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

said with a nod, but then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “You know, it’s bad enough they’re stealing babies, but stealing eggs, too? They aren’t even hatched yet, what good are they to them?”

“I can feel this one, just as I could the silver baby,” I told her.

“What?” she gasped, and her violet eyes widened.

“You can feel this baby, too?” Asta asked, and her white eyebrows pinched together.

“So, they stole him at the same time as whoever stole the little silver dragon,” Eira mused. “They must know when they’re close to hatching.”

“I believe so.” I nodded. “Dragon eggs can be dormant for centuries, as we all know. However, it seems once they get past a certain age, they need to hatch, and the dealers have figured this out.”

“They’re purposely taking them then so they’ll hatch already in captivity.” Kas’ fist clenched as she spoke.

“I believe so,” I said softly. “But now we know what they’re doing, which means we’re one step ahead of them.”

“Alright,” Eira agreed, and she gestured to the mansion behind me. “What are we doing with this place?”

I turned around and looked at the beautiful house built of white stone, but all I could see was the torment that must have taken place inside it. I couldn’t imagine how many baby dragons were kidnapped and kept here before being shipped off to the King, or some other arsehole who wanted them for himself.

“Burn it,” I whispered through gritted teeth.

“Burn it?” Eira asked.

“Yes,” I clarified. “We’ll destroy all traces of us here, and it will look like some sort of deal gone wrong.”

“I like it.” The redhead nodded. “Especially since we took out one of the King’s men. It has to look like something happened with the dealer.”

“Or like one of the mother dragons found them and went on a rampage,” Preyna suggested.

“That sounds possible,” I agreed.

“I think I can manage that,” the sorceress said. “Stand back.”

We all moved back toward the cart, but then Preyna turned around and blinked at Kas.

“I didn’t mean you, Kaspyr,” she said. “This spell will be much easier with both of our powers.”

“Oh, of course,” Kas said, and I could hear the smile she was trying to hide.

The curly-haired sorceress stepped forward, and she and Preyna linked hands. The councilwoman muttered while Kas closed her eyes and focused, and a second later, red and gold sparkles swirled around them and floated up toward the castle.

Several seconds went by, and Eira caught my eye and lifted an eyebrow, but I just shrugged. I had faith Preyna knew what she was doing.

Before I could even finish that thought, a huge explosion erupted from the small castle. Fire blasted out from the sides of the building, and smoke billowed from all over as the place collapsed.

“Blar,” I said. “I think now’s a good time for a portal.”

The little blue dragon nodded, hopped on my shoulder, and closed his eyes.

A portal appeared, and Preyna and Kas ran over to us as we gathered the baby dragons up and then linked arms before we stepped through the swirling air. We came out on the cliff that overlooked dragon valley, and before I could stop them, several of the baby dragons let out squeals of excitement and dove down into the cavern.

I laughed and shook my head at their immediate recognition of their home, and then I turned to the remaining babies and smiled.

“You can go if you know where your families are,” I told them. “If not, we’ll help you find them.”

Two of them smiled back and then immediately dove into the valley, but the peach-colored baby stayed in Preyna’s arms.

“I think she needs some help.” The sorceress frowned.

“Come on,” I said, and I led us down the hill toward the valley.

As we came down the path we’d been on the day before, the same dark-brown dragon greeted us, but this time he came to us with respect and curiosity.

“This little girl needs help finding her family,” I told him.

The great dragon let out a breath through his nose and then nodded slightly, so I knew he would assist her.

“That’s not all, though,” I said, and I set the small trunk down and opened it. “This baby is ready to hatch, he needs--”

Before I could finish that sentence, a loud cry sounded through the air, and a huge light-blue female pushed her way over to us. Then she nuzzled the trunk so hard she nearly knocked it over.

“I believe you’ve found his mother.” Preyna smiled.

“It appears so.” I nodded.

The blue female looked at me with glistening orange eyes, and then she pressed her head against me in a show of gratitude.

“You’re welcome,” I told her.

Suddenly, the little peach-colored girl let out a squeal and propelled herself out of Preyna’s arms and into the air. She glided over the massive dragons in front of us, and I watched as she flew over to a large female of the same color who was headed toward us.

“The mothers all seem to be over here,” Kas whispered.

“They do,” I agreed. “They know this is where we usually come to release the babies.”

“It’s good they know that,” Eira said. “That way they can be here in case we bring their babies back, but it’s also incredibly sad to think of them sitting here just waiting and hoping it’s their baby we have today.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I sighed, and I glanced into the valley at all the other females who were gathered around and shook my head. I only had the two babies today, but I would come back with more. I wouldn’t stop until all of these families were reunited.

The large brown-colored male seemed to smile as he turned back to