by Logan Jacobs
One was a female, I was sure of it. She was gold with little orange splotches sprinkled across her scales, and vibrant green eyes peered up at me as she cocked her head to the side.
The male was a dark-brown color with honey eyes, and he looked at me, took a step back, and lowered his head.
I could sense their fear was gone, and in its place was a complacency like none I’d ever experienced. These poor creatures were resigned to the life they’d been given, and they were determined to behave in order to avoid another beating.
Something about this was wrong… baby dragons wouldn’t behave this way. It took much longer to break a creature’s spirit than the few days these babies had been hatched.
“Rath,” Kas whispered, and she looked at me with violet eyes filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Yes, you seem confused by something,” Asta noted.
“I don’t think these dragons are babies,” I whispered as I looked down at the small creatures.
“What do you mean?” Eira asked, and her red eyebrows pulled together. “They’re clearly babies… full grown dragons aren’t that small.”
“They do look like Inger and Uffe did when they were just hatched,” Asta agreed.
“I know.” I shook my head. “But… something about their feelings, I just know they’re not infants. Babies wouldn’t feel the way these two feel right now.”
“How are they feeling?” Kas inquired softly.
“They’re resigned,” I said with a sad exhale. “They’ve accepted being here. Babies wouldn’t have their spirits broken so quickly.”
“Hm,” the strawberry-blonde mused, and she cocked her head to the side. “Maybe you’re right. I can feel enchantments here, but I figured it was just the cages… maybe it’s on them instead.”
“Oh, no,” Eira suddenly whispered.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You’re right.” She shook her head and pointed to a portrait on the wall.
The painted scene was of the dwarf who’d gotten away earlier today and his family, only he was a child. The features were the same, and he was clearly recognizable, but so was the little brown dragon on his shoulder.
There was no way the dragon in that painting could be the dragon in this cage, not unless he was far older than he appeared.
“They put an enchantment on the dragons to keep them small,” I said as my throat grew tight with horror.
“Oh, no.” Asta frowned and reached down so the dragons in the cage could smell her hand. “How old do you think they are?”
“Centuries, at least,” I said. “They’re definitely adults.”
“I’m sure I can remove the enchantment,” Kas said, and she bit her lip. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it in here, not if they’re adults.”
“No.” I shook my head. “You’re right. We should do it outside, then Blar can make them a portal to go home.”
“By home, I assume you mean dragon valley in Alfheim,” Eira said. “But do they want to go back there? It seems like they’ve been here for a long, long time… I wonder if they have any family left.”
“Even if they don’t, I can’t imagine they want to spend the rest of their lives anywhere else,” I said. “But Blar can send them wherever they want to go.”
“They are very sweet,” Asta said, and I looked down to see her stroking the gold and orange female’s head.
The miniature dragon soaked up the attention, and I tuned into her emotions to find her much happier than she’d been a few moments before.
“Would you like to go to dragon valley?” I asked the two of them. “We can make you a portal to get you back to Alfheim.”
The brown dragon looked up at me, held his head high, and nodded.
“What about you?” I asked the female.
She looked to her male counterpart and then nodded fervently.
“They’re excited.” I smiled.
“Oh, good,” Kas sighed. “It’s so strange seeing them so small…”
“They won’t be that way for long,” Eira said.
“Right,” Kas agreed, and she pulled out her spell book. “Give me just a few minutes.”
“Can you hold on for a little bit longer?” I asked the little dragons, and they let out a small noise I thought sounded like a laugh.
While Kas worked on finding the spell to take the enchantments off the dragons, Eira, Asta, and I looked through the rest of the house.
The rest of the dwarves’ home was just as elaborate as their living room had been. Each bedroom had a huge four-post bed much too large for even an abnormally tall dwarf, along with ornately-carved stone furniture that looked to be centuries old.
I managed to find a large stash of coins, some gold-plated dishes, and a small collection of jewelry encrusted with huge diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. It was a good amount of gold, and we’d definitely be able to sell the jewels at the market if the girls didn’t want to keep them. I wasn’t sure what to do with all the coins we were accumulating, but it was nice to have money if we needed it.
I brought my finds back to the room at the end of the hall where Kas had stayed with the dragons, and when I arrived, I saw she no longer had her spell book out.
Instead, the strawberry-blonde had the miniature dragons out on the table, and she’d pulled down the portrait of the young dwarf from the wall.
“Hey,” I said as I walked in and set my small bag of goods on the table. “What are you doing with the portrait?”
Blar hopped down from my shoulder to curl up with Uffe in the corner of the room.
“I was about to ask them if they wanted to destroy it,” Kas said with a shrug.
“Oh, really?” I laughed.
“I mean, wouldn’t you want to destroy the portrait of someone who’d tortured you for centuries?” she asked, and she shook her head so her mane of curls bounced around her face.
“Good point.” I smiled softly and picked up the portrait so the little dragons could see. “Do you want to destroy it?”
