Ultimate Resolve (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 12)

by Sarah Noffke

  Obediently, she snapped the handcuffs onto her wrists and held them up for Magnus to inspect. He reached through the bars and ensured they were tight and locked.

  After nodding with approval, he stepped back and pulled a ring of keys from his pocket. Sophia was relieved to see a small one on it that probably worked for the handcuffs. She’d worried that they used magic to take the cuffs off. That might be the case, but with things like this, there was usually a manual backup option in case.

  Magnus pulled the door to the cell open and held out his hand, leading the way. “Go straight ahead down this hallway, and it’s the second door on the right.”

  The hallway was long and dimly lit. There were various doors, and one hopefully led to Lunis. However, she had to wait to rescue him. Her priority had to be getting the handcuffs off and finding the gold coin. Magnus had said it was in the main office.

  It’s in the room directly above here on the first floor, Lunis stated in her head. I’ve been chatting up my guard some more, and he let that tidbit slip.

  Sophia nodded, feeling victorious that she had options but overwhelmed that they involved a ton of risk. If she were caught, it was instant death. No trial. Just punishment without question.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Sophia figured that Magnus didn’t lead her to the bathroom because he knew the cuffs restrained her magic and her hands. Also, it appeared she’d caused him serious pain with her complaints. No wonder Quiet can’t stand Evan, she thought with a mental laugh. However, she reasoned that the two had a love-hate relationship and would sorely miss one another if something happened to the other.

  Magnus probably also knew that if Sophia ran, she’d be without magic and the crafty gnomes would have her disabled at once. Then she’d have her sentence of death, and it would all be over. That’s why Sophia couldn’t make any mistakes from this point forward. She couldn’t fail because if she did, she’d fail Lunis and the giants and Rory, plus Liv and the House of Fourteen.

  No pressure then, Sophia thought, clumsily opening the door to the bathroom and closing it behind her. She was unsurprised to find the bathroom as drab and dirty as her cell for the most part.

  She quickly withdrew the broken piece of metal from her pocket and got it between her fingers. Sophia had doubted that she’d ever need this mortal skill when she was learning it, but at Lunis’ encouragement, she’d learned how to pick a lock. Although it was cumbersome to get her fingers in the right position with the handcuffs on her wrists, Sophia somehow managed it.

  At first, she simply jiggled the piece of metal in the lock, hoping to hear the telltale signs that it had worked. That didn’t seem to do the trick.

  Sophia sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes, centered herself, and calmed her thoughts.

  She opened her eyes and tried again, this time feeling around, and quickly becoming acquainted with the locking mechanism. She felt around until she found a groove that had a seam.

  That had to be it, she thought and pressed the pin to the seam. At first, she worried that the metal fragment would bend or break before it released the lock. To her surprise, there was a click, and the handcuffs popped off for her first break of the day.

  Sophia slumped with relief.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Sophia slipped out of the bathroom and feigned a look of defeat, the same as before. The handcuffs appeared to be around her wrists so that Magnus didn’t question her when he looked up from his post.

  Seeing her approach, he returned his gaze to staring dutifully ahead. Sophia took two more steps, then dropped the handcuffs on the dirt floor and pointed at the hallway dividing her from Magnus.

  The gnome looked up in horror. “What? How?”

  Not daring to answer his questions, Sophia created an invisible wall between her and the guard. He immediately manifested a fireball and threw it at her, but it bounced off and shattered into a ton of embers that radiated back at him. He dove down the hallway on the other side to avoid getting hit by his attack.

  “Sorry, Magnus,” Sophia sang over her shoulder while sprinting in the opposite direction toward the stairs, careful to look for other guards standing at the ready.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  To Sophia’s relief, she made it to the first floor without encountering anyone else. It appeared that she and Lunis were the only prisoners currently being held by the gnomes. Probably they were the only ones foolish enough to cross their boundaries, not a mistake she’d make again if they made it out of there alive.

  With her heart thumping in her chest, Sophia slid next to the doorframe that led to the next hallway. It was brighter on the first floor, but not by much. The whole area had a very cave-like feeling, and Sophia could only assume that they were inside a mountain somewhere at the back of the village, which was why she hadn’t seen it when studying the gnomes’ land from the sky.

  There were three doorways in this hallway. In the first room, someone tapped their foot and slurped on soup or tea or something. In the second, it sounded like someone was sleeping. She was uncertain if anyone occupied the last one.

  Now Sophia had to investigate and find out where the gold coin was. She was tired of playing Miss Nice Gal so a gnome might be in for a headache or two. They weren’t afraid to send her to her death if they caught her, so she wasn’t going to take it easy on them if they tried to apprehend her again. However, she wouldn’t use lethal force because if she got out of this, she needed to keep her reputation, which wasn’t as a soulless mercenary.

  Placing a stealth spell on herself, Sophia started forward, cautiously approaching the first doorway. She dared to peek around the corner to spy on what was on the other side. At first glance, it appeared to be a break room for the guards with a couch, snacks, and some books.

