by Sarah Noffke
Sophia’s gaze fell to the map sitting in front of Mortimer. She’d seen Ticker using it the last time she’d visited the Brownies. From everything she could tell, it was an incredible map, about like the one that Rudolf had given her with a similar level of detail. Mortimer’s was even more interactive though and responded to the user’s touch as though they were moving pieces on a chessboard. By pieces, that meant actual Brownies through the mortal and magical world.
“What’s going on?” Sophia brought her gaze up to meet Mortimer’s. His eyes were large and round and full of stress.
He seemed to realize this a moment too late and replaced the tense expression with a fake smile. “It’s fine, Sophia Beaufont of the Dragon Elite. Silly Brownie politics.”
Sophia dared to sit in the chair on the other side of Mortimer’s desk. It felt like she was sitting in one of those small chairs that preschoolers had in their classrooms—or so she imagined. Sophia had never been to preschool or in a classroom or really done any of those normal things usually considered milestones. She’d watched television though, and that pretty much counted as experience.
“The last time I was here, Ticker told me that you and Pricilla had to deal with union affairs,” Sophia explained. “You’d left him in charge, and he seemed to be doing an incredible job.”
Mortimer smiled broadly, his long ears perking up. “That’s wonderful to hear. Ticker is very reliable. Yes, it appears he kept everything in order.” He glanced down at the map, and his light expression fell away. “However, there are certain problems that he can’t fix and I probably can’t either.”
“When you say union problems,” Sophia began. “What does that mean?”
“Well,” he drew out the word, his tone full of hesitation. “It would appear that some of the Brownies who work for me find that some of the business I engage in contradicts our mission and have said I’m potentially in danger of violating the union agreements.”
Sophia tilted her head as she picked up on the tension in the elf’s voice. “What kind of business?”
“Working with magicians,” he answered in a rush, suddenly shuffling around papers on his desk and making noise that Sophia believed sought to cover up his words.
She pursed her lips. Lowered her chin. Batted her eyes at him. “Let’s be straight with each other, Mortimer. By magicians, do you mean when you’ve helped Liv and also me?”
He continued to flip through pages, not looking at them. “They don’t get it at the union. It’s been that way for ages. They think we have to remain separate from the rest of the magical community. There’s us, and them. There are mortals who we serve and everyone else who we don’t. When Liv came to me and asked to form a partnership, well, it was the single most helpful thing I’ve done in centuries.”
“So what’s the problem?” Sophia asked.
Mortimer stopped messing with the papers and looked at her directly. “The problem is that it’s progress. It’s evolution. Most aren’t comfortable with it. They can’t see that it leads to something good for all because all they can see is that it endangers their way of doing things, which if you ask me are outdated and ineffective.”
Sophia couldn’t help but smile at Mortimer. She knew exactly what he meant. She’d faced similar challenges when she came to the Dragon Elite, having to force Hiker into the twenty-first century. Even now, she felt resistance from the magical world, which didn’t want to embrace dragonriders because they were new. The ironic part was that they were old. They’d merely been out of practice for a while.
“I can understand your plight,” Sophia stated with a thoughtful expression.
“You can!” he exclaimed, relief on his face.
She nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want you getting into trouble to help Liv and me.”
He shook his head furiously. “I don’t mind it. The thing is, they don’t get that we’ve remained separate for too long. It’s hard operating alone. Yes, Brownies are supposed to go unseen, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be unknown. We have a lot to offer the other magical races, and I dare say they, us.”
Sophia tapped the front of the desk. “Now, we’re talking. How can we help you, Mortimer? How can we make your job easier? Or help you to fix this problem with the union?”
“That’s the thing, Sophia Beaufont of the Dragon Elite,” Mortimer began, the enthusiasm receding from his voice. “The union doesn’t want to deal with anyone. If you did anything to help us, they’d resent me more. They want you out of our affairs, not in them.”
Sophia sank back in defeat and nearly toppled over, forgetting the chair’s small size and the odd weight distribution she had to maintain to stay upright. “Oh, well, that’s disappointing. I wish there were something I could do to help.”
Mortimer’s eyes brightened once more. “Oh, but there is!”
“There is?”
He nodded. “Yes, there’s only one thing you can do to fix this problem for me.”
Sophia leaned forward again. “Okay. Anything. What can I do?”
“You can let me help you with your problems!”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Wait.” Sophia wondered if she’d heard the Brownie correctly. “To help you with your problems, you want to help me?”
He nodded, his ears flapping back and forth. “Yes, that’s right, Sophia Beaufont of the Dragon Elite.”
“I’m honored and do need your help, but I’m not sure I follow the logic,” Sophia admitted.
“Well, your problems trickle over into the rest of the world’s problems,” he explained. “I get that. Pricilla gets that. Ticker understands that. There are a few other more progressive Brownies who also appreciate this principle.”
When he paused as though waiting for a reaction, Sophia nodded. “I follow you. Please continue.”
“It’s the same with your sister, Liv Beaufont, Warrior for the House of Fourteen,” Mortimer explained. “I saw that from the beginning. I could have turned her away when she first tried to form a partnership with the Brownies, seeking our expertise. However, I knew that as leaders of the magical world, that helping out the magicians would improve mortals’ lives and therefore improve Brownies’, then it would help out everyone.”
