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Dragons of Asgard 5 Chapter 3

Added 2021-09-05 20:56:39 +0000 UTC

“I knew you weren’t humans,” the man said through gritted teeth.

“And yet you were stupid enough to try and sell us your rocks,” I spat.

“Literal rocks.” Kas pressed her hands to the glass, and red sparkles covered the cases and then disappeared to reveal they were full of plain rocks and sticks disguised to look like jewelry.

“Oh, you’ve done it now,” the man said.

“Take us to the dragons,” I pushed, and I pressed my sword closer to his throat.

The man’s light-green eyes landed on mine, and I could tell he was planning something.

“Don’t you dare!” I snarled as I thrust my sword through his neck.

I was too late, though, and he managed to scream out “Gifford!” before my blade cut his words short.

“Shite,” I breathed as the pounding of footsteps filled the air. “Ladies, get ready.”

“Already on it,” Eira said as she held her sword at the ready. Svass flew up to perch on the redhead’s shoulders and stared at the curtains where the sound of the footsteps was coming from, and I knew the little fire dragon was ready for whatever came at her.

“Me, too,” Kas agreed, and she pulled her greatsword from its sheath as Uffe took his place right beside her.

Asta cast a quick spell to change her axe into daggers, and she crossed her arms and held them in front of her in a defensive stance while Inger swished her tail back and forth while perched on the elf’s shoulder.

“We’re ready, too,” the white-haired elf woman said.

The footsteps grew louder and louder until finally, a group of men burst through the curtains with their swords drawn. Their ears were disguised as well, but it was obvious they were elves, just like their friend here. Something about the way they looked was distinctly different from that of the humans. We all had the same characteristics, humans, elves, and Aesir, but elves were somehow… prettier than Aesir or humans. Their features were sharp, and their eyes were almost always a beautiful shade of blue, yellow, or green instead of brown like many humans had, but even their own magic couldn’t completely erase their beauty.

The elf in the front let out a loud screech as he raised his sword and rushed over to the four of us. I met him head on, and the sound of clashing metal reverberated through the room for a split second before chaos ensued.

One of Asta’s daggers flew right by my head to land in the eye socket of one of the elves headed toward us, and Eira leaped past my other side to clash her sword against her opponent’s blade.

Then large clots of dirt hurtled through the air, and I knew that was Uffe’s doing.

As much as I wanted to watch my women kick some arse, the two men I was up against were huge, and they were out for blood.

One was at least my height, if not taller, and built like a fucking tree, with huge arms and wide set shoulders. His mouth was curled into a sneer, and his long black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that swished to and fro as he rushed toward me.

The other was smaller, but not by much, and he looked like he might be the other man’s brother since they both had the same dark hair and light-yellow eyes.

While my sword clanged against the larger man’s, the smaller one tried to swing his blade at my stomach to slice me in half, but Blar was on him in an instant. The dragon went for his opponent head first, and one of his horns went through the man’s cheek while the other caught the guy right in the eye.

“Ahhh, what the fuck!” the man screeched as he dropped his sword and grabbed hold of Blar, but the little dragon wasn’t giving up.

Instead, Blar pressed his talons against the man’s chest, and he used his back feet to kick and scratch until the man’s torso was shredded down to the muscle as blood pooled on the ground below him.

I turned my attention back to the man in front of me, and his light-yellow eyes met mine as he gritted his teeth against the force with which I pushed against his blade.

“You’re stronger than you look,” he grunted.

“Wish I could say the same about you,” I sneered with a cocky smile.

“But not strong enough,” the arsehole said, and he yanked his sword downward so I had no choice but to pull my blade away from his.

Then, as soon as my blade was free, I swung it upward and nearly caught the elf in the jaw.

He was quick, and he managed to lunge backward before my blade could get him, but as he did so, he landed against one of the cases, and it shattered under his weight.

“You sonofabitch,” he growled as he pulled his now bleeding hand away from the shattered glass and gripped his sword tightly.

“Fuck you,” I spat as I lunged forward and whipped my blade from side to side.

He countered each blow with his own sword, but the strain on his face told me he was struggling. His hand was injured now, and it couldn’t be easy to keep such a tight grip with glass in his palm.

