Ice Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Not sell the pearl.”

  Jason tried looking over his shoulder, but the man shoved him forward. They reached the street and he pushed them along it. It was wider here, and lanterns had been lit, the light pushing back the growing darkness. Jason was able to see along the street fairly well, his eyesight enhanced by his dragon sight. He noticed the streaks of color, movement that came from the side streets, but as he looked around, he wasn’t sure whether or not he was seeing what he thought he was.

  Henry didn’t give him the opportunity to relax and look around, and without that, he didn’t have the ability to take full advantage of his dragon sight. They were forced along the street, hurried forward, and every so often, the other man would shove them again.

  Heat bloomed somewhere in the distance and William froze, looking toward it.

  Jason followed the direction of the other man’s gaze and thought it was on the far side of the village. Near the mountainside.

  Henry leaned forward. He sniffed at the air, and there came a strange sense of heat from him, though Jason didn’t see whether the other man had pulled out the dragon pearl. It was possible he kept it in his pocket, and if he had, then he was using power without it.

  He shoved them again and they turned, heading along another street.

  When they turned the corner, movement behind him caught Jason’s attention.

  There was no heat signature, nothing that revealed anything to his dragon sight, but he was certain that he saw something.

  “Keep moving,” Henry grunted.

  “Was that—”

  Henry nodded. “Keep moving.”

  Jason resisted the urge to shiver. He was certain it had been someone dressed in dragonskin. Since leaving his village, the only people he’d seen wearing dragonskin were the Dragon Souls.

  If they’d found him, did that mean they were hunting him?

  “Are they after me?”

  “Probably,” Henry said.

  He shoved them again and Jason went staggering forward, quickly catching himself before streaking away. At the end of another street, he risked pausing, looking behind him. Once again, he could swear he saw movement, though he wasn’t entirely certain if that was what it was. There was the outline of something in the darkness, though he could make nothing out with his dragon sight. It was completely concealed, and that troubled him.

  He was accustomed to that in his home. There were several who had dragonskin clothing that was opaque to his dragon sight, but since reaching this village, he hadn’t encountered anyone that obscured.

  Henry shoved him again and Jason shot him a look.

  The dark expression on the other man’s face made it difficult for Jason to do anything other than hurry forward. When he did, he could feel Henry’s breath on his back, forcing him onward.

  They wound through the town. Jason had been aware it was a sprawling sort of town, and yet as he made his way through, it felt even larger. They weaved from street to street and seemed to be zigzagging, taking a backtracking path as they did, heading from one section to another, almost as if Henry didn’t know where they were going.

  Every so often, the sense of heat would bloom behind him, and Jason would look back. Yet Henry didn’t give them an opportunity to spend much time looking over his shoulder, continuing to force him forward.

  “Where is he taking us?” he whispered to William.

  The other man shook his head. “I have no idea. We’ve been backtracking, and at this point, I… to be honest, I’m getting a little bit lost.”

  “This is your town.”

  “It is, but it’s dark, and I don’t really know where we’re heading.”

  “Quiet,” Henry hissed.

  He jabbed Jason in the back, and from the way William winced, he suspected the same thing had just happened to him. Jason fell quiet and focused instead on what he could detect around him. Every so often, there was the heat, but he also noticed movement behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder, thinking that if nothing else, he might be able to uncover whether or not there were other people nearby.

  There was the occasional sense of heat from people farther down the street, but it was almost as if Henry was navigating them away from others, guiding them so they wouldn’t encounter anyone else. Jason was beginning to feel tired, disappointed he hadn’t eaten anything, and wondering whether he’d even grabbed the pouch of coins.

  Another burst of heat struck, and this time it seemed to illuminate the night.

  Henry paused, giving Jason and William a chance to stop as well. The rest was welcome as the other man looked into the distance, glaring out into the night, his jaw set almost angrily.

  The heat began to fade and Henry shoved him again, forcing them forward. William glanced over at him, a question burning in his eyes. Jason didn’t have any answer for him. He felt bad that the other man had gotten caught up in this, but then again, William had been the one who had involved Jason with Gary and his machinations. Had he not, Jason likely would’ve wandered the village on his own and probably would never have attempted to sell the dragon pearl.

  No, that wasn’t true. He had come to the village thinking he would trade the dragon pearl, thinking it had some value he might be able to capitalize on, but when he’d learned that the people of this village didn’t even believe in dragons, he had begun to doubt the value of the pearl.

  “Who are we running from?” William asked.

  His voice was loud, almost too loud against the night.

  “You don’t want to know,” Henry said.

  “If you’re running from Gary, I can show you a place he won’t be able to find us.”

  “Gary?” Henry leaned close to him, looming over William. It wasn’t that Henry was so much larger than William, though he was taller. It was almost that he had some way of making himself appear more powerful, more intimidating, and William shrank back from the gaze. “Do you think I fear Gary?”

  “I know the kind of things Gary can do to others in town. I understand wanting to run from them.”

  “I don’t worry about any boy like that.”

