Previously:

"If you go with me, you'll be in danger as well and I don't want that. I don't want you to risk your life for me, Otr-san…"

"That's what you're worried about?" Otr asked in surprise.

"Of course I'm worried about that! I could never forgive myself if you got hurt or even killed because of me."

Now it was Otr's turn to blush and quickly turned away from her. "... I'll do it…"

"Huh?"

Otr turned to face her again. "I'm going to help you."

"I can't ask this of you…"

"You don't have to, I'm going to do it anyway."

"But-"

"You're going to need my help and I'm willing to lend you my strength." Otr assured her as he took her hand in his.

Even if she was a little taller than him her hand still felt smaller in his.

After a moment she finally smiled and said, "Let's do this."

Now:

"So, what's the plan?" Yui asked as they walked in the direction of Fafnir's cave. This had given Yui more hope and she was feeling motivated enough to push herself forward.

"Fafnir is going to try and kill us if he finds us in his cave, especially if he believes we're after his gold, so we have to be careful and very quiet if we're going to make it out alive." Otr explained.

"Careful and quiet," Yui repeated. "got it. But one more thing, how are we going to get some of his blood?"

"If he's asleep it's going to be much easier but what I need you to do is to wait for me to retrieve the blood."

"You won't need my help?"

"I have the power to change into almost any form I want, all I have to do is to change into something small and suck some blood out of him. That way he won't notice me."

"Alright, like a mosquito?"

"A mosquito would be too small, I won't be able to suck out enough blood, nor can I break through his hard scale to reach a soft spot in such a tiny form. But perhaps a leech would be alright? First I change into a fly, fly up to him and change into a leech, crawl through the scale and then suck his blood. That should work."

"Isn't there anything I can do?" Yui tried again. "I don't want you to do all the work on your own."

"There is one thing you can do."

"What is it?"

Otr took out a small bottle from his pocket he happened to carry with him. "Once I'm done I'm going to fall to the ground, you will have to catch me when I do. Then hold me above this bottle and I will fill it. Then we leave as quickly as possible."

"Good plan." Yui smiled and took the bottle he was holding out for her to take.

As they got closer and closer to the lone mountain it was starting to get a little windy and the sky got darker, as if snow could start falling any second. Yui had to hug her body in attempt to keep what was left of her body heat, it was really no use in trying but she still did it out of habit. Otr noticed this of course. 'This is how a slow death looks like…' He thought with a frown.

About 20 minutes later they reached the foot of the mountain.

"This is it, you ready?" Otr asked.

"Yes." Yui answered. "How do we get in?"

"The entrance is up there." The dwarf said and pointed.

Yui followed his finger and spotted a big hole in the mountain a little further away from where they stood. It was placed at least 20 feet up. "How do we get up there?" She asked before she turned to face Otr again.

Beside her stood a big and white mountain goat.

Yui jumped back in surprise and stared at Otr.

"Surprised?" Otr asked calmly.

"A little, yes. I wasn't prepared to see a goat beside me."

"Mountain goats are very good climbers, I can get us both up in this form. Jump up on my back, Yui-san."

"A-Alright." Yui obeyed and carefully climbed up on the goat's furry back. The pain slowed her down but once she was seated Otr started walking, slowly because he didn't want to cause Yui more and unnecessary pain.

"Hold on tight." Then he jumped and landed gracefully on a small cliff.

He moved swiftly up the steep mountain wall as if he had done this many times before. Yui held onto his fur and didn't let go until they were standing on flat ground by the entrance. Carefully she slid down from his back and landed on the stone floor of the cave. Otr changed back to his original form and made a gesture for her to be quiet.

They started walking slowly without making noises and as they got deeper and deeper inside the cave the air started feeling more heavy and a strange smell entered their lungs. Yui didn't know how to explain what exactly it was she was smelling but the first thing that came to her mind was "dirt".

Otr touched her arm to get her attention and when she turned to look at him he placed his hand over his nose and mouth, wanting her to do the same. Yui realised it was probably some of Fafnir's poison she was smelling and quickly placed a hand over her mouth and nose as well.

