Arbitrate or Die (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 2)

by Sarah Noffke

  “We’ll all die,” he said simply.

  “That’s one option, but I was considering the one where we lived.”

  Hiker nodded. “I know. I get it. It’s just that I disqualified those other riders because they didn’t have what it took to be a Dragon Elite. You have to have heart. You have to care more about others than yourself. And they left because the job wasn’t glamorous enough. The payoff wasn’t worth the sacrifice. How can I allow them back when my instinct tells me they don’t have what it takes?”

  “Maybe they’ve changed?” Sophia offered. “It’s been a long time. And they are out there on their own. We know how lonely that is.”

  “Maybe,” he said, resignation edging into his voice.

  “Well, I could go out and find them,” she suggested.

  “No,” Hiker said at once. “You need to finish your training, and if I’m sending anyone to recruit dragonriders, it will be—”

  “A man,” she interrupted, making him shut his mouth.

  “It’s not that,” Hiker argued. “It’s just that the others have experience and age on their side, and that would be more compelling for recruitment efforts.”

  “Right,” Sophia said. “And if I showed up all young and female, they might think that the Dragon Elite had gone to hell.”

  “It’s not that,” he stated but didn’t have anything to add.

  “Okay, well, what if I told you I knew where there were other dragon eggs that hadn’t hatched yet, at least according to my recent knowledge?”

  Now she had Hiker’s attention. He tilted his head, remaining quiet and waiting for her to continue.

  “When I magnetized to Lunis’ egg, there were a few other eggs,” Sophia explained. “I know where the shop is. You won’t allow me to recruit riders, but will you let me go after those eggs if I can return them to you?”

  Hiker seemed to think about this. “Are you sure you know where they are?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “But you need to be training,” he argued.

  “Which I will continue to do,” she stated.

  “And if I allow you to go on this mission and you bring back the eggs, what do you want?” Hiker asked, a sly expression twinkling in his eyes.

  Sophia had to give him credit. He was wising up to her ways. “Well, I think if I give you what could be the last of the remaining unhatched dragon eggs on Earth, then you should allow me to go after the riders out there.”

  He considered it. “Any other offers?”

  “Well, I can keep the location of the eggs to myself and do nothing,” she suggested.

  Hiker shook his head. “Fine, but you have to train at the same time. I’m not allowing you to go after other riders unless you’re progressing. But first, you have to recover those eggs. Do we understand each other?”

  Sophia straightened. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Sophia was up early, waiting for the guys to return from the missions. Evan merely grunted at her when she greeted him on the steps of the Castle, not even looking directly at her. However, Wilder gave her a wide smile.

  “What are those?” he asked, eyeing the donuts she offered him on a plate she’d grabbed from the kitchen. Ainsley had acted like she was cutting off one of her limbs by allowing Sophia to borrow it.

  “They are donuts,” Sophia explained. “They come from a place called Krispy Kreme.”

  “Oh,” Wilder said, sounding intrigued. “Simi has actually called me that a time or two when I collided with her fire.”

  “That’s perfect, actually,” Sophia said with a laugh, watching as he took a donut.

  Wilder halted when the sugary treat was close to his mouth. “You want something, don’t you?”

  “No,” she lied. “Just wanted to welcome you back.” She slumped. “Okay, yes, but it can wait until you’ve eaten and rested.”

  He chomped into the donut. “You know what, I haven’t been greeted with rewards even when someone wanted something. So you can…” His face transformed with pure delight. “Never mind. Keep giving me those donuts, and you can have whatever you want. Can you teach Ainsley how to make those?”

  Sophia laughed. “I really just wanted to train with you, but I can wait until later.”

  He shook his head. “No, I’ve decided that this kind of behavior of giving me donuts must be rewarded. Get on the Expanse and start warming up. I’ll be down there in five minutes.”

  “Are you sure?” Sophia asked, still holding the platter of donuts.

  Wilder grabbed another and stuck it in his mouth. “I’m absolutely positive.”

  “What did the cat tell you?” Wilder asked, finishing off another donut.

  “He said that I have to find out what bonded my mother to Inexorabilis and then go back and undo that moment,” Sophia asked, swinging her sword at a straw dummy. She turned to face him. “Does that sound right to you at all?”

  He swallowed and nodded. “Unfortunately, it makes perfect sense. I mean, every sword is different. Each has different ways of wanting to bond with a new person. But this isn’t uncharacteristic based on what I’ve learned over time.”

  “So, do you think you can help me?” Sophia asked, rolling out her shoulder.

  “The question is,” Wilder said, wiping his mouth, “if your mother did something grand with that sword to bond with it, can you, firstly, do that again? And will you feel okay with erasing her act to do it your own way?”

  Sophia gulped, not having realized the full implications. “I mean, it’s already been done, right?”

  “But we’re going to undo it using very powerful magic,” he stated. “That means you have to fix things twice.”

  “Just tell me this,” she said, sticking her sword into a bale of hay. “Can I progress in my combat training, and pass if I don’t bond with that sword?”

  “Not a chance,” Wilder said, shaking his head without hesitation.

