by Sarah Noffke
As if encouraged by her threat, the magpie popped his head into the tin.
Sophia knew she couldn’t risk Jack taking off with the gold token again. A huge gust of wind swept through the tree. Like when she’d been on the beanstalk during the storm, she held on tightly as the branches swayed.
Jewelry and small shiny objects began to fall from the tree, pelting her head. They fell to the ground around the tree, covering it with hundreds of tiny trinkets.
When the wind had stopped and the stolen items quit falling, Sophia chanced a glance up. The tin with the gold token was gone. She jerked her chin down and ran her eyes over the scene below. Within seconds, she located the tin sitting among the other treasures, no coin inside.
Her eyes connected with Jack’s. An unspoken message passed between them. Sophia dove for the ground as the magpie sped in the same direction, trying to beat her to the reset point.
Chapter One Hundred Eight
Somewhere, a clock was ticking in Berlin’s castle when Hiker slipped through the large doors. He was a large man by any standard. However, in comparison to the giant, he felt like a gnome as he stood in the oversized castle. Everything in the place was made to fit the large giant.
A table that stood as tall as Hikers’ midsection sat in the dining room to the left. If he were to sit in one of the chairs around it, he had the sick feeling his feet would barely touch the floor. In the opposite room were various other pieces of furniture, all of them oversized.
As Hiker had assumed from the smell that had wafted from the open window, the castle was unkempt with trash all over the place and grime marking most of the walls. A thick coat of dust covered everything, making him scrunch up his nose as a sneeze threatened to rip from him.
He shook his head and willed the sneeze to go away as he considered his options. From the kitchen, his enhanced ears picked up on the giantess whistling as she cooked. It smelled potato-based with a strong hint of licorice and sardines.
Hiker grimaced at the combination. Here he had thought Ainsley’s cooking would push him over the edge. He should probably be glad he didn’t have Berlin’s mum cooking for him.
Hiker knew he should be grateful for what Ainsley did for him and the Dragon Elite, but there had been so little time over the last few centuries to process everything. To really appreciate her. It was hard to remember who she used to be. Who he was. Who they were.
He looked out the window he’d been spying through a minute ago and saw the Family Tree in the distance. Hiker made out Sophia jumping from a branch, the bird diving after her. He didn’t know what the young dragonrider was doing, but he hoped she was successful at recovering the gold token.
Pulling his attention to the stairs, Hiker listened. He heard the groan of a mattress from the second floor and assumed that was where the angry giant had gone to take his nap.
As carefully as he could, the leader of the Dragon Elite began to climb the stairs to the second floor. The steps were higher than those Hiker was used to, making him have to raise his feet up higher to reach the top landing. When he got there, his boot made the floorboard creak.
Hiker froze and listened, holding his breath.
“Mum, is that you?” Berlin asked from the nearest room to the right.
Not daring to even blink, Hiker remained still. He might be the most powerful magician on the planet currently, but with that strength came an imbalance. That’s why he was there. He knew without a doubt that if he was confronted by the giant, the fight wouldn’t be so decisive of a victory for him. Hiker suspected that under his current circumstances, he’d lose before the fight even started.
The giant muttered something followed by the sound of bedsprings squealing as if in pain.
Hiker wasn’t sure what to do next and considered finding a hiding place until the giant fell asleep. Before he even had a chance to formulate a plan, loud snoring filled the castle, making the floor under his boots vibrate.
Chapter One Hundred Nine
Making an enemy of a mischievous magpie hadn’t been on Sophia’s agenda for that day, but it just went to show how her adventures took her along rather than the other way around.
She landed with a thud on top of the many treasures, which didn’t make for the softest cushion. Jack, on the other hand, swept down gracefully, his bird feet making a clinking sound as he landed.
The one good thing for Sophia was he didn’t seem to know where the gold token was. She could tell by the way he was jerking his head back and forth, searching for it. The bad news was the jerk bird seemed intent on finding it before her. With his beak, he started turning over necklaces and earrings in the pile, looking for the coin.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Sophia launched herself forward, diving for the bird. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if she caught it, but it seemed like the best course of action to keep Jack from getting to the reset token before her.
He squawked and took flight as she landed where he’d been seconds prior. She squashed the tin the coin had been in when it hung in the Family Tree.
She pushed up to her hands and knees and began sifting through the contents on the ground. This could take a long time since the coin was quite small compared to many of the other objects. The layers of treasure were thick. There was no telling where the gold token was at that point.
Jack had wised up. Not wanting to be clobbered by the dragonrider, he had taken a perch back in the tree. A quick glance told Sophia he was still diligently searching for the coin.
“It’s mine, you little thieving bird brain,” Sophia warned. “Seriously, out of all these treasures, you’re going to go to all this effort to keep it away from me. That’s just rude.”
The bird squawked in protest.
Sophia laughed at it. “My consolation is that you’re going to have to put all this stuff back in the tree, and that will take forever. You’re welcome.”
The magpie, who obviously understood English, swooped down from overhead, his feet going for Sophia’s hair. She threw her hands up and batted them wildly to shoo the avian away.
