and poison me yet again?” Lee sounded rather bored. “Or are you going to cut the brake lines on my car like last year? Oh! I loved that time you
put a hungry hyena in the back storeroom and told me to fetch a bag of flour.”

  Cat sighed. “Who knew that the pack animal would fill up on the lard we store back there?”

  Lee laughed. “Yeah, he was purring like a kitten and happily napping when I found him. Nice try though.”

  Cat wagged her finger in her wife’s direction. “I’ll find a poison that you’re not immune to, or something else.”

  Lee folded her arms across her chest and nodded proudly. “I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Make it really good this time because, after fifteen years, your attempts at murdering me are getting a little stale. If we don’t have that spice, I’m afraid for us.”

  “After your comments, I’m going to make this attempt a total success,” Cat threatened before whipping around to face Sophia. “You can have her. Kiss her. Marry her if you like. See if I care.”

  Sophia’s eyes widened. “Nope, I’m good.”

  “Well, I’m off to pick out your casket, Lee,” Cat sang while stomping out the door of the shop and onto Roya Lane.

  “Make it expensive,” Lee called after her. “Something that breaks the bank.”

  Sophia tilted her head, letting out a breath. “Not that I should be surprised to see drama running rampant upon entering the Crying Cat Bakery, but what was that all about?”

  Lee chuckled, picked up a kitchen towel, and slapped it over her shoulder. “Cat had a dream that I cheated on her last night.”

  Sophia shivered. “Those are the worst. I’ve had those about Wilder before. I wake up, and I’m mad at him, as though he really did something wrong.”

  Lee nodded. “Yep, Cat was madder than hell.”

  “So that’s why she’s so angry.” Sophia looked over her shoulder at the door where the fiery redhead had exited.