The Caged Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 1)

by Dan Michaelson

  I tried to deny that to myself, but it was there. There was a time in my life when seeing a dragon would have been the epitome of what I wanted. I had longed to experience what it was like to get close to a dragon, to feel the heat coming off it, to speak to one. But in reality, what I had really wanted was the opportunity to ride a dragon. That had been so long ago. When I was a child. Before everything had changed. Back when my brother had been in line to take over the farm.

  I knew better than to hold on to those dreams now.

  I had to push those thoughts away. There was no point in holding on to them. The only thing that I needed to do was to keep moving.

  A shout came again. I couldn’t help but feel as if it was closer. Far too close.

  The shout felt like a promise, as if the Vard were alerting me to the fact that they were there, that they were coming for me, and would make sure I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape from them.

  Sadly, I probably could not.

  I paused near a tree. I was getting thirsty, my stomach rumbled, and the air hung with the damp scent of the earth, mixed with the greenery of the forest all around me. Heat was a constant companion—the heat of the forest, the humidity of it— it made it difficult to breath.

  Not only that, but my skin still felt tight, the way that it had when I had been around the dragon. The burning in my belly remained, the hot coals sitting there, as if serving as a reminder.

  That was new.

  I hadn’t felt either of those before. Which meant something was changing.

  The only time that I had felt that way before was when I was near the dragon. Could I have come upon the dragon without realizing it? The glowing persisted in the distance, and as I stared, I tried to make out the signs of the dragon , but I didn’t see it. Just the faint light that persisted.

  The ground sloped down slightly. I followed it, weaving around the trees, and then heard a rustling nearby. I froze.

  I slowly turned— I feared coming face-to-face with a wolf or one of the forest creatures, or possibly even the mesahn— when something grabbed me from the other side. I spun, ready to strike, knowing that I didn’t have the necessary skills, when a band of fire seemed to wrap around my fist before easing.

  “Easy,” Elaine said.

  She was little more than a shadowed form in the darkness, but I could make out the surprise on her face, mostly through the glowing light coming off of her hand, using the power of her dragon mage magic.

  “Elaine? How did you find me?”

  “I’ve been tracking you to keep you from wandering too deep into the forest. What do you think you’re doing, you fool?”

  “Why were you following me?”

  “After you freed your friend and your sister, I heard you back by the caravan. I went to find you, but you’d already run off. I snuck after the Vard pursuing you, but had more trouble finding you.” A distant rumbling came out of the forest, that of the mesahn, and Elaine perked up, listening for a moment. “It’s a wonder you didn’t come across that creature.”

  “I haven’t seen anything like it.” Not since the Djarn city. At least, the remains of the Djarn city. “Is my sister safe?”

  Elaine studied me. “She’s safe.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  Elaine stepped toward me, and enough of the moonlight drifted through the trees where I could see her, but I could also see flames coming off of her, the power that she held through her magic illuminating her face. “She’s back with your friend. We need to get moving. ”

  “I heard one of their names. Does the name Barton mean anything to you?”

  “He’s a dangerous man. You were lucky to get away.” She watched me with a strange expression in her eyes.

  Was it luck, or was it something else?

  I doubted she had a better answer than I did.

  There came a glowing light behind me, and I debated whether or not I wanted to head toward it. It was the dragon. I was certain of it.

  I couldn’t do anything about it, though.

  “I freed a dragon from the Vard.” I watched her, waiting to see what she might do or say and how she might react.

  “Freed it?”

  I nodded, looking around me. “It disappeared into the forest.”

  When I turned back to Elaine, she had clenched her jaw. “Damn.”

  “Why?”

  “The Vard will hunt the dragon. They will find it.”

  “What happens if the Vard have a dragon?”

  “They can use it against the dragon mages.”

  That didn’t fit with what Joran had said about the Vard. I could understand wanting a dragon—they were powerful, even as small as that one had been—but Joran said they viewed the dragons as abominations.

  Elaine grabbed my arm, guiding me through the forest, away from the glowing light. Did she know that she was guiding me away from the dragon? There was a part of me that wanted to linger there to see if I might be able to follow the light and find the dragon, but the rational part of me knew that wasn’t the right answer. It was a mistake. I couldn’t do anything to help the dragon, and didn’t know if I even wanted to. All I wanted was to get back to my sister and leave the forest so we could return to the plains and our farm.

  As we walked through the forest, an occasional shout caught my attention. I paused to try to look through the trees, but Elaine continued pulling on me. Eventually, we reached a Djarn path heading through the forest. She motioned along it. “Go this way for about half a mile and you should come across your sister and your friend.” Distantly, the rumbling of the mesahn came from someplace deep in the forest. “I must find the dragon.”

  “I could help.”

  She glared at me. “You wouldn’t be able to help. Go to your sister. That is the reason you came, after all.”

  She disappeared into the trees.

