necklaces, rings, bracelets, and helmets that looked to be more expensive than anything I’d ever held in my own hands. They had emeralds and rubies,
and they were set in either silver or gold. I thought they must be fit for a
queen, and compared to the dusty old books, they seemed completely out of
place in the store. Still, they weren’t the oddest thing on the shelves, because
the further back I followed the man into the store, the stranger things became.
One shelf was lined with various parts of creatures preserved in jars of
eerily green colored liquid. There was the paw of a leopard, a horse’s tail,
wings from some kind of large bird, and what looked to be an entire snake
coiled into its own jar.
The next shelf displayed a collection of small dragon scales sorted by
size and varying colors, and I was so taken with the items I hadn’t realized
the man had stopped in front of me until I came crashing into him.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I reached out to steady him.
“No matter,” he chuckled. “You aren’t the first to become captured by
the trinkets on the walls. Now, let’s see here.”
Ramir had taken us to another desk at the back of the shop, nestled
behind several shelves that blocked the view to and from the front entrance.
He made his way around to the back of the desk and took a seat in a large red
cushioned chair twice his size.
“Ah, that’s better,” he sighed. “Now, you may ask your questions.”
I eyed the man curiously. He’d led me back to this strange section of
the shop without even knowing what the question was. Had it all been so he
could sit and be more comfortable? Did he anticipate this would take so very
long he would need to sit down? The man was obviously eccentric, and his
odd behavior had me questioning why Eira sent me there to begin with,
though I supposed my behavior could be seen as just as odd.
“I was wondering if you had any knowledge of dragons,” I said in a
quiet voice. “I asked Eira and the elders, but they couldn’t tell me much. Like
I said, Eira suggested I visit you.”
“Dragons, eh?” Ramir questioned, and he closed his eyes, nodded his
head, and pulled on his beard. Then he opened his cloudy blue eyes, smiled at
me, and leaned forward. “I’d say you’ve come to the right place. What is it
you’d like to know, lad?”
“Anything you can tell me,” I said, and my voice was now rushed as
excitement took over. Could this strange little man actually know something
about dragons? He looked old enough to have lived with them.
“Well,” the old man said, and his eyes narrowed in concentration, “I
suppose the first thing one should know about dragons is they live in other
worlds. I’m sure you knew that already, though.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I know they were banished from Asgard. One of the
elders said Odin did this in order to protect them from extinction.”
“That elder may be onto something,” Ramir chuckled. “There were
many kinds of dragons here long ago, and even more kinds that live in other
worlds. Which dragons do you wish to know about?”
I couldn’t exactly say ‘tell me about small blue dragons that hatch from
speckled eggs’, though that’s exactly what I wanted to say.
“I’m not sure,” I said instead. “I’d like to know about any of them. I’m
interested to know where they can be found.”
“They still occupy the other worlds,” Ramir sighed. “But I’m afraid
there are less of them now than there were. Or perhaps they’ve grown more
secretive since they were banished from Asgard. Still, it’s been over a century
since one of our men saw one in their travels.”
“Do you mean to say there’s no hope of finding one?” I whispered as
disappointment set in. I had no idea how old the egg was that had hatched
Blar. Perhaps it was centuries old and preserved itself. Would it be
impossible to find more?
“I didn’t say that,” Ramir said, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled at
me.
I smiled back, but then I suddenly felt as though I was being watched,
and I whipped my head around to see the daughter, Kaspyr, standing near the bookshelf that shielded us from the front door. She continued to stare at me
with icy violet eyes, and my heart rate sped up as she locked gazes with me.
Was I being too suspicious? Why had she followed us?
“If you want to go hunting for dragons,” Ramir said, and he hopped
down from the large red chair and walked to a nearby bookcase where he
climbed upon a small stool and reached up to grab a huge book that looked
far too heavy for him to carry. “You’ll need to go here.”
He dropped the book onto the table, and a plume of dust escaped from
its ancient pages before he began to thumb through them with his bony
fingers, stopping occasionally to lick his index finger.
“Why not use the Bifrost?” Kaspyr asked from behind me, and I
glanced back at her. Her voice was angelic, high, and sweet like a note from a
lute.
“Oh, pish, posh,” the old man said as he continued to mumble and
search through the pages. “The Bifrost is for elders and travelers with orders,
not for those looking for adventure. Isn’t that right, m’boy?”
Ramir winked at me, then, and I couldn’t help but smile at the old man.