I could use that to my advantage, so I moved my sword left and right and up and down. The man was a good swordsman, and he countered each blow, just like I knew he would, but each strike took a little more out of him, and I could feel his sword begin to give out under my blows. I guessed he was losing his grip, so I pulled my blade back before he could recover from the last blow, and then I delivered a hit hard enough to shatter a man’s skull wide open.

The arsehole’s blade clanged loudly and fell from his hand to bounce on the floor.

“Guess you were the one who wasn’t strong enough.” I grinned and thrust my blade right through the man’s chest.

His hands instinctively reached for my blade to try and stop it or pull it out, but all that did was cut his hands up worse.

It was too late for him, anyways, and his light-yellow eyes met mine for a split second before he slumped back against the broken glass and fell to the floor.

I slid my blade back out through his stomach and glanced around at my women to see how they were doing. There were several elven bodies on the floor already, but my companions were each still locked in battle.

Kas swung her blade wildly at a tall, thin elf who tried to counter, but he ultimately took a wrong step and was nearly sliced in half by her massive sword.

Eira flipped her opponent over her back, and then she stepped on his throat before she leaned down to thrust her sword through his chest.

Asta had turned her daggers back into an axe, and she ducked the swing of some blond arsehole before she swung her axe upward to bury it deep into his groin.

The white-haired elf girl waited until the man fell to his knees, and then she yanked her axe from his pelvis and stood up to smile at me. Inger was still on her shoulder, and the little dragon looked incredibly pleased with herself.

Just then, a dark-haired elf with a large gash down his chest leaped up from the floor with his blade in hand. He was going after Asta, but I wasn’t about to let him get to her.

I quickly flipped my sword in my hand and hurtled it at the man.

The bastard barely had time to turn toward me before my blade dug deep into his chest, and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Asta’s bright yellow eyes caught mine, and her chest rose and fell heavily.

“Are you alright?” I asked her.

“Yes.” She gulped and nodded. “Thank you.”

“He came out of nowhere,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault, just be careful and make sure the coast is clear.”

“I will,” she assured me with a small smile.

“Blar,” I said, and I held my hand out for the little blue dragon.

Blar landed on my back a second later and breathed a stream of blue flames into my hand. My sword appeared in my palm a split second later, and I sheathed it and scratched under the little dragon’s chin.

“Thanks, buddy,” I told him, and he rubbed his head against mine and clearly forgot his horns were covered with blood.

I didn’t mind, though, I just wiped the blood off and gave him another scratch under the chin. He’d really helped me out with the two men I was facing, so I figured some chin scratches was the least I could do.

“Is that all of them?” Kas asked after a moment.

“I believe so,” I said as I looked at all the dead bodies around us. “We should still be on guard as we check the back, though. There could still be men back there.”

“Right.” The strawberry blonde nodded.

“Follow me,” I said, and I unsheathed my sword again and headed toward the curtain the men had all come through.

I could sense the emotions of the dragons nearby, and it felt like there were a lot of them. They were all feeling different variations of anxiety and terror, but I took a deep breath to steady myself, and then I pushed the curtain open.

There was a small landing with a desk and a bookshelf, and off to the left there was another door that hung open to reveal a staircase behind it. It seemed the men had forgotten to close it when they rushed upstairs to assist their friend.

“Be careful,” I whispered as I held my sword out in front of me and started down the stairs.

The wood creaked beneath my feet, and I could hear it creak even more as my women followed me down the stairs, but I just continued down until we reached the bottom landing.

The place was dark, and for a moment, I couldn’t see a thing, but then Svass breathed out a little yellow flame to light up the huge room. The underground area was twice as big as the shop on top, and in the dim light of Svass’s flame, I could see dragons staring at me through the metal bars of their cages.

I started to count quickly, but there were so many that I just stopped and stared for a moment. There were at least fifty dragons here of all varying shapes and sizes, and I could only imagine how long some of them had been kept in this terrible place.

The largest was a silver dragon taller than myself, and the beautiful red eyed female was crammed into a cage barely large enough to fit her in the corner of the room. She had to be at least several years old judging from her size, and when her red eyes locked on mine, I saw the hope behind them.

