Dragons of Asgard 3

by Logan Jacobs

  I couldn’t be sure until I found the eggs and was able to feel whether or not they were dormant. Regardless, we’d get to them before the elf King could, and that was all that mattered.

  Asta and I got up, and I folded our blanket and put it back by the fire while the elf girl got dressed. She slipped the white tunic on over her naked body, but the sight of her hips and ass stuck in my mind and excited me all the same.

  I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and gathered some vegetables for breakfast instead of trying to seduce the elf girl once more.

  I made sure to gather some pumpkin for Blar, and I cut it up into little cubes and tossed it with some spices before I put it over the flames. I also cooked some of the leftover Kingsbird we’d salted to save, along with some squash, cabbage, and rice.

  Asta got her tea going and on the fire, and just as I was finishing up breakfast, Kas and Eira came out of the cottage with the little dragons trailing behind them.

  The strawberry-blonde’s hair was a mess of curls, and she yawned and stretched as she walked down the worn path toward us.

  Eira somehow appeared immaculate. Her long red hair hung straight down around her shoulders to her waist, and she looked bright-eyed and refreshed from sleep.

  Inger, Uffe, and Svass all tumbled along the path. The new little girl pounced on the red twins in an effort to get them to play, and Uffe lightly pushed her back with his head and flicked his tail at her while Inger flew up and out of the way each time the little dragon tried to pounce on her.

  Blar yawned and trudged along, and he was clearly upset everyone had decided to get up, but he wouldn’t feel so sleepy once he realized I’d made him some pumpkin.

  “Mmm, breakfast smells good,” Kas said as she walked over and took a seat by the fire.

  “It does,” Eira agreed. “I’m starved.”

  Just as I suspected, once Blar got close enough to the fire, he lifted his little nose in the air, sniffed a few times, and licked his lips.

  “Yes, I made you some pumpkin,” I told the little dragon.

  Blar walked over and sat in front of me so he could impatiently wait for his food.

  I shook my head and dished up plates for everyone. Then I set the little dragons’ bowls on the ground near the fire, and Inger, Blar, and Svass rushed over to eat while Uffe approached his bowl slowly and savored each bite.

  It was good to see Svass was more comfortable being away from Eira now, and she was fitting in with the other dragons quite well.

  The adorable little yellow girl bounced up and down as she gobbled up her food, and little bits of meat, vegetables, and rice flew out of her bowl to land on the ground around her.

  “I don’t think she minds eating by Blar and Inger anymore,” Kas laughed.

  “I don’t see why she would,” Eira chuckled. “She’s just as sloppy as they are.”

  Blar lifted his head from his bowl and shot the redhead a glare before returning to devour the rest of his food.

  “Such an attitude, that one.” The redhead shook her head and took another bite of her breakfast.

  “Rath had a dream last night that he was a baby dragon in Jotunheim,” Asta announced with a smile.

  “What?” Kas asked through a mouthful of food, and she lifted her hand up to cover her mouth before she spoke again. “You did?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I nearly forgot to tell you, I’ve been thinking about it all morning while I made breakfast.”

  “What happened?” Eira asked.

  “I was in some sort of ice cavern,” I told her. “I hatched and tried to get out, but the floor was too slippery, and I kept falling. Then some frost giants came down the hallway, and that was when I woke up.”

  “What did you see around you?” Eira pushed.

  “Yeah,” Kas added with an excited nod. “Were there eggs? Could it have been where the frost giants are keeping the eggs for the elf King?”

  “I believe it was.” I nodded. “Eggs lined all the shelves in the room, there were dozens of them at least. I’m still trying to figure out how the little dragon hatched, though.”

  “What do you mean?” Kas asked, and her violet eyes narrowed on me.

  “I’m not sure if the egg hatched on its own, or if it was hatched through magic,” I explained.

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” The strawberry-blonde frowned. “Do you think they know the magic the King talked about in his letter?”

