by Logan Jacobs
couple of times, and the little red dragons nodded their heads in agreement.
“Okay, your turn.”
I first had Blar go to Kas, and the little blue reptile sat across her
shoulders and nestled in her blonde hair as he watched his new companions
practice. After he was out of the way, I ordered the twins to my shoulders
first, and they quickly obliged and smiled at me with little proud looks on
their faces.
“Good job,” I chuckled, and I reached up to scratch them under their
chins.
Uffe leaned into my finger so I could get a deeper scratch, but Inger
just preened and began to rub her whole face against my hand as she let out a
little purring noise.
“Okay, now right!”
I’d caught the little reptiles slightly off guard, but they quickly
recovered and jumped down from my shoulders so they could dart to the right as Blar had done before. It had been my plan to try and catch them off guard,
though, and they passed the test easily. When we were in another world, there
could be a lot going on, and they needed to be aware and listen to me at all
times.
After a few more drills, I was satisfied they were ready to go on a little
adventure. I’d make sure we stayed close to the portal, though, in case
anything went wrong.
“I think you’re ready,” I told the twins after I’d gathered all three little
dragons in a line once more.
Blar turned to his companions with a proud look, and they all smiled
and looked back up at me.
I leaned down, then, and looked each of the twins in their bright purple
eyes. “It’s really important that you listen to me when we’re out, okay. I
don’t want you to get hurt, do you understand?”
The little dragons nodded, and Inger walked over to rub her head
against my ankle.
“So,” Kas said from behind me, and I turned to see the silly grin she
had on her face. “Does that mean they’re ready?”
“It does,” I agreed with a playful eye roll.
“Then I’ll go get ready,” the strawberry-blonde laughed, and then she pranced off toward the house.
I looked down then and realized the twins would need a disguise and
leashes just like Blar did, but I wasn’t sure having three dogs that looked
exactly the same would be any less suspicious than a dog and two dragons
running around Asgard.
“What’s wrong?” Asta asked when she saw my frown.
“We need to figure out how to disguise the twins,” I said. “We used the
essence of my neighbor’s dog last time, but that’s still what Blar’s
enchantment looks like, and I don’t want them to all look the same.”
“Oh, I see,” the elf girl said, and she bit her lip before she started to
look around the courtyard.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“I do have some magic,” she answered. “So, I’m looking to see if there
is any way I can help with this.”
“That’s right,” I said. “I guess I haven’t really asked you about your
powers, though. What are they?”
“It’s okay,” she assured me and smiled. “I have some persuasion and
nature powers.”
“Persuasion I get,” I chuckled. “But what exactly does nature powers
mean?”
“It means I can control some things about nature,” she said with a
shrug. “Like I can have some influence on the weather or plants. It’s not
extremely powerful, but it’s gotten me out of some bad situations a time or
two.”
“I think any sort of magic is incredible,” I told her. “I’ve never had
magic myself, so I’ve always been fascinated by it.
“You have magic,” the white-haired elf girl laughed. “Your magic is
much stronger than mine even.”
“How would you know that?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
“I can feel it,” she said, as if it were a given. “I’m an elf, we can sense
things around us, that’s why we have nature powers to begin with.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, my magic is still pretty new, I guess.”
I hadn’t even been sure my connection to dragons was actually magic
up until that point. I guess I’d been lying to myself since it seemed so strange
for me to develop magic after so many years, and the bond I had with the
dragons seemed so natural. Nothing about it seemed mystical to me, it just
felt right.
“What’s going on?” Kas asked as she came back over to where Asta
and I stood. The blonde now had on her black tunic and armor, and her sword
hung at her hip.
“We’re trying to figure out how to disguise the twins,” Asta said with a
frown. “I was trying to think of a way to use my nature magic, but I’m afraid
I’m out of my depth when it comes to illusions.”
“Don’t worry.” Kas smirked. “Illusions are kind of my specialty.”
“But we’ll have to find more dog hair,” I said. “We can’t have them all
looking the same.”
“They won’t,” Kas said with a shake of her head. “And with our bond,
I believe I no longer need the essence of the animal, I can create the illusion
from my mind. We just have to decide what we want them to look like.”
“Our bond allows you to eliminate entire elements of spells?” I asked,
and my eyes were wide with disbelief.
“The fur is only there to make the spell easier.” Kas shrugged. “Most
master sorcerers who specialize in illusions are able to complete them
without having a specific animal or thing present. I’ve basically just been
promoted to master level since we’ve bonded.”
“It gives you that much more power?” Asta asked, and she eyed Kas
curiously.
“Yes.” The blonde nodded. “Well, I haven’t fully exercised my new
skills, but I can feel the extra power coursing through me. It’s really
incredible.”
