The Caged Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 1)

by Dan Michaelson

  I looked over to him. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

  He shook his head. “I do. And more than that, you think I do. So, I’m sorry.”

  “If you didn’t know about the Vard’s plan, then none of this is your fault.”

  He watched me for a moment. “I didn’t know.”

  “How did you find the wreckage so quickly?”

  Joran turned away from him. “My father.”

  “You said your father wasn’t a Vard sympathizer.”

  “He isn’t. At least, I don’t think he is. He was the one who brought us up there.”

  “Did he know you came for me?”

  “They didn’t want me to go anywhere. They wanted me to stay at the house, to finish my chores, but I remembered what you’d said about your sister.”

  I got to my knees and pushed my hands up overhead. We’d managed to untie ourselves inside the wagon. The hatch didn’t open. It had been such a simple thing to pop open from above, but once inside it was almost impossible to get it to budge at all.

  There had to be some way to get the hatch open, I just wasn’t finding it.

  “I tried that already,” Joran said.

  “I’m going to keep trying,” I said. “What choice do we have?”

  “Even if you manage to open the hatch, what do you intend to do? We're in the forest, surrounded by the gods only knows how many Vard. Not to mention we don't even know which wagon Alison is in, and—”

  “I know the situation,” I said. “That doesn’t mean I have to give up hope.”

  Joran shook his head.

  Maybe he had given up hope.

  His family might have ties to the Vard, but I had a feeling he hadn’t expected anything like this. “We’ll get out of this,” I said softly.

  “Will we?” he whispered.

  The wagon rocked again, tipping the sides of the wagon. I slammed against the floor harder than I had the last time, and I shoved myself up, irritated, as I tried to stabilize myself. Joran said nothing.

  We veered around a bend in the path, and it slammed me into the side of the wagon again. I braced myself, protecting my head so that I didn’t slam into it as I had the last few times, and managed to avoid the worst of it. We turned again.

  I looked over to Joran. “Where do you think they are taking us?”

  Joran looked around, and he took a deep breath, as if to push away his own fear. I had worked through mine as much as I could.

  “It seems like we’re going deeper into the forest. I don’t know much about the Vard.” When I arched a brow, he shook his head. “My mother and sister might be sympathizers, but it’s not like I’m involved in some high-level information network about the Vard. Either way, I haven’t heard anything about them and the Djarn working together before.”

  “Who said they’re working together?”

  “Well, for them to have gone into the forest, wouldn’t they have to be working together? My father might have known something given his ties to the Djarn, but then he doesn’t want to instigate the Vard. All he wants is to raise his animals, grow crops, and keep Sophie from growing up too fast.”

  The wagon tipped again, as I was thrown forward.

  I got to my feet and shoved at the hatch again. I pushed harder, slamming my shoulder into the hatch. There had to be some way for me to open it. Joran watched me, saying nothing.

  “The longer we wait, the more likely it is we won’t be able to get free. If we can get it open while we are moving the Vard will have a harder time catching us.”

  Joran joined me, and the two of us began to slam ourselves into the hatch. We crashed into it over and over again. The inside of the wagon was small and cramped, only large enough for us to get to our knees, and barely higher than that . Irritation began to surge within me. All of this was because we had come here. Because of the Vard. They were going to sell us, kill us, or use us as slaves. We weren’t going to get out.

  Hot anger boiled within me.

  My skin started to get tight, as if the heat of the dragon nearby began to put pressure on me. I slammed into the hatch again. And again. Each time I did, I tried to tamp down the rage filling me, but each time I felt that anger boiling up. It threatened to overwhelm me.

  “Ashan?”

  I slammed up again, forcing my shoulder into the hatch.

  The Vard might hear us making noise, but at this point, all I cared about was getting free. Strangely, the burning pain in my belly began to sizzle again. I jumped up one more time, throwing my shoulder into the hatch, and then it exploded.

  Darkness streamed in. It wasn’t moonlight, not with the dense canopy of the trees overhead, but I could make out the swaying of branches overtop of us. I reached for the hatch, pulling myself free, poking my head up and looking around.

  Wind whipped around me as the wagons continued to roll along the path. My heart hammered, but I didn’t see the Vard. They must not have heard us breaking out.

  The caravan continued to rock as we moved. I looked to the front and behind us. We were in the last wagon. Climbing onto the top , I reached down, helping Joran up. He watched me, a strange expression on his face, but I ignored it.

  “Come on,” I said, reaching for Joran and wishing Alison were in the wagon with us.

  “What did you do?” Joran whispered.

  “I just pushed really hard,” I said. “Now come on.”

  I crawled forward, racing across the top of the wagons. I reached the next wagon. I grabbed for the hatch, prying my fingers underneath it, and pulled. Nothing happened. I tried again, yanking my fingers underneath the small lip that formed there, and pried my hands under, leveraging them until I could pull upward. The hatch came open.

  I looked down inside.

  I didn’t see anything. I left the hatch open and tossed the top on to the forest floor. There was no one around us. The wagons were rolling forward, as if the Vard were unconcerned about the fact that we might be able to escape. Maybe they didn’t think we could.

