by Logan Jacobs
“That way!” Kas yelled, and she nodded to the ice cave on the other side of the open area. Then she yanked her sword from the man and spun around to look at me. “Asta and I will hold them off, you two go!”
Between the four or five I’d taken out, and the ones Kas and Asta had already handled, there were only three left, and they were all locked in battle with Asta at the moment.
Rain, snow, and sunshine intermittently flashed above the white-haired elf girl as she used her magic to alter her blade and counter her opponents. Inger was up in the air above her shoulder, and the little dragon kept one of the giants at bay while Asta took on the other two.
Kas ran toward her friend, and I knew the two of them could handle it, so I turned to nod at Eira.
“Let’s go,” I told the redhead.
“Right,” she agreed, and we took off across the ice.
There were bodies everywhere, and I hopped over them as best as I could, but the ice was slick with warm blood, and I found myself sliding more than once.
“Shite,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” Eira said as we ran as fast as we could under the circumstances. “The tunnel I went down was slick, too. These ice caves definitely aren’t what I’m used to fighting in.”
“We’ve got to catch those arseholes,” I said as we entered the tunnel.
“Fuck.” Eira shook her head as we came to a halt.
The tunnel we’d entered split off into two tunnels instead of continuing straight.
“Go that way,” I told her with a nod to the left. “Call out if you need me.”
“On it.” The redhead took off running toward the tunnel, and I spun on my heels and headed into the one on the right.
The open area we’d arrived in was a bright blueish-white, and it was clear there was a little bit of sunshine coming in from the outside, but not this tunnel. It seemed to get darker the further I got into it, and I found myself slowing down just so I could keep my footing.
I reached out and put my hand on the wall to steady myself as I walked since I couldn’t see anything, and I wracked my brain to try and think of something I could light on fire to illuminate the area.
Suddenly, my gut wrenched, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Someone was close by, I could feel it.
“Blar, now!” I shouted, and the little dragon released a huge fireball that lit up the small tunnel just long enough for me to see a frost giant running toward me.
He lifted his axe over his shoulder and then propelled his arm forward, but the tunnel went dark again just as the weapon left his hand.
“Shite,” I cursed as I ducked and slid to the other side of the tunnel.
I popped up and reached my arms out, but there was no wall to steady me. The sound of the axe landing on the ice filled the air, and I knew I only had a few seconds before the man was on me again.
“I see you,” the giant laughed.
“Blar, fire blasts!” I shouted as I readied my sword. “Keep them coming!”
Blue flame lit up the cavern just in time for me to see not one, but two frost giants headed for me. They both must have come down this way instead of splitting up, which was bad news for me, but good news for Eira. Though, I wasn’t sure the redhead would feel that way.
I knew I had to figure out a plan quickly since Blar’s flame would only last four or five seconds at a time, so I carefully took in my opponents’ positions.
One was further to my right, and the other to my left. The one on the left hadn’t picked up his axe yet, but he wielded a foot-long dagger in one hand, and it was reared back over his shoulder in a stabbing position.
The man on the right wielded a longsword, and he flashed a set of hideous yellow teeth as he snarled and ran toward me.
Three, two… darkness hit, and I immediately swung my blade in a wide arc. I couldn’t tell exactly how fast the frost giants were moving, but once my blade made contact with one of them, I’d be able to tell their general whereabouts.
I didn’t hit anything on the right side, but my blade slammed into something on the left, and from the consistency of what I hit, and the loud scream that came right after, I knew I’d made contact with one of the giants versus their weapons.
I pushed my blade further to the left to keep the man at bay, but I knew the guy on the right had to be coming up soon, so I lifted my leg--
Blar lit up the room again, and as I suspected, the second frost giant had just made it over to me.
I thrust my foot out and made contact with the man’s stomach so he flew backward, but only a few feet. I was a skilled fighter, but frost giants were notoriously huge and strong, and he had much better control on the ice than I did.
His lip twitched, and he let out a war cry as the room went dark once more. My blade was still inside the other male, but I knew if I yanked it back, I’d no longer be able to tell where he was at.
Instead, I held my blade steady but stepped to the left so the giant was in front of me, and I could use him as a shield.
A blast of light filled the room, but it wasn’t Blar’s blue fire. This fire was bright yellow, and it came from behind me.
I glanced back to see Svass up near the ceiling, and the little female released a constant stream of fire as she flew toward me. Eira was a few paces behind her, but I saw the redhead running toward me as well, and I couldn’t help the grin that came over my face.
I’d seen Svass practicing with her fire, and I knew she could hold a flame longer than any of the other dragons. That was her special skill, and right at this moment, it was the exact skill I needed.
“Rath!” Eira shouted, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dagger headed toward my neck, but I leaned back and grabbed the giant’s hand. My sword was still in his side, so I yanked it out as I pulled on his wrist to flip him over my head.
He landed on his back with a loud thud as Eira ran by me and jumped in the air to land a fierce kick to the other frost giant’s face.
