by Sarah Noffke
Without her, he was powerless. He was weak. Sophia was his life force, and he hers.
But how would they ever find their way back to each other?
Someone had split them in two when they should be one. Lunis had to fix it. He had to figure out a way to put them back together.
Lunis would destroy the world if that was what it took. He hoped it didn’t because the irony was, destroying the world would cut Sophia away. That’s how good she was. But Lunis would do anything for her.
There was no world without Sophia Beaufont.
Chapter Ninety-Three
Sophia stumbled through the snow as if she were drunk, trying to find her way home. But she wasn’t drunk, and there was no home to return to—not without Lunis.
She staggered, trying to clear her vision and see the path ahead. There had to be a way to find her dragon.
He’d taught her to track just recently. She knew his tracks better than anyone, but there was so much that muddied the way she’d come.
Gordon had run through there. She had. And then there were deer and bears and whatnot.
Sophia shook her head, willing herself to stay lucid, although that seemed to be waning by the moment.
She didn’t know why, but she was losing her hold on the Earth. She felt like she was dying. Gordon hadn’t cut her. There were no lethal wounds on her body, and yet she felt minutes from death.
Stumbling around a copse of trees, Sophia found the place where the bear attack had happened. That was enough to fill her with hope, although she quickly realized Lunis had long ago left that spot.
He’d flown, she believed, because there were no other tracks leading away from the incident.
Her heart slumped in her chest. Since Lunis had flown, tracking him would be impossible. Her magic was failing her, and her spirit was close to zero. Portaling wasn’t even an option, not that she’d choose it and leave Lunis. Even if they couldn’t find one another, she wouldn’t abandon him. She’d stumble around in the snow until she found him or died.
For Sophia, the idea that she was alone scared her more than anything else in her life. It was worse than the idea of starvation, freezing to death, or being murdered by Gordon. Being separated from Lunis was worse than losing her parents, her siblings, or her desire to be a part of the Dragon Elite.
Sophia had never been so low, but she had no idea that things were quickly about to change.
Chapter Ninety-Four
Lunis wasn’t connected to Sophia anymore. He knew that. He’d tried incessantly to feel her. To talk to her. To do anything, and it hadn’t worked.
But when he rose into the air and saw the most beautiful person in the world stumbling around in the snow, he knew it was his Sophia.
With fervent desire, he dove in her direction, hoping the connection would return as he neared her. When it didn’t, Lunis worried that whatever magical tech had robbed them of their bond had erased it for good. He hadn’t even thought something like that was possible, but technology changed everything. Maybe that was why the other dragons were so much against it? But how could you fight and negotiate in the modern world without technology?
Heartbroken, Lunis slid into the snow, sending a wave of it over Sophia, blanketing her in a sheet of white.
He halted, ready to be punished.
The woman before him was covered from head to toe in white snow, only her eyes and pink lips visible.
She blinked at him, and Lunis held his breath.
With an angry shake, Sophia threw the snow off her, returning to her normal appearance, although her hair was damp and her body shaking with cold.
“Soph…” Lunis said, feeling the desire for their connection, and yet not feeling the actual thing.
Chapter Ninety-Five
Sophia tried to blink. Tried to breathe.
She could see the blue dragon before her, but she couldn’t feel the waves of emotions that had always been tied to him.
Looking at Lunis, she felt nothing.
It wasn’t like she was staring at someone else’s dragon. It was more like she cared little for the magical creature. She was completely ambivalent toward him and his species.
How could she not feel something her head told her she should? How could she make herself feel that connection again? Was it possible to force love, or had dragon and rider simply fallen out of love, with no way for redemption?
Night had fallen over the Rocky Mountains, and stars were starting to wink in the dark blue sky.
Sophia didn’t dare say a word to the ancient creature staring at her. She could feel his grief, but not in her heart like before. Instead, it was her intellect that told her of his pain. She could see it in his eyes, and she felt that it was mirrored in her own.
So badly she wanted to make herself love him like she used to. So badly she wanted to hear his voice in her head, but the more she tried to force it, the farther the feeling seemed to slip from her.
Then, quite suddenly, a passage she’d read in one of her mother’s books came back to her, written by Sham of Tabrizi. The words flowed to her as if she’d read them moments prior.
Intellect and love are made of different materials. Intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything. Intellect is always cautious and advises, “Beware too much ecstasy,” whereas love says, “Oh, never mind! Take the plunge!” Intellect does not easily break down, whereas love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble. But treasures are hidden among ruins. A broken heart hides treasures.
She sucked in a breath, allowing her heart to feel broken. It truly was. She gave way to reason and dropped to her knees, looking up at the dragon before her.
Bowing her head, Sophia allowed her heart to ache for the grief she was feeling. She saw herself standing on a cliff, ready to jump regardless of the repercussions. That was love. It was taking the plunge with no care for the pain one might endure.
With her eyes closed, she saw a light spray across her vision. Thinking she was hallucinating, she opened her eyes to find a crescent moon rising over the mountains.