  The gnome sipping his coffee looked up, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of her. Before he could open his mouth, Sophia sent a spell at him that instantly gagged him and simultaneously wrapped him in rope. He protested, but this sent him onto his side on the floor, making a muffled sound as he tried to call out for help.

  Sophia lifted her finger to her mouth, making a “shushing” motion at him. She continued down the hallway and paused at the second doorway.

  Someone was napping on the job in the next room. Still on guard, she peered around the corner and found a gnome with his feet up on a desk and his head back, his mouth open as he snored loud enough to vibrate the mountain where they resided. In front of him were various folders and books. There didn’t appear to be any of her belongings.

  Sophia made her way to the third room where she didn’t hear anyone inside. Still not wanting to take a chance, Sophia carefully peeked around the corner and peered into the room.

  To her relief, the space was empty. It appeared to be a storage area with tons of shelves and cabinets. Her sword and the map and coin had to be inside there somewhere. She only needed to find them.

  Sophia strode over to the first set of shelves, overwhelmed by all the junk covered in dust. It appeared to be things that the gnomes had confiscated from their prisoners. There were swords, flasks, shields, and armor of all different sizes and types.

  As quietly as she could, Sophia began sorting through the stuff. Any noise she made was thankfully drowned out by the snoring echoing from the room next door.

  Sophia had searched the entire first set of shelves and not found anything that wasn’t covered in a thick layer of dust, which made her think she wasn’t on the right track.

  I need to find the stuff the gnomes have confiscated recently, she thought, pivoting and taking in the space, trying to understand their very disorganized cataloging method.

  That’s when she spotted something with color in the otherwise drab surroundings. The reason it caught her attention was that its color showed through because it didn’t have dust covering it. Sophia hurried over to the shelf, pushing the knit bag to the side, realizing she had to be getting warmer. The items in this area seemed newer, or at lea
st as if they hadn’t been stored there for as long.

  Feeling like she was close to finding the coin in the mound of objects, Sophia smiled.

  As fate usually had it, her relief was short-lived.

  Thundering footsteps echoing from the hallway made her straighten.

  “She’s escaped!” Magnus yelled, obviously having broken through her wall and made it to the first floor.

  Chapter Fifty

  Sophia could have turned and prepared to fight, but she knew where her efforts were best suited. There were tons of gnomes here, and she couldn’t take on all of them. Her only option for redemption was to find the gold coin.

  Before, she’d been carefully picking through the objects on the shelf. Abandoning that approach, she started shoving it one way and the other, looking for her sword or the map or anything of hers to indicate she was in the right spot.

  “Owe!” Magnus yelled from down the hallway. “She did this to you?”

  A muffled noise responded.

  Sophia stood on the middle shelf to search the one toward the top, not finding anything of hers.

  The snoring stopped with a startled noise.

  “Elon!” Magnus yelled, clapping. “She’s escaped!”

  Sophia was now throwing objects onto the floor, desperately searching for the gold coin. She was out of time. Her back was to the door when the thundering footsteps echoed down the corridor.

  She’d lost this one…and that meant she’d lost a lot more than a single battle.

  “Stop there, or we’ll fire!” Magnus yelled.

  Sophia froze, knowing exactly what that meant. She held up her hands in surrender and turned to find what she figured. There standing in the doorway were three gnomes, Magnus in the middle. They all had fireballs rotating in the palms of their hands, ready to fire them at her.

  Sophia nodded. “Fine, you caught me. I won’t fight you anymore.”

  “And you know what this means,” Magnus stated.

  She nodded again. “Yeah, I’ve been warned. I’ve been sentenced to death without trial.” Not that it mattered anyway, she thought bitterly, her eyes still running over the wreckage of objects she’d created. Then she spied it.

  Lying in the various things Sophia had strewn on the floor was a glint of gold. It was impossible to know if it was the coin, but she had to take the chance. Snapping her fingers, Sophia dared to summon the object to her. The gold coin rose, flew through the air, and landed in her hand.

  Magnus pulled back his arm, about to throw the fireball at her.

  “Wait,” Sophia stated. “If I’m wrong, you can throw that. If I’m right, well, then I’m going to blow your mind. Will you please allow me to prove to you what I said was true? All I must speak are four words.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her, considering this. “If this is another trap, magician, your death is now. Do you understand?”

  She nodded and pressed her fingers into the cold metal. “Captain Gullington ‘Quiet’ McAfee.”

  The other two gnomes looked at Magnus with horror, then at Sophia and back to the gnome.

  “What? There’s no way!” one exclaimed.

  “What is she talking about?” the other asked.

  Magnus shook his head and pulled back his arm an inch more. “Nothing, because the magician is a liar. Nothing has happened.”

  Then, right there in between them in the middle of the messy room, smoke swirled through the air.

  “I’ll fire on you, magician,” Magnus warned, thinking that Sophia was behind the disturbance. Then he must have seen the figure materializing before Sophia because a howl of surprise followed a gasp.

  Sophia saw him next and nearly sank to her knees with relief.

