by Logan Jacobs
reminded me of one of the drawings of the dragons I’d seen the night before.
I wondered if yellow eyes were common among elves, since they surely
weren’t common among Aesir. Even Kas’ violet eyes were somewhat of a
commodity, but that was probably because she was half Valkyrie. My own
deep green eyes were fairly common among our people, and I never
considered them very special, but the girls’ eyes were something else
entirely.
“Ready?” the elf girl asked me with a perky smile.
“Ready,” I told her.
“Me, too,” Kas agreed, and she started to head to the countryside.
Blar and the twins were so well behaved while we walked around now
that I rarely made them put on their leashes anymore. Instead, I allowed them
to walk next to us as long as they stayed close and didn’t stop unnecessarily.
We all followed Kas to the main stone street, then through the outskirts
of town, and out to the countryside. The smell of the morning dew still
lingered in the air, and there were no other Aesir around as we made our way
out into the grass toward the open portal. Usually, there was more than one
open in a day, it had been strange there weren’t any open yesterday and only
one open today, but I didn’t know what to make of it, so I just decided to
keep an eye on how the portals fluctuated.
We walked leisurely since it was a nice morning, and the sun rose up
high in the sky by the time we finally arrived at the spiraling air that hung
just above the ground.
“Alright,” I said as I turned to look at Blar. “Let’s see where this thing
leads.”
“It would be so much easier if he could just talk,” Kas chuckled.
“Too easy, then,” I laughed and turned back to Blar. “Does it go to
Asta’s home world?”
The little lizard shook his head.
“What about Helheim?” Kas asked quickly, but Blar shook his head
again.
“Maybe Midgard?” Asta inquired, but once again the little dragon
shook his head.
As the girls and I inquired about where the portal headed, I looked to
the twins next to Blar and wondered if they would be able to tell where
portals led, too, or if that was a gift only Blar possessed. It was strange to try
and figure out what abilities each dragon would have since they were so
different, but I thought next time I would give the twins a chance to answer
first.
“Vanaheim?” Kas asked, and again there was a head shake, so the
blonde sighed. “Thank the gods.”
“Svartalfheim?” Asta asked, and Blar suddenly nodded
enthusiastically.
“I think we’ve found it,” Kas chuckled.
“Hm,” I said, and I pursed my lips.
Svartalfheim was the home of the dwarves, and I knew there wasn’t
much there aside from blacksmiths. Plenty of warriors had commissioned for
swords and shields to be made there, it was where Odin had gotten his axe
and spear, and Thor his mighty hammer, but I wasn’t sure a trip to this realm
would be worthwhile for us.
“You’re not happy about this?” Asta asked with a frown.
“I just don’t think we’ll find much in the way of training there,” I
mused.
“The dwarves are excellent craftsmen, though,” Asta chirped as she
bounced on the balls of her feet. “Didn’t you say you wanted a new sword?”
“I did,” I agreed. “But there’s no way we could afford a new sword
there. The dwarves are wonderful at what they do, but you have to pay for
that quality.”
“Well, I think we should go,” Asta said with a smile. “Dwarves and
elves have a good history of bargaining with one another.”
“What would we be able to bargain with?” Kas asked, and her blonde
eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
“Many times elves have traded magical favors in exchange for
weapons,” Asta explained. “We have a good understanding of each other.”
“Then I could probably use my magic in some way to help out, too,”
Kas offered.
“My powers of persuasion are much stronger now,” the elf girl
insisted, and she turned to me. “Give me a chance to test them out, please.”
Asta looked at me with big yellow eyes that pleaded for us to go. She
was like a child who desired a new toy, and who was I to deny her? Besides,
if we couldn’t afford the blade, then we could easily leave, so I figured a little trip wouldn’t hurt anything. We’d still have plenty of time in the day to train
as long as we found a smith quickly once we were on the other side.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “We can go, but we could appear anywhere in
their world, so we could easily be in the wilderness and a month’s walk away
from a weapon smith.”
“I have a feeling we’ll get lucky!” the elf girl cheered and kissed me on
the cheek. “Thank you, Rath.”
“Of course.” I smiled.
So, the girls and I all grabbed hands, and with the dragons on our
shoulders, we hopped through the portal.
Immediately on the other side, I could smell fire and the distinct scent
of heated metal. I looked around and realized we were enclosed somewhere.
This wasn’t the typical place we landed in when we jumped through a portal.
This was a shop.
There was a huge forge to our right, and a workbench to our left was
stacked with tools and blueprints and moldings for swords, daggers,
hammers, and any other weapons I could think of.
“Prepare to die, thieves!” a small voice shouted, and I looked around
but saw no one.
