by Sarah Noffke
“Help me!” he ordered, his arms waving around madly.
Sophia pushed up to her feet and found the ground solid under her. A quick look around told her the ground spread out until it met rocks and walls.
That’s when it hit her. They were in a cave.
Chapter One Hundred Three
New York City felt thousands of miles away as Sophia assimilated the new reality. She’d climbed high above the city on a beanstalk to find herself in a cave in the sky. What was outside the cave was even more curious.
“What are you doing?” Hiker exclaimed, His face was so red it looked like it was about to burst from the pressure around his midsection. “Help me!”
Sophia hurried over, grateful to have solid ground under her feet after the long climb. She grabbed both of his hands and tugged to get the thick Viking through the opening.
His hands were large in hers, and they were slippery from the rain. Sophia pulled her hands from his and wiped them on her pants. He did the same, and when their hands reconnected, they had a much firmer grip on each other.
Digging her boots in, Sophia threw her weight backward, pulling so hard she thought her shoulders dislocated. Finally there was a release and Hiker tumbled all the way through the hole, knocking into her and throwing her to the ground. He rolled over and jumped to his feet, looking around with wide eyes.
Realizing there was no immediate danger, he glared down at her as though wondering why she was lounging in the dirt while he was vigilant.
Finally he held out a hand, offering to help her up. Sophia took his hand for the third time and was nearly hauled off her feet when he brought her to a standing position.
“What do you make of this?” Hiker asked quietly.
“It’s a cave,” she said.
He nodded and pointed to where the sunlight was streaming through. “Looks like that’s our way out.”
She tilted her head, skeptical about what they would find outside the strange cave in the sky. Sophia wanted to believe nothing would surprise her at this point, but she knew that wasn’t true. There was always something more fantastic than the last.
“Shall we?” she asked the leader of the Dragon Elite.
“Yeah,” he answered and took the lead. He strode forward, each of his steps careful.
There wasn’t anything unique about the cave. It was like most with stone walls, random puddles of water, and cool, crisp air. The sunlight was nearly blinding as they neared the opening.
Sophia reminded herself they were probably closer to the sun, and the light was so blinding because they’d been in darkness for so long.
Hiker was the first to peer out of the cave, and a gasp fell out of his mouth.
“Well, I never…” he said, shaking his head and grabbing his beard.
Sophia angled around him, fine with the idea of using him as a shield if there was a monster waiting for them. There wasn’t. What stretched out before them was not at all what she had expected. Just as she had thought, things could get weirder, and she could be surprised by what she found next.
Chapter One Hundred Four
Ways and means escaped Sophia for why a huge junkyard stretched out all around the cave where they stood.
Apparently, it confused Hiker too. He ran his hand over his head, his eyes wide. “What on Mama’s green Earth?”
“It’s a junkyard,” Sophia supplied in a whisper. She ran her gaze over an old rusted truck with weeds growing up through the hood and missing all of its tires. Beside it was a beat-up washing machine that looked to have been commandeered by a bunch of squirrels and birds currently fighting over the spring harvest as they scurried through the neighboring junk.
For roughly one Hundred yards, the ground was littered with large and small electronics, appliances, furniture, lawn equipment, and vehicles of all sorts. To make the scene even stranger, in the distance past the treasure trove of junk was the strangest castle Sophia had ever seen.
The building was massive, dwarfing the Castle at the Gullington and making it look like a modest townhome in comparison. It rose up to the cloud-filled sky that was full of blue, even though it had been night and stormy in New York City below them.
The castle, much like the one at the Gullington, appeared very old and had stone spires that disappeared into the white puffy clouds. It was easily filled with hundreds of rooms and reminded Sophia of a giant mall building, rather than an old building meant for kings and queens. The oddest thing about the large castle was the front door. It was massive, rising up to what would be a second story on a regular mortal home. It was easily the width of a garage door and made Sophia wonder if the person who lived there drove the broken-down tractors and dump trucks littering the junkyard into the castle at night.
Her speculation brought a new realization to Sophia’s mind. They were very likely going to meet the creature whose junkyard this belonged to and who resided in the large castle.
She glanced at Hiker, her concern heavy on her face. “Who do you think lives here?”
He shook his head. “Knowing Mama, it’s no one good. I’m guessing we’ve unknowingly been elected to deal with this polluter.”
Sophia nodded slowly. She looked over her shoulder at the cave. “We came through a strange portal of sorts, didn’t we?”
Hiker followed her gaze. “It would seem so.”
Sophia tried using her own portal magic, already thinking of what their exit strategy would be. Nothing happened, as she suspected. “Looks like the only way out is the same way we came in.”
A sober expression crossed Hiker’s face. “I would expect nothing less.”
As she was trying to wrap her brain around why Mama Jamba had sent them up this strange beanstalk, Sophia heard a flapping noise. She jerked her head and saw the magpie that had stolen the gold token landing on the beat-up old truck with the gold token in its beak.
She was about to start forward when Hiker grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back.
“Wait,” he urged quietly.
