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

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Can you feel what’s happening down there?”

  He glanced at the clearing, where the ice dragon and David were working.

  The dragon stretched his head forward, moving slowly, and as it did, it seemed to be nothing more than leaves fluttering on a breeze. The effect was enough that Jason smiled, amazed at how delicately the dragon was able to move, the precision with how it concealed itself.

  “They’re trying to call to you. They want to help you.”

  The dragon pressed his head closer to Jason. In that moment, a hint of panic rolled through him. He was approaching an unknown dragon, a creature of enormous power, and he was letting it get so close that it could almost bite him. He’d seen the ice dragon hunting and knew the kind of power they possessed, the way they were able to rip apart enormous creatures with little more than a snap of their jaw.

  He didn’t have the sense that this dragon wanted to harm him. Whatever else happened, he believed the dragon was curious, much like all the dragons he had met.

  “You could come with us. We want to protect you.”

  Jason tried to push, using his connection to the dragon, straining for some way of reaching the dragon, and yet he didn’t think that there was any way to do so.

  There was a resistance within the dragon.

  “There are others who would love to meet with you. They want to understand.”

  The dragon inhaled. It practically sucked the wind out of Jason’s lungs, and he held on to the branch, afraid of going anywhere. For a moment, he thought the dragon might come along with them, that they might be able to escape and figure out the rest of it, determine worlds they could escape to and hide within, but then an explosion struck.

  It came again. And again. Each time it came, it was familiar to him, ringing through the entirety of his body.

  Dragon Souls.

  He looked back over toward the green dragon, but the dragon was gone.

  13

  Jason looked through the treetop, searching for signs of the dragon, anything that would tell him where the creature had gone, but he could make out nothing. Every so often, the upper branches would sway, and as they did, he couldn’t help but feel as if that was a sign of the dragon moving through the branches, but then the motion stopped, leaving him watching, wondering.

  How had he lost the dragon so easily?

  There was a stealth to it that the others did not have. He’d lost all evidence of it. That amazed him. For the dragon to be able to disappear so quickly and so quietly was a marvel.

  Another explosion thundered, then another.

  Jason squeezed the tree, sliding down the trunk. He moved quickly, every so often digging his heels into the trunk to slow himself, and held on as he dropped to the ground. When he neared, he jumped free, racing toward the ice dragon.

  “Something’s coming,” he said.

  David looked up. “We aren’t finished.”

  “What you’re doing isn’t going to work.”

  “You don’t know that. I can continue to summon, connect to the dragon, and I can—”

  “The dragon is gone.”

  David blinked. “Gone? Did they get to it?”

  Jason shook his head. “When the Dragon Souls appeared, the dragon disappeared.”

  “Because of you,” David said.

  “Not because of me.” Well, not entirely because of him.

  He glanced over at the ice dragon. Water was streaming down his side. The heat of this place was almost too much for the creature, and if they stayed, he wouldn’t be able to fight if it came down to it.

  “Go,” he said to the ice dragon.

  “I can stay.”

  “If you stay, you won’t be able to fight.”

  With a rumble that suggested how frustrated the dragon was, he lurched into the air. With a flutter of wings, he exploded upward, streaking into the sky and disappearing.

  Jason held on to his connection to the dragon, using the cold flowing through the dragon pearl, testing whether he would return and whether there would be any sign of injury to the dragon, but he didn’t detect anything.

  Either the ice dragon had managed to move past the Dragon Souls, or they hadn’t been aware of him.

  He turned, looking toward the iron dragon.

  “We need to get him out of here,” he said.

  “You can’t control that one as well?”

  “I’m not controlling any of the dragons. I simply ask.”

  He found the iron dragon still slithering through the trees, winding from place to place as he went, and Jason approached slowly, carefully, and stayed away from the heat radiating from the dragon’s back.

  “It’s time for us to go,” he said.

  The dragon halted, turning his enormous head toward him. One wing struck one of the trees, and it rang like a bell. “What is it?”

  “It’s time for us to go. There’s something coming.”

  The dragon rumbled. It was a different sound than the ice dragon had made, though similar enough. “I will destroy them,” he said, looking past Jason and at David.

  Jason shook his head. “I’m sure you would, but I don’t think we should remain. If we do, it’s possible they will come with greater numbers. We need to get moving.” He took a step toward the iron dragon. “I found the dragon of this place. I spoke with him. Or her. It wasn’t willing to come with us.”

  That troubled him, but even more troubling was the possibility that the others might gain control over that dragon. If they did, then he would need to do whatever he could to fight them off, but perhaps they wouldn’t know of its presence.

  And yet, if they did discover that there was a dragon of the forest, then it would be his fault. Which meant it was his responsibility to draw the Dragon Souls away.

  How was he going to do that?

  It would involve fighting. He wasn’t interested in fighting the Dragon Souls, but he also wasn’t willing to allow them to gain power over another dragon like this.

  The iron dragon swiveled his head toward him, and a flash of orange burned through his eyes. “Then we go.”