“Father, you’re too lax with the rules,” Kaspyr sighed. “If Odin hears
of--”
“I didn’t get to be this old by following the rules,” he chuckled and
finally stopped on a page to inspect it. “Same as the Allfather we so love. Ah,
yes. Here we are. This is where you’ll need to go.”
He turned the book around so I could see the pages, and I saw out of
the corner of my eye as Kaspyr took several steps forward to peer over my
shoulder at the book as well.
On the pages before me was a map that was ancient and foreign, yet
somehow familiar. It was definitely Asgard, but not the Asgard I’d known
throughout my life. The castle still sat in the middle, the Bifrost resided
where it always had, and several small markings indicated villages nearby,
but there were no streets shown, and many of the villages I knew simply
weren’t there.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” I said with a frown.
“Let me see if I can help,” Ramir replied, and he waved his hand over
the pages with a strange flourish. When he moved his hand again, the map
showed all of the new villages and streets I knew.
I stared up at him with wide eyes of amazement. I’d seen magic done,
but never so close.
The old man simply gave me an amused smile as I caught my breath.
“You’re magic,” I said, as if I hadn’t already known from the smoking
desk when I walked in.
“I figured you knew that by now,” he chuckled.
“That’s amazing,” I breathed as I looked down at the new map in front
of me.
“Here,” he said, and he pointed to the western countryside with a dull,
yellow fingernail that sat at the end of a long, spectre like finger.
“The countryside?” I asked. There were now several small villages that
surrounded it, but the cou
ntryside had been preserved. It was used for
hunting, relaxing, and it was a place where lovers were often seen having
picnics or watching the stars in the evening time. There was nothing there but
grass and trees and some wildlife.
“Aye,” Ramir agreed with a crinkly smile, and he tugged on his beard.
“Along the countryside you’ll find portals.”
“Portals?” I asked, and I stared at the map in front of me. I didn’t see
any indication of portals.
“You won’t be able to see them on paper,” the old man laughed.
“You’ll need to find them yourself. They appear at random, and they only
stay in one place for twelve hours at most, so travel at your own risk.”
“How will I know what to look for?” I asked, still confused by what
the old man was saying.
“You’ll know them when you see them,” he said, and he sat back down
in his large red chair.
I should have expected nothing less than some sort of a riddle from
such a strange little man, but more than anything I was happy to have the
information he’d given me. It was a start, at least, and where his daughter was
obviously suspicious of me, he seemed to understand exactly what I wanted
Had Eira suspected I wanted to travel to the other worlds? Is that why
she’d sent me to Ramir? Had she traveled to the other worlds?
I still had so many questions, but I had a lot more to go on now than
before, and Blar was still in my satchel.
“Thank you so much,” I said as I reached for the few silver pieces in
my pocket. “What do I owe you? I’m afraid I don’t have much coin, but I
have plenty of things to barter with.”
“That won’t be necessary,” the old man told me with a gentle smile.
“Consider it some advice. From one traveler to another.”
He winked at me again, and my mouth split into a grin.
“Thank you again,” I said as I stood up. “I appreciate your time.”
Kaspyr still stared at me, but her eyes had narrowed to slits, so it had
become more of a glare than anything. Still, nothing could bring me down
right then.
I turned to walk out of the building, but Ramir’s voice called me back.
“Oh, lad,” he said, and I spun around to face him once more. “There is
one thing you can do for me, if you so choose.”
“Anything,” I said with a small bow of my head.
“Tell me if you find one,” he said, and we exchanged another smile
before I nodded and hurried out the door.
Once I was outside, my heart accelerated with adrenaline, but as I
started back down the road, I felt Blar move against my hip.
“Right,” I muttered, and I grabbed a couple pieces of pumpkin and
slipped them inside before I lightly patted the satchel. “You did great, Blar.
Thank you. We’re going to the countryside now. As soon as we’re out of
sight, I’ll let you out, okay?”
The smile on my face couldn’t be broken as I nearly skipped down the
road toward the western side of town. Ramir’s daughter didn’t like me, but I
didn’t care, I loved that old man. He was strange and funny, and he had a sort
of mischievous spirit about him that made me feel as if I’d known him a long
time. I thought about what he’d said about his advice being from one traveler
to another. That must be how he knew about the portals. He was clearly
magical, and part of me was curious as to whether or not it could have been
him who set up the portals to begin with. Had he been the one to put them into place long ago? And how had nobody else seen these portals since then?
It didn’t matter, I’d find them, and I’d use them to find more dragon
eggs. Once I had more dragons to hatch, I’d be able to show the elders how
they listened to me, and maybe I could bring dragons back to Asgard for
good.
