by Sarah Noffke
Hiker reached the front door without making a sound. He knew from earlier that opening the large door didn’t make noise. Without that concern, he swung the door open just as the one at his back burst open.
Tensing, he dared to look over his shoulder. Framed in the back doorway was the angry giant, an ax in his hand and his eyes rimmed with red.
“Magician!” Berlin yelled. “I knew I smelled a magician! How dare you break into my home? Now you’ll become part of my supper.”
Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
Wow, Sophia thought, watching as the seconds ticked by. She had ten seconds until the hour was up and she would be obligated to leave the Viking behind for good.
The thought terrified her.
Ten, nine, eight, Sophia counted. She brought her chin up, willing Hiker to appear somewhere in the junkyard.
Seven, six, five, she continued to count to herself. She watched as Jack sped around, avoiding the objects he’d stolen.
Four, three, two, she said, holding her breath when the clock hit one.
She had to leave Hiker. It felt wrong.
Still, she was going to keep her word. Sophia turned for the cave and willed herself to move forward.
After a single step, she heard a commotion behind her and spun, hope rising in her chest.
It was short-lived. She saw Hiker sprinting from the castle, fear covering his face as he raced for the cave, the gold harp in his grasp. Behind him moving nearly as fast was Berlin, the giant, with an ax in his hands.
Hiker, like a football player running for a touchdown with the ball in hand, leaped over a broken-down motorcycle and darted between a line of dryers arranged as though to slow trespassers.
Berlin might not have moved with as much nimble grace, but his long strides made it so he caught up with Hiker easily. He was on his heels and pulling the ax back when Sophia threw her hand into the air. She knew her precision had to be spot on, or she’d risk hitting Hiker and he’d be toast. Chopped up, dead toast.
With a prayer and practiced grace, Sophia shot a stunning spell in the direction of the giant. It soared over old cars and refrigerators and streaked past Hiker as he darted to the side, giving it a wide berth. When Sophia thought it was going to miss the giant, it hit him square in the eyes, knocking him straight on his back. He landed in the dirt, and a big cloud of dust blossomed up from the ground.
Hiker didn’t dare look around to see if the spell had hit its target. That was a good thing because stunning spells didn’t work so well on giants. It had sent Berlin to his back, but he was already clambering up to his feet, the ax in his grasp as he shook his head and started after Hiker again.
Sophia was going to send another spell at the giant, but Hiker yelled as he neared.
“Go! Go!” he yelled, waving her forward. “Start down the beanstalk!”
She knew he was right. They needed to get down fast, but also safely since they were so high up. She spun around and sped into the dark cave, nearly tripping over a boulder in the dark, her eyes not yet adjusted.
Thankfully she found the hole to the beanstalk easily and slipped through, passing through the thin layer of clouds and clutching the leaves and branches.
In their favor, the storm over New York City had passed. Although the beanstalk was wet, the rain and winds had subsided, making getting down much easier than before.
Sophia kept glancing up as she dropped down the beanstalk, descending a lot faster than she had climbed up. Relief filled her when Hiker materialized. He was moving even faster than her. He had the gold harp in his hand, and like her, he was keeping a loose grip on the beanstalk as he negotiated downward like a firefighter going down a pole on their way to an emergency.
Even as fast as they were moving, the danger was still very real. They both realized that when Berlin poked his head through the hole and yelled at them, his face red. From up top, he did something and made the hole bigger until he could fit through.
If he got onto the beanstalk, things were going to become exponentially worse. Sophia decided to drop from where she was, about two stories up, rather than climb the rest of the way down. She landed in a crouch and drew her sword. Hiker did the same thing and joined her on the ground.
He nodded appreciatively as she swung Inexorabilis and struck the beanstalk with force. The blade stuck in the green stalk, making it shake like a bell being struck. The look on the giant’s face told them both he was scared.