  “They might,” I said. “That could be, at least in part, how the King figured out how to hatch the eggs.”

  “Do you think he’s tried it already?” Asta asked.

  “Tried to hatch eggs?” Kas asked, and she pursed her lips. “Maybe. He could be buying the eggs to try hatching them, or he could be buying them to hatch. There’s not really any way to tell which based off the note we found.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed. “Once we free these eggs, we need to do more reconnaissance at the King’s palace to see what we’re up against. If we can sneak in there again at the right time, we might be able to figure out his entire plan and where he’s keeping all these babies.”

  “Yeah, it was odd there weren’t more in the dungeon.” Kas frowned. “You saw a lot of them before, right?”

  “There were three or four there at least,” I said. “And those were just the babies, I couldn’t see how many larger dragons there were.”

  “He couldn’t have gotten rid of them,” Asta said. “Could he have?”

  We all knew ‘gotten rid of’ meant killed, but I refused to entertain that thought, not until we had proof of it. The idea that all those babies died was too much for me to handle, and my vision went red just thinking about the possibility of it.

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “He’s trying to build an army, and the best way to do that isn’t by getting rid of your soldiers.”

  “Rath’s right.” Eira nodded. “It would better serve him to keep them around. He probably has them somewhere isolated where they’re undergoing training.”

  “What kind of training?” Asta asked, and her white eyebrows pulled together with sadness and confusion. “He’s trying to train them to kill, you think?”

  “Yes,” the redhead said in a low voice. “And to obey whatever he says.”

  “How incredibly sad,” Asta sighed. “Dragons are such peaceful creatures, I hate to think of them being used that way. It’s bad enough they’re being traded and kept in captivity, but to try and use them for such evil purposes… it makes me feel ill to think about it.”

  “I feel the same way,” I told her with a soft smile. “But we’re going to put an end to this, I promise.”

  Asta smiled back at me, and then I looked at each of the girls. Their eyes were filled with hope and trust, and I wasn’t about to let them down.

  “Should we take the cart to Father’s?” Kas asked after a few moments of quiet.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” I agreed. “It will probably be faster, and Blar’s made a lot of portals the past few days. I think he deserves a rest.”

  “You’re right,” the strawberry-blonde said before a smirk spread across her lips. “And I think the pumpkin was a nice touch, too.”

  “I thought so,” I chuckled.

  While the girls finished their breakfast and got ready to go, I went over to the cart and cleared out all the valuables inside. All of the coins, jewels, and weapons we’d found lately were still inside, so I took them into the cottage and hid them away with the rest of my coins.

  I made sure to grab a small bag of silver and copper coins to take with us in case we needed to purchase anything, but I didn’t think we’d need any gold. Besides, if we needed more money, we could always come back home and get more, but I doubted there would be any sort of urgency to us buying something worth more than a few silver coins.

  I looked through the goods we’d gathered up for something to give Ramir as a thank you for all of his dedication and hard work for us. I found him a very nice pot we�
��d retrieved from the bandits we’d taken out, as well as some Alfheimian spices. I put those in a basket along with some fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden, and then I made my way over to where the girls were gathered around the cart.

  “Is that for Ramir?” Asta asked with a wide smile.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “He does a lot for us, so I figured the least we could do was bring him some fresh produce and a new pot.”

  “He’ll love it.” Kas’ violet eyes softened as she smiled at me. “Thank you, Rath.”

  “Of course,” I said. “He deserves this, and much more.”

  Blar walked up and put his front paws on my leg so he could sniff the basket.

  “It’s not for you,” I chuckled.

  “No, but I’m sure Father will give him whatever he wants out of it,” Kas laughed.

  “Knowing Ramir, I’d say that’s a good bet,” I snorted.

  My women were all ready, so I gathered the horned horses and locked them back into their positions in front of the vehicle. They’d stayed close to the house, just as I knew they would, and they were clearly full from grass and apples and peaches that had dropped onto the ground. Their bellies were wide, and I reminded myself to take them out more so they didn’t get too comfortable with not working for their meals.

