by Logan Jacobs
satisfied smile on her face. “The dragons don’t, and Asta will get her turn
soon enough.”
“Fair enough.” I carried the blonde over to the bed then and laid down
with her. I could see through the open door that the fire was still going
outside, and it was summertime, so it wasn’t cold out. Asta and the dragons
would be fine outside. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to sleep next to Kas, just the two of us, and I didn’t mind that one bit.
The curly-haired sorceress fell fast asleep in my arms, with her red
mouth slightly parted to take in deep, heavy breaths. I stroked her soft cheek
with my thumb, kissed her on the forehead, then closed my eyes to join her.
The next morning, I woke up early and put on my tunic while Kas
continued to sleep. I headed out to the fire and found Asta and Uffe awake,
but Blar and Inger still slept curled up next to the flames Asta must have
restarted.
The elf girl sat crossed legged by the fire with Uffe in her lap, his little
red body took up most of it, and Asta unconsciously stroked down his spiked
back as she looked up at me.
“Good morning,” she said with a bright smile. Her yellow eyes were
clear and well rested, and her long, white hair was pulled back into several
long braids. She wore the same white tunic she had the day before, but she
looked nearly naked without her armor, weapon, or even shoes on.
“Good morning,” I echoed.
“Would you like some tea?” she asked. “I just made it.”
“That would be great,” I agreed with a smile.
The elf girl poured me a cup of tea, and as I brought it to my lips, I
could already smell the floral and sweet flavors that were about to hit my tongue.
“What are we doing today?” Asta asked as I took a sip of the honey
colored drink.
“We’ll do some training today,” I answered.
“Tomorrow is the tournament, right?” the elf girl asked, and her pale
eyebrows furrowed with worry.
“Right,” I sighed, and I looked over at Blar, still asleep by the fire.
“Are you concerned about him?” Asta asked in a small voice.
“Yes and no,” I chuckled. “He is well trained, brave, and smart. But
he’s also still so young.”
“I understand,” the white-haired woman said. “He seems so small, still,
though I know he will grow to be giant.”
“Sooner than we think, too, I’m sure,” I snorted.
“He has already gotten bigger since I met him,” Asta commented.
“I think he gets a little bigger every day,” I said. “I just don’t notice as
much anymore.”
“I think you’re right,” the elf girl giggled.
As I took another sip of my tea, I thought about the tournament that
would take place soon. It was going to be an intense situation, and I wanted to make sure Blar was prepared. I would have him practice for several hours
then take the rest of the day off, since I didn’t want to overwork him the day
before a big fight.
Going into battle was nothing short of terrifying, though it was
exhilarating as well, but Blar didn’t have any outside weapons or armor, he
only had himself.
The thought of armor gave me an idea, and I knew what my task would
be for the day. I needed to get Blar some armor of his own. I’d feel better if
he was extra protected during battle, and since regular warriors wore armor, I
didn’t see any issue with him having some of his own.
Asta and I sat and drank our tea while the world warmed up for the
day, and all the stars disappeared from the sky so it was left with only the
bright sun and some white, fluffy clouds. After everyone woke up and we ate
some breakfast, I had Blar go up against each of the girls and myself for
another practice round of training.
We each sparred with the little blue dragon three times, and I gave him
pointers and instructions between each round. It was early afternoon by the
time we finished with the practice session, and I sent Blar, Inger, and Uffe to
get some water and rest for a bit while I spoke with Kas and Asta.
“How did we do?” Asta breathed, since she had been the last to go up
against the little dragon.
“You did great,” I chuckled. “That’s not why I called you over here.”
“What’s wrong?” Kas asked, and her blonde eyebrows pulled together
with concern.
“Nothing,” I whispered. “I just need you two to watch the dragons
while I run into town.”
“Oh,” Kas said, and confusion spread over her face. “Why is this so
secretive?”
“I’m going to get something for Blar,” I murmured.
“Of course, we’ll watch them,” Asta said with a smile.
“What are you going to get for him?” the sorceress asked, and a wide
grin spread across her face.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” I told her and winked.
“You and all these surprises lately,” she complained with an eye roll.
“I’ll be back in no time,” I chuckled and headed into the house to
gather my things. I put on my old battle axe instead of my new sword, then I
quickly found the secret spot in my wall where I kept my coins.
I pulled out a few gold coins and some silver, hoping that would be
enough, but I also went out to the garden and filled a basket with fresh fruits
and vegetables to add to the trade.
After I finished, I waved to the girls and the dragons and headed out. I
was surprised Blar hadn’t tried to follow me, but we’d all worked him pretty
hard during our practice session, so I knew he had to be exhausted. It looked
like he was already asleep by the fire when I left.
