know what it was, in which case they probably would have eaten it, or they
knew exactly what it was but couldn’t get it to hatch for them.
And Kas was right, Blar liked her, that was clear, but he refused to take
orders from her and would only listen to me.
Was I more magical than I’d considered?
We made the walk back to the countryside, and when we arrived, I
scanned the area but didn’t see anybody else. There were no lovers or
families out like there had been earlier. It was just Kas, Blar, and myself.
“So, where is this portal?” I asked.
“This way,” Kas instructed, and she led us down the grass covered hill
toward the stream.
I followed her until we were standing directly in the middle of the
field.
“I don’t see anything,” I said as I looked around, but Blar barked and
turned to face the direction we’d just come from.
“It’s right here,” Kas said, and she pulled me over to her. “You have to
be in front of it to see it.”
Kas’ hand on my arm sent shivers down my spine, and my heart rate
picked up at the touch. Her hand was warm and soft, and I wanted to place
my own on top of it, but instead I closed my eyes and refocused before I
opened them again.
The portal in front of me was nothing like I’d imagined. I didn’t really
know what I’d imagined, maybe a door of sorts or something I would have to
open. The portal I saw instead was just a swirling stream of nothingness. It
was as if I could see the wind, and I thought if I reached out and touched the
thing all I would feel would be air.
Blar barked again, and I jumped slightly at the sound since I’d been so
focused on the portal. It swirled in front of me and almost hypnotized me. I
sensed it pulling me, and I wanted to go, though I didn’t know where.
“This is amazing,” I whispered.
“It is.” Kas grinned.
“How does everybody not know about these?” I asked.
“You can only see them if you know about them,” she explained. “Or
if you know where to look. Most people are so oblivious that even if they
stumbled across one they wouldn’t know it.”
“How have people not accidentally gone through them?” I asked, still
confused as to how something so clear could be missed by so many.
“You have to want to go through,” Kas said. “At least, that’s what my
father always told me.”
“Have you ever used one?” I asked.
“Once,” she murmured. “I was young, and my father and I were out
here having a picnic. I saw it and walked through, but he immediately pulled
me back in.”
“What did you see?” I asked, and I was enthralled by her story.
“Not much,” she said, and her brows pinched together as she thought.
“It was foggy and kind of dark, but that’s all I remember.”
“Your father must have been angry,” I said with a frown.
“That’s an understatement,” she chuckled, then she looked at me
seriously. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I thought for a moment. I needed to know more about the dragon eggs.
I needed to know why Blar and I were bonded and if I could bond with
others, but more than that, I needed to prove dragons weren’t bloodthirsty
beasts and show the elders just how loving they could be.
Blar barked then and tugged forward slightly on the leash.
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “We’re sure. What about you?”
I looked into Kas’ violet eyes. She was so new to me, yet so familiar
all at once. Part of me felt like I’d known her for a long time, but the other
part of me knew that wasn’t true. She was a stranger, and we were about to
embark on a dangerous journey together. I had to trust her, and she had to
trust me. It was quite possibly the only way we’d survive this.
“I’m sure,” she said, and her tone was one of absolute resolve.
She smiled at me then and reached out her hand.
I smiled back and grasped her palm with my own.
I had her in my right hand and Blar in my left, and we all took a deep
breath.
Then we slowly walked into the swirling mist that would send us to
another world.
Chapter 7
When I opened my eyes on the other side of the portal, all I saw was
orange. I blinked several times, and after my eyes adjusted, I was able to take
in the whole scene before me.
The world was burnt. Everything seemed charred to a crisp, including
the ground and trees, but there were also cracks in everything. And from
those cracks emanated an orange glow, as if the core of the world was on fire
and trying to escape.
It was also deathly hot, and I was sweating already, even though we’d
just arrived. There was a sort of smell like burnt meat and campfire all
together, but there was something else, some pungent and terrible stench I
couldn’t name that hid just behind the other odors.
I looked out to the vast expanse of the world in front of us, but I saw
nothing except burnt ground and trees. The sky was foreign and peculiar.
There was no sun, but somehow the whole sky was a dull orange that radiated
heat from it. Then I noticed how warm my feet were and realized there was
heat hitting us from all directions. I’d heard of other worlds from the men at
the bars, and I’d read about some in the history book I had at home, but I
didn’t recall anything like this. Most of what I knew was about Jotunheim,
the land of the frost giants, and that was far different from the world I was
currently in.
“Where are we?” I whispered.
“We’re in Muspelheim,” Kas said as she wiped at the sweat beading on
her brow. “The land of fire.”