  The girls and I had foregone our armor for the moment, though it was placed in the back of the cart for when we needed it, but right then all we carried was our weapons. We were only traveling across Asgard, after all, so I knew we weren’t in any danger.

  It would also be far more suspicious to be traveling through the city in full battle gear than to simply be in regular clothes. Besides, it was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed the feel of the sunshine on my skin as we pulled out onto the brick road that led to the city.

  It had been some time since we’d really traveled through Asgard, and as we trotted along, I enjoyed the scent of the fresh flowers and trees that filled the air.

  We rode in silence for a while and just enjoyed the gentle swaying of the cart, but it wasn’t long before the wonderful aromas of the marketplace hit my nose.

  The market was bustling with people as usual when we passed through, and I looked out and smiled at all the vendors selling their wares. Then we passed by my favorite stand in all of Asgard, ‘Torni’s Turkey Legs’.

  I didn’t know many of the vendors personally, but I knew Torni well. His booth was the only one I’d consistently visited over the years, simply because the food was absolutely delicious.

  I waved to him as we passed by, and for a second, it looked like he didn’t recognize me, but then realization dawned on his face, and he grinned and waved back with his massive, tan hand.

  “I remember him.” Asta smiled. “We bought turkey legs from him when I first arrived.”

  “We did,” I chuckled.

  “Torni’s has the best food in the entire market,” Eira sighed. “Those turkey legs are something else.”

  “He does,” I agreed.

  “Before I started hanging around with you all, I would get my dinner from here most nights,” Eira added.

  “You don’t cook?” Kas asked, and her strawberry-blonde eyebrows pinched together.

  “I was more focused on fighting than cooking as a kid,” the redhead laughed. “I guess I just never really paid too much attention to the meals I ate, so I never bothered to learn how to cook them.”

  “It must have been very expensive to eat at the market every day.” Asta’s yellow eyes widened with surprise.

  “It’s not cheap,” Eira chuckled. “But I made good money with the warband, and I have my own property, so what else am I using my coins for?”

  The redhead shrugged, but Asta simply turned to me to see if I was as shocked as she looked.

  “You have your own property?” Kas asked.

  “You all really don’t know that much about me still, do you?” Eira smiled and shook her head.

  “I guess not.” Kas frowned. “We’ve been a little more focused on the dragons than anything else.”

  “As we should be.” The redhead nodded.

  “Still, I’d like to see this property of yours sometime,” the sorceress replied with a smile.

  “Yes, me, too.” Asta clapped and smiled so wide her eyes were pushed shut by her cheeks.

  “Maybe when this is all over,” Eira said, and she flashed the girls a wink, along with her pearly-white teeth.

  I hadn’t known about Eira’s property, either. Kas was right, we’d been a little preoccupied with the dismantling of the entire dragon slave trade, but I made a mental note to see this property of hers. I wanted to see where the redhead lived.

  The girls grew quiet once more, and I glanced over to see Kas had her spell book open on her knees. Uffe was in her lap, and the strawberry-blonde absentmindedly stroked his back while she read through her spells.

  Svass was curled up in Eira’s lap instead of around her neck, and I smiled at the little yellow dragon. She was sprawled out across the redhead’s legs, and I saw her small chest rise and fall with each heavy, sleepy breath.

  Inger sat on Asta’s lap with her head lifted up and her eyes closed as the white-haired elf girl tied some braided grass around her neck. Affixed to the grass was a small yellow flower, and once it was finished, Inger cooed and preened as Asta complimented her and stroked her head.

  I chuckled inwardly at the two of them and how adorable they were together, but then Blar snored loudly against my feet, and I wondered how Asta got the cute little dragon who liked bows while I got the snoring horned beast who refused to behave unless there was pumpkin involved.

  He snored again, and I smiled down at the little blue dragon. He was a pain sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything.

