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

by D. K. Holmberg

  And they needed to work together, regardless of what the ice dragon said. If they could work together, if they could connect to each other, then they could better understand their purpose. And in understanding that purpose, they could find some way of uncovering the other dragon.

  There had to be another dragon here. He might not be able to feel it, not the same way as the ice dragon or David, but there was something about this place that suggested there would be a dragon. And rather than searching for the dragon, he could try to uncover what about this place would fit the dragon. What traits would it take on from here?

  If he could discover that, then he could help the dragon when they found it. Assuming they did find one.

  What did he know? There was humidity. There were trees. There was nothing else.

  Perhaps there wouldn’t be any way to determine anything from here.

  He didn’t know enough about this land to know whether anything here would be helpful. It was possible that though he had found the ice and the iron dragons, there would be nothing like that here.

  Jason took a deep breath and noticed something strange to the air.

  At first, he wasn’t sure what it was. An energy seemed to fill the air, and he looked around, searching for the source of it, but found nothing.

  There had to be something here.

  He turned toward David. David was still walking in a circle and muttering to himself. The ice dragon was slowly making his way over to the iron dragon, but neither was saying anything.

  As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything here, and yet, there was something to the air. There was an energy, and he thought he could use it.

  Jason ignored the dragon pearl he was holding on to, focusing instead on that energy. If there was anything he would be able to uncover, it would be in drawing through that energy, not any other way.

  He focused, and that sense came to him, drifting slowly at first, but then as he continued to pull upon it, with an increasing intensity.

  It was near the other dragons.

  Jason made his way there, holding on to the dragon pearl, that energy similar to what he detected from both the ice and the iron dragons.

  There was another possibility, and it troubled him the most. As he approached, he looked around, glancing at the sky, half afraid he might come across one of the Dragon Souls—or more. What if David had betrayed them? He might have spoken the words of the flame, and the ice dragon might have detected something within them, but what did that really mean? It was possible that whatever connection he claimed, whatever bond he said came from it, meant nothing.

  He reached the ice dragon.

  It was watching the iron dragon as he slithered around the trees. There was something strange about the way that he watched, and it took Jason a moment to realize that the ice dragon was attempting to slither the same way that the iron dragon did.

  He stood watching for a moment.

  If only there was some way that the two of them would be able to understand each other. It was possible they were different enough that they wouldn’t be able to do so. Jason wanted them to try to find some common ground. If they could, then they would be stronger for it. They were hatch mates.

  The energy continued to increase, building with a violence.

  “Do you feel that?”

  The ice dragon turned toward him. His sides glistened and the layer of ice over him was not nearly as thick as it had been.

  “There’s some sort of energy here.”

  The dragon rumbled.

  He sniffed the air, turning his long-fanged snout toward the ground, and sniffed again. Cold radiated from the dragon, and as it did, he formed a thicker barrier of ice around himself.

  “I don’t detect anything,” the dragon said.

  It could be that the effort of trying to withstand whatever was taking place around here was too much for the dragon, but it could be something else. If it came from whatever energy Jason detected, he would need to act more quickly. He focused on what he could detect, and yet nothing was clear to him.

  The iron dragon continued his slithering course through the forest, and Jason watched, focusing on the energy from the dragon, wondering if there was anything he might be able to learn. It was unclear to him.

  The Dragon Soul remained near the center of the clearing. Jason watched, searching for any sign of what David might be doing, trying to understand just what it was, but he couldn’t tell. The man was making his circle, muttering, and yet… There came an energy from him, too.

  That was the source of what Jason was detecting.

  He headed back over to the Dragon Soul, stopping just outside of the circle he formed. “What are you doing?”

  “You cannot disturb this.”

  “What are you doing?”

  The Dragon Soul flicked his gaze up. His eyes had taken on an orange hue, and sweat dripped down his brow. “I am trying to summon the creature.”

  “You want to control it.”

  “Not control. The dragons need to be trained.”

  Jason wanted to lash out, to strike the Dragon Soul, but if he could draw the dragon to them, then perhaps he could try to find some way of connecting to it.

  The only problem was that if the dragon reacted the same way the iron dragon had, then it might be angry at how it would have been summoned.

  “How are you summoning it?”

  “I am calling to its nature.”

  “We don’t know its nature.”

  “We know enough about it to be able to call to it,” David said.

  The circling continued and the muttering persisted. Jason stood on the other side of the circle, debating whether or not he should interrupt what the Dragon Soul was doing, but decided to let him continue.

  He stood back a step, watching, feeling the energy David was producing.

  Would there be anything he could do to add to the Dragon Soul’s efforts?

  Not to try to summon the dragon, but perhaps to prevent David from harming the creature if it finally appeared.

  He focused, pushing power out through the dragon pearl.

  That was a mistake. He couldn’t use the power of the ice dragon, not as the dragon was straining to overcome the effects of this place.