Sophia nodded at the brilliance of it all. “Yes, it’s truly a cyclical process.”
“Exactly!” Mortimer exclaimed. “My predecessor operated in a vacuum. That’s how most magical races work. I knew there was something inherently wrong in our system. So when your sister approached me, I realized this was the solution we were looking for. Now I help you two with things that are relatively easy for me, and you all fix big problems so that I hardly see too many small problems.”
“Now you have issues with the union,” Sophia reminded him.
“I have a problem with Brownies who refuse to see progress happens from doing things in new ways,” he corrected.
“So even though you’re under fire, you still want to help us?” Sophia questioned.
“Especially so,” Mortimer answered. “I’m going to prove to all those old-thinkers that we aren’t separate but rather all connected. Then when you fix global issues, I’ll be able to explain how that made our smaller, seemingly less important jobs easier.”
“There are no less important jobs,” Sophia stated thoughtfully.
“Maybe so.” He laid his hands on the surface of the desk and threaded his fingers together. “So, what can I help you with?”
“Okay, well, if you think it will help you all out, while also helping us, and incidentally helping the world.”
He nodded. “I do. What did you come to me for today?”
“I need you to give me a list and location of all the mortal criminals in the world.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
For a long moment, Mortimer simply blinked at Sophia as though waiting for her to follow up her request with, “Just kidding” or “April Fools…in November!”
When she didn’t, he gave her a t
amed smile and grabbed a hard candy from the dish on his desk. “It’s funny because for a moment, it sounded like you asked me for a list of mortal criminals.”
Sophia nodded. “That’s right. You heard correctly.”
He popped the butterscotch into his mouth and sucked for a moment before popping it into the side of his cheek, making him look like a squirrel preparing for the winter. “The thing is that Brownies are excellent at finding good mortals who behave in extraordinary ways. We do this so that we can serve them, thereby rewarding their good behavior.”
“I understand.” Sophia pointed at the candy dish. “May I?”
“By all means, Sophia Beaufont.” He waved her toward the dish.
She took a chocolate kiss and unwrapped it. “I realize what I’m asking for is a little unorthodox.”
“I’m not sure that word does it justice,” Mortimer argued. “This is like going to a gnome and asking them to classify fish.” He laughed and slapped his desk. “Can you even imagine?”
Sophia didn’t know what to say, so she simply shook her head for a moment before replying out loud. “I can’t.”
“Well, we both know how gnomes can’t stand water or anything to do with it,” Mortimer related. “In the same way, Brownies only have dealings with good mortals. I wouldn’t even know how to find the criminals of the world.”
“I thought about that.” Sophia chewed on her chocolate. “You know how to find the well-behaved mortals based on what, some sort of magical spell?”
“An equation,” Mortimer answered.
“Even better!” Sophia exclaimed and took another piece of candy, this one with peanuts and caramel. “So you reverse the equation. Instead of looking for well-behaved mortals, you look for the opposite. Or look for the good ones and eliminate them. What’s left is who I’m looking for.”
Mortimer drew in a breath and continued to suck on his butterscotch. “Technically, I guess it could work. I mean, it’s simply a reverse operation. Are you certain that it’s necessary? As Brownies, we’ve always considered that positive reinforcement is the best practice. We reward those who do good and ignore those who don’t.”
“I think that’s a great operation. It’s perfect for the Brownies. Sometimes, we have to focus on the criminals to stop bigger evils before they get out of control. I think that if you help me find the mortal crime offenders of the world, I might be able to find the really big bad guys of the magical world and hopefully make both our lives easier.”
Mortimer stood from his desk, his height not changing much. He extended his tiny hand to Sophia. “Then you have yourself a deal. I’ll find you the mortal criminals of the world, and you help me to prove to my race that we should all work together.”
Sophia took his small hand and shook it in earnest. “Hopefully, together we prove that we can make this planet a better place for all.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Returning to the Gullington felt different. Maybe it was because Sophia knew that it was with a new dragonrider inside it. Or perhaps it was because she felt different after all the developments. However, she reminded herself that change was progress in many ways and she had to embrace evolution rather than be like the Brownies who were giving Mortimer trouble because they didn’t want to do things differently.
When Sophia stepped through the portal, she found not one newish dragon flying high in the skies, but rather a few. She remembered them from when they were dragonettes, but outside the Gullington, having magnetized to riders, the dragons had matured fast and grown to almost their full size. Now they sped through the air, circling. Their riders were on the ground, looking up at them.
Sophia didn’t approach Cooper or the other two or three riders that she saw standing in the distance. Instead, she stopped next to Hiker and Mahkah, who watched from the other side of the Expanse, simply observing.
“We have new riders.” Hiker sounded proud, almost boastful.
Sophia nodded. “I met Cooper and Sage on Roya Lane, where they almost got their butts handed to them by a bunch of angry magicians, gnomes, and elves.”
The light expression dropped from Hiker’s face, and Sophia almost regretted having said anything to spoil his good mood.
