Iron Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Iron Dragon

  The Dragon Misfits Book 2

  D.K. Holmberg

  Copyright © 2020 by D.K. Holmberg

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Author’s Note

  Also by D.K. Holmberg

  1

  A flutter of movement caught Jason’s attention and he stared into the distance, searching for the gradient of heat that his dragon sight would show, but came across nothing. The longer he stared, the more certain he was that he had seen something.

  It was difficult to make anything out against the steadily circling wind. It tossed snow and ice into the air, swirling it around. Gripping his bow, Jason crouched low, gliding along the snow. His bearskin jacket hung open, letting some of the snow in, the bite of the wind not bothering him as it once had.

  His stomach rumbled but he ignored it, trying to focus. It did no good to worry about food until he completed this hunt. If he failed, it would result in more than him going hungry.

  Clear your mind of everything but the target.

  Twisting away, he tracked along the snow, the way his father had always taught, but the shifting wind made it difficult to follow any footprints. He had to rely upon his ability to find movement and the gradations of heat, though those weren’t nearly as common as they once had been.

  The path brought him toward a stream. It flowed rapidly, the water moving with swirls of the current, occasionally sending spray that crashed against unseen rocks in its path. Jason had never seen the stream completely frozen, and yet, its temperature was potentially deadly if he were to fall into it.

  He cupped his hands together, bringing some of the water up to his lips and drinking it carefully. It was cold, and it practically burned as it rolled down his throat. There was a time when he wouldn’t have dared even dip his hands in the water. Warming up again would have been nearly impossible, and yet since finding the ice dragon, something had changed for him. He had changed, and his ability to tolerate the cold had altered. What would his father have thought of that?

  He remained along the edge of the stream, bent down, one knee buried in the snow, looking for any signs of movement. There were none.

  The shifting sky told him that a storm was coming, though in this place a storm was always on the horizon. He needed to move quickly or he could get trapped out here, and experience had told him that getting trapped out in the snow and in these conditions could be dangerous—even deadly.

  Always stay alert. An avalanche is as deadly to you as your arrow is to your target.

  Jason knew better than to sit around and wait, but he also knew better than to leave his jacket unbuttoned against the cold and the snow, and yet he still did it.

  There wasn’t going to be any sign of the creature he’d been hunting. Likely a rabbit, though he hadn’t seen it clearly enough to know. Maybe it was something larger. He doubted it was a deer. Those rarely came this high up onto the mountain. It was even less likely with the dragon out hunting.

  It would be much easier if he could hunt with the dragon, and yet he had rarely even seen the creature since finding it the first time.

  Jason glanced along the stream, turning his attention toward the cave that served as the headwaters, though the true headwaters was somewhere much more distant and difficult for anyone to reach.

  Getting to his feet, Jason hurried along the snow and found the cave entrance. It arched about four feet high, and a narrow walkway led on either side of the stream into the cave. It was a dangerous path, and it was one he had never taken very frequently, knowing a misstep would lead him into the potential for danger. There was a time when he’d believed falling into the stream would be fatal, and while it still might be, he no longer feared it as he once did.

  He paused as he often did when coming here, looking up at the ceiling. A crystalline structure arched overhead. It glittered, dozens of hard-edged crystals reflecting the light, catching it in a way that made it so that it practically glowed. Gems, he’d been told. Wealth. Not that they had any value here.

  No lamp was needed. It didn’t take long for Jason’s eyes to adjust and for him to be able to look around the inside of the cave. The water bubbled rapidly where it emerged from someplace deep within the mountain, some hidden reserve that likely waterfalled down, cascading until it reached this point where it poured out and found the entrance. He peered into the depths of the water, searching for signs of the dragon. The creature could hide even in the stream, concealing itself from him.

  There didn’t even seem to be any sign that the dragon was here. How could a creature like that hide so effectively? It seemed impossible. The dragon had to eat, and there should be some remains. Even droppings, though he didn’t like to think of the dragon leaving droppings he might step in. How enormous would those be?

  And yet, if he found dragon droppings, he could dry them. They would burn just as well as any other dung.

  He took a seat, looking up at the cave. Coming here gave him bittersweet memories. This was where his father had brought him, teaching him how to hunt and provide for the family. This was where his father had wanted to show him some of the secrets of this land, and it was a place few others visited. No one would dare risk the treacherous entrance. It was why it was such a good place for the dragon to hide.

