by Logan Jacobs
“What about their animals pulling the cart?” Eira asked. “Should we set them free.”
“We may as well,” I agreed. “Let’s do that, and then we’ll head to Ramir’s.”
“Sounds like a plan,” the redhead said, and she hopped out of the cart.
After we’d unhooked the horned animals attached to the dwarves’ cart, we all piled back into our own, and I picked up the reins.
“Ready?” I asked as I turned to Blar.
The little dragon nodded from his position on my shoulder, and then he closed his eyes and focused. After a few seconds, a portal appeared in the form of swirling air ahead of us. It was small at first but then grew to the regular size we would normally fit through.
The portal stayed that size for a few seconds, but I had faith in my little buddy, and soon enough it started to grow. It was a somewhat slow process, and I could tell it took a lot of energy.
Once the portal was large enough, I hurried the cart through to the other side, and Blar sighed as the portal disappeared behind us.
“That took a lot out of him,” Kas whispered, and she stroked the little blue dragon’s head.
“Good job,” I told Blar, and he looked over at me and smiled. Then he yawned and crawled into my lap to fall asleep.
“I think he’s earned a nap,” Eira chuckled.
“I’d say so,” I agreed, and I looked around to see where he’d managed to land us.
Even though we were on a mission, I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face as I took in the beauty of the Asgardian countryside. The sun was high in the bright blue sky, and fluffy white clouds floated effortlessly by. A lightly floral scent filled the air, and I took a deep breath and savored the experience of my homeworld.
Blar had brought us out in the countryside about a mile or so from Ramir’s shop. I could tell by the nearby road, it was paved in red brick, and there was a sign with an arrow that directed travelers back toward town.
“We aren’t too far away,” Kas said with surprise when she realized where we were at.
“No, we aren’t.” I shook my head and smiled. “Blar did a good job.”
The little dragon rolled over in my lap so I could scratch his belly, and I happily obliged. Then I flicked the reins, and the horned creatures began to pull the cart through the green grass toward the road.
“What about the cart?” Asta asked as we got onto the road.
“What about it?” Kas asked.
“Shouldn’t we drop it at home?” the elf girl inquired.
“Ideally, yes.” I nodded. “But we don’t have time for that right now. I’m sure Ramir can keep an eye on it since we’ll need to leave quickly.”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure my father will watch over the cart,” Kas agreed.
“I’m curious,” Eira said, and she cocked her head to the side as she looked at Kas. “What was it like having Ramir as a father growing up?”
“What do you mean?” Kas asked, and her eyebrows pulled together with confusion.
“Well, I just mean, he’s… kind of… eccentric,” Eira explained.
“I’m just teasing,” Kas laughed. “I know he’s as strange as they come.”
“Good one,” the redhead chuckled and hit Kas playfully on the arm.
“In all seriousness, I was very lucky to have him as my father,” Kas said with a small, reminiscing smile. “Especially after my mother died.”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that.” Eira shook her head. “Ramir has brought her up a few times when I’ve spoken to him. You can tell he truly loved her.”
“He did.” Kas smiled and nodded. “As strange as he is, he was always a very loving and attentive father. I never was starved for adventure, adoration, or anything of that ilk. He taught me everything I know about sorcery, allowed me the freedom to roam around Asgard, within reason, of course, and he always made sure to tell me how much he loved me. He really is a wonderful father.”
“That’s sweet,” Eira said before she shrugged. “Gotta admit, I was hoping for some story about weird stuff he did, but that was nice, too.”
“Oh, right,” Kas chuckled. “Well, he did use to take me to the market and take advantage of all the free samples the vendors give out.”
“What?” I laughed.
“Your father could easily pay for food,” Eira guffawed. “And the vendors keep tabs on who gets samples.”
“Not if you use magic to disguise yourself or make them forget you were there,” Kas said with a half-smile.
“Ramir!” Eira shook her head but couldn’t hide her smirk. “What an old cheapskate.”
“He is!” the Valkyrie agreed with a laugh. “My father is great at earning money, but very poor at spending it.”
“It’s hard to imagine he’s poor at all when he’s getting so much free food,” Eira joked.
“Oh, that was good,” Kas snickered.
I laughed along with the girls as the horned creatures pulled us along, but after a few minutes, I focused on the road and stopped paying attention to their conversation.
All I could think about was what we were going to do if the dwarf who’d gotten away told someone about us. We’d already taken out a couple of dealers, and while dealers probably didn’t talk to one another, I figured some people with connections to the dragon trade would eventually figure out someone was killing the people they got their dragons from.
Then again, that one man we’d seen a few days before who the dragon dealers had captive, said something about the dragon trade resistance. It seemed there was another group of individuals out there who were doing what they could to dismantle the dragon trade.
From the fate of that man, I doubted their efforts were accomplishing much, but I appreciated them trying. If they weren’t warriors, though, they were better off leaving it to someone who could actually stand against these bastards.
Still, I understood the urge to do something for the cause, even if it meant sacrificing one’s own life. After all, how many dragons had lost their lives already?
I shuddered to think of that number, and my mind flashed back to Vinrar in Helheim. He deserved to be there, but Ove, his huge, beautiful dragon, certainly didn’t.