There were maybe a dozen smaller dragons, probably a year old or so, all in cages that hung from the ceiling, and they were spaced just far away enough from each other so they could get no comfort from one another.

Finally, there were at least thirty smaller babies that varied from extremely small, probably only days old, to nearly as large as the one year old dragons. These traders had obviously been building up their stock for a while, no doubt in hopes of training them all and selling them to the Elf King for a higher price than they could get from the humans.

I figured they could sell more to the humans, but the cost would be less since they didn’t have the disposable coin the Elf King had to spend on “pets.” This meant they’d need probably twice the amount of dragons to sell to the humans to make the same profit as they could selling half that to the Elf King.

The intense combination of fear and confusion radiated from the dragons, and it hit me like a wave in the ocean and made me sick to my stomach, but I took a deep breath and looked out at all the dragons around me.

“We’re here to help you,” I said. “You don’t need to worry any longer. We’re going to get you out of here.”

The large silver female in the corner tried to move, but her cage was so small she could barely turn around.

“I’m coming.” I rushed over to her with Kas right beside me.

Svass flew past me, and a moment later, several lanterns in the room were lit up so we had a good amount of light.

“Hold on,” the strawberry blonde told the silver dragon with a small smile, and she grabbed hold of the lock on the cage door and closed her eyes.

The crimson-eyed dragon watched Kas intently as red sparkles covered the lock and floated around her in a strange swirl of twisted wind. After a moment, a loud clang sounded as the lock broke in two, and I immediately yanked the cage door open.

Kas and I stepped back, and I grabbed the Valkyrie’s hand and gave it a small squeeze to show my gratitude. She squeezed it back, and we watched together as the beautiful silver dragon hesitantly stepped out of her cage.

The creature’s red eyes locked on mine, and she set her foot down carefully. Then, when she was finally all the way out, her reptilian mouth pulled into a smile, and she let out a little squeal and spread her wings as wide as they would go.

“I bet that feels so good,” Kas laughed and clapped as the dragon contorted her body to stretch her limbs.

Once she was good and done, the silver beast locked eyes with me, and then she ran right over to me and bumped her head against my chest.

“Whoa,” I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her long neck and stroked down her scaly skin. “You’re okay now. We’re going to get you back home.”

I couldn’t help but smile as the dragon nuzzled her head against me. But, after a moment, the great silver beast stepped back, looked at Kas, and then did the same thing to her.

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Kas chuckled as she laid her head against the top of the dragon’s.

“I think that’s what she’s trying to tell you,” I said.

“Right.” Kas smiled. “Well, you’re welcome then.”

The silver dragon let out another squeal and ran over to the cages of the baby dragons.

“Yes, let’s get them out of there, too,” Kas said with a nod.

“It was almost like she knew you right away,” Eira said as I joined her and Asta at the bottom of the landing.

“Dragons are incredibly smart,” I reminded her.

“And Rath has a connection with them,” Asta added.

“I do.” I smiled and then turned back to Eira. “I think she knew we were here to help her.”

“It certainly seems like it.” Eira pursed her lips.

“What are you getting at?” I asked.

“I’m just wondering…” The redhead shook her head. “How do dragons communicate? Do you think word is getting around somehow that you’re saving them?”

“I’d never thought of that,” I said, and I felt my eyes nearly bug out of my skull.

“You should ask her!” Asta grinned and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as she pointed to the large silver female.

“I can try.” I nodded. I was now able to see into dragon’s memories, if they wanted me to, which was nice since we couldn’t communicate in the traditional way.

Nidhug was the only dragon I could talk to, and even then, we didn’t talk normally, I just heard his voice in my head somehow.

I walked over to the silver dragon, who stood next to Kas as she worked on the locks for the cages filled with baby dragons. There were already a few cages undone, and the babies circled around the room and explored happily.

“I’d like to ask you a question,” I said to the silver dragon, and she looked at me with ruby red eyes and nodded. “Do you know who I am?”

