by Logan Jacobs
Kas lowered her head and spoke in the old language, and after a few seconds, red sparkles lifted from the ground and swirled all around us. As Kas spoke, my vision improved dramatically, until it was almost as if it were daylight out.
“There,” the Valkyrie said after a couple moments. “All done.”
“That’s incredible,” Eira said with a shake of her head. “I should have requested a sorceress in my warband. These spells of yours seriously come in handy.”
“Thanks.” Kas smiled. “It helps having Asta and Rath here, too. I can pull from their energy to make my spells stronger.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s working,” the redhead said, and she looked around. “I can see everything.”
“Me, too.” I nodded. “Thanks, Kas.”
“You’re welcome,” the strawberry-blonde replied sweetly.
The world around us was cast in a new light, and I saw we were surrounded by large mountains made of both earth and stone. There were no trees or foliage at all, which only added to the eerie feeling of the realm. Smoke billowed out from random spots in the ground as if we were nearly to the core of the world and magma was going to spill out any second.
The place was eerily reminiscent of the realm of fire Kas and I had gone to the first day we’d traveled through one of the portals in the countryside. We’d run into a strange snake woman who’d tried to eat us, and we’d been lucky to get out alive.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up just thinking about it, and I couldn’t help but feel as though we were about to get attacked again.
“It looks like there should be a road just to our left,” Kas said as she tilted the map in her hands.
“Let’s go,” I said, and I followed the strawberry-blonde across the large rocky area we were on to a dirt road that was much smaller than I’d expected.
The road was only wide enough for one person to stand on it, but then again, I figured dwarves didn’t need a road nearly the size of the ones we had in Asgard or Alfheim.
“Which way?” Asta asked once we made it to the tiny path.
“This way,” Kas said as she pointed to the right.
“We’ll follow you,” I told the sorceress. She was the best when it came to using the enchanted map, and besides, I wanted to make sure I was on high alert. This realm didn’t seem as friendly as it had the first time we’d visited, and I didn’t want to get caught off guard by any monsters that might be lurking in the area.
It was more likely we’d get attacked by dwarves, but I didn’t want to take the risk either way. Nearly every realm we’d gone to had monsters of some kind, and I had to assume this realm was no different.
Besides, we were in the middle of the dark part of the realm, and though we were following our map to what I could only assume was the runaway dwarf’s home, at the moment, I didn’t see anything around us. There were no signs of civilization nearby, aside from the road itself, and I knew well that roads could go many miles without seeing people.
Usually, the areas without people were the ones where the monsters would lurk.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword as we walked, and Blar tensed on my shoulders. The little blue dragon had clued into the fact that I was uncomfortable, and he was on high alert now with me.
We were all quiet as we made our way down the small road. Kas walked a couple of paces ahead of me, and Asta and Eira were next to me on my right. I could hear the girls’ breathing, and I knew they were just as on edge as I was.
Blar’s talons tightened on my shoulder as he surveyed the area slowly.
I still didn’t see any signs of civilization, but then again, dwarves were masters of disguise, so one of their homes could be right in front of me, and I’d never notice.
“The map says we’re here,” Kas said after a few minutes, and she stopped and turned around to face us.
I looked around, but all I saw was mountains and hills around us, and the small road in front of and behind us.
“There’s nothing here,” Eira said before I could.
“Is the map wrong?” Asta asked.
“I don’t think so.” Kas shook her head. “I can feel the dwarf spells around us. They’re really powerful. Can’t you feel them, Asta?”
“I guess I wasn’t focusing on it,” Asta said with a frown. “Let me try.”
As an elf, Asta had nature magic and powers of persuasion. She wasn’t incredibly strong on her own, but she and Kas together were magnificent.
The elf girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then, suddenly, she knelt down to the ground and put her hand on the dirt.
“What is it?” Eira asked, and her red eyebrows pinched together.
“They’re below us,” Asta answered.
“What do you mean, they’re below us?” the redhead asked. “They’re underground?”
“I believe so.” The elf girl nodded.
“I think Asta is right,” Kas said. “I can feel their wards, but I wasn’t sure where they were coming from. It would make sense they’re below us. And Asta is better attuned to nature than I am, so she would be able to sense that easier than I would.”
“Okay, so they’re underground,” Eira said, and she looked around. “But how do we get there?”
“I don’t know.” Kas bit her lip. “The map shows we’re right here.”
“There’s got to be an entrance somewhere,” I said.
“If so, it’d probably be disguised, right?” Eira asked.
“Most likely.” I nodded.
“Kas, can you disable any spells on objects in the area?” the redhead asked.
“Hm, I should be able to.” Kas pulled out her spell book and flipped through it for a moment. “Here it is. I’ll need Asta’s help, though.”
“Of course,” the white-haired elf girl said, and she stepped toward Kas. “Whatever you need.”
“Here,” Kas said as she pointed to the book. “Take a look at this.”
