by Sarah Noffke
Sophia laughed, thinking of the ridiculousness of it all. Of course, her dragon wanted a hedgehog, and now he had one. Good thing that hadn’t been what she was getting him for Christmas or she would have to come up with a different option.
What did surprise her upon entering the Great Library was that Paul wasn’t anywhere in sight. Usually, when she visited the Great Library, he materialized almost immediately. On this occasion, she’d been strolling the aisles for over twenty minutes and not seen a trace of him.
Sophia glanced up at the gryphowl flapping its wings beside her. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at finding things? Well, people in this case?”
The gryphowl hooted beside her.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then.” Sophia laughed. “Can you help me find the Great Librarian? He’s, like, this tall.” She held her hand up as high as she could. “And he has dark hair and is wise and, well, he’s most likely the only other person in this place.”
Beatrix hooted again and set off, flying down the long central aisle of the Great Library before disappearing down a row.
Sophia ambled forward. “Maybe she can help me find where I left my sanity.” She laughed, her voice echoing strangely in the extensive library. Something was off about the space, and she instinctively knew it. Felt it.
Tensing, Sophia’s hand went to her sword as though she feared danger hid around the next row of books. Or that some villain had taken Paul. The Rogue Riders could technically get into the Great Library since they were dragonriders, but why would they when they’d shown no interest in learning and training so far? All they wanted was to exploit their power for their gains.
The Great Library represented growth and learning because it was all about taking the works of others and using them to get better. To learn from past mistakes and do good. To fix the things that had gone wrong. The Rogue Riders, it seemed to Sophia, didn’t care about any of that. Only themselves and benefiting from the criminal world.
Sophia strode forward on alert, whipping her head back and forth as she passed each aisle, searching it for dangers. She was about to call for Paul when Beatrix hooted from up ahead. Sophia glanced up but didn’t see the gryphowl so instead, she hurried forward, following the sounds of its call.
It was a good distance ahead, it seemed. Sophia sprinted, passing the rows in a blur, not daring to look at what she passed. Beatrix hooted again.
She must have found something—hopefully, Paul. However, something was wrong if he hadn’t come out and the gryphowl was calling her, it seemed. The next hoot sounded so close.
Sophia rounded the corner to where she thought it came from and halted. Lying in the middle of a seemingly ordinary row of books was a normal-looking tome on the Great Library’s floor. Beatrix perched next to it, looking between Sophia and the hardback.
She pointed at the book. “Is that where Paul is?”
The gryphowl hooted once more, and the sound seemed to overwhelmingly say, “yes.”
Chapter One Hundred Four
With her heart pounding in her chest, Sophia peered at the cover of the book, careful not to get too close.
It was entitled The Lost Forest.
Perplexed, Sophia peered sideways at the book, trying to understand how Paul could be in there. He wasn’t large, but he was much bigger than the small volume. Magic was definitely at play.
“Long ago,” a voice began beside Sophia, nearly making her jump out of her skin. She whipped around to find Plato standing behind her.
Clapping a hand to her chest, she panted through the ragged breaths. “Can you announce your arrival in the future instead of sneaking up on people?”
“No,” he chirped with defiance. “As I was saying, long ago, there was a forest made of trees imbued with dark magic. If someone went into the forest, no matter the time of day or year, they would get lost for ages. Usually, no one saw them again.”
“That’s awful,” Sophia remarked while studying the strange lynx.
“It was,” he agreed. “And so it was decided that a special task force would go in using protective spells to guard them and cut all the trees down. Some of those who volunteered were lost, but in the end, they were successful and clear-cut the awful forest so that it couldn’t steal any more people.”
“So this place, this forest,” Sophia began slowly, working it out, pointing at the book lying on the floor. “That’s what this book is about, isn’t it? It’s about the forest that loses people?”
To her surprise, Plato shook his head. “No, it’s made from one of the trees.”
“Say what?” Sophia questioned, shocked.
“There was an evil magician on the task force, and he thought it would be fun to create a book using the pulp from one of the trees,” Plato explained. “Who knows why. Who knows why any evil person does anything. The point remains that he created a book with the pages made of a tree from the Lost Forest.”
Sophia gasped, putting it all together. “So just like with the forest, Paul has gotten lost inside this book. How do I get him out? How did anyone ever get found in that place?”
“They didn’t,” Plato answered simply. “Paul’s situation is slightly different because he is actually in the book. It contains him whereas with the forest, there were tons of trees and it was impossible to find a missing person.”
“So how do I get him out?” Sophia questioned.
“That’s the easy part,” Plato stated. “The hard part is not getting lost yourself. Those who went into the Lost Forest to find someone usually became lost themselves. Those who didn’t go into the Lost Forest were never lost.”
Sophia scratched her head, perplexed. “Can you be a little more helpful here?”
“I’ve told you everything you need to know,” Plato said flatly and disappeared.
Sophia groaned, wanting to strangle the lynx but also grateful for as much as he supplied. “Fine. So if you go into the Lost Forest, you’ll get lost. Don’t go and you won’t. If I don’t read the book, maybe I won’t get lost.”