It had already been a long day for me as well, and I was quite tired
from sparring with the little dragon, but it was a beautiful day as I made my
way to the market and my favorite blacksmith. I’d bought a couple of items
from him before, but nothing too fancy, definitely nothing like I was about to
buy. Still, I’d wandered around the market for years and examined the work
of all the smiths who put out armor and weapons, and I always found his to
be the best.
I walked slower than usual, since I was tired from our practice battles,
and the weight of the fruits and vegetables in the basket weighed on my arm.
Once I reached the market, I slid through the people around and smiled
slightly at them as I passed by.
The smith’s shop was located in the busy part of the market with the
rest of the wares sellers, and I slowly made my way through the crowd and
up to his stand. The guy’s name was Tonk, though I figured that was just a
nickname, but it was what everyone called him. He was bald but had a thick
red beard and large eyebrows that sat above his small green eyes. He was a
large man, and though I considered myself well built, his arms were easily double the size of mine, which made sense for his weight and the fact he
swung a hammer all day while he worked.
Tonk was currently in the process of selling a dagger to a young man,
and I hung back and watched as the boy turned the weapon over in his hands
and stabbed it out into the air with the worst form I’d ever seen. He was
obviously a trainee,
and he’d have to go through vigorous training before he
was allowed on the battlefield, but the way he held the dagger almost made
me cringe.
Tonk rolled his eyes at him, too, but the boy was excited, and he
quickly set some coins onto the table. Then he walked away as he continued
to examine the blade with no regard to anything else around him.
“Newbies like that must make great customers,” I joked as I
approached the counter.
“They’re definitely easy to sell to,” Tonk chuckled and offered me a
smile. “You’ve been here before, right?”
“A couple of times,” I agreed with a nod. “I don’t often need things
made, but you’re the best around as far as I’m concerned.”
“Flattery will only get you so far.” The man smirked. “What do you
need?”
“I need a back and breast plate,” I said. “For my dog, Blar.”
“I’m sorry,” Tonk grunted, and his huge red eyebrows pulled together
as he leaned forward. “Did you say for a dog?”
“I did,” I agreed.
The man just stared at me as if I were kidding, but I pushed the basket
of fresh fruit and vegetables toward him before I pulled out a gold piece and a
silver piece and set them onto the table, too.
“You’re serious,” he said with a nod. “But that’s an odd request. I’ve
never made a breast plate for a dog before, I might have to charge you a bit
more for the oddity.”
“He’s a small dog,” I informed him. “It won’t need to be that large.”
“Hm,” Tonk hummed and narrowed his green eyes. “I wonder if this is
worth my time.”
I set another silver coin onto the counter and raised an eyebrow at the
man, but he shook his head, so I put another silver one up.
“Alright,” the huge behemoth agreed. “Tell me how big this thing
needs to be.”
I smiled wide and started to go over the details with the smith. He
agreed to make it right then since it wasn’t a huge job, and I’d have it within
an hour or so.
The smith set to work, and I thanked him again and perused the market while I waited. As I walked around, I caught the smell of some meat cooking
and decided I would get us something special for dinner tonight. I found a
meat vendor that had some nice cuts and chose a deer backstrap to take home.
The woman wrapped it up for me, and I put it into my satchel. Then I
continued to walk around the market since I still had some time.
I hadn’t planned on buying anything else, but something caught my
eye. One of the clothing vendors sold ribbon behind the counter, and there
was a beautiful yellow colored one, so I pulled out some copper coins and
bought a small length of it for Inger. I figured she could use a different,
prettier ribbon. The bow she currently had on was just made from Asta’s old
torn dress, and I figured the little dragon would find this one much prettier
since it matched the elf-girl’s eyes. I also picked out a small leather band for
Uffe since I didn’t want him to be the only one who didn’t get something.
I walked around the market for a while longer, then I headed back to
Tonk’s forge and watched over the counter as he finished up Blar’s armor.
He took the newly formed pieces of metal and dunked them into a large vat
of oil to quench them. Fire splayed up out of the oil for a second, but it
quickly dissipated, and when he lifted the armor out of the vat, he ran a piece
of steel across them to check their strength.
The smith saw me then, and he smiled before he wiped off the armor
and walked it over to me.
“It’s finished,” he chuckled. “It was strange, but it’s done.”
“I appreciate it,” I told him with a smile as I inspected the work he’d
done. It was exactly what I’d asked for. The metal of the plates was a nice
bright silver, and they came in two separate pieces with holes to tie them
around Blar’s body so they would last him for a while as he grew.
