by Logan Jacobs
“Okay, what do I do?” the gorgeous elf girl asked.
“Here,” I said, and I took the fish out the net, quickly severed their spinal cords with my dagger, and set them next to Blar on the shore.
The little blue dragon sniffed the air before his eyes opened, and he licked his lips when he spotted the fish a few feet away from him.
“Don’t even think about it,” I chastised, and he rolled his eyes and turned away from me.
“He’s so funny,” Asta giggled.
“He’s a brat is what he is,” I teased, and I turned back to the elf girl and handed her the net. “Just lower it into the water and try and guide it in front of the fish before they come by.”
“That sounds easy enough,” Asta chirped as she took the net.
I could see the focus on her face as she lowered the device into the water and carefully moved it around the small stream. I was surprised she hadn’t done much fishing when she lived in the woods alone, but it seemed she’d survived mostly on foliage rather than meat. She wasn’t exactly a hunter, she was more of an herbalist, which was fine, but it also made me think she hadn’t been getting nearly enough protein when she was on her own.
Suddenly, Asta let out a little squeal as she lifted the net up. Inside were two very small fish, and she turned around to show me her catch with a huge smile on her face.
“Very good,” I chuckled. “These are a bit small to cook, though, and there will be a lot of bones. Try again, and this time wait for the larger fish.”
“Right.” Asta nodded and put the net back in the water to release the fish she caught. Then she spun the net around and moved it carefully through the water as she waited for larger fish to show up.
That was one thing I always liked about Asta, she wasn’t afraid to take any sort of criticism. She was an incredibly kind and sensitive soul, but she didn’t get upset when I told her something wasn’t quite right. She always understood my words were only intended to help her, and not to diminish her in any way.
Her fishing had been a good effort, especially for a first try, and I was sure she’d have no problem catching a couple of larger fish once they came along.
While Asta worked the net, I sat on the bank and let my feet soak in the water. The small fish swam by and occasionally nibbled at my toes, which was oddly relaxing. The sun was growing higher in the sky, but it was still early out, and it was still summertime, so the days were particularly long at the moment, which meant we’d have plenty of daylight to look around the area of Alfheim marked on the map.
I pursed my lips as I thought about what Asta had said the day before. She noted where we were headed was the wealthy part of Alfheim, and I thought about what a stark contrast that must be from the part we’d been in last.
The dealer we’d taken out the other day had been in the filthiest, most run-down area of a realm I’d ever seen. I’d gone to battle in several realms, too, and I’d never seen one in such poor shape as that section of Alfheim.
Then again, the man in charge didn’t exactly fit the area. Before we’d killed him, he’d had long, curly orange hair, a high-pitched, effeminate voice, and incredibly fancy clothes that looked out of place compared to the run-down barn he kept his dragons in.
My nose wrinkled when I thought about the arsehole, and I was glad he was dead. He’d been a powerful sorcerer, but not powerful enough to combat Blar and me. That sonofabitch couldn’t hurt anybody else from his position in Helheim, and I hoped the sorry sonofabitch had gotten dropped directly into Ove’s cage so the huge dragon could give him the welcoming he deserved.
“Rath, I got--” Asta lifted the net out of the water, but the fish inside was massive, and he flopped around with such ferocity he almost knocked the elf girl over.
Water splashed as I rushed over to Asta and grabbed hold of the net, and I got there just in time to catch the elf girl against my chest as she nearly fell into the water.
“Oh,” the white-haired elf girl breathed, and she looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you, Rath.”
“Anytime.” I grinned.
Asta bit her lip, and then she lifted up onto her tiptoes so she could plant her soft, full lips against mine.
I closed my eyes and grabbed onto her waist as she pressed her body against me. I could sense her desire, and it mirrored my own.
I slid my tongue out to trace along her bottom lip, but then the huge fish in the net jolted forward, and we were both knocked off balance.