  William looked at Jason and mouthed the word, “Boy?”

  When Henry shoved them forward again, he hurried onward, having no choice otherwise. He tried to ignore the sense of heat flaring up, and the longer he focused on it, the more certain he was it came from all directions around the town.

  That was what Henry was avoiding. It was almost as if he were trying to find some way through the sense of heat, but couldn’t.

  Jason looked over at Henry. The other man’s face was contorted in a tight frown, and as much as he wanted to ask about the other man’s experience with the Dragon Souls, he was afraid to do so. More than anything, it was clear to Jason that Henry had some experience with them.

  They needed to get answers, but Henry was guiding them to safety.

  “William doesn’t have to come with us,” he said to Henry.

  Henry looked at William. “They know he’s with us.”

  “They don’t. Gary might, but—”

  “They know,” Henry said. There was a finality in his voice, and Jason resisted the urge to argue.

  When they reached a section of the town with smaller buildings, all of them homes, Henry finally started to slow. They reached a particular home that looked dingy and rundown, and the other man stopped them in front of it, pushing open the door and shoving them inside.

  “What are you doing with us?” William whispered.

  “Quiet,” Henry snapped.

  Inside the room, Henry shouldered past them, heading toward a table along one wall. When he was there, he quickly lit a lantern. Flames began to crackle softly, giving off a warmth and a brightness.

  Henry motioned to a pair of chairs nearby and Jason took one, waiting for William to take the other. The other man looked nervous, almost as if he intended to bolt at any point. If the situations were reversed, Jason thought he might try to do the same. This wasn’t his figh
t. William had gotten caught up in it by accident.

  “How many are after you?” Henry asked.

  William looked in his direction and Jason shook his head. “I don’t know that they’re after me.”

  “The pursuit we just endured would say otherwise. How many?”

  “Three, but maybe more.”

  “Three. Are you sure of that?” Henry asked.

  “Not really. As far as I know, there were three. When they captured me—”

  “Who captured you?” William asked.

  Henry ignored him. “They captured you?”

  Jason nodded. “It was up on the mountain. They—”

  “They thought you were a slave.”

  Jason shivered at the idea. It was the same thing Therin had said, and the idea that he was a slave only because of his eye color troubled him. “I guess so.”

  “You already knew.”

  “There was another who warned me.”

  “Another?” Henry asked.

  Jason debated how much he should tell Henry. He didn’t know whether he could trust this man. He was strange, and though he had the ability to use the dragon pearl, and though he seemed like he was helping, he wasn’t even sure if that were true. It was possible that he was guiding them to this place for his benefit.

  Then again, he had defended them against Gary.

  “There was another man. I was with him on the mountain, and he was leading me away from them.”

  “Away from who?” William asked. He glanced from Jason to Henry. “Will either of you tell me what you’re talking about?”

  “Who was this man?” Henry asked.

  “He said his name was Therin. He claimed he’d been one of them, but had left long ago.”

  “Did he now?”

  “He’s the one who gave me the dragon pearl. He said he could help me learn how to use it.”

  Henry chuckled, grabbing the dragon pearl out of his pocket and resting it on his lap. He pulled another out of his pocket, and set that one on his lap too. When he did, he motioned to them. “What do you see about these?” Henry asked.

  “They’re both dragon pearls,” Jason said.

  Henry frowned, his brow wrinkling, making his dark eyes appear even darker. “Yes.”

  “What am I supposed to notice?”

  “You’re supposed to notice differences. You have the dragon sight, so I know you can tell.”

  Jason frowned. He focused on the darker of the two. That was the one he’d carried with him out of the mountains, the same dragon pearl Therin had given him. It was dark, and it carried with it speckles of red and blue, though he wasn’t able to determine much more about it. If he held it, he thought he might be able to recognize the heat or the slickness from it, but nothing more than that.

  The other one was shaped the same, though it did appear to have more color within it. There were striations of green and seemed almost as if it glowed.

  “They’re similar, but the colors are different.”

  “It’s not just the colors,” Henry said. “One of these is real.”

  Henry nodded and cupped his hand around a dragon pearl. He held on to it, squeezing it, and as he did, heat glowed from his hands. When he parted them, it appeared there was something other than a dragon pearl in his hand.

  Rather than a smooth and dark surface, now it was an irregular shape. A shard of black, completely flat and with jagged edges, rested on his hand.

  “This is called a dragon shard,” Henry said.

  “What’s a dragon shard?” William asked, leaning forward. He ignored Henry’s warning glance and stared at the strange item on the other man’s hand.

  “A dragon shard is created by a Dragon Soul. They use it to follow someone they feel has potential.”

  “What sort of potential?” William asked.

  Two kinds of magic…

  He had dragon sight. What else was that other than potential? Magic. It was the reason Therin had thought he could use the pearl.

  Rather, the shard.

  Why would Therin have a shard?

  Unless…

  Henry leaned forward, watching him.

  “He said it was a pearl,” Jason said. “I saw him use it.”