“I threw in something else, too,” Tonk said, and he pulled out a small
leather band from his pocket and set it onto the table. It was black leather
with a small buckle and a bright silver rectangle that had the word ‘Blar’
etched into it.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I breathed with wide eyes.
“I wanted to.” The big guy shrugged and flashed me a small smile. “I
love my dog.”
“I love mine, too,” I chuckled. “Thank you.”
“Bring him by sometime,” Tonk said with a grin. “I’d love to see how
this armor fits.”
“Will do,” I promised as I shoved the pieces into my satchel.
I was completely elated as I walked home. Not only did I get Blar the
armor I wanted, but Tonk had thrown in a complementary collar. I wasn’t
sure how Blar would feel about the collar since he didn’t particularly like
wearing the leash, but I thought it was quite fancy personally, and I was eager to try it on him, along with his new armor.
I arrived back at the house just after dark, and I saw the girls and the
dragons spread out in the grass with some books in the middle of them. They
had some lanterns lit so they could read easily, and they leisurely turned the
pages while their other hands absentmindedly stroked the little dragons next
to them.
“Hey,” I called out as I walked toward the group.
“Hey,” Kas echoed, and she rolled over to look at me.
Blar came running over to me then, and he put his front two paws on
my leg and sniffed at my satchel.
“I know,” I chuckled. “I got us some meat for dinner tonight.”
The little dragon looked up at me and smacked his lips together.
“Sorry we’ll be eating so late,” I said with a frown.
“We had some fruit earlier to tide us over,” Asta told me.
“That was the surprise?” Kas asked. “Meat?”
“Hardly,” I told her with a smile. “Inger, Uffe, come here, please.”
The little dragons all came over and lined up in front of me while Kas
and Asta came to stand behind them and watch.
“This is for you,” I told Inger as I pulled out the pretty yellow ribbon from my satchel and held it out for her to see.
The little red dragon lifted up into the air and let out a little squeal as
she pushed her face against my hand.
“I think she likes it,” Kas chuckled.
“It’s beautiful,” Asta said, and I handed the ribbon to her.
“Asta, would you tie it on her, please?” I asked.
“Of course,” the elf girl said, and Inger landed on her shoulder.
“Next is Uffe,” I said as I pulled out the small leather band that would
serve as his own little fancy collar.
The little boy twin inspected the piece in my hand, smiled at me, then
straightened his neck for me to put it on him, but Kas was already crouched
down and ready, so I handed her the piece to put on him.
“Last but not least,” I said as I pulled out the collar for the little blue
dragon. “Blar.”
I held out the collar to him, and he grinned wide and preened as he
exposed his neck for me to attach the collar.
“They’re all so cute,” Asta giggled after they all had their new
collars
on.
“That’s not all, though.” I grinned. “Blar couldn’t go and fight without
a little protection, so I got him these.”
I pulled out the breast and back plate from my satchel, and the little
dragon’s blue eyes went wide before he leapt up into the air and swirled
around me as he squealed with excitement.
I laughed and crouched down so I could put them on him, and once
they were on, he strutted around like a peacock. Then he took off into the air
and made a few laps around our little home.
“That was a great idea,” Kas told me with a smile.
“Yes,” Asta agreed. “He’s definitely ready now.”
I nodded but inwardly was still terrified for my little dragon.
He was as ready as he could be, now he just had to prove it.
Chapter 30
The next day, I woke up before everyone else and decided to make a
large breakfast for the group, since it was a special day and I wanted to make
sure Blar had plenty of energy. After some thought, I made some oats and
fruit because I didn’t want to make anything too heavy that might make Blar
sleepy instead of energized.
Just as the oatmeal was done, Blar came out of the house and wandered
over to me by the fire. He put his front paws on my knee, and I reached down
and stroked under his chin.
“You ready for today?” I asked the little dragon, and he looked at me
and nodded his head.
I was worried about the tournament, but I knew there was nothing I
could do at this point. He was going to perform his best, and that was the
most I could ask for. He was as prepared as I could have made him, and I had
to have faith he would pull through.
A lot was riding on this tournament. If we prevailed, then the council
would bring Blar to Odin and pitch their idea about the dragons helping us
with the war with the Frost Giants. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen
if Blar didn’t succeed, but I knew it would just make it take longer to get
dragons back to Asgard, and with the dragon trade as it was, I didn’t want to
wait any longer than I had to.
“There you are,” Kas said as she and Asta came out of the house with
Inger and Uffe at their feet.
“I figured I’d get started on some breakfast,” I chuckled as the girls
came over and sat down across from the fire.
“Blar.” Asta smiled as she looked at the dragon. “Are you excited for