Quest for the Golden Blade

”Think it should be enough meat,” Miguel admitted, looking over the massive creature which likely would feed them for at the very least their trip considering how much Roan could eat. Part pf him wondered if they would need to  do a little more hunting before the week was over but that was just assumptions on his part. His blade sliced through the hide and eventually managed to carve the meat off with little effort while the Holti guy asked about having the horns. ”If you can carry the big things, take all ya want.” He would let the guy shave off as much of the antlers as he wanted while he carved into the meat with Roan.

Eventually the massive slabs on meat would find themselves cooking over a large fire, filling the air with that sweet scent that made his mouth water. Settled around the little fire they had after undoing the few pauldrons and chest armor, Miguel bit into the large chunks of monster veal they had going on which seemed to satiate his growling stomach. After a long day it felt nice to just let the armor off, and enjoy a good meal on the road. Had that feeling of an adventure, minus the excess of magic one would expect from adventure stories. Roan was the first to fall asleep, likely full and wanting to keep his strength up.

”No problem. Always used to hunt out here when I first came to Asgard. Got a few scars from it but think they make me look a little badass.” His fingers traced a few twisted spots like he had been stabbed around his side and trailing into the mid section, seeming to mangle his naval beyond recognition. His eyes focused on the fire, dancing flickering and sending shadows across the small camp they had going on. ”I know a little about Midgard. Was born there, spent most of my life there too. Was raised on LA, was born a little too strong for normal people.  Apparently I one of those metahumans, though I had a way to control my own strength. Didn’t know this kind of stuff really existed but apparently I just met the right person.” He unclasped a small metal band from his belt, looking as if it were made of leather but with odd runes inscribed into it.

”Always had a problem with my anger, couldn’t control it completely and that got people hurt. Coming here made controlling myself much easier.” Not to say that he missed the male saying he liked strong men, because that came across loud and clear. First he wiped away the blood from his face and neck with the torso portion of his armor, sucking what tasted like grease form his fingertips. ”If you like strong men, might have stick around me a little longer. A lot of me you haven’t seen yet.” He clasped the wristband back around his belt, resting the side of his head against his hand. ”Can’t say anything in the vein of liking guys with X quality, but I think you’re pretty good lookin.”

The fire crackled a little, a few logs shifting within the pyre. ”So hows that tent of ours?”

Holti would work with the antlers in the morning, for now he had someone to learn far more about. It would seem rude if he were to work on them as Miguel spoke. So instead, he gave his full attention to the other man.

It was surprising to hear that Miguel was originally from the same place...well, not exactly. From Midgard. Holti hadn't lived in America for very long and had never visited Los Angeles...or was it New Orleans? Holti was far too embarrassed to ask. He never was one to really understand these acronyms for American cities of states. What if a state and a city had the same acronym? How would he know which one was correct?

He snapped out of his mind and look back at Miguel. "Well, I'll try my best to stay for a bit longer." He turned to look over at the tent and blushed. "Well, I got it up. It did take me a while, but I did it myself. It'll be big enough for the both of us, if not we can make room." Cuddling was a thing that would work very well.

"Have you ever visited Iceland? Sorry for changing the subject so suddenly. I've never visited LA myself. I only came to America four or so years ago." He ran a hand through his hair. "You could always visit Midgard again, even for a week. I could show you around Iceland. I know Roan will be busy with his lover, so I will be plenty free. We could get drinks and have fun together. If not, it's fine."

Holti bit down on his lip and turned his head forward. "So...you also said you're considered a metahuman? Nice to know I'm not the only one. Controlling plants and all is something people don't know I can do. Too bad you haven't seen it yet. I could create a rose for you, if you want me to."

