by Logan Jacobs
about you.”
He came up to me then and put his front paws on my leg so I could
reach down and scratch under his chin.
“Hey,” Kas yawned as she and Asta came over to us with the twins
behind them. “Why didn’t you wake us up?”
“I’ve only been up a few moments,” I assured them. “I was just
gathering us some things for breakfast.”
“We’ll help,” Asta offered, and she and Kas started to pick fruit as
well.
After we made breakfast, I gave everyone a little bit of time to solo
practice so we weren’t just jumping into battles on a full stomach. Then Kas
and Asta performed the practice spell on all of us again, and we tested it to be
sure it had worked on Blar.
“Who wants to go first?” I asked.
“I’ll go,” Asta said, and she looked at Blar with playfully narrowed
eyes. “Bring it on, little lizard!”
Blar narrowed his eyes back, then slowly walked to the far side of the
grassy area so he could get ready.
Asta took her mark as well while Kas and I sat in the grass with the
twins next to us.
“Ready,” I hollered. “Go!”
Before I could blink, Blar became a little blue strip that darted across
the ground, and he made it halfway between him and Asta before he leapt up
into the sky and dove straight at her.
The elf girl had her blade raised, and she tried to swipe at him as he came down at her. He was too quick, though, and he landed with all four
paws against her stomach and gave a mighty push so she fell backward onto
the ground with the wind knocked out of her.
She also dropped her weapon in the process, and Blar took advantage
of that. He picked up the sword with his mouth and tossed it to the side
before he let out a huge fire breath that enveloped Asta completely.
She would have been charred to a crisp in a real battle, and she’d lost
her sword. It definitely wasn’t a win for her.
“Good job,” I told Blar with a small cheer, and the little dragon turned
to me and smiled smugly.
“I can’t believe he got my sword from me,” Asta murmured, and she
looked at me with wide eyes.
“When you get the breath knocked out of you, it’s hard to hold onto
anything,” I told her, “but you have to keep that blade in your hands at all
times. It doesn’t do you any good if you drop it. I know it’s hard, but you will
improve with practice.”
The elf girl nodded, then she smiled at Blar and held up her hand for a
high five while he still floated above her.
“I’m next!” Kas shouted, then she set Inger down off her lap and
traded places with the elf girl.
Blar got into position again, but I wanted to see what he could do
without his fire.
“Blar,” I called. “No fire this time. Use your claws, teeth, their
weapon, or whatever else you can. I just want to see how you do without it.”
The little dragon nodded before he turned back to Kas with a
determined look on his little reptilian face.
“Ready?” Kas asked, and Blar stomped his front feet on the ground.
“Go!” I hollered from the sidelines, and the two began to circle each
other slightly.
Blar had changed up his strategy for Kas, which I appreciated, since I
wanted to see exactly what he could do and how he would use his talents
depending on the opponent. Not every opponent needed the same amount of
force or speed, they were all different, and it was all about how you thought
about them. He was a smart little creature, and I knew he’d learned to
calculate his moves accordingly.
Now, I just needed to see it in action.
Suddenly, Kas began to charge at Blar, and the little dragon lifted
himself up into the air, but Kas had anticipated as much, and just as he went
to dive down at her, she tucked and rolled forward so she landed with his
back to her.
She’d definitely learned something from our match the day before, and
I smiled at her ingenuity.
The sorceress swiped up in the air with her blade, and Blar tried to
move out of the way, but she caught the end of his tail, and if there had been
no enchantment, then she would have sliced it right off.
“Oof,” Asta said next to me, and her face pulled into a grimace.
“She got a good blow in,” I agreed. “But that wasn’t a death blow, he
could still fight. Let’s see what he does next.”
While Kas followed through with her swing, Blar flew upward and
tilted back so he made a huge arc over Kas and came down at her feet. He
pushed against them as he flew by, and the sorceress fell to the ground but
managed to still hold onto her blade.
Before she could get to her feet, though, the little dragon dove down
and wrapped his mouth around her neck. In a real battle, he probably could
have ripped his opponent’s throat out, but here Kas just laughed.
“That tickles!” she squealed, and Blar continued to gnaw on her, but
more playfully.
“I think he won,” I laughed.
“Damn,” Kas sighed as she sat up and looked at the little dragon, who
smiled smugly at her. “I thought I had you.”
“You held onto your sword as you fell,” I praised. “That was good. But
you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing. That’s a big sword to
swing, so make sure you’re paying attention as you follow through.”
“Right,” the sorceress agreed with a nod.