“Interesting,” the elf girl murmured almost to herself, but then I caught
her glance at me out of the corner of her eye.
“So, what do you need to do the spell?” I asked.
“I just need them.” Kas smiled and gestured to the twins at my feet.
“You two ready to be disguised?” I asked, and the little dragons stood
up and looked at me with curious purple eyes.
“Alright,” Kas laughed, and the twins walked over to her and sat down
at her feet.
Kas closed her eyes and started to whisper to herself as the dragons
and Asta watched in awe. A vibrant red dust of sorts began to swirl around
the blonde, then it spiraled down to the twins and enveloped them as they
turned their heads and tried to watch it go round and round. After a few
seconds, they seemed to disappear entirely, then the red dust burst into
nothingness, and Kas opened her eyes once more.
“They don’t look any different,” Asta mused, and her eyebrows
pinched together in confusion.
“Can we see?” I asked Kas with a chuckle. Asta’s comment reminded
me of when Kas had first put the enchantment on Blar, since I’d been
confused as well.
“Asta, come here,” Kas said with a gesture of her arm. Then she waved her hand in front of the twins, and instead of two small d
ragons, in their place
stood two small dogs.
Uffe was disguised as a little black dog with short, wiry fur, dark
brown eyes, and a long, fluffy tail, and Inger was a small white dog with
long, sleek fur that hung down in an elegant manner. Her little green bow was
still on her in dog form, and it only added to the illusion that she was a
beautiful little dog with the same proud attitude she had as a dragon.
“Incredible,” Asta breathed. “They look so real.”
“Thanks,” Kas chuckled as she waved her hand, and suddenly the twin
red dragons were back in front of us.
“You are a great sorceress,” Asta praised with a smile.
“It’s all thanks to my bond with Rath,” the blonde said, and she smiled
at me.
“That’s not true,” I argued. “You were pretty incredible to begin with.”
“Maybe a little,” the blonde said, and she flashed me a wink.
“Now that they’re ready, should we find a portal?” Asta asked as she
bounced up and down on her toes in excitement.
“I found one for us to head to,” Kas said.
“Perfect,” I agreed. “I just need to find some leashes for these two.”
“I grabbed some rope from in the house,” Kas said, and she pulled
some brown rope from her satchel. “Will this work?”
“Thanks,” I told her with a smile, and I leaned down to tie the ropes
around the little dragons.
Uffe sat quietly and allowed me to put his leash on, but his sister was
not so compliant. She huffed and rolled her eyes at me the whole time, and I
was starting to see why she and Blar got along so well.
I let Kas walk with Blar, and Inger skipped along with Asta, so Uffe
walked with me as we made our way to the countryside where the portal was.
As we walked, the twins checked out their new surroundings, and their eyes
were wide with awe.
Inger darted back and forth on the path and sniffed everything while
Uffe calmly looked around as we walked. The twins were already so different
for being just a few hours old, and I wondered how it would affect their
abilities later on. Would they have the same powers or would they be
opposite like their personalities?
I smiled at our little troop as we walked, but soon enough we had
reached the portal, and the little dragons stared at the swirling pool of air with
large purple eyes of curiosity.
“Up,” I said, and once everyone was on somebody’s shoulder, I turned
to look at my women and my dragons. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Kas said, and Blar nodded on her shoulders.
“Ready,” Asta agreed, and she reached for my hand while Inger smiled
and clung tightly to her shoulders.
I looked to Uffe on my shoulders, then, and the little dragon smiled
sweetly and nodded his little red head.
“Let’s go.” I grinned, grabbed both the girls’ hands, and jumped
through the portal.
Chapter 18
When I first opened my eyes on the other side of the portal, I was
blinded by a brilliant white light. I squinted and waited for my eyes to adjust,
and then I looked up to see a sky filled with soft yellows and pinks and a
bright white orb in the center of it that was more beautiful than any sun I’d
ever seen in my travels.
“Oh, Odin,” Kas breathed, and I turned to see her and Asta stare up at
the sky in shock.
It truly was breathtaking. The sky was beautiful, but the more I looked
around, the more stunned I was by the beauty all around me. We were in a
field of sorts, with yellow, soft grass that reached up to my shins and swayed
slightly with a sweet-smelling breeze that seemed to come from nowhere. I
reached down and stroked the grass with my hand. It was as soft as silk, and
just the feel of it on my fingers was incredibly comforting. To our left was a
grove of trees, all a soft tan color with vibrant flowers in shades of orange
and red, and strange light green fruits hung down just low enough so one
could easily reach up and take what they desired. The breeze fluttered
through the trees and carried a sweet and delicate scent over to me, and the
smell was so calming my eyes closed as I breathed in.