It was getting darker, the light couldn't reach further inside anymore and they had to be careful so they wouldn't stumble over the pointy rocks sticking up from the ground in front of them. It was quiet too, only the sound of dripping water echoed through the long cave. Then, Otr stopped walking and grabbed Yui's hand to stop her from taking another step. Even if it was dark she could still see him quite clear. He was pointing at something in front of them and once Yui's eyes had adjusted to the darkness she could clearly see something big by the end of the cave… and it was breathing.

There, in front of them, the dragon Fafnir was sleeping on top of some of his gold, the rest of it he was blocking from their sight with his huge body.

Yui took her time to inspect him. He looked like a very big grey lizard and some kind of green or brown smoke escaped from his nose as he breathed. 'He sure doesn't look like a friendly beast.' She thought, feeling quite nervous.

Otr didn't let go of her hand, instead he led her quietly towards a big rock beside the dragon's front leg where she could hide until he was done.

They nodded at each other before Otr turned into a small fly and flew up to the dragon and landed on his back where he then turned into a leech.

Yui couldn't see him anymore, he was too small and the cave was too dark for her to find him, she only knew he was trying to find a soft spot underneath the dragon's scale. She would just have to guess when the time was right for her to approach and catch Otr when he would fall down from Fafnir's back, hopefully with a body filled with blood. She didn't know how long it would take but after a few minutes she moved away from the rock she was hiding behind and very slowly walked up to the dragon's sleeping form so that she was standing right beside it. She was scared now, very scared and her body started shaking. Fafnir was sleeping peacefully but who knew how long that would last? He could wake up at any moment and if he did, she would definitely become dragon food. 'How did I end up here…? I don't want to be here, I want to go home! Not being able to talk to my friends about this is torture, as if being devoured by ice wasn't torture enough… If this doesn't work, how am I supposed to stay alive long enough to find an actual cure and find where Sisyphus resides? I already feel so weak…'

A very faint noise caught her attention and she looked up to see something small roll down Fafnir's back. 'Otr-san!' She thought and held up her hands.

Luckily, he fell right into her hands and Yui moved to hide behind the rock once again together with the leech. She held it over the small bottle just like Otr had instructed and watched as he released the blood from his body into it. Once he was done Yui closed the lid but before Otr could change back, a rumbling sound echoed through the cave.

The dragon was moving.

Yui's eyes widened, was Fafnir waking up? Otr seemed to be unsure of what to do since he wasn't changing back into a dwarf. She couldn't see the dragon from behind the rock but it sounded like it was lifting its big head from the cold stone floor and all the gold underneath him rattled as he did. 'Oh no, oh no, oh no…!' She thought, taking a slow and deep breath but didn't dare to exhale.

"What… is that I'm smelling?" Fafnir spoke in a very deep and wheezy voice.

'Shit, shit, shit!' Yui thought in panic and slowly slid down and sat with her back against the rock, holding the bottle and the leech close to her body. Out of fear her legs were unable to hold her body up any longer.

"This scent… I can't remember the last time I smelled it."

Yui closed her eyes and prayed this wasn't happening.

"I know you are here… human… show yourself."

She didn't move a muscle.

"If you don't, then I will just drag you out. Your choice."

"..." She stood up slowly, legs shaking, and moved away from the rock she was hiding behind but not before she had put down Otr and the bottle of blood on the ground. She didn't want to drag him down with her.

"There you are." Fafnir smirked so that his sharp teeth were showing.

Yui didn't say anything, instead she held her head low as she moved to stand in front of him.

"Why have you come to my cave, human? You must be very stupid if you thought it was a good idea to approach me."

"..."

"Staying silent won't help you. I might as well devour you."

"I...I…"

"Yes?"

It was no use making something up, she might as well tell him.

"I need… help."

"You need help, huh? Do you realise who you're talking to? I couldn't care less about you or your problems, the only thing I care about is gold, only gold."

"I know that… but my time is limited and I'm willing to take the risk."

"Interesting. Tell me more."

"I've been cursed, by Sisyphus."

"Sisyphus, I remember him. I was still a dwarf when he was sent to the underworld of the Greek gods. So he finally decided to show up and placed a curse on you, huh? And now you're willing to risk your life to get rid of it."