“That seems fitting,” I muttered as I looked around.
I looked down to check on Blar, but he just patted his little feet on the
ground and seemed happy about the warmth under him. I figured it made
sense a dragon who breathed fire would like to be warm, and if he liked it
here then there was a chance other dragons would, too.
“Blar seems to like it here,” Kas remarked like she’d just read my
thoughts. “That seems like a good sign.”
“It does,” I agreed. “Did you know this is where the portal led?”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “I can’t see where the portal
goes, I just know it goes somewhere.”
“I don’t know anything about this place,” I admitted. “Do you?”
“A little,” she said, but she eyed me curiously. “You don’t know about
the other worlds?”
“I know there are nine of them.” I shrugged. “But I can’t name them
all. The history book I have at home mostly covers Jotunheim.”
“Right,” Kas said. “I guess you would have had to study about them on
your own.”
“So, what can you tell me about this world?” I asked. “Should we walk
around?”
“I don’t see why not,” she said, then she thought for a second. “Here,
let me make us a trail.”
“A trail?” I questioned.
“Only we’ll be able to see it,” she explained. “But this way, if we get
lost, we know how to get back to the portal.”
“Oh,” I said. “Good idea.”
Kas pulled out a small knife and pricked her finger before she handed
the blade over to me.
“Just do like I did,” she instructed.
“I need to prick my finger for this spell?” I asked with a raised
eyebrow.
“It only requires a drop of blood.” She rolled her violet eyes. “Don’t be
a baby.”
“I’m not being a baby,” I laughed. “I’m just not sure what kind of
creatures are in here that might be able to smell our blood.”
“It’ll heal as soon as the spell is cast,” she assured me.
I pricked my finger, then, and she grabbed my hand and held both of
our fingers out so the blood dripped onto the ground. Then she murmured
something under her breath, and the blood spot turned a bright green.
“All done,” she said, and I turned my hand over to see the wound had
indeed healed.
“How does it work?” I asked.
“Walk,” she suggested, so I took a few steps forward, and a faint green
line marked my steps from the blood to where I stood.
“Wow,” I said with a smile. Her magic was already coming in handy,
and I was happy I’d brought her along.
“Now, we can walk,” she said, and we started forward aimlessly.
We’d only been in the world of fire for a few moments, but my clothes
were already wet with perspiration. Kas tried to fan herself, but it looked to
only make her sweat more, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I just continued to
wipe the sweat from my forehead so it didn’t drip into my eyes. The heat was
almost too much to bear, and I noticed our typical quick pace had slowed.
Blar pulled on his leash slightly since the heat didn’t seem to bother
him, but when he looked back and noticed Kas and I were a bit more sluggish
than usual, he eased up and kept pace with us. We didn’t know exactly where
we were headed anyways, so there wasn’t too much of a rush, we just needed
to look around and see what we could find before the portal closed.
“So, what do you know about this place?” I asked, since I was curious
to know more about the world we were in.
“The main thing I know is this place is supposed to be home to the fire
giants,” the blonde replied.
Frost giants, fire giants, why did it always have to be giants?
“Are there dragons here?” I asked as I pushed the thought of the fire
giants out of my mind.
“There are dragons in every world,” the sorceress explained. “Some
are weaker, some are stronger, but each are different.”
I pursed my lips and looked down at Blar. His bright blue body was
definitely out of place for this world, and I doubted he’d come from here. He
would be easy prey amidst the monotone black and orange background of the
land. The dragons that lived here had to be darker in color than he was, and
probably quite large to survive against fire giants.
The thought excited me. We might be able to find another dragon in
the first world we visited, and if it was anything like Blar, it would be quite
powerful.
“I wonder which world you come from,” I said, and the little dragon
looked up at me.
“Definitely not from here,” Kas snorted.
“Right,” I chuckled. “Do you know anything about the dragons of this
world?”
“I can’t say I do,” she sighed. “The world of fire is dangerous, and it’s
supposed to be home to many creatures, but I don’t know much about them
as individuals. And dragons haven’t existed in Asgard for so long it’s as if
most people have forgotten about them.”
“I know what you mean,” I said. “Someone told me it’s been centuries
since anyone has even seen a dragon on their quests.”
“That’s what my father says, too,” she agreed. “He thinks it’s because
they’re excellent at hiding.”
“Aren’t dragons supposed to be huge?” I asked. “How can they be
excellent at hiding when they’re monstrous?”
“I don’t know,” Kas said with a shrug. “They are magical, though, so
maybe that’s part of it.”
