Dragons of Asgard 3 by Logan Jacobs (first ebook reader txt) 📗

her head. “I can feel the dwarf spells around us. They’re really powerful. Can’t you feel them, Asta?”

“I guess I wasn’t focusing on it,” Asta said with a frown. “Let me try.”

As an elf, Asta had nature magic and powers of persuasion. She wasn’t incredibly strong on her own, but she and Kas together were magnificent.

The elf girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then, suddenly, she knelt down to the ground and put her hand on the dirt.

“What is it?” Eira asked, and her red eyebrows pinched together.

“They’re below us,” Asta answered.

“What do you mean, they’re below us?” the redhead asked. “They’re underground?”

“I believe so.” The elf girl nodded.

“I think Asta is right,” Kas said. “I can feel their wards, but I wasn’t sure where they were coming from. It would make sense they’re below us. And Asta is better attuned to nature than I am, so she would be able to sense that easier than I would.”

“Okay, so they’re underground,” Eira said, and she looked around. “But how do we get there?”

“I don’t know.” Kas bit her lip. “The map shows we’re right here.”

“There’s got to be an entrance somewhere,” I said.

“If so, it’d probably be disguised, right?” Eira asked.

“Most likely.” I nodded.

“Kas, can you disable any spells on objects in the area?” the redhead asked.

“Hm, I should be able to.” Kas pulled out her spell book and flipped through it for a moment. “Here it is. I’ll need Asta’s help, though.”

“Of course,” the white-haired elf girl said, and she stepped toward Kas. “Whatever you need.”

“Here,” Kas said as she pointed to the book. “Take a look at this.”

While Kas and Asta went over the spell, I noticed Eira looking around suspiciously. Her green eyes were narrowed, and her hand was on her weapon just like mine was.

“I don’t like this, either,” I told her quietly.

“We’re going into their territory.” She shook her head. “It was one thing when I figured we’d be storming a house, but an underground bunker is totally different.”

“I agree,” I said with a nod. “This isn’t what I’d like to do, either, but right now we don’t have a choice.”

“I know,” she sighed. “We need to get this bastard before he tells all of his friends about what happened.”

“Exactly,” I said, and I reached up to scratch the stubble on my chin as I looked around. “Besides, we’re going in there together. That little sonofabitch doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Damn right,” Eira chuckled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and they were still focused on our surroundings.

“Alright,” Kas said after a minute. “I think we’re ready.”

I nodded, and the two women linked hands and started to chant in the old language. Within a few seconds, swirls of red and silver sparkles danced around them and then surrounded us and expanded outward.

I followed the magic and watched as it landed on a large rock nearby. The sparkles covered the stone completely, but then they disappeared, and in their place was a small metal door.

“Did it work?” Kas asked as she closed her book and put it in her satchel.

“Uh, I’d say so.” Eira pointed at the stone.

“Shite,” Kas cursed, and her violet eyes went wide as she turned to me. “Do you think it’s locked?”

“If it was, didn’t you just kind of break in?” Eira asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Good point.” Kas nodded, walked over to the door, and pulled it open.

“Stay behind me,” I told the girls as I walked over to the door and pulled my sword out.

Kas and Asta nodded, but Eira just looked me up and down and smiled. The redhead stepped behind me, but I knew she found me giving her orders hilarious after she’d been my warband leader for so long. There was no time for me to address that right then, though.

Instead, I looked into the tunnel in front of me and did a quick glance around.

With the improved vision Kas had given me, I was able to see this wasn’t just a tunnel, it was a hallway, and a long rug on the stone floor ran all the way down to a corner a few hundred feet away. There was even a small wooden table to the left of the door with a coat rack next to it, and a pair of tiny boots sat below that.

Two large paintings were hung on the walls, and one was a family portrait done in front of a roaring fireplace. There was a male dwarf, a female, and two male children, and a small red dragon laid curled up at their feet.

My nose wrinkled in anger and disgust at the photo, but when I turned to the other, I found it wasn’t any better. The second portrait was of the two boy children, and they each had awkward smiles with wide set teeth, light blond hair, and a little red dragon on each of their shoulders.

“What the fuck,” Eira whispered behind me, but I just shook my head and stepped into the hallway.

I was much too tall for the dwarf-sized home, so I was forced to crouch down as low as I could just so my head didn’t hit the ceiling.

The girls followed me as I carefully made my way down the long corridor. There was a clear light coming from around the corner at the end, and once we were there, I nodded to the girls and peered around the bend.

What I saw was much worse than what I had anticipated. I’d expected to see dragons in cages, maybe some sort of meeting of dwarves going on where they were discussing the dragon trade and what had happened with us.

Instead, I saw seven dwarves calming sitting around a blazing fire sipping tea. There