  Had I not had that surge of adrenaline, I might not have been able to.

  When I reached the next wagon, I could feel the strange heat radiating from it. There was a hint of a glow as there had been the very first time we’d seen it, but not much. I ran my fingers around the square opening and began to pull.

  It was stuck.

  This one was harder than the other, but I continued to pry, irritation building up within me. Why did I even care about opening the hatch for the dragon?

  Deep down, I knew the answer. I didn’t want the Vard to have the dragon, not if they were so willing to attack our people. I didn’t want them to use that against Berestal, to come into the plains and attack even more people. I didn’t want them to have the magic of these great beasts.

  Heat began to build again. Light started to glow around the dragon. I pried on the hatch. Something surged within me, anger and rage bubbling up, then the hatch exploded upward.

  I glanced down inside. The dragon poked his head up, its long snout pressing forward as it sniffed at the air. The opening wasn’t nearly large enough for the dragon to crawl out of, but I couldn’t be concerned about that. I had done all I could. I had opened the hatch, and now it could figure out how to escape from there. That wasn’t going to be my problem.

  I held on to the wagon as we rocked again.

  I had to get to the next wagon. We started to turn on another slight bend. There came a shout from behind me.

  I spun. One of the Vard crawled along the top of the wagon.

  Where was Joran?

  I couldn’t wait here. I couldn’t let the Vard capture me again. If they did, I had no idea what they would do, or if they would even let me live. It was possible they’d find me too much trouble.

  He came toward me, and I stood frozen, debating what I needed to do. I could try to fight him. In my mind, that was what I needed to do. Fighting him off would give me the opportunity to take his sword, but if something were to happen to me,
then Alison would end up trapped.

  A steady rumbling echoed from the forest. It was close.

  The mesahn.

  If the creature was coming, I could use that as a distraction, just as long as it didn’t attack me. I waited for the Vard to turn toward the mesahn. That would be my opportunity to lunge at him, to attack, but he didn’t turn at all.

  He kept his focus on me. I glared at him.

  “I’m going to get my sister back,” I said to him.

  He chuckled, an irritated sound rumbling from him. “I think it’s time for us to deal with you.” He lunged toward me.

  I started to scramble back, but then a burst of heat and energy came from the hatch. The pale glowing light that I had been seeing exploded out of the hatch, and the dragon’s head that had been poking up out of the hatch fully protruded, when suddenly flames roared from its mouth.

  I could feel it along my skin, the way it baked me, tightening everything, sending that heat washing through my entire body. The burning coals inside me were there, sizzling, almost as if they were responding to the way the dragon was using its flames. When the roaring flames eased, the Vard was gone.

  Why hadn‘t the dragon used fire to escape before?

  Magic of some sort. There had to have been something confining it within the wagon.

  And now I had freed it.

  The dragon continued to work its way out. It got halfway, when it seemed to get stuck. I looked around, but it didn’t seem that there were any other Vard coming. I didn’t think we had much time, knowing that if they were coming for us, that I needed to get moving.

  “I don’t know if I can help you,” I said to the dragon.

  It watched me, pale-yellow eyes staring at me. It reminded me of the way the mesahn had looked at me, something incredibly knowing and intelligent in those eyes, something that cried out for me to understand. Even as I stared at the dragon, I didn’t know if there was anything I could do.

  “I can’t open this hatch any wider,” I said.

  The dragon started to growl, and turned its head toward me. I cringed, and when I did, I noticed movement behind me. Spinning off to the side, I saw another Vard crawling atop the wagons.

  The dragon shot more flames out of its mouth. They exploded into the night, rising high over the treetops, burning everything. The fire that raged through me built with a violent intensity, and I fell forward, slamming my hands on the top of the wagon.

  When I did, something cracked. The sound of it was thunderous, like a boom of thunder mixed with lightning, and the burning within my belly exploded outward.

  Then came a flurry of movement. It took me a moment to realize the dragon had crawled out of the wagon, slithering away. Then it disappeared into the trees. There was a glowing light that faded, growing ever more distant as the dragon disappeared altogether.

  I crouched on top of the wagon, looking at the broken remains of the roof.

  The dragon had fought its way free. And it hadn’t harmed me.

  I needed to find Alison.

  The wagon started to slow.

  They must’ve realized what was happening. I jumped, reaching the next wagon, and focused on the hatch, digging my fingers underneath it, and pulled, yanking the top of the hatch free.

  I poked my head down. “Alison?” There was no answer. “If you’re down there, I need you to come up. We’re going to try to get away.”

  Nothing.

  I turned, jumping to the next wagon. We were coming to a stop. I heard a shout, and knew that I didn’t have much time. I grabbed the hatch, pulling, and freed the lid.

  As soon as I did, I could feel something behind me.

  It was a strange sense. Almost like a longing, a drawing feeling, as if it were trying to call me away. It reminded me of what had happened earlier. It was like a band that wrapped around me, circling my mind, trying to pull me forward.

  I had to fight it.

  “Alison?”

  There was nothing.

  “Please,” I said.

  Slowly, I heard a shuffling of feet on the bottom of the wagon. Alison poked her head up, looking at me. “Ashan?”