  Before long, we arrived at Ramir’s shop, and I hopped off the cart and tied the horned horses up to the pole outside.

  The bell on the shop door rang, as usual, when we walked in, and I looked around to see if I could locate Ramir before he revealed himself to be somewhere incredibly close like he always did.

  “Father?” Kas called.

  “Yes, dear?” the old man asked, and he leaned out from behind a bookshelf to our right.

  “Father,” Kas groaned. “You have to stop hiding in here.”

  “I’m not hiding,” Ramir chuckled. “I’m just doing my job. It’s not my fault you didn’t look around before you called out to me.”

  I did look around, but I wasn’t about to say that to the old man. He’d just say I hadn’t looked hard enough, though I was sure Kas was right, the old man purposely waited to reveal himself. I suspected he liked seeing customers jump when they realized he was right next to them.

  “Here.” Asta smiled and handed Ramir the basket I’d made for him. “Rath put this together for you.”

  “He did, did he?” the old man asked, and he flashed me a wide grin. “There’s no need for all that.”

  “Maybe not,” I chuckled. “But we appreciate all you’ve done, and we just wanted to bring you a little something to say thank you.”

  “Seeing these little things is payment enough,” Ramir said as he bent down to scratch under Blar’s chin. Then the old man looked up at me and raised a bushy eyebrow. “However, I assume there’s something else you need since you’re here?”

  “Are you saying we only visit when we need something?” Kas scoffed.

  “Yes, dear,” Ramir laughed. “And it’s perfectly understandable. You all are quite busy.”

  “We are,” I agreed. “And, yes, there is something we need.”

  The old man shot a smile toward Kas, but his daughter just crossed her arms and let out a little huff.

  “I’m always here to help,” the old man said as he carried the basket of goods toward the back of the shop. “What can I do for you?”

  “We were hoping you have a map of Jotunheim you can let us use,” Kas explained.

  “Hmm.” Ramir shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t. Jotunh
eim is incredibly large, and I’m afraid not all of it has ever been charted, so maps are limited.”

  Kas’ face fell. “You made us a map to get to the well.”

  “Yes, but you had a specific, magical place you were headed to then,” Ramir told her. “Do you have another one of those?”

  “Well, no.” The strawberry-blonde frowned.

  “We’re trying to find where some frost giants are keeping a large collection of dragon eggs,” I told him.

  “I see.” The old man’s bushy eyebrows pulled together. “And you’re not sure what part of Jotunheim they’re in? I’ve been to the realm a few times, so I may be able to help a little, depending on where you’re going.”

  “We don’t know exactly,” I sighed and pushed my hand through my hair, which made me realize I hadn’t tied it back yet today.

  “What about your dream?” Eira asked.

  “Oh, yes.” Asta nodded fervently. “Maybe if you tell Ramir what happened, he’ll be able to figure out what part of Jotunheim you were in.”

  “Mmm, yes, tell me about this dream,” Ramir said as he picked up one of the squashes from the basket and cut off large chunks to give to the dragons patiently waiting by his feet.

  “I was a little dragon,” I said. “And I woke up in a room completely made of --”

  “Ice!” Asta exclaimed, and she stepped slightly in front of me as she gestured wide. “There was ice everywhere, it was like an ice cavern, and he couldn’t get out because it was so slippery.”

  “Right,” I agreed, and I tried not to smile at her enthusiasm over my dream. “And there were eggs all around.”

  “Yes,” Asta said as she clasped her hands under her chin. “We’ve got to get to them and save the little dragon who showed Rath where he was.”

  “What do you think?” I asked Ramir. “Do you know of any ice caverns?”

  “I do.” Ramir nodded. “Though, I’m not surprised you all don’t know about them.”

  “Why would we know about them?” Kas asked, and her forehead furrowed with confusion.

  “The ice caves are a place many frost giants call home,” Ramir said as he handed Blar a chunk of squash.