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

by D. K. Holmberg

  Then again, why would he have expected anything to happen? It would be the same thing that the dragon was doing. It was trying to draw heat, and that was what Jason was doing.

  “I’m going to do what I can to get you out of here, but then you’re going to have to hide.”

  He had no idea where the dragon could even hide. If the ice dragon preferred the cold and the snow, what would this dragon prefer? There was nothing like this. Even when he had been with Henry, he’d never experienced a dragon like it, which told him that whatever Therin had been attempting with the ice dragon had been done to this one. Again, an environment had been used to influence the dragon.

  Jason took a deep breath, focusing on the bar, and tried to push power out again, but once again, nothing changed.

  What about cold?

  The more that he focused on heat, the less likely it was that he would be successful, but he hadn’t tried anything with cold yet.

  He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to call upon the cold here. It was possible he wouldn’t, but as he considered it, he thought that there had to be some way to use it. There was no cold within him, not here, but could he draw it through the dragon pearl?

  It would be power coming from the dragon, and if he did it wrong, it would run the risk of summoning the dragon, but in this case, he thought that was necessary. This was the reason they had come here.

  Family first.

  Jason focused, and as he did, he tried reaching for the power within him, the sense of cold, and when it didn’t come, he tried again.

  There was no sense of cold.

  If he was wrong, and if this failed, then an opportunity to return and help the dragon would fail. He doubted he would be given another chance to get down here without others observing him. And even if he did, there would be the likelihood he would have to battle to find his way down.

  It had to be now.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the ice dragon. He forced an image of what he had encountered into his mind, thinking about the connection he believed was there between them, even if he wasn’t able to access it. The ice dragon could reach it. And in doing so, he could understand what Jason needed, and he would recognize that he needed that power, the connection, and the cold.

  The sense of it began to build deep within him.

  Jason pulled on it, drawing everything that he could, focusing it through the dragon pearl. He held his hand out, pushing the pearl up against one of the bars, and let that energy, that cold within him, continue to expand.

  Sound came from somewhere nearby, but he had to ignore it.

  He needed to focus.

  How could he focus when there was this sense coming near him? If they knew about the dragon and if they knew what he was doing, then they might be here to stop him.

  Which meant that he had to work fast.

  Jason continued to focus on the sense of cold, trying to draw something toward him, but there was no response. The longer he focused, the less likely it was he’d be able to get anything to work. There was too much distraction near him, and as much as he wanted to break the dragon free, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to.

  “I’m trying, but I don’t know if I can do anything more,” he said.

  The dragon rumbled and there came another surge of pressure, this one reminding him of what he had experienced when he had been around the ice dragon. He focused on that sense, trying to use whatever he could to uncover some way of reaching for the cold he would need. How could he do so?

  Attempting it was challenging, and as much as he wanted to, as much as he strained against it, he couldn’t find any way to reach what he needed in order to save the dragon.

  Jason looked up. He wasn’t going to be able to stop this, and whoever was coming moved quickly. The sound of them hurrying along the hall called to him, and yet, he didn’t know what else he could do.

  He gripped the bars, trying to look through them, wishing there was something he could do to help the dragon, and yet there didn’t seem to be.

  “I don’t have anything more,” he said.

  The dragon rumbled and he focused on that power, knowing there would have to be something, some way to reach for it, but he couldn’t figure out what it was going to take. If it wasn’t the cold, then what was it?

  The heat hadn’t worked for him, either, and though he thought there had to be some way to use that, he couldn’t determine what it would be. He couldn’t determine what it would take.

  Fear set his heart to fluttering. He had come here chasing the sound, but if he thought about it, he had never really expected to find a dragon.

  Somehow, Jason had to do whatever he could to release the dragon, and he had to find it within himself. It was a matter of chasing down that strange stirring, that sense of cold that he was so accustomed to.

  That was the key.

  It was a familiarity with the cold, and he was more than just familiar with it. It was a part of him. It was everything that he knew, and the more that he thought about it, the more certain he was that he could find some way of reaching for it.

  The only question was how.

  Jason focused, drawing on that energy, that sense within him, and the more he homed in on it, the more he could pull upon it, and he reached for it.

  It flowed through him.

  He continued to call upon it, to draw it forth, and he pushed it into the dragon pearl. As the cold leached out, washing away from him, into the dragon pearl, the bars of the cage began to grow colder.

  He didn’t know if it would be enough.

  His connection to heat hadn’t been enough, but now that he was focused on the cold, he was certain it should work.

  But cold alone wasn’t going to be enough to shatter the bars.

  The dragon turned toward him. Its body started to glow and heat began to radiate from it.

  “I’m trying to help,” Jason said.

  It was harder and harder to hold on to the cold as the dragon began to glow with an increasing intensity. He was pulling on the power of the cold, on the ice that flowed through him. He was as much a part of it as the dragon now was.

  The heat continued to radiate from the dragon.