“And you,” I said as I turned to Blar. “Never let your opponent get
behind you. But also, good job with knocking her down and using your teeth
to take her out. I don’t know if your fire power will always be useful against
your opponent, so it’s good to practice using your whole body.”
Blar gave a curt little nod to show me he acknowledged what I was
saying and that he understood how to improve. He’d done well up to this
point and had managed to take down both of the girls, though neither of them
were especially practiced in going up against a dragon, so I couldn’t exactly
blame them.
Still, he had me to go up against next, and I’d been watching him since
the day he hatched. I knew how he thought, and I wouldn’t make it easy on
him.
“Alright,” I told the little blue reptile. “I’m next. Use whatever you can
against me, including your fire.”
The little dragon rolled his eyes at me. He already knew his fire
wouldn’t burn me, but if I were an actual opponent it would, so I would have to give him that point if he managed to get me.
I walked over to my side of the grass, and Blar did the same. I had my
sword out in front of me, and I took a low stance as the little dragon stared at
me from his own spot. He narrowed his little blue eyes and let out a little
huff, but I just smiled in return.
I was ready for whatever he could throw at me. I wouldn’t be as easily
defeated as the girls.
“Go,” I said, and before I could blink, he was off the ground and just a
bright blue blur headed straight for me.
I raised my sword and swung as he got near me, but he quickly dodged
to the side
and came around to push all four of his feet into my back in an
attempt to shove me over. My feet were planted firmly, though, and I had
more weight to me than the girls, so that tactic didn’t work. I had to admit,
though, it was much more difficult to not let a flying opponent get behind you
than it was a regular one, so I’d have to go easy on the girls with that one.
Blar kicked off from my back, and I quickly spun around and sliced
my sword upward in an attempt to get him in the air, but he dove down to my
leg and wrapped his body around my ankle as he tried to pull me over.
Once again, though, he realized I wasn’t easy to topple over, which
meant he’d have to try a different approach.
He quickly pushed off again, and I spun around to see him hang in the
air a few feet away from me. I had my sword up and ready to go, and I smiled
at the little blue lizard.
He glared back at me, and I knew he was upset he hadn’t been able to
get me yet, but I hadn’t been able to get him, either, so it was still fairly
closely matched.
The little dragon flew toward me then, and he darted back and forth in
the air so I couldn’t quite keep track of where he was, but just as he came up
to the side of me and let out a huge blue fire ball, I tucked and rolled
underneath him.
I expected to catch him off guard, but he quickly spun around on me
with the flame still coming, and I held up my sword to shield me from the
flames.
After a second of covering me in fire, the little blue dragon lowered
himself to the ground, then looked at me with the smuggest expression I’d
ever seen before he pranced over to where the girls sat and cheered for him.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “That was good. You anticipated that I’d go
behind you, and you countered that. I like it.”
“Good job, Blar,” Kas congratulated the little lizard as he plopped
down in front of her, and he was clearly tired from all the work he’d just done against the three of us.
Blar had definitely done a good job, but the girls and I weren’t
creatures from other worlds. While we had the smarts to think ahead and plan
out an attack, and while our weapons were fierce, we were nothing compared
to the strange snake woman that had attacked us in the world of fire.
Granted, I didn’t think the council was going to retrieve her for Blar to
fight, but beings from other worlds had different and unique powers, and they
were nothing to be messed with. Blar could take on an Aesir no problem, I
had no doubt in my mind of that, but I wanted him to have some actual
practice against some creatures.
“You’ve passed this part of the test,” I told the little dragon, and he
raised his head and cocked it to the side. “Tomorrow, the real test will begin.
For today, we’ll continue training.”
“What do you mean the real test?” Kas asked.
“Tomorrow we’re going to find a portal,” I told my little team. “And
Blar’s going to fight the most fearsome creature we can find.”
Both of the girls’ eyes widened with alarm at my words. They both
loved the little dragon, of course, and I knew they didn’t want anything to
happen to him, but I couldn’t baby him just because he was practically a baby
to me. He was still a dragon, and he still had a battle to win in a few days, so I couldn’t take any chances.
I wasn’t just his owner, father figure, whatever I was to him, I was also
his mentor, and I had to act like it. I would require any other Aesir or creature
I was training to go through rigorous practice battles, and Blar couldn’t be
any different, though of course I worried about him.
“Rath,” Kas said softly, and she bit her lip as she looked down at Blar,
who sat in front of her. “Do you think that’s the best idea?”
“He can handle it,” I said with a smile. “Can’t you, buddy?”
