by Sarah Noffke
Dakota looked around the circle, not saying a word but seeming to be having a silent conversation with his peers. Finally, he glanced back at Sophia and offered her a slight smile. “This spell is very precious to the elves and, as you say, very powerful. Normally we wouldn’t part with such a spell. However, because you risked much to protect our lands and return them to us, we would welcome the opportunity to return the favor. It appears the gods were looking at a way for us to reward you.”
Yes, Sophia thought victoriously. She didn’t care if it was the gods who had set up the exchange or simply fate. She was grateful that it was all working out. She was that much closer to stopping Versalee, and knowing that the demon dragonrider was trying to bomb all of Scotland made this victory all the more welcome.
“We will grant you approval to have the spell,” Dakota continued. “Learning it will be easy and painless.”
Sophia liked the sound of this more and more.
“All you must do is venture underground, seek out the ghosts of our ancestors, and they will instill it in you,” Dakota explained.
She slumped, feeling an edge of doubt that things weren’t going down Easy Street anymore. “Thank you. Is this underground journey difficult? Should I be concerned?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. It will be what you make of it. If there is danger, we encourage you to embrace it. If you become afraid on your journey, we hope that you look into that fear. Hopefully, you find more than the spell you sought. We hope it enriches your life in ways you didn’t expect when you set out for one goal and achieve another.”
Sophia nodded, but she wasn’t sure that she and Dakota were on the same page. She considered asking if they could make a copy of the spell and send it to her mobile device but decided that was probably akin to speaking a foreign language. All she could hope was this field trip to the ancestors' ghosts didn’t take long since time was a factor with the fate of all Scotland hanging in the balance.
“Okay, can you point me in the direction of the entrance to this underground journey?” Sophia asked.
“Yes, and the One Who Shifts can accompany you,” Dakota stated. “Offering her wisdom along your path.”
Ainsley pointed at herself. “That’s me, S. Beaufont. No matter how many times I tell Kota my name, he refuses to use it. Sort of cute and sort of not.”
Sophia suppressed a laugh. “Thank you. So which way is the entrance?” she asked again, antsy to get going and get back to the Gullington with the new protective spell.
“All in good time, dragonrider,” Dakota stated serenely. “First, you must prepare for the journey.”
“Prepare?” Sophia asked, doubt edging into her voice.
“Yes. You’re not dressed for this voyage, and you must understand the guidelines first,” Dakota answered.
There it was, Sophia thought and braced herself. “How do I need to be dressed? And these guidelines, what are they?”
Dakota pushed up unhurriedly to a standing position and held up his arm. A door at the back of the room slid open, presenting a new space. “To meet the ghosts of the ancestors, you must become like us in appearance and attitude. Otherwise, you’ll never find what you seek.”
Oh hell, Sophia thought, realizing that meant she had to become the one thing she loathed the most—a hippie.
Chapter One Hundred One
If Liv found out that Sophia became a hippie, she might disown her. This was one mission she wouldn’t share with her big sister. If nothing else, Sophia suspected her sister would laugh uncontrollably at the obstacles she had to deal with.
As Dakota led Sophia and Ainsley to the other room, she glanced at the shapeshifter beside her, who hid a grin. Sophia had the distinct impression that Ainsley knew this would happen the entire time but had decided against disclosing it.
“First,” Dakota began while leading them to a set of elfin women who appeared to be ready and waiting for them, “we’ll work on transforming your outside appearance, and that will pave the road to transforming your internal landscape. When you’re done, I’ll be waiting through there to give you the guidelines and show you the entrance.”
Sophia nodded, although she was more nervous for this makeover than fighting angry monsters and sneaking onto pirate ships.
Dakota strode forward, and another door slid out from the far wall as he approached. He disappeared a moment later, and the door slid back into place.
Sophia glanced at Ainsley with a questioning expression.
“Think of this as Dorothy’s makeover to meet the wizard after venturing down the yellow brick road,” the elf consoled.
“Does that make you the cowardly lion, the heartless tin man, or the scarecrow without a brain?” Sophia joked.
“None of the above,” Ainsley answered smugly. “I won’t get a makeover since I’m already an elf.”
“Besides the pointy ears, you don’t look the part,” Sophia pointed out, nodding at the other elves all dutifully stationed around them. They all had long hair and wore loose clothes and pleasant expressions.
“I will,” Ainsley promised. “Guest first.” She glanced at the women. “She’s ready for you to work your magic.”
“Our job is to remove the societal pressures that have altered your appearance,” the first woman said and stepped forward, striding around Sophia. She stopped behind her and combed her hands through her long blonde hair. “You’ve been conditioned to brush your hair. To keep it neat and tidy. Who has done this to you?”
“Not my sister,” Sophia joked. “She hates brushing her hair. I’ll tell her that the elves don’t like it either. She’ll love that. Really, I like my hair combed, but whatever you think.”
“It’s about how you feel,” the woman corrected. “I think you’ll find that when your hair is allowed to do as it pleases, you’ll feel much better.”
Sophia had to stop herself from explaining that her hair didn’t have a mind of its own and was subject to what she wanted, but decided that arguing with a hippie was a recipe for a headache.