Asta fell against me again with a laugh, and I quickly scooped up the elf girl and carried her to the shore.
“I did good, right?” she asked with a huge smile as I pulled the monstrous fish from the net and used my dagger to sever its spinal cord.
“You did great,” I praised. “This will feed all of us for sure.”
“Oh, good,” Asta said, and she stood up and grabbed her bundle of herbs and the other three fish I’d caught. “We should get breakfast going.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I also nearly forgot I put some rice on the fire. We should get back before it burns.”
“You probably weren’t counting on me being out here distracting you,” the elf girl laughed.
“I wasn’t.” I smirked. “But I’m glad you were.”
I followed Asta’s perfect hips as they swayed back toward home, and Blar trudged along behind us, and judging by his dragging feet, he was clearly still exhausted.
The little dragon had done a lot yesterday, so I would try my best to take it easy on him today, but I was also incredibly proud of him and his efforts the day before. He’d made a lot of portals, and some of them had been quite large. His teleportation abilities were getting more powerful, and I was excited to see what more he’d be able to do once he fully mastered his ability.
Before Asta and I even broke through the trees, I could hear the sounds of the girls talking and laughing.
Once we arrived back in the courtyard, I saw Eira, Kas, and Preyna were all gathered around the fire, and the beds were no longer in sight. Someone had removed the rice from the flames, and the faint scent of it still hung in the air.
“Oh, there you two are,” Preyna said, and she turned to us with a large smile. “We were getting concerned.”
“Well, Preyna was getting concerned,” Kas chuckled.
“We were fishing for breakfast,” I said as I held up Asta’s huge catch.
“Oh, my,” Preyna gasped, and her light-brown eyes went wide as she took in the size of the large water-dwelling creature. “That’s quite the catch, Rath. You must fish often.”
“It wasn’t me,” I laughed and gestured to Asta.
“Asta!” Kas chuckled. “You caught that thing?”
“I did,” the elf girl said, and she lifted her chin up and smiled proudly.
“It looks like it could have pulled you in and swam off with you for breakfast,” Eira teased.
“Oh, no.” Asta shook her head. “It did try to get away, though. Rath had to help me.”
“That’s still quite impressive,” Kas told her.
“I also got herbs to make tea.” The elf girl held up her bundle of foliage with a smile.
“That’s wonderful,” Eira said with a playful smirk. “But it’s not quite as impressive as the fish.”
“You haven’t tried this tea yet,” Asta told her with a raised eyebrow.
“That is true,” the redhead laughed. “But now I’m expecting it to be amazing.”
“It will be,” the elf girl assured her.
I shook my head and joined the girls by the fire. Blar followed behind me, and he made his way over to where the rest of the dragons slept near the flames to lay down next to them.
“Poor little things.” Kas shook her head. “They’ve been like this since we woke up.”
“Are they usually not so tired in the morning?” Preyna asked with a frown.
“No,” Kas said. “Usually, Blar and Inger are up playing in the courtyard. Uffe joins them sometimes, but
a lot of the time he sits with me while I read.”
“He is a contemplative little fellow, isn’t he?” Preyna smiled and reached down to pet the little red dragon’s brow.
Uffe let out a contented sigh, but he didn’t lift his head.
“I’ll try and take it easy on them today,” I said. “But that will depend on what we run into when we get to Alfheim.”
“Yes,” Preyna said, and her smile faded into a serious expression. “Where in the realm are we headed?”
“Asta said it’s the wealthy part of town,” Kas explained.
“Mmm, I know of it.” Preyna nodded. “The castle has dealings with elves from that part of the realm.”
“Have you ever been there?” Eira asked.
“Not personally, no,” Preyna sighed. “Though, now I wish I had gone.”
“I’m sure we can find our way around,” I said as I cut up the fish and put the pieces in a large pan.
“Of course, you’re right.” The beautiful sorceress nodded. “I’m just happy to be along for the quest today.”