Miguel half guessed that Holti assumed he was from Asgard and that would have been a fair assumption. Considering things, it would have been strange for him not to assume that which was why Miguel didn’t really mention anything about that. ”Be sure you do.” Miguel gave a wink, wondering how long the little guy would be willing to stay around him or even tolerate him. While he had been with men and women before, they tended not to like his devil may care attitude or his tendency to be free with his flirtations. Few people had the tolerance for a romantic relationships or perhaps he wasn’t...vanilla enough for them.

”Never been to Iceland actually. Aside from Asgard i’ve only been to like...maybe a few cities away from LA and that was on some school trip when I was ten.” He ran fingers through his hair, eyes averting to the sky for a moment. Wondering if the stars were out beyond the dense haze that was the forest. Asgrad did have stars, and they tended to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The other male mentioned he had been in American relatively recent compared to how long he lived there, and then of course there was Roan having a lover.

”Roan’s got a lover now? Shit, i’ll have to grill him about that later...when he isn’t sleeping like a log.” He turned to the sleeping male, wondering what kind of person would draw the attention of the ginger giant. ”I’ll see if I can find a gate to Midgard at some point, maybe get a little time for just you and me.” Of course the implications were there, but letting them get across on their own was nice. As for what he was, well that was a little more confusing than he would have wanted to admit.

”Few people have called me a demigod, something about my mom being some kind of goddess or war or whatever. Metahuman just sounds like the easiest way to put things.” He had fought his mother once, but that was not the most fruitful of endeavors. ”A rose sounds nice. Though I have to say it seems a rose has already bloomed before me, mi amor.” That was perhaps the cheesiest thing he’s ever said and it hurt to say it, still his upbringing did inspire a certain amount of painfully cheesy charm.

”Think it’s about time to sleep. Don’t want to be all tired for tomorrows travels right?” He raised a brow, standing to his feet and stretched a little. ”The tent looks a little comfy and i’m sure we could find something for you to use for a pillow.”

Another wink. Holti did question the flirtatious attitude a small bit, but he did assume that was simply his character. It did not hurt him at all to really think too far into it, no. He had met a few people like Miguel and none really offended him yet. While he may disagree with some of them at times, he chose not to hold any harsh feelings towards Miguel. It was best to simply enjoy what he had currently.

"Oh, well. I'll give you a tour whenever you want. You could always give me a tour of LA if you were to ever return. Currently, I live in New York City, so a small notice would be appreciated." That was a lame attempt at a joke, but it was still an attempt. America was a place very new to Holti. Any time he traveled it was either for his "normal" work or collecting seeds for his other job. Never had he really traveled for vacation or for a "field trip", only for work.

"Woah, well. I don't know for sure if they're a couple. Roan was kissing him and holding onto the guy. Seemed to be a lover to me, but maybe they're just friends with benefits. We can always ask Roan in the morning, right?" The topic was changed again and Holti blushed faintly. "Some more alone time with you would be lovely." He threw in a small lip bite even. Most likely, if Roan was awake, they would not really get the opportunity to do really anything, so might as well enjoy the time they had right now.

While he wanted to comment more on Miguel's past, the cheesy compliment completely took hold of Holti's attention. A small laugh left the man's body and he smiled widely at Miguel. "Oh my...that was honestly adorable." He ran a hand through his hair, still laughing a small bit. "God was that...amazing." The comment amused him so much. "I'm not laughing at you, don't worry. If anything, that comment made me like you more." Cheesy compliments always seemed to make Holti laugh, if presented properly, of course. "I would hope I'm not quite a rose. Roses have thorns and I have no intention of hurting you." That was one thing he could say, which was probably cheesy as well.

Slowly, Holti began to stand as well. "Sure, we can sleep. I trust that you will somehow be able to find me a nice pillow to use." With a wink, Holti began to walk over to the tent. "I hope you don't mind me sleeping with my shirt off. It's already a bit too hot for my liking and I'd rather not die of overheating in the middle of the night." With that, he removed his shirt and stepped into the tent. "I'm sure Roan will wake us up when he's up. He probably wants to get on the road immediately."

