Dragons of Asgard

by Logan Jacobs

  “Thank you,” I responded, but I was still confused as to what exactly

  the meeting was about. “I’m afraid I’m still not entirely sure why you called me here.”

  “The three of us have long sought to bring dragons back to Asgard,”

  Preyna explained.

  “Why should I help with that?” I questioned curiously. “And why are

  you just telling me this now?”

  The way they spoke had me inclined to believe them, but I didn’t

  understand why they’d called me here to tell me they knew about the twins.

  Did they know I’d hatched them, too? They said they understood why I was

  suspicious of them, but I still needed more answers before I jumped on board

  with whatever plans it was they needed help with.

  “Long ago, there was an Aesir who had powers like yours,” Rinbar

  said, but his voice was sad, and his eyes glassed over as he spoke as if he

  were remembering something terrible. “Not exactly like yours, though. This

  man… well, the dragons seemed to fear him. But still, they would do as he

  said, and he was considered incredibly powerful.”

  I was intrigued by this story, it was one I’d never heard before. It was

  almost as if that part of Asgardian history had been wiped out from existence,

  since I didn’t think anyone knew about this man. Maybe Ramir, but Ramir

  knew everything it seemed.

  Still, who was this man that could tame dragons before me?

  “He tamed them?” I asked, curious to find out more about this part of

  our history.

  “In a sense,” Preyna agreed with a nod. “But it’s not like the way you

  have trained Blar. This man relied solely on terror to master the dragons.”

  I already didn’t like this man, and I didn’t care to be compared to him

  in any way.

  “What does this have to do with me and Blar?” I asked, and I was

  slightly irritated at the thought of someone trying to train my dragons with

  fear instead of compassion.

  “You are different,” Beyer said, and his blue eyes were still cool and

  collected.

  “We had to be sure you were not like this male before we could trust

  you,” Preyna went on, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly into a

  sympathetic smile. “The ending to the first story is not so great, and we

  couldn’t risk the same thing happening again.”

  “What happened?” I asked, and I glanced down when Blar leaned

  against my leg. He looked up at me, and his blue eyes were wide and curious.

  I knew he understood everything they said, and part of me wished he hadn’t

  been there to hear about this terrible man who forced dragons to bend to his

  will.

  “He… lost control,” Rinbar said, and he looked down at his feet.

  “The dragons rose up against him,” Preyna explained, then she took a

  deep breath. “It wasn’t their fault. They’d been so mistreated, and we tried to

  tell Odin, but he insisted they were too much of a risk to Asgard and the

  Aesir.”

  “You can hardly blame him for his decision,” Beyer said, and his eyes

  narrowed slightly. “Of course, it wasn’t the dragons’ fault they revolted, but

  the damage they did was irreversible, and Odin knew there was no way to

  control them after that.”

  “This man you spoke of,” I said with a furrowed brow, “he’s the

  reason dragons are no longer in Asgard?”

  “His mistreatment of them ultimately led to their banishment, yes.”

  Preyna nodded, and her light brown eyes met mine so I could see the sadness

  behind them as she remembered what happened.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There was no accident or

  random attack by dragons that had led to their expulsion as I’d previously

  been told. It was this man and the way he’d treated them. Dragons were

  sentient and intelligent creatures, it was only a matter of time before they

  would go crazy and rise up against such a monster. Asta had explained the

  way dragons were with each other, they rarely fought, and as far as I knew, in her home world there weren’t ever random dragon attacks. The elves kept

  their distance from the dragons, but they still managed to live peacefully

  among them for the most part. There was the dragon slave trade she’d told us

  about, but I knew that was a small population of elves, not the majority of

  them.

  The dragons had done nothing wrong, they’d just risen up against

  someone who tortured them. I didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, I

  felt as though the magnificent creatures had been cheated when Odin

  banished them, but on the other hand, I could understand his stance. Dragons

  were massive and could easily be deadly if they wanted to be, and after

  they’d put so much faith in that man and been disappointed, they had no way

  to communicate with the dragons to know their natural inclinations.

  “We know this is not the story most Asgardians know,” Rinbar spoke

  up and interrupted my thoughts.

  “How did you keep everyone from knowing?” I asked. Preyna and

  Rinbar were centuries old, I knew that, but Beyer wasn’t, and there were

  others who were just as old as them who must have known about the dragons.

  “Odin ordered me to cast a spell,” Preyna explained. “It erased this

  man from the minds of the citizens.”

  “I’m guessing it didn’t erase the behavior of the mistreated dragons, though?” I asked, and I was angry that was the chosen course of action.

  “It did not,” the golden-haired woman said with a small shake of her

  head.

  “What was his name?” I asked.

  “We try not to speak it in case it somehow affects the spell on

  someone,” Rinbar said, and he looked at me hesitantly. “But you were not

  born when this occurred, and I feel you deserve to know. His name was

  Vinrar.”