Somehow the small glowing moon was more beautiful than she’d ever seen. It seemed to outshine even the fullest moons she’d observed. Even though the moon was incomplete, it was strangely perfect.
Deep in her heart, she felt waves connecting her to the cycles of the moon. And she felt the moon as if it were her, rising on a clear night. She was brand new, and dictating the seasons and the tides. She was a crescent moon, consciously growing larger each night.
Rising to her feet, Sophia stepped forward, feeling possessed by the moon.
So badly had she wanted to become one with Lunis, but he wasn’t her, and she wasn’t him. Sophia had been wrong all along. She’d always thought Lunis was tied to the moon, but that wasn’t the case entirely. It was Sophia who was tied to the moon, and Lunis was tied to her.
They were two halves. She was the crescent moon and him the night sky, and together they formed a whole.
With a force she didn’t control, Sophia stuck her hands out, grabbed the giant dragon’s head, and pulled it closer.
It was like touching Lunis for the first time, but she knew it wasn’t.
When they touched, something changed.
At first, Sophia thought she was wishing it into existence, a part of her imagination. Yet the more she held the dragon’s face in her hands, the more it intensified, until something encircled them, making her connect with the dragon she’d known most of her life without knowing him entirely.
Her heart was instantly full, her mind crammed with knowledge she thought she’d lost. And her being raced with impulses she knew weren’t her own.
“Lunis,” she said aloud.
In her head, she heard the most beautiful reply.
I’m here, Sophia.
How? she asked, perplexed.
He simply blinked at her, his eyes like her soul staring back at her.
They erased us, she argued. How
did you come back to me?
Lunis nuzzled his face into her hands. There are some things that can’t be erased. I think they tried, but it didn’t take because what we have is stronger than any magical tech on this Earth.
Chapter Ninety-Six
“They are still out there,” Sophia said to Lunis, knowing she didn’t need to expand. He knew who she was referring to.
“We have to let them go,” he answered. “Gordon and Sulfur are no good for the Dragon Elite.”
“I agree,” she stated, leaning against her dragon, needing to be close to him. “However, we have to find the magical tech they used and destroy it. We can’t allow what they did to us to happen to the others. What if the moon hadn’t come out when it did? What if you’d never found me again?”
He rotated his head, pressing it into hers. “We didn’t need the moon to reconnect, Sophia. We are connected in our souls. That magical tech was never going to work entirely on us. I suspect it won’t work on the others either, but I agree with destroying it.”
“Gordon didn’t make it,” Sophia imparted.
“No, of course not,” Lunis stated. “This whole thing reeks of Thad Reinhart.”
“We can discuss that more when we return to the Gullington,” Sophia said, climbing onto her dragon’s back. “For now, I want to find Gordon and Sulfur. They aren’t right, although it may not be their fault, we can’t allow them to spread this evil. It’s our civic duty to stop them and recover that magical tech.”
Lunis didn’t have to agree for her to know he was on board. Instead, he rose into the air, willed by Sophia’s intentions.
The cold mountain air was refreshing as they flew around the lake, looking for signs of the other rider and dragon. Their enhanced vision made it easy to see the battles that had happened in the snow on the ground.
Thoughtfully, Sophia touched one of the wounds on Lunis’ back from either his fight with the bear or with Sulfur. She wanted to erase his pain but knew that it was important. What had happened to them in the Rocky Mountains had brought them closer. It had made them stronger, and one day, it would save their lives. That was how pain worked.
The Cave will fix me, Lunis assured her, knowing she was worried about his wounds.
She nodded, looking forward to returning to the Gullington.
There was where we were shot, Lunis stated, directing Sophia’s attention toward the clearing where the bear attack had happened.
The dragon landed easily in the thick pile of snow, sinking deep.
“Gordon was stationed over there.” Sophia pointed to the area where the rider had been when he shot them. She hurried, her boots plunging through the snow. Compared to how she’d felt when severed from Lunis, she was completely different. Energy pulsed through her, pushing her forward.
Sophia was almost to the trees where Gordon had been hiding when the lone rider stepped out again, once more aiming the magical tech at her and Lunis.
She froze, her hand instinctively darting to her sword.
“Don’t do it, or I’ll shoot you again,” he said with a growl.
“It didn’t work,” Sophia exclaimed. “Hand it over, and you won’t be harmed.”
A loud laugh echoed across the valley. “What are you, two decades old? Some brand-new rider is going to beat me? I let you go before, but—”
“You thought you’d done the worst thing ever to us by severing our connection,” Sophia interrupted. “You didn’t let me go. You wanted me to go on, feeling punished.”
Gordon shook his head, confusion in his gaze. It was like he knew what he was doing one moment and then forgot again.
“Yes, sever your connection.” He looked at the device in his hands. “That’s what this does. And it will again.”
“It won’t work,” she argued. “No one has to get hurt.” Even as she said the words, she knew they weren’t true. Something had corrupted Gordon, and it was taking possession of him. She could see it as his eyes shifted and grew darker.