  Regardless of anything else, the dragon had helped him. Because of the dragon, he had survived the Dragon Souls’ attack, making it through what Therin had planned, and yet he thought he should have an opportunity to see the dragon more often than he did. In the months following the attack, Jason had only managed to spot the dragon a handful of times, and never quite as closely as the first. While he knew dragons could talk, this one had not spoken to him since. It was almost as if the dragon didn’t want him around.

  Then again, why would the dragon want him around? Dragons were in danger of being used. This one in particular. From what he’d experienced, Jason understood he had some way of connecting to the dragons, perhaps serving as a Dragon Soul, and yet, because he only had partial dragon sight, it wouldn’t be nearly as potent as someone like Therin or the full-born Dragon Souls.

  As he sat there, voices caught his attention.

  Jason jerked to his feet.

  For a moment, he thought the Dragon Souls had returned. They knew of the dragon, and he feared that Therin might eventually come back here, thinking to use the ice dragon, claiming it and then taking it from here. Jason had seen that the dragons were incredibly powerful, and had also felt something unusual
when he had been around one. His whole life had been spent fearing dragons, terrified of what those creatures could do, but working with Henry had shown him another side of the dragons and had helped him understand that while they were powerful, they were also intelligent and had been used by the Dragon Souls.

  More than that, speaking to Therin had revealed why his father had died.

  He listened, but it didn’t seem to be Dragon Souls.

  The voice was familiar, the tone mocking.

  “I told you there was a cave here,” Reltash said.

  Jason crouched near the edge of the cave entrance. In the time he had been coming here, he hadn’t encountered anyone else who’d risk coming into the cave. Reltash would. Reltash was arrogant enough to think nothing could harm him, and he was skilled enough that it would be unlikely he would be harmed.

  The only advantage Jason had was that he wasn’t nearly as large as Reltash. Reltash was massive, like most of their people, whereas with his smaller frame, Jason found it easier to slide along the path into the cave.

  “What’s in there?”

  “How do I know?” Reltash asked.

  A shadow appeared in front of the cave, and Jason tensed. If they headed in here, there wouldn’t be any way to hide. He wasn’t about to get into an argument with Reltash and his friends.

  “Probably a bear.”

  Someone laughed softly. Jason craned his neck, trying to see who might be out there, but he couldn’t make out anything. “I haven’t seen any sign of a bear.”

  “Because it stays in the cave. We’ve seen plenty of bears in this part of the world.”

  Jason grabbed his coat, pulling it tight around himself. There were bears in this part of the world, though they weren’t all that common. It was what made his bearskin coat as valuable as it was, though not nearly as valuable as the dragonskin jackets people like Reltash wore. There was advantage to that type of clothing. It absorbed the heat of the wearer, and through that, they were able to stay far warmer than they otherwise would in this part of the world. Dragonskin had helped his people survive in these lands. With the bearskin, Jason had survived, though barely. Yet since encountering the dragon, the bearskin was no longer quite as necessary as it once had been. Those who didn’t have furs—or dragonskin—used some of the tellum mined nearby, though that was incredibly expensive. It was cheaper—and often easier—to find some animal and use its hide.

  “Go in there,” Reltash said.

  “I’m not going in. Look at how narrow that is.”

  “We’ve got to see if there’s anything in there.”

  Jason tensed. If they came into the cave, they might find him, but worse would be the possibility of their finding something that indicated the dragon had been here. As far as he knew, there was no sign of the dragon, and yet, if the creature did return and find that someone else was here, it might attack. He didn’t want anything to happen to these people, regardless of how much Reltash annoyed him.

  He considered shouting to scare them off, but any noise he might make would only entice them to come and investigate. He thought about throwing something at them, but it would have the same effect. It would be better for them to try and fail than to be tormented.

  He backed up into the cave, watching. If nothing else, he had to be prepared for the possibility he might need to hide if they did make it in here. There wasn’t really any place for him to hide other than to jump in the stream, and though he had survived the ice-cold water once before, Jason didn’t think he would be able to do so again. The last time had been because of the dragon.

  Shadows along the mouth of the cave caught his attention as a hulking figure started forward. The strip of land was so narrow that anyone who attempted to enter would have a hard time, though that wasn’t really his concern. He was more worried about the possibility that they might damage the ground, making it so that he couldn’t get back out again.

  As he watched, the person trying to enter the cave took a step, then another, sliding their feet along the edge. When they took one more, they slipped.

  Jason had been there, and he understood the treacherous footing, and he knew exactly what the person must be feeling, the way their heart lurched into their throat, the terror as they looked down at the water, the knowledge they might soon plunge into icy cold that would potentially be fatal.