She was about to argue with him and explain this was their chance to get the gold token before the magpie disappeared again. A moment later, she was grateful she hadn’t left their hiding spot at the edge of the cave.
A heap of something lumpy began to move beside the old truck, making Sophia’s heart beat rapidly. The adrenaline only increased when a large man sat up from the ground, having been obscured by all the junk around him. No, not a man—a giant.
This one was easily taller than Rory Laurens, one of the only male giants Sophia had ever seen. This giant had to be over ten feet tall and had massive shoulders, a flat face, and dirty hair.
“Jack, what have you brought me today?” the giant asked the magpie.
Proudly the bird lifted its beak, showing the treasure it had stolen from Hiker and Sophia.
The giant narrowed his eyes at the bird before grinning, somehow making his face look even uglier. “Very nice. What is that? Money?”
The bird laid the coin in front of it and squawked.
“Not money, you say,” the giant said. He rose to his feet and checked out the reset point more closely. “This be magic, isn’t it, Jack?”
Again the bird squawked in reply.
“Well, it will go nicely with the harp we stole off that angel,” the giant remarked and pulled a small gold harp from his pockets. It appeared silly in his hands like he was holding a toy. “What did that angel say before we took this off him? It be the thing to calm an angry man’s emotions and balance out his power?” The giant laughed loudly. “What a crock. It be what I sell to get more treasures.”
He looked proudly at the large junkyard, his chest swelling before glancing back at the magpie. “Don’t you tell mum about the magic coin. You know how she doesn’t like us stealing what rightfully should be ours.” The giant shook his head. “That woman never gets it, does she?”
The magpie cawed loudly in reply.
The giant opened his mouth to say something but
was interrupted when the door to the castle burst open. A giantess, not quite as big as him, stepped out onto the front step. She was wearing an apron, and her hair was up in curlers. She had a disapproving expression on her face as she cupped her mouth.
“Berlin!” the woman yelled, her voice carrying easily across the long junkyard.
Berlin the giant stuck the gold harp back into his pocket, a nervous expression crossing his face. “Yes, Mum?”
In reply, the giantess waved her son toward the castle.
He sighed, nodding. “I’ll be right there.”
The castle door shut a moment later and Berlin returned his focus to the magpie. “Who knows what that woman wants this time? You take that coin to Family Tree with the other stuff.”
The bird picked up the gold token dutifully and sprang off the truck, flying to a tree in the distance that sparkled with various objects, no doubt treasures it had stolen for the giant.
Without another word, the giant trudged off to the castle.
When he was a safe distance away, Sophia turned her attention to Hiker. “You have to get that gold harp.”
He nodded, irritation heavy on his face. “Yeah, I know. It’s how Mama intends for me to balance things out. With a bloody harp.”
Sophia wanted to laugh at the thought of Hiker carrying around a small, dainty harp to control his emotions and power. “It belonged to an angel, so it makes sense.”
“I guess,” he stated. He was obviously not excited about the prospect of having to use the harp. “I’m going to go to the castle and get the harp away from the giant.”
For as large as Hiker Wallace was, he would be considered quite small in comparison to the massive giant.
“Do you think you can sneak in there?” Sophia asked, sensing Berlin wasn’t going to be welcoming to trespassers in his junkyard or in his castle.
“I think I have to, so I’ll just have to figure it out,” Hiker replied. He pointed to the magpie perched in the tree. “You need to go after the bird and get back that gold token.”
Sophia nodded. “Yeah, and something tells me the thieving bird isn’t going to just hand it over.”
“You can bet on it,” Hiker agreed, stepping out from the cover of the cave and into the sunlight. “Just be careful and meet me back here in an hour. If I don’t return by then, go back down the beanstalk and cut it down.”
“Sir—”
“That’s an order, Sophia,” he said, cutting her off with a stern expression she didn’t dare argue with.
Nodding, Sophia gulped. “Okay, sir.”
Chapter One Hundred Five
Family Tree was an old oak, with long knobby branches that spread out from the trunk and dipped close to the ground. Its limbs didn’t sway in the wind as Sophia snuck across the junkyard, hiding behind various large objects between sprints.
The oak reminded Sophia of a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments. Gold bracelets, cufflinks, watches, and many other objects hung from the tree’s branches, making gentle music as the wind swept through them and made them dance.
Jack, the magpie, had been busy stealing. There had to be at least a few hundred trinkets and pieces of jewelry on the oak.
At first, Sophia wondered why it was called Family Tree, but as she neared it, she realized that much like the image on the wall at the House of Fourteen, there were names on the limbs. Most of them had been scratched out, unlike the ones in the Chamber of the Tree. There were only two names remaining: Mum and Berlin.
The crow flapped its wings as Sophia approached. She looked over her shoulder and spied Hiker crossing the junkyard the same as her, taking refuge every few paces to hide behind a car or a lawnmower.
The sun nearly blinded her when she looked up at the branches where the black and white magpie was hopping along, the gold token still in his beak. He hopped up to the next branch, getting even higher.