While Kas and Asta went over the spell, I noticed Eira looking around suspiciously. Her green eyes were narrowed, and her hand was on her weapon just like mine was.
“I don’t like this, either,” I told her quietly.
“We’re going into their territory.” She shook her head. “It was one thing when I figured we’d be storming a house, but an underground bunker is totally different.”
“I agree,” I said with a nod. “This isn’t what I’d like to do, either, but right now we don’t have a choice.”
“I know,” she sighed. “We need to get this bastard before he tells all of his friends about what happened.”
“Exactly,” I said, and I reached up to scratch the stubble on my chin as I looked around. “Besides, we’re going in there together. That little sonofabitch doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Damn right,” Eira chuckled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and they were still focused on our surroundings.
“Alright,” Kas said after a minute. “I think we’re ready.”
I nodded, and the two women linked hands and started to chant in the old language. Within a few seconds, swirls of red and silver sparkles danced around them and then surrounded us and expanded outward.
I followed the magic and watched as it landed on a large rock nearby. The sparkles covered the stone completely, but then they disappeared, and in their place was a small metal door.
“Did it work?” Kas asked as she closed her book and put it in her satchel.
“Uh, I’d say so.” Eira pointed at the stone.
“Shite,” Kas cursed, and her violet eyes went wide as she turned to me. “Do you think it’s locked?”
“If it was, didn’t you just kind of break in?” Eira asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Good point.” Kas nodded, walked over to the door, and pulled it open.
“Stay behind me,” I told the girls as I walked over to the door and pulled my sword out.
Kas and Asta nodded, but Eira just looked me up and down and smile
d. The redhead stepped behind me, but I knew she found me giving her orders hilarious after she’d been my warband leader for so long. There was no time for me to address that right then, though.
Instead, I looked into the tunnel in front of me and did a quick glance around.
With the improved vision Kas had given me, I was able to see this wasn’t just a tunnel, it was a hallway, and a long rug on the stone floor ran all the way down to a corner a few hundred feet away. There was even a small wooden table to the left of the door with a coat rack next to it, and a pair of tiny boots sat below that.
Two large paintings were hung on the walls, and one was a family portrait done in front of a roaring fireplace. There was a male dwarf, a female, and two male children, and a small red dragon laid curled up at their feet.
My nose wrinkled in anger and disgust at the photo, but when I turned to the other, I found it wasn’t any better. The second portrait was of the two boy children, and they each had awkward smiles with wide set teeth, light blond hair, and a little red dragon on each of their shoulders.
“What the fuck,” Eira whispered behind me, but I just shook my head and stepped into the hallway.
I was much too tall for the dwarf-sized home, so I was forced to crouch down as low as I could just so my head didn’t hit the ceiling.
The girls followed me as I carefully made my way down the long corridor. There was a clear light coming from around the corner at the end, and once we were there, I nodded to the girls and peered around the bend.
What I saw was much worse than what I had anticipated. I’d expected to see dragons in cages, maybe some sort of meeting of dwarves going on where they were discussing the dragon trade and what had happened with us.
Instead, I saw seven dwarves calming sitting around a blazing fire sipping tea. There was a table set up between them that held the tea kettle, along with various cookies and other sweets. The dwarf we were after was definitely there, but he didn’t look concerned at all that his friends had been killed.
Upon closer inspection, I realized the others were the same dwarves from the field. They must have used some sort of magic then to make us think we’d killed them when they actually just ran away like the little cowards they were.
Still, the sight of them calmly sipping tea and eating cookies was more than I could bear. My fist clenched harder around my blade, and my teeth ground together as I tried to contain myself.
The room the dwarves were in was beautiful. It was made of a white-and-black marbled stone, and there was a stone fireplace against the far wall. The dwarves all sat on extravagantly carved couches with velvet cushions, and the cups they sipped their drinks from were just as extravagant. Each of them wore a different-colored tunic, but they were all clearly made of satin or some other fine material that would cost me far too much money at the marketplace.
“What’s going on?” Kas whispered.
I closed my eyes and turned back to the girls.
“What is it?” Eira asked with a grim expression.
“It must be bad.” Asta frowned.
“What are they doing?” Kas pushed.
“Having tea,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Tea?” Kas scoffed.
“Those fuckers,” Eira growled, and her green eyes narrowed.
“Blar,” I said, and I turned to the little dragon on my shoulder. “I want you to teleport in there and blast them all with your fire. That should give us the jump we need to attack.”
Blar nodded and closed his eyes. A second later, a portal appeared, and he disappeared through it.
I knew we only had seconds before he hit those arseholes with his fire blast, but every millisecond seemed too long. These sonsabitches were having tea after they’d tried to buy stolen baby dragons just hours before? How cold-hearted could one person be?
I didn’t understand any of these arseholes, but at least the dealers we’d sought out to kill had been working when we’d found them. The traders acted like the criminals they were, and I could handle that better than I could deal with these dwarves sitting around the fire sipping tea as if they weren’t total pieces of shite.