“Where did that come from?” I asked. I’d never actually been to the
world of the dwarves, so I wasn’t sure what to look for. I had been told they
were small, but surely they weren’t small enough that they couldn’t be seen
out in the open.
“Back here!” the voice came again, and I spun around to see a tiny
little man sat atop a desk piled with paper and steel. He was about as large as
my torso from head to foot, and a long, gray beard hung down to his knees.
He wore a white shirt and dark brown pants, and his clothes were slightly
tattered from the forge, since I could see there were spots where the coals had
burned through the material. He also had a small cap on the top of his head,
and long white hair poked out from underneath it in every direction. A small
sword was held up in front of him, and he stared at us with narrowed orange
eyes that said he was incredibly serious.
“Hello!” Asta greeted in a bright tone before I could respond, and she
made a small bow at the little man. “My name is Asta from Alfheim. I’m
sorry we’ve landed right in your forge, but it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The white-haired woman gave me a wink, and then she turned back to
the dwarf, smiled brightly, and held out her hand.
“You’re a light elf,” he grunted as he shook the elf’s hand, but then he
turned to Kas and me. “But who are they? An Aesir and a Valkyrie half
breed? And…” Then he looked down at the ground, and his eyes widened as
he noticed Blar and the twins. “Dragons?”
“Um,” I said with wide
eyes, since I was surprised he was able to see
through the enchantment. “Don’t you mean dogs?”
“If those are dogs, then I’m Odin himself,” the dwarf scoffed.
I opened my mouth to speak, but once again Asta beat me to it.
“Oh, yes,” the elf girl said with a smile. “These are my friends, Kas
and Rath. We’ve come to see about getting a sword made.”
“That doesn’t exactly answer the question about the dragons,” the
small man muttered, but he lowered his weapon at least before he looked at
Asta again. “Where are you three coming from exactly?”
“We came from Asgard,” I said quickly before Asta could jump in
again.
“Dragons are banned in Asgard,” the little man scoffed, and his eyes
narrowed on me further. “And if you’re from Asgard, then why didn’t you
use the Bifrost?”
“I’m afraid that’s impossible right now,” I told him, and I gestured
down to the dragons. “Like you said, dragons aren’t permitted in Asgard, and
the Bifrost is watched heavily.”
“We really didn’t mean to startle you,” Asta assured the small man.
“We didn’t know the portal would lead us into your workspace.”
“I suppose it’s alright,” the dwarf sighed after a moment, and he put his sword back into its small sheath that hung from his belt. “What’s this
about a sword now?”
“Would you be able to make us one?” Asta asked, and her yellow eyes
were hopeful as she looked at the strange little man as if he weren’t only two
feet tall.
I knew I shouldn’t stare, it was probably considered rude, but I’d never
seen a dwarf before, and I really didn’t expect them to be so small. I glanced
around the workroom, too, and wondered how he managed to do anything
since it seemed to be sized for a person of my stature instead of one so small.
“That depends,” the dwarf huffed. “How much are you looking to
spend?”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Asta said abruptly and almost interrupted the
little man. “You know our names, but what’s your name?”
“Name’s Svendorf,” the little man replied, and he wiped his brow with
his cap before he put it back on his head.
His action made me realize just how hot it was inside the small room.
The forge blazed next to us, and a bead of sweat slid down my forehead.
“Svendorf,” Asta said in a sweet tone. “What a lovely name.”
“Well, it was my father’s name,” the dwarf snorted, and he cracked a
bit of a smile.
“Svendorf,” Asta repeated, “I’d like for us to make a trade. My
Valkyrie friend and I have certain abilities, and we’d be willing to trade you
some magical favors in exchange for a new sword for Rath here.”
“Hm,” Svendorf hummed, and he tugged on his beard absentmindedly
while he thought. “How strong is this magic of yours?”
“Strong enough for whatever task you need done,” the elf girl said with
a smile. “We can make you some potions or some magical assistance for your
shop, or we could enchant some things for you.”
“Wait, wait,” the little dwarf gasped and stopped Asta from continuing.
“Did you say you could enchant some things?”
“Oh, yes,” Asta agreed. “We’re quite capable of doing enchantments.”
“I’m running low on enchanted steel,” Svendorf said. “And that’s
where I make the big coin. If you two can enchant me enough steel for a
hundred swords, then I’ll make your friend here the best sword he’s ever
seen.”
“Deal!” Asta shouted, and she stuck her hand out to the dwarf, who
wrapped his whole hand around her index finger and gave it a quick shake.
“I have some regular steel in the back,” the dwarf said, and he eyed
Kas and I before he looked back to Asta. “You all wait here.”
“Okay,” Asta chirped, and the little man hopped off the desk and
walked past us over to a small door in the wall just big enough for him to fit
through.