They seemed to think for a moment, but then the brown dragon shook his head.
“No?” Kas asked, and she looked at me with a furrowed brow. “Why wouldn’t he want to destroy it? I’d be ready to kill that arsehole.”
“Why not?” I asked the little dragon, and I closed my eyes and focused on his feelings.
I sensed his memories of the young man, and some of them were positive. Then, the negative feelings came, but I caught a flash of the father, not the young man in the portrait with him.
“I think… he feels like the son was doomed to be the way he was,” I said with a shake of my head. “He blames the dwarf’s father for raising him poorly.”
“I suppose that’s right.” Kas nodded and pursed her lips. “The young dwarf was raised to think this was normal. Of course, he could have branched out on his own and realized it was wrong, but he didn’t. Still, it’s admirable that this dragon has managed to forgive him in some way.”
“I hate to think this is a family affair.” I frowned as I looked at the portrait.
“It is, though,” Kas sighed. “I’m sure there are many others who were raised into this as well.”
“That’s awful.” I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. “And it ends now. I won’t let this hatred get passed down to another generation.”
“We’ll make sure it doesn’t.” Kas put her hand on my arm and smiled at me.
“Yes, we will.” I leaned down and planted a kiss on her soft, plump lips.
“Ooooh, you two look so cute when you kiss,” Asta cooed, and I turned to see her standing in the doorway with Inger on her shoulder.
Eira was right behind her with Svass curled around her neck, and the redhead simply raised an eyebrow at me and cocked a lopsided grin.
“We found some jewelry and weapons we can sell,” Eira said.
“Oh, good.” I nodded. “I did as well.”
“I have the spell ready to go, too,
” Kas announced. “All we have to do is get them outside.”
“Alright.” I smiled. “Let’s go. I don’t want them to have to wait any longer.”
“Right,” Asta agreed, and she clapped and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “I’m sure they’ll be so happy in dragon valley. I bet they’ll find so many old friends.”
“They were probably taken as children,” Eira said.
“Dragons have great memories.” Asta shrugged. “And they live for so long, I bet they’ll find at least one other dragon they know. But even if they don’t, they’ll have each other.”
“Yes, they will.” I smiled at the white-haired elf girl. She knew how to look on the positive side of anything.
Kas picked up all the goods we’d found in the dwarves’ house and put them in her enchanted satchel. Then she carefully gathered up the miniature dragons in her arms so we could take them outside.
Once we were back in the open air of Svartalfheim, I turned to Blar.
“Make us a portal to Alfheim, please,” I said. “Try and get us close to dragon valley.”
“Shouldn’t we remove the enchantment first?” Eira asked.
“Creating such a large portal took a lot out of Blar earlier,” I explained. “I think it will be easier on him if we travel as we are, then remove the enchantment once we arrive.”
“Oh, right,” the redhead agreed. “That’s a good idea.”
Blar nodded and created a portal for us all to step through.
Once we were on the other side, I was surprised to see Blar had managed to land us on the cliff that overlooked dragon valley.
“Good job,” I told the little blue dragon with a smile, and he smiled back and lifted his little nose in the air.
“Alright, let’s get this enchantment off you two,” Kas said, and she set the little dragons a few hundred yards away before she made her way back over to us. “Asta?”
“Of course.” The elf girl took Kas’ hands, and they both looked down and started to mumble in the old language.
Silver and red sparkles lifted off their bodies and then floated over to the dragons. The magic encompassed the creatures, and before my very eyes, they started to grow.
The male tossed his head back, flapped his wings, and let out an excited roar as he grew to his incredible size. He had to be at least fifteen feet tall, even more so when he stretched his neck up to the sky. The giant beast’s wings were easily the width of my courtyard, and I held my breath as I tried to fathom how he could seem so small just moments before when he was now larger than my cottage.
The female let out a small roar, too, and once she was her normal self again, she shook her entire body and then gave her wings a good flap.
“They seem like they feel better,” Eira chuckled.
“They do.” I grinned.
“They’re beautiful,” Eira added. “It’s hard to believe anyone could be so cruel as to diminish them to a fraction of their natural size.”
“At least they’re home now,” I whispered as I watched the two dragons coo at one another before they walked over to Asta and Kas.
“You can go home now,” Kas told them softly.
The male lowered his head to bow to her, and Kas bowed back at him.
The female lowered her head, too, but instead of bowing, she pushed her massive cranium against Kas’ entire body so the strawberry-blonde let out a laugh and stroked her cheek.
“You’re welcome,” Kas murmured. “We’re glad we could help.”
The two dragons then turned to me in unison, and a look of understanding and gratitude passed between us. I inclined my head to each of them with a smile, and they returned the gesture before they walked to the edge of the cliff and looked into the valley below. It was filled with dragons as far as the eye could see. There were mothers with babies, young dragons playing a round of tag, and even old dragons lounging in the sunshine. It truly was the safest place for them, and I knew they’d be greeted with open arms.
