by Logan Jacobs
against it affectionately.
“It’s almost as if he knows the dragon inside,” Kas whispered. “How is
that possible?”
“Dragons are connected to each other,” Asta said. “Or so we say in my
world.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Dragons rarely fight among themselves,” she explained. “It’s as if
they have an instinct to love one another.”
“That’s beautiful,” Kas murmured with a soft smile.
“It is,” I agreed, but then I heard some male voices, and I knew men
from our warband were headed our way. “I’ll hide the egg, you all quickly go
through and see what else you can find.”
“We just take things?” Asta asked, and she blinked at me.
“Yes,” I chuckled as I wrapped the egg in the dark cloth from the box.
“We defeated this tribe, so now we loot.”
“Oh.” The elf grinned at me. “I like being with you more and more,
Rath.”
“Be quick, though,” I said. “I can hear other men coming.”
The girls rushed out of the tent while I looked around until I found a
tough leather bag to put the egg inside. Blar stayed with me, and when I put
the egg away, he stared at the bag with sad eyes until I offered for him to get
in, too. The little dragon perked up then and hopped into the satchel, and I
patted him on the head before I ducked out of the tent and started to look
around the room.
The girls had already started a pile near them, so I found a wagon and put their things into it, then I looked around and found a few things of my
own to toss into the mix. The girls were drawn to whatever jewelry they
could find, along with clothing and scrolls. I was surprised to see a couple of
small daggers in their pile, but I was also proud they would think to grab
them. I took whatever weapons I could get my hands on, along with any
coins I saw, a few satchels that were always good to have around, and some
household items like blankets and cookware.
Once the cart was full, I ushered the girls out just as several other men
from our warband came down the hallway.
“Anything good down there?” one asked in a gruff voice.
“We found some stuff,” I answered. “There’s plenty left.”
He grunted and kept walking, so I led the girls back out of the cave and
over to where we’d entered Jotunheim through the Bifrost.
The rest of the group was still looting, but there didn’t appear to be
much around except for the cave, so most of the men were picking over the
bodies.
Eira came up to us, then, and she glanced down at my companions and
me and the bright blue blood that splattered our clothes.
“It seems you did well,” the warband leader said with a slight smile.
“We managed,” I joked.
“I saw what your… dog could do,” Eira said, and she looked me up
and down with bright green eyes that suddenly seemed hungry. “It was
impressive.”
“Thank you,” I replied, and I looked to Blar, down in the bag with the
egg. I presumed the elders had informed Eira about Blar, and she must have
kept an eye on us during the battle to try and see if it was true.
“He looks so much like a true dog,” Eira mused, and she reached her
hand down toward Blar. “This enchantment works well.”
Blar narrowed his eyes as her hand got closer to him, and he let out a
little bark when she tried to touch him. Eira startled and jumped back slightly,
then looked at me with wide eyes.
“He’s aggressive?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” Kas said, and she walked up and stroked Blar’s chin. “He just
doesn’t like you.”
“He can learn to like you,” I chuckled. “Maybe give him a fruit gift
next time?”
“I see,” the warband leader muttered, and her jaw set as she regarded
Kas, but she quickly turned her attention back to me. “I’m always impressed
with your skills, Volrath. I’d like to discuss them over a pint of mead
sometime. What do you say?”
I was confused for a second, but then I saw Kas roll her eyes, and I
realized Eira was hitting on me. I’d always felt that she liked me, but it
seemed seeing me with Blar, or possibly me with two other beautiful women,
had pushed her to make a move.
What an interesting turn of events. I supposed women were as
competitive as men were in some pursuits.
“I think that will have to wait,” I said with a small smile. “We’ll need
to meet with the elders after this is over. Maybe after?”
“After, then. Seek me out.” Eira smiled at me, and then she gestured to
the Bifrost behind us. The rest of the men started to head back toward it as
well, but with her permission, we could beat them back home and not have to
wait in line.
“Thank you,” I replied, and I turned to usher the girls back through the
portal between worlds.
“Oh, and Rath,” Eira called out after me, and I turned around to see her
still smiling at me. “Don’t keep me waiting long.”
I felt my cheeks go slightly red, but I just nodded and headed through
the portal with the girls. I’d never really thought Eira was attainable, strictly
because she was the leader of my warband, and I knew she didn’t date the
men who she commanded. It seemed she was willing to make an exception for me.
I looked forward to having that mead as much as she did, but at the
moment, I needed to get the egg in my satchel to safety.
I pulled the cart behind me as we went through the portal, and the
Bifrost keeper nodded at us when we came through. I nodded back, and the
girls and I walked out across the rainbow bridge and headed back toward
home.