  Jason crawled forward, waiting for David, and the two of them climbed on the iron dragon’s back.

  They hadn’t tested whether the dragon would be able to take flight from here, and there was a part of Jason that worried whether the dragon would have the necessary skill to do so. What would happen if he couldn’t?

  They would be stuck. They could run through the forest the same way they had run before, and given the way the iron dragon moved, he thought they could outpace the Dragon Souls for a while.

  Thankfully, the dragon managed to launch himself into the air, and as he did, he quickly took to the sky, using that strange way of his, his undulating form, the heat radiating from his back.

  Jason had to grip tightly, and he was forced to ignore the heat from the dragon.

  Next to him, David held on easily. It was almost as if he didn’t mind the heat and the nature of the dragon, or perhaps it was more that he was impressed by some aspect of the dragon. Either way, David sat upright, holding on with one hand, gripping the dragon as if it were nothing.

  Jason looked behind him as they pierced the canopy of the trees. He searched for any sign of the tree dragon, but there was nothing. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to make anything out from here, anyway.

  “We have to draw their attention,” he said.

  “You want to do what?”

  “We need to draw their attention. If the Dragon Souls come after the dragon here, then…” Jason wasn’t entirely sure what would happen if they pursued the dragon here, but he did know that it seemed as if the tree dragon had no interest in fighting. It would be easier for him and the iron dragon to do what was necessary.

  “If you draw their attention, they will chase us. And if they come prepared with dragons—which I’m sure they will—we will not be able to overwhelm them.”

  Jason leaned forward. “How fast do you think you can fl
y?”

  “I am still learning.”

  “Do you think you can outfly the ice dragon?” At least with the ice dragon, Jason had a sense of how fast that one was compared to the others.

  When it came to flying with the iron dragon, he didn’t know. He’d never seen the iron dragon challenged, and it was possible he wouldn’t be able to outpace the other dragon.

  “I might be able to,” the dragon said.

  “You’re going to need to fly with as much speed as you can summon.” He reached into his pocket, grabbing one of the dragon pearls. He pulled out the one he had used before, the one with blue and black striations through it, and he gripped it tightly. Power began to surge in him, and he let it flow, exploding into the pearl.

  It was the heat that burned within him, but it was also the heat that he borrowed from the iron dragon, and the longer he held on to it, the easier it was to issue the summons.

  An explosion thundered near them. An enormous bellow cried out and he lowered his head. There was at least one other dragon.

  It was coming toward them, and gauging the speed of it, it was coming quickly.

  “Time for you to fly as quickly as you can,” he said to the iron dragon. The heat began to radiate from the dragon, and it rolled along his side, flowing along him. As it did, Jason clung to him, holding on with as much strength as he could bear, and yet, he wasn’t entirely sure he could maintain that grip without releasing the dragon pearl and putting it back into his pocket.

  He looked behind him. In the distance, it appeared as if a small bird was approaching.

  Not just approaching, but overtaking them.

  It wasn’t a small bird at all. It was a dragon, and it was moving with incredible speed.

  He released his connection to the dragon pearl, putting it back into his pocket, and leaned on the dragon’s back.

  Had this been a mistake?

  He was relying upon the iron dragon being able to outrun another dragon, one that understood its abilities. The iron dragon didn’t know what it was able to do quite yet. In time, the iron dragon might be formidable, and it was possible he would grow to become powerful enough to overcome any of these other dragons, but for now, the iron dragon was still learning. He was so young, the same way the ice dragon was still young. The ice dragon believed he would’ve been able to tolerate staying in the forest, but Jason had seen otherwise.

  Why hadn’t he considered the possibility that the iron dragon would also view his abilities in a way that wasn’t realistic?

  They weren’t going to be able to outrun the oncoming dragon.

  Another roar exploded.

  It was different than the first, and as he listened, he was aware that it came from something else.

  A different dragon.

  How many would there be?

  The Dragon Soul sat stiffly on top of the dragon, and he stared straight ahead.

  What must he be thinking?

  He probably didn’t care. If the dragons were captured, then he would have every opportunity to study them the way that he wanted, so if it were up to David, then none of this would matter.

  They should’ve left him behind.

  Then again, had he left him behind, Jason would never have seen the forest dragon. Even though they hadn’t been able to bring the dragon with them, he knew the creature existed, and knowing that was enough. If they could learn where any of the other hatch mates could be found, then it was another thing he needed to do.

  The only problem was that Jason didn’t know how many more they were looking for. How many more of the dragon eggs had the Dragon Souls set out throughout the world to take on features of their environment?

  And why would they suddenly be effective? That was the part of all of this that Jason didn’t fully understand, and perhaps it was the reason he needed to go to Henry and the others in Dragon Haven to get a better sense of why all of this was taking place.

  Another rumble. This one was close. Jason looked over his shoulder; the dragon was speeding toward them. The creature was enormous. Deep red scales caught the light, seeming to glow, but not with the same intensity as the iron dragon. They needed to find some way to outrun the dragon.

