by Sarah Noffke
As he dove into the battle being waged across the Expanse, he felt a renewed sense of belonging with his ancestors. A chorus of voices filled his head as he swung around a bolt of magic launched by a trespasser. The words were from dragons long passed, but their knowledge was timeless.
Fight, protect, and don’t let them take what is ours, the voices of ghost dragons sang in his head.
He maneuvered around, fueled by the chanting, and sent a wave of fire at the offender, turning the magician into barbeque. Killing humans wasn’t something Lunis enjoyed. Dragons who bonded to riders weren’t savages like their rogue counterparts who had little interest in the human world, a key difference between dragons who magnetized to a magician and those who didn’t. He valued human life. Lunis always wanted to be a part of solutions, and not be controlled by his savage whims.
And yet, killing the trespasser had filled him with a satisfaction he rarely felt.
Energized by the kill, Lunis shot forward and sprung into the battle. The Dragon Elite was losing after hours of fighting, and tiring after dealing with the constant influx of thieves who had just kept coming over the borders.
The blue dragon opened his mouth and torched the area where the Barrier should have been, blocking a new set of pirates waving swords and intent on entering their borders.
Not on my watch, Lunis said and plunged through the air. His long tail swung around and batted a thief on the ground, rocketing the man back across the border.
The man screamed a guttural sound as he flew back, his eyes full of fear as his sword tumbled to the ground.
Lunis didn’t wait to see where the magician landed but took off for Simi, who was currently deflecting spells from several attacks on the ground.
Chapter Forty-Six
The smell of must and gunpowder was strong when Sophia entered the groundskeeper’s room. Ainsley seemed even more lost once they were there, but Sophia traded places with her and urged her to go back the way they’d come.
“Go and find Mama Jamba,” she instructed the housekeeper, ushering out the door and back into the narrow passageway.
“Mama,” Ainsley said, shaking her head. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen my mum. I wonder if she’d make me a cup of tea.” She clasped her hands around her arms and shook slightly. “I’ve got the chills coming on. Probably because I didn’t wear my mittens to school again.”
“Go Ains,” Sophia encouraged. She didn’t know how much longer the shapeshifter had before she lost her mind completely. Hiker would know. Quiet might even, but neither could help her now. The only hope Sophia could think of was to send Ainsley to Mama Jamba, even though she knew it was a long shot.
Deep down, Sophia knew Mother Nature wanted to help, but sometimes felt it wasn’t her place. She’d once remarked that her job was to put everything into place, not to move the pieces. That’s why when Thad Reinhart was working hard on world destruction, Mama Jamba had to sit by and watch. Sophia hoped this time Mama Jamba broke her own rule. Someone had to save Ainsley before it was too late.
And Quiet…
Sophia turned to find a modest room with few furnishings. The gnome was lying in his bed covers pulled up to his chin and his mouth wide as he snored loudly. Sweat covered his forehead and drenched his pillow.
The only decoration in the room was a dark painting that hung over Quiet’s bed. Sophia had to get close to make out the image. She’d seen many old paintings in the Castle and the House of Fourteen, but this one seemed extremely ancient for some reason.
It was a scene of a large, majestic ship sailing on choppy waters. Sophia remembered what Queen Anastasia Crystal had said about the gnome and why she would help him.
Sophia ran her eyes over the painting and wondered if it was the ship the Queen Mother of the fae had been referring to. It was strange it was the only personal effect in the bedroom. She looked around, using the orb to light her way as she studied the space.
There was no wardrobe, bathroom, or washing basins like in the other bedrooms, just a bed, a painting, and a sleeping gnome.
Sophia didn’t want to wake Quiet. She wished she could just know his real name and give him the antidote, but that wouldn’t work.
Carefully she leaned over the bed. “Quiet, it’s Sophia. Please wake up.”
He muttered in his sleep, words she couldn’t make out because they were so muffled.
Reaching out, she shook the gnome’s shoulders. “Quiet, I need you to wake up. I have something that will cure you.”
This roused the small man, and he opened his eyes, an action that looked as if it was excruciatingly difficult.
He startled at the sight of her and pushed up to a sitting position, pulling the covers with him to cover his chest as though he were afraid of being indecent. She had only seen him in work clothes before and spied that he was wearing a sweaty white dressing gown. Of course, she had no idea where he kept his other clothes since there was no furniture in the small room.
“Hi,” she said, suddenly nervous as she looked into the gnome’s red eyes. “I’m sorry to wake you. But I have something I think will cure you.”
She held up the bottle of blue liquid Queen Anastasia Crystal had given her. “I don’t know what’s making you sick, but the Queen Mother of the fae gave this to me. She said it would cure you.”
Quiet began muttering fast, his head toggling back and forth, and excitement evident on his face. He reached for the bottle, nodding.
She pushed the bottle into his hand and watched as he struggled to pull the cork off the top. His fat fingers fumbled several times, and he nearly dropped the vial.
“Here, let me help you,” she offered, taking the bottle with a sheepish expression.
She would have to reveal the other part of the cure to him, but she sensed she needed to play this just right. Queen Anastasia Crystal had said Quiet wouldn’t want to give up his name. Hopefully, he wanted the cure more than the need to keep his secret.