“I’m quite surprised we ended up in a smithy,” Kas chuckled.
“I just had this feeling we would,” Asta said as she winked at me
again. “It’s Rath’s magic. I think it’s doing something to the portals.”
“Huh,” Kas mused as she looked at Asta, and then me, and then back
to the elf. “Or maybe his power is doing something for your abilities? You
seemed confident we’d end up here.”
“Hmmm,” the beautiful snow-haired elf mused as she tapped her chin.
“I’ll test this out next time.”
“Are you sure you two can handle the enchantments?” I asked. ”It
seems like a large spell.”
“Easily,” Kas assured me, and she turned to the elf girl. “That really
was wonderful. The dwarf listened to you.”
“Thank you,” the elf giggled, and her yellow eyes were full of
excitement. “My persuasion powers are so strong now, it feels wonderful to
use them.”
The elf girl still had to work some to convince the dwarf to make the
sword for us, and I wondered what negotiating with him would have been
like if we had no persuasion powers to put to use. I couldn’t imagine we would have gotten anything, and he probably would have stabbed us before
we could have even explained.
I never in my life imagined that I’d be able to have a dwarf crafted
sword. I always figured they’d be too far out of my price range, and even if I
managed to save up enough gold, I was sure I wouldn’t get a sword of the
quality Asta had negotiated.
A loud noise caught my attention, and I looked to my right to see a
large bin come through a hole in the wall next to the forge. It was on a track
of some sort, and it moved along swiftly before it came to a halt just by the
forge entrance. Another bin followed, and soon there were ten or more, all
filled with steel.
“There it is,” Svendorf’s voice sounded, and I turned to see him headed
back toward us. “That’s what I need enchanted.”
“All of that?” I asked, and my eyes widened with surprise. I knew it
would be a decent bit of steel, after all one hundred swords was no small
amount, but I hadn’t realized it’d be that much, and I felt guilty for having the
girls work so I could have something new.
“It won’t take any time at all,” Kas told me with a smile, and I knew I
wouldn’t be able to talk them out of it even if I wanted to, so I found a small
chair in the corner of the room and took a seat. Blar and Uffe came to sit by my feet, but Inger crawled up into my lap to get a better view of the girls.
I watched as Kas and Asta inspected the steel in the bins, and Svendorf
went over some specifics about the enchantment he needed. The steel needed
to be able to withstand a blow from a sword ten times harder than it, stay
forever sharp, and never rust. There were a few other things, but I focused
more on the girls than what the little man said.
Gratitude filled me as I watched the two of them discuss the task at
hand. They were going to use their abilities not to help themselves or even to
help everyone in our group, they were going to use them to help me. They
were going to get me a new sword, an
d I was so thankful I could burst. I did
my best to take care of their needs, and this was their way of returning the
favor. It meant more to me than I could ever express to them, and I hoped
they could feel my emotions at that moment and know they were incredibly
appreciated.
Kas pulled out some items from her satchel then so she and Asta could
get started, and Svendorf came to stand near me. He leaned against the leg of
his table and watched curiously as the girls laid everything out. I suspected he
doubted their abilities, and I was angry at first, but then I remembered we
were strangers who’d shown up in his forge unannounced, so he had every
right to be skeptical.
I’d be skeptical, too, if I were him.
He had no reason to trust us. I was sure he knew light elves and
Valkyries were magical, but the question would be to what extent, and I
didn’t blame him for wondering.
Still, I swelled with pride as I watched my women link hands and
begin the spell. I knew they’d show Svendorf they were more than capable of
giving him the best damn enchanted steel he’d ever had, and I couldn’t wait
to see his face when he saw how great the quality of it was.
Since Kas, Asta, and I had bonded, their powers had grown
exponentially, and I had no doubt in my mind this would be an easy task for
them.
The room seemed to go quiet as Kas and Asta both began to mutter to
themselves. They whispered slowly at first, and a swirl of red and silver
began to dance around them. I’d never seen the silver sparkles before, but I
figured that must have been Asta’s magic coming into play, and the two
different colors swirled around each other, then enveloped the steel as the
girls began to whisper faster and with more intensity.
Svendorf’s eyes widened as he watched the girls work, and a small
smirk came to my face as all his doubts about them were crushed.
They chanted for about an hour, and their beautiful bodies seemed to
tense more every five minutes or so. Then, finally, red and silver sparkles intensified into a light so bright I had to look away from it. A small pop
sounded, and the room settled with a red and silver dust as the girls turned to
smile at me.
“Done!” Asta panted as the two women leaned against each other.
“Let’s see,” Svendorf muttered as he made his way over to the forge,
but I knew he already could tell the steel was better quality.