Dragons of Asgard
Page 17
need to find the right place.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “This world seems a bit too easy. I picked up
that massive creature like it was nothing. I can only imagine what the mortal
humans we saw are like when it comes to strength.”
“You saw their well,” Kas said with a smirk. “Their society is still
learning, obviously.”
“The world of fire was a bit too powerful for us,” I mused. “But this
world is too easy. Even if we did find dragons here, I’m not sure what they’d be like.”
“I haven’t seen any signs of them here,” Kas said with a frown. “In
Asgard, you can still find scales on the ground sometimes, even though the
dragons haven’t been there for ages, but here I haven’t seen a single scale.”
“Neither have I,” I agreed.
We’d been in Midgard for several hours already, and we had nothing
more to show for it than when we’d arrived, except for the knowledge I
apparently couldn’t train other animals, only dragons.
I was fine with that, though. I hadn’t necessarily wanted to be able to
train other animals, it was just a cool idea. There was something between
Blar and I, and I wanted to feel that connection again. Something told me I
needed to, I could feel a pull of some sort that told me I needed to find more
dragons. I wasn’t entirely sure where the feeling came from, but I refused to
question it.
“Should we head back home?” Kas asked.
“I think we should.” I nodded and held out my hand to her. “Do you
want me to take Blar?”
“Sure,” she said. “He was getting a bit heavy on my shoulders.”
“Sorry,” I chuckled, and the little dragon scurried down her body to
stand in front of me as she passed me the leash.
We continued to follow the green trail that led to the portal, and as we
walked, I thought about the other realms we still had yet to visit. There were
basically four worlds left we could visit since Jotunheim and Helheim were
out of the question. We’d already visited the world of fire and now Midgard,
so that left the world of the dwarves, the world of the light elves, the home of
the Vanir gods, and the world of fog and mist. There was still no way for us
to choose where we wanted to go, though, and it was possible we could end
up back in one of the worlds we’d already visited. I hoped that wouldn’t be
the case, but I’d started to realize this was going to be a longer excursion than
I’d originally thought. It could take months to find more dragon eggs, which
wasn’t a good thought when I considered how quickly Blar grew.
One thing was for sure, though. We didn’t know what the other worlds
had in store for us, and I doubted the beasts we encountered would be as
easily conquered as the ones in Midgard. We needed to be prepared in case
we got into another situation like the one with the snake woman. The worlds
left to visit were all magical to some degree, which led me to believe their
creatures would be far more powerful than the ones here that only had to
overpower weak little humans.
“What are you thinking?” Kas asked, and her voice brought me out of
my thoughts. “You’ve been quiet for a while over there.”
“Oh,” I said, and I shook my head to clear it. “I was just thinking we need to train some more. This world was easy, but it’s not magical like the
others. I want us to be prepared for whatever we come into contact with.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” the sorceress agreed. “I can look for some
other spells that might help us, too, and practice those.”
“That would be extremely helpful,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” the blonde replied, and she smiled back at me.
We both knew every time we entered a portal it was a risk. We didn’t
know where they led to, and our previous experience had taught us we truly
had no idea what kind of creatures we’d find on the other side. Still, we
couldn’t use the Bifrost to travel, so this was our only way to potentially find
dragons. We just needed to keep jumping through portals in the hopes we
could find some dragon eggs before the portals closed on us.
It might take many years before we found a dragon, but it was the only
way, and I was fine with that.
We were demi-gods, after all, and we’d live forever unless we died in
battle. I had plenty of time to find my dragons.
We finally neared the portal, and Kas and I grabbed hands and walked
through. I didn’t think holding hands was necessary, but somehow it made
me feel better. I wasn’t sure how everything magical worked just yet, and for
all I knew if we stepped in separately then we could wind up in two different places. Besides, I liked holding her hand, it was soft and warm, and I wanted
to bring it to my lips and feel it against them.
I also wanted to make love to her again, but that would happen soon
enough. For now, we needed to focus on our quest.
Midgard hadn’t given us the results we wanted, but it had shown me
most of the other worlds we would find ourselves in wouldn’t be nearly as
docile as this one was. We definitely needed some training, and that included
Blar. He listened well, but I wanted to see what else he was capable of.
The fire he spat had come out of nowhere, and I was sure he had other
abilities just waiting to be discovered. All I needed to do was work with him
some and see what we could figure out. It wouldn’t hurt for me to take a trip
to the blacksmith, either, since Kas and I might need some battle gear in case
we got into trouble again. Fighting creatures from different worlds was
nothing like fighting against other Aesir. It was much more complicated, and
some chainmail or bracers would definitely come in handy. I had a little bit of
coin saved up from my work with the warband, and I wouldn’t mind putting
it to good use if it would help with this mission we were on. I should
probably look into getting Kas a weapon of her own, too. She could make her
hand sharp like a blade, sure, but I thought a dagger or broadsword or
something might be of good use to her in a pinch. Especially if she was
unable to cast for some reason, I didn’t want her to find herself without a weapon.