”Never saw Roan as a friends with benefits type. Might have to ask him though.” Granted he didn’t really know how the male worked, but he did just assume things based upon how they acted typically. There was a mention of more alone time being lovely with him, though. Even considering the small little lip bite he had going on which was more than anything else adorable. Everything about this Holti guy screamed adorable, and that much was fine with him. Reaching for a little more of the massive slabs of deer meat and taking a few more bites from it. His body itself did need quite a few calories to keep going, if only because demigods apparently were that way.

”Wow, was just testing the waters there but it actually worked.” He grinned, running his fingers through his hair and averting his eyes to the sky. ”Used to be really cheesy like that when I was young, thought you might have liked it.” He dug his fingers through the ground, feeling the soil give way through a small amount of pressure as he stood up, turning to the tent which looked sorta okay.

”I don’t mind me not wearing...anything?” Okay, now he just looked a little too smug for his own good. Taking a good look over the male as he took of his shirt, and did the same save for the fact it ws the lower section of his armor which came of pretty easy by undoing a few clasps. Of course he had nothing underneath that but that was more due to Miguel being the kind of guy he did, and the fact his flesh didn’t chafe for any reason. So he slipped into the tent and layed down, stretching a little while his joints popped, giving his chest a little pat in the way one say come here.

”Looks like I already found a fix for your pillow problem.”

Roan had awoken before the rest of the party, which in turn lead to his mischievous mind going to work. The viking quietly made his way up, tip-toeing to the tend that he assumed both individuals had been sleeping in. He took his two axes, striking the flat of the blades together as hard as he could. The ungodly clang that erupted from it was enough to make Roan's ears ring. "Rise and shine, lovebirds. Miguel I swear if you're naked under there, we're having a long talk about how you might be an incubus, and not an arcadian." Roan stomped out the fire, and packed a few of his things up before looking up the trail. "We've got a little bit longer before the first obstacle."

The group walked in a constant beat, making good time through the forest. Roan could hear the two behind him flirting as if non stop, which honestly was quite amusing to him, seeing as Holti was almost like a son to Roan. The edge of the forest was finally visible, rays of sun shining through the trees, and the smell of...rain. The party broke the tree line, and began to drenched by a sunshower. Roan looked back at the others, unamused "You'd think we'd catch a break, wouldn't you?" The rain went on for a few hours, before it died down to a slight drizzle. The viking took out his map, looking at it closely before looking back at Miguel. "What if I told you we were in Jotuun territo-" Roan was caught off guard as a boulder slammed into him, likely shot from a giant's slingshot. He grumbled, hands dug into the stone, creating two handles. He finally slid to a stop, and lifted the rock to his shoulder, tilting his head to the side to rest it. "Holti, whatever you do, don't stop moving."

Holti's sleep had surprisingly gone uninterrupted through the night. His nervousness had not yet gotten the best of him, which was always a good thing. All was well until he heard a very loud 'clang' outside of the tent. Slamming one hand down onto Miguel's chest, he shot up. The other hand quickly moved to where he kept his seeds. The only thing stopping him from defending the tent was the sound of Roan's voice.

With a loud groan, he said a quiet apology to Miguel before climbing out of the tent. "We didn't fuck, just so you know." He said, letting out a yawn. As he watched the tent for Miguel, he tried his best to fix his hair. "There really isn't any point in fixing my hair, right? I'm sure whatever we will get stuck in will only mess my hair up even more." This was mostly just an excuse for him being too lazy to make his hair look presentable.

Soon enough, the three were on their way. Holti allowed Roan to lead, staying beside of Miguel. Occasionally, he would ask a couple of questions and make a few comments, sometimes in an attempt to flirt and other times out of genuine curiosity. He did enjoy it, quite a lot even...well he did until the rain hit. Occasionally, he would need to push his hair out of his face. "Told you I wouldn't need to make my hair look nice."