The female pressed her head against my chest again, but this time, she shared her memories with me. One of the babies had seen us before. We’d freed him from some traders in Alfheim a few months ago, but he’d been caught again by these arseholes. When he arrived here, he shared his memories with the rest of the dragons and assured them that I’d be there soon to save them.

Suddenly, the same little green dragon landed on my shoulder, and I turned to smile at him.

“Hey, little guy.” I reached up and stroked his head. “You were right.”

He cooed and nuzzled my hand, and happiness overwhelmed me that I hadn’t let him down.

Just then, Kas broke the lock of yet another cage, and several more babies flew free.

“Does that mean I was right, too?” Eira asked as she eagerly bounded over to me.

“I suppose it does,” I agreed.

“Right about what?” Kas asked.

“Eira said maybe the dragons knew he was coming,” Asta explained with a wide grin.

“Did they?” Kas asked, and her violet eyes landed on mine.

“It seems so.” I nodded and gestured to the little green dragon on my shoulder.

“You look familiar.” Kas frowned.

“That’s because he is,” I said. “We saved him a few months ago, and when he got caught again by these arseholes, he told the rest of the dragons that we’d come to save them just like we saved him.”

“Well, it seems he was right.” Kas smiled and moved to the next lock.

“Yes, it does.” I reached up and scratched the little green dragon’s chin, and he let out a little cooing noise.

“He’s so sweet,” Eira said, and she held her hand out for him to sniff, but Svass took that opportunity to run down her arm and smell the baby for herself.

“I think she’s jealous,” Asta chuckled.

“No,” Eira protested. “I bet she just wants to play.”

Svass sniffed the little green dragon, and then she flew up into the air and hovered above us as if she were waiting for him. A second later, the green dragon took off, and the two of them darted to and fro across the room chasing each other.

“It’s nice for her to have someone her own size to play with for a little while,” Eira said.

“Yeah, I guess Inger and Uffe are a bit big for that,” Kas agreed. “And Blar’s gotten monstrous. I can’t believe how much he’s grown in just a few months.”

“He’s huge,” I laughed. “I can’t believe it, either.”

“I can’t believe the dragons actually expected us.” Eira shook her head. “I’m still in awe about it.”

“They’re so smart,” Kas noted while she worked on the next lock. “I guess it makes sense that word would get around eventually.”

“Luckily for us, actual words can’t get around,” I said.

“Oh, right.” Asta nodded. “The dragons don’t communicate by actually talking, so the elves can’t ever hear them.”

“Which means, even if the word about us coming to save dragons gets around, the only ones who hear about it will be the dragons.” Kas grinned. “The dealers will still never see us coming.”

“Exactly.” I smirked.

“Speaking of the dealers,” Eira said. “I know there’s still a lot of dragons to free, but we shouldn’t stay here too long.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “We can’t know when or who the Elf King will decide to pay a visit to, so we should keep our time at each place as short as possible.”

“I’m almost done with the babies,” Kas said. “But there’s still some older dragons hanging from the ceiling.”

“Asta, why don’t you help Kas?” I suggested. “Eira and I can look around.”

“Okay,” Asta said.

“That sounds good to me,” Kas added.

“Blar,” I said, and I looked around and found the little dragon sitting on the cage of one of the older dragons hanging from the ceiling. The two of them were looking at each other and mimicking each other’s movements.

“He seems a bit busy at the moment,” Kas chuckled.

“I was just going to tell him to stay with you two so he can make a portal when you’re ready,” I said.

“It doesn’t look like that will be an issue,” Asta giggled as Blar and the pink dragon he was playing with both stuck their tongues out at each other.

“They’re like babies,” Eira laughed.

“Babies who will soon be bigger than our home,” Kas snorted.

“Still cute, though.” Asta smiled and shrugged.

“Alright,” I said. “Eira, follow me.”

“Whatever you say, husband,” the redhead told me with a wink.

I laughed, shook my head, and then led Eira back up the stairs we came down. Once we got to the top landing, I rummaged through the desk while Eira made her way over to the bookshelf to see if she could find anything interesting.

I rifled through the papers on top first, but most of them were just poorly drawn illustrations for torture devices that were improperly named as “training” devices. I was just happy my team and I had stopped these areseholes before they’d been able to implement such horrific techniques.