Dismantling the dragon trade was my top priority, but once that was over, I vowed to bring Ove back home. He didn’t belong in the realm of the dead and joyless.
Unfortunately, Odin was the only one who could bring him back from the underworld, so I’d have to wait until the King knew about our efforts to stop the dragon trade. Then maybe he could admit his own faults in the matter.
It took about half an hour for us to arrive at Ramir’s shop, but once we pulled up, I parked the cart out front, tied the horned animals to a post, and headed inside.
The bell chimed as I entered the small shop, and immediately, my nose was assaulted with the familiar smell of herbs and tonics that filled Ramir’s shop.
The store was sort of a one stop shop for anybody who required something magical. The old man had healing salves, potions of all kinds, and amulets and crystals that could be turned into jewelry of the buyer’s choice.
As usual, Ramir was nowhere to be found.
“Father,” Kas called out.
“Kaspyr?” Ramir asked, and his voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once. “Is that you, darling?”
“It’s me,” Kas chuckled before she lowered her voice to address us. “Who else would be calling him father?”
“I can hear you, you know,” Ramir said, and he popped up from behind the cash register to our left. “These old bones may not be what they used to, but my ears work just fine.”
“Father!” Kas startled, and she brought her hand up to her chest. “I thought you were in the back.”
“Well, you were mistaken, weren’t you, dear daughter?” Ramir asked with a half-smile. “Rath, Asta, good to see you again. And Eira, you’ve joined the party now, too, eh?”
“I have.” The redhead smiled, and as much as she’d joked
on the way here, I knew Eira held Ramir in great esteem.
“Good, good,” the old man muttered as he came around the counter. “They can use all the help they can get, you know.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Eira chuckled and elbowed me playfully in the ribs.
“And my little babies,” Ramir said as Blar flew down from my shoulder to land in front of the old man.
Inger quickly dove down from Asta’s shoulder so she could soak up some pets, too, and Kas picked up Uffe off her shoulder and set him on the ground so he could run up to his adoptive grandfather.
“Oh, I’ve missed you so much.” Ramir smiled and petted each dragon just the way they liked.
Blar got scratches under his chin, Inger received soft pets on her head and neck, and Uffe soaked up some scratches just above his tail.
“As much as I’d love to make this a social visit,” I said softly. “We have some important business.”
“We’ll get to that in just a moment,” Ramir said with a gesture at Svass, who was wrapped around Eira’s neck. “But I couldn’t help but notice there is a new addition to your crew.”
“Ah, yes.” I nodded. “I suppose a quick hello is alright.”
“Oh, good,” Ramir chuckled. “After all, I only help you out so I can see the dragons.”
“Is this true?” Asta asked, and she looked at me with wide yellow eyes.
“No, dear,” Ramir laughed and patted her arm as he walked by to get to Eira.
“Oh, good.” Asta smiled. “Because I like you, and it would be awful if you didn’t actually like us.”
“You know I’m his daughter, right?” Kas chuckled.
“That doesn’t mean he has to like you,” Asta said, and she cocked her head to the side.
“Of course, I like you,” Ramir said with a smile, and he reached up so Svass could sniff his fingers. “But playing with baby dragons… well, that’s a perk I’m not willing to give up.”
“I understand,” I told him, and I watched Svass sniff his fingers.
Then she gave them a little lick before she scurried down the old man’s arm to snuggle up on his shoulder.
“I miss the days when she only liked me,” Eira muttered.
“That was only a few hours ago,” Kas reminded her with a laugh.
“Best few hours of my life.” Eira shook her head jokingly.
“Don’t worry, dear,” Ramir told her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some smoked meat to give the dragons. “I’m sure she still likes you best.”
“I hope so,” Eira laughed. “Though I don’t bribe her with smoked meat, so probably not.”
“That’s what grandpas are supposed to do.” Ramir winked at the redhead as he held out a piece of meat for Svass to take.
I chuckled and shook my head. The old man was teasing, but he wasn’t exactly wrong. The dragons loved to come to Ramir’s. He gave them all the attention they could ever want, allowed them to climb all over him, and insisted on making them delicious food. Even I liked it here.
Unfortunately, we had a job to do.
“Ramir,” I said to get the old man’s attention. “We’re hoping you know a spell to tell us where someone went.”
“Hmm.” His bushy eyebrows pulled together. “Where someone went, eh? I’m supposing you mean where they went magically? Or were they walking?”
“Magically,” I clarified.
“Mmm, yes, magically is a little more difficult,” he muttered almost to himself. “It can be done, though. Do you all have something that belonged to this person?”
“Yes,” Kas said, and she quickly reached into her satchel and pulled out the small boot.
Ramir raised an eyebrow at her, took the boot, and turned it over in his hands.
“It belonged to a dwarf,” Asta explained.
“Yes, dear, I gathered that,” Ramir chuckled. Then his eyes narrowed on the tiny leather shoe, and he pursed his lips. “Dwarves have strong magical abilities, but they pertain mostly to craftsmanship. Still, it will be more difficult to figure out where a dwarf went than, say, an Asgardian.”