“Why don’t you come down here, little guy, and give me back my coin?” she offered, using her best Snow White voice as she held out her arm, inviting the bird to fly down and perch there.
He didn’t.
Sophia sighed and wondered why she hadn’t taken those falconry lessons she kept joking about. If she had, she reasoned, the bird would do as she ordered, but in reality, it probably wouldn’t change anything. She suspected Jack was quite mischievous and didn’t play by the rules since he was a thief.
The magpie flew up to the top of the tree and glared down at her, a rebellious glint in his black eyes.
“Seriously, just drop that coin and I’ll catch it,” Sophia told the bird. “No hurt feelings. I won’t even press charges.”
As if in reply, the bird dropped the coin into a tin pail that hung from a thin branch by a small handle. The gold token clanked when it dropped into the small tin that swung slightly from the newly added weight.
Sophia sighed. “So that’s the game we’re playing, huh?”
Jack squawked loudly at her and flapped his wings, although he stayed perched on the branch beside the swinging tin.
“Same to you,” Sophia said, looking up at the bird.
She lifted her hand and swiped, mistakenly thinking she could use her magic to pull the coin to her. The tin continued to swing, but the coin didn’t fly and land in her palm as she’d hoped.
Sophia narrowed her eyes. There had to be a ward on Family Tree that prevented magic from being used on it.
You likely have to be one of the family members listed, Lunis offered in her head.
Sophia nodded. Her dragon was probably right. Okay, other bright ideas, then?
You could go for a climb, he suggested.
Sophia sighed. Of course, this was always going to result in me climbing a tree after a naughty bird that will probably dart off with my gold token as soon as I’m close.
Well, if I was there, I’d make fried magpie out of that guy, Lunis replied.
I know, but you couldn’t come on this mission, Sophia stated. Besides, you’d never fit through that hole at the top of the beanstalk.
Are you calling me fat?
I’m calling you a dragon, she countered.
I could have used a compartment spell, he argued.
I don’t think that’s the point. Sophia watched as Jack stared down at her, seeming to be mocking her from up high. You’re not here, and I need to get to that coin.
Then I suggest you get to climbing, Lunis teased.
She sighed, her legs and arms still sore from her trek up the magical beanstalk. Sophia flexed her fingers as she stretched out her neck and prepared for a climb she hoped was less eventful than the last.
Chapter One Hundred Six
Berlin didn’t have a housekeeper or a groundskeeper, Hiker observed as he neared the massive castle. The junkyard was full of rats and other vermin, who were probably nesting in the various appliances and machinery. He saw signs of the rodents all over the place as he neared the front of the castle.
Once at the front door, there was a putrid smell that wafted from the open windows. It gave Hiker the impression the place wasn’t as tidy as the Castle at the Gullington. He scrunched up his nose and pressed his back up against the wall of the building and tried to peer in through the window.
A figure stalked by on the other side, thundering across the stone floors. Hiker sucked in a breath, cementing his spine against the exterior wall of the castle. He didn’t think he’d been seen.
“I want you to chop all the wood in the back,” the giantess said from inside the castle, talking to her son.
Hiker heard a loud sigh. “I will after I get something to eat.”
“You will do it now!” the woman ordered, her voice cutting through the air and shaking the shutters hanging from the window.
“Mum, I’m tired. I haven’t even had a nap today.”
“You wouldn’t need one if you hadn’t spent the bulk of your day toddling about in that useless junkyard of yours,” Berlin’s mother complained.
“It’s not useless,�
� the giant argued.
“I’m going to go work on supper,” the woman stated. “You better get that wood chopped or else.”
Hiker heard the giantess’ footsteps retreat, followed by the slamming of a door.
“Or else,” Berlin repeated, doing an impression of his mum. That was followed by more stomping and a loud yawn. “I just need to shut my eyes for a minute. That woman and her wood chopping can wait.”
Hiker waited until the front area of the castle was quiet. When he was certain the entryway was deserted, he slipped in through the large door, moving as silently as he could and hoped he hadn’t just entered what would be his final resting place.
Chapter One Hundred Seven
It’s beginning to get to me how much climbing is expected of me on this mission, Sophia said to Lunis, chewing on her lip as she tried to find her next hold. It had been easier to climb up the beanstalk than the oak tree because the latter offered a lot fewer options for feet and hands.
You need wings, her dragon suggested.
I think you’re better suited to have them, she replied.
And a tail, he added.
The magpie cawed loudly at Sophia as she progressed.
What I need is a slingshot, she muttered, reaching for the first limb after scaling the wide trunk.
Jack hopped around on the branch toward the top of the tree, squawking.
“You had to put the token at the top, didn’t you,” she grumbled. She had quite the distance to go to get there.
Focusing on not breaking her neck or falling, Sophia ignored the crow she suspected was plotting his next move and continued to climb. She chose branches that were thicker and could support her weight. When she was almost to the branch with the tin with the token inside of it, Jack hopped over and put his beak close to the container.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Sophia warned, knowing what he intended to do. “If you dare, I’ll turn you into dragon food.”