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

by D. K. Holmberg

  He pushed power through the dragon pearl, focusing on the iron dragon, and as he did, there was no resistance as there had been before.

  He released that power and tapped the dragon on the side of his head, running his hands along his massive jaw.

  “Time to wake up,” he whispered.

  He touched the dragon, feeling the warmth of the dragon’s jaw, the strangely metallic texture, and on a whim, he pushed outward, doing the same as he would if he were holding on to a dragon pearl. Yet with the iron dragon, he was only trying to connect to the dragon itself, not to a pearl.

  There was a strange surge, but then it faded.

  Jason wasn’t even sure if that surge was real, but if it were, then the connection had formed. Could he use the power of the iron dragon? Whatever power he detected was that of molten metal.

  He caressed the dragon’s cheek again.

  There came that strange surge again, almost a reverberation, and as he felt it, Jason couldn’t help but wonder if something was happening between him and the iron dragon.

  He pushed again. He had no idea what he was doing, only that it seemed to be working. More than ever, Jason had to wonder if he shouldn’t have spent more time with Henry, learning what it meant to be at least a partial Dragon Soul. If he had learned that, would he have known enough to use that power now?

  He’d probably know no more than he did now.

  It wasn’t as if he would gain anything more. He had a connection to the ice dragon, and he had kept the ice dragon alive, but he had also now rescued the iron dragon—twice.

  He had to think that was something beneficial, even if it meant he’d been a part of several of the Dragon Souls dying.

  It was difficult to think about that.

  Living in the village, death was a constant companion and a real possibility for so many of the people, and yet Jason had never directly experienced death until his father had passed. Seeing the Dragon Souls die was far more real.

  All things must die. Don’t fear it, but don’t chase it.

  He pushed the thought out of his mind. There was no point in thinking like that, and it was easier to focus only on what he could control.

  And that was helping the dragon as much as he could.

  He pushed again, sending a surge of warmth toward it.

  Warmth didn’t seem to work, but would cold?

  When he had been focusing on the iron dragon, he’d been using whatever connection to the cold he had, and yet there had to be something else to it. He pushed on the cold sense that flowed through him, sending that into the iron dragon.

  In doing so, there came an echoing sense.

  With it came a jolt.

  The dragon rumbled.

  Heat began to radiate off the iron dragon and he shook his head, whipping his tail. Jason ducked underneath it, afraid of the force of that tail, knowing the way it could cut through someone.

  He glanced back and noticed that the ice dragon had moved back as well, and cold was radiating off him.

  Between the two of them, there was fire and ice, the contrasting nature of the two filling the inside of the tunnel with a strange sensation.

  “What happened?” Jason asked as the iron dragon awoke.

  “You were gone,” the iron dragon said.

  “I was gone to find the ice dragon,” he said, pointing to the crouching ice dragon. Sharp spikes protruded from the entirety of him, and it was the first time that Jason had seen the dragon so prepared for battle. He had seen the dragon fight before, and he had witnessed the way he could use the ice spikes and push them out, but he hadn’t seen him do so in quite some time. They were almost beautiful. Deadly, but beautiful. The spikes protruded, glistening sharp points that Jason suspected the dragon could shoot, targeting anything within the cave.

  “I felt drawn,” the iron dragon said.

  “How did it feel?”

  “You would draw me the same way?”

  “I wouldn’t, but I would like to know how it felt.”

  “It seemed as if they were adding to the song.”

  Jason tipped his head, wondering what sort of song the iron dragon would even hear. “What did it sound like?”

  “It sounded like bells tolling.”

  It was the sound of metal ringing. Of course it would be. And it shouldn’t surprise him that the Dragon Souls would have some way of using that power to draw the iron dragon. It wasn’t unlikely that they would somehow uncover the key to it. The Dragon Souls were powerful, they had quite a bit of experience with the dragons, and it would be easy enough for them to know what it would take to attract the iron dragon.

  “And that song called to you?”

  “That song drew me. I followed it here, and then something else happened.”

  “What else happened?”

  “I felt resistance.”

  Jason glanced back at the ice dragon. His spikes were still protruding, and though it might only be his imagination, they seemed to be retreating.

  “What sort of resistance did you feel?”

  “I don’t know that I can explain. The resistance was there, and it allowed me to know the song was wrong.”

  “That was us,” Jason said.

  “You fought them?”

  “I didn’t know what it was, but I felt something. I thought there was resistance in the tunnel, and when I began to feel it, I realized I needed to push against it. As I did, I felt that resistance fade.” And now that he knew what it was, he wondered if he could recreate it. If he could counter what the Dragon Souls did, if he had some way of overpowering the way they summoned them, would he be able to free dragons?

  It seemed impossible to even consider, but then again, a year ago, it would’ve seemed impossible to even be speaking to a dragon.

  Now he was speaking to not just one dragon but two. He had saved not just one dragon but two. And if the ice dragon was right, then there might be more for him to find.

