by Logan Jacobs
“But, why?” Preyna inquired, and her eyes narrowed on the papers scattered all over the desk.
“My guess is so he can create a dragon army,” I said.
“What makes you say that?” Preyna asked. “Nothing here says he’s building an army.”
“It doesn’t have to,” I sighed and closed my eyes. “He clearly idolizes Vinrar, and he’d have no need for so many babies if he wasn’t planning to use them to attack.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Preyna frowned. “But Alfheim and Asgard are on good terms now. Do you think he’s planning to attack the kingdom?”
“I bet he’s planning to attack all the realms once his army is complete,” I said.
“You think he wants to control all nine realms?” Preyna asked.
“I think so,” I agreed. “I don’t see any other reason why he would need so many dragons. He’s building an army, and he’s buying up all the dragons from the dealers at the same time, that way there’s nobody to stand in his way.”
“He’s not going to like it when he finds out you’ve already taken out several of his dealers,” Preyna said.
“He was probably planning to kill them anyway,” I countered. “I doubt he’ll care too much.”
“You’re right,” she sighed, and she turned to me with a saddened look of defeat. “What can we do?”
“We’re going to stop him,” I growled, and I lifted my chin slightly before I gathered up the papers and shoved them back in the desk drawer.
I would have loved to attack the arsehole right then, but the girls were somewhere in the castle, and there were guards posted all around. It was too risky at the moment, we needed to formulate a plan first.
I picked up the amulet from my neck and thought of Eira. The small stone began to glow, so I could only hope the redhead had noticed.
“Shite,” I breathed when I realized I still didn’t know where she was at. Eira would know we’d found something now, but that didn’t help us find her at all. “Preyna, can you do a spell to find Kas and the other girls?”
“Not right now.” Her golden eyebrows pulled together. “The invisibility spell will shield them. It won’t last much longer, though, so we need to gather them and get out of here.”
“I have an idea,” I said.
“What is it?” the sorceress asked.
“I was able to look through Svass’ eyes once before,” I explained. “I may be able to do it again.”
“You’d be able to see where they’re at, then.” Preyna nodded.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “But It will take me a minute, so I need you to stand guard.”
“Of course,” the sorceress said. “Do what you must.”
I nodded and placed both of my hands on the desk. Then I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. I thought of Svass, her coloring, how she was probably wrapped around Eira’s neck, and then I cleared my mind and allowed the darkness to settle in.
When I opened my eyes, I was once again inside Svass’ mind, and I could see several red strands of hair in front of me as I peered out from Eira’s shoulder.
The little dragon was scared, but also trying to be brave… there was something else, too, though.
I focused on her feelings and realized it was sadness.
Svass was in a dark area with only a single candle to light up the place, and as she looked around, I could tell they were in the dungeon. It smelled moldy and damp, and there were cages hung on the wall just as I’d seen before when I’d been in the mind of the other dragon there.
I quickly blinked and wound up back in the study with Preyna.
“Rath,” she said as she rushed over to me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “They’re in the dungeon.”
“You did it?” she asked, and her jaw fell slightly. “You saw through Svass’ eyes.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “How long until the spell wears off?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes,” Preyna said.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed the sorceress’ hand and pulled her to the door.
We hurried through the castle until we found a small door with stairs behind it that led down below the castle, and Preyna and I rushed down the steps until we reached the landing. From there, it was clear this was the area the elf King kept everything he didn’t want seen.
I could hear the cries of men coming from one direction, and some animal sounds came from the other.
“This way,” I said as I grabbed Preyna’s wrist and pulled her along once more.
Blar flew ahead, and after a few minutes, we stumbled into a large room and found Kas, Asta, and Eira all standing around a large desk. This was the exact room I’d seen before when I saw through the little dragon’s eyes, but unlike before, there were no babies in the cages, and I shuddered to think of what might have happened to them. The elf King had probably moved them somewhere so they could undergo training for his army.
“Oh, Rath, thank goodness,” Kas said when she saw me.
“The spell will wear off soon,” Preyna warned. “We must go.”
“Wait,” Asta said, and she gestured down the hallway. “There’s a dragon down there.”
My eyebrows pulled together as I followed Asta to a large cell, and before I even looked through the door, I knew the dragon inside was the same one I’d originally seen through. It was the dragon who’d been knocked unconscious with the gas from the herbs.
I lifted my head to look inside, and I saw the sweet boy curled up as far back from the door as he could get, which wasn’t far considering his size. He wasn’t small like most of the dragons that were taken, he had to be at least half a year to a year old based on his proportions, and my heart broke when I thought about the fact that he’d probably spent most of that time in a cell.
“Hey, there,” I whispered, and the dragon looked up at me with bright silver eyes. “Do you know who I am?”
He cocked his head to the side slightly, and I could sense he felt I was familiar.
“I’ve been here with you before,” I told him. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Rath, what do we do?” Asta asked, and I turned around to look at the elf girl. “Kas, Preyna, can you undo the lock? We have to save him.”