The cork resisted Sophia’s first attempts to loosen it, but she was able to pull it free on the second. She handed it to the gnome, watching as his outstretched hand shook as he reached for the bottle.
“Queen Anastasia Crystal did say that for the spell to work, you had to tell me one thing,” Sophia said and paused, watching as the gnome’s face stiffened with tension.
He shook his head as if in response to the question she hadn’t asked yet.
“It’s easy,” Sophia encouraged. “You once told me you’d tell me. All I need you to do is—”
Incessant muttering cut Sophia off. For being sick, the gnome seemed to have a lot more energy as he shook his head while mumbling erratically.
Sophia continued to hold out the potion. “Look,” she began loudly, talking over him, which wasn’t difficult. “Just tell me what your real name is.”
To her surprise, he thrust her hand with the potion bottle back at her, nearly making her spill it.
She tilted her head and gave him a furious expression. “This is ridiculous. Queen Anastasia Crystal says you’ll die without this.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and continued to grumble to himself, his volume too low for even her enhanced hearing to make out. That was always the way with the gnome, which wasn’t surprising, no more than him being so stubborn.
“Really?” she barked. “You’re just going to die rather than tell me what your name is?”
Very deliberately, he nodded, the one action she understood fully.
“Fine, what if I guess it?” she proposed.
He shrugged and slouched back down in his bed like he was going to fall back to sleep, even with her standing in front of him.
“Bob, Billy, Jean, Roy, Kyle, Tom, Frank,” she said, listing every name she could think of in quick succession.
His eyelids fluttered shut.
Sophia sighed, recognizing this approach was haphazard at best. There was a battle going on in the Gullington. She needed to be there, helping her friends. Sophi
a didn’t have time for this nonsense, trying to save someone who apparently didn’t want to be saved.
“Quiet, you have to tell me your name,” she tried again. She attempted making her voice sound patient even though she was close to putting a spell on him. Sophia didn’t really think it would work, or she would have gone straight to that solution.
Stubbornly he shook his head and urged her from the room, waving her toward the door.
Sophia narrowed her eyes when her gaze caught writing on the painting over his bed. The name of the ship was barely legible, but she could read it. “McAfee,” she drawled slowly.
He stiffened.
Sophia’s face brightened. “Is that it? Is your name McAfee?”
The gnome smiled and mouthed one word. “No.”
Sophia nearly stomped. “Damn it! Why do you have to be so difficult? What can be so important about your name?”
“Everything,” Mama Jamba said at Sophia’s back.
She swung around, surprised to find the old woman there.
“If you know his name, it will change everything for him,” Mama Jamba continued. “He would rather die, I see now, than the alternative.”
“But you sent me to get the antidote,” Sophia argued. She was furious with the gnome for being so secretive and frustrated at Mother Nature for sending them on a wild goose chase when they could have been saving the Castle and helping the others.
“I didn’t know it would require Quiet to disclose his name, now did I?” Mama Jamba asked.
“Well, without his name, the antidote won’t work,” Sophia said, holding out the bottle of blue liquid.
Mama Jamba looked past Sophia at the gnome. “Then I guess the antidote won’t work.”
Sophia did stomp now. “This is ridiculous.”
“Oh, dear, it certainly is, but don’t waste any more time here,” Mama Jamba encouraged, stepping to the side and holding an arm to the narrow passageway out of Quiet’s room. “Go help the others.”
“But what about Quiet?”
Mama Jamba blinked impassively. “Why don’t you let me talk to him.”
“Can you get him to change his mind?” Sophia demanded, her heart ready to beat out of her chest.
Mother Nature shook her head. “I very much doubt it, but I might be able to buy you all some time. At least a little while.”
“How?” Sophia asked.
“Oh, my dear, I can’t reveal all my secrets,” she answered.
“You haven’t revealed any of them!”
Mama Jamba giggled. “Right you are. Still, I need you out on the Expanse, or I think the others will lose this battle sooner rather than later.”
Sophia was beyond furious. Mama Jamba had sent her away from the Gullington, and now she was sending her to fight with the warning if she didn’t get out to help, they would lose. What if she’d been out there all this time? Maybe they wouldn’t be in this position. She simply sighed with frustration before saying, “What about Ainsley? Did she find you?”
Mama Jamba nodded. “You were right to send her to me. I’ve given her something to help her sleep.”
“Sleep?” Sophia questioned. “Will she continue to be confused? Forget who she is and what’s going on? Is she in danger of dying like Quiet?”
Mama Jamba pursed her lips. “We’re all in danger of dying. That’s just the way this world was set up. Believe me, I know. I helped to make the rules. But Ainsley will be okay for a little longer.”
“We have to fix the Castle,” Sophia said urgently. “That’s the only way to save Ainsley and Quiet, to seal the Barrier and stop this madness.”
“You’re correct,” Mama Jamba replied calmly and clasped her hands in front of her. “But I see now other things will have to happen first. You’ll have to help the men protect the eggs. You’ll have to set out on other adventures.” She nodded as if making her mind up about something. “Yes, the events are happening all out of order, but that’s no matter. There’s time for everything.”