In the desk drawers, I found some charcoal for drawing, more illustrations, and some notes about the different dragons they had downstairs. They referred to them simply by their coloring and described their personalities and what special skills they thought the dragons might have.

It looked like the large silver dragon was believed to have the ability to get her dragon fire so hot that it burned metal, so they’d put an enchantment on her cage to keep it from getting hot after she’d set her first one on fire and melted it into metal scraps.

“Anything interesting over there?” Eira asked after a moment.

“Not yet.” I shook my head as I opened the next drawer. “What about you?”

“I never realized anyone could have so many books about Alfheim and Asgardian history,” she said.

“History?” I asked, and my eyebrows pinched together with confusion. “They have history books?”

“Yes.” Eira nodded and held up one of the bound volumes to show me. “Like the ones we used to have in school, or that you might find in the public library.”

“How would they have gotten Asgardian history books?” I wondered aloud.

“Right, and what would they want them for?” she asked with a shake of her head.

Suddenly, an idea struck me, but it wasn’t a good one.

“Wait, I know exactly what they want the books for.” I pursed my lips.

“What?” Eira asked, and her concerned green eyes locked onto mine.

“They’re searching for any information about Vinrar and the dragon trade,” I said.

“Oh, shite.” Eira bit her lip. “You’re right. They’ve probably tried to find any small bit of information they could about Vinrar. They must be part of that society.”

“I’m sure they are,” I said, and I turned back to the desk and started to pull papers out of the bottom drawer. None of them were what I needed, so I tried both drawers to see if either had a false bottom, but neither did.

Suddenly, a small thud sounded, and I heard Eira gasp.

“Rath,” she hissed. “Look.”

“What is it?” I asked as I spun around.

In Eira’s hand was a large book wrapped in a dark green covering. At first, I didn’t realize what happened, but upon closer inspection, I noticed an area of brick next to the bookshelf had somehow folded down to reveal a hidden compartment behind the stones.

“What in the…” I mumbled as I walked over to the wall.

“I pulled the book, and then the bricks just slid down,” Eira explained as she rushed over to my side.

In the compartment was a small bundle of some sort of herbs I’d never seen before, a quill and ink, paper, and several small scrolls bound with thin rope.

“It looks just like a normal writing station,” Eira noted.

“Except it was hidden in the wall,” I said. “Which means it’s not meant to be seen by just anybody.”

“They have herbs here,” Eira said as she pointed to them. “The King sent herbs to the dragon dealers to have them burn to show if they were interested in dealing with him. Do you think those are the same herbs?”

“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “But they’re probably used for some sort of communication.”

“What do these scrolls say?” Eira asked, and she grabbed one while I picked up the other. “This one is just… a bunch of praise for Vinrar. It says he is the one true King, and that he will be crowned again.”

“Fuck,” I cursed, and I opened my scroll only to have my eyes go wide when I saw what was written.

“Rath,” Eira said, and she put her hand on my arm and leaned in so she could look over my shoulder. “What is it?”

“It says they’re having a meeting next week,” I said.

“Oh, my,” Eira gasped as she put her hand on mine and turned the paper toward her. “It’s…”

“In Vanaheim.” I nodded.

“Shite,” she cursed.

“We need to show Kas and Asta,” I said.

“Show us what?” Kas asked, and I turned around to see the two of them coming up the stairs with the dragons at their heels. “The rest of the dragons are back home, by the way.”

“Good, but we found a note that says the Vinrar society is having a meeting next week,” I explained.

“That’s great!” Asta grinned, and her yellow eyes lit up with excitement.

“But there’s a problem.” Eira shook her head.

“It’s in Vanaheim,” I said with a grimace.

“Vanaheim?” Kas gasped, and her hand instinctively reached up to cover her mouth. “We can’t go back there again.”

“That place is awful!” Asta agreed with a fervent shake of her head.

“I know, but regardless, we’ve got to go,” I said. “There has to be a way for us to travel there safely. This might be our only chance to see the society first hand and figure out what exactly their plan is to bring Vinrar back, and what they expect him to do when he arrives.”