Whereas before he had been trying to climb down, Berlin began trying to climb back up. He had apparently realized what would happen if he was stuck on the beanstalk when it timbered down onto the ground. His legs were kicking through the hole to the cave when Sophia swung her blade a final time and sliced through the beanstalk cleanly.
The giant green stalk, a result of a few tiny seeds, creaked and then began tumbling toward Cornelia Street. Sophia was about to take off running when Hiker grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and hauled her off her feet, dragging her in the opposite direction and away from danger.
To their surprise, a loud explosion didn’t follow the beanstalk falling. Instead, there was a whoosh of air, a sweet smell Sophia associated with springtime, and a gentle rush of sparkling dust that covered everything around them.
Curious, Sophia pulled free of Hiker and spun around to find no beanstalk. There was no platform where the cave and the junkyard and the castle had been, just fluffy clouds. No one would have ever known a beanstalk had ravaged Cornelia Street if it wasn’t for the giant stump in the middle of the sidewalk.
That area of New York City didn’t appear like it had before, though. Sophia was certain as she looked at the garden oasis around them, full of grassy knolls, singing birds, and a babbling brook, that the ecosystem in this part of the city would look like this for a very long time and remain unchanged by urban development. She suspected Mama Jamba had planned it all along.
Chapter One Hundred Fourteen
“I’m gonna need to hear that story one more time,” Evan said, buttering his roll. “First, Ainsley, why won’t you let NO10JO into the dining room?”
The housekeeper glanced at the cyborg dog. “Because he drools and licks his butt.”
“We let Evan in the dining room,” Wilder argued with a laugh.
“You let Lunis in here when he was just a pup,” Evan demanded, sneering at the shapeshifter.
“He’s a mighty dragon,” Ainsley stated, crossing her arms and regarding the leader of the Dragon Elite. “I think the harp story is a bit boring actually. It makes you look…soft.”
Hiker cut his eye to the gold harp on the dining room table and didn’t say a word. He hadn’t said much since they returned to the Castle at the Gullington. It had been Sophia who told the story about the beanstalk and the giant with the junkyard. All the while, Mama Jamba’s face hadn’t shifted. She obviously wasn’t surprised by what they’d found at the top of the beanstalk.
“He doesn’t hurt a thing,” Evan continued to argue. NO10JO hadn’t left his side since the cyborg dog came to the Gullington. Sophia had to admit he was better than most dogs in that he didn’t shed. There was also the whole teleporting and shapeshifting thing he could do, which made him pretty cool.
“He makes you happy, and that’s sorely disappointing,” Ainsley replied and buzzed off for the kitchen, not having served anything for dinner yet.
Evan sighed. “Does anyone else notice that her usual sunny disposition has dimmed just a bit?”
Wilder and Mahkah chuckled, having spent many decades dealing with the sullen moods of the elf.
Sophia stretched her hands overhead but retracted them immediately as a spasm went through her back. Her muscles had been tensed since returning after climbing up and down the beanstalk and the Family Tree. She figured a few more hours in the Castle and she’d be back to normal, but they’d just returned.
“What is it?” Wilder asked, giving her a concerned expression.
“I tweaked my back,” she admitted.
“Probably when you jumped down from the beanstalk,” Hiker stated plainly. He didn’t sound as grumpy as usual, but rather matter of fact. “It was at least thirty feet.”
She nodded.
“Sounds like you could use a pillow for your back,” Evan suggested. Like it had been planned, NO10JO transformed into a huge pillow on the other side of the entryway into the dining room. The oversized pillow was covered in brown hair, much like the dog, but it did look rather soft.
“Well, isn’t that convenient,” Evan said, mock surprise in his tone.
“For the hundredth time, the answer is no,” Ainsley declared. She didn’t even glance at the cyborg shapeshifting dog lying as a pillow by the door as she came back into the dining hall carrying nothing.
“Is dinner going to be much longer?” Hiker asked, the tension starting to rise in his voice.
“Not yet,” Ainsley sang, a hint of mischief in her tone. “Doesn’t that just really put your kilt in a wad? Don’t you really just want to go off about how incompetent I am and how I never get the meals, right?”