“Are you sure?” Sophia asked, looking between Mama Jamba and Quiet, who had fallen asleep during their conversation. “They’ll be okay?”
“For the night,” Mama Jamba answered. “I can help you through the night.”
“And then what?” Sophia wasn’t sure she really wanted the answer.
“And then, you’ll have to figure out what to do on your own,” Mama Jamba stated. “But you and I will have one last conversation, and I dare say, I’ll have great advice for you then.”
“Why don’t you give it to me now!” Sophia yelled, her face flushed.
Mama Jamba just smiled, unflustered by Sophia’s outburst. “Because timing is everything.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
What was happening on the Gullington was personal. As Sophia ran down the steps of the Castle, she felt engulfed in the battle before she was even close. She didn’t know who these thieves were or how they had taken down the Barrier and found the Gullington, but she knew they had to be stopped.
The sun was close to rising over the mountains east of the Cave. Morning light peaked up over the hills, giving off a faint glow.
The idea that a new day was dawning didn’t bring Sophia hope as she sprinted across the Expanse, finding signs everywhere of the battle that had ensued all night.
The grass that was always lush was dying and scorched by fire. In the distance, dragons were flying along the northern and southern sides of the Barrier, blasting fire and sending the thieves back. Evan and Mahkah were to the east, battling a few rogue thieves who appeared to have climbed down from the mountains. By the cave next to the Pond, Sophia saw Hiker and Wilder defending the Nest where the dragon eggs were stored.
She picked up her speed to cross the space. Like a mother desperate to rescue her children, Sophia felt a draw to the Nest and an unmistakable need to protect.
Briefly, she glanced up and saw her dragon streak across the sky in her direction, and then passing over her.
What’s happening, Sophia asked him.
For some reason, they can’t enter through the Barrier anymore, Lunis explained. So we’re trying to push them out of the border or kill them on the spot.
Sophia hurdled over a body she didn’t recognize. As she progressed, she saw more. The battle that had been waged all night had many casualties. She only hoped none were the Dragon Elite.
All are safe, Lunis said in her head, sensing her thoughts. Evan’s been stabbed badly in the abdomen, and Mahkah lost a finger, but otherwise, everyone is okay.
Sophia didn’t allow empathy to well up in her. Sadly, she knew when this battle was over, there would be more problems without the Castle to repair them.
I wonder what put the Barrier back up, she mused, hopeful. Maybe the Castle is back.
She felt Lunis hesitate before he spoke. I don’t think so, he finally said. I think we have to count our small victories. The Barrier is up, but we still have more fights left. The fiercest thieves have made it close to the dragon eggs and the Nest.
Sophia chanced a look over her shoulder and saw Mahkah and Evan were outnumbered as they attempted to push the trespassers back by the Cave.
Go and help them, she encouraged her dragon. I’ll go to the cave and assist the others.
He didn’t have to affirm for her to know he’d turned around, doing as she asked. Sophia pulled her sword as she ran, making quick progress over the Expanse. She had wanted to join this fight since it started, and now was her chance.
She was weary and worn out like the others, having not slept or eaten in a long time, but she was charged up and ready to make these thieves pay.
No one came into Sophia’s territory and hurt her friends without having to answer to her.
Chapter Forty-Eight
“Sophia!” Wilder yelled as she neared, relief flooding his voice. He had a cut down one side of his cheek, and his eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but it was evident he was grateful to see her even as he battled two men.
As So
phia approached, running all the way, she noted these thieves had a unique appearance. Maybe she expected masked men or more traditional magicians in long cloaks or some other disenfranchised hoodlum type. These men were cyborgs, and they were dressed like steampunk pirates.
The observation hardly computed in Sophia’s brain, but that seemed the right term for them as she watched Wilder slash at one. His opponent jumped back from his attack, bowing his chest to avoid the blade.
The guy had large bug-like goggles strapped around his forehead and short spikey black hair poking up around the glasses. He wore a vest and slung diagonally across his mid-section were some sort of artillery shells. Strapped around his waist were several belts with multiple strange devices locked into various compartments. The weirdest part was the sound he made when he pivoted to avoid Wilder’s attacks.
Sophia caught the distinct sound of hydraulics. If that wasn’t clue enough that he wasn’t totally human when he turned to look at her as she approached, his eyes flipped like a lens on a telescope before it started glowing bright green.
“Move!” Wilder yelled, abandoning his position and diving in Sophia’s direction and knocking her out of the way as something streaked through the air straight at them.
Wilder’s body covered and wrapped around hers as they hit the grass and rolled away from the blast. The heat hit Sophia’s face at once but dissipated as they continued to roll. Wilder didn’t let her go until they were a safe distance from the attack.
He jumped up and directed a hand at the young man, sending his own assault, a stunning spell that slammed straight into the pirate’s chest. Even though Sophia was accustomed to seeing Wilder use weapons and combat magic in battle, she was momentarily stunned to witness this incredible display.
The man was knocked off his feet and flew back several yards before landing on his back. He jumped up almost immediately but didn’t run for them like she would have expected. Instead, he sprinted for the northern border.
