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

arrived at the cliff that overlooked dragon valley, and I knew the darkness only made this more intimidating for the girls, but there was nothing I could do about that. They would simply have to trust me. I wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

“Come on,” I said as I started to run down the cliff toward the valley.

Once we were a few hundred yards away from the valley entrance, the dragons around really started to take note of us. They turned to watch us walk toward them, and they all began to crowd around the path we were headed down.

“Um, Rath,” Asta said behind me. “I think they’re mad.”

“They’re not mad, they’re just curious,” I corrected. “People don’t usually venture into dragon valley, they just want to see what we want.”

I walked with my chin up and back straight to show the girls it was alright, but I could understand their hesitance. They’d been around large dragons plenty of times, but not like this.

Most of the dragons they’d seen before were trapped in cages, and even though the girls had gotten up close and personal with them, it wasn’t like what we were doing now. When the girls freed a dragon, they knew the dragon understood their intent, but here, that intent could easily get misconstrued.

Usually, the only time people wandered into dragon valley was when they were attempting to steal eggs or freshly-hatched babies, and while the girls understood the dragons weren’t violent, that understanding did nothing to diminish the creatures’ monstrous size. I could feel Kas and Asta’s emotions since we were soul bonded, and they were definitely scared, but they trusted me, too, so they were trying to remain as calm as possible.

“Hello,” I said as I walked up to the dragons and stopped in front of the largest one.

He was a light-brown color with a green underbelly and eyes to match, and he lifted his head slightly and looked me up and down. I perceived his confusion, he knew we were connected, and I could sense his interest in what I had to say.

“I’m Rath,” I introduced myself. “Someone recently stole this baby from his mother and injured her in the process. I’m here to return him. I need to find his mother quickly, and I need your help.”

The large male looked around at the other dragons around him and then back at me. He let out a low huff, and I could feel the air from his nostrils hit my chest.

“What does that mean?” Eira whispered.

“It means they’ll help,” I said without looking away from the large dragon. “I know she was near a shiny green stone, does that mean anything to you?”

The large male lowered his head slightly and looked around to the other dragons, but none of them seemed to know. I could sense the sadness and frustration among the group, and it was growing within me as well.

The poor dragon mother could be dying as we spoke.

Suddenly, the thud of large footsteps filled the air, and the dragons in front of me parted to reveal an even larger male coming toward me. He was at least twenty feet tall, with a huge green head that matched the rest of his body and sharply raised scales above his eyes. One of his wings had a hole in the webbing, but it looked like it was long since healed, and I wondered how he’d gotten the injury in the first place.

The large dragon walked right up to me and lowered his head so he could look me in the eyes.

I held my palm out and placed it against his forehead so I could feel what he felt.

In his mind's eye, I saw the stone I was looking for.

“Yes!” I shouted as I pulled my hand away. “That’s where I need to go. Can you lead me there?”

The large dragon nodded, and then he turned to the side and lowered his body to the ground. He extended his wing out so I could use it to get onto his back, and part of me was shocked he’d offer to let me ride him so freely.

“Rath, what is he doing?” Kas asked, and her voice was high-pitched with concern.

“He wants us to get on,” I explained.

“He wants us to ride him?” Asta gasped, and she turned to look at me with round yellow eyes.

“He knows where the stone is,” I added. “He’s going to take us there.”

“Well, shite,” Eira said, and a wide grin came over her face. “Let’s go.”

I nodded and turned back to the dragon. Then I bowed to him slightly, and he returned to gesture before I walked up to his wing and climbed onto his large, scaly back.

The only other dragon I’d ridden was Ove, and it had been a short distance upward, but even then, I knew him allowing us to ride on his back had been a great honor. I didn’t sense quite the same feeling with this dragon, though, since his emotions were more of concern for the female in need than anything else.

Even though I didn’t think this male knew her, he was still willing to allow us to ride on his back just to get her help. Dragons were incredibly intelligent creatures, and riding on their backs was a thing of honor because with their intelligence it was almost as if I was riding on another Asgardian’s back.

It was this knowledge that made me all the more impressed by this random dragon we’d just met, and his willingness to give us a ride.

Once I crawled onto the large male, I slid up so my legs were straddling either side of his large spine, and Blar hopped off my shoulder and ran along the length of the male’s neck until he reached his head.

“Blar, no!” I