“I doubt there will be many guards below the castle.” Kas nodded.
“When should we go?” Asta asked.
“We’ll wait until nightfall,” I said. “Let’s get back home and get warm first.”
It was getting colder outside, and just as we made it to the house, it began to pour down rain, and the heavy drops soaked me in an instant.
Blar tried to hide under my braid, but all he managed to do was scratch the back of my neck, and he still wound up just as wet as the rest of us.
“Ahhhh,” Asta breathed, and I turned to see her with her arms outstretched and her face toward the sky. “I love the rain!”
The elf girl giggled and ran over to a puddle of water to jump in. She splashed around and began to dance in the rain.
“Join me!” Asta laughed as she ran over and pulled on Kas and mine’s arm.
I couldn’t be bothered by a little rain when Asta got so much joy from it.
The three of us grabbed hands and began to twirl around in a circle. The girls laughed, and the little dragons even joined in. Uffe lifted his head up to the sky and held his little tongue out to catch a few droplets of water while Inger and Blar flew up to the sky and began to play.
After we trounced in the rain for a while, we all hurried inside, and I shut the door behind us. Everyone smiled, but we were all quiet as we listened to the gentle patter of rain on the roof. The girls dried the dragons off while I started a fire for us, and once I had the flames going, then my lovers changed out of their own wet clothes.
Kas put on her long, bell-sleeved purple tunic she’d worn the last time we snuck into the castle, and I thought it was fitting she’d chosen it to wear again. Her curls were damp, and they frayed out from her face in a mass of reddish gold that swayed gently with every move she made.
Asta chose the long green dress she’d worn the day we’d met. The deep green complimented her pale skin and white hair, and her yellow eyes appeared even brighter in contrast to the dark color.
While the girls dressed, the little dragons all wandered over to the fireplace to get warm. Uffe curled up and laid down with his head on his tail and his back toward the fire, while Blar stretched and then collapsed in front of the fireplace. Inger yawned before she walked over to Blar, pushed on his stomach a couple of times with her front feet, and then laid down and used him as a pillow.
The girls came over and sat next to me, too, so we were all gathered around the flames and surrounded by the sound of the rain outside.
“You know what I don’t understand,” Asta said after a moment.
“What?” Kas asked.
“What does getting the water from the three wells have to do with saving the dragons?” the elf girl inquired.
Kas shook her head. “I thought about that, too. I can’t see how they’re connected, but I’m sure they are.”
I hadn’t really considered that, but the girls were right. There was no obvious connection between the two things, yet I trusted Nidhug wouldn’t steer me wrong.
He had no reason to hinder my quest, and every reason to help me succeed. It was his species in turmoil, so I imagined he wanted them out of slavery even more than I did.
There had to be a good reason why I was collecting water from the wells, and as soon as I finished, I would find out what it was.
The sun began to set outside, and the rain subsided. It was the perfect night for checking out the castle, and I didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary to gather the water, so the girls and I gathered up our armor and weapons and set out.
We stopped in the clearing where we’d cast the invisibility spell last time, and Kas pulled out some items from her satchel to get started. Then she laid a small bottle of ocean water, a little piece of paper, a white stone, and a rope on the ground in front of her.
“Alright,” she said. “Hold out your hands.”
Asta and I did as directed, so Kas turned her attention to the little dragons on our shoulders.
“You, too,” the strawberry-blonde sorceress told them.
Blar, Inger, and Uffe leaned forward and held their little paws out for Kas, and she wrapped the rope around all of our hands so we were tied together.
Then the beautiful sorceress put her head down and started to murmur something. After a few seconds, Asta joined in, and I watched as red and silver sparkles swirled around us before the small piece of paper on the ground began to burn with an invisible flame until it was no longer visible.
“Okay,” Kas said after a moment. “We’re ready.”
“Let’s get going,” I said. “I don’t want to waste any time.”
The girls nodded and followed me as I led us up to the castle, and just like the last time, Asta used her wind powers to blow the gate open so the guards wouldn’t detect us getting past them.
It worked like a charm, and after only a couple of minutes, we were inside the castle walls.
We stopped in the hallway and waited for one of the servants to pass before we continued on in search of the door to the dungeon.
The castle was massive, and since we couldn’t cast a spell to see inside it, we had no way of knowing where we were headed. All we could do was search for the right door.
After about half an hour, we’d managed to find the kitchen, a sitting room, and Odin’s study, but still no door to the dungeon.
Eventually, we came to a large hallway decorated with silver tapestries all over the walls, and as we made our way down it, I heard the sounds of women laughing.
The giggling grew louder the further down the hallway we got until we arrived at a large set of double doors that were partially ajar, and I glanced over just in time to see a naked woman walk over to the bed while carrying a large pint of mead.
She had long black hair that fell down her back, and her perfect arse was on display as she wiggled her hips with each step.
There were three more naked women on the bed, and between them was the blond God of Thunder himself. He was naked as well, and he smiled at the woman with the mead before he took the glass, smacked her ass, and pulled her on top of him.