“We’re happy to have you,” I told her with a smile.
Asta got to work on her tea while I cooked our breakfast. The sun had risen high, so I knew it was officially morning time, but the fish didn’t take long to cook, and soon enough, the food was ready.
I dished up servings of rice, fish, and vegetables for the dragons and set them on the ground. The little lizards all made their way over to their bowls and started to devour their breakfasts, and even Uffe and Svass ate with extra urgency this morning.
I passed out bowls to the girls as well, and after Preyna took a bite, she let out a little moan and turned to smile at me.
“They were right,” she said. “This is delicious.”
“I felt the same way the first time Rath cooked for me,” Eira laughed. “He’s far better than I expected.”
“I hope you’re only referring to my cooking,” I teased.
“Yeah, you were just as good as I’d expected otherwise,” the redhead chuckled and winked at me.
Preyna smiled at the joke, but then she looked down and ate in silence. It seemed her jealousy was a little more severe than I’d thought.
Once everyone had finished their fish and vegetables, I gave them some spiced apples and peaches to eat while they got ready.
“Do you always give out dessert after breakfast?” Preyna asked with a laugh.
“Not usually.” I smiled and looked down at where the little dragons were happily eating their fruit. “But I thought everyone could use a little something sweet to get going.”
“I think you were right,” the sorceress said as she followed my eyeline to the baby dragons.
“Do you have some armor to wear today?” I asked when I looked over and saw Kas, Eira, and Asta putting their armor on.
“Not necessary.” Preyna shook her head.
“We’ll need to find you something.” I frowned. “We can swing by the market on the way if we need to.”
“I have a different kind of armor,” the sorceress explained. “I cast a hardening spell on my body so I’m nearly impenetrable.”
“Oh.” My eyes widened at her words. “As long as you’re protected.”
“Of course,” she said, and her cheeks flushed with color before she looked away.
I excused myself and went into the cottage to get ready. I quickly found a black tunic I hadn’t worn in a while under the bed, and I slipped it on, along with a pair of black pants.
I also took a few moments to shave the sides of my head and braid the middle section of my hair before I put on my armor and weapons and made my way out to where the girls stood near the fire.
They were all ready to go, and they were the most beautiful warriors I’d ever seen.
Kas wore the dark-purple tunic that matched her beautiful violet eyes, and her mane of strawberry-blonde curls was half pulled back into a bun, but the bottom half splayed out wildly around her face and shoulders. She wore her steel armor, and her greatsword by her side, along with a pair of sandals that wrapped around her shins with a piece of leather. Her plump lips were parted ever so slightly as she looked at her spell book, but then she saw me, smiled, and put the book into her satchel.
Uffe sat by Kas’ feet, and the little dragon seemed far more awake now than he had been earlier. He looked up at me with sparkling purple eyes, and then he cocked his head to the side curiously.
I smiled back at the little dragon before I turned my attention to Asta. The gorgeous elf girl had her long white hair pulled back into two long braids, and some small strands framed her delicate features as she looked at me with glowing yellow eyes. She wore the short white tunic Kas had worn the day before, and it matched her hair beautifully. Her dark armor was tied over her clothes, and her sword hung at her hip. Inger was on her shoulder, and the bright red little dragon was a stark contrast to Asta's dainty white hair and outfit.
Eira’s long red hair was pulled back into a thick braid, and she wore a short black tunic under her steel armor. Her sandals strapped around her ankles, and her sword was on one hip while her dagger was on the other. Her piercing green eyes regarded me coolly, and a half smile was on her sweet, pink lips. Svass was with her, as usual, but this time the little dragon wasn’t curled up around her neck and instead sat on her shoulder.
Svass smiled at me so big her pink eyes closed in the process, and I had to chuckle and shake my head at her excitement. She was fitting in quite well.
