Both shook their heads. “Only with special permission. They know not to pass through the arbor.”
Sophia nodded, grateful she didn’t have to worry about one of the college’s students floating around somewhere in space in another galaxy.
“My magical reserves are pretty low after taking down that giant,” Sophia admitted.
“An impressive feat,” Mae Ling stated proudly.
“We will loan you ours,” Willow said confidentially and threaded her fingers through Sophia’s at once.
On the other side of her, Mae Ling did the same thing.
Sophia nodded and directed her attention to the arbor in the middle of the garden. She hadn’t been the one to close the portal at the Castle and had been grateful that Quiet took care of that detail. She was especially glad for that when she started the spell that she thought would seal the portal shut at Happily Ever After College. It was complex and incredibly draining. After a few seconds, Sophia felt her reserves deplete and slumped, thinking she might pass out from the effort.
However, Mae Ling squeezed her hand, and she remembered that she wasn’t alone. The magic from the two fairy godmothers pooled into Sophia. She welcomed it, then funneled the energy into her spell. It was complete within a minute, and the arbor glowed brightly before dimming completely like a candle being extinguished.
Sophia let out a breath and forced a smile. “It’s done. The college is safe once more.”
“Therefore, we must now look after ourselves,” Willow stated with conviction. “Let’s go to the kitchen where we will refill our reserves and discuss next steps.”
Chapter Eighty-Five
The huge chunks of chocolate in the ice cream sundae made every bite better than they would have been otherwise. Vanilla and chocolate syrup were excellent on their own, but when piled high onto a chocolate brownie and layered with chunks of dark chocolate and covered in whipped cream, the whole thing went to the next level.
Sophia was full after finishing only half of the dessert. That earned contemptuous glares from Mae Ling and Willow, who were apparently going to eat all of their sundaes like they were a pile of green beans and spinach.
“Feeling better yet?” Willow’s tone was speculative, like if Sophia said no, then she’d get her head dunked into the dessert sitting in front of her.
“Yes, much better,” Sophia confessed and licked the chocolate from her teeth. The sweetness made her mouth hurt. She couldn’t very well say that to the fairy godmothers without earning annoyed glares though. They would undoubtedly think she wasn’t trying hard enough if sweet treats were painful for her to consume. It was just that Sophia, much like Liv, preferred savory and salty things to replenish her reserves. The fairy godmothers had their way of doing things, and they were smart. They ate sweets to refill theirs, but Sophia could eat more salty chips than chocolate cake, so it was easier for her to eat lots of nachos over desserts.
It was strange being at the college and having it deserted around them. They sat in the empty kitchen with large industrial containers of ice cream sitting out and sweating on the countertop beside them. The students apparently wouldn’t return to the Happily Ever After College until there had been a full sweep of the grounds to determine there weren’t any other statues alive and hiding somewhere. Fairy godmothers weren’t usually taught combat training. They learned many other useful things, like how to make matches or create happy endings or bring peace to the world, but how to fight evil creatures wasn’t one of them. That was for Warriors of the House of Fourteen or riders of the Dragon Elite. Everyone had a role in the magical world, and some learned to fight while others studied how to create love.
“So, the exploding sheep,” Sophia finally said when they’d been quiet for a long time other than slurping from their spoons and licking their fingers.
“It’s the water supply,” Mae Ling revealed and pushed an empty dish of mostly melted ice cream away.
“At the Gullington?” Sophia asked.
“In Scotland in general,” Mae Ling corrected. “All of the sheep all over the country have this problem.”
“I’d heard that, but are we sure the water supply is the problem, and it’s that wide-spread?” Sophia asked.
Mae Ling nodded. “I’m afraid so. Whoever was behind this contamination wanted to ensure that it affected the Dragon Elite, so they didn’t stop with doing one region, but rather the entire country.”
“So we know this person or whoever targeted the Dragon Elite?” Sophia questioned. “Do you know who it is?”
“I don’t,” Mae Ling answered. “But I think we can guess.”
Sophia thought for a moment before the inevitable dawned on her. “Do you know that it’s Nevin Gooseman? Do your sources or whatever tell you that?”
Mae Ling glanced sideways at Willow, and they shared an amused look before she shook her head. “We don’t have sources. That’s not how we work. I’m inferring that the person who has the most to gain by taking out your sheep is the one you almost took down.”
“But we’re not sure that we didn’t,” Sophia argued. “We haven’t seen anything of Nevin since that battle outside the Great Library. He could have been in any of those aircraft that we destroyed as part of the magitech army.”
“He could also be the one who unleashed enhanced magical creatures for the Dragon Elite to go after in the Mediterranean Sea.” Mae Ling took a long sip of water.
Sophia’s mouth popped open and stayed that way. She suddenly wondered how she hadn’t seen it before. It now seemed so obvious. But she’d been so busy trying to help Subner and prepare for the upcoming mysterious battle with an unknown evil. Then there had been the leviathan and the simurgh and exploding sheep. But she suddenly felt so dumb.
She slapped her forehead and nearly knocked herself out from the blow. “Of course, it was Nevin Gooseman all this time. He’s the only one who wants to take us down so badly that he’d go to such extreme measures. This has all been about eliminating the Dragon Elite.”
“I’m sorry to say that I think you’re right.” Willow ran her finger over the side of her sundae bowl and licked it. “It is the desperate who will go to the most dangerous degrees.”
“And nothing says danger like killing Scotland’s entire sheep population,” Sophia remarked.
“Not only that, but exploding sheep will take out dragons, farmers, and civilians alike,” Mae Ling imparted. “Whoever is behind this, whether Nevin Gooseman or someone else, has little concern or value for lives whether mortal, magical or otherwise.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Sophia asked. “How do we fix the water supply in all of Scotland? That seems very complex since it comes from multiple sources, including the sky.”
“It will be,” Mae Ling agreed. “And I don’t have an answer to that.”
Sophia deflated.
“However, although I can’t offer you answers, I can offer you places to look,” Mae Ling said hopefully. “Or rather, people to ask.”
Sophia perked up. “Oh? You know of an expert on sheep or water or whatever? I’ll search them out. Just tell me where to look.”