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

have happened to them. The elf King had probably moved them somewhere so they could undergo training for his army.

“Oh, Rath, thank goodness,” Kas said when she saw me.

“The spell will wear off soon,” Preyna warned. “We must go.”

“Wait,” Asta said, and she gestured down the hallway. “There’s a dragon down there.”

My eyebrows pulled together as I followed Asta to a large cell, and before I even looked through the door, I knew the dragon inside was the same one I’d originally seen through. It was the dragon who’d been knocked unconscious with the gas from the herbs.

I lifted my head to look inside, and I saw the sweet boy curled up as far back from the door as he could get, which wasn’t far considering his size. He wasn’t small like most of the dragons that were taken, he had to be at least half a year to a year old based on his proportions, and my heart broke when I thought about the fact that he’d probably spent most of that time in a cell.

“Hey, there,” I whispered, and the dragon looked up at me with bright silver eyes. “Do you know who I am?”

He cocked his head to the side slightly, and I could sense he felt I was familiar.

“I’ve been here with you before,” I told him. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Rath, what do we do?” Asta asked, and I turned around to look at the elf girl. “Kas, Preyna, can you undo the lock? We have to save him.”

“And we will,” I assured her, but then I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. “But not today.”

“What?” the elf girl asked with a frown. “Why not?”

“Preyna and I figured out the elf King’s plan,” I explained. “Or, at least, part of it. But we can’t let him know we were here, and if we free this boy, it could give away our presences. At the very least, it would alert the elf King that someone was in his dungeon.”

“As much as it breaks my heart to say it,” Preyna sighed. “Rath is correct. The elf King cannot know we were here. If he does, he may do something drastic, and then we’ll never figure out his entire plan before we can stop him.”

“We’ll come back for him,” I assured the girls. “But right now, we have to be smart about this.”

“I understand.” Asta frowned. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”

“I don’t like it, either,” I told her, and I turned back to the cell door. “We’ll come back to get you, okay? Just hold on. We’ll be back soon. I promise.”

The dragon’s silver eyes landed on mine, and I could sense his terror and sadness. It broke me to have to leave him, but for the moment it was all I could do. I needed to take the elf King down in one fell swoop. That was the best chance I had at freeing all the dragons he had locked away, versus just this one, no matter how badly I wanted to free him.

“Rath,” Preyna pushed. “The spell is wearing off, we must go.”

“Right,” I agreed, and I turned to Blar.

The little blue dragon closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, a portal appeared, and we all stepped through.

We arrived back in my courtyard, and for the first time since we’d entered the castle, I took a full, deep breath. The fire was still going in the pit, so I walked over and tossed a log on it before I sat down and put my head in my hands.

“What did you guys find out?” Eira asked as she walked over and took a seat next to me. “You said you know the elf King’s plan. What is it?”

“He’s creating an army,” Preyna said in a low voice.

“An army?” Kas asked, and she looked at me with wide violet eyes full of shock. “An army of dragons?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “We believe he intends to try and take over all nine realms.”

“What…” Asta shook her head. “Why would he do that?”

“He’s a self-obsessed arsehole,” I growled. “But more than that, he looks up to Vinrar.”

“He what?” Eira asked, and her jaw dropped. “The sonofabitch who started the dragon trade?”

“One and the same,” I agreed.

“Who would ever look up to that monster?” she scoffed with a shake of her head. “I’m happy to know he’s in Helheim where he belongs.”

“That may not be the case for long,” Preyna sighed.

“I thought Helheim was inescapable.” Kas looked at each of us. “Isn’t it?”

“I don’t know anymore.” I shook my head. “The King had documents in his study, and they described how to get someone out of Helheim with a spell.”

“What?” Kas asked, and she turned to Preyna. “Is that even possible?”

“I’ve lived long enough to know anything is possible,” Preyna said, and she pursed her plump pink lips. “Even something so terrible as this.”

“How awful,” Asta murmured, and her yellow eyes landed on mine. “We must stop him.”

“We will,” I assured her. “We just have to make sure we do it right. If we attack too soon, the King could change his plan, and then we’d be back at step one.”

“Shite, you’re right,” Eira growled. “I want to attack that arsehole right now, but we need to figure out where he keeps all his dragons and what exactly he’s planning first.”

“Right.” I nodded. “Especially with the agreement the elf King has with Asgard, we need to make sure we do this discreetly and wait for the perfect moment to attack.”

“Maybe this will help,” Kas said, and she pulled a piece of paper from her satchel and offered it to me.

“What is it?” I asked as I took the small note.

“It’s a note from the