Hiker drew in a breath and placed his hand on the gold harp, ignoring the attempt to anger him.
“So a tiny little harp, huh?” Wilder inquired. “You’ve got to carry that thing around full time now?”
Mama Jamba’s periwinkle eyes cut to Hiker, curious how he’d answer the question.
“I don’t know how it will work yet,” he answered. “It’s all very new.”
“The tiny angelic instrument calms you and balances out your powers, right?” Evan questioned.
Hiker pressed his lips together. “I don’t know. I haven’t had time to figure out much.”
“Tell us the story again,” Wilder urged, turning his attention to Sophia. “You met a giant who had a junkyard, and Hiker had to kill him to get his harp?”
Sophia glanced at Hiker. He had told her briefly what had happened in the castle at the top of the beanstalk. She’d worried there had been an altercation, but he had muttered something about hiding under the giant’s bed and running like hell when caught. She suspected that was part of the story he didn’t want the guys to know about.
“The details aren’t really important,” Sophia started. “What’s key is that we were successful.” She pulled out the gold coin and placed it on the table between her and the Viking. “I’ll trust that in your hands for a bit.”
His light-colored eyes slid to the token with indecision.
“What’s that for?” Ainsley asked skeptically.
“A second chance,” Sophia said coyly.
Hiker left the reset point coin sitting on the table and didn’t take it.
“Second chances are for losers who can’t do things right the first time,” Ainsley pronounced and left for the kitchen.
“What do you think the chances are that she’s returning with food?” Evan wondered hopefully. He directed his attention to Mother Nature, who was studying Hiker. “Mama Jamba, if you ask Ainsley for dinner, she’ll probably bring it.”
The old woman shook her head as Quiet waddled into the room. “No, I think if Hiker asked her for food, we’d get it.”
Sliding into a chair, Quiet muttered something inaudible.
Mama Jamba nodded. “I didn’t say it would be something we wanted to eat.”
Evan sighed dramatically and threw himself back in his chair. “Sir, why can’t you despise roasted chicken and vegetables?”
“Or bangers and mash?” Wilder added.
“Because I have good taste,” Hiker grumbled, irritation on his face.
At this, Mama Jamba lifted an eyebrow and gave him what appeared like a look of warning.
Taking the hint, he picked up the small harp and held it next to him as Ainsley came through from the kitchen, still empty-handed.
Directing his attention to her, Hiker said, “Would you bring us dinner? We have things to get to.”
“Oh, you’re waiting for dinner?” Ainsley asked. “I had no idea. Here I thought you all were simply having a social hour. I’ll get right on that, sir, since I now know you have things to do. I wouldn’t know what that’s like since I can’t leave the Gullington without dying…thanks to someone.”
She spun on her heels and bolted back through the swinging door as Hiker’s fingers tightened on the gold harp.
“Speaking of things that need to be done,” Sophia began, turning her attention to Wilder, “I was hoping you could go on a mission with me.”
Evan winked at Wilder, elbowing him. “Mission, eh? Is that code for snogging on the beach?”
Sophia’s eyes fluttered with annoyance. “No, it’s code for I have a mission that requires a weapons expert.”
“I’m there,” Wilder said at once, flashing a smile at her.
“What is this mission?” Hiker’s irritation was growing.
“I need to go and recover a mysterious and magical katana,” Sophia explained. “First I have to go get Zac Efron.”
“What’s a Zac Efron?” Hiker asked quite seriously.
Sophia nearly laughed. “He’s a person, and no, I don’t know why I need him for the mission.”
“Explain,” Hiker ordered.
“I’m supposed to get a katana for Lee at the Crying Cat Bakery because she made me a magical cupcake,” Sophia told him.
“Why?” His eyes narrowed.
“Because that was the only way to use the magic ingredient I stole from the Hindu temple,” she went on in a rush.
“Oh, this keeps getting better,” he stated. “Do continue to tell me about the strange side quests you go on when you’re supposed to be doing adjudication missions.”