The rain felt like it had gone on for far longer than it truly had. Rain was fine, but not when he was constantly walking in mud. Eventually, it did end and Holti visibly relaxed once more. Thank god he wouldn't need to fight anything in the rain.

Roan finally spoke up again and Holti turned his head to face him, rather than Miguel. Before the other man could even finish his statement, a large boulder was slammed down into the men. As soon as he could, Holti jumped out of the way, getting far too close for comfort.

"What do you want me to do?" Run around? That's it? Holti began to run to the left of Roan, scanning for who had slung the rock their way. "Where are they? I don't know how much my plants can help if they are far away." He did feel pretty bad for not helping the other two at all.

"There has to be something for me to do."

”Welp, better get to to work on the speech then Roan.” Miguel quipped, stretching as the veil of sleep came off of him rather easily. Not as if he ever was a heavy sleeper, and the breathing body beside him was more than a distraction, even if it proved rather warm. It was the clanging of metal against metal that made returning to sleep impossible, so he just rose groggily to the morning with gusto that was normal for Miguel. He slipped from the tent, and back into his armor without needing to be told to do so. Not like he would do any kind of fighting naked, now that would have been...a terrible re-run of last week.

Apparently dick shots are more likely when the thing is visible.

”We did not, and yes I am disappointed.” Miguel just brushed things off with a smirk. ”I wouldn’t know. Never was that great with the whole hair thing.” He pointed to his hair, which tended to stay in the same style that suggested he didn’t do much with it. Strapping his blade to his back with the typical scabbard as they broke camp and made their venture as usual.

Travel was easy from there, Miguel making small talk with Holti that of course held heavy flirtatious overtones. Overtones might have done it a disservice, considering that it could have been called outright flirtation. He could have done without the raining on their parade but then again it did feel nice to get a little wet from the downpour, dampening his hair and causing a few strands of stay down. Not quite the same for Holti, who seemed to be having some difficulties.

As the question came about them being in giant territory, a boulder slammed into Roan and sent him flying. ”I’d call you an absolute idiot and say you deserved that.” Miguel said in the most deadpan fashion, despite the satisfied smirk that played on his lips, seeming to move to protect the weaker of them without thinking about it. Years as a hero, well that had to help him somewhere. Still that didn’t keep them out of danger from rocks that were far too large for him to stop easily...as of now anyhow. Now that needed to be dealt with, so he held up a single finger to Holti and darted off.

Putting all the speed he could into his legs, smashing through trees and anything that stood in his way. Mountains despite their steep inclines were just rock, things that his fingers pierced for handholds rather easily as he ascended with rapid pace with just enough skill to avoid the large rocks trying to crush him. Eventually slingshotting himself fully upwards with a full exertion of strength, landing on the ground with a mountainous crack as the giant considered the odd being before them, even if below them.

”Normally don’t mind having giant rocks being thrown at me but don’t take kindly to you threatening the squishy little mortal there.” He growled out, still bearing that cocksure smirk as he drew his weapon with a low hiss.

”Then he should know not to tread within our domain.” It huffed out gutterally within his tongue, reaching to draw a weapon from its belt. An odd jagged sword of white crystal bound with a handle of leather. ”Now you suffer the fate of all who...”

”Slay you?” His blade was now jutting handle first from the things throat, blood welling up from it. ”I’ve killed worse things than you bitch, so why don’t you and your people learn their place.” He kicked the things legs out under it, bringing it low enough to rip the weapon from soft throat tissue. Blood splattered over him, cold as one would expect. ”At my feet.” he kicked the thing in the face, sending the body tumbling down the mountain loudly as he slid to follow suit, landing with a graceful thud.