I turned to help her, but then Blar landed on my shoulder and released a fire blast at the opponent on the ground.
The giant wasn’t giving up easily, even with a massive gash in his side, and he flipped the dagger in his hand and threw it at my head.
I was quick, though, and I leaned to the right and used my sword to smack the dagger out of the air.
“Fucker,” I growled, and I used both hands to thrust my blade down at the floor of the ice cave.
The sonofabitch rolled out of the way, though, and he was up on his knees in a flash.
He didn’t have a weapon, but he was determined to come after me all the same.
I gripped my sword hard, took a wide stance, and waited. The ice was slick under my feet, especially with the blood that had splattered everywhere and the heat of the dragons’ flames as they tried to keep the place lit up enough for Eira and I to see.
The man charged at me, and just a second before he made it to me, Svass’ flame went out.
“Shite,” I cursed, but Blar was already on the job, and the little dragon flew up and released a blue flame a split second after the darkness took over.
The frost giant was right on me, and I swung my blade hard, but he dodged it and reached his arms out to try and grab me by the neck.
Then Svass’ flame mingled with Blar’s, and the room became even brighter.
In my peripheral vision, I noticed the axe the guy had thrown earlier was by my right foot.
I swung again, this time to the right, and as the man leaned back to dodge my swing, I grabbed the axe at my foot.
I pulled the weapon along the ground, and then I swung it up at the man. The blade landed between his legs, and he let out a hoarse scream as he instinctively reached for his private parts.
The axe was one sided, though, so I left it buried in him, stood up, and gave the blunt end a swift kick so it dug even further into his body.
Blood gushed down his legs from where I
’d hit one of his main arteries, and he let out another scream as he fell to the ice cave floor. The giant writhed around in the bloody mess for a few seconds before going still.
I quickly glanced over to Eira, and I caught the final blow of the fight.
The redhead waited for her opponent to attack, and the giant leaned down as he attempted to slice her in two from above. Eira stepped to the side, and in the same instant, she turned to face the giant so she could bring her own blade down on his neck.
I expected the man’s head to come clean off, but frost giants had fairly thick skin, so the weapon only dug halfway in, which was enough to sever his spinal cord, but not enough to decapitate him. Eira’s blade got stuck in his neck, and as the man fell to the ground, she cursed and nearly fell down with him.
The warrior steadied herself, and then she pressed her foot onto the man’s back and yanked her sword out of his body so she could tap it on the ground in an attempt to get some of the blood off it.
“Went for the beheading, I see,” I chuckled as I carefully walked over to her.
“It’s the best way.” She looked up at me and grinned before she glanced over to where the frost giant I’d killed laid on the ground with an axe between his legs. “I see you went another direction.”
“He opened himself up to it.” I smiled and shrugged.
“Should we hide the bodies?” Eira asked as she glanced around.
“I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make,” I said, and I pursed my lips. “Not with all the blood, at least.”
“Good point.” The redhead nodded.
“Besides,” I said with a glance up at Svass. “I’m sure she’s getting tired.”
“What if someone finds them, though?” she asked.
“That’s a good point, too,” I agreed, and I looked around the area. We didn’t want anybody to find the bodies and alert more frost giants there’d been a murder.
The Jotunheim natives were known to be killing machines when it came to opponents, but I doubted they tolerated murder among their own kind. Eira was right, we needed to find a way to get rid of the bodies.
“Mmmm, I think I have an idea,” I said.
“What?” Eira asked.
“Help me grab the bodies,” I said.
“On it,” the redhead agreed.
“Blar, Svass, come over here,” I instructed.
Blar landed on my shoulder, and a second later Svass landed on Eira’s, though the little dragon kept a small flame going for us to see by.
“I need you two to blast the floor with some fire,” I explained.
“What’s your plan here?” Eira asked with a raised red eyebrow.
“You’ll see.” I grinned.
The little dragons hopped down from our shoulders, and each of them let out a huge flame directed right at the floor. The ice began to melt, and soon there were two huge pools of water on the floor.
“I see where you’re going here,” Eira said with a nod.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s check their pockets before we put them in, though.”
“On it,” Eira said, and she bent down to rummage through the frost giants’ clothing.
There was no guarantee these men were involved with the dragon trade, but it was possible they were, and I wanted to make sure we explored every possibility when it came to finding the men with those dragon eggs.
I looked through the pockets of the giant I’d killed, too, but all I found was a few coins. There was nothing to indicate any involvement with dragons.
“Find anything?” Eira asked.
“Just a couple of coins.” I shook my head.
“That’s more than I got,” the redhead said. “This guy’s pockets were virtually empty.”
“Let’s get these bodies in here,” I told her.
“Right,” she agreed.
I grabbed the frost giant I’d taken out and pulled him over to the small pools the dragons had made. I plunked him in one of them so he was completely submerged, and a small amount of displaced water spread out from the area.