I led the girls back to my house and started a fire without unpacking. It
was late afternoon, and it would be dark soon, plus I was starved after such
an intense battle.
I took the egg inside and placed it under my bed so it wouldn’t get too
warm from the fire, since I didn’t want it to accidentally hatch. After that, I
started some dinner for us as the girls went through the loot we’d recovered.
It was more than I’d ever gotten from a single battle before, and I was happy
with what we’d taken. Blankets, some weapons and jewelry that could either
be sold or repurposed, and a few coins as well.
The girls had found some things of their own, too, and they chatted and
went through their loot while I made us dinner and Blar napped by the fire.
We’d have to turn the egg over to the council tomorrow, and I was curious to
see how that would go, but for the moment I was happy to just listen to the girls talk about the jewelry they’d found and what they planned to do with it.
They’d taken off their armor from earlier and put on clean tunics, but I
noticed there were still a few drops of blue blood on Kas’ neck, and I thought
it cute she’d missed them. Both of the women had done well with the battle,
especially considering it was their first one, and I was excited to see what else
they were capable of. I knew from our previous encounters with enemies that
Kas had some skills, but she’d proven herself quite
the brave warrior today.
She took on the powerful enemy head on and never once gave up.
I’d been less confident in Asta’s skills, only because I’d yet to see her
fight, and when she’d encountered the draugr, she hadn’t seemed very
capable. On the battlefield, though, she’d shown she had potential. It hadn’t
fully manifested yet, but she’d remembered some of the moves I’d taught her,
and she’d shown she was fearless against an enemy, perhaps too fearless. She
needed some work, that was for sure, but she was smart and capable, and I
was confident I could turn her into a great warrior yet.
I was incredibly proud of their efforts. I thought they’d be hungry, so
for dinner I made a large pot of potato, leek, and cabbage stew, and I made
them a special dessert of cooked peaches with spices.
Once the stew was ready, I gathered some bowls from inside and
dished them up. Then I handed each of the girls one and set one in front of
Blar. I also got the girls and I a couple of pints of mead from my personal barrel, and I put a small bowl of water next to Blar’s food bowl, too.
The little dragon lifted his head from where he slept, stretched,
yawned, then started to lap up the stew. It was the slowest I’d ever seen him
eat, so I thought he had to be as tired as the rest of us were.
Battles were often much shorter than most people would expect, but
the amount of physical and mental exertion you put out was extremely great.
Plus, the adrenaline crash was something else. I was always tired after a
battle.
Kas and Asta thanked me, then took heaping spoonfuls of stew and
devoured them.
“This is amazing,” Kas moaned.
“It is quite good,” Asta agreed, then she picked up the pint of mead and
looked at it curiously. “What is this?”
“Mead,” I explained. “It’s alcohol made from honey.”
“Ah,” the elf girl said with a nod, then she downed the whole pint in
just a few seconds while Kas and I watched in horror. The elf girl wiped her
mouth then and went back to eating as if nothing had happened.
“Um,” Kas chuckled. “You might want to take it easy with that, it can
get you drunk pretty quickly if you’re not used to it.”
“Actually, I find your alcohol is far less potent than what we have in my home world.” Asta shrugged. “It tastes much better, though.”
“Hmmmm,” Kas hummed, and she turned to look at me as she stifled a
laugh.
“I’m glad you like the mead,” I chuckled. “There’s plenty more
inside.”
“Do you make it yourself?” Asta inquired.
“I do,” I said. “But you can buy it in town as well.”
“I’d like another pint, please,” the elf girl said with a smile.
“You got it,” I laughed as I grabbed her glass and went back inside to
fill it up.
We all ate in silence then. Blar was the first one done, and he just
pushed his bowl away then plopped back down by the fire with a heavy sigh
and went back to sleep.
Kas was done next, and she stared at the fire with sleepy eyes until I
ushered her to bed.
“Come on,” I said as I grabbed her by the arm and startled her out of
her half-asleep food coma.
“Huh?” she asked, and she looked up at me with heavy lids over her
violet eyes.
“You’re going to bed,” I said with a smile, and I pulled her up gently, walked her inside, and set her on our bed.
“Are you going to be awake for much longer?” she whispered as her
violet eyes blinked with heavy sleep.
“I’ll probably be joining you soo--”
“You should… put Asta to bed,” Kas muttered.
“Hmmm?” I asked as I stared into her eyes.
“She needs you, too,” Kas whispered.
“Are you…” I started to say, but then Kas just smiled at me and raised
her finger.
“She watched us,” Kas said.
“I know,” I replied.
“That’s only part of the reason she wants you, though,” Kas purred.
“She is adrift and searching for meaning in her life. She needs something to
hold onto. Take her, Rath. Claim her body as you did mine and give her
purpose. Our little tribe of dragon tamers will grow stronger.”