More than that, though, I thirsted for knowledge. I had a small dragon
in my satchel I still knew practically nothing about, aside from the fact he
was a boy and he seemed to follow my commands. I wanted to know more, I
wanted to understand them and see more different kinds. I couldn’t imagine
just how many different species of dragons there were, but I wanted to find
them all.
I slipped Blar another piece of pumpkin, and this time when I came
upon the market, I walked confidently through instead of sneaking by. Blar
had done so well in Ramir’s shop I knew I could trust him to stay out of
sight. I didn’t know if he understood what the consequences could be if we
were found out, but I knew he’d listen to me, and that was enough. Hell, I
wasn’t sure I fully understood what the consequences would be if we were
found out, but I decided not to dwell on the thought. Instead, I moved through
the marketplace with a bright smile on my face.
The market bustled as usual with Aesir walking the aisles and stopping
at various booths to look at hand made tunics or jewelry. Some of the booths sold fruit or vegetables and some sold meat while others specialized in
repairing and making weapons, or herbs used for medicinal or relaxation
purposes.
As I walked by the booths that cooked and sold food, my mouth began
to water. The smell of freshly smoked turkey legs and buttered corn on the
cob was too much to bear, so I picked up the pace until I came to the split in
the road that led to the western villages and left the marketplace behind.
The sun was still high in the afternoon sky, and the day was clear as I
three of them, and the countryside sat just down the hill from all three, so all I
had to do was make it to the first one then head down toward the grass. I’d
been to the countryside plenty of times, so I knew my way around well
enough, and once I was down in the grass, there was a nice clearing past
some trees that would be a great place to let Blar out to stretch his legs.
Nobody else knew about the clearing, at least I’d never seen anyone else
down there, so I figured it was the safest place around.
After I let him out, I’d search around for some of the portals Ramir
told me about. He said I’d know them when I saw them, but what could that
mean? How obvious could they be if nobody else knew about them? Or had
he put a spell on me so I’d be able to see them?
I’d have to go back soon and see that old man, I quite liked him.
I passed by a few Aesir on their way to the market as I walked, and we
nodded and smiled at each other. Soon enough, though, I arrived at the
entrance of the first western village, but instead of continuing on into the
village, I followed the footpath to the right that led down into the valley of
the countryside.
The grass was beautiful as I looked out at the expanse of countryside
around me. There was a huge open field that stretched out for miles, but if I
continued into the valley, there were clusters of different kinds of trees and
flowers. I saw a couple laying on the grass kissing a ways away, and further
than that there was a mother with her children. The mom sat on a blanket and
prepared food
while the kids frolicked nearby.
I’d always found the countryside to be such a peaceful place. No
battles were fought here, and nobody dared to disturb the sacredness of the
place.
I felt Blar move against my hip, and I could tell he was getting antsy,
which he had every right to be. He’d been in the satchel most of the day at
this point, and I knew it couldn’t be extremely comfortable. He’d been quiet
and still, and I was happy with his following my commands, but I also knew
he longed to get out and stretch his little legs. There was a stream near the
alcove I knew of, too, so we could get a drink of water before we began to
look for portals.
The air smelled floral and fresh as I neared the trees by the clearing,
and I could feel the wind was slightly cooler as it drifted from the stream
nearby.
I glanced around quickly but saw nobody aside from the people I’d
seen earlier, so I slipped through the trees into the clearing. There was
nobody in there, either, just like I had suspected, so I opened the top of the
satchel.
Blar popped his little head out of the top and looked at me with crystal
blue eyes.
“You ready to get out?” I asked with a smile, and he crawled up my
side and to my shoulder. I swore he’d grown since this morning. He was now
nearly as long as my entire arm, and his body was bigger around, too.
He let out a little bark as he looked around from my shoulder, and his
eyes darted from side to side.
“Whoa, okay,” I laughed as I reached up to stroke under his chin. He
leaned his face into my palm, and a little twinge spread through my chest at
his tenderness. “Don’t go outside of the trees, okay, but you can stretch your
legs here, and in a second, we’ll go get some water.”
Blar didn’t wait for any further commands, he scurried down my body
and ran over to sniff some flowers that were just on edge of the clearing. I sat down and watched him as he ran around for a few minutes like a curious
puppy. He was as excited as a child the first time they saw springtime, and he
somehow understood what a flower was and how sweet it smelled.
I smiled as I put my legs out and leaned back so I could look up at the
blue sky. I didn’t think I’d ever been so at peace as I felt right then.
Something about being with Blar was incredibly relaxing to me. We