“And we will,” I assured her, but then I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. “But not today.”
“What?” the elf girl asked with a frown. “Why not?”
“Preyna and I figured out the elf King’s plan,” I explained. “Or, at least, part of it. But we can’t let him know we were here, and if we free this boy, it could give away our presences. At the very least, it would alert the elf King that someone was in his dungeon.”
“As much as it breaks my heart to say it,” Preyna sighed. “Rath is correct. The elf King cannot know we were here. If he does, he may do something drastic, and then we’ll never figure out his entire plan before we can stop him.”
“We’ll come back for him,” I assured the girls. “But right now, we have to be smart about this.”
“I understand.” Asta frowned. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”
“I don’t like it, either,” I told her, and I turned back to the cell door. “We’ll come back to get you, okay? Just hold on. We’ll be back soon. I promise.”
The dragon’s silver eyes landed on mine, and I could sense his terror and sadness. It broke me to have to leave him, but for the moment it was all I could do. I needed to take the elf King down in one fell swoop. That was the best chance I had at freeing all the dragons he had locked away, versus just this one, no matter how badly I wanted to free him.
“Rath,” Preyna pushed. “The spell is wearing off, we must go.”
“Right,” I agreed, and I turned to Blar.
The little blue dragon closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, a portal appeared, and we all stepped through.
We arrived back in my courtyard, and for the first time since we’d entered the castle, I took a full, deep breath.
The fire was still going in the pit, so I walked over and tossed a log on it before I sat down and put my head in my hands.
“What did you guys find out?” Eira asked as she walked over and took a seat next to me. “You said you know the elf King’s plan. What is it?”
“He’s creating an army,” Preyna said in a low voice.
“An army?” Kas asked, and she looked at me with wide violet eyes full of shock. “An army of dragons?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “We believe he intends to try and take over all nine realms.”
“What…” Asta shook her head. “Why would he do that?”
“He’s a self-obsessed arsehole,” I growled. “But more than that, he looks up to Vinrar.”
“He what?” Eira asked, and her jaw dropped. “The sonofabitch who started the dragon trade?”
“One and the same,” I agreed.
“Who would ever look up to that monster?” she scoffed with a shake of her head. “I’m happy to know he’s in Helheim where he belongs.”
“That may not be the case for long,” Preyna sighed.
“I thought Helheim was inescapable.” Kas looked at each of us. “Isn’t it?”
“I don’t know anymore.” I shook my head. “The King had documents in his study, and they described how to get someone out of Helheim with a spell.”
“What?” Kas asked, and she turned to Preyna. “Is that even possible?”
“I’ve lived long enough to know anything is possible,” Preyna said, and she pursed her plump pink lips. “Even something so terrible as this.”
“How awful,” Asta murmured, and her yellow eyes landed on mine. “We must stop him.”
“We will,” I assured her. “We just have to make sure we do it right. If we attack too soon, the King could change his plan, and then we’d be back at step one.”
“Shite, you’re right,” Eira growled. “I want to attack that arsehole right now, but we need to figure out where he keeps all his dragons and what exactly he’s planning first.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Especially with the agreement the elf King has with Asgard, we need to make sure we do this discreetly and wait for the perfect moment to attack.”
“Maybe this will help,” Kas said, and she pulled a piece of paper from her satchel and offered it to me.
“What is it?” I asked as I took the small note.
“It’s a note from the King to a frost giant named Reever,” Kas explained. “It’s a sales agreement for eggs.”
My eyes shot from the paper to the Valkyrie.
“This is the King’s next move?” I asked as I shook the paper.
“That’s right,” Kas said with a grin.
Now, we really were one step ahead.
Chapter 13
I unfolded the small note and found it contained exactly what Kas had promised. The letter was from the elf King, and it outlined his need for more dragon eggs.
“It says here the frost giants have eggs in storage.” I shook my head.
“In storage?” Asta asked. “What does that mean?”
“I suppose it’s similar to how we keep the eggs we’ve found,” Preyna said. “Though we aren’t selling ours.”
“Of course not,” Kas gasped. “You only kept those eggs to make sure they didn’t get into the wrong hands. These arseholes took them so they could sell them, I’m sure.”
“I have no doubt you’re right,” Preyna sighed. “I hate to think of all the poor dragon mothers who had their children stolen.”
“I know.” I frowned. “We’ll get them back, though. I swear it.”
“I know you will,” Preyna said as she reached over and patted my hand, but then she quickly pulled away and looked down when she realized what she’d done.
“What else does it say?” Asta pushed, and she gestured toward the letter.
“It says the King thinks he’s figured out a way to magically hatch the eggs,” I said as I read over the note once more.
“I didn’t think that was possible,” Preyna muttered, almost to herself.
“Didn’t the council try for years to hatch the eggs they found?” Kas asked.
“We most certainly did.” Preyna nodded. “We didn’t want to simply leave them in their egg form since we weren’t sure that was safe, but after several attempts, and several years of the eggs not seeming to rot or anything, we decided it was best to keep them in their egg state instead of attempting more spells to hatch them.”