He flew back up into the tree and continued to watch from above.
Sophia returned to searching, but then remembered the objects were no longer in the tree where they couldn’t be summoned. With a triumphant glint in her eyes, she held out her hand, muttering an incantation that would draw the gold token to her. Before it was complete, Jack chirped loudly and dove back down to the pile.
At first, Sophia thought he was going for her head again, but then he soared to the side, headed for something on the other side of the tree trunk.
That was when she saw it. Sitting on top of a silver fork was the gold coin, winking at her in the sunlight.
As quickly as she could, Sophia finished the incantation and the coin rose from the fork and raced through the air. The magpie figured out what was happening a moment too late as the token soared toward Sophia.
Jack was slow to turn around, and by the time he did, the coin had landed in Sophia’s palm.
Victoriously, she closed her fingers over the cold token, then with her other, she levitated the hundreds of trinkets into the air. The bird, who was headed in her direction, realized what was happening too late.
With urgency in his black eyes, he shot straight up through the branches of the tree as the many shiny objects trailed after him, all of them under the spell Sophia had just created. She didn’t stay to watch as the thieving bird was chased by the items he’d stolen from others. Instead, she hightailed it away from the tree. The hour was almost up, and she needed to get back to the cave where she was supposed to meet Hiker.
Chapter One Hundred Ten
Mahogany filled most of the second-floor landing. Oversized furniture covered most of the available space. Not only was Berlin not very tidy, but he also appeared to be a hoarder. That shouldn’t have been a surprise to Hiker, based on the junkyard outside the castle.
He paused outside the bedroom, which was filled with snoring. It was so lou
d it vibrated the floors, making the castle feel like a breathing monster.
Hiker wasn’t a man who knew fear even though he’d faced some of the worst beasts to grace Mama Jamba’s planet. However, with the prospects of getting trapped in a bedroom with an angry giant, he was quickly reacquainted with the emotion. It had been too long since Hiker felt the adrenaline of battle.
He wouldn’t readily tell Sophia, but going on this mission with her had given him a new exhilaration. It was different when he had to defeat his brother Thad, which had been surrounded with regret and obligation. When Hiker had fought the cyborg pirates to defend the Gullington, that had also had a personal connection.
This felt like a battle from back in the day when the object was clear, the enemy evil and the path fully obstructed. Hiker didn’t realize until that moment that he missed this. As the leader of the Dragon Elite, it wasn’t his job to go into battle. That was the job of his dragonriders, except when really necessary. Hiker hoped there would be a future where he got to flex his muscles. That was part of the reason for balancing his powers. Also so he didn’t crush his coffee mug by accident every morning.
Hiker held his breath as he looked into the room where Berlin was sleeping. It was also cluttered with unnecessary furniture and knick-knacks. The bed where the giant slept was one of the biggest Hiker had ever seen. It was at least three feet off the floor and the size of Bell after she’d ingested a deer.
His eyes darted to the bedside table where the gold harp was sitting. It was very close to where the giant’s face was resting on a pillow, his mouth wide open and drool slipping down his chin.
Hiker chanced a step forward, then paused to see if it woke the giant. Thankfully it didn’t. He took another step and again halted. He expected the floor would creak again underfoot, and wake up Berlin. When it didn’t, Hiker made an impromptu decision to speed things up, deciding it was better to be fast than deliberate.
He sped forward and grabbed the harp. It was small in his grasp but instantly made him feel better and calmer.
Hiker spun, ready to get out of the castle when a voice called up from the stairs.
“Berlin! Are you sleeping?” the giantess called from the stairs.
Hiker tensed, the harp in his clutches. The giantess sounded like she was on the stairs, so he couldn’t get out that way.
At his back, Berlin snored loudly, thankfully not waking up.
Without giving himself a moment to hesitate, Hiker dropped to the floor and scuttled under the bed, working quickly and soundlessly to tuck in underneath. It didn’t give him much room as the mattress caved dangerously low, grazing him as he tried to get into his hiding spot. The giantess thundered up the stairs and into the room.
“Damn it, you good-for-nothing son of mine,” the giantess yelled as she entered. Her slippered feet were visible to Hiker as he pressed his face against the dirty floor.
“Wh-wh-what?” Berlin stuttered, clambering up as his mother stood over him.
“I told you to chop wood,” she commanded.
“I was gonna,” Berlin growled and threw his feet in dirty socks over the side, dangerously close to Hiker’s face.
Hiker shrank back from the horrible smell, nearly gagging. There were few things that smelled as bad as that giant’s feet.
“Yeah, you are,” the giantess stated. “You’re going to get your lazy butt up right now and chop my wood.”
“Fine!” Berlin yelled, pulling his boots over and slipping them onto feet that were still too close to Hiker’s face.
“I swear, I can’t depend on you for nothing,” the giantess complained.
“Oh, give it a rest,” he replied and then took in a big whiff. “What is that smell?”
Hiker held his breath, both from the giant’s feet and out of fear.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum. I smell the blood of a magician,” Berlin chanted, lacing up his boots.