  Jason tried to ignore it, to focus on anything else, and yet he could not.

  All he could feel was the heat coming off the dragon.

  Without wanting to, he took a step back.

  The dragon belched flames where he’d been standing.

  Noise near the doorway caught his attention, and three figures appeared.

  Jason clutched the dragon pearl, trying to focus on the cold, on some way of attacking, and yet, power didn’t flow through him as it had before. He was growing tired, and everything he’d used in order to draw power had begun to overwhelm him.

  Something shattered.

  Jason spun to see the dragon shoving his head through a crack in the cell. It swiveled toward the three men, and flames streamed toward them.

  When the fire was gone, nothing was left but ash.

  The dragon backed up but kept his head partway through the bars of the cell.

  “Again.”

  Jason looked at the dragon pearl. The combination of the ice and then the heat had allowed the dragon to explode outward. He had not been strong enough with the heat, and he doubted he’d even be strong enough with the ice, but combining his connection to the ice and the dragon’s to the heat, he’d managed to do it.

  He hurried forward, choosing a different section of the cell, near enough that if it worked, he might be able to break free a large enough section for the dragon to escape.

  If it worked, the dragon would be freed. Jason would have succeeded in this step.

  And then what?

  Then he would have to find some way of summoning the ice dragon, though Jason wasn’t even sure if he had any way of doing so.

  He thought about what he had done before, feeling the way the cold had fluttered through him. It was a part of him, and he could u
se that. He had to use that.

  As he focused, he could feel that cold working its way through him.

  He breathed it in and then pushed it out through the dragon pearl.

  Once again, cold began to work its way along the bars of the cage, and he continued to push, sending as much power as he could through it, more and more working its way out from him, through the dragon pearl, and into the bars blocking the dragon.

  Ice began to form beneath his hand, and it spread all along the cell. Without the fear of someone approaching, he was able to push even more power through it than he had before.

  Then he could feel heat radiating from the dragon again.

  Jason stepped back, knowing what the dragon wanted from him.

  Heat exploded. The dragon’s body began to glow orange, almost like molten metal.

  As he looked at the dragon, he realized that was exactly what it was. That was why he had thought it so strange before.

  It wasn’t so much that the dragon was glowing with a bright orange flame as it was heating up like metal.

  Like iron.

  His breath caught as he thought he understood.

  Much like the ice dragon had taken on characteristics of his village, the iron dragon had taken on aspects of this place.

  How many others would the Dragon Souls have placed? How many other dragons would there be like this?

  Hatch mates. That was what the ice dragon was after. Others like him.

  Family first.

  Jason let out a shaky breath.

  It seemed impossible to believe that the dragon would be made of iron, and yet, how would that be any different than the dragon made of ice?

  The bars exploded.

  He raised his arm, covering his face, but the shards parted around him. Some of them were hot, and they sizzled, hissing in the air as they passed him.

  When they were gone, he looked over to see the dragon poking its head through the bars. The hole was almost large enough for his body to come through.

  “Again,” the dragon demanded.

  Jason nodded, and he approached another section of the cell.

  As he began to focus on the cold, he wondered if he was going to be strong enough. Having pulled enough power through himself like this, it was possible he’d already expended himself far more than he could withstand. He had no idea what limitations he might possess when it came to using this power. It might be he had no real limits, but it might be that he had significant restrictions that would prevent him from being able to draw upon as much power as he wanted.

  As he felt the cold working through him, as that power was flowing, Jason continued to pull upon it, drawing it through him, and he let it out. The bars turned to ice, no different than they had before.

  Heat radiated from the dragon’s side as it stepped forward. It pressed its body up against the cell, and as before, those bars shattered, exploding outward with a violent force.

  When the dust and haze cleared, he looked around. The dragon was able to fold his wings in and make his way out, squeezing between the bars of the cell, and he stepped out toward Jason.

  With a loud roar, flames erupted from the dragon. The entire body of the creature glowed. It seemed as if his body flowed, like metal shifting.

  It was quite beautiful.

  “Come on. We need to get you out of here.”

  He wondered if the dragon would let him lead, and yet, if he didn’t, Jason wasn’t sure that he would be able to help as much as he wanted to.

  The dragon stepped off to the side and Jason hurried to the door. He held on to the dragon pearl, though fatigue began to work through him. If it came down to it, he would use whatever power he could, but it might be up to the molten dragon to handle things on his behalf.

  The hallway was empty. It was narrow, and he hadn’t considered that before, but how would the dragon be able to get out of there?

  Jason needn’t have worried. The dragon folded his wings in and slithered along the hall behind him, moving almost like a snake. The entire time he did, his body glowed. It was difficult for Jason to even look at, and he had to hurry to stay ahead of the heat radiating off the dragon.

  When he’d come through here before, it had been darkened and he’d had only the dragon pearl for light, but this time, he was working through here with the light of the dragon guiding him, and he moved far more rapidly than he had before.