  Standing in the middle of the room, seemingly inconspicuous, was the gnome known as Quiet—truthfully, one of the most powerful living beings on the planet.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  All three gnomes in the doorway sank to their knees bowing to Quiet, their fireballs extinguishing at once.

  “We thought you dead,” Magnus said.

  “The great Captain Quiet,” the other gnome marveled.

  “We’ve long missed and honored you,” the last added.

  Quiet didn’t seem to care much for the act of loyalty but instead turned his attention to Sophia. He glanced at her, checking her over. There was a question in his eyes.

  “They took Lunis and me,” she stated. “He’s still in the dungeon. My sword is here somewhere along with your map.”

  Quiet held out both of his small hands, and Sophia’s sword and the map rose from various places in the room and flew into his grasp. He held them out to her, and she took them while offering him a smile of gratitude.

  He strode forward and pushed past the three gnomes muttering something to the one who had been asleep.

  Elon nodded at once. “Yes, I’ll release the dragon. He’ll be on the grounds within a minute, ready for his rider.”

  Quiet turned to the other gnome that Sophia had tied up and mumbled something.

  Owe also nodded. “Yes, I’ll go fetch Emperor Lars. He will be most grateful to see you. There will be many questions.”

  Quiet shook his head with conviction in his eyes. He turned and pointed at Sophia and spoke quite clearly. “I work for her now. I work for the Dragon Elite. Not the gnomes.”

  Then he strode around the corner, disappearing at once with surprising grace.

  Magnus was left standing dumbstruck staring at Sophia, his bottom lip quivering. “Y-Y-You were telling the truth. The Captain lives. He works for you…who I almost killed.”

  Sophia winked at him and hurried after Quiet. “That would have been a mistake. Remember that the next time you promise someone a bogus trial followed by a sentence of death.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  All the gnomes gathered around the area in the middle of the village. Much like the giants, they wore dark, plain clothes meant to withstand the temperatures. In the center of their circle were only four figures: Lunis, Sophia, Captain Quiet, and Emperor Lars.

  There was nothing flashy about the leader of the gnomes. Like most of that race, he was bald, had a fat nose, and bushy eyebrows. However, he wore a look of pure amazement as he regarded Quiet, who wore his usual groundskeeper attire. A knit hat that Ainsley had made covered his head.

  “I still don’t understand how you’re alive,” Emperor Lars said with disbelief. “And Magnus tells me you work for the Dragon Elite now.” He looked up at the blue dragon, then at Sophia. “But the gnomes have never worked with the other races. It is against our ways.”

  Quiet narrowed his eyes at the emperor. “Your ways,” he mouthed although Sophia couldn’t hear his words.

  “If you aren’t returning to us, Captain Quiet, why are you here?” Emperor Lars asked.

  Quiet held out his hand and a rolled-up piece of parchment materialized. He handed it to the leader of the gnomes, who took it and opened it.

  Emperor Lar’s eyes widened as they ran down the page. “You aren’t serious? You expect us to share our fishing waters with the giants?”

  “They aren’t yours,” Sophia dared to intervene. “They belong to Earth, and that belongs to everyone.”

  Quiet looked up at her, and at first, she thought he’d be angry that she interjected when that wasn’t her place. However, he nodded proudly before returning his attention to the emperor. He pointed at the parchment, indicating the signature line. The gnome mumbled something, and it sounded like a definitive statement to Sophia.

  The emperor shot him a look of confusion. “I need time to consider this…”

  Quiet shook his head, and Sophia had never seen him so confident. Full of so much authority.

  The emperor slumped, suddenly defeated without much contention. “Very well then. You’re very busy and must return to the Dragon Elite. I get it. I’ll do this as a favor to you, Captain Quiet. But only for you.” Emperor Lars held up his hand, and a quill pen materialized. With a scratchi
ng sound, he signed the decree stating that he’d lower the barrier and allow the giants into the fishing territory.

  Emperor Lars rolled up the parchment and handed it to Quiet. “I hope you will visit us again, old friend. If you ever want your old position back, it’s always yours.”

  Quiet simply shook his head, his answer clear. He turned at once and handed the parchment to Sophia, who took it with a smile.

  “Thank you, Quiet.” She bowed.

  Emperor Lars gasped. “You would do well to show him respect. That is Captain Quiet, and you should address him as such.”

  Before she could react, Quiet faced the emperor with a stern expression on his face. When he spoke, his words echoed in Sophia’s head although they were almost inaudible. “I’m proudly the groundskeeper for the Dragon Elite, and my name is Quiet.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Standing on the top of the volcano that she’d called home, Versalee watched as Sophia Beaufont and the blue dragon flew away from Iceland. She laughed and looked at her dragon, Ash, feeling victorious.

  “They were so close and never realized that we were right under their noses,” she remarked to the orange dragon.

  “That’s because they’re busy cleaning up the problems we’ve created,” Ash replied. “It was a Rogue Rider who planted the idea with the gnomes that they should close off the fishing territory to the giants.”

  Versalee shook her head. “Although it appears the Dragon Elite have been able to fix some problems, by the time they think they’re on top of them all, the very worst of them will surface.”