“You, little girl, can’t hurt me.” He fired just as a dark shadow crossed overhead, blanketing them in partial blackness.
Sulfur dove from overhead, hovering just beside her rider. He grabbed her reins and threw himself onto her back, all the while staring at Sophia with a murderous expression.
“I am no little girl!” she yelled. “But I’m proud to say I am a woman. And I’m about to kick your ass!”
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Sophia and Lunis didn’t say a word to each other. Intuitively, they knew what would happen next. Sophia hadn’t yet been successful at the running take off, but that was the best and fastest option right then.
It was similar to how Gordon had just gotten onto his dragon, but it would require that Lunis didn’t stop.
Sophia felt her dragon running at her back. She didn’t turn to look at him. Instead, she sprinted forward, picking up speed. When he was beside her and about to pass, Sophia dove for him, her hands clenching on the saddle.
Lunis lifted into the air, and for a moment, Sophia dangled from him as he rose, his wings beating below her.
With brute strength, and in one movement, Sophia hiked herself up, pulling her leg around and sliding over the back of the saddle and into place.
She leaned forward, grabbing the reins in one hand and pulling her sword with the other.
Well done, Lunis commented as he rose higher, gaining on Gordon and Sulfur.
Sophia’s heart was beating so loud in her chest that it vibrated her teeth. Thanks, she said, wondering what their next move would be. They had to get the magical tech, and something told her that they had to do something they both would rather not—but that was part of being a dragonrider. There weren’t always peaceful solutions to problems. Sometimes ending those who would only further corrupt was the only option.
Sensing her thoughts, Lunis said in her mind, I bet you wished you’d practiced more flight combat now.
Great timing, she replied. Thanks.
No problem, he said with a bit of mischief. But don’t worry. They may be stronger, bigger and more experienced—
If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working, she cut in.
I was going to say, they will be all brute force, Lunis finished. We can find the advantage, and when we do, we’ll use it.
Okay, sounds good. Sophia steered her dragon over the glistening mountain peaks reflecting the glow of the crescent moon hanging in the sky.
Gordon and Sulfur weren’t far. The rider kept looking over his shoulder, fear growing in his eyes as they closed the distance between them.
What’s the plan? Sophia asked Lunis.
Attack, he said simply.
Sophia sighed. Wow, thanks for that. I was thinking more about that whole strategy thing.
Oh, right, Lunis said. Hold onto your butts.
Seriously, you’re not allowed to watch that movie anymore, Sophia said, tired of hearing about how sad it was when the T-Rex died in Jurassic Park.
They are one of our distant relatives, Lunis argued. It makes me sad.
Sophia leaned down, bracing herself, feeling the shift in Lunis just before he made his first move.
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Fire burst out of Lunis’ mouth, stretching across the sky and nearly hitting Sulfur’s tail. The dragon darted to the side to avoid it. Simultaneously she turned, launching her own attack on Lunis and Sophia.
He dove to miss the assault, but still the heat and flames grazed them.
I didn’t need both eyebrows, Sophia related as they regained their speed.
I don’t have eyebrows, Lunis commented. Why do you?
Because I’m a human with hair, Sophia said, silently encouraging her dragon to gain on the pair in front of them.
I think you’d look better with horns, Lunis commented.
You would, Sophia replied as Gordon turned and shot the magical tech device at them.
Lunis dropped suddenly, diving toward the ground to avoid the coll
ision.
They might have proven they could restore their connection to one another, but now wasn’t the time to get disconnected. Sophia never wanted to experience that loss again. She was sure the scars were etched on her heart.
Twice more, Gordon fired at them, making Lunis lose the distance he’d gained on Sulfur.
We need to get that device from him, Sophia told him, trying to think. Can you get on top of them?
You don’t think it can shoot upward? Lunis questioned.
Not from what I’ve seen, she said tentatively. Those pulses seem to drop, almost like it’s weighted.
Lunis carried them high into the clouds and Sophia was instantly drenched in cold wetness. Her vision was partially obscured as they passed through a particularly large cloud. When they came out on the other side, she was grateful to find that they had made up the space and were now overhead of the pair.
Gordon and Sulfur had lost sight of them and they looked around madly. Their searching was slowing them down, which gave Lunis an advantage. When another thick cloud passed overhead, Lunis shot up like a missile, hoping the dense haze would obscure them if Gordon and his dragon were to look up.
The blue dragon opened his mouth, shooting fire just before they were about to be close enough to attack.
The blast hit the dragon and rider straight on, making them tumble to the side. Gordon dropped the magical tech as he sought to hold on while Sulfur rolled to extinguish the flames.
Sophia held out her hand, summoning the strange device to her, and it flew to her. She hated the way it felt in her grasp, but she ignored it and slipped the magical tech into her wa. There was no way she was releasing it and allowing it to get into the wrong hands.
She would have considered portaling home, but Gordon and Sulfur had recovered and were angrier than hell, barreling after them. The yellow dragon shot fire at them many times, but their vantage point above them was working to their advantage.