The girls all giggled as they rolled around in the bed, and I shook my head and continued on.
“Who’s ready for round three?” Thor’s voice trailed off as we reached the end of the hallway.
Finally, we came to a dark hallway, and I saw a door at the end of it with two guards on either side. This had to be where we were headed. There was no reason for guards to be at any other door.
I turned back to the girls and nodded to let them know that was where we were headed.
We needed a distraction to get in, though, and I pursed my lips as I thought about our options. We were invisible, so using Asta’s power of persuasion was off the table, and I didn’t want to cause a scene and harm either of the men.
Kas tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to see if she had an idea. The strawberry-blonde pointed to Inger on Asta’s shoulder and then to the end of the hall back the way we’d come.
I understood immediately, and I smiled at her idea.
“Inger,” I whispered. “Go to the end of the hall and make a loud noise.”
The little dragon gave me a hard nod before she took off from Asta’s shoulder and headed back the way we’d come.
The girls and I pressed ourselves against the wall so we were out of the guards’ way, and after a moment we heard a loud crashing sound.
The two guards looked at each other, then back down the hallway. They were clearly confused as to what the protocol was, but I knew if we made a large enough commotion they would have to check it out. They were the only guards I’d seen in a while, so if they didn’t check on it, then nobody would.
Inger rounded the corner, but the guards hadn’t moved yet, so I waved her back the other way. She quickly turned around, and a moment later another crash sounded, this one even louder than the last.
The two guards looked at each other again, but a third crash sounded, and t
hey took off running down the hallway.
They sprinted right past us, and the girls and I quickly ran over to the dungeon door before Kas waved her hand over the knob to unlock it.
We opened the door and slipped inside as Inger made her way back down the hallway. The little red dragon flew toward us quickly, and as soon as she was through the door, I closed it gently behind us.
“Whew,” Asta breathed. “I was worried for a second.”
“We’ve been in here for a while.” Kas bit her lip. “We should hurry.”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “Let’s go.”
We were at the top of a long staircase, and though there were torches on the walls, none of them were lit. Instead, Asta cast sunlight to light our way, just in case one of the guards decided to head down to the dungeon and wondered why the torches were lit now when they weren’t before. I didn’t want to cause anyone suspicion. The whole point of the invisibility was to avoid Odin, or anyone else in the castle, knowing about our visit.
The King of Asgard didn’t know about the council’s plan to bring back dragons to Asgard, and I doubted he knew about my current attempt to fulfill the prophecy and free the dragons. I didn’t think Odin hated the beasts, but I doubted they liked him too much, so I could imagine he would be wary about bringing them back to Asgard after all this time.
If he found out about our plan before we wanted him to, it could be bad.
With Asta’s light leading the way, we crept down the staircase until we got to the actual dungeon below the castle.
The jailhouse wasn’t as large as I’d anticipated. There were cells on the right and left of a long, wide hallway, but I only counted five cells on either side. Odin could only have ten prisoners at once, if they had their own cells, and I found it strange he wouldn’t require more space. Then again, I guessed Odin wasn’t fond of keeping prisoners.
He’d rather inflict punishment the old-fashioned way, with a cut off head or a banishment to Helheim.
“The well must be around here somewhere,” Kas whispered when we saw the cells at the bottom of the landing.
“Ahhh!” someone screamed. “Leave me be, specter!”
“What the…” Kas started, and her brow furrowed with confusion.
“They think my light is a ghost,” Asta explained in a hushed tone.
“Apparently, they’ve never seen a ghost before.” The strawberry-blonde rolled her eyes.
“I’ve paid my debt,” the man cried out, and he came to the front of the cell on our left. Long gray hair covered his head in a mass of tangles, but he was balding on top. His fingers that gripped the bars were boney and bruised, and he had only three teeth that I could see, each more yellow than the last.
I glanced around at the other cells to see if anyone else was being kept prisoner, but out of the ten cells, only three of them were occupied.
The other two prisoners sat at the back of their cells. One was a woman who sat with her back to us. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and she rocked back and forth slowly.
The second prisoner was a young man who was curled up in the far corner of his cell, apparently trying to keep warm. He was younger than I, judging from his boyish appearance, and I wondered what he’d done to deserve a cell in Odin’s dungeon.
The old man shook his cell door, and it rattled terribly, so much so I was worried the guards would come down to check on him.
“Shut up, Filim!” the woman shouted suddenly, and the surprise of it startled me.
“You shut up, Rachela!” the old man yelled back, and then he turned toward Asta’s light. “There’s a floating light here.”
“Then go to the light, Filim,” the woman sneered. “But just be quiet.”
I got the sense the two of them had been down there for a while together, but that was none of my concern. I needed to find the well, and it had to be somewhere nearby.
I had Kas pull out the map, and we looked it over carefully. Blar leaned down to peer over my shoulder, though I didn’t think he’d be too helpful reading the map. The paper said we were right on top of the well, but we couldn’t see anything.