“Now,” the woman continued. “Try and clear your mind and I’ll remove the restrictions you’ve put on your hair, taking it away from its true essence.”
Sophia pressed her eyes shut, afraid that what happened next might hurt. It didn’t, but she felt different. Dirtier. Her head was heavier.
“There you go,” the woman said. “It really is you. The you that you’ve hidden under societal pressures.”
Sophia peeled her eyes open and couldn’t help but notice that Ainsley appeared close to bursting out laughing. She lifted her hands and touched her hair, finding that instead of it being soft, untangled locks, it was thick ropes of dreadlocks.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mouthed to her friend, who instantly covered her mouth, hiding her laughter.
Chapter One Hundred Two
The second elf stepped forward, holding out her hands to Sophia. “I’ll gladly take that which burdens you.”
A confused expression jumped to Sophia’s face. She glanced at Ainsley, hoping that she could interpret.
She pointed at the sword sheathed on Sophia’s hip. “She means that.”
“Oh, Inexorabilis isn’t a burden,” Sophia argued. “It’s pretty much why I’m alive.”
“When we bring weapons with us, we prepare the world to fight us,” the hippie explained in an airy tone.
“Right.” Sophia drew out the word. “That’s why monsters keep trying to kill me.” She gave Ainsley an annoyed look. “Why didn’t you simply tell me to leave my sword at the Castle? Then I wouldn’t be in mortal danger on a regular basis.”
“Slipped my mind, S. Beaufont.”
“I’ll get it back, right?” Sophia asked the woman.
She nodded. “If you wish to burden yourself with it after your underground journey to the ghosts of our ancestors, we will not deny you this. We are allowed to make mistakes because it is your voyage to heal your past lives, not mine.”
Sophia wa
s pretty sure she might throw up, but instead, she unfastened her sword from her side and handed it over to the elf, who took it with an unpleasant expression.
The third and final woman stepped in front of Sophia. “My job is to remove the bonds that have weighed you down, restricting your movement and your soul’s expression.”
Sophia looked at Ainsley, her expression saying, “What the hell is she talking about?”
“Elderberry is going to change your clothes.” Ainsley indicated the woman.
Looking down at her bare feet, leather pants, and black cloak Sophia shrugged. She’d already lost her sword and her dignity with her hair. So what if they put her in flowy plants? “Sure, go ahead, Elderberry.”
The elfin woman smiled. “This will feel magnificent, and I dare say, you’ll never want to weigh yourself down with dark colors that obscure your soul again.”
Sophia didn’t think her soul particularly cared what she wore, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut as if preparing for a painful injection. With her eyes closed, she felt the tight top and pants disappear from her body, replaced by loose-fitting clothes. She opened her eyes and glanced down to find she was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and bohemian pants.
“Isn’t that better?” the woman asked in a serene voice.
“I do feel different,” Sophia admitted.
Dirty…she felt dirty. That’s how she felt different with her unwashed and unbrushed hair and bare feet.
Sophia found it ironic that in their attempts not to be regulated by society, these hippies threw out conformity and in refusing societal norms, made not conforming a rule.
“You are ready to proceed to your destiny.” The last elf held her arm out to the door where Dakota had disappeared.
Following Ainsley, Sophia strode through the door that slid out of their way as they approached. She found the leader of the elves waiting for her on the other side.
Dakota gave her an appreciative look when he took in the sight of her with her new ’do and threads. “Do you feel closer to the Earth in a truer form?”
Sophia felt like she needed to wash her feet of dirt, but she didn’t answer with that. Instead, she said, “I feel very different.”
“Lean into that feeling, and I’m sure that it will lead to a deeper connection with Mother Nature,” Dakota lectured.
“That woman stole my earbuds the other day,” Ainsley complained. “I almost connected my fist to her—”
The scolding look that Dakota gave her made her pause suddenly.
Ainsley held up her hand. “Oh, you try living with Mama Jamba. She’s as sweet as can be but totally doesn’t understand personal boundaries. I tried explaining to her that I’d need my earbuds for travel and her reply was, ‘If I’d been that stingy when creating this planet, there would be fewer places of interest for you to travel to.’ There is no winning with that woman.”
Sophia laughed. “I remember when you used to steal my clothes as the housekeeper for the Castle. I think this is karma.”
“I was borrowing your clothes,” Ainsley replied. “They never fit right so I always had to stretch them out.”
“Thanks,” Sophia stated dryly.
“Speaking of fitting right.” Dakota studied Ainsley. “Have you forgotten something?”
“Oh, right.” Ainsley’s appearance instantly shifted, turning her red hair into a series of braids with beads and a crown of flowers adorning the top of her head. A flowing sundress replaced her smart pantsuit and made her look quite different than seconds prior.
“Wonderful.” Dakota pressed his hands together. “Now I think you’re ready to hear the guidelines for your journey to the ghosts of our ancestors.”
Sophia tensed, feeling like this mission might be harder than if she had to dive to the bottom of the sea and wrestle a sea monster.
“The first guideline you must follow to find your destination,” Dakota began. “Is that you must not fight. No matter what you encounter or how dangerous it is, or how it threatens you, you must not fight. All you do must be through love and kindness.”