  Their arms flailed. If they pushed themselves up against the wall, they should be able to hold their footing, but if they’d never come to the cave before, they might not know that.

  They continued to flail, and then slipped.

  As Jason watched, it seemed almost as if time stopped. The figure spun, arms whipping at air, grasping for something to hold on to—and failing.

  They dropped toward the water.

  The splash was loud in the cave.

  The cry echoed but then was silenced.

  “Grab him,” Reltash said.

  The stream was fast, the current drifting quickly, and even if the others managed to pull the person out, it would take a miracle for them to be able to survive the cold.

  “I couldn’t get him.”

  Jason slipped forward.

  “Try again!”

  “It’s moving too fast.”

  Wet and cold in these mountains don’t mix.

  Jason looked out at the water. He had fallen into it before, and yet, he didn’t think he could survive it again. There was one thing he could do, though. He understood the way the stream curved as it headed down the slope of the mountain.

  Racing out of the mouth of the cave, he slid, jumping across the stream, and glided down the mountain. Reltash shouted something after him, but Jason ignored it. He wasn’t about to let somebody drown—or freeze—when there was something he might be able to do. He had no idea if he would even be able to accomplish anything. Time in the water was dangerous, and it wouldn’t take very long before they would be overwhelmed by the temperature. How long did he have? Only a few minutes, and perhaps not even that long. The longer they spent in the water, the lower their temperature would drop, and even dragonskin wouldn’t be enough to keep them alive.

  He dropped to his buttocks, sliding along the snow.

  He picked up speed as he went and stared into the distance, praying he would be in time to reach the stream as it worked back around. He didn’t know if the person who’d fallen in would have passed here yet, and even if he managed to reach it, what did he really think he could do?

  Getting here would be challenging, and once he pulled the person out of the water, he didn’t have any supplies to warm them up.

  Other than a dragon pearl.

  He would have to think about that later. He hadn’t tried using it much since surviving the Dragon Soul attack. It was possible that even with the dragon pearl, he wouldn’t be able to generate enough heat, but he was determined to try.

  He glided. In the distance, the sound of the stream bubbling as it raced down the mountain caught his attention and he dug his heels in, trying to slow himself.

  And then he was there.

  Bracing as he neared the edge of the stream, he caught himself before plunging into the water.

  He looked upslope, searching for anyone who might be floating along in the water. The stream wasn’t very wide here, only a few feet across, but with as cold as it was, Jason understood how panic would set in, making it difficult for anybody to escape.

  Movement upslope caught his attention.

  A figure cloaked in dragonskin floated.

  It was only their face and the dark outline of the cloak that was visible, but Jason braced himself, prepared to grab for them.

  As they neared, he reached into the water and grabbed.

  The current was fast—almost too fast—and he was nearly torn from his feet. He dug in, holding himself as steady as he could, and pulled. Angus came free.

  He had pale skin, made even paler because of the cold, leaving his lips a shade of blue. His eyes were frozen closed, and yet he still
seemed to breathe.

  Jason tossed him on the shore. Grabbing for the dragon pearl, he pressed his hands upon Angus’s chest. Drawing energy from the dragon pearl was tricky. It involved him focusing on some part of himself he wasn’t fully aware of, and yet he understood there was power within him that he could reach for, if only he could get to it.

  It came like a fluttering deep within him. It connected to the warmth inside of him, and he pushed it out, letting it flow through the dragon pearl, and it exploded on Angus.

  He held his hands there. There was an advantage of the dragonskin in that it would absorb most of the heat, and if nothing else, it would provide a certain level of protection for him.

  Jason held his hands there, not moving, squeezing Angus’s cloak tightly. Heat began to emanate and steam billowed off the cloak, burning off the water.

  Color began to return to Angus’s face, and slowly his breathing increased.

  Jason stepped back, slipping the dragon pearl back into his pocket, and took a seat next to him. It didn’t take long for Angus to come back around.

  Angus rolled his head from side to side, blinking moisture free from his face. Steam still drifted into the air, mixing with the wind, before disappearing completely.

  “What happened?”

  “You fell into the stream,” Jason said.

  “How did I get out?”

  “I grabbed you.”

  Angus sat up, grabbing for his dragonskin before jerking his hands free. Given the steam radiating off it, it likely was still incredibly hot. Maybe Jason had pushed too much power into it, but he didn’t have any real control over his use of the dragon pearl. It worked for him, which was all that mattered.