It had been too long since all the Dragon Elite flew together into a battle. It felt good and right and also spoke to the severity of the situation that Hiker Wallace had left the Gullington.
It had never happened that Ainsley had accompanied them, but things were evolving. Sophia believed they were getting better, but with that came facing many challenges. In the end, we have to fight for a better world—it doesn’t come to us, she thought with determination.
So true, Lunis said in her mind. He glided on the wind as they sailed over the Pacific Ocean, the elfin homeland not far in the distance. Beside Sophia and ahead of her were Hiker and Ainsley, riding on the red dragon, Bell. It was such a sight to see the large Viking, crouched low on his majestic dragon and Ainsley behind him holding tightly to his waist, her red hair flying in the wind behind her.
It was hard to believe she was the same kooky housekeeper who welcomed Sophia to the Gullington on her first day. That was Ainsley Carter at her finest—full of surprises. Sophia knew that fighting wasn’t the elf’s forte, but she also knew not to underestimate her and looked forward to watching her in battle.
Behind Sophia and bringing up the rear were Wilder, Evan, and Mahkah, all swiftly riding on their dragons with looks of pure confidence and strength on their faces. Even with Liv and Stefan joining them, Sophia knew that they were outnumbered. They suspected, based on the number of demon dragons that left the Gullington, that there were at least a dozen Rogue Riders. That was the full potential anyway.
However, the Dragon Elite had something unmatched. Yes, many of them were older. Yes, they were more experienced and had decades of training. Yes, they followed the ancient riding protocols and worked intuitively with the dragons. However, the real strength of the Dragon Elite was that they worked together. The power of one was the advantage of another. The fall of one would own the attention of all. Hiker Wallace might do things in a very old-school way, but that also meant that he followed the old code, also made popular by The Three Musketeers: “All for one, and one for all. United we stand. Divided we fall.”
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One
The moment of truth was upon them. Each of the Dragon Elite members had their soul stones on them. As they approached the barrier to the invaded elfin island, Sophia held her breath and hoped that this untested method worked. There had been no time to check it so that at this point, Sophia was simply relying on the expertise of those she trusted. Mae Ling had advised her on the soul stones. Paul had steered her in the right direction. She enlisted the help of those people because of their brilliance, and now she had to have faith that they were right.
The Dragon Elite were not cloaked. They wanted the Rogue Riders to see them coming. They wanted this battle. There was little hope there would be discussions or negotiations. The Rogue Riders and their leader had proven they didn’t want to work with the Dragon Elite. That opportunity had come and gone.
Even though they were storming onto the island, the Dragon Elite had a strategy—naturally. They knew that numbers weren’t their strong suit, so instead, they would rely on a multi-prong approach.
Unfortunately, they were mostly flying onto the island blind, not knowing what to expect. Ainsley knew the lay of the land, but that didn’t help much since it was from before when it belonged to the elves.
However, that did tell her where the main part of the island was, which would be where the Rogue Riders had set up camp due to resources and better weather conditions. Where they were presently flying to was the less developed part of the island, which would give them time to assess, regroup, and give the Rogue Riders a chance to freak out, knowing they were about to get the whoopin’ they so deserved.
When Hiker and Sophia had discussed strategy, he had refused to consider a stealth mission. He’d insisted that they make it clear who the leaders were among the two groups of dragonriders.
“The less powerful sneak in from the sidelines and attack when the enemy isn’t looking,” he had stated with confidence. “The leaders of this world stand on the edge of the enemy’s territory, making sure they see them and allowing them to load their weapons, knowing it won’t matter anyway. The underdog can have all the time in the world to prepare for the battle because in the end, the result will still be the same. We’re going to march into that battle with our heads high, knowing they see us coming, and then we’ll defeat them as courageous men—dragonriders who face down their enemy rather than stab them in the back.”
Sophia had been inspired by the speech and agreed to the plan, although it wasn’t her normal style. That was what made her and Hiker Wallace a good team. They came from different eras. They approached things differently. They saw the world in different ways. And when they worked together, the results were inspiring.
However, Hiker had agreed to one stealth mission, which Sophia simply thought was a smart use of their resources.
Sophia tensed on Lunis and held her breath as they approached the barrier to the island.
This is it, she said to her dragon telepathically.
It’s going to work, Soph.
She nodded, not daring to blink as they rode through the barrier. All at once, the full island came into view. The soul stones had worked. They were through. The next steps would hopefully unfold as smoothly.
On the other side of the barrier, the elfin homeland stretched out before them and what they saw was not at all how the peaceful race of hippies left the place.
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two
The Rogue Riders had done little to improve the island. It appeared they’d mostly destroyed the once tropical and lush island. Several places had been clear-cut, and smoke rose into the air in those areas. Structures had been torn down, and the materials lay in piles of debris.
Sophia spied the many pits similar to where Wilder had been held captive. In them were angry dragons that clawed at the netting sealing them inside. She also noticed the many towers around the island where the release buttons for the pits would be. They also seemed to be used for watchtowers, three of them manned by dragonriders who spotted them and yelled to others on the ground.
The Rogue Riders knew they were there. The battle was now imminent.
On the backside of the island, most of the structures seemed to mostly be intact, although it looked like chaotic dragons had gnawed on the roofs or blasted them. What Sophia saw was the result of a society of immature dragonriders left unchecked. It was like when a parent leaves a kid alone in a house, and they throw everything on the floor and color on the walls. There’s no reason for the bad behavior. They simply must destroy when given their first taste of freedom.
The whole thing reminded Sophia poignantly of Lord of the Flies. Whoever the leader of the Rogue Riders was, he seemed to govern with emotions and individuality. It was quite different than Hiker’s collective approach of using rational strategies.
The Rogue Riders weren’t useless at creating though. Maybe they weren’t building nice structures for their homes or had paved roads on the island that the elves had tried to leave as untouched as possible, living amongst the trees rather than cutting them down.
Besides knowing how to create the pits for punishing the dragons and erecting towers around the island, the Rogue Riders had also built and acquired weapons. A large trebuchet sat at the back of the island and was aimed straight at where the Dragon Elite had entered. Sophia had to give it to the leader. He’d accurately guessed where an invasion would come from.