  Or to try to help the dragon.

  Could he do the same thing he had when it had been about aiding the iron dragon? If there was some way to free the dragon from the other’s influence, then maybe he could help.

  What had he done with the iron dragon?

  He had pushed, and yet, he had used the ice dragon’s power.

  Reaching into his pocket, he found the dragon pearl. It was cold, as it often was, but not unpleasantly so. He gripped it and focused on the power flowing through him. As they got higher into the sky, he was able to draw upon that chill in the air more easily, and he let that flow through him and into the dragon pearl.

  For a moment, he hesitated, waiting to see if there was anything he might be able to detect about the ice dragon. If he were somehow limited, if he were injured, then Jason would need to refrain from using that power. If not, then he would be able to draw upon it.

  It seemed as if the dragon had been restored.

  He summoned strength, letting that power flow through him, and sent it outward.

  He targeted the maroon dragon, letting the energy flow into it. He drew through the ice dragon, the same way he had in the cave when he had been trying to help the iron dragon. In doing so, he could feel that power, and there was a strange resistance.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Quiet,” Jason said.

  David leaned close. “You will destroy her.”

  “Who?”

  “If you try to take control of the dragon while she is flying, you will destroy her.”

  Jason swallowed, looking over at David. “How did you know what I was doing?”

  “I told you I can feel it.”

  “How is it that you can feel what is being done with the ice dragon that well?”

  “Because I can.”

  “What makes you think I will destroy the dragon?”

  “A fall from the sky will kill even a dragon.”

  Jason glanced down. “We need to descend,” he said to the iron dragon.

  The dragon roared and then plummeted.

  The sudden change was almost too much for Jason, and he gripped the dragon’s back, squeezing onto him as they whistled through the air, steam rising all around him. As they went, he wondered if they would have enough speed, but a shadow formed overhead.

  He glanced up.

  The maroon dragon plummeted along with them, moving quickly, and Jason ducked his head, pressing his body up against the iron dragon.

  David looked up, and Jason couldn’t read the expression on his face. Was it happiness?

  He had half a mind to throw the man off the dragon. A dragon might not survive a fall from that high, but a man definitely wouldn’t.

  Instead, he grabbed David, pulling him closer to the dragon’s back, and they squeezed against the iron dragon.

  As they descended, the dragon rolled, and did so at the last moment. Had he not, they would have been raked by the maroon dragon’s claws.

  There was another one out there. He had heard it, but he’d not seen it yet.

  There was no time to look and see where the other dragon was, and it took every bit of Jason’s effort to hold on to this dragon, to be prepared for whatever else he might do.

  The iron dragon spun, rolling through the sky, hissing as he did so.

  More power radiated from him.

  The entire body of the iron dragon began to glow with an intense light.

  Not the entire body. His whole thorax, extending out to his wings, but not his head and neck.

  It seemed almost as if the dragon refrained, knowing Jason wouldn’t be able to tolerate it. The dragonskin protected him. Where his body touched the dragon, he was able to withstand the heat, and he glanced over at David. David wasn’t tolerating it nearly as well. Wearing Jason�
�s bearskin, he was forced to shift, moving from place to place so that he didn’t get burned.

  The sudden change had made a difference, though. They spiraled toward the ground, like an arrow streaking toward the target.

  As they did, Jason glanced up. He focused on the power through the dragon pearl, and then pushed.

  He ignored David’s objections, setting aside everything other than the sense of power he was pushing outward. If he could reach the dragon, he could eliminate whatever influence was obscuring it, and then he might be able to free it from whatever the Dragon Soul was doing.

  The dragon roared.

  Jason sent the power washing over the dragon.

  He wasn’t acting alone. Much like when he had tried to help the Dragon Soul, trying to heal him, there was an influence from the ice dragon, guiding him, showing him what was needed to help. As he worked, Jason could feel that guidance, the way the ice dragon was helping, using his power.

  Freeing the maroon dragon.

  The dragon roared again and Jason didn’t dare look up. He let that power flow through him, and as it met the resistance of whatever was injuring it, he continued to push, drawing power from the ice dragon, summoning it through him, through the dragon pearl, and outward and into the maroon dragon.

  It struck and Jason pushed, letting that power flow through him, and it washed over the maroon dragon.

  There was resistance, but much like he had with the iron dragon, he forced his way through it. Now that he understood what was necessary and how to accomplish it, he found it much easier to overwhelm that resistance. It came from somewhere deep within the dragon, an injury, a scar, and he forced it through the dragon.

  In doing so, he found that he was able to remove that injury.

  The ice dragon guided him, letting him direct the power, and as it worked through the maroon dragon, something changed.

  The dragon didn’t chase them with nearly the same speed.

  As he looked back, the dragon started to plummet.

  They weren’t all that far off the ground. Only fifty feet or so, but it was enough that Jason worried whatever he’d done had injured the dragon. It was the warning the Dragon Soul had given him.