  Was there another way he could do it?

  There were other dragon pearls. The Dragon Souls had carried them, and he could use one of those.

  He reached into his pocket, feeling one of the dragon pearls, and pulled it out. It had a bluish color to it, streaks of black running along its surface, and it was perfectly smooth and round. It was slightly warm and he squeezed it, attempting to push a hint of power through it.

  As he did, he felt a strange reverberation.

  David looked up. “What did you do?”

  “I was going to help,” Jason said.

  David glanced down at the pearl in Jason’s hand. “You just alerted them.”

  “Alerted who?”

  “The others.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I felt it.”

  “This is a dragon pearl. It’s connected to the dragons.”

  “And which dragon do you think it’s connected to?”

  Jason’s breath caught. He had made a mistake. Here he had thought he was going to borrow power from the dragon pearl, and yet in doing so, he’d only done what he’d been trying to avoid. The Dragon Souls would now know that they were here, searching for the dragon, and how long would it take for them to arrive? They wanted to avoid the Dragon Souls, and yet he might be the reason they drew their attention.

  He pushed the dragon pearl back into his pocket, ignoring it. There would have to be another way.

  “I must act quickly,” David said. He looked around the clearing for a moment. “I need his help.” He pointed to the ice dragon.

  “I don’t know that he will help you.”

  “Then we will not be able to act before the others come.”

  “How do we know you would
even help us?”

  “Have I done anything to prove otherwise?”

  “Other than attack me? Other than trying to summon the iron dragon? Other than attempting to summon this dragon?”

  “All of those things were necessary. And I have given you the word of the flame. I will not attack.”

  Jason flicked his gaze over to the ice dragon. “We need your help,” he said. He pushed a hint of power through the dragon pearl.

  The ice dragon looked over. There was a glaze over his eyes. He was growing tired.

  They wouldn’t be able to stay here much longer, and if the Dragon Souls appeared, the ice dragon was unlikely to help much at all.

  It was going to require they find some other way to escape. Thankfully, it seemed as if the iron dragon was still fine, and yet Jason didn’t have any way of knowing how to use that dragon’s abilities. He might have the iron dragon pearl, but even with that, he didn’t have anything he could use it for.

  “What do you need?”

  “I made a mistake. I attempted to use one of the other dragon pearls, and now the Dragon Soul claims I have alerted the others.”

  The ice dragon regarded him. For a moment, clarity returned to his icy blue eyes. “Why would you use another?”

  “Because you’re struggling here.”

  “I have more than enough strength.”

  “I’m not doubting your strength, but I’m doubting what you’re experiencing, and I worry you don’t have enough power remaining to withstand all of this.”

  “What do you need now?”

  “The dragons will need your help in order to try to finish what he’s doing.”

  The ice dragon regarded David. “He’s trying to control the dragon.”

  “Can you feel it?”

  “Indirectly. I understand what he’s attempting to do, and yet, I’m not subjected to the same influence.”

  “If you can feel it, you can add whatever you can to help it be effective.” Jason didn’t know if that would matter, but if it worked, then they might be able to summon the dragon, and then… He had no idea. All of this was predicated on the idea of finding the dragons, gathering them together, and then what? He knew the Dragon Souls were out there, hunting for these so-called misfits, and yet, if they were so difficult for this one Dragon Soul to summon, it seemed to him they would be difficult for the others to summon as well.

  The ice dragon perched with his wings spread out. Ice began to form on the ground around him, creating a circle. It appeared around the place on the ground where the Dragon Soul had dragged his pattern. As the ice dragon pushed outward, ice continued to form, pressing inward. The power that the Dragon Soul was summoning increased, drawing with increasing energy. The longer that Jason focused on it, the more he could feel that.

  He understood the reverberation within it. There was additional power, a response, and yet he didn’t have any idea what it came from.

  The dragon, most likely, but where was the dragon?

  They had been here for a little while, long enough that they should have seen something.

  He focused on the ground, thinking that perhaps it would be underneath him, the same way the iron dragon had been under the ground. The ice dragon had even been underground, though he had been within the stream and the cave, the cold surrounding him.

  Where would they find this dragon?

  If it had taken on traits of the forest, traits of this humid place, then…

  Jason jerked his head around, studying the trees.

  That was the key. This place was alive with forest energy.

  The trees swayed, moving with the breeze, and yet, the air was heavy and still.

  That wasn’t a breeze at all.

  He breathed in, focusing. He felt the power, the energy of this place, and the more that he focused on it, the more certain he was that it was there. He could use it somehow.

  He let that energy fill him, that sense, and tried to think of how he might be able to better call upon it.

  From what he could tell, there was no way to do so. The energy was there, the power was there, and yet, there was nothing else.

  The branches high overhead continued to sway.

  That was where he needed to focus his attention. He stared, looking through the shadows and the darkness, and he searched for any sign of the dragon.

  There wasn’t anything moving.