The gryphowl hooted beside the tome.
As though that spoke to Sophia, she nodded. “Good idea,” she stated, pulling her sword from its sheath. “I’ll not chance anything. No reading the book. No touching it. I’ll simply open it and hope that releases Paul.”
Holding Inexorabilis at an angle, Sophia used the tip to open the cover. She averted her eyes at once, not daring to read the title page. Carefully using the tip and her peripheral vision, she continued to flip the pages until she found what looked like chapter one. She didn’t dare look directly at it, which was why she was surprised and nearly bowled over when a figure sprang up from the pages and materialized right beside her.
Chapter One Hundred Five
“Paul!” Sophia exclaimed when the magician took his usual form in front of her. He’d shot out of the pages of the Lost Forest book as a morphed figure and quickly grown into his usual size.
Obviously in a daze from his experience, he looked around as though trying to figure out where he was and if he was in danger.
“I-I-I’m back,” he said, seeming to recognize the Great Library.
Sophia nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry. It appears you got lost in the pages of that book, but I was able to get you out.” She pointed at the open volume sitting on the floor.
He turned to look. Sophia realized her mistake at once and used magic to shut it before he could reread it and get trapped and lost. The hardcover slammed shut, and for good measure, Sophia summoned a padlock and placed it on the outside of The Lost Forest.
Paul blinked in confusion and brought his gaze to Sophia. “I remember now. I had pulled the book out to read it and wasn’t to the first sentence when I got sucked in. Then I was…well, so lost in the strangest dream.”
Sophia nodded. “The book is made from a tree in a forest that makes people lost. It’s a trick created by an evil magician.”
“I would have no doubt been lost for ages if you hadn’t rescued me.” He
looked relieved and grateful.
Sophia shook her head and pointed at Beatrix, still dutifully standing beside the locked book. “It was Beatrix who found you.”
Paul, obviously having been dazed from the whole ordeal, glanced at the gryphowl and blinked. “Oh, my. What is this?”
“She’s your new companion and a gift from Bermuda Laurens.”
His eyes widened in shock. “The Bermuda Laurens? The creator of Magical Creatures? The utmost expert on magical creatures?”
Sophia smiled. “Yes, the very one. She thought you deserved a gift for taking the Great Librarian position and that Beatrix would make an excellent assistant. I think she’s right since without her, I’m not sure how long or if I would have found you.”
Paul turned to the gryphowl and knelt. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Beatrix. That’s a lovely name, and you’re a wonderful gryphowl. Thank you so much for rescuing me. I’m forever in your debt.”
The creature hooted again, looking at peace and happy.
Paul smiled and extended an arm to the owl-like animal. She flew to it at once, perching there calmly. As if this was the most natural meeting ever, Paul rose and turned back to Sophia.
“I thank you for delivering her to me. And for helping me out of the book.”
“You’re welcome. I think it’s best to keep the padlock on the Lost Forest book. We can’t chance it taking anyone else.”
He nodded while looking at Beatrix, a fondness in his eyes as he regarded her as if they’d always known each other. “I think you’re right. We will guard it as well as all the rest of the books in this library. Some can make you lost. Others can make you lose your mind. Some are lost parts of a bigger picture, but they’re all part of my responsibility.”
Sophia smiled, thinking that they couldn’t have found a better librarian for the Great Library. “Thanks, Paul. I feel much better knowing that you’re guarding this place.”
He nodded and returned the smile, looking at the gryphowl. “Now I feel much better since I felt that I was missing something.”
Chapter One Hundred Six
Sophia hadn’t been back at the Castle for long when her phone buzzed with a message. It was from Mortimer. She hurried to Hiker’s office, knowing that immediate action had to happen.
He thundered back and forth across his study, his head down after hearing the news she’d gotten from the Brownie.
“We have to go in and take them out,” Hiker stated, referring to the Rogue Riders in Las Vegas.
She nodded.
“It sounds like there’s a lot of them,” Hiker continued.
“Yeah, and they’re in the underground tunnels,” Sophia added, reviewing the message she’d received from Mortimer.
“Getting Trudy DeVries out safely is our top priority,” Hiker went on.
“Which will be tricky because we’re not only facing the Rogue Riders,” Sophia stated. “They have mortal criminals helping to guard their underground fortress.”
“I’d expect no less from the scum,” Hiker said bitterly.
“To get into such a small place with so many to fight will be tough,” Sophia reasoned.
He nodded. “And yet, you’re going to have to do it and pretty much on your own. You, Evan, and Wilder.”
Sophia’s mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious, sir? There are at least four times as many of them, and this is their territory. Who knows what we’re walking into?”
“I get it, Sophia. The new riders aren’t ready,” Hiker stated. “Mahkah is training them, and he should continue. I’m up to my eyeballs in adjudication cases. More importantly, we can’t send brand new untrained riders into enemy territory yet. They’ll be slaughtered. They haven’t even found the Great Library yet.”