  “Did this spell affect everyone?” I questioned.

  “It was intended to,” Preyna said with a nod, but I couldn’t help but

  wonder if Ramir had more knowledge than he’d led on and if it was because

  of his own magic.

  “Wait,” I said when I realized I’d gotten off topic. “You said the three

  of you have been trying to bring dragons back to Asgard?”

  “That’s right,” Beyer said, and I couldn’t help but stare at the scar that

  ran down his cheek as he spoke. “They were misunderstood, and we believe

  they could aid us in the fight against the Jotun.”

  “You want to weaponize them?” I asked, and now I was concerned this

  was the main intent behind their desire to bring back the dragons.

  “We do not wish to only use them in such a way,” Preyna objected.

  “We want dragons to once again feel as though they are welcome in Asgard,

  that it is their home. With that would come the desire to protect it, and we’ve

  already been impressed with the way Blar has been trained. He did well

  against the frost giants, and it’s undeniable dragons have an advantage over

  our enemy.”

  “Fire,” I said with an understanding nod.

  “That’s right,” Preyna agreed. “We would like for you to continue to

  train Blar and the babies you recently hatched.”

  “How do you know I hatched them?” I asked with a raised e
yebrow.

  “I don’t see how you could resist,” the blonde-haired woman chuckled.

  “But even if you did up until this point,” Beyer said, “we know you’re

  able to hatch them.”

  “Was Vinrar able to hatch them as well?” I asked, since I was still

  curious about the bastard who had gotten dragons banished from Asgard.

  “Not as far as I know,” Rinbar said with a shake of his head. “As

  Preyna explained, his dominance was based on fear. Yours seems to be much

  different.”

  “It is,” I confirmed as I raised my chin. I loved my dragons, I’d never

  abuse them or any others of their kind.

  “We know that now,” Beyer said. “But we had to be sure before we

  could come forth with this information. If you’d been like your predecessor,

  then we would have had to stop you, and that would have been easier to do if

  you were still in the dark.”

  “I understand,” I said calmly, and I did. What the council said made

  sense, and I couldn’t blame them for needing to know I wasn’t like this

  Vinrar fellow who came before me. If I’d lived through that, I might be

  skeptical, too, if someone new showed an ability to control dragons. Still, my

  bond with Blar and the twins wasn’t anything about fear. We loved and

  trusted each other, I didn’t know how to explain it, but I could feel it with

  every fiber of my being.

  “We would like to bring you to Odin and Freya,” Rinbar said. “But we

  need to show them you are different and that Blar is capable of helping us

  with the fight against the Jotun. Obviously, we understand he is still very

  small, but we would like to do a small tournament of sorts if you’ll allow it.”

  “Tournament?” I asked. “What would that entail?”

  “We could find some creatures for him to battle against,” Beyer

  explained. “If he proves himself, then we can take him to Odin and

  demonstrate his abilities.”

  “I see,” I said with a frown. I didn’t like the idea of putting Blar into

  danger, but I’d taken him into battle before, and he had to learn sometime.

  “We would give you some time to train him more, of course,” Preyna

  said. “And the babies as well, though they wouldn’t compete in this just yet.”

  “I don’t want any harm to come to Blar,” I said, and I pursed my lips.

  “We will all be nearby to watch?”

  “Of course,” Rinbar promised. “We don’t wish him to be harmed,

  either, we only want to test out his abilities.”

  “Blar,” Preyna said as she stood up and came down the stairs to crouch

  down and address the little creature. “I know you understand what we say.

  Would you be willing to take on this task?”

  “What do you think?” I asked Blar, and the little dragon looked up at

  me with a smile before he closed his eyes and nodded fervently.

  “I believe that is a yes?” Preyna asked as she glanced up at me.

  “I think so,” I chuckled, and Blar walked over to Preyna.

  The blonde-haired sorceress was still crouched down, but she stared at

  Blar with awe as he walked over to her and put his front legs on her knee.

  “He likes to be scratched under the chin,” I told her.

  “Wonderous,” she whispered, and she shook her head slightly as if to

  clear it. She scratched his chin then looked up at me with glassy eyes.

  “Forgive me, it’s been so long since I’ve felt a dragon’s skin.”

  “Blar loves attention,” I said with a smile. “Nothing to forgive.”

  “It is as soft as I remember,” Preyna murmured, and Blar rubbed his

  head against her palm. Then the woman cleared her throat, stood up, smiled

  at the little reptile, and headed back to her chair.

  “Is three weeks enough time to train?” Rinbar asked.

  “I can accept that,” I agreed.

  “There is another thing,” the black bearded leader added. “We have to

  present this to Odin carefully. He’s still very unsure of dragons since the

  incident, so unfortunately we cannot offer you much assistance with training

  at this time.”