Sophia nodded, wanting to point out that they took her sword, so she expected this one.
“Second,” Dakota continued. “You must not hurry on this journey. It isn’t about when you get there. It’s how you get there. Often when we rush, we miss the miracle of life. So take your time. Move slowly.”
Dawdle, Sophia thought. He wants me to be a freaking dawdler. Sophia couldn’t stand dawdlers. They had nowhere to be and didn’t care that they were slowing the rest of the world down, blocking traffic, grocery store aisles, and holding up the line at the post office. Not that Sophia spent much time at those places, but she knew…she knew.
“Got it,” she replied. “Take my time. Not a problem.”
“Last,” Dakota sang in an airy tone. “On this voyage, do not think. Instead, to find the ghosts of our ancestors who have guarded us for ages, use your feelings to guide you. They will not steer you wrong. They will not let you down. But thinking, that will put a barrier between our ancestors and you.”
Sophia drew in a breath. Don’t think. Just feel. How hard could that be? she wondered, having the impression that it was akin to rocket science for someone like her who relied on strategy to overcome odds.
“With that, your journey begins.” Dakota held out his hand, and the door at the back of the room behind him slid open, revealing a dark staircase that descended into the earth.
Chapter One Hundred Three
Cautiously, Sophia approached the dark staircase, feeling Ainsley behind her. She was weaponless, barefoot, and not allowed to rush. This was the dragonrider’s worst nightmare, surprisingly. Leave it to hippies to frighten the hell out of me, Sophia thought with a mental laugh.
The moist dirt stairs were cold on Sophia’s feet as she climbed to the bottom. Thankfully, flaming torches lit her path, but that only illuminated the many potential problems. Like, for instance, there were spiders…everywhere. There was also a myriad of other creatures scuttling and clucking on the path up ahead.
Vines snaked around the dirt ceiling, reminding Sophia that she was under the forest. The tunnel smelled of moss and earth and was low in some places, making Ainsley have to duck to get through. Sophia was fine and once again, grateful for being short.
“Your people…” Sophia said to the elf when they’d walked a long distance, not finding anything of particular interest.
“They’re funny, aren’t they?” Ainsley questioned.
“Funny is one word for it,” Sophia replied. “Are you inviting many of them to the wedding?”
“Not a single one,” Ainsley retorted.
Sophia shot her a look of surprise.
“Oh, you’re as bad as Hiker,” Ainsley complained. “I don’t see what the big deal is. I want a marriage, not a huge lavish wedding.”
Sophia smiled at her friend. “I like that, and I get it. But it’s a reason to celebrate. You two have had to overcome a lot to be together.”
The elf beamed with pride. “We have. And it was worth it. I’d wait another century if I had to, to be with that man. But let’s hope I don’t because I think I’ve waited long enough.”
Sophia nodded. “You have, but you found your way back to each other. Hiker, well, he’s so different than he was when I first entered the Castle. He’s so different since you got your memories and returned to the Gullington.”
“I never told you this,” Ainsley began with a tentative tone, making Sophia tense. “I was both happy and sad when you came to the Gullington.”
“You were?”
She nodded. “I’d been the only woman in the Castle for centuries. Then this gorgeous young blonde with her worldly knowledge shows up, and well, I thought you were going to change everything.”
“Ains…”
The elf waved her off. “The thing is, you did change everything. You made Hiker stop being so scared to reenter the world. You forced him to confront his broth
er, something that Adam had been trying to do for ages. I’m certain that was an obstacle Hiker had to face first before he could open his heart back up to me. Then you helped me to recover my memories and the cure so I could leave the Gullington. If I never left, I would have never realized what I figured out, which was that I always wanted to be there. Before, I’d felt like a prisoner because I couldn’t leave. Now that I can, I don’t want to.” She smiled and twirled one of her many braids around her finger. “It’s a beautiful irony, isn’t it?”
Sophia wanted to tease the elf that her peoples’ hippie philosophy was rubbing off on her, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment, which was lovely. “It is.”
“Anyway, I worried that you’d change everything,” Ainsley continued. “Now, looking back, I’m so glad you showed up and changed everything. We could still be waking up day after day, doing the same thing. And we would if S. Beaufont hadn’t stirred things up—forcing us into the current century.”
Sophia’s face warmed. “I don’t think I can take much credit. All I did was remind Hiker that we were needed out there in the world.”
“That’s a lot.” Ainsley held out her arm to pause Sophia.
She tensed, wondering if the elf saw something on the path ahead that she hadn’t. Something dangerous or that she needed to deal with, like a mealworm that she shouldn’t step on, violating the hippie laws.
“We’re walking too fast,” Ainsley stated. “That’s why we’ve gone so far without seeing anything. The path is looping because we need to slow down.”
Sophia slumped, realizing that she was right. Things were starting to look the same. Apparently, their speed cued different things from the path. The ceiling was high in this area, and the way dipped in several places. Sophia remembered going by here already, for sure. “Okay, fine. I’ll dawdle. You’ll have to teach me how.”
Ainsley laughed. “Like I know how. I might be an elf, but I’m no dawdler.”