  Would they all be like this?

  He frowned, looking past the iron dragon, and he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he was going about things the wrong way.

  If they found dragons that had specific tendencies, they would be able to understand just what Therin and the others had been up to.

  They weren’t typical dragons.

  But then, Jason had known they weren’t going to be typical dragons. That was the whole point of what they were doing, the way Therin had used them, thinking he could harness the abilities of a different land. Therin had wanted to conquer these lands, to add them to the Lorach kingdom.

  “I don’t know how long we can stay here,” Jason said.

  “Those two won’t pose any challenge,” the ice dragon said. His words were clipped, and they were spoken with a little more harshness than he usually used, as if he still wasn’t sure what to make of the iron dragon.

  But then, it was possible that he didn’t know what to make of the iron dragon. The ice dragon had wanted Jason to find another, to find the hatch mate, and now that they had done so, it wasn’t at all what he had expected.

  Of course, Jason wasn’t what anyone would’ve expected. The ice dragon wasn’t what anyone would’ve expected. Why should the hatch mate be anything different?

  “We should still move. I don’t how many more Dragon Souls will be out there.”

  There had been five, and now four were gone, and yet… Jason had a hard time thinking that was all of them. There had to be more, and if they had brought down only a few of them, how long would it be before they realized and sent reinforcements?

  It meant that Jason and the dragons would have to find reinforcements as well.

  Doing so involved taking a risk that he hadn’t necessarily wanted to take. It involved doing something he hadn’t necessarily wanted to do.

  When he had agreed to remain in the village, he had done so because he’d believed he could offer a certain protection to the ice dragon, and he’d thought he could help his mother and sister. Surprisingl
y, even though he’d remained, he still didn’t feel as if he had helped them nearly as much as he had wanted to.

  Now there was something else that needed him.

  The dragons needed him.

  Hopefully his sister and mother would be all right with him being gone a few more days. Family first, then village. The dragons were now his village. If this worked, if he went to Dragon Haven, then it was possible he could help save more than he had intended.

  “I think I’m going to need help rescuing your hatch mates,” Jason said.

  “I thought you were the help,” the ice dragon said.

  “I was going to be the help, and I still am going to help, but I wonder if perhaps we need more than what we have.”

  “What more?”

  “Others who understand—and respect—the dragons.”

  The ice dragon rumbled. “I don’t know if I will be able to remain.”

  “You need the cold?”

  “Even this place is difficult.”

  “I understand.” He glanced over at the iron dragon and could not help but wonder if the same would be true of him. He needed something similar to the mines, and without them, Jason had to wonder if the iron dragon would suffer the same way the ice dragon did in this place.

  There was only one way to find out, and yet, trying to bring the iron dragon with them posed a different set of challenges.

  “He doesn’t know how to fly,” Jason said.

  The ice dragon rumbled and turned away, but not before shooting a pair of icicles. They both struck Jason, though he suspected they were intended for him.

  11

  The ledge leading out to the gorge had a steep drop-off. In the daylight, it was far easier for Jason to see what was far below them, which was the water rushing through the gorge and flowing with a violent energy.

  The ice dragon flapped his wings, hovering in front of him, just out of reach.

  The iron dragon clutched the edge of the ledge, his body glowing, almost unbearable heat radiating from him. Were it not for the dragonskin cloak and jacket that Jason now wore, he wasn’t sure he would even be able to tolerate it.

  “You just have to glide,” Jason said.

  “You don’t have wings,” the iron dragon said.

  “I don’t, and you do. Look at how he glides.”

  “I am not like him.”

  Jason had hoped that the opportunity to work together would help bring the two dragons closer, and yet it seemed almost as if they were more irritable. The ice dragon seemed upset because he hadn’t found someone who understood him, and the iron dragon was upset because the ice dragon was able to fly.

  As he watched, he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps the iron dragon was right. The ice dragon was different. It was possible his means of flying was different. Certainly the ice dragon flew differently than the other dragons Jason had experienced. When those dragons had taken off from the mountain, they had spiraled up, almost as if circling on the wind, whereas the ice dragon would glide down the mountain, catching the breeze before shooting up into the air.

  What if the iron dragon couldn’t even fly?

  He was different, and because of that, it was possible there was nothing he could learn from the ice dragon. They were fire and ice; how could either one understand what the other was going through?

  And yet, Jason felt quite strongly that the iron dragon needed to learn how to fly. In order to safely reach Dragon Haven, he would need to fly. So far, there had been no more sign of the Dragon Souls, but even that wasn’t likely to last. The longer they lingered here, the more likely it was that the Dragon Souls would return. If they recognized the dragon was freed, they would go hunting for it.

  He didn’t know what had happened, or why the dragon had been captured, or even who had been responsible for capturing it, but he doubted it would take long for the Dragon Souls to get word that something had taken place.

  “How do you move usually?” he asked.