This whole experience was new to the both of us, but I’d do whatever I
could to make sure we stayed safe while we wandered to different worlds.
There was no point in finding dragon eggs if it meant we got killed in the
process. We needed to make sure we were well prepared and protected.
Those were our two main priorities before we decided to jump through
another portal.
Once we were on the other side of the portal and back in Asgard, I
smiled at Kas and released her hand. She blushed and looked down for a
second, but then she clapped her hands and turned toward me.
“So,” she said. “It’s about lunch time, should we go make camp?”
“Not quite yet,” I said, and I looked down at Blar. “We’ve got some
training to do first.”
Chapter 10
Blar and I made our way back to the place we’d camped the night
before and practiced some small tasks while Kas ran to her fathe
r’s shop for a
bit to pick up some books.
“Jump,” I commanded Blar, and his little body bounced up to my
waist.
He had quite an impressive jump for how small he was, but I had a
plan in motion. The little dragon hadn’t used his wings yet, and I was
preparing him to try and teach him how to fly. I wasn’t sure if it was
something I could teach him or something he’d have to learn on his own
when he got older, but I figured it was worth a try.
“Good job,” I told him, and then I gave him a small piece of bread as a
reward.
We’d practiced his run, jump, fire breath, and him holding onto my
shoulder as I maneuvered my axe while Kas was gone, but the sun had sunk
low on the horizon, so I figured it was time for a rest. I started a fire and was
about to go to the river to fish for our dinner when Kas came through the
trees. She carried a large bag with her that looked quite heavy, so I rushed
over to take it.
“Let me help you,” I said as I grabbed the bag.
“Thank you,” the blonde replied with a smile. “It’s not heavy, though.
My father enchanted the bag.”
“Oh,” I muttered, and I realized what she meant as I lifted the bag from
her shoulder. It was lighter than my own satchel, and I couldn’t believe I
hadn’t known such an enchantment existed before now.
“Bring it over to the fire,” Kas instructed as she walked over to the fire
pit, reached down to pet Blar, and then took a seat on one of the logs. “My
father sent me with some dinner for us.”
“That was kind of him,” I said as I took a seat next to her and handed
her the pack.
She pulled out several brown paper bundles and started to unwrap
them. One was filled with raw meat, another with uncooked rice, and the
third with vegetables. I waited for Kas to unwrap the fourth bag, but she
didn’t.
“This looks great,” I said with a smile. “What’s in the fourth bag,
though?”
“It’s a surprise for after dinner,” she told me.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “Shall I cook?”
“That depends,” she said with a playful smirk, “are you good at it?”
“I like to think so,” I said, and I flashed her a smug smile. “Just you
wait until you taste my cooking.”
“I continue to be impressed by you,” Kas laughed. “That’s good,
because I’m not much of a cook myself. The fish I made this morning is my
best dish.”
“That’s alright,” I assured her. “Did you bring any cookware?”
“I brought a pot and a skillet,” she answered, and she pulled them out
of the seemingly bottomless bag she’d brought.
“Perfect,” I said, and I dumped some of the rice into the pot, poured
some water in from my satchel, and put it over the fire. I turned back to Kas
then and saw she was smiling at me, and her violet eyes lit up with the fire
light.
“You look happy,” I whispered.
“I realized I made a very good decision.” Her eyes moved down to my
lips.
“Oh?” I breathed.
“Yes,” she replied. “It felt right last night. I wanted you. I wanted to
give myself to you. I wanted your seed in my womb. The reasons were many,
but now I see more.”
“So, you don’t have buyer’s remorse?” I snickered.
“Not at all,” she said as she gave me a beautiful smile. “We are
together, Rath. I am yours if you want me.”
“I think I already showed I want you,” I said.
“Yes, you did,” she purred. “A lot.”
“So, what books did you get?” I asked to change the subject a bit, or
else our meal wouldn’t get cooked because I’d be too busy fucking her again.
“I grabbed a couple on navigational sorcery,” she replied. “And one
about dragon sorcery.”
“Really?” I asked, and my eyes widened with curiosity. “Does it have
information about other kinds of dragons in it? Maybe we can find out what
kind Blar is.”