“But you sent me after zombie horses before I finished training,” she argued, referring to the ranch not far from the Gullington that Hiker had ordered her to go to when she was brand new. It had all been a trick too.
He halted his pacing and regarded her with hooded eyes. “You were a pain in the ass who wouldn’t take no for an answer and wanted to save the world on your first day.”
“So?” Sophia argued.
“So, I thought I could teach you a lesson,” he answered.
“You thought you could break my spirit.”
Hiker nodded. “It didn’t work because as I’ve learned, you’re resilient and that’s probably your single best and worst quality.”
Sophia laughed. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“You don’t know when to stop,” he explained. “Which is why you’re usually successful. But you also don’t know when to stop, and it’s why you always find trouble.”
“I guess I can’t argue with you there. But three of us against all of them? It was bad enough when we had to face them on the streets of Las Vegas. Now we’re going into their territory outnumbered.”
“You’re trained and much better than them,” he said with confidence. “You use strategy. They’ll respond with brute force. Once you get Trudy free, she’ll be able to help you. Then you can take out the leadership, which as Mama Jamba explained is the problem with the Rogue Riders. Get rid of Nathaniel and Versalee, and maybe the Rogue Riders can serve a real purpose instead of creating more problems for us.”
Sophia looked around Hiker’s office, realizing what—or rather, who—was missing. She’d been so excited by getting Mortimer’s message about the Rogue Riders that she hadn’t noticed until then. “Where is Mama Jamba? She’s always in your office.”
He pursed his lips. “She said something about getting fitted for a ski suit. I don’t know. That batty woman is losing her mind.”
Sophia studied the leader of the Dragon Elite and didn’t buy his annoyance. He was scared. Fearful that Mother Nature was leaving them again. Afraid of not having her around. Apprehensive about what things would be like if he had to do it alone again.
“You know, sir,” Sophia began in a calming voice. “Things have changed. You don’t have to worry about leading alone anymore. You have your seasoned riders, Mahkah, Evan, Wilder, and me. You’re getting a new army of dragonriders. Even if Mama Jamba disappears again, we’re going to help you keep the world safe. Things aren’t like they were before. Mortals can see magic again. The House of Fourteen wants our help. Once we cut off the evil heads of the Rogue Riders’ leadership, hopefully, they can be our allies too.”
He considered her words for a moment, his expression changing a few times from hesitation to frustration. Finally, he nodded, a spark of a smile in his eyes. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. I think you’re right. I just like having her around.”
Sophia smiled at him. “How could you not? We all do. But she has her life to live too.”
“I know.”
They were quiet for a long moment, the ticking of the old grandfather clock the only noise.
“I get it,” Hiker said, finally breaking the silence. “We can’t remain in the same place forever. I know that. I think I’m starting to understand that better than ever before.”
Sophia eyed the man before her, not knowing what his ominous statement meant but feeling like there was great significance wrapped up in it. Something major that would apply to him, and therefore indirectly to her. She couldn’t fathom what all that could mean or its implications for the future, but soon she’d do nothing else but obsess about it.
For now, Sophia needed to turn her attention to the impending battle with the Rogue Riders and rescuing a Warrior for the House of Fourteen from their clutches.
Chapter One Hundred Seven
Sophia hadn’t been looking forward to returning to Las Vegas, and not only because she would have to face the Rogue Riders again. This time they weren’t going to get a warning. She’d given them a chance, told Nathaniel the parameters, even protected him and the other demon dragonriders from the angry magicians who wanted to tear them in two. She sort of wished that she’d let them and saved herself and the Dragon Elite the trouble of h
aving to return.
Sophia sighed, knowing that wasn’t true. She wasn’t going to stoop to the Rogue Riders’ levels of fighting unfairly. A parent didn’t simply throw down a punishment the first time a child unknowingly did something wrong. Yes, the Rogue Riders were children and should have known better.
Sophia reasoned that the young and inexperienced demon dragonriders had let the power go to their head. She could excuse that once or twice. But now, like children, they’d been told the limits and the consequences for breaking them again. It was up to the Dragon Elite to enforce these rules.
Although Sophia wasn’t looking forward to making a fellow dragonrider pay or potentially intervene with magicians, she also didn’t want to return to Las Vegas because, well, it was the city of sin.
Many loved Las Vegas. She understood that, but to her, it was the exact opposite of everything she cherished about Scotland. The latter was clean and green and full of nature. Conversely, Las Vegas was a concrete jungle with artificial lights and manmade structures, and neon colors. There was nothing that appealed to her about the loud city in the desert on the West Coast.
Maybe that was why the Rogue Riders had chosen it as their new headquarters, she reasoned. The demon riders were the opposite of the Dragon Elite by definition. It stood to reason that they’d call home a place that felt like the opposite of the Gullington.
Chapter One Hundred Eight
When Sophia, Evan, and Wilder flew through the portal on their dragons into the city of Las Vegas, they realized how bad things had gotten.
“The absence of the fae kingdom must have had an immediate impact on the city,” Sophia said, pulling Lunis to a halt in the air and looking down on the Las Vegas Strip.