I glanced over to see Eira struggling with her giant, so I grabbed his legs and helped her drop him into the water as well.
“That should do it,” I said.
“Yeah, it doesn’t look like these tunnels are frequently traveled,” the redhead said.
“That’s what I was thinking,” I agreed. “And with how cold it is in here, it shouldn’t take them long to freeze over.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Eira nodded.
“Let’s get back to Kas and Asta,” I said. “We don’t want to get spotted again.”
The redhead nodded, and once the dragons were back on our shoulders, we made our way out of the tunnel and back out to the open area where Kas and Asta were.
The two women had already started gathering up the bodies and putting them in a large pile.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Kas said when Eira and I made it back to them. “We were starting to get worried.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, and I gestured to the bodies they’d stacked up. “What’s your plan to dispose of them?”
“Um, we hadn’t really gotten that far.” Kas bit her lip.
“We put ours in ice back there,” Eira said. “But that’s probably not going to work for these guys. There’s too many of them.’
“What about the one you followed down that way?” Asta asked with a point at the tunnel across from us.
“Oh, right, I should go get them.” Eira frowned.
“We’ll figure out how to dispose of the rest in the meantime,” I told her.
“I’ll be right back,” Eira said as she headed toward the tunnel.
“I’ll help!” Asta called out, and she ran after the redhead.
“Any ideas?” Kas asked.
“Hm.” I pursed my lips and thought. “You gathered items to complete the spell already?”
“It’s done.” The strawberry-blonde nodded.
“Did you go through their pockets?” I asked.
“Yeah, we searched them,” Kas assured me. “All we found was a few coins. I didn’t figure you wanted us to gather their weapons, but we did take anything small that looked valuable.”
“Good job,” I told her with a sigh.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing, exactly,” I said. “I was hoping we might find something on them that showed they were involved with the dragon trade, but I suppose the first men we come across being who we’re looking for would be a little too easy.”
“Right,” she chuckled. “But I know we’ll find them. I don’t think these were dragon trading arseholes, just regular arseholes.”
“It seems that way,” I laughed.
“Now, how are we going to hide them?” she asked, and she bit her lip.
“What about your illusion magic?” I asked.
“Okay,” Kas agreed. “But what would I disguise them as?”
“How about some snow?” I suggested. “You already piled them against the wall, and since we’re near the entrance of the caves, I don’t think it will be too suspicious for there to be some snow around.”
“Good idea,” Kas said, and she pulled out her spell book and quickly flipped it open.
Eira and Asta came back out of the tunnel carrying the large frost giant by the arms and legs as blood dripped from the body onto the icy floor.
I rushed over to help the girls, and we carried the man over to the pile of bodies and threw him on top.
“This should only take a moment,” Kas said. “The items are over there, everybody pick one.”
“We don’t even know what these guys looked like now,” Eira laughed. “I’ll probably pick the object from the ugliest sonofabitch here.”
“Does it matter?” Asta asked with a frown.
“No,” the redhead chuckled. “I was just teasing.”
“Oh, right.” The white-haired elf girl smiled and nodded.
While Kas cast the sn
ow spell to disguise the bodies, Eira, Asta, and I made our way over to where several objects were laid out on the floor.
There was a large, beat-up axe that had obviously been well-used, a small black braided bracelet, a silver forearm guard, and a little leather pouch that smelled of herbs.
“I call the axe!” Eira yelled, and she snatched up the weapon before I even had a chance to reach for it.
“I’d like the herb pouch,” Asta said sweetly, and she batted her eyelashes at me.
“Go ahead,” I chuckled, and I glanced at the last two options. A bracelet, and a forearm guard. “I suppose I’ll take the armor.”
“Good choice,” Kas said as she walked up and picked up the bracelet off the ground. “Now, everybody gather around, this won’t take long.”
We each put on our objects, except for Eira, who holstered the axe on her hip next to her sword. Then Kas touched each of the objects and muttered something in the old language as red magic swirled around us.
We each got a turn with the sorceress, and once she was done, she stepped back, held up the small triangular piece of glass her father had used earlier with the dragons, and looked through it.
“I didn’t know you brought that!” Asta said with a smile. “I want to see!”
“I only realized I had when I was performing the cloaking spell,” Kas explained. “Father must have slipped it in my pocket.”
“It will probably come in handy, though,” Eira said. “Can you see through any enchantment with it?”
“Most.” Kas nodded. “Father is quite powerful, so any enchantment he could cast, we will be able to see through.”
“Nice,” the redhead said.
Asta ran over and took the glass Kas offered. The white-haired elf girl put it up to her eye and looked around with a huge grin, but her smile faded when she landed on Eira.
“Oh.” Asta frowned.
“What?” the redhead asked, and her brow furrowed with both anger and confusion. “What is it?”
“You are ugly,” the elf girl said simply.
“Fuck.” Eira shook her head. “I should’ve let Rath have the axe.”
“So I could be ugly?” I teased. “No, thank you.”