These dwarves in their fancy home, with their fancy tea cups and nice clothes, I wanted to snap every single one of their necks with my bare hands.
I peered back out to den the dwarves were in, and I watched as Blar appeared in front of the fireplace. The little dragon blasted through the portal fire-breath first, and he sprayed the blue flame from side to side to make sure he got every one of the pieces of shite.
“Now,” I told the girls, and I charged out of the hallway into the small underground home.
Luckily, the main part of the house had high ceilings, so I was able to fully stand. However, everything was still incredibly tiny to me. The couches the dwarves were sitting on looked like children’s play things, but I didn’t let that distract me.
I pulled my sword to the side and sliced it clean through one of the ornate sofas. The two dwarves sitting on it and trying to shield themselves from Blar’s fire were cut in half, and the top halves of their bodies toppled over on top of one another.
The sound of teacups shattering and terrified screams filled the air as the girls and I attacked with a vengeance. The small creatures tried to fight back, but they were far outmatched when it came to both size and skill.
One jumped up onto the back of the sofa he’d been on, and then he smashed his teacup against the stone and held it up to me.
“You have no idea who you’re attacking!” he screeched as he waved the jagged cup back and forth. “You’re going to regret--”
His words were cut short as Blar came down from behind and sunk his talons into the dwarf’s shoulders, and the tiny man screamed as my dragon flew him over to the fire and tossed him in.
“Brutal,” I chuckled, and I watched the dwarf try to climb out of the flames as his skin blackened and sloughed off in sheets, until finally, his body went stiff.
When I looked around, there were no other opponents for me to take on. Asta and Kas had each taken out one opponent on their own, and from the looks of it, Eira had gotten two while Blar and I had three combined.
Seven tiny bodies were scattered around us in various states of disaster, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how comedically horrific the scene was.
“What’s so funny?” Eira asked as she wiped her bloody sword on one of the velvet sofa cushions.
“I just…” I laughed as I gestured all around the room. “It’s like a fucking children’s dollhouse massacre.”
The redhead looked around the room, and slowly, a smile crept onto her face.
“You’re right,” she chuckled. “They’re so small, even in their bloody, dead states, they’re still kind of cute.”
“I know!” I shook my head and covered my mouth to stifle another laugh.
“It must be kind of awful being so tiny,” Kas said. “These guys were arseholes, but I can understand why dwarves disguise themselves all the time. They probably don’t get taken seriously very often.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Eira said. “And I feel bad for the good guys, but these sorry bastards, I’ll laugh at them all I can.”
“As you should,” the strawberry-blonde chuckled.
“Now that they’re taken care of,” I said. “We should search the place and see if we can find any information they might have on the trade.”
“Good idea.” Eira nodded. “They probably have information on more dealers.”
“I would assume so,” I agreed. “Make sure to take anything of value, too. No sense in leaving it here.”
“Right,” Asta agreed, and she made her way into the kitchen to start looking around.
I followed a hallway off the den until I found a large study, and the walls were lined with bookshelves that held miniature volumes of books I could only imagine trying to read.
As I searched through the desk, I thought about how brutally the girls and I had just attacked th
ese arseholes. It was nothing less than what they deserved, but it was unlike me to fight with my temper instead of my head.
Something had come over me when I’d seen the dwarves all gathered around as if nothing had happened. Their nonchalance sparked something in me, and I found my mind clouded with rage.
I shook my head to clear it and then took a deep breath. I’d make sure to keep my wits about me next time, but killing those dragon trading fools felt good. They deserved such a terrifying, untimely death as we’d given them, and I didn’t regret a thing, regardless of what that little bastard said.
If the portraits in this home were any indication, then this family had been involved with the dragon trade for a long time.
Even in the study, there was a painting of an old dwarf with a baby dragon on his lap. The man had slightly tanned skin, a full white beard, and dark black eyes that seemed to follow me wherever I went.
The little purple dragon on his lap was posed for the picture, but it was clear he wasn’t happy. He looked incredibly uncomfortable, and I could only imagine the kind of torture he’d gone through.
“Rath!” Kas’ voice called out, and my hand immediately went to my sword.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I took off running down the hallway.
“Come here,” she said, and I found her in a room at the end of the corridor farthest from the den.
I stepped through the stone archway into some sort of aviary. It reminded me of the booth the woman at the market sold birds out of. There was a large window in the ceiling so I could see the outside sky above, and various-sized cages were hanging all over around the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Asta and Eira were in the room, too, and they were all gathered around a small table looking at something inside of a cage half covered with cloth.
“Come look,” Kas said.
Before I even took a step forward, I was pummeled by the emotions of the dragons I knew were in that cage. A sense of fear and urgency overcame me, and the terror was so strong it nearly made me sick to my stomach.
“You’re okay,” I whispered as I walked up to the table and peered into the cage.
Inside were two baby dragons. They shared Svass, Inger, and Uffe’s body type, so I figured they were from Alfheim, but they had to be freshly hatched since they were so small.