“You’re right.” Kas clenched her fist and nodded. “We’ve got to find a way.”

“Didn’t your dad used to send things to the Vanaheim gods?” Eira asked.

“He did.” Kas nodded. “We could ask him for some advice on how to get there safely.”

“Or we could ask Preyna,” Asta suggested. “She travels there all the time for Odin, doesn’t she?”

“You’re right,” I said. “We should talk to Preyna first.”

“Yes,” Kas agreed. “My father did business with the gods of Vanaheim, but he mostly sent things through an enchanted box. Preyna travels to Vanaheim quite regularly, as I recall.”

“She should know where the meeting is, too, then,” Eira added.

“Right,” I said.

“Where does it say the meeting is to be held?” Kas inquired.

“Underground, between the Forest of Erosion and the Ethereal Mountains,” I said as I read from the paper.

“Well, that doesn’t help us at all,” Eira scoffed.

“No,” I chuckled. “I’m afraid it doesn’t.”

“Let’s just hope it helps Preyna,” Kas said.

“What about the dealers for today?” Asta asked. “Should we go see Preyna instead of going to another dealer?”

“I think for the moment, yes.” I nodded.

“Maybe since we only took out two dealers today, nobody will notice,” Kas suggested.

“Technically, it was three,” Asta reminded her.

“I don’t think that Óðr man counts,” Eira said with a half shrug.

“Eira’s right.” Kas nodded. “I doubt anybody is going looking for him.”

“I still don’t understand how he got on the King’s radar in the first place,” the redhead added.

“It’s probably more word of mouth than anything,” Kas explained. “And dealers know other dealers. Besides, it was the Elf King’s henchmen who sent out those letters, not the King himself.”

“Good point,” Eira said.

“Yes, I think now is a good time to stop for the day,” I agreed, and I turned to look at Blar. “Can you make us a portal to the council building?”

The little dragon huffed, as if he were offended that I’d asked if he could do something.

Then he shut his eyes for a second, and a portal appeared.

“Thanks, buddy.” I grinned at the blue dragon, and he leapt up to land on my back.

The rest of the dragons took their place with the women, and then we all grabbed hands and stepped through the swirling air directly into the council chambers.

The white stone building was as beautiful as always, but it was empty at the moment, and there were no candles on to light up the place. It was already mid-afternoon by then, and the descending sun cast an orange glow through the large windows and lit up the red rugs and tapestries.

“Where is everybody?” Eira asked as she looked around.

“The summer festival, of course,” a voice said from behind us, and I spun around to see Beyer standing next to a small table with candles and papers.

The council member’s long blond hair fell forward as he rifled through the papers on the desk. His light blue eyes were narrowed with focus, and a large wrinkle adorned his forehead. His clothes were always fancy enough to pass for festival clothes, but the short sleeve, light-blue tunic he wore now was even more ornately designed than usual. The tunic was so covered in silver threaded patterns that it was almost more silver than blue, and even the dark blue pants he wore were lined with more silver on the sides.

“Oh, yes, I forgot the festival was today.” Kas frowned.

“Beyer,” I greeted the council member. “Why aren’t you at the festival, too?”

“I’m headed there soon,” he assured me, and he looked up from the papers to flash me a smile. “But I’m glad I was here, this seems urgent. What’s going on?”

Svass flew from Eira’s shoulder to land on Beyer’s shoulder, and the council member cooed to her and reached up to stroke her scaly skin.

“We were hoping to see Preyna,” I told him.

“I believe she is still in her chambers getting ready for the festival,” he said with a frown. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “We need to talk to her about Vanaheim.”

“The realm of the Gods?” Beyer asked, and he cocked his head to the side curiously. “What about it?”

“We found a letter,” I explained, and I held out the paper for him to see. “It details a meeting the society to bring back Vinrar is having next week.”

“I see,” Beyer sighed and then handed me back the paper. “Yes, I believe Preyna will be the best person to ask about traveling to that realm. I’ve only been a time or two myself, but she goes there rather frequently under Odin’s orders.”

“We figured as much,” I said.