"It's not just for me, he took a human child as a hostage, I'm here for him as well. He will share my fate if I fail to cure myself in time…"

"And you care about this child?"

"I do."

"How foolish… Why bother caring about others when you can care about yourself?"

"..."

"There's one thing I don't get, you're a human, why are you here in the world of mythological beings?"

"The Norse gods took me in because I wanted to stay with my friends, I've been living here for awhile now."

"Why don't you ask them for help instead of bothering me?"

"I can't, Sisyphus told me I can't tell them about the curse. If they find out the ice will spread much faster and I will die almost instantly."

"Ice?"

Yui pulled down her sweater. "This is how the curse looks like…"

"What a way to die on." Fafnir didn't look like he cared at all, he was just smirking down at her, clearly enjoying the story Yui was telling him. "I really should eat you just to end your suffering but I don't wanna risk getting that curse of yours by doing so, so I'll just crush you right where you stand."

"Wa-!"

Fafnir raised his front leg. "Say goodnight, human!" He taunted and was just about to crush her when Otr suddenly jumped in front of her, he had changed back into his original form.

The dragon stopped and stared at the small dwarf in front of the human woman. It was kind of amusing watching him try to shield someone who was taller than himself. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my dear brother, Otr. Last time I saw you you were in the shape of an otter."

"Brother, let her be." Otr told the dragon.

"Otr-san…" Yui whispered.

"My, my, isn't this interesting. Since when did you care so much about someone you were willing to risk your life for them, hmm?"

Otr ignored his brother. "I was the one who suggested we'd come here, so don't hurt her."

"Why shouldn't I? Anyone who enters, I kill, got it?"

"We will leave right away, we don't want any trouble."

"You're already in trouble, brother. The moment you entered my cave and sneaked up to me you got in trouble. Don't expect me to show mercy."

Poison began to leak from his nose.

'This is bad!' Otr thought. "Yui-san, run!"

Otr grabbed her hand and started running for the exit.

"Not so fast!" Fafnir growled and breathed out a huge cloud of poison that followed after them as they ran.

"Take a deep breath!" Otr shouted.

Yui did as he said but she soon realised it would be impossible to hold it in. Otr was already forcing her to run faster than her body wanted her to and the ice tore on her skin the faster they ran, it was very painful. Otr looked behind them only to see that the poison was catching up to them and also came to a realisation that Yui would collapse from exhaustion and pain if they didn't stop soon.

Panic was shown in his eyes when he saw that Yui had started to inhale, obviously she wasn't able to hold her breath for long in that state.

He had to think fast. He let go of Yui's hand and changed into a wolf, a pretty big one, and cried out to her to jump up on his back.

Yui used what remained of her strength and grabbed his grey fur before she jumped. "Otr-san… I… I think I'm…" She was starting to lose consciousness.

"Just a little longer, Yui-san, hang on!"


Yui opened her eyes and breathed heavily, she was lying in the snow and the wind was making her shiver. What happened and how did she get here?

"Yui-san!"

She looked to the side and saw Otr, still as a wolf, looking down at her. "Otr… san…" She whispered.

"How are you feeling?"

"Cold… and it feels like… my skin's been torn up…"

Her black sweater looked pretty damp.

Yui took a hold on her sweater and carefully pulled it up. "How does it look?"

Otr stared at the line of ice on her stomach. She was bleeding. The ice had torn her skin apart when they were running and now blood was flowing from around the ice. This was only on her stomach, he honestly didn't want to know how it looked further up her body. He could see the tip of the ice just below her throat and it looked like she was bleeding from there too. This wasn't good, he needed to move her to a place where they could take a proper look at it. "You're bleeding, come on, we need to find shelter."

Yui only swallowed and tried to sit up.

Otr lay down beside her. "Here, it will be easier for you to get on now."

After a moment Yui was back on his back, she was still breathing heavily and seemed to be in a lot of pain. Otr tried to walk as steady as possible but sadly he couldn't stop her from rocking from side to side as he walked.

They were walking in the direction of Yui's home, hoping they could find a place to rest before any gods spotted them. For Yui's sake they had to stop the bleeding and get her to feel a little better, she couldn't return home yet and risk getting questioned by her friends.