”So...think that was the only one or should I stab a few more?” Miguel quiried with the full expectation of Roan and Holti to be fine. [Double exp]

Roan grunted, tossing the stone at another giant that began to charge the group. "I'd say you're an asshole but..oh wait that's exactly what I would say." His head spun around to Holti "Try uh...making vines or something! Trip them up, bring their head down to our level so we can..y'know." A large blue fist flew towards Roan, which he caught, as if hugging it. The snapping sounds that followed were stomach turning, as the giant let out a deafening cry. The viking dragged the monster to the ground, and began to slam his fists into its skull, coating himself in blood.

"If we get out of their territory..they won't.. " he mumbled the next part "possibly follow us." The wind grew cold as large hounds began to enter the scene....frost hounds...fuck. Roan yelled out at Miguel, pointing towards the creatures that began to sprint towards them...it was definitely time to go. Hopefully Holti had caught on to the fact they needed to go..they were halfway to the treasure, and honestly, that's too close to give up. [SHHH IT'S SHORT. LEAST I REPLIED.]

Squishy little mortal earned a grumble from Holti. These two Asgardians must view him in such a lovely fashion. Did they view him as powerless? Sure, he was naive as hell in this new area, but he certainly was not helpless completely. This certainly did not seem so considering he was practically running around like a squirrel caught in the middle of a highway. It was embarrassing no doubt, but what else what he supposed to do? Roan told him to do this, so that is what he was going to do.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Miguel effortlessly climb up the mountain. The next thing he barely missed turning his head in time, which resulted in him seeing a very obvious blood splatter. How lovely. What followed was just as wonderful! While he did not see the whole thing, he could only figure Miguel had kicked the rest of the body down the mountain. These Asgardians sure loved showing off what they killed. First the deer now the giant. Then again, Miguel already seemed to be a show off in general, constantly flirting and all. These people sure were confusing as hell and all he could do was just try to understand them.

Roan's voice thankfully distracted Holti from the thought of a decapitated giant body. "Can do!" Holti obviously seemed to not really notice anything else going on at this one moment in time. Throwing down a few of the larger seeds in his bag, Holti began to grow and manipulate vines, pumpkin vines to be exact. He had to stop running for a moment, wrapping the vines around any nearby trees, creating trip wires of sorts. He darted once more, moving over to a new location. As he began to move the vines closer to the mountain, a loud yell came from Roan's direction.

His eyes drifted upwards and he saw what Roan was pointing at. "Shit." What the hell was he supposed to do? Run? Finish the vines. "Fuck it." He gave up on the vines, figuring he still had enough pumpkin seeds left in his bag to make more if needed. Being careful not to trip himself, he bolted towards Roan. Sure, they could get hit easier, but hell no was he going to get eaten by a bunch of icicle wolves.

"Thanks for leaving that thing on the ground." What a lovely sight. He wanted to avoid looking at a decapitated monster, only to see one with quite a damaged head. "Can we please get going now? I'd rather not learn what it's like to be killed by a wolf." The most he could do was continue running and pray they were heading in the right direction.

Of course that wasn’t the only giant around but Miguel was being a little hopeful in this instance. Circumstance was not exactly that forgiving as he looked down to Holti and then Roan, wiping away the splattering of blood from his face. Vines had broken from under the ground, likely the product of the plant controlling metahuman and they were being beset upon by giants and their damn dogs. He never liked those damn winter wolves and their annoying barking. Well, that just meant it was time to shut these little puppies up some. Normally this would have been something he could call a rousing fight but adding in a fragile body only made this an annoyance.

”You should hold on now.” Miguel growled, sidling up to Holti and wrapping an arm around the males waist. ”This might be a bumpy ride and...well I run faster than you probably.” With that he lifted the male up from his feet. ”But lucky for you we don’t have to worry about anyone getting eaten by wolves.” And with that he took off running, at full speed though luckily it was something the human body could withstand without suffering any injury.

The group found their way to a large crack in the earth, the two asgardians leaping it with ease. Roan looked back, staring at the giants. They seemed to stop abruptly, not even daring to throw a single rock their way..the hounds stood back, whining loudly. A breath of air finally escaped his lips before he turned back to Holti and Miguel "I'm going to hold in the jokes for another time,
you lil' monkey." The viking pulled out his map, and opened it in front of Miguel, and began to whisper quietly. Small details, but specifically that they were a days walk from the dragons territory.

