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

The girls and I continued to walk, and after we passed the tunnel, we quickly backtracked and peered down into it. The man was the only one walking in there, which was bad news for us. There was no way we’d be able to follow him easily now.

“Shite,” I breathed.

“That tunnel is much smaller than most of the ones around here,” Asta noted.

“It does look that way,” I agreed.

The tunnel was just a few feet taller than the bald-headed man, and only wide enough for three or four frost giants to stand inside. It was dimly lit, and the man seemed to disappear into the darkness after just a moment.

“We’re going to lose him,” Eira urged.

“You’re right,” I huffed. “Everyone be quiet and follow my lead if we get caught.”

“Right.” Kas nodded.

If I wasn’t sure about this guy being a criminal before, I was definitely sure now. This dark, dingy tunnel wasn’t somewhere I thought a regular Jotunheim citizen would venture. The man’s sword had to be worth at least a hundred gold pieces, and he clearly didn’t belong in this part of the neighborhood.

Not to mention, there was nobody else in this particular tunnel. Every other tunnel we’d passed by had at least a few people moseying in and out of it, but he was the only one inside this tunnel, and that seemed incredibly suspicious to me.

“How are we going to be able to see?” Asta whispered.

“She has a point.” Eira bit her lip. “We can’t exactly have the dragons light our way like we did earlier.”

“Are you forgetting about the spell I used when we went to Svartalfheim?” Kas asked. “Give me just a second, and I’ll make it so we can see in the dark.”

“I did forget about that,” Eira said. “Good idea.”

Kas rolled her eyes, but then she held her hands out and whispered something in the old language. I was always fascinated by her spells, and I wished I’d known more of our mother tongue. I hadn’t bothered to learn a lot of words, only the basics, but Kas was definitely fluent with all the spells she did.

I closed my eyes as red magic sparkles swirled around me, and once I opened them again, I was able to see further down the tunnel than before. There was a curve just past where my vision had been limited before, but I could see it now, and I figured the man had to have gone that way.

“Come on,” I whispered, and I carefully led the girls into the darkness.

The busy street disappeared behind us, and as we walked, it was immediately clear this tunnel wasn’t like any of the others. All the other tunnels we’d passed were lit up, but more than that, they seemed to have houses built into the walls, where this one had nothing.

That was the truly eerie part. There were no vendor booths, no storefronts, or homes carved into the ice. There was nothing down this tunnel, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up the further we got into the place.

With a cave system so vast, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for there to be a tunnel or two that didn’t lead anywhere except maybe out, or to another part of the cave system. However, I didn’t get that feeling from this tunnel.

We made it to the corner the man had turned down, and up ahead I could see him still walking along. He was less cautious now, and he seemed utterly unconcerned with who might be behind him. He wasn’t in any sort of a hurry, either. He walked along leisurely, and I wondered just what his involvement in this was.

Most criminals I’d met weren’t leisurely people, they tended to get things done fast, but this man didn’t seem to be walking with any sort of quickness.

The girls and I watched as the man walked up to what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, but once he got there, he grabbed onto a large chunk of ice that stuck out from the wall and slid it to the side.

There was another cave at the end of the tunnel, and inside I could see it was the same room as the one I’d been in as the baby dragon. The walls were lined with shelves full of dragon eggs, and the little baby I’d seen was now in a cage on a small desk at the back of the room.

There were four other frost giants in there already, and they sat on stools made of ice and went through some chests. They carefully removed eggs and placed them on the shelves next to the others.

“Bastards,” Eira breathed.

“They must have just got more,” Kas added.

“Probably to make sure they have enough for the King,” Eira said.

“But where are they getting them from?” Kas mused, and her violet eyes narrowed on the cavern at the end of the tunnel. “Do you think they’re going to Alfheim themselves?”

“It’s possible,” I whispered. “But it seems we’ve definitely found the right place.”

The man we’d been following opened his satchel, and then he pulled out a large green egg and handed it to one of the other giants.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying because we were too far away, but the man held the egg up and turned it over in his hands to get a good look at. He nodded and handed it back to the man we’d followed, who then put the egg on the wall.

“Do you think that guy is the one getting them all?” Asta asked.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head and narrowed my eyes even more.

“So, what’s our plan here?” Eira asked. “Right now we have the element of surprise.”

“Right,”