His mum clicked her tongue. “No, what you smell is your upper lip, son. It wouldn’t kill you to wash your face every now and then.”
He sighed. “I washed my face last week when I took my monthly bath.”
Hiker grimaced, making note never to get onto Evan for not bathing regularly. Berlin made the young dragonrider seem high maintenance with his hygiene practices.
“Just get down there and chop that wood,” the giantess ordered. “The fire under my stew is about to go out, thanks to you.”
The bed groaned overhead, and the springs close to pressing into Hiker’s face rose a bit. “Fine, but after I’m done, I expect supper.”
“You’ll get it when it’s ready,” his mum said, a terse tone to her voice.
Berlin drew in another breath. “It sure does smell fishy, like a man be hiding around here somewhere.”
From his place under the bed with his face pressed to the floor, Hiker saw the giantess tap her foot with impatience. “Oh, would you stop delaying? It’s probably the fish and licorice stew you’re smelling.”
Hiker scrunched his nose. Having smelled the awful stew, he was grateful he would be away from the weird combination of scents soon. He had the harp. He just needed the giant to leave, then he could too.
The boots of the giant thundered across the floor, making quick progress toward the door. At the threshold, Berlin halted. “Wait a second.”
Hiker tensed and pulled his arms in closer, worried they had been seen from under the bed. “Where’s my harp?”
“Oh, Berlin,” the giantess complained. “My stew is getting cold without a fire. Will you get to your chores?”
“Mum, my harp. I know I put it on the bedside table before I dozed off. Where is it?”
“Do you really want to discuss how you came up here to sleep instead of doing what I asked, Berlin?” his mum asked.
“But—”
“You probably dropped it out there in that pigsty of a yard of yours,” the giantess interrupted.
The giant scraping his fingernails across his head sounded like sheets of sandpaper being rubbed together. “Yeah, maybe I did drop it. I’ll have to go look.”
“First, you’ll chop that wood, or you’ll go to bed hungry. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Mum,” Berlin answered, striding passed the giantess, his footsteps receding as he went down the stairs.
Hiker continued to hold his breath and watch as Berlin’s mum stood beside the open door, not having followed her son as he would have expected.
A soft sigh tumbled from her mouth. “Now, if there is a magician hanging out in here, I suggest he get out before my monster of a son returns from chopping wood. Because if there’s anything he likes more than fish and licorice stew, it’s to grind a magician’s bones to make his bread.”
Hiker’s eyes widened both in surprise that the giantess was helping him and at the thought of becoming a side dish for the giant. He didn’t move even when Berlin’s mum disappeared, taking the same path as her son.
Chapter One Hundred Eleven
Her knees grazed from falling on the pile of treasures, Sophia wiped them off as she ran for the cave. She slipped the gold token in her pocket and looked over her shoulder.
The stupid magpie would be busy trying to avoid colliding with the flock of spelled items chasing it until the spell ran out. That would be at least another few minutes or until Sophia disappeared down the beanstalk once more.
She halted at the mouth of the cave and checked her watch. There was only one more minute left until the hour was up. It had gone by too fast, and Hiker wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
She couldn’t believe he’d required her to leave him if he didn’t show up in time. Worse was that he wanted her to cut down the beanstalk if he didn’t appear. Although she hadn’t wanted to agree, she knew refusing her leader wouldn’t do. Leadership only worked if she followed. Otherwise, it was chaos, and what was the point? She didn’t always agree with Hiker, but when he put down his foot on matters like this, she listened and complied.
As she stared out at the junkyard, S
ophia worried for the leader of the Dragon Elite. If he didn’t show up in the next several seconds, she had to leave without him, and she was certain cutting down the beanstalk would trap him here forever.
Chapter One Hundred Twelve
“Run” was the first thing that occurred to Hiker as he ungracefully slid out from under the giant’s bed. However, he knew he couldn’t risk making noise. Berlin might still be in the castle. As quietly as he could, Hiker rose to his feet and tiptoed across the room, taking a cursory glance out to the hallway to ensure it was clear.
It was hard to believe the giantess was trying to help him. Maybe she’d witnessed her savage son do too many bad things and was working to undo them the only way she could. Whatever the reason, he was grateful Berlin’s mum had come to his rescue, ordering her son out of the castle to give Hiker a chance to escape.
When at the doorway to the room, Hiker peered out to the landing of the stairs and the area below. The coast was clear.
With careful steps, he moved across the second-floor landing, avoiding the creaky board he’d stepped on before. Once on the stairs, he took them two at a time, his shoes cushioned by the dirty runner.
When Hiker was near the bottom of the stairs, the smell that wafted from the kitchen was nearly sickening. He held his nose and peered toward the living room and the sitting area on the other side. Both were clear.
All Hiker had to do was reach the door and then run across the junkyard with the gold harp and he’d be free. The mission would be complete. All would be well, until the next mission where he had to risk everything for something silly like a tiny harp.
Taking a step off the stairs, Hiker checked over his shoulder to the back of the castle, to the door that led to the back. That’s where he suspected Berlin was chopping wood for his mum.