“You were right to call me back here then, sir.” Mahkah took up the conversation in a rare turn of events. “It’s better that we train the new generation rather than go on a goodwill tour and educate the world about who we are. There will be time for that later after the new dragonriders are trained and ready.”
That seemed to bolster Hiker, and he nodded. “I think so too. We’ll always have time to fight a brewing war, but it’s not every day that we have new riders. It’s not every year or decade.” He chuckled and shook his head.
Sophia didn’t think she’d ever seen Hiker Wallace like this. There was a spark in his blue eyes that she’d never witnessed before. He seemed…almost hopeful. Excited. Maybe even giddy.
She could get behind that emotion as she watched the dragons, who were half a size bigger than they were when they left the Gullington, circle each other in the sky. On the ground were Cooper and another two guys, both looking up with mesmerized expressions.
“So you’ll train them how to fly,” Hiker stated as Evan and Wilder walked up from the Castle, both fully geared up as though about to go into battle.
“Yes, sir,” Mahkah agreed.
Hiker turned to Evan and Wilder without having to be alerted to their presence. “You two.” He pointed at the pair.
“Are your greatest assets.” Evan tried to complete Hiker’s statement.
“Hardly,” the Dragon Elite’s leader countered. “I pulled you off your current missions because of the new dragonriders. They need training in combat and strategy. I’m counting on you two to do that.”
Evan knocked into Sophia as he sidled up. “Sorry, Pink Princess. Guess you’re going to be left with the task of retrieving my weapons while I teach the newbies how to hold a sword.”
“Actually,” Hiker cut in after clearing his throat. “I want Sophia’s attention fully on investigating the Rogue Riders. We can’t let them get too far ahead as we train our army. The new dragonriders deserve our attention. They deserve your help as they bond with their dragons.” Hiker glanced at Evan, Mahkah, and Wilder. “Sophia needs to be the one to keep an eye on the Rogue Riders. They’re our greatest enemy, and when our army is ready, she’ll be the one ready to lead them into battle.”
Sophia elbowed Evan in the side. “Then you can retrieve my sword for me buddy, and watch me ride into battle.”
He gave her a cutting look but still smiled. “Whatever it takes. I’m a team player.”
“It’s about time,” Wilder teased.
“Okay, we all know what we need to do,” Hiker cut in, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, sir!” Mahkah answered.
“Are we prepared to make this new generation the best yet?” Hiker called to the foursome.
“Yes, sir,” Wilder answered.
“We won’t be defeated by those who challenge us, will we?” Hiker asked again.
“No, sir,” Sophia stated with confidence.
“Because we are the Dragon Elite and we’re meant to rule this world, right?” Hiker asked rhetorically.
“Yes, sir,” Evan answered and headed back to the Castle. “Right after I get a snack.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Why is there nothing to eat in this Castle?” Evan complained while inspecting an artfully arranged platter of assorted cheeses on the table in the dining hall. Beside the tray were artisan crackers and breads filled with nuts and dried fruit. Alongside that were jams and spreads as well as fresh vegetables and ripe fruit. There were also assorted finger sandwiches and little cakes and cookies, all so pretty they looked like art rather than food.
“Ha-ha,” Trin said from the other side of the room, her Inspector Gadget arm stretching across several yards to slap Evan’s hand as he w
ent to grab a slice of smoked gouda. “Those are for the new dragonriders.”
He straightened and gave her a look of offense. “Are you kidding me? I’m an old dragonrider who they need to pass along my wisdom so that they don’t get their dragons’ butts handed to them on the battlefield. I need snacks, woman.”
Not at all deterred, Trin shot him a defiant glare as she marched in the direction of the kitchen, retracing her arm as she did. “I have some trail mix for you. I’ll get it.”
Evan spun and shook his head as he plopped down on a chair across from Sophia and Wilder. “I don’t want stupid trail mix. I’m a dragonrider. How am I supposed to maintain my strength with squirrel food?”
“I find trail mix to be very hearty and great for keeping up my endurance,” Wilder commented.
“And there my point has been made,” Evan replied. “Some of us, like the real men in the Castle, need real food.”
“Or is it that the real men can sustain themselves on a plant-based diet and the rest of you need to slaughter harmless creatures to perform at the same level?” Wilder countered.
Evan shook his head and reached for a piece of cheddar. “I don’t think—”
“Don’t you dare,” Trin hollered from the kitchen, making Evan pull his hand back.
He glanced over his shoulder toward the closed kitchen door. “How does she do that?”
“She has eyes in the back of her head,” Wilder answered and added, “Literally.”
Sophia laughed, picked a grape from a bunch on the table, and popped it into her mouth. “Evan, I need your help with something.”
His eyes widened. “Are you serious? How come you don’t get in trouble for nicking the newbie, day-old baby dragonriders’ food?”
Trin strode out from the kitchen and laid a platter of cured meats in the center of the table, followed by a bowl of trail mix in front of Evan. “If you’re going after the fruit and vegetables, then I’m not stopping you. As far as I can tell, you’re going to eat all the cheeses and sandwiches and leave none for the new guys.”