“Are you…” I started to ask, but the beautiful Valkyrie just sighed,
turned her face onto the bed, and was immediately asleep.
“I guess that’s a blessing,” I whispered as I covered her up then headed
back outside.
“It was an exhausting day,” Asta sighed when I sat down again.
“It was,” I agreed. “You did well, though. I am proud of you.”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “I was impressed with your
fighting as well.”
“I appreciate that,” I replied. “But I’ve been in plenty of battles, and I
still remember my first. You must have been nervous.”
“A bit,” she admitted, then she looked down at the fire and back up at
me through long, white eyelashes. “I knew you would be there to protect me,
though.”
“Oh,” I said, and I felt my breath catch as she stared at me with bright
yellow eyes. Her pale skin had an orange glow from the fire, and her lips
looked pouty and so kissable. “Of course. I’d never let you or Kas get hurt.”
“You are a valiant male,” she praised, and she scooted closer to me on
the bench.
“And you’re a beautiful woman,” I murmured, and I was mesmerized
by her golden eyes as she continued to move closer to me.
“You don’t mind that I am a Ljosalfar?” she whispered.
“I think you already know the answer to that,” I chuckled as I reached
my hand up to caress her chin and cheek.
Her skin felt like silk, and I wanted to feel her entire body against
mine.
“You said I was your Ljosalfar… when we were in town.” Her yellow
eyes stared into mine. “You wrapped your arm around me and pulled me
close. I was yours… For a few minutes.”
“It was to protect you,” I whispered.
“You don’t want to own me?” she asked as her cheeks began to blush.
“I do want to possess you,” I purred, “but you also deserve to be
protected.”
“And you deserve to be rewarded,” she breathed, then she leaned up
and placed her soft, pink lips against mine.
My heart rate kicked up a notch, and I instinctively reached around to
place my hands on her back and pull her in closer to me.
The feel of her body in my hands was almost too much to bear, I
wanted more of her, all of her. I wanted to grasp her tightly and bury myself
inside of her.
Asta kissed me deeper, then. She opened her mouth to let my tongue
in, and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and grasped my hair with
one hand while she pulled me in closer with the other.
My hands moved down to her waist, and I savored the feel of her lean
curves before I glided my hand up to her small elven breast. I could feel her
taut nipple underneath the fabric, and I pinched it lightly until she gasped and pulled her mouth away with a loud moan.
“Oh, Rath,” she breathed into my ear. “I want you so bad.”
I growled at her admi
ssion and kissed my way down her neck, then I
yanked her tunic over her head, so I could see what was underneath.
Asta bit her lip and looked up at me as I took in the sight of her naked
body in the fire light. She had beautiful pale skin, and the bright pink nipples
on her peach-sized breasts matched her lips perfectly. My eyes caressed over
the smooth skin of her stomach and down to her sex, and a groan vibrated
deep inside my chest when I saw no public hair on her mound.
The elf woman spread her legs for me, then, so I could see her slit, and
she reached her hand down to rub herself while she looked at me.
“I’m so wet for you,” she moaned, and her lids were heavy with desire.
“I want you so bad. Please fill me, Rath. I want to be yours.”
My cock twitched hard as I took in the sight of her pussy lips. She was
ready for me, but I wanted more. I wanted to taste her before I made her
mine.
So, I grabbed Asta by the waist and laid her down on her back by the
fire, then I kissed up her inner thigh as she gripped my hair with both hands.
Once I made it to her mound, I began to devour her with a hunger I’d
never felt before. She was unbelievably tight, and even the tip of my tongue had trouble forcing its way deep into her tunnel, but she liked each of the
attempts, and her body quickly began to quake.
“Oh, yes!” she screamed as she gripped my hair tighter and tossed her
head back with pleasure.
She tasted sweet like fresh fruit, and I lapped at her until her body
began to tighten under me. She went rigid and quiet for a second, and then
she screamed in pleasure as I felt her pussy spasm against my tongue. Her
cum tasted even better than my mead, and I suckled on her as she rode out a
first and second orgasm.
Once she’d finished and she laid on her back panting, I lifted myself up
onto my knees, pulled my tunic off, and yanked my pants down so my cock
sprang free.
“Ohhh,” she whispered as her yellow eyes locked onto my cock. “It
is… impressive. I can’t wait to feel it spread me open. Just like you did with
Kas.”
“I’ll go slow,” I said as I set my tip against her slick pink lips, and then
we both let out soft gasps as I inched slowly into her.
“Mmmmmm,” she purred when I was about a quarter of the way inside
of her, and we both watched my shaft slide out of her a bit, and then probe in