  “Come on,” I said.

  I grabbed her hand, pulling her free.

  As soon as I did, the pulling sensation on me continued to intensify, almost too much for me to withstand. I tried to fight, knowing that I had to ignore it, that I had to withstand the energy that was calling to me, trying to trap me. If I didn’t the Vard would catch me.

  But they wouldn’t get Alison.

  I shoved her back toward the rear of the wagon. “Go. Run into the forest. There’s Joran. Go!”

  She looked at me, and I thought that she might argue, but she shook her head and spun, jumping from the wagon and running into the trees.

  It was just me now.

  I stood there, transfixed, unable to fight the strange pulling sensation. It was trying to force me to stay here. It was some sort of Vard power. It had to be.

  It had already held me once before. It would do it again.

  But this time, Alison had gotten away. This time, I had succeeded.

  That thought stayed with me.

  I tried to turn, to focus on the Vard as they approached.

  The wagons had come to a complete stop, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the Vard got to me. At this point, they probably would dispose of me. I had been far too much trouble for them, and it would only make sense for them to eliminate me altogether.

  Suddenly, a deep rumbling echoed from the forest.

  I frowned. It sounded like the mesahn. It was coming closer.

  The hold on me started to ease.

  I could move my arms.

  I turned, looking toward the front of the wagons, toward the three horses guiding the wagon caravan, and saw five Vard there. All of them had turned their attention to the forest, away from me.

  Two Vard had been burnt by the dragon.

  Were those the only five remaining?

  I fought, trying to break through whatever was holding on to me. When another rumbling erupted from the forest, whatever bond was holding me suddenly loosened, and I could move.

  I looked at the Vard, trying to decide what I was going to do, before knowing the answer. I needed to get away. Alison had escaped. At this point, there was no reason for me to linger any longer.

  Another rumble, and the Vard spread out, putting space around each other, looking out into the forest.

  I jumped off the wagon, staggering into the trees. I ran in the opposite direction the wagons had gone, presumably back to Berestal, and headed into the darkness. The branches and undergrowth pulled on my clothes and yet, even as I went, there was something out there in the distance that seemed to call to me. It was a different sense than what I had noticed from the Vard. Rather than the strange feeling that I was being pulled, there was a soft light.

  I had seen that with the dragon.

  If it was the dragon, I knew that it had no interest in harming me. It had an opportunity to do so before, and had not. If the dragon didn’t want to hurt me, then maybe it would help.

  I ran through the forest. I needed to catch up to Alison, but I had no idea where she’d gone . I continued running, twisting through the forest, ducking underneath branches, the pale light glowing ever brighter. I kept my focus on it, and the further I went, the more I felt compelled to reach that light. It was almost as if it were summoning me. That energy continued to build within me, a drawing and desire for me to head toward it.

  I started to slow. I couldn’t follow that light.

  I needed to find my sister. Joran. Maybe even Elaine. They were all out here.

  The roar of the mesahn sounded distant to me, but still closer than it had been.

  I paused, looking around. I had no idea how long I’d been running, or where I even was. All I knew was that I had raced blindly into the forest, away from the wagon caravan.

  And it meant I might be lost.

  As I sp
un in place, looking around , I didn’t see anything that would help me find my way. Stories of my childhood came to me. Stories of men who got lost in the forest, and who had wandered aimlessly, some never to be seen again.

  I should’ve paid better attention as I had run from the caravan. If I could find the Djarn path I might be able to make my way back out , but without that…

  I steadied my breathing.

  Focus on what I can do. Find my sister. Find Joran. Find Elaine. She might save us.

  Shouts came from behind me. They were muted, but they were coming in my direction.

  The Vard.

  And if they were coming in my direction, that meant I hadn’t gone nearly far enough.

  I started forward, heading toward the light. What other choice did I have?

  18

  My breathing sounded loud in my ears. Each time I forced my way through the underbrush, it cracked, and that sounded far too loud. I was trying to move as quickly and quietly as I could, but it felt like I was plunging ahead, making far too much noise.

  The light lingered in the distance. It was like a beacon, a lantern light against the storm, and it called to me. If I was right, and if that was the dragon, then I had no idea what I was thinking going toward it. It was a mistake, but there wasn’t much else that I could do.

  I hadn’t seen any sign of my sister, Joran, the other person that I had freed, or Elaine.

  All I saw were trees. When I looked behind me, it was dark, full of shadows that seemed to dance and flicker, almost as if they were alive. Every so often, I heard a shout, and I knew the Vard were still behind me, as if they were trying to herd me forward toward some dangerous place. There was a part of me that began to wonder if I was making a mistake going after this light, but it was the only thing that was a constant within the darkness. The only thing that seemed like something that I could strive for.

  I lost track of how long I had been walking. I was tired. There hadn’t been much rest, given everything that we had gone through throughout the last day. I felt as if I had been running indefinitely. Still, a strange energy bubbled up within me. Fear, most likely. Worry for my sister. Concern for what would happen if the Vard were to catch us. And faintly, a hint of a thrill at having seen a dragon.