The group continued on, Roan walking quietly ahead of the other two. His eyes shifted between the map and the road, expertly navigating in the forks in the paths. Hours had passed, and the sky had grown dark once again."We're an hour away, Miguel. Let's just keep going."

The moons had risen once again, illuminating the path as the group found their way to a desolate land. The ground was split open, glowing red, occasionally letting out small bursts of hot air. "Stay calm Holti...it can uh, smell fear."

Of course, Holti believed at first that he could do this completely on his own. He was not some little baby weakling...well, compared to a normal human that is. Holti had not yet really gotten used to how different Asgardians were. The two with him were both extremely strong. It was understandable that they would view him as being weaker considering how easy it was to hurt him, yet he still failed to see this.

So of course it came as a surprise when Miguel caught up to him and mentioned something about...lifting him? Before he could even react an arm was wrapped around his waist. Trying to think fast, Holti wrapped his arms around Miguel's upper body, one hand holding onto his shoulder. Finally, his legs wrapped around his waist. Whatever Miguel had in store certainly seemed to be rough and no way in hell was he falling off. Plus, would this not be best for Miguel? He would have his legs completely free and Holti did not see much wrong with his actions in this context.

Before he knew it, Miguel was off, running far faster than he was ever used to. As a reaction, Holti buried his face into the other man's shoulder. Not a word left his mouth the entire time. He was far too afraid to say anything or even do anything for that matter. His hands only tightened their grip faintly onto Miguel's body.

Roan's voice was the first thing Holti could truly register. His head slowly lifted up and he grumbled a small bit. The journey certainly was a bit rough. It was the monkey comment that caused Holti to finally let go, carefully getting back onto his feet. Of course he used Miguel's body to help with doing this, leaning against him slightly. He did not try to listen in on the map talk, deciding to fix his hair instead.

And they were off again. Traveling once more. The walking became very tiresome after a few hours, yet under Roan's order the three continued on. Hopefully this would all be worth it, considering Holti was more than ready to sleep at this point.

Finally the three made it and a feeling of fear had finally returned to Holti. "Stay calm? You've got to be joking, right? No way in hell does that thing sense fear...right?" Even if it was a joke, he had started to take deep breaths, attempting to calm himself. He would feel horrible if he were to ruin this entire journey for everyone else. "I'll be fine. After this we can simply get a beer and have fun. Yep. This will be fine." He closed his eyes once more and took a few final deep breaths.

"Are you ready to go in? We probably won't be able to talk too easily inside, so I wanted to thank you for taking me along. Especially considering that I'm not even from Asgard. It means a lot." Holti did look at Miguel for a few moments as he spoke.

Once the three of them escaped from the giants territory and he knew he was safe from the packs of eolves, Miguel slowed down. Holti wrapped around him like a monkey, face buried into his shoulder as if the sheer speed was to some degree scary. Not that he could blame him. Being forced to move as fast as a car without a metal shell around him was not comfortable. ”I dunno, you didn’t really hold in the jokes there Roan.” Miguel said with a smirk as the smaller male disentangled from around him and settled down. Looking far less shaken than your average person would have been, which only added credence towards him not being as soft as he would have thought. Not that he had a low opinion of him in the first place.

They would walk for hours until the sun itself began to set, Miguel’s eyes darting around and humming silently to himself. Beyond that was traveling into the moonlit night, eventually leading into a desolate land where the dragon likely resides. ”Might not be able to smell fear but maybe the chemicals that come with it. You should be fine though.” He noted, drawing his weapon from the sheath with low hiss. ”Should be careful though. Don’t know what monsters live here. Well, I don’t but Roan most likely will.” Beyond the dragon he had never gone against anything else here, so he was just going on assumptions.