“You should go to her chambers,” Beyer insisted. “I’m sure she won’t mind you showing up.”

“Alright,” I agreed. “Thank you, Beyer.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more assistance in this matter,” he said. “But we will always do our best to accommodate you however we can. We fully support your mission.”

“I know that,” I assured him, and I reached my hand out for him to shake.

Beyer was a good man, and even though he was probably the most feared council member, he was more misunderstood than anything. The long scar that ran from his left cheek down to his neck gave him a scary appearance, but I’d worked with him long enough to know he was actually quite soft under that tough exterior.

“I will take you to Preyna’s chambers,” Beyer said once he dropped my hand. “I know a way through the castle. Follow me.”

“Good idea,” I said. “We wouldn’t want to just barge into Preyna’s chambers.”

“This way, it will only take a moment,” Beyer added as he led us back behind the council chairs and down a long, dark hallway.

We followed him through a tiny doorway and into an even darker tunnel that was cool and smelled like the earth. I placed my hand on the stone around us to keep myself steady as we walked, but before I knew it, Beyer opened another door, and light poured into the small hallway.

“This way,” he said, and he ushered us out.

Once we were on the other side, I realized the door was no door at all, but instead a large painting.

“Secret tunnels?” I asked him with a half smile and a raised eyebrow.

“We’ve all got to have our secrets, right?” he chuckled and shrugged, and then he gestured to the right. “Preyna’s chambers are over here.”

Beyer walked over to a large set of double doors and gave them a quick knock.

“Who is it?” Preyna’s voice called out, and my heart skipped a beat at how lovely it was.

“Beyer,” the council member answered. “And I have some guests here for you. I think you’ll want to see them.”

“Come in,” Preyna said, and Beyer opened the door and gestured us through.

“Thank you,” I told him as I followed my women inside.

“I must be leaving,” he said. “But I wish you the best of luck on this mission. Please, let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”

“We will.” I smiled.

Beyer spun around to leave, only to realize Svass was still on his shoulder.

“Oh,” he chuckled, and he spun back around and gently pried the now sleeping dragon from around his neck to hand her back to Eira.

“Thank you,” the redhead laughed and heaved the little yellow lizard onto her own shoulder.

“Of course.” Beyer smiled fondly at Svass before he gave us one final wave, headed back down the hallway, and shut the door behind him.

Kas, Asta, Eira, and I were now alone in Preyna’s chambers. Her beautiful, huge room smelled like her, and I felt my breath catch in my chest as I tried to breathe in the scent of her.

“Preyna?” I called out.

“I’ll be right out,” her voice answered from the bathroom.

Blar hopped down from my shoulder and scurried over to the couch to plop down and promptly fall asleep.

“Ah, Rath, I thought it would be you,” Preyna said as she came out of the bathroom with a cloud of steam at her back. “It’s only the day after your wedding. What can I help you with?”

I was stunned at Preyna’s beauty, and for a moment, I could think of nothing else but how gorgeous she was. The tall sorceress’s long honey colored hair hung in wet strands down to her waist, and some clung to her neck and chest in the sexiest way. The deep red silk robe she had on clung to her wet, naked body underneath, which revealed every slight curve and line of her womanhood.

“Rath?” Preyna’s light-brown eyes regarded me with a slight amusement, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“Oh, yes.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. We’re here to ask you about Vanaheim.”

“Vanaheim?” she asked, and she licked her full pink bottom lip and cocked her head to the side. “What about it? What have you found out?”

“We have information about a meeting taking place there next week,” Kas said.

“Yes.” I nodded and pulled the paper from my pocket to hand to her.

Preyna’s still damp hand brushed against mine, and my heart rate accelerated even more at the small touch.

“This is about the society to bring back Vinrar.” Preyna’s wide brown eyes locked on mine.

“Ah, yes.” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “I suppose we should have led with that.”

“This is important,” Preyna said as she read over the paper again. “Wait…”

“What is it?” Asta inquired.

“The place it’s describing.” The blonde shook her head. “It can’t be.”

“We were hoping you might know where it was, too,” I said. “But more than that, we need to know how to get to Vanaheim safely.”