Blar huffed smoke out of his little nose, then stomped his front paws
on the ground to signify he was ready.
I just hoped he was right.
Chapter 28
The next morning, Blar woke me up by pounding on my chest with his
little paws. I opened my eyes to see his blue ones staring right back at me,
and I knew he was excited about his task for the day.
We’d spent the entire day before training and practicing, and he’d
proven himself to be quite a capable opponent, though he and I were tied
when it came to wins against each other.
“Alright, alright, I’m up,” I chuckled as I sat up and wiped my face
with my hand.
“What’s going on?” Asta grumbled from where she slept next to me
with Inger curled up against her stomach.
“Blar’s ready to start the day,” I snorted.
“Tell him it’s too early,” Kas complained from the opposite side of me.
Uffe woke up then from his spot at our feet, and he yawned, stretched,
then came to sit next to Blar in my lap. Apparently, both of the boys were
ready to get going.
“Let’s make breakfast so we can let the girls sleep in a little longer,” I
whispered, and I pulled my tunic over my bare chest before I stood up and
headed toward the door with the little boy dragons right behind me.
We left the girls inside to get a bit more rest, and when I stepped
outside, I realized why they were so tired. The sun had barely come up yet, it
was still incredibly early, and the morning smelled of dew and fresh air.
“You just had to get up now, didn’t you?” I laughed and shook my
head as I headed toward the fruit trees.
I made a large batch of oats with apples and spices, and then I waited
for the girls to get up while I watched Blar and Uffe practice against each
other.
Blar flew around in the air while Uffe pounded his paws on the ground
and called forth dirt clumps to hurl at the little blue dragon.
While we waited, I also practiced. The dwarf had said I would be able
to alter the length of my sword with my mind, so I stood in my fighting
stance, closed my eyes, and focused on the feel of the blade in my hand.
When I opened my eyes the first time, nothing happened, so I closed
them again and focused harder.
After a few seconds, I felt the weight of my blade change just slightly,
and I opened my eyes to see it was about an inch or so longer than it had been
a moment ago.
“Whoa,” I chuckled to myself and turned the sword over in my hands.
Once I was able to master this trick, it would change my entire fighting
strategy for the better.
“Did you change the length?” Kas’ voice asked from behind me, and I
turned around to see all three girls were awake.
Inger still yawned and stretched, but at least she was up and moving.
She definitely wasn’t a morning dragon.
“Just slightly,” I said with a smile. “But it’s a start.”
“That’s wonderful,” the sorceress congratulated me.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to make it ten feet long in no time,” Asta told
me with a wide grin.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I laughed, then I gestured to the fire pit.
“Breakfast is ready. We should eat and check out the portals,
because Blar is
already antsy.”
“I already checked them,” Kas said as she lifted her chin proudly.
“There’s two open today.”
“Oh, that’s perfect,” I told her, then I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you.”
“Of course,” the blonde said, and she blushed slightly and looked
down.
Blar ran over and looked at each of us before he walked over to the fire
pit and sat down, which clearly indicated that it was time to eat so we could
leave.
“He’s demanding this morning, isn’t he?” Kas laughed.
“You have no idea,” I said with an eye roll.
As ready to go as Blar was, I had to admit I was ready to go myself. I
wanted to see what my little dragon was capable of when put up against
another creature, and above all else I wanted to be sure he was ready for
whatever creatures the council threw at him. He was still so young, and
unfortunately none of the scrolls we’d found told us how long it would take
for him to reach full size. Something in my gut told me it would be at least a
year or so, though, which meant he had a long way to go before he’d be ready
to take on the Jotun.
Still, if he could prove himself to be capable, then we could take our
idea to Odin and possibly bring more dragons back to Asgard in preparation
for the final fight with the frost giants.
He needed to get through today first, though, and while I would be
there to make sure nothing went too wrong, I knew I had to give him every
opportunity to succeed before I stepped in and told him he was incapable. I
wanted him to feel confident and be able to prove his own merits without my
assistance.
I quickly served up breakfast for everyone, and Blar and I ate quickly
so after we were done we filled up the canteens. Then I grabbed the girls’
armor for them to put on before we left, and once everyone was ready, we
followed Kas to the countryside where she led us to the first portal.
It was still incredibly early in the morning, earlier than we were
typically out, and there was absolutely no one around. The city and small
villages were quiet as we passed by, and only occasionally would we see a
farmer out in his field with his garden or livestock. The walk seemed to take
much longer than usual since the journey there felt so strange with the
earliness of the morning. The countryside was empty when we arrived at the