  “Then the answer is easy,” she stated.

  “I could,” he began, a speculative glare in his eyes, “consider picking out a different weapon for you that won’t be as hard to bond with. For instance, a new sword will bond with you on your own adventure. You won’t have to rewrite history.”

  Sophia shook her head at once. “No, I have to have my mother’s sword.”

  “But this was created for her,” Wilder argued.

  “And wouldn’t you say it’s a good weapon?” she asked.

  “Soph, it’s the best,” he stated with confidence. “I can’t improve upon it. Inexorabilis was made with a craftmanship I could study all my life and not master.”

  “And that’s not even why I want it with me,” Sophia stated. “It belonged to one of the greatest Warriors for the House of Fourteen. I’m a part of that. My sister recovered that sword. My brother, Ian, continued my mother’s fight. I will too. But that means doing things the hard way. That means I have to bond to this weapon even if it means facing something dangerous.”

  Wilder lowered his chin, giving her a serious expression. “I’m glad. Because I’m afraid it will probably mean facing something incredibly difficult. But I have faith you’ll do it with the right help.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  He held out her sword, offering it back to her. “It means I’ll be there. But first, let’s figure out what I’ll be there for.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Did I say I’d be there?” Wilder said, laying down Inexorabilis and quickly striding away.

  “What did you see?” Sophia asked.

  “Our deaths,” he said at once.

  “You’re a dragonrider,” she argued. “How bad can it be?”

  “What’s the worst you can imagine?”

  She thought for a moment, but before she could answer, he interrupted.

  “It’s twice as bad as that,” he stated.

  “But you’re in, right?” Sophia asked.

  Wilder drew in a breath. “Soph, I wan
t to help. And—”

  “And you will because you’re amazing and want donuts?” Sophia posed.

  He considered her. “Yes, I love your donuts. But seriously. Even with our dragons, this is beyond our powers and you with an untested sword—”

  “How else can I bond with it?” she argued.

  Wilder’s shoulders slumped. “You simply can’t. If you don’t face this, you won’t win Inexorabilis.”

  “Then tell me how to do it,” she stated. “You don’t even have to go with me.”

  “Oh no,” he stated. “I’m all in. I’ve already committed. Donuts or no donuts.”

  “Okay, well, tell me what I have to undo and then redo,” Sophia said.

  Wilder’s jaw flexed. “Have you heard of the Phantom?”

  She shook her head.

  “No, no, you haven’t,” he stated with a sigh. “Because your mom killed the Phantom, ending its brutal reign, which I can’t believe one person was able to do. But now you’ve got to bring it back, which is going to be hard enough. Then you’re going to have to kill it again and hope that this bonds you to Inexorabilis.”

  “All of your optimism is really making it hard to understand your message,” she joked.

  He leveled his gaze at her. “This might be impossible. I’ll start making you a new sword this afternoon.”

  “No,” Sophia argued. “Firstly, you have missions and things you need to be doing. And secondly, I’m doing whatever it takes to bond to Inexorabilis.”

  “What if it’s not worth it,” he argued, strangely serious.

  “It has to be,” she stated. “But is there really a chance that I could go through all of this and the same act that bonded the sword to my mother, doesn’t bond it to me?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a gamble. There are no guarantees with things like this.”

  “Okay, well, first start by telling me about this Phantom.”

  “You’ll want to do some research on your own,” Wilder began to explain. “But from what I remember and saw in the vision given by the sword, the Phantom is an evil unicorn.”

  Sophia couldn’t help but laugh. “Unicorns aren’t evil.”

  “They aren’t any more, thanks to Guinevere Beaufont,” he stated.

  “The Phantom made other unicorns evil?” Sophia asked.

  “No,” Wilder said, shaking his head. “It made everything evil. People, plants, animals, places, whatever you can think of. It was like a disease, spreading negativity like the plague.”

  A smile flicked to her mouth. “And my mom rid the world of that.”

  “Yes, and you’re going to have to bring back that giant, black unicorn, which is the first impossible part of this mission.”

  She sighed. “That does seem really difficult. I don’t know any spells that reverse events, but I can start looking into it.”

  “What you need is a time travel spell, but I can only think of one person who can give you one of those,” Wilder imparted.

  “Father Time,” Sophia guessed.

  “Yes, and finding him is damn near impossible.”

  “Oh, but Liv works for him,” Sophia rejoiced.

  “That’s right. I forgot your family is royalty who knows everyone,” Wilder said with a laugh.

  “You didn’t forget that,” she argued. “You just saw a vision of my mother as a Warrior, slaughtering the Phantom.” Her eyes lit up with hope. “But if you saw that vision, then you know how she did it and you can tell me, making my job that much easier.”

  “Yes, I can,” he stated.

  “How did she do it?”

  “With a sword,” he said dryly and pointed to Inexorabilis. “That one, specifically.”

  Sophia rolled her eyes at him. “I was hoping for something a bit more specific regarding technique and strategy.”

  “We can get to that later. First, you have to get the spell from Father Time, then we can talk about strategy.”