After awhile they finally made it to the forest Yui had met the elves and Otr and went inside. They didn't stop until they reached the green part of it. There, Otr let Yui down and let her rest with her back against a tree. The grass she was sitting on felt really soft, even though she was wearing jeans. Otr sat down in front of her but didn't say anything.

Yui's eyes traveled down to her sweater, when she pulled it down so that the skin over her heart was showing she gasped and let go of the sweater, letting it fall up and cover the ice once again.

Otr narrowed his eyes, he had seen it, and it didn't look good. She was bleeding a lot and her face turned pale.

"This isn't… good…" She whispered with her head against the tree and her eyes closed.

"Pull the fabric down again, Yui-san." Otr told her.

Yui opened her eyes again and stared at him for a few seconds before she did what he had told her. She watched as Otr stood up and took a few steps towards her and lowered his head so that he was face to face with the now blood covered ice on her chest. "Otr-san?"

He started licking it gently.

Yui gasped, both from surprise and from the pain it caused her. But she still didn't let go of the fabric, knowing Otr did this to help her. They didn't have any other way to clean it. When Otr was done it looked a little better but it still didn't stop the bleeding completely, it was still an open wound after all.

Yui was feeling embarrassed, even if Otr was a wolf right now it didn't change the fact that he was actually a man, or a dwarf, and she had let him touch her like that. But she shouldn't have to feel guilty or anything, it wasn't like she was in a romantic relationship with anyone… "T-Thank you…" She whispered and let the fabric fall back against her skin.

When she looked up she saw that Otr had changed back into a dwarf. It was a good thing the sun was hidden behind clouds right now or he would have turned to stone the moment the sunbeams hit his skin. He didn't have to worry about that if he had stayed in animal form, though.

"It feels like it's hard to breath." She pointed out.

"That's because you inhaled some of Fafnir's poison when we were running away from him." Otr answered.

"I remember… But we got out thanks to you."

"You lost consciousness right before we reached the exit and you fell down from my back when I threw myself out from the cave."

"I see. What about Fafnir? Didn't he come after us?"

"No, he won't leave the cave unless he really has to. His gold is too important to him."

"Lucky us…" Yui said and looked down.

"What's wrong?"

"I left the bottle behind, we almost got killed for nothing."

"Don't worry about that, I've got it." Otr smiled and took out the blood-filled bottle from his pocket.

"You have it!" Yui exclaimed in relief.

Otr opened it and held it in front of Yui's mouth. "Just a little sip."

The taste was kind of sweet but other than that it wasn't anything special. They waited a few seconds before Yui felt something happening and she pulled down the sweater again and watched as the wound around the ice disappeared and it was easier to breath now as well, but the ice remained. The dragon's blood helped heal the wound caused by it but it didn't remove the curse.

Yui let a sigh escape her mouth. "I'm sorry, Otr-san, it seems like it was all for nothing."

"No, it wasn't. The blood can heal you if the ice tears up your skin again. It's likely it'll happen again, so you better hold on to that bottle."

Yui gave him a smile. "I am very grateful to you, Otr-san."

"Well, well, who do we have here? Back so soon?"

Yui and Otr looked to the side and saw the male elf Yui met before she ran into Otr.

"Who are you?" Otr asked the elf.

"Relax, dwarf, I met this little human earlier today when she was looking for a way to remove that curse of hers." The elf explained as he got closer. "And look at you now, your clothes are bloody and you look even more weak than before."

"The ice has spread." Yui explained. "Fafnir's blood healed my wound but did nothing to the curse."

"Blood? The dragon Fafnir's blood?" The elf asked in surprise.

"Yes." Yui answered him. "I have some of it in this bottle."

"You're a brave one, that's for sure. You must be really desperate if you entered the dragon's cave willingly. Give me that bottle and I'll do something for you."

Before Yui could answer, Otr spoke up. "No way! If she receives more wounds because of the curse she is going to need that blood."

"That's too bad, I was hoping I could have some of it since dragon blood is so difficult to get a hold on."

Yui thought for a moment and turned to the elf. "Can you make portals?"

Otr and the elf turned to look at her.

"Yes, I can."

A/N: There you go! Next chapter will be out in about 4 days!