Chapter 8

Hiker Wallace's Office, The Castle, The Gullington, Scotland, United Kingdom

"For the love of the angels! When were you going to tell me this?" Hiker pushed up to his feet, glaring down at Sophia, hostility brimming in the man. He was simply huge with large shoulders and wearing an armored top and thick kilt. He looked like the stuff of legends with his many medallions around his neck and holster on his hip. Gen could definitely see him riding atop a dragon, slaying bad guys. Unfortunately for her and Sophia, he looked ready to slaughter them.

"I'm telling you now, sir," Sophia began in a low voice, like trying to disarm him with her soft tone. "I only found out about the dragon's egg recently and I've been trying to help Gen to navigate in this brand new and disorienting time. It's been a lot for her and the dragon's egg wasn't really a concern until I got her settled."

"And are you settled?" Hiker asked, looking at Gen at once, his tone oozing with mock concern. "How are you feeling? How has the transition been?"

Gen, a little confused by this change in tone, shrugged. "It's been a lot, but I'm managing."

"Great, now how in the bloody hell didn't I know that there's an unhatched dragon's egg?" Hiker boomed, throwing his hands into the air. His voice echoed all around the office as his face flushed red with anger.

Sophia rolled her eyes, looking at Gen. "That was his attempt at sarcasm, pretending to care how you are adjusting when he feels like he has the bigger issue."

"Mama Jamba said there were only two thousand eggs!" Hiker yelled, still not realizing that was unnecessary. He glared directly at Gen. "That's Mother Nature, for your information. She created, well, just about everything. But most importantly, she created the dragon eggs and she said there were only two thousand."

"I know who she is and she lied," Gen stated. "She said she was waiting for me and couldn't give you a spoiler."

He threw his hands into the air, tossing back his head. "Of course she did. That woman loves to keep things from me." He lowered his chin. "How did you find the first dragon egg? And why did you bury it?"

"Well, the dragon called to me in the woods?—"

"She's magnetized to this egg!" Hiker interrupted, gazing at Sophia like this was a cruel joke.

"Yes, sir," Sophia replied.

"Yes, and he told me that he was the first dragon's egg ever spawned," Gen stated.

"What was the year?" Hiker asked.

"1420," Gen answered.

Hiker nodded. "The year that the first rider magnetized to a dragon."

Gen nodded too. "Yes, and that's when I learned what dragons were. Before that, I just thought I was going crazy, talking to this egg that called itself a dragon. No one knew what those were. But he told me to bury him because otherwise we would have been separated. For starters, my father wanted me to be a warrior for the House of Fourteen. And secondly, women weren't dragonriders in the 15th century. I was barely allowed to be a warrior. My dragon knew that and said our time wasn't yet…"

Hiker's eyes widened as he regarded Sophia with astonishment. "This dragon, this first of the dragons, he knew that women wouldn't be dragonriders until you came along? Is that what you're trying to explain to me?"

"It seems so," Sophia answered. "The dragon knew that Gen would be pulled into the future. And you know better than anyone that she wouldn't have been allowed to be a dragonrider, even if she could talk to her dragon telepathically."

He nodded in understanding. "It was a different time then. Your sister, Elizabeth, the one who pretended to be you, she was only accepted as a warrior by most because she didn't fight."

"That's because she didn't like fighting," Gen stated. "I was the rebel who liked to put bad men in headlocks, which was why my father made me a warrior, but now we know how that turned out."

"Headlocks, you say?" Hiker asked, appraising her with a new sense of intrigue.

"She's badass, sir," Sophia gushed, smiling at Gen. "She's going to make an excellent member of the Dragon Elite. And she has the first dragon's egg ever. And it will be the very last to hatch. How cool is that?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that cool means cold, not neat?" Hiker asked, then seeming to think of something, he tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why doesn't Gen talk strangely if she's been here for only a wee bit?"

"She's outfitted with a communication device from Papa Creola," Sophia explained. "It translates our vernacular for her and then also her Old English for us. It's completely seamless. And she can understand what I mean when I say, ‘cool.'"

"Oh, it's similar to the chi of the dragon that allows dragonriders to understand and speak any language then," Hiker said, nodding in understanding.

"Yes, that's where Father Time got the idea from," Sophia stated. "Maybe you could get one of the devices, sir. I know you've been in the modern era for centuries and you still talk like a Viking."