All of the dragons below knew about the trade, and they did what they could to protect each other, so I had no doubt these two would be greeted with that same respect.
I watched as the two dragons we just saved began to flap their massive wings.
The male let out another roar, and it was met with roars from below. The sound sent shivers up my spine, and my heart rate accelerated as I watched the two of them dive into the air and soar above the dragons below.
The dragons in the valley let out screeches of delight as the two soared overhead, and I couldn’t stop the massive grin that came over my face.
“I think they’ll fit right in,” Eira chuckled.
“Definitely.” Asta smiled.
“It’s like they knew each other,” Kas breathed, and her violet eyes were bright with joy. “They all were so happy to see one another.”
“They did know each other,” I said. “Dragons are connected. They have a common understanding and respect for each other. It’s one of the things I love most about them.”
“Is that because you felt like they were the first ones to really accept you?” Asta asked, and she smiled at me innocently.
“I suppose it is.” I nodded.
“I only ask because you all were the first people who accepted me after my parents died,” the elf girl explained. “Dragons don’t judge like people do.”
“No, they don’t,” I said, and I grabbed the elf girl by the shoulder and pulled her to me so I could kiss the top of her head.
“Mmm, I want some of that,” Kas said, and she wrapped her arms around my other side.
“Eira, you, too!” Asta exclaimed.
“Mmm, I don’t think so,” the redhead chuckled. “I don’t do group hugs.”
Svass looked at Eira, then at Kas, Asta, and I before she scurried down the redhead’s arm and flew over to land on my shoulder.
“Oh, really?” Eira scoffed.
“Come on,” Kas laughed and grabbed Eira to pull her into the hug.
The redhead begrudgingly joined us, and we became a huge tangle of swishing dragon tails, white, red, and strawberry-blonde hair, and clinking armor.
“I’m starting to regret my decision to stay,” Eira joked, though she leaned against my chest as Svass snuggled against her face.
“Oh, no, you’re not.” Kas shook her head. “Stop it.”
“No, I’m not,” Eira laughed. “But you all are far more affectionate than I was prepared for.”
“You like it,” Kas teased with a smirk.
“Rath, your necklace!” Asta gasped, and I looked down to see the amulet Preyna gave me was glowing.
“Oh, no.” Kas frowned. “That means Preyna has news.”
“It does.” I nodded. “And she wouldn’t call unless it was important.”
Our group hug came to a sudden end, and Blar quickly opened a portal for all of us.
Preyna was waiting for us, and whatever news she had, I doubted it was good.
Chapter 7
Even though we’d just freed two more dragons, the weight of the glowing amulet against my chest was all I could think about as I stepped through Blar’s portal and into the woods behind Odin’s castle in Asgard.
The girls and I quickly made our way around to the front of the castle and into the council chambers. The two guards didn’t move a muscle as we stormed through the doors, but once we were inside, I was shocked to see there were no councilmembers present.
“Where are they?” Kas asked.
“Preyna has to be here somewhere,” Eira said. “Let’s check her chambers.”
“Good idea.” I nodded and led the girls down the hallway where the council members had their offices.
The door to Preyna’s chambers was slightly ajar, and the beautiful blonde sorceress was inside sitting behind a large wooden desk with her head in her hands.
“Preyna,” I said as I pushed the door open and stepped in.
“Oh, Rath,” she gasped, and she looked up and dropped
her amulet so it bounced off her ample breasts before it settled against her. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”
“Not at all.” I shook my head as I walked over and stood in front of the desk. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I have news about the man with the egg.” The blonde council member pursed her lips as she looked at the girls and me seriously.
“What did you find out?” Kas pushed.
“I was able to track where he came from, finally,” she said. “It was just as you suspected.”
“He came from Alfheim?” I asked.
“He did.” Preyna nodded.
“Why would he try to hide that?” Kas asked. “Everyone knows the dragon trade is rampant there.”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Preyna said, and she pursed her lips again.
“Maybe he wasn’t trying to cover it up this specific time,” Eira said.
“Right.” I nodded. “Maybe he’s been covering it up whenever he travels.”
“You mean he’s tricking the Bifrost, or at least, whoever’s running it that day?” Kas asked. “Why would he do that?”
“The Bifrost is well-guarded, and records are kept of where citizens go,” Eira pointed out.
“What are you two saying?” Preyna asked, and her light-brown eyes narrowed on me.
“The man could be a dragon trader,” I said. “The dragon trade could be in Asgard.”
Everyone was quiet for a second as they took in my words, and then Preyna closed her eyes and brought her hand up to her chest.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before,” the blonde sorceress said with a shake of her head. “You’re absolutely right.”
“I guess that would make sense,” Kas agreed. “And if they have magic, they could be disguising the dragons or the eggs just like I do.”
“If that’s true, they could be right in front of us, and we’d never know.” Asta frowned.
“I will be sure to be extremely attentive to spells around me,” Preyna said. “I often can’t feel exactly what they are, but I know when magic is near.”