  The dragon rumbled.

  It reminded Jason of what he had tracked, the sounds that had brought him here.

  There were shapes in the distance.

  The dragon pressed his face up to Jason. He could feel heat radiating from his nostrils, steam that burned, hot through his bearskin coat. His face felt painfully sharp. “Move over.”

  Jason jerked himself off to the side, getting away from the dragon. He pressed against the wall and heat exploded.

  Flames scorched along the hallway, illuminating everything in front of him. Briefly Jason could make out figures along the hallway, but then that moment passed and whatever figures were there disappeared, burned in a cloud of ash.

  He shivered.

  He ran forward, racing toward the end of the hallway. The dragon slithered behind him, the sound of it strange, a squealing, and it mixed with a steady hissing.

  By the time he reached the entrance to the cave, Jason was exhausted.

  He peeked his head outside, worried that he might encounter someone he had wanted to avoid, and yet the night was calm. It was dark. A hint of a cool wind gusted, welcome relief after the heat inside the cave radiating off the dragon.

  The dragon pushed behind him, and Jason staggered out into the opening.

  When he did, the dragon followed, slithering behind him.

  And then light exploded all around them.

  9

  Jason shielded his eyes. Within the cave, the light had been behind him, allowing him to better make out what was in the distance, and his eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the brightness. With the overwhelming light all around him, he struggled.

  For a moment, he thought it came from lantern light, but the longer he stared, the more certain he was that wasn’t it at all.

  Dragon Souls.

  That had to be the source of the light, and as Jason looked around, he could practically feel the power radiating off the Dragon Souls. They were near him, and he steadied his breathing, worried they might attack, but there was no sign of an attack.

  “What is this?” the dragon rumbled.

  “I don’t know.”

  Heat exploded from the dragon.

  As it did, Jason counted five dark-cloaked figures surrounding them. They had taken up positions all around them, and each of them carried a dragon pearl. How many had something more than just a dragon pearl?

  It was possible the Dragon Souls were prepared to try to control the dragon. Wasn’t that what they did? When he’d been working with Henry, he had understood the Dragon Souls used their power and their magic in order to dominate the dragon, and Jason was determined to try to prevent that, and yet, he wasn’t sure he would be able to do so.

  He glanced back at the dragon. It was hard to tell whether the creature was fighting or not, or whether there was anything else taking place, but the glowing of his scales continued.

  “You’re going to have to fight,” he said to the dragon.

  The heat continued to build, radiating off the creature, and flames erupted from his nostrils. He spread them around the clearing, and when they burned off, the figures remained standing.

  Dragonskin.

  That wasn’t good.

  Jason focused on his dragon pearl. It had worked inside the cave, and he had to wonder if he could do the same thing out here. If he could, maybe he and the dragon could work together.

  As he began to focus on the cold, something changed.

  The dragon began to retreat, the heat radiating from it shifting, the molten nature of his skin and scales beginning to lighten.

  “Y
ou have to fight whatever it is,” Jason said.

  He focused on the cold, the familiarity of it, the way it caressed him. He was able to draw upon the wind out here, thinking about how it gusted out of the northern mountain, and the snow and ice that came with it. He was filled with the power of it. He connected from that cold to the ice dragon, and pushed power out from the dragon pearl.

  He let it explode from him.

  It washed outward, a wave of it, and he looked at the iron dragon.

  “You need to use your power now.”

  The dragon seemed to ignore him.

  “Now, or you’ll be captured again!”

  That seemed to shake something within the dragon, and the heat built once more. It exploded outward. In doing so, it slammed into the others, and combined with the cold that Jason had been summoning, they were able to pull upon enough power to overwhelm the Dragon Souls.

  They were thrown back.

  Jason scrambled toward the dragon. When he reached it, he wondered if he would be able to withstand its heat.

  “I’m going to need you to fly us out of here.”

  “Fly?”

  “You’re a dragon. You have wings. You need to fly.”

  “I’ve not flown.”

  Jason swore under his breath. How was he supposed to teach a dragon how to fly? That wasn’t supposed to be his responsibility, but if the dragon had been captured and trapped since he’d hatched, it was possible the dragon had no idea how to fly—or even whether he could do so.

  The Dragon Souls were beginning to get up.

  There wouldn’t be much time before they realized he was as much of a threat as the dragon, and if they realized he’d used ice, the cold from the ice dragon, then they would know that dragon existed.

  He focused on the cold again, drawing it through him, and pushed outward.

  The effect wasn’t nearly as strong as before. The dragon reacted, pushing outward, using his connection to the heat and flame, and as he did, the Dragon Souls were thrown backward once again.

  The combination of ice and fire had been enough, but how much longer would it last before the Dragon Souls were able to figure out some way of withstanding even that? Jason had seen how Therin and the other Dragon Souls had navigated the northern cold, but suspected that it took some amount of time before they were able to do so.