  “You saw what he wanted you to see,” Henry said. “Therin is good like that. Makes people see things that aren’t there. Feel things they wouldn’t otherwise.”

  “What’s it for?” William asked.

  “A dragon shard is a dangerous item, and if you were given one, it’s because you have perceived value.”

  Jason leaned back. “I’m just a villager.”

  “I’m afraid the Dragon Souls think otherwise.”

  Jason couldn’t shake the strange sense the dragon shard left him with. “Therin gave me that,” he said softly.

  “Who is he?” William asked.

  Jason continued to stare at the dragon shard. What purpose did he have in giving them something to track him?

  “He’s a dangerous man. One of the most dangerous of the Dragon Souls.”

  “What?” William asked.

  Jason tore his gaze away from the dragon shard, meeting Henry’s gaze.

  “You didn’t know,” Henry said.

  “I didn’t know.” It made a certain sense. The power he had. The way that he’d helped. Even the dragon pearl. “He didn’t tell me.”

  “What’s worse, the man you know as Therin leads them.”

  15

  Jason stared at Henry, uncertain how to react.

  Therin led the Dragon Souls?

  If that were true, he could have done something to him during their journey. What game was he playing at? Why hide the fact that he was a Dragon Soul—and pretend he wasn’t working with the others?

  There was something he was after.

  Dragons, though Jason didn’t see how there could be any dragons in his village.

  “What now?” Jason asked Henry. He didn’t like relying upon another stranger, but this was one who seemed to know things.

  “Now you wait here while I see what I can uncover.”

  “I could—”

  “Do nothing more than get yourself killed.”

  Henry left William and Jason sitting alone in the small building. Every so often, Jason would look around, and he couldn’t help but feel as if something were off. He wasn’t sure who to trust, and certainly didn’t know whether he could trust Henry.

  The dragon shard Henry had demonstrated rested on the table, and Jason reached for it. He sighed and lifted the dragon shard up. “I’m sorry I carried this to your town.”

  “You carried it when you thought it was something else,” William said. His demeanor seemed to shift after learning that Jason didn’t have the same control over dragon items as he had believed, and Jason didn’t blame him. For his part, he had deceived William somewhat. “It’s still amazing, though.” He swept his hands around him. “The Dragon Souls. The idea that the dragons are real. All of this.”

  Jason shook his head. “I’d rather it not be amazing.”

  “Why not?”

  “I need to get back to my village. My family needs me.”

  William laughed. “What’s that like?”

  “To be needed?”

  “Nah. Family.”

  Jason stared at him, half expecting him to laugh and admit to joking with him, but it didn’t come. “What happened to your family?”

  “Oh, besides my mother dying when I was born? My older sister took off a few years ago with a farmer from outside town. She got mauled by a wolf or something and didn’t survive…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  William flashed a smile, though for the first time, Jason saw something darker in it. “You couldn’t have known.”

  “Still.”

  “My father barely sticks around anymore. He’s a trader. Gone for long stretches. Longer each year. It’s his way of forgetting.” William looked down. “Sometimes I think he’s trying to forget me, too.” He sighed then l
ooked up, the smile returning. “But hey! I’ve got my luck. That’s got to matter for something. Doesn’t help with me keeping a job, but eventually that has to change. Eventually I might be able to get out of here like my sister tried.”

  Jason swallowed. Here he thought that he’d had it rough. William had it far harder than he had—and still managed a sense of humor. “How well do you know him?” Jason looked toward the door Henry had gone through.

  “Not well. He’s come to town about once a month over the last few years. He usually trades with some of the shops, and then he disappears. He heads out into the wilderness. No one really knows where he goes or what he does.”

  “Do you have any reason not to believe him?”

  “I don’t know him.”

  Jason breathed out a heavy sigh. “I don’t need anything to do with the Dragon Souls. I just want to get back home.”

  “The one in the mountains?”

  He looked up, meeting William’s eyes. There was doubt written on William’s face. “I do come from up on the mountainside.”

  “You’re dressed like you are, but the mountain is impassible beyond a certain point. I might not have traveled that far from here, but I have seen that. What are these Dragon Souls?” William asked, changing the subject.

  “I don’t really know. I’d never heard of them before. They apparently are powerful and control the dragons.”

  “So dragons are real?”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

  “It’s just… We knew it as rumor. Stories we told children.”

  “Sometimes stories have a way of being real.”

  “Like the story of you coming from the mountain town.”

  “I did come from the mountain town,” he said.

  William sat back, resting his arms behind his head, leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes. “You know, I thought I was deceiving you when I first met you.”

  “You did deceive me.”

  William rolled his head off to the side, cocking one eye. “I did, but it seems like you deceived me just as much.”

  He fell silent, holding on to the dragon shard, squeezing it in his hand. Why had Therin given it to him? That was the thing he didn’t really understand. What purpose would there have been? It seemed as if Therin had tried to help him, and as he thought back to the other man, he hadn’t any belief that he had wanted to harm him.