  That seemed to be the key. The ice dragon glided along the snow, whereas the iron dragon was different. He writhed, wiggling along the surface, so different in his movements.

  “How do you move?”

  “I walk, but I’m not a dragon.”

  “No. You are not.”

  “I’m just asking so we can figure out what might help you understand how you can fly.”

  Jason stared at the iron dragon. There was something about the heat and the way his entire body seemed to glow, the way the molten nature of his scales appeared to flow.

  That had to be the key, didn’t it?

  If that were the key, what was it going to take? If it were about using the molten nature of the dragon, Jason would have to find something within the dragon himself to latch on to, but didn’t know if there was anything he could do that with.

  He focused, staring at the dragon, thinking about his experience in traveling with the creature and watching the surface of his scales as he rolled.

  An idea came to him.

  “Try slithering through the air.”

  “Slithering?” the ice dragon asked.

  “I know you fly differently, but then, you fly how you needed to in the ice and the cold. The iron dragon will need to travel differently. When I traveled with him, I felt him practically slither.” There wasn’t any other way to describe it, and as he considered it, he thought that he was right.

  Only, how was the iron dragon going to slither out into the air?

  “Open your wings and slink forward as you did through the forest,” he said.

  If that worked, he would be amazed. If it didn’t, then the dragon would drop, and though he didn’t think the creature would be harmed by the fall, he still did not want to be responsible for something happening to him. He had no idea if they would be able to climb back down to help the dragon, though he had to believe there would be some way of reaching him if it were necessary.

  The iron dragon clutched the ground. Slowly, he began to spread his wings, separating them out from his body, and as he did, the heat billowed off him. It was enormous and almost unpleasant, and on a whim, Jason crawled up on the iron dragon’s back.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “And if I slither to the ground?”

  “I’m still going with you,” Jason said.

  “You’re that sure this will work?”

  Jason shrugged. “I have no idea whether it will work or not, but I believe your way of moving is different enough that it could—and should.”

  The dragon swiveled his head, looking at Jason, his eyes glowing a bright orange. As Jason stared at him, he noticed that the way his eyes glowed seemed to mimic the manner in which the heat radiated off his body. It was flowing, the same way his body seemed to flow, and it was a strange thing.

  The dragon turned his head away, and heat began to build from him.

  Jason looked away, staring across the distance, watching the ice dragon. His crystal-blue eyes met Jason’s, and they stared at each other. For a moment, Jason could practically feel the disappointment within him. It was almost as if Jason were betraying the ice dragon, but that wasn’t it at all. Why couldn’t the ice dragon see Jason was trying to help? Wasn’t that what the ice dragon had wanted? He had wanted for them to find the hatch mates. And now that he had, now that they were trying to help one, the ice dragon didn’t want him to do so?

  Jason focused on the iron dragon.

  “Slither,” he said.

  The dragon pushed off. They fell.

  Then the iron dragon began to slither, sliding forward as he had through the forest. His wings remained open, motionless, and yet, strangely, the way he slithered, the heat radiating, stretching from his head down toward his back, seemed to propel them forward.

  Then they glided.

  It wasn’t quite the same as flying with the ice dragon, but Jason hadn’t expected it to be. The iron dragon was different, and yet, as they glided, he realized it w
as successful. This was flying for the iron dragon.

  “Try using your wings,” Jason said.

  He didn’t know if it would make a difference, but the iron dragon pumped his wings. It was a strange sensation, the stiff, metallic movements so different from the way the ice dragon flew, and yet there were similarities. Iron and ice weren’t all that different, were they?

  Gradually they began to ascend. The heat continued to ride along the surface of the iron dragon, radiating from head to toe, and power surged, propelling them forward.

  They were flying, and he patted the iron dragon’s side.

  The ice dragon took a position in front of them.

  “Where is he going?”

  “I suspect he intends to take us to Dragon Haven.”

  “And where is Dragon Haven?”

  “Dragon Haven is a place of dragons. Free dragons.”

  And they were more than just free dragons. If his experience had been representative of Dragon Haven, the dragons were practically worshipped.

  He had a marker that Henry had given him, and Jason thought he should use it to summon the man, to let him know they were coming, and yet if he did that, he wondered if the Dragon Souls might be alerted to their presence. It was better if they simply appeared.

  Then again, if they simply appeared, it might look as if they were Dragon Souls. With Jason dressed as he was, they might come across the wrong way. He had a bundle of other clothing on the ice dragon, his bearskin coat and the other dragonskin clothing, but he wasn’t sure if that would make a difference.

  They gradually gained altitude.

  As they did, it seemed to Jason that the iron dragon became more confident in his flying. Every so often, he would pump his wings, but not nearly as often as the ice dragon. It seemed as if the heat radiating along his body propelled him almost as much as his wings did. It was a strange and undulating way of flying, as if he slithered through the sky, yet there was something rhythmic about it.

  It was different than the ice dragon, and different than what he had experienced when traveling with Henry, but it was no less powerful and no less impressive.