“I looked through it a little bit,” the blonde said with a frown. “It
mostly talks about the scales and dragons in relation to sorcery, I didn’t see
much about them as a species. I did try to find a book about them, but I didn’t
see any.”
“That’s okay,” I said, and I reached over and grabbed her hand so I
could lift the back of it to my mouth. Her hand was warm and smelled sweet
as I placed my lips on it. “I appreciate you trying.”
“O-Of course,” Kas murmured, but I could hear her breath had caught
from my touch. It was cute how nervous she still was around me, even after
what we’d done together and how we have spoken about our desires.
Kas was a good woman, and although she seemed to indicate she felt
lucky to have been with me, I also felt blessed by Freya to have the blonde
woman as a mate.
We were going to tame dragons together.
“You read,” I said. “I’ll cook.”
“Okay,” she agreed, and she giggled as Blar sat up from his spot by the
fire, walked over to her, and placed his front two paws on her shin. “What’s
up Blar?”
“I think he wants to lay in your lap,” I chuckled.
“Oh,” she said, and she patted the tops of her thighs. “Do you want to
come up here?”
The little dragon jumped right up and curled into her lap with an
audible sigh.
Kas smiled and reached for one of the books she’d brought from her
father's shop. She laid it out on her lap, and Blar followed along with her
fingers as she read.
Meanwhile, I worked on our dinner. I let the rice cook while I added
our vegetables to the pan and sautéed them over the fire. Her father had
packed some cabbage, onion, celery, tomato, and squash. They were all
mixed together already, just how I liked them, and I reminded myself to
thank him next time I saw him and bring him some fresh fruits and
vegetables from my garden.
If we were going to be out in the countryside this much, I’d probably
need to make a trip back home anyways. I was sure my garden needed some
tending to, and I’d need to gather up the ripe produce. I would pack some for
Kas and me, and we could take the rest to the market to sell it for some extra
coin. I’d also have to inquire with the blacksmith about some protective gear
and weapons.
Every now and then as I cooked, I looked over to where Kas sat with
Blar on her lap. The beautiful half Valkyrie woman was engrossed in the
book on her lap, and Blar seemed to be as well. I couldn’t see the pages to
know if there were pictures or not, but I figured there had to be from how
interested the little dragon was. Then again, for all I knew, he understood
how to read, since he was full of surprises.
After the vegetables were finished cooking, I grabbed some leaves for
us to eat off and placed the vegetables on one while I tossed the meat onto the
skillet. The rice was nearly done, so by the time the meat was finished,
everything should be ready.
The smell of the meat made my mouth water, and I heard Blar sniffing,
&n
bsp; so I turned to see him licking his lips in preparation for dinner.
“It does smell good,” Kas chuckled in agreement with Blar.
“It will be ready soon,” I said with a smile. “So, what have you learned
from your book so far?”
“I found a couple of spells I want to try in the morning,” she told me,
and her eyes lit up with excitement. “One of them is a protection spell for us,
and there’s also a spell to make us less noticeable to those around us.”
“That’s interesting,” I mused. I’d learned more about magic in the past
couple of days than I’d ever known in my life.
“I found something more interesting,” she added, and she held the
book out to me. “This part talks about how dragons can make sorcerers more
powerful, and it says if a sorcerer can find a way to tame a dragon, they have
the potential to be the most powerful of all.”
“Most powerful of all?” I asked, and I leaned down to read where she
pointed. Kas head read the excerpt verbatim, but that was all it said. It was
incredibly vague in that respect, and instead of going further into detail, it
went on about a soul binding spell.
“That’s what it says,” she agreed, but then she pursed her lips. “It
doesn’t give us much more than that, I’m afraid.”
“It probably means only those who are already sorcerers and can tame
them,” I said with a shrug. “I’m not magically gifted.”
“Maybe,” Kas said. “I’ll see if I can find anything else about it next time I go to my dad’s shop.”
“Great,” I agreed, then I checked the rice and realized it was done, so I
started to dish each of us out a plate. “Dinner is ready.”
“Thank the gods,” Kas sighed, and she slammed the book shut. “I’m
starving.”
Blar hopped down from Kas’ lap and ran over to one of the leaves.
“Ah, ah, ah,” I tsked. “Wait until you’re served.”
The little dragon glared at me, then sat down and stared at the leaves as
I finished dishing up the food. I handed Kas her plate, and then I picked up
my own and pushed Blar’s closer to him.
“There you go,” I chuckled. “Now, you can eat.”
If I’d let him choose his own plate, he would have immediately gone
for either mine or Kas’, and I wanted to be sure he got the proper amount of
food instead of enough to make his tiny stomach burst. He could eat like a