The ice dragon would have to know. He didn’t want the dragon to worry, didn’t want the dragon to do anything. In this place, it was possible they would celebrate him and that they would protect both dragons, and yet, Jason didn’t really know.
Breathing out, he pulled out the dragon pearls. Sarah hadn’t even tried to take them from him. It was almost as if she didn’t care—or she wasn’t worried about them.
He held the ice dragon pearl, focusing on the cold. Though he was able to feel it, though there was a sense of cold flowing through here, he wasn’t able to call upon its power.
What about heat? He held the dragon pearl that he’d taken from David. It might alert the others to him.
He wasn’t going to do that. Regardless of the fact that they had held him here, and that they had decided to capture him, he wasn’t going to be the reason Dragon Haven was identified by the Dragon Souls and Lorach. If nothing else, he would hold off.
There was another option.
The iron dragon pearl.
The only problem was that in order to use that power, he had to summon something. He didn’t know if he could. He would have to find anger.
Was he angry?
Jason didn’t necessarily feel angry. What was happening now was partly his fault. He had been the one who had withheld information that the others needed. Had he spoken up sooner, perhaps the dragons wouldn’t be in danger.
If he didn’t get free, then more than just the ice and iron dragon were going to be in danger. The forest dragon would be in danger too. If there were others, perhaps a water dragon as Sarah had said, they would be in danger. The Dragon Souls would go for them, and without his help, the people of Dragon Haven, anyone who might want to assist, wouldn’t know where—or how.
That was the anger that filled him.
It did so slowly, building gradually, boiling up within him. It was the rage of the fact that they held him here, that they were going to keep him isolated. Regardless of any powers they might need to separate him from, severing any ties to the others, he didn’t think they would have the ability to disconnect him from the iron dragon. The magic of that dragon was so different than any they knew.
Jason let that power flow through him, letting the anger and rage fill him, thinking about what the iron dragon had felt like what he’d been caged.
Images came to him.
They rolled through his mind, one after another, images of men on the other side of the bars, taunting the dragon, throwing things at him, jabbing him with sticks. They had offered food, but it had been rotten. Somehow the iron dragon had survived all of that, and despite all of that, he had still thrived.
And yet, he deserved better.
Rage began to build, flowing through him, the anger of the dragon, the anger that matched his own, and as it grew, he let it pour out into the dragon pearl.
He sent power toward the doorway. It slammed into it and then bounced back toward him. Jason was struck by his own magic and was thrown against the wall, striking his head, and he blacked out.
16
Jason came around slowly, his head throbbing. It took a moment to realize what had happened, and when he did, he remembered the way he’d drawn upon the anger, letting it fill him, and the way that he’d thrown it at the door. It had been useless. Whatever protections they had upon the cell were solid even against the iron dragon’s magic.
Jason sat in place, crossing his arms over his legs, staring, completely trapped.
He didn’t know if he could even figure out a way to escape. They had neutralized any connection he might have to the dragons. He focused, thinking about the strength he wanted, thinking about the power of the ice dragon, that of the iron dragon, and wondered if he could mix them. They had been joined when he had tried to heal one, and he wondered if perhaps he could join that power again.
Nothing happened.
The only other option was to draw upon the heat of one of the remaining dragon pearls, but he didn’t want to do so and draw attention to this place.
He pulled out the dragon pearls he’d claimed from the Dragon Souls.
He now had nearly a dozen, and as he sorted through them, he was surprised to find that they were grouped by color.
Jason had not made that connection before, and when he’d been taking the dragon pearls, he hadn’t paid any attention to their colors, only that he was claiming them. There was power within them, and a part of him knew he could use them, and yet, now that he had them, he didn’t know if he truly could.
One of the dragon pearls was a deep maroon. He didn’t see a black pearl, though he had to wonder if the blue dragon pearl with the black lines through it was the black dragon’s pearl.
The maroon dragon. He had freed her. He had felt that freedom as he had done it. And regardless of where she had flown off to, he thought he could use her power. The more that he thought about it, the more certain he was she wouldn’t even mind if he did. She’d been freed by him and he had done nothing to harm her afterward.
It was a gamble. If he was wrong and if this wasn’t the maroon dragon’s pearl, then there was a chance he’d be calling to the Dragon Souls, revealing the location of Dragon Haven. Regardless of why they were holding him here, he didn’t want to expose that.
Calling upon the heat, he felt it fill himself, and he poured that heat into the maroon dragon pearl, then added to the sense of cold, mixing hot and cold, ice and fire, and he fed them into the dragon pearls.
He let it out, exploding it against the door. This time, Jason stood off to the side, prepared for the possibility the power would bounce back on him. When it did, he was ready.
The door held.
He staggered toward the back of the cell.