His eyes fluttered with annoyance. "I wasn't dropped into the modern world when I was twenty-years old. I have lived well over five hundred years and some things are ingrained in me. I've had to evolve the Dragon Elite over centuries and it hasn't always been easy."

"But I've helped, haven't I, sir?" Sophia asked, batting her eyelashes up at the man.

Hiker glared at her, before giving his attention to Gen. "When Sophia showed up, she was the first female dragonrider," Hiker explained. "That was a new situation for me. For centuries, I'd only ever led men as riders. Not only that, but the dragonriders were pretty much dormant, in hibernation. That was due to a war between mortals and magicians. The Dragon Elite had been rendered ineffective because mortals couldn't see magic."

"And if you can't see a dragon, then they can't arbitrate over nations, creating world peace and fixing negotiations," Sophia added, filling in the blanks.

Hiker nodded. "The few dragonriders I had left and I were pretty much locked down at the Gullington for a couple hundred years." He glared at Sophia. "Then the war ended and mortals could see dragons and magic once again."

He thumbed in Sophia's direction. "Next, this one bounces in and shakes everything up, telling us that we must go rule over the modern world once more. I allowed us to evolve and have tried my best to fill the ranks as all the dragon eggs hatched and magnetized to riders. It wasn't simple since dragonriders aren't the easiest group to organize and train."

Hiker sighed, looking tired suddenly. "We've finally ironed out all the kinks. I didn't think we'd have any big changes for another couple centuries. I mistakenly thought I'd get a break. But now all of a sudden, you, Gen Beaufont, have shown up with a new egg. Just when we thought all dragon eggs had hatched. And then you inform me that you stole the very first one and hid it away until now… Why are the Beaufonts always a big headache for me?"

"Sir, you had like two hundred years off," Sophia dared to tease.

He glared at the small dragonrider, flaring his nostrils. "I haven't had a day off since then, not from the time when you showed up. And now I've got a thief from the medieval era to try and corral."

Before Gen could tell this huge man off, Quiet appeared in the doorway. The small gnome looked so unassuming as he beckoned the leader of the Dragon Elite toward him.

"I'll be right back." Hiker stalked across the office, disappearing out into the corridor at once.

"So do we like him? Or not?" Gen asked, giving Sophia an amused expression.

"We do," Sophia said with a giggle. "He's a grumpy Viking, as I like to call him. He's stubborn and rigid, which plays off nicely from my cheery and easygoing disposition. We make an excellent team. Like good cop and bad cop."

"What's a cop?" Gen asked.

Sophia shook her head. "I'm sorry, I forget just how big your knowledge gap is in this modern world. I guess the communication device doesn't decode everything, does it? But Hiker is similar to you and your lack of modern knowledge because he spent so much of his time locked up in the Castle, so maybe you two will be good for each other."

"Maybe…" Gen said, not so sure she could work with someone who was so stern without giving him a bloody nose regularly.

"I figured out what your dragon is. Quiet just told me," Hiker grumbled, interrupting the conversation as he thundered back into the office.

"A dragon, I'm hoping," Gen said, tensing. "That's what he told me. Is he not one? Is he a dinosaur? A platypus? What is he?"

Hiker started pacing the open space of the office, a well-worn tread across the old wooden floors. He'd definitely made that path many a time while he pulled on his beard, like now. "I can't say."

"What?" Gen questioned, bolting forward, looking between the man and Sophia. "Why not?"

"You have to figure it out on your own when he hatches," Hiker explained. "It's part of his namesake, which you must instinctively know. If I tell you, then I compromise your bonds."

Gen sat back, annoyed. "Are all things a riddle in this place?"

Sophia nodded. "I'm afraid so…"

"Well, does Quiet know when the egg is going to hatch?" Gen asked, her chest vibrating with anticipation.

Hiker nodded. "Yes, it will be in three days, on the morning of the new moon. That gives you just enough time to prepare, doing the standard Dragon Elite trainings. Sophia will take the lead on that." He turned to his second-in-command. "Run her through the combat and mental exercises. Get her equipped with proper armor and a weapon. Ensure that she's ready when her dragon hatches so that they can start rider training promptly."

Gen's heart raced, making her feel it might explode. She coughed on a breath. "I can't believe this is happening…"

Hiker looked directly at her, a serious expression in his wise, timeless eyes. "Believe it. You're one of us now. Welcome to the Dragon Elite."