“Can you do it?” I asked with a frown.
“I can certainly try.” Ramir smiled at me and walked toward the back of his shop. “Come along, we’ve got work to do.”
Blar and Uffe walked by Ramir’s side while Svass rode on one shoulder and Inger rode on the other.
I shook my head at the sight of the old man surrounded by dragons as the girls and I followed him to the back.
Once we arrived at Ramir’s desk, he waved his fingers at his bookshelf, and a large volume floated down to land on the table in front of him. He licked the tips of his fingers and then flipped the book open and looked over the page.
“Ah, yes, here it is.” He nodded. “We’ll just need a few things. Kas, fetch me a cauldron, some swine nails, and a jar of dirt.”
“I’m on it,” the Valkyrie replied immediately, and she disappeared before I could blink.
“We’ll need the map I enchanted for you, too,” Ramir said once Kas returned.
She pulled the map from her satchel and set it on the table, along with the rest of the strange objects Ramir requested.
“Thank you, dear,” the old man muttered, and he set to work putting things in the cauldron while he read from the book in the old language.
The cauldron started to bubble with a terrible dark-brown substance that looked like mud but smelled like sulfur. My nose wrinkled in response to the pungent odor, and I had to hold my breath at a certain point so I didn’t throw up.
“Almost done,” Ramir told me with a smirk when he saw how disgusted I looked.
The old man had the map laid out on his desk, and he picked up the cauldron and tipped it over so the disgusting brown goo covered the paper.
I was concerned about the map at that point since I didn’t want it to smell forever, but after a few seconds, the ooze started to sparkle a bright green as it disintegrated into little specks of dirt.
Ramir picked up the map, blew the dirt off it, and then flipped it so we could all see. “Here you are. The dwarf is here, or at least, that’s where he went.”
“This is Svartalfheim, yes?” Kas asked as she grabbed the map and looked it over.
“Looks that way.” Ramir nodded. “My guess is the little green dot on the map is the dwarf’s home. I doubt he expected anybody to be able to follow him, after all.”
“Good point.” I pursed my lips as I looked over the map.
The small dot that marked the dwarf’s whereabouts looked to be nestled into some mountains, so the terrain was probably going to be difficult to navigate. We knew where he was, but it wasn’t likely Blar would be able to get us to his precise location.
Even if the little dragon was able to be exact with his portals, I wasn’t sure that was the best option. It was probably better for us to land a ways away so we could scope the place out before we barged in.
We were obviously a lot stronger than a single dwarf, but there could be more with him, and they could have some magical protection up, too. We needed to get there quickly and see what we were up against.
“Blar, I want you to bring us out close to the dot,” I told him. “But don’t try to get us exactly where it’s at.”
The little dragon nodded.
“You want to sneak up on him, right?” Eira asked.
“I think that’s our best bet,” I agreed.
“Father,” Kas said. “We have a cart we acquired outside, would you watch it for us? This is urgent, so we really should be leaving right away.”
“Of course, my dear.” Ramir nodded seriously.
“Alright,” I said with a clap. “Let’s go to Svartalfheim.”
Blar flew up onto my shoulder, and all the girls and dragons crowded around me while the little dragon opened a portal for us right there in Ramir’s shop.
The swirling air expanded until it was large enough for us all to fit, and then I grabbed the girls’ hands and steppe
d through the portal into the world of Svartalfheim.
We knew exactly where this little bastard was.
Now, we just had to get to him.
Chapter 6
I opened my eyes on the other side of the portal to a world cast in darkness. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the realm, and when they did, I saw only rock and smoke.
“We’re in the correct realm, aren’t we?” Kas asked, and she coughed slightly from the smoke.
I looked to Blar on my shoulder, and the little dragon nodded.
“We have to be,” I agreed, but I pursed my lips and reached for the map in Kas’ hands.
“Hm, we’re definitely in the right place,” Kas said as she looked over my shoulder.
“We should get going,” I said, and I handed her the map.
“Why is it so dark?” Eira asked.
“Have you never been to this realm?” I asked. “I figured if anybody had, it would’ve been you.”
“No, this is my first time here,” she answered. “Haven’t you all been here before?”
“Once,” I said. “But we were in a dwarf’s home, so we didn’t see the outside of the realm.”
“Maybe it’s just night time right now,” Asta suggested.
“That’s possible.” Kas nodded. “Realms have different day and night hours sometimes.”
“Yeah, but something tells me it’s not,” I said. “I don’t know what it is, but I just feel like this is how this realm is all the time.”
“I get a bad feeling from this place, too,” Kas agreed. “Which is odd since I felt fine when we were in the dwarf’s home.”
“Yeah, but just because he was nice doesn’t mean this realm is,” Asta pointed out.
“That’s true.” I nodded.
“Not to mention, we could be in a dark part of the realm,” Eira said.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said, and my eyes widened with surprise.
“I’ve been in dark parts of realms before,” the redhead said. “Just not this one. It’s so difficult to see.”
“Oh, I have a spell for that!” Kas gasped. “Everybody, join hands.”
The strawberry-blonde grabbed one of my hands, and Asta grabbed the other.