  I lingered in place for just a moment before jogging along the Djarn path. Every so often, I heard a shout in the forest. The sound was muted, though it suggested to me that the Vard were still actively searching for me. I rounded a small turn and the trees grew dense, making the path even narrower than it had been before. Two other figures made their way along the path, and I slowed, ducking off the path for a moment. If they were the Vard…

  Creeping forward slowly, carefully, I moved toward the figures. It wasn’t until a little more moonlight spilled through the canopy when I could make out the outline of my sister and Joran.

  Darting forward, I caught up to her.

  She spun, jerking her head around, and then let out a soft gasp. “Ashan. You made it.”

  “Elaine found me. ”

  Joran was in front of Alison, and he glanced back at me. “She found us too. Sent us along the road. Said she would get you and send you out here too.”

  “We should get moving.” I shook my head. “Elaine went after the dragon. ”Do we need to help her?” Alison asked.

  Joran looked toward the trees, a deep frown on his face. “I don’t think that one needs our help at all.”

  “We need to get moving along the path. If we follow this, we should be able to find our way back out , and then we can get back to the farm.” I watched Alison for a moment. She’d wanted to go back home, but it was time for both of us to return. “I would understand if you decide you really want to go to the capital to see why the Academy selected you.”

  Alison’s expression darkened. She looked over to me, shaking her head. “I don’t even want to anymore. I… I don’t know if I ever did. After all of this, I thought that I wanted to get away. I felt as if I was trapped. It wasn’t until I was actually trapped that I felt differently. I realized that maybe we didn’t have it quite so badly.”

  “There wasn’t anything bad about it,” I said softly, looking out past my sister.

  She watched me, concern wrinkling her brow. “I know you’ve struggled as well, Ashan. You don’t like to talk about it, but it’s been hard on you. You have to take care of all of us. Mo
m, Thenis, me, Dad.”

  “Well, not Dad anymore,” I said softly.

  She nodded. “But that doesn’t change that you have been taking care of all of us. You don’t have to, you know.”

  “What would happen if I didn’t?” I asked.

  “We’d probably have to sell the farm, though that’s not the worst thing that could happen. I would go to the city. I’m sure there are things I could study there that would give me a chance to improve. I might become a weaver or…” She shook her head. “We could have better care for Thenis. He needs more time with the healers. Mom doesn’t always agree, but I have seen that he needs more than what we’ve been able to offer him.”

  “You would sell the farm?”

  “If it were up to me, I would ,” she said, shrugging. “I was offered an apprenticeship in Berestal at one point with Mrs. Tandrel. It would’ve been a good opportunity, but if I had accepted it, it meant that I would have to leave you and the others behind.” She smiled at me, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I couldn’t do it. Just like how you couldn’t leave me, either.”

  It meant that she would have had the opportunity to be a weaver, to learn her trade. Already, Alison was incredibly skilled, and training with a master weaver would have been an incredible opportunity. It bothered me that she had been forced to abandon that. So much of our lives had been put on hold. At least, her life had been put on hold. Thenis’s life, as well. Maybe even our parents, though they had wanted the farm. Were I honest with myself, in those few moments when I allowed myself that honesty, I had never really wanted the farm. Not like they had.

  “Let’s get back home, then we can discuss the rest.”

  We followed the path, making our way along, no one speaking as we did. I was tired, and I suspected the others were too. After walking for a while, I paused, snorting to myself.

  “What is it?” Joran asked.

  “I just realized we left our horses along the path,” I said.

  “Which means they’ll still be there,” he said.

  “Hopefully,” I said. If the horses were still there, we could ride double and get away from the Vard more easily.

  We jogged onward for a while longer. I had no idea how long it was, only that I was growing tired.

  After a while, Alison looked back at me. “I need to take a break,” she said.

  We slowed, stopping along the Djarn path, and I crouched down near one of the trees, resting my head back. Joran sat across from me, as he looked in either direction along the Djarn path, saying nothing.

  “Did you hear anything from the Vard while you were captive?” I asked, thinking about what Joran had said about the dragon.

  “Why?” Joran asked.

  “Just something you said that’s been bothering me.”

  “They didn’t talk much,” she said.

  “I was just trying to figure out what they wanted with you,” I said. “Do you think it was just because you were with the Academy?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, Ashan. They were forcing us to go with them, and I didn’t really have the chance to figure that out. I think it was mostly tied to destroying the Academy wagon, though not entirely.”

  There came a shout again, this time not far from us.

  I motioned to the others. They got to their feet and we started running.

  No one moved very quickly, and we certainly didn’t move quietly. Everybody sort of lumbered along , racing through the trees as we did. The path was going to have to end soon. I knew that it would, but where? We had to hurry. We rounded a corner in the road, and when we did, a dark shape blocked our path.

  We couldn’t go any further.

  “Into the trees,” I whispered.

  “Ashan?” Alison whispered.

  “There’s no time,” I said.

  I grabbed Alison and forced her into the trees, away from the path. I hoped Joran followed, but at this point, I had to be more concerned about my sister. Joran could take care of himself.