“I thought Rath was the only one who could hatch eggs,” Asta puzzled. “At least, dormant eggs.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Non-dormant eggs will hatch on their own, but when they’re in that deep slumber… well, I thought I was the only one who could hatch them, too.”
“You’re the only one who can do it by nature,” Preyna told me with a serious look. “What the King is planning is an abomination.”
“She’s right,” Kas said. “The power you have was naturally bestowed on you, and your ability to hatch dragons is a gift, not something forced like the elf King is trying to do.”
“Yes, exactly.” Preyna nodded.
“Does it say a time or place they’re meeting?” Eira inquired.
“No,” I answered, and I let out a deep breath.
“We need to figure out where those eggs are kept,” Kas said.
“Yes, we do,” I agreed. “If we can figure that out, we can at least get in the way of the King obtaining more eggs.”
“I like the sound of that.” Eira smiled.
“We may not be able to attack the King outright just yet, but we don’t have to make things easy on him, either,” I said. “And if we can prevent him from getting more eggs, we may be able to stall whatever plan he has so we can get ahead of it.”
“Preyna, did you recognize the spell that was outlined to bring Vinrar back?” Kas asked.
“No, I’ve never seen it before.” The sorceress shook her head. “But I will be sure to look into it.”
“You know, I bet we can figure out where the eggs are being kept,” Eira told me as she pursed her full lips in thought. “Like how we found the baby dragons at the market. We should go to Jotunheim and take a look around.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I agreed.
“I bet we can get a map of Jotunheim from my father,” Kas added.
“Right,” I said as I looked up at the night sky. “We’ll go first thing in the morning. For tonight, let’s all try to get some rest. Who wants a drink?”
“Oh, yes, please.” Eira grinned.
“Me, too,” Kas said, and she held up her hand.
“And me,” Asta giggled as she stood up. “I’ll help you carry them.”
“Bring me one, too, please,” Preyna requested.
“Of course.” I nodded.
Asta and I retrieved pints of mead for each of us, and then I gathered some vegetables and leftover fish to prepare for dinner.
“I’m afraid I should warn you, I can’t stay for dinner,” Preyna said with a small smile. “I’ve already been away for a couple of days, and while Odin is busy, I don’t want anyone else noticing my absence.”
“Oh, yes, whatever you think is best.” I frowned and took another drink of mead.
“It’s not a problem,” Preyna assured me with a laugh. “I’ll simply say I was visiting family, but I’m usually only gone for a few days, so I don’t want to be gone any longer than normal.”
“I completely understand,” I told her, and I looked to Blar, who was pretending to be asleep by the fire. “I’m sure my blue friend here can make you a portal.”
The little dragon opened an eye, looked at me, and then closed it again.
“Hmmm.” Preyna pursed her lips, and then she smiled. “I would hate to walk all the way home. I know it’s been a long day, buuuuut, maybe he would do it if I promised to get him an entire batch of pumpkin treats the next time I saw him.”
Blar licked his lips, sat up, and walked over to Preyna.
; “I’ll take that as a yes,” I laughed and looked at the sorceress. “But you know you have to make good on that promise. He won’t forget. Trust me.”
“Oh, I intend to,” Preyna chuckled, and she reached down and stroked Blar’s back. “Are you ready to send me home?”
Blar licked his lips again and nodded.
“Thank you,” Preyna cooed, and she leaned down and kissed his little blue head right between his horns.
Blar mustered up a portal for Preyna, and the sorceress waved farewell before she stepped through and vanished.
After that was done, Blair walked back over to the fire and once again collapsed. He wasted no time getting back to sleep, either, and he began snoring almost as soon as his head hit the ground.
We were all rather quiet as I finished cooking our dinner, and I even made a special treat of baked pumpkin for the little dragons. I knew Preyna would make good on her promise to get Blar more of the treats he liked so much, but I also figured they deserved something special after everything they’d been through the past few days.
Not only had it been stressful as far as them having to do plenty of physical labor with the fights we’d been in, but they also had to go through the emotional turmoil of seeing fellow dragons captured and imprisoned. I knew it was rough on everyone to have to leave the dragon in the dungeon behind, but all I could do was make sure we went back for him.
I knew the poor thing had been there a while, and I wanted to rip him away from that place and never look back, but I needed him to stay there just a little bit longer so when I freed him I could free all the other dragons as well.
And while it was still sad leaving him in that dark place, I knew he’d understand. Dragons were selfless creatures, and if given the chance, they would gladly help others of their kind. The comradery in dragon valley was just one instance of their unique ability to take care of one another, regardless of the circumstances.
I knew all the dragons in Asta’s homeworld tried to protect one another, and it would be worth it soon enough when they could live free once more like they used to.
I thought about what Preyna said, how the dragons hadn’t always lived in the valley all together, and I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face as I imagined them roaming freely throughout the realms.