Jason tried again, focusing on the two different powers. As he did, he could only draw upon an explosion. He didn’t have any finesse. He let that power flow through him, holding the fire in his left hand, drawing cold through his right, and he combined them, blasting the doorway.
As before, the power rebounded, exploding back into the room. A streamer of dust trailed down from the ceiling, but nothing else changed.
What if he targeted one of the walls?
Jason focused on the stone next to him. He took a step back, and using a combination of fire and ice, he blasted it.
There came the explosion. The stone shattered, and yet it only created a small hole.
He tried again, sending power through it, and as before, there was another hole, though this one seemed to go deeper.
The power plunged into the opening, and as he used that, he couldn’t help but think that he could go from place to place before finally finding some way out.
And if he did, where was he going to go?
He was trapped here, and the moment that Sarah—or any of the others—found him, what would they do to him?
Jason ignored those thoughts, focusing instead on the hole. He would blast it open, get himself to freedom, find a way to get to the dragons.
He wasn’t about to wait behind while the Dragon Souls reached the forest dragon.
Coming here had been his idea, and in doing so, he’d taken time away from the ice dragon and the iron dragon, separating them from one of their hatch mates and potentially putting that hatch mate in danger because of the Dragon Souls. He was going to do anything in his power, regardless of what it would take, to get to the hatch mates and free them.
Focusing on the heat and the cold, he built power, and exploded it one more time.
He leaned his head down, looking at the hole.
It led into the next cell.
“Stop,” a voice said.
“David?”
Had he blasted his way into David’s cell?
“Just stop,” David said.
“I’m trying to get out of here,” he said.
“I can tell.” David’s face appeared at the opening of the hole. It wasn’t wide enough for one of them to crawl through, but David was able to stare through at him
. “I thought these were your people.”
“They aren’t very happy that I didn’t reveal the presence of the ice dragon to them.”
“Why would you hide it from them?”
“Because I didn’t know what they might do to it.”
“You heard her mention training.”
“Their training is different than yours.”
“And yet here you are. Trained.” It seemed almost as if David smirked at him, though in the darkness it was difficult to tell.
“Do you have any ideas on how to escape?”
“I imagine you have found that your magic is ineffective.”
“It bounces off the door.”
“And not the stone?”
Jason shook his head.
“Interesting. I would have expected their protections would have enveloped even that.”
“I’ve used both fire and ice. The combination is how I freed the iron dragon. I tried the connection to the iron dragon, but…”
David leaned forward and stared at Jason. “You can use the power of the iron dragon?”
“I’ve begun to be able to use it.”
“What’s the key?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you how to use it. I don’t want you to torment another dragon.”
“Have I tormented the ice dragon?”
“No.”
“Your friend doesn’t trust the Aurans.”
“I see that. What are the Aurans?”
“We’re Dragon Souls, but we search for knowledge and understanding. Aurans have a unique role within Lachen. We sit outside of the Dragon Souls. We study, seeking to understand the history of the dragons and their relationship with our people.”
“With the people of Lachen?”
David regarded him for a moment. “With the people of Lachen. With others. There are other lands that have known the dragons over the years, and the Aurans search for understanding. Knowledge.”
“So that you can better control the dragons.”
“Not control. Train.”
Jason thought that he had a better understanding as to the role of the Aurans. He also thought he better understood why Sarah had been offended that he had dared bring one to Dragon Haven. They were the scholars, but they were the ones responsible for instructing the Dragon Souls on how better to control the dragons.
“If you really search for knowledge and understanding, then you would understand the dragons aren’t what you believe them to be.”
“It is precisely for that reason the Aurans exist. We understand exactly what dragons are, we understand the power they possess, and we understand the dragons’ lack of control. Because of Dragon Souls, because of the Aurans and the way we’ve trained the dragons, we’ve kept that power in check. We have prevented others from being harmed by significant power.”
“You’ve been around the ice dragon. Have you seen significant harm?”
“You have only minimal experience with the ice dragon. What do you think would happen if that dragon were free in a city?”
“You mean a city like this?”
“A city where other dragons exist? A city where they train dragons, regardless of what they claim? No. I’m talking about what would happen if they were to escape in your village. How do you think the dragon would be received?”
“I know how the dragons would be received,” Jason said.
“They’re feared, are they not?”
“Because people don’t understand.”
“And you think you could help them understand the dragons are peaceful creatures? Do you think you can help your people believe the dragons want nothing more than to live peacefully among you? Do you think you can convince your people the dragons are safe?”
Jason took a deep breath. He knew better. He’d lived his entire life believing the dragons were dangerous and deadly. He knew the way his people would react if they encountered a dragon. Even though the ballistae hadn’t been fired in years, the people of the village would try.