  We stumbled forward, and I was all too aware of how loud it was, much louder than it needed to be. The Vard would know that we were here, and with as much noise as we were making they would have no difficulty catching us.

  I hurried, holding on to Alison, as Joran stumbled behind me. We were all tired.

  In the distance I caught sight of a faint glowing. Could that be the dragon again? I didn’t know. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that—

  A dark figure appeared in front of me. I spun, pulling Alison with me, but there was another figure there.

  We were trapped. Something slammed into my head, and I crumpled to the ground.

  19

  I woke slowly, my head throbbing. I tried to move, but my hands and legs were bound keeping me from going anywhere. Twisting, I tried to see what was on either side of me, but could only make out darkness.

  I was trapped.

  That thought lingered in the back of my mind, staying with me. I had been captured again, and there was nothing that I could do to escape from this captivity. They had caught me. Alison. Probably Joran.

  We had escaped once, but I doubted it would be effective a second time. It was a wonder that I was even alive.

  “He’s awake,” a voice said out of the darkness.

  I recognized the voice. It sounded like one of the Vard.

  I tried turning toward the voice when something caught in my belly, and I grunted.

  “Don’t think of trying anything again,” the Vard said.

  It was Barton. I remembered his name, his face, and that he had been the one who had been the most aggressive. He was the one I needed to fear.

  “You can’t be so rough with him,” another voice said.

  Elaine?

  Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, as if she didn’t want me to know that she was there. I tried to see her, but everything was dark.

  “He needs to learn manners,” Barton said.

  She’d said he was dangerous.

  Because she had known him.

  We’d asked how she could have been captured. Now I understood.

  She’d been with them.

  “Then teach them in a different way. As it is, he is useful. You saw the same as I did,” Elaine said.

  “I saw nothing,” Barton said.

  I tipped my head and caught sight of Elaine’s legs. That was all that I could see. Nothing more. She was standing near the wheels.

  The wagons. They brought us back to the caravan.

  Of course they had. It was the only way they were going to keep us captive as they carted us through the forest.

  Someone grabbed the back of my neck, jerking me to my feet.

  The sudden change allowed me to see more clearly.

  Barton was there in front of me, his wide frame holding me easily. I attempted to fight, jerking from side to side, but I couldn’t do anything against him. He was too strong.

  He watched me, grinning. “It looks like he’s already awake,” he said, shoving me forward.

  He moved me away from the wagons, and my gaze lingered briefly on the destroyed one that the dragon had come out of. He brought me past two others, the one where I had rescued my sister and the one where I had thought that I had freed Elaine.

  She waited near the head of the caravan, somehow looking much less disheveled than she had the last time that I had seen her. Her hair was now brushed, and her jaw was set in a determined look as she watched me. I felt heat radiating off of her, though I couldn’t tell if that was imagined or if it was real. It was possible that she was using some of her connection to the dragons in order for her to impact me. If so, there wasn’t going to be anything I could do against her.

  “Bring him over here,” she said.

  I glared at her.

  She’d used us.

  That bothered me more than any concern over her betraying the king. I didn’t know the king, but because of her, Alison had been captured.

  When we’d escaped the Vard befor
e, I had thought we were safe. Even when I’d come across Elaine. All she’d done was send us back to the Vard.

  Anger surged within me. “Why are you doing this?”

  “The king has played at power long enough and avoided taking the action needed.”

  “What action?” When she didn’t answer, I tried to jerk my arms free, but couldn’t. “Where’s my sister?”

  She tipped her head as she studied me. “All you care about is your sister? What about your friend?”

  I glared at her. “Where is she?”

  Barton shoved me forward and I sprawled, dropping to my knees and sliding toward Elaine. She pressed one finger under my chin, tipping my head back so that I was forced to look at her. “I think you should be much more concerned about yourself.”

  I looked up at Elaine, refusing to look away. “What do you want with me?”

  She grinned at me. Her gaze flickered past me, looking to the wagon, holding her attention there. I stared for a moment before I turned back around, noticing that the wagon that she stared at was the destroyed one. “What I want is the dragon back. I would have been content leaving you to return to your blasted home, but it’s because of you that that creature escaped our grasp. Now you will help me find it.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do anything to help you find it.”

  She traced her finger along my chin, up to my cheek, and I jerked away. She chuckled, a deep-throated sound. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. You will be able to help me find my dragon. And you will help me capture it again.”

  “Your dragon?” I asked.

  She grabbed my chin. She pulled me forward, forcing me to meet her gaze. “It is my dragon,” she said. “And you will make sure that it is returned to me. If you don’t, I have ways of persuading you.”

  “Go ahead and try. You aren’t going to be able to do anything to me that will make me serve you. Or the Vard.”

  She twisted my head, turning it from side to side. “Perhaps you’re right. But that’s not what I’m intending. No. I think it will be far more helpful for you to be motivated by your sister.”

  I heard a whimper from the other side of the wagon, and I tried to move forward, but bound as I was, I couldn’t. “If you hurt her—”