  She nodded undeterred, although Wilder appeared less than hopeful about the situation. “I’ll get the spell. Then you can help me. But you really don’t have to go with me to do this. I can do it on my own, just like my mother did.”

  A smile made Wilder appear younger suddenly. “Why do you think she did it alone?”

  Sophia blinked at him in surprise. “Oh, didn’t she? Was another Warrior with her?”

  “I don’t think so,” Wilder answered. “It was a man, and I think it was your father.”

  “My father? Really? Why do you think he was with her?” Sophia asked.

  His gaze ran over her face. “Because he had your eyes.”

  A shiver ran down Sophia’s spine. “So my parents ended the Phantom together. That’s amazing.”

  “Yes, your father used magic to subdue the beast while your mother used her sword to end him,” Wilder explained. “I think it will require two people.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this with me?” Sophia asked. “I could ask Liv to help me.”

  “You could, and if you’d prefer to do this with your sister, then I understand,” Wilder said. “However, we are dragonriders, which means we don’t back down from a challenge and we help each other without question. So if you want my help, then you have it fully.”

  Sophia smiled at him. “Thank you. I think I’d prefer to have your help.”

  “Because I have a dragon?” he asked with a wink.

  “Well, that and also, Liv will kill me if I tell her what I’m going to do,” Sophia related with a laugh.

  “Don’t you think that her boss will divulge that information when you ask him for the spell?”

  Sophia sighed heavily. “And now I’ve got to figure out a way to bribe Papa Creola.”

  Wilder pointed to the empty plate sitting on a nearby hay bale. “May I suggest that you bring donuts?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Although it had been days since Sophia had seen Lunis, she felt like no time had passed. That was mostly because he was always in her head, listening to her thoughts. Sometimes commenting. His affection for her was like a silent song that played in her head and surrounded her heart.

  “Papa Creola will give me the spell, right?” she asked him, checking the reins on his saddle.

  “I think you’ll have to make a stronger case for yourself,” he answered. “Stating that you simply want to undo things so you can redo them to bond to a sword won’t work. Maybe there is a benefit to bringing back the Phantom momentarily.”

  “I don’t know,” Sophia said speculatively. “Wilder says that he’s pure evil. What benefit can there be to resurrecting him?”

  “Nothing is pure evil,” Lunis imparted, stretching his wings. “We are all made up of both good and bad. Some are closer on the spectrum toHiker evil than others, though.”

  “Good point,” Sophia said, her head still spinning, trying to find a good reason to bring back an evil unicorn.

  “While we think on it, do you want to try that take off again?” Lunis asked.

  Mahkah hadn’t returned from his mission to investigate the Nathaniel Facility, which meant that she had to train with Lunis on their own. A dozen times she’d tried to do the running-jump-mount, as she had taken to calling it. So far, she’d landed on her face a dozen times, with zero progress.

  Evan had made it look so easy when he demonstrated the move. He’d simply run beside Coral, and when she launched into the air, he jumped onto her back, swinging his leg around and sliding effortlessly into the saddle.

  Sophia, conversely, had been knocked in the face by Lunis’ wing so many times that she was going to need a healing spell to fix the bruises.

  “Okay, yeah, let’s try it again.” She pulled in a breath, preparing herself.

  “I won’t run as fast,” Lunis stated, reading the nervousness in her.

  “No, you need to, or you can’t take off,” Sophia argued. “Just do everything as you normally would. I’m the one who has to adapt.”

  “I don’t actually have to run to take off,
” Lunis stated. “I could just jump.”

  Sophia shook her head. “Yeah, then I’ll definitely eat dirt. Let’s try the running start again.”

  She crouched, pulling in a quick breath.

  Lunis burst forward, beside her, his wings still tucked into his body.

  Sophia took off, sprinting as fast as she could but already losing him. In her peripheral, she caught the sight of his backend.

  No! Not again, Sophia thought, furiously.

  She continued to push forward, waiting for when Lunis telegraphed that he was about to spring into the air. She’d learned to spot the way his clawed feet shifted before takeoff, followed by his wings expanding. That was usually when she dove for the saddle and got knocked out by his wings.

  She knew he was too far in front of her for it to work on this attempt. But she didn’t want to give up.

  When Lunis was just about to launch into the air, Sophia dove, grabbing for the dragon.

  To her surprise, she caught something. At first, she thought she’d grabbed one of his back feet, but there were no claws.

  The dragon soared into the air, lifting her off the ground.

  “I’m on Lunis,” she exclaimed and instantly deflated.

  In fact, she wasn’t hanging onto one of his feet or the side of him or even part of his wing where she could climb up to her saddle.

  No, Sophia was holding onto the dragon’s tail, dangling over the Expanse as he climbed higher. She held on for dear life, the idea of what she looked like making her cringe with embarrassment.

  She couldn’t wait for Lunis to land, but disembarking had to be done just right, or she was going to eat dirt again.

  Are you ready for me to land? Lunis asked in her head.

  Of course, she stated.

  How about now? he asked, turning to the side and giving her a view of who was standing on the Expanse, watching the entire thing and laughing uncontrollably.