“I’m glad you’re here,” I told her sincerely, and I put my hand on her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her softly.
Kas and Asta worked quickly to take the enchantments off all the cages, and soon enough, all the dragons were free. Even the old brown dragon made his way outside with the others.
After all the dragons were free, we went through the barn to see if we could find anything useful. Then Eira and I worked on getting everything into the cart. We managed to find some coins, though not as many as we’d found in the other cart, some elven bread and wine, and we took all the weapons and jewelry we could find as well. We also made sure to take a swatch of hair from each man in case we needed to disguise ourselves as one of them at some point in the future.
And whether or not Blar could make us a portal, we needed to make sure we had everything ready to go. I didn’t want to leave anything valuable behind.
It wasn’t long before Kas and Asta finished destroying the herbs and came to join us, and after we got everything loaded up, I stepped out of the cart and watched the dragons for a moment.
The purple twin females laid next to each other, and one had her neck laid across the top of the other’s back. They’d obviously missed being next to each other, and I thought about how Inger and Uffe would feel if they were ever separated. They weren’t very much alike, but they were still twins, and they loved each other, so it must have been torture for the two purple dragons to have been apart.
The two males, the emerald-green one and the golden-colored one, both sat near each other on the opposite side of the road as the females. I believe they wanted to give the girls some space, and they probably needed some for themselves as well.
The red female sat near the purple females and watched the babies play. Most of the infants had recuperated quickly since they were so young. They’d been scared, but everything was fine now, and they were babies, so they didn’t have to worry about the trauma the adults had been through.
Blar, Inger, and Uffe were in the fray of babies that played in the center of the dirt road that led up to the barn the dragons had been kept in. The babies all flew around and tackled each other, rolled on the ground, and made little growling and grunting noises as they did so.
The old brown dragon sat near the males and laid down so he could watch the babies play. I knew he was still tired, and probably sore, too, but he was happy to see the children out of their cages.
“It looks like everything’s ready,” Kas said as she came out of the cart with the rest of the girls.
“Great.” I nodded. “Now, we need to get these dragons back home.”
“Yes.” Asta smiled softly as she looked out at the dragons. “I’m glad they’re free now.”
“So am I,” I told her with a smile.
I let the babies play for another moment, and then I called Blar over to me so he could get started on the portal.
“Ready?” I asked the little blue dragon as he ran over and climbed into my lap.
He narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Whenever you’re ready. Don’t push yourself too hard, though. If it gets to be too much, we can always find another way.”
The little blue lizard rolled his eyes and jumped off my lap. Then he leaped into the air and held his body steady as he focused on creating a portal to the valley.
A small, familiar circle of air appeared in front of him, and it grew larger and larger until it was big enough for the girls and I to fit through. For a moment, I thought that might be as large as he would be able to make it, but the portal continued to grow.
I watched in amazement as the swirl of air became twenty feet tall, and just as wide. A fully grown dragon could easily fit inside, and a proud smile came onto my face.
“Great job, buddy!” I hollered, and Blar came back down and smiled at me as he landed on my shoulder.
The red female looked at me, and I nodded to the portal.
“This will take you home,” I said. “Follow us.”
I didn’t think Blar had fully mastered his teleportation ability yet, but this portal he’d made seemed to prove me wrong. It was huge, and even though he was on my shoulder, it still held up just fine.
The girls and I climbed onto the cart, and I waved for the dragons to follow us as we went through.
I’d never driven a cart into a portal before, but today had been full of plenty of firsts, and I didn’t think one more would hurt.
The familiar rush of the wind hit me as we went through the portal, but a second later we came out on the other side.
Blar’s portals didn’t always lead us exactly where we wanted to go, but as I looked over the top of dragon valley, I was impressed.
After we made it through, the red female dragon was next, and she and her babies flew through the portal and down into the valley.
The rest of the dragons followed suit, and last to come through was the old brown male.
The ancient beast stopped for a moment, and as I laid my hand on his head, I felt his gratitude. He felt safe for the first time in a long time.
“Go,” I told him with a smile. “Find your family.”
The brown dragon nodded to me, and then he took a step forward and narrowed his eyes as he spread his wings. A second later, he lifted off the ground and dove down into the valley.
It was the first time he’d flown in ages, and I took in the feeling of his exhilaration as if it were my own.
“They’re all home now.” Asta smiled at me.
“Not quite all of them,” Eira said. “Look.”
I followed the redhead’s eyeline and looked behind us. There was a baby yellow dragon who’d just come through the portal, only it wasn’t flying down to the valley like the others, and its vibrant pink eyes were terrified as it looked around anxiously.
“Hey,” I said softly, and I walked up to the small creature and bent down. “You don’t have to be scared anymore. You’re home. You can go find your family.”
The little yellow female lowered its head.
I frowned and reached out to gently place my hand on its back. I sensed her sadness and how lost she felt. Then I realized her mother must have died, because she felt all alone.
“Is it alright?” Asta asked as she leaned down to get a better look at the little dragon.
“Her mother is gone,” I whispered.
“You mean…” Kas’ voice trailed off as I nodded. “Oh, you poor thing.”
“What do we do with her?” Eira asked softly.
I thought for a moment. There was nothing I could do, except to take care of her myself. I wasn’t going to send her down into the valley if she didn’t want to go. She didn’t have any mother to care for her, and while I was sure one of the females would take her in, I got the sense she was too terrified to go down there on her own.
Blar scurried over to me and looked at me with large, pleading blue eyes.
I smiled and patted the little dragon on the head before I turned back to the little yellow girl.
“Would you come home with us?” I asked.
She looked up at me with shiny pink eyes, and she let out a little cooing sound before she nuzzled against my hand.
“I think that’s a yes,” I chuckled.
“Oh, good.” Asta smiled, and Inger jumped off her shoulder to sniff the small female.
Uffe came over as well, and the four of them sniffed and rubbed against each other in greeting.
The little yellow dragon was about half the size of Inger and Uffe, which meant she was newly hatched. The poor creature had barely made it into the world, and she’d already lost her mother.
I wouldn’t let that define her, though. She was welcome to join our group of misfits.
And with another dragon by my side, I’d become that much more powerful, and that much closer to accomplishing all my goals.
“Hi, sweet girl,” Eira said as she leaned down and held out her hand for the dragon. “Aren’t you beautiful?”
The ye
llow dragon preened and sniffed Eira’s hand.
“And now she’s home.” Asta grinned.
“Now, we just have to get all the other captured and terrified dragons out there home,” Kas said, and she bit her lip nervously.
“We’ll get them here,” I told her.
I meant what I said. There were bound to be other dealers, not just in this realm, but in the other realms as well. I didn’t care, though. I’d go to the ends of the earth for my dragons.
I stared down into the valley filled with dragons of all different colors and sizes, and I let their contentment, excitement, love, sadness, and fear all wash over me.
They would all be home soon.
I’d make sure of it.
End of Book 2
End Notes
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Logan Jacobs
Dragons of Asgard 2 Page 44