To my right was a valley, and when I walked over to peer just over the
edge of the hill, I could see the yellow grass below us spread out for an eternity. I felt so incredibly at home as I stared out at the vast expanse of this
new world that I nearly forgot everything else around me.
“Where are we?” Asta asked, and she and Kas came to stand on either
side of me.
“I don’t know,” I whispered as I continued to take in the gorgeous
sight before my eyes.
“I almost thought it was your home world,” Kas said to Asta.
“It does remind me of your world,” I agreed. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It is,” Asta said with a nod, and Inger leaned out from her shoulder to
stare into the expanse of yellow grass
“This is your home?” Kas asked in confusion, and I turned to Asta as
well for clarification.
“No, it’s not my home world.” Asta shook her head. “Just similar. I
don’t know where we are. This is unlike any world I’ve ever heard of.”
“Unlike any world… ” Kas murmured, and she trailed off as she
looked down while her eyebrows pinched together. Then her eyes widened,
and she looked at Asta and me with a knowing but shocked expression. “I-I
think I know where we are.”
“Where?” I asked, and I was eager to understand this beautiful and
enchanting place.
“We must be in Vanaheim,” Kas breathed, and she looked all around
us.
“The home of the Vanir?” Asta asked.
“I think so,” Kas agreed.
“This place doesn’t fit any of the other worlds,” I said as I looked
around. “But what does Vanaheim look like?”
“That’s the thing,” Kas explained, “nobody knows.”
“You mean… we’re the first to travel here?” I asked.
“I think so,” the sorceress answered with a soft smile. “At least the first
in centuries.”
“Even my people do not know what Vanaheim looks like,” Asta
mused. “We only know of the Vanir Gods and their great powers. I believe
you’re right, this must be their home.”
I looked around once more at the enchanting trees, grass, and sky, and
I thought Kas had to be right. This must be the home of the Vanir Gods. Who
else could create such a divine space?
The girls and I started to walk around the field, and we inspected each
area closely. Everything seemed so soft and delicate, and I wanted to feel it
but also to be it. I wanted to encompass myself with everything around me.
The smell from the breeze became more powerful as I walked around, and I found myself closing my eyes and following the scent to the trees. The little
dragons had jumped from our shoulders already, and as they darted around
the area wildly, their movements seemed so out of place from the calmness
that enveloped us all. Eventually, I had to look away from them, since they
moved so quickly and my eyes couldn’t stand it. Everything else was so
calm, and I needed myself to
be calm, too.
I walked for what seemed like forever, and I could hear Kas and Asta
behind me. Their beautiful high-pitched voices sounded like bells and only
added to the beauty of this new world. We were the first to see this realm in
centuries, and I wasn’t going to squander our opportunity to explore. So, I
walked and walked until my legs wobbled and I could no longer stand, then I
leaned against a tree and sank down to the ground.
The yellow grass grazed my legs and hands, and I stroked it slowly. Its
thick blades felt almost like fur, as if I were on top of a giant cat that carried
this world on its back. I laughed at the thought, but continued to stroke the
grass. It felt so good under my fingers, and no matter if there was wind or not
it seemed to always sway ever so gently, like a rocking motion that reminded
me of the chairs used to soothe infants.
My stomach also felt so completely satisfied, like I’d just eaten the
best meal I’d ever had in my life, though I knew I hadn’t eaten anything at all
besides breakfast. Still, I could taste the remnants of something sweet, like a kiss from Kas or Asta, and the taste of it made me close my eyes and savor
the feel of my tongue in my mouth. My whole body was so relaxed I could
barely move anymore, and the only muscles I could manage to bend to my
will were the ones that brought a soft and loopy grin to my face. My body
tingled with pleasure as the grass brushed against me in a continuous
movement of left, right, left, right, and I imagined the cat the world was on
was walking slowly and finding a place to lay down its head for the evening.
Was it evening? The sky had yet to change in all the time I’d walked.
But I’d only walked a short while. Or was it a long while? I couldn’t recall,
the only thing I could feel was the soft breeze on my face and the yellow
grass against my hands and legs.
I felt so calm as I leaned against the tree trunk and allowed myself to
sink deeper into the grass around me, and I stared up at the yellow and pink
sky and lost myself entirely. The white orb seemed to pull me in, and it
swirled around with the pink and yellow to create a dance of colors just in
front of my eyes. I couldn’t look away, I didn’t want to look away, I was so
consumed by the colors and the scents and the feel of everything around me.
White turned to yellow which turned to pink, then back to white, and