  Other than the trees.

  Heat pressed in upon him, and it took a moment to realize it came from the iron dragon. He’d settled in near Jason, and much like him, he was looking up at the trees.

  “I can feel it,” the iron dragon said. His voice was a hiss, little more than a whisper.

  “Do you know what it is?”

  “It is one like me—and not like me.”

  Heat writhed along his leg, undulating and then dissipating.

  Jason turned his attention back to the top of the trees, and as he did, he began to make out a shape. It was up there, though it wasn’t moving.

  He stared, looking for anything that would remind him of the dragons, anything that would reveal the presence of it, and then he saw it.

  Two eyes that glimmered. They were a deep green, so deep he thought he imagined them at first and that they might be nothing more than the leaves on the trees, but those were a fainter green than what he saw now.

  “You can come down,” he whispered.

  He had no idea if his voice even carried, but in this place, he had to believe that the tree dragon would recognize him. And if it did, then he had to hope there would be some way to call the dragon down.

  There was no movement.

  And yet, he was certain of what he saw. He was certain that he noticed the green eyes looking down at them, watching. The dragon was aware of everything.

  And there was something else within it that he realized.

  The dragon was able to resist.

  The Dragon Soul summons persisted, and as it did, Jason could feel the way it was radiating out, the power added to it by the ice dragon, but even with that, the dragon managed to ignore it.

  “I want to help you. You can come down here.”

  This time, he pushed a hint of energy with the words, wondering if it would make a difference. If it did, then perhaps he might be able to draw the dragon down, and yet, there came no response. It was almost as if the dragon couldn’t even hear him.

  Somehow, he would have to get up there.

  He looked over. The Dragon Soul and the ice dragon were caught up in what they were doing. Was there anything Jason could do?

  Short of reaching the dragon, he didn’t know if there was.

  There might be a way to reach the dragon.

  He looked over at the tree. It was wide, but he thought he could climb along it.

  Taking a deep breath, he wrapped his arms around the trunk and started up.

  The bark of the tree had a smooth surface, and it was difficult for Jason to keep his grip. Every so often, he started to slip, and that forced him to dig his heels into the tree to maintain his position. He struggled against it, and yet, as he climbed, he could feel the presence of the dragon overhead. There was something about the dragon that called to him.

  He glanced up. The deep green eyes stared at him, watching. The dragon hadn’t moved. He was thankful that it hadn’t, but what would happen when he reached it?

  It was something he would have to consider when he got closer, but for now, Jason was content to continue to climb, trying to reach the dragon as quickly as he could. If the Dragon Souls came, he would be responsible for that, and he wanted to get to this dragon before they had a chance of reaching it.

  He continued his climb, moving quickly. Every so often, he slipped, losing his grip on the trunk, and he struggled to hold on to his place.

  As he climbed, he couldn’t help but feel as if he were getting closer. He let the sense of the dragon draw him and squeezed as tightly as he could. Finally, he reached a branch he could hold on to if
he were to fall, and then propped himself up. Jason took an opportunity to rest, catching his breath. He looked down, realizing how high he was, and resisted the urge to slide back down to the ground. The ice dragon continued his circle of power, pushing around the Dragon Soul. From above, there seemed to be a pattern forming in the frost, though it was difficult to tell what shape that pattern would take.

  Taking a deep breath, Jason continued, climbing along the trunk. He worked quickly, moving his legs first, then his arms, and then repeating. He dragged himself up the trunk, and when he reached another branch, he paused. He hazarded a glance up, noting the way the dragon seemed to watch him. As he got closer, he was hoping to be able to make out more of the dragon’s form, but there wasn’t anything other than the eyes.

  There had to be something more he could discern.

  He was closer now, and even still, he wasn’t able to tell much more about the dragon than he had before. There had to be something about the dragon that was concealing it.

  Jason steadied himself, and when he had himself prepared, he started up the side of the tree again, climbing quickly.

  Near the next branch, he paused, crouching once more. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be more of a shape to the dragon than there had been before.

  Not only were there the deep green eyes, but the scales of the dragon seemed to blend into the tree. It was why he hadn’t seen anything at all. It was as if the dragon formed the canopy. The more Jason stared, the more he began to understand. The dragon’s tail stretched down the trunk of the tree, and his massive wings were spread out, arcing overhead, blending in and looking like the treetops. The only thing that was visible was his eyes. As he got closer, he was able to make out the enormous size of the jaw and head, and in doing so, he almost slipped.

  He was close—far closer than he’d realized he was.

  Jason didn’t move. He could scarcely breathe. He didn’t know if any movement would draw the anger of the dragon, and yet the creature simply watched him, almost as if curious.

  “I’m Jason Dreshen.”

  The dragon didn’t move.

  “I want to help you. There are others who will try to use you, but I don’t want them to.”

  He wasn’t sure how to explain the Dragon Souls, or how to explain his role with them.