Preyna was the last to catch my eye, but she was certainly the most breathtaking. The sorceress had somehow changed into a short dark-brown tunic that complimented her light-brown eyes and honey-colored hair. She didn’t have any visible armor or weapons, but I knew her hands were her most powerful tools, and I was excited to see what she could do with them. Since she was a master sorceress, she was able to perform many spells without using anything but her own magic.
Blar was strewn across her feet, and the sorceress absentmindedly stroked her foot back and forth against his fat little belly.
Preyna’s brown eyes caught mine, and a slight color flushed her cheeks before she licked her bottom lip and narrowed her gaze slightly so she could look me up and down.
I could sense her attraction, and mine was there as well, but I reminded myself we had other things to focus on, so I clapped my hands together and nodded at my team.
“Alright,” I said. “Is everyone ready?”
“Ready.” Kas nodded.
“Good,” I said, and I knelt down next to Blar. “You think you can muster us a portal, buddy?”
The little blue dragon rolled over to look at me, sighed, stood up, and shook his whole body. Dust flew everywhere, and I instinctively raised my hand over my face to shield my eyes from the onslaught of dirt.
“Blar!” Kas shouted as she and the rest of the girls lifted their arms to cover their faces as well.
The little blue dragon just smiled before he closed his eyes and made a portal appear.
“Thank you,” I said dryly, and he practically snickered as he jumped up to sit on my shoulder.
I grabbed the girls’ hands, and we all stepped through the portal and into Alfheim.
We landed on a nicely paved road surrounded by white trees with yellow leaves. The sun was high in the sky, and as I looked around, I realized I hadn’t seen this area of Alfheim before.
“Kas,” I said, “where are we?”
The sorceress already had the map out, and she tilted it so I could see.
“It looks like we’re pretty close,” she said as she pointed.
“We can’t just walk into wherever he was,” Eira pointed out. “We need to be careful.”
“Right,” I agreed.
“Kas and I can put an invisibility spell on us,” Preyna offered.
“Good idea,” I told her.
“I know one,” Kas said. “But we’ll need a few things.”
“Not necessary.” Preyna smiled at her. “Just giv
e me your hands and repeat after me.”
“Okay.” Kas took Preyna’s hands and closed her eyes.
Whereas Kas’ magic appeared as red sparkles, and Asta’s appeared as silver sparkles, Preyna’s was the same beautiful yellow color as her hair.
The red and yellow magic swirled together and then encapsulated all of us for a split second before disappearing.
“Did it work?” Eira asked.
“I assure you, it worked,” Preyna laughed.
I smiled at the master sorceress. Her abilities were already coming in handy.
Kas was wonderful with her magic, but she was still young and learning. Preyna had centuries of experience and training, and she’d reached an incredibly high level of skill that Kas hadn’t reached quite yet.
I knew the strawberry-blonde would get there in her own time, but I also figured it probably helped to have Preyna around to show her a thing or two every now and then. Part of me hoped Preyna traveling with us would become more of a normal occurrence, but I doubted it.
The sorceress had plenty of other duties to tend to with the council.
“This way,” Kas said, and she held up the map and walked straight ahead on the road.
Inger and Blar flew ahead while we walked, but Uffe rode on Kas’ shoulder, and Svass rode on Eira’s.
It didn’t take long before we reached a huge golden gate to the side of the road. There was a large white brick fence surrounding it, and even from the outside it looked expensive.
“Don’t tell me this is the place.” Eira frowned.
“It looks like it.” Kas nodded.
“How do we get through the gate?” Asta asked.
“I’m not sure,” Kas said as she glanced around. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and open it.”
“It’s probably locked somehow,” Eira said.
“Right,” the strawberry-blonde agreed. “And knowing these dealers, they can definitely afford a sorcerer to enchant it.”
“You’re right.” Preyna nodded. “They’d probably know the second we removed the lock.”
“What do you suggest?” I asked the sorceress. She was with us for the day, so I figured I might as well use her talents while I could.