  “Right,” Beyer agreed. “We need to keep this quest quiet.”

  “I can make sure we are discreet,” I said with a nod.

  “That means you cannot use the Bifrost to travel.” Preyna frowned.

  “We cannot have anyone hear of this and for it to get back to Odin or Freya.”

  “I understand,” I replied. “I know of other ways to travel, but I do have

  a question for the council.”

  “Of course,” Preyna said, and she leaned forward slightly in her chair.

  “The room you spoke of before,” I began as I looked at the three of

  them. “With the eggs and scrolls. May I use it to aid in my training?”

  It would be easier to train the dragons if I had more information on

  them as a species and their abilities. Rinbar had said they couldn’t offer me much assistance, but this way they wouldn’t have to do anything but allow

  me into the room.

  “I’m afraid Odin keeps that room heavily guarded after what

  happened.” Rinbar shook his head. “We cannot grant you access as it would

  be seen as too suspicious.”

  “That being said,” Beyer drawled with a smirk. “If you find a way to

  get in unseen, well, we wouldn’t be able to stop you.”

  “Your discretion in all things involving this quest is of the highest

  priority,” Preyna said, but she lifted her eyebrows slightly. She knew Kas was

  a sorceress, and I was sure as one herself she knew of plenty of ways to get

  into the room without being seen. That was something I’d have to discuss

  with Kas. The council couldn’t give me formal permission, but this whole

  mission was informal, so I couldn’t blame them for not being able to hand me

  a key.

  “I understand the concern,” I said with a slight bow. “I will make sure

  my team is discreet.”

  “Thank you,” Rinbar responded in a soft voice. “For coming here

  today and allowing us to explain. You’ve proven yourself to be honorable

  and trustworthy, and we are all happy to see dragons in Asgard again, though

  there’s only three at the moment.”

  “I’m happy about that, too,” I said with a smile. “I will make sure Blar

  is ready for the tournament.”

  “Good luck,” Beyer said. “And please, come to us if you need

  anything.”

  “I will,” I agreed, and I turned to leave, but Preyna’s voice halted me.

  “Oh, and Rath,” the golden-haired woman called out, and I turned

  around to lock eyes with her. “I’d like to see the twins whenever you’re

  comfortable with that.”

  “Of course,” I said with a smile, then I waved and headed toward the

  door.

  Preyna had grown so emotional over Blar that I knew she respected the

  dragons almost as much as I did. She’d been around when they occupied this

  land, and I was sure she’d interacted with fully grown ones. I couldn’t

  imagine having that ripped away from me. I knew my bond was different, but

  Preyna obviously loved the magnificent reptiles, and to not even be able to

  see them for centuries had to be hard on her.

  “What did you think of that?” I asked Blar with a laugh as we headed

  back
into town.

  The little dragon looked up at me and smiled. The meeting hadn’t gone

  anything like I’d expected, but I now understood why the council had done what they did before. That Vinrar man had soiled the idea of dragon taming,

  and I’d had no idea he'd ever even existed.

  As I looked at Blar, I couldn’t believe anybody could be so cruel to

  dragons. Asta had told us about the dragon trade in her world, but I’d never

  witnessed it, and she hadn’t gone into detail. Now, though, I wondered how

  often it occurred and how I could stop it. I didn’t want any dragons

  mistreated, not while I was alive to protect them. Just the idea of hurting one

  of these beautiful creatures was enough to make me sick.

  I shook my head to clear out the nasty thoughts and continued on our

  walk through the city. Blar was in good spirits, and he strutted forward

  happily, so I suspected his encounter with Preyna had given him a bit of a big

  head.

  We headed up the hill toward the hunters’ lounge, which was a large

  wood building that sat near the great halls, but on the opposite side of the

  street, and there was a large green symbol above the doors that indicated only

  true hunters should enter. I figured it wouldn’t be extremely busy this time of

  day, which was good, because when hunters got together and got a few pints

  of mead into them, you could barely get them to stop talking. Somehow, they

  appreciated the same story over and over again, but each time the catch

  would get larger and larger.

  I never understood hunters, but they never seemed to mind me much.

  They weren’t ecstatic to see me ever, but they didn’t shun me, either. I

  suspected it was because hunters were used to minding their own business, so

  as long as I didn’t cause trouble, I was of no concern to them, like a nearby

  deer they didn’t need to bag.

  The walk to the hunters’ lodge didn’t take long from the castle, and as

  we walked I enjoyed the sunlight and fresh air. It was a warm day, and I

  knew it would be summer soon, so it would get even warmer. I always liked

  the warmer months, they meant swimming and sleeping outside, and now that

  I had the girls and the dragons to share it with, I figured it would be the most

  pleasant summer yet.

  Once we arrived, I pushed open the wooden door and found the place

  about half full. There were a couple men at the bar who looked like they’d