“You believe training the dragons gives people less reason to fear?”
“I believe giving people the perception of training allows them to not fear the dragons.”
“How is that different?”
“When you have trained dragons, and the people believe the dragon is trained, do you think they fear the dragon or the handler?”
“Probably both,” he said.
“Perhaps, and yet, my experience in Lorach is such that they fear the handler. They recognize the power of the Dragon Souls, and they would do nothing to attack us.”
“You want your people to fear you?”
“I want our people to know the dragons are trained. I want our people to know the dragons will be fighting on our side. I want our people to know the Dragon Souls provide defense of the kingdom.”
“And what do you know about the dragons?” Jason asked.
“I know what the Aurans have known for centuries,” he said.
“And what is that?”
“Where you see intelligence, I see a need for training. They long for that, and though you might disagree, I have seen it in every dragon I have encountered. All of them need the training.”
“That wasn’t my sense from the two dragons I freed.”
“And what do you think those dragons will do?”
“I don’t know what dragons will do, and I don’t even know where the dragons will go. They’re free, so they get to choose.”
David stared at him, and a hint of a smile began to spread on his face. “Have you ever seen a dragon hunt?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Have you seen it?”
“I’ve been with the ice dragon when he’s hunted. Why?”
“What do you think would happen to people in your village if the dragon decided to hunt there?”
“I don’t think dragons hunt people,” Jason said.
“You don’t think. I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed the violence of dragons, and I know the way they would torment others.”
“You aren’t going to convince me the dragons need to be trained.”
“I don’t care to convince you of anything. I’m telling you what I know.” David stepped closer to the opening. “There is one thing. You have convinced me that I was wrong.” Jason arched a brow, and David stepped closer to the opening. “About your kind. Seeing the power you wield has opened my eyes. When I return to Lorach, I intend to test your kind to see what more they might be able to do.”
Jason leaned back, unable to know what to do. Here he had thought he might be able to get through to David, that he might convince him to do something else, but it seemed as if he were determined to return, to continue his attacks on people like him.
What did that mean? What was he going to do?
At this point, probably nothing. Jason had wanted to try to help, to offer anything he could, and yet, it didn’t seem as if there would be any way to influence someone like David.
He stared at David, looking through the opening, and wondered if perhaps he should leave him behind. Maybe it was best that he was trapped here. But Jason was determined to escape. It was going to be difficult, and he didn’t know how much it would take to fight his way to freedom, but he would try.
Jason pointed the dragon pearls at the opening again. As he did, David backed up, looking away.
“You won’t be able to do anything,” David said.
“I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to reach the ice dragon and the iron dragon and I’m going to do anything I can to help them.”
He let the energy that he was pulling explode out from him. As it did, it hit the wall between the two cells again, cracking it as before. The opening became wider, and David backed up. Jason attempted to pull on power again, letting it flow through him, and as before, he poured it out into the wall.
Each time he did so, he let that energy explode from him.
David merely watched.
> Jason had the sense that David would be able to help if he wanted to, and yet David stood back, letting Jason expend himself. Was he going to try to take the dragon pearls from him when he entered the cell? David had proven he had some connection to the ice dragon, and it wouldn’t surprise Jason to learn he had some way of using the heat from the maroon dragon, but he wasn’t about to abandon what he was doing. He needed to continue his assault and find some way to break through the walls.
And once he was in the same cell as David, he was going to keep going. Eventually he would have to find some way out. Then he could escape. The power flowed from him, slamming into the wall, again and again.
“Are you going to stand there and watch?” Jason asked.
“Do you think I should do something else? You’re the one who’s using this power. Do you even understand what you’re doing?”
“I’m drawing from the dragons.”
“Is that what you believe?”
“That’s what Therin told me.”
“If that’s what he told you, then he was misleading you.”
“What am I doing, then?”
David stepped forward, crossing his arms in front of him. It was a strange thing to look at the man dressed in Jason’s bearskin, appearing as if he were like anybody from the village. “You’re summoning power from yourself.”
“From myself?”
“Some among the Dragon Souls have innate power. That’s what we use to call upon the power we borrow from the dragon.”
Jason smiled at him. “I don’t have any power.”
“And yet here you are, holding on to dragon pearls and blasting a hole between cells. What do you think that is other than power?”
Jason took a step back, clutching the dragon pearls, looking at the opening that he had formed between the two cells. He did have some power, but he didn’t really know what it meant or what he was supposed to do with it. He’d created the openings between the two cells, and now that he was here, now that he had done so, he didn’t know what he would need to do next.
He looked back toward the doorway. That was where he had to focus his energy. Even if he couldn’t blast his way free, he had to find some way of opening the door. If he went cell to cell, he wasn’t going to be able to escape.
Iron Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 2) Page 21
