Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 4 3

Tall, rocky cliffs jutting out over the ocean. And when she checked the compass, the needle pointed straight to them.

"Is that . . . ?" Keefe asked.

"I think it might be."

She nudged Silveny to fly faster, keeping her eyes trained on the compass as the cliffs drew closer. 

The silver-white slopes of the rocky ledges came into focus, bright and gleaming in the pale moonlight, and Sophie felt goose bumps prickle her skin as she noticed a dark smudge toward the top of one of them.

A cave.

"That's it," Sophie whispered as a memory prickled her mind.

The dark cavern had a distinct curved shape, and she could see a perfect image of it in her memory. Which meant they'd always meant for her to find them someday.

She instructed Silveny to land on the ledge outside the entrance. Keefe tightened his grip on her waist as they swooped to a stop, and he helped Sophie slide down Silveny's neck to the rocky ground.

"Okay, the legs are not happy," Keefe complained as he took a few wobbly steps. "Remind me never to take up horseback riding."

"Dude, you're weak," Meredith said while gracefully jumping of the Silveny and giving her a pat on the head and helping Keefe stand.

Sophie's legs were throbbing too—but she was too distracted by the pitch-black entrance to the cave.

"So . . . I'm guessing we have to go into the scary black cavern of doom?" Keefe asked, sighing when Sophie nodded. "Yeah, I was afraid of that. I love that neither of us thought to bring a light, either."

"You don't need one," a gravelly voice said from the shadows, making both Keefe and Sophie scream.

"Dude—that was not cool," Keefe said as a hairy brown dwarf skulked out into the moonlight.

Meredith whispered, "A dwarf. Oh the joy."

The dwarf laughed—a clunky sound like a spoon caught in a garbage disposal. "We need to get out of sight. Can you lead your horse inside?"

"I—I think so," Sophie stammered, wishing Silveny could send her some of her calm. But the jittery alicorn was more terrified than she was.

Trust, Sophie told her. Come.

She followed the dwarf toward the cave, and after a few steps Keefe, Meredith and Silveny followed. As soon as they were inside, the dwarf flipped a switch, and blue-flamed torches sprang to life all along the rocky walls that curved around them. The cave was much shallower than she'd expected.

"Won't someone see the light?" Sophie asked.

"The cloaking is back up. I took it down when I felt you draw close, so you could find us."

"You felt us?" Meredith whispered.

Sophie pointed to the magsidian swan on her bracelet.

"Whoa—dwarves are freaky."

"I was not told there would be three," the dwarf grumbled. "Only a girl and a horse."

"My parents wouldn't let me come alone."

The dwarf made some sort of sound—a bit like a growl.

"I think he likes me," Keefe whispered, earning himself another growl.

Sophie looked around. As far as she could tell, it was just a normal cave—smaller than the one at Havenfield, even. "Is this . . . it?"

"Until you eat this." The dwarf handed her a plate with what looked like a cookie on it. A black swan. Written in some sort of icing were the words "THEN LET'S REST."