The group ventured forward into the hellish landscape, temperatures rising. Roan kept peering back at Holti, hoping to the heavens that the boy would keep calm...due to the fact that dragons are notoriously good at smelling fear. The trio began to pass by a lava pool...the dragons lair..it had to be. The viking turned around, putting his index finger to his lips, before quietly clunking away from the pit.

Dragons were always a pain..they were always exponentially stronger than him..and that fire, gods that fire was absolutely terrible. He motioned the others to follow...Miguel gracefully moved across the field, as to be expected. Now it was down to Holti...The boy started out just fine, but Roan noticed his eyes drift to the lava. "No...nonono.." He gripped Miguel by the arms "He's afraid of fire..and lava...anything that burns.." It was at this moment that Holti's foot slammed into a rock, sending him to the ground, yelping in fear of the lava that flowed nearly a foot away from him.

The ground shook violently, as Roan began to curse, pulling out his blades. "Get ready, this is gonna suck."

A large head erupted from the lava, followed by a deep voice speaking in ancient norse. "You are upon my land, mortals." Glowing red eyes met Roan's gaze. The viking gulped, as the elder wyrm spread his wings and let out a deafening roar. It's head lowered, as to look at the trio on their level. Roan raised his axes, and stared back into its eyes. The serpent laughed, two firy orbs switching between the three of them. "Two asgardians...and a midgard mortal..here to challenge me? hmm?"

The beast tilted its head up, letting out a plume of smoke, before turning back to the group. It seemed to grin, as the rest of his body emerged from the lava pool. It was then, that Roan had noticed a marking upon the creatures shoulder...that of Odin's spear. Roan turned to Miguel "It's Nidhogg..."

Being practically held by Miguel had been a quite nice transition. It did bring a momentary feeling of closeness and security. At least at that point he felt safe, but now that was all down the drain. The two Asgardians had no plans of stopping and resting for the night, no. His only option was to move on forward to face this mysterious dragon. Holti could not even ask any last minute questions, as before he could speak, the two were already making their way into the cave. Hurriedly, Holti followed after, taking one final glance at the world behind him, just in case this would be the last time he ever got that view.

As the three stepped deeper into the cave, his steps became slightly slower and far more reluctant. He could not go back now, no way. Mostly because he physically could not. Holti did not know the land and had no way of even getting back down to Midgard. He was actually trapped here and could only move forward. At first, he felt no fear, or well, not a very large amount. That was until he saw the lava. All that god damn lava. His body became tense and he even took a small step backwards. Why can't you just be a water dragon?! His eyes wandered to Roan before returning back down to the lava at either side of him. He knew Roan was speaking, but everything sounded so muffled and distant. Holti tried his best to watch his foot placing, but one wrong step and he was tumbling to the ground, yelping slightly. His eyes were full of fear and his body began to shake slightly. He knew he had fucked everything up for the other two.

The ground began to shake and a loud booming voice could be heard, coming from a creature that came straight from exactly what Holti feared. Great. Here he was, still on the ground and struggling to get up. The voice sent chills down his spine and then he heard the horrific roar. The fear was evident and all Holti could do was pray that the dragon did not have the ability to sense fear.

As he finally stood onto his face, the dragon personally addressed the three. Holti knew something about this...he just did. Roan seemed to confirm his suspicion. "NIdhoggr...I have heard of that name before. I do not know much, unfortunately, but I know of the name." He himself had begun to speak in Icelandic now. It was still surprising to hear the Old Norse, but it was similar enough to Icelandic for Holti.

"Roan...what do we do? I can try to do something with my plants, but they will burn up as soon as he does his fire breathing shit." The most he could do was be a nuisance. Would tying up the dragon's legs work? It could trip him, yes, but only if he got the opportunity to do so. It was a long shot, but if Roan needed him, that was the least he could do.

"I might have to give you a rain check on those drinks, Miguel."