“Maybe it’s below us,” Asta suggested.
“What’s below a dungeon?” Kas huffed as her lips pursed into a thin line.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “But I don’t think it’s above us. Asta’s right. We’ve got to be standing right above it.”
“I don’t see any stairs that lead below us,” Kas whispered. “Or even a door.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, and I glanced around us. “But there’s got to be one somewhere. Everyone split up and look around. There might be a hidden door we’re not seeing.”
“Alright.” Asta smiled, and she and Inger turned around to check near the staircase.
Kas and Uffe started to check the unoccupied cells to the right, which left Blar and I to check the ones on the left.
I walked past Filim’s cell to the next one in line and went inside. It was strange being in a jail cell, even though I knew nobody was going to lock me in, but I didn’t turn my back on the door just in case.
The dungeon was made of brick, and I walked over to the wall and felt around to see if there was a hidden door.
Blar jumped off my shoulder and sniffed along the walls of the cell, but he didn’t seem to find anything, and neither did I.
I went to the next cell, and once again found nothing, but when I got to the third one, I sensed something was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew there was something magical nearby.
The entrance had to be in this cell.
Once again, Blar jumped off my shoulder and sniffed at the ground, but this time he stopped in the middle of the far wall and pawed at the wall.
“I feel it, too,” I told him softly, and I walked over to the wall and put my hand on it. The brick seemed solid when I tapped on it, but I knew something was there.
I pushed on all the bricks on the wall, and eventually one gave out under my hand. As the brick descended into the wall, a large piece of the wall next to it swung open. It was as I’d suspected. The door was hidden to look exactly like the wall, and nobody would be able to get into it unless they knew what they were looking for.
“Specter!” Filim yelled, and I rolled my eyes. “I hear you over there!”
“Shut up, Filim!” the woman prisoner yelled again.
No wonder Odin didn’t use his dungeon very much. It was completely possible someone could bump that brick on accident and find this secret entrance.
I peered into the darkness but couldn’t see anything, so I poked my head back out of the cell and waved for Asta and Kas to come to me.
“Did you find some--” Kas’ question was cut short when she saw the huge hole in the wall. “Whoa.”
“It must lead down to the well.” Asta looked past me into the darkness. “I can sense something is there.”
“Me, too.” Kas nodded.
“I could sense something as well,” I added. “Is that normal?”
“It’s normal for us,” Kas explained as she glanced at Asta and back to me. “Have you ever sensed magic before?”
“I don’t think so.” I frowned and shrugged. “Maybe when I met Nidhug.”
“That makes sense.” Asta nodded. “Nidhug called you to him. Maybe this well is calling to you as well.”
“Maybe.” I stared into the darkness beyond the wall.
“The spell is going to wear off soon,” Kas said. “We should get going.”
“Right,” I agreed.
Asta held out her hand and cast sunlight so we could see. Through the door was another staircase, and Blar ran over to it, looked back, and waited for us to join him.
I straightened my shoulders and followed Blar as he scurried down the stairs. Asta’s light illuminated the way, but there wasn’t much to see. There were only stairs, just barely wide enough for two people to fit on at the same time. On one side was more brick, and on the other was earth. Th
e stairs spiraled downward instead of going straight, and the constant turning almost made me dizzy.
The air became more humid as we traveled further underground, and the scent of dirt filled my nostrils.
“It feels like we’ve been going down these stairs forever,” Asta said after a few moments.
“We haven’t moved on the map,” Kas replied. “These stairs must just lead straight down.”
“Wait,” Asta breathed. “I can feel something.”
A minute later, a light appeared in front of us, and Asta closed her hand so the sunlight would disappear. Then we walked toward the bright light before us and stepped into a large underground room.
The ceiling, walls, and ground were all just red clay like dirt, and in the center of the room was a large well-made of the same material. The light shone out of the center of it and illuminated the entire room. It almost seemed more like a fire pit than a well, but I could hear the bubbling of water, though there was no stream near us I could see.
“We found it.” Kas’ violet eyes twinkled in the light as she gazed upon the magical well.
Blar scurried over to the well and hopped up to the edge to peer into the water.
“Wait.” Asta pushed her arms out to the side to stop Kas and me. “There’s something missing here.”
“What do you mean?” Kas asked.
“I don’t know.” The elf girl pursed her lips. “But doesn’t it seem strange there’s nothing else here?”
“Right.” Kas frowned. “A guardian.”
“There was one at the last well,” Asta said. “And Nidhug is the guardian of his well, right? So, where’s the guardian for this one?”
“Maybe Odin is the guardian.” Kas shrugged. “And that’s why it’s in his dungeon. He figured nobody would find it here, so he wouldn’t actually have to guard it.”
“Perhaps,” Asta agreed, but she didn’t sound convinced.
The girls were right, the other two wells we’d been to had guardians. Granted, the leopard was the only one of the two who didn’t seem to want me to get water from its well, but it did seem odd there wasn’t anyone here to protect this well. Especially since this one seemed to call to me in some strange way.
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