“Well, the herb extends mortals’ lives, and I needed it to help King Rudolf with his wife Serena,” Sophia replied. “In order to make good on the deal with Lee, I have to recover a katana for her, and she said I’d need Wilder, Zac Efron, magical chewing gum, an elf-made compass, and a badass dragon.”
“You were doing fine until you got to that last part,” Evan joked. “Do you want to borrow Coral?”
She shook her head at him. “If I need to be insulted and have all my good jokes go to waste, I would, but I need a dragon who will get the job done with a smile.”
He scoffed at her. “As if…”
“Why is it you are wasting all this time on ridiculous tasks?” Hiker demanded. His face was growing red even though he was holding the gold harp. He also sensed the issue as his eyes slid down to the instrument in his hands, as though urging it to work and calm him down.
“Because we needed twenty million dollars for the LiDAR equipment that helped us find the dragon eggs, sir.” Sophia was careful to keep the sarcasm out of her voice as she served up the news that would put him in his place.
Evan didn’t have her decorum. He hissed through his teeth before shaking his head. “Wow, sir. Burn. I bet you feel foolish, having questioned Soph when she has been spending her time repaying favors that helped us out so much.”
Hiker lowered his chin, murder written in his eyes as he continued to clutch the gold harp. “I’m not the one at this table who should feel like a fool.”
Evan glanced at the others as if expecting one of them to raise their hands and confess it was them. Finally he pointed at Quiet. “It’s him, isn’t it, sir?” He looked at the gnome. “We cannot understand a word you say, little guy.” He articulated each word carefully like he was speaking to a foreigner.
The groundskeeper held up his fist and shook it in Evan’s face, mumbling something.
“Would you two stop your bickering?!” Hiker exclaimed, the hand not clutching the gold harp slamming down on the table and making everyone flinch.
They all remained frozen, staring at the fuming leader of the Dragon Elite as Ainsley buzzed through the kitchen door carrying a platter of food. She smiled brightly. “Well, there’s the Hiker we all know and loathe.”
He narrowed his eyes at her as she set down the tray of round foods, all neatly arranged. “What
’s that?”
She flashed him a devious grin. “Sushi, sir. Your favorite.”
“I actually love sushi,” Evan stated, grabbing a roll with his fingers and plunging it into his mouth.
“And,” Ainsley said, drawing out the word. “My sushi-making skills are pretty bad, so I’m certain this will be a meal you won’t forget…especially later.”
“Wait, what?” Evan yelled. He swallowed quickly and looked around for water, but there was none.
Hiker appeared as he usually did when about to go off on Ainsley. Then he pulled his hand off the table and strummed the harp, making a gentle sound. Everyone watched him, waiting to see what he did next. Sophia thought he might turn the gold harp into a weapon, first killing Ainsley and then Evan and then probably the rest of them.
To everyone’s surprise, Hiker simply nodded. “As long as it’s not fish and licorice stew, I’m fine with it.” He leaned forward, inspecting the sushi. “I’ve never tried anything like this, so I suspect I’m overdue.”
All had wide-eyed expressions as the leader of the Dragon Elite took one of the sushi rolls. He held it up a bit to Ainsley. “Would you get us some water when you have a chance?”
The housekeeper was furious as she marched for the kitchen. “Really! I slaved away on a meal you’d hate for hours, and this is the thanks I get?”
Hiker peered at the harp still in his hand, then glanced back at the kitchen. “Oh, and a bottle of whisky too. Thanks.”
Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
“What if this is all the love you’ll ever get?” Mama Jamba asked, her hands on her hips as she won the stare-off with Hiker Wallace.
He pulled his gaze from the tiny woman and looked at the Dragon Elite globe in the corner.
“What if I don’t care?” he fired back. He was the only person he knew of who dared to argue with Mother Nature.
“Son, I don’t buy that bologna for a second.”
Hiker shook his head. “You can’t pretend to know everything about everything.”