“What about the other worlds?” I wondered.
“Let’s see,” Kas said, and she thought for a second. “There’s Niflheim,
which is the world of fog and mist.”
“Fog and mist?” I echoed. “That seems like it’s probably more pleasant
than here.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Kas said. “It’s supposedly the
darkest and coldest world. It is home to one of the elder wells, though, which
are magical wells of some sort. I’m not too sure about them. But apparently
the well there is guarded by a huge dragon. Or at least it was a long time
ago.”
That sounded like the place we needed to go, though it would prove
difficult to get there since we couldn’t choose where the portals sent us.
“And I’m guessing there’s no spell to choose that world?” I chuckled.
“Not that I know of,” Kas said with a frown. “Sorry. That place would
be cool, though, and it’s pretty much exactly what we’re looking for. Though
I’m not sure how welcoming the dragon is supposed to be.”
“Alright,” I said. “That’s two worlds, what about the other seven?”
“Well, the second world is here, Muspelheim,” she said. “And the third
world is Asgard, which we know pretty well, I think.”
“I’d say so,” I laughed and studied the area as we walked.
Smoke puffed up from the ground through random cracks that glowed
profusely, and I didn’t want to make myself hotter than necessary. I could see
Kas was sweating, too, and there were small beads on her pale and smooth
forehead that she reached up to wipe off occasionally.
“After Asgard is Midgard,” the sorceress continued. “It’s the home of the humans.”
“The mortals who look like us, right?” I asked, even though I knew the
answer.
“Yeah,” Kas agreed. “They don’t have any powers, they only live for
half a century, and their world is surrounded by a huge ocean. I don’t think
you can even get to land from the Bifrost.”
“Boring,” I mused.
“Most definitely,” she chuckled, “but at least they worship the
Allfather.”
“So, what’s the next world?” I asked.
“Jotunheim,” Kas said. “The home of the frost giants and our sworn
enemies.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I know some about that place from the history
book I have.”
“It’s said the well of wisdom in Jotunheim is where Odin traded his
eye for knowledge,” Kas told me.
“I’ve always liked the world of Jotunheim,” I said. “I know that’s
strange since they’re our enemies, but the way they depict it in the book is so
beautiful.”
“It did always seem pretty,” Kas agreed with a smile. “The next world is Vanaheim.”
“I don’t think I know about that one,” I replied as I furrowed my brow.
I didn’t remember learning about a place called Van
aheim at all, but then
again I only had the one history book to go on, and it may not have been
mentioned in there.
“It’s a strange world,” Kas said, and her violet eyes were downcast as
she thought. “The strangest of all, I think. Nobody knows where it’s at.”
“How is that possible?” I asked.
“Vanaheim is home to Vanir Gods,” she explained. “And they’re
masters of sorcery. I’ve even heard they can predict the future, but that’s
really all anybody knows.”
“It would be cool to stumble upon that place, too,” I said with a grin.
“I’m sure they could give you some magic pointers.”
“That would be interesting,” she replied, and I took a second to admire
the way her lips parted when she smiled. They were full and red, and even
pulled apart they appeared so soft I couldn’t help but imagine them pressed
against mine.
“What’s next?” I asked.
“Hm, let me think for a second,” she mused, and she counted the
worlds on her fingers we’d already gone over. “Oh, it’s Alfheim, home of the light elves.”
“Elves?” I asked, and my interest was piqued at the thought of meeting
one in real life. I’d only heard old stories in the bars, but nothing I would
believe. They were all just about how beautiful and fertile the women were,
there was nothing substantial about the world itself.
“They’re supposed to be incredibly beautiful,” Kas said, and she
looked off in the distance as if she were imagining what they might look like.
“Are they magical, too?” I asked.
“They’re gods of nature, I think,” she said. “But they’re not very
powerful.”
“So, what’s the eighth world?” I asked with a smile. I liked hearing
Kas tell me about the different worlds. She was excited when she spoke, and
it made me want to be excited, too. Besides, her voice was high and beautiful
like a bell, and I could listen to it all day.
“I can’t remember the old name for it,” she admitted, and she pursed
her lips. “But it’s the home of the dwarves. They’re master blacksmiths.”
“Right,” I said. “Some of the old warriors have weapons made by
them.”
“Yeah.” Kas nodded. “And that just leaves Helheim.”
“Home of the dishonorable dead,” I added.
“That’s right,” Kas said. “I thought you didn’t know about the
worlds?”
“I don’t really,” I said. “But everybody knows about Helheim, at least