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

by D. K. Holmberg

  In the distance, a dark figure caught his attention. He pointed, and William grabbed him, pulling him down a side street. Jason had lost all track of where he was going and where they were in the town. The buildings blurred together, the shapes all similar and the streets all narrow, making it difficult to tell where he was. William continued to guide him.

  They turned another corner, and this time, there was another shape in the distance. Jason grabbed William, pulling them off to the side, and they ran.

  “Another?”

  Jason nodded. “They all wear dragonskin.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “I just can.”

  William nodded and they weaved, turning, and suddenly appeared on a wider street. There were several other people out, and a shout behind him called his attention. He spun, realizing that Gary was approaching.

  Had they really managed to head back toward Gary and the others?

  “This is—”

  Jason didn’t have a chance to finish, as another blast of heat struck, streaking along the street.

  He grabbed William, pulling him back. The heat slammed into Gary and the people with him. Someone cried out, and Jason didn’t have it within himself to feel too bad about that. They ducked back along the wall and he looked along the street.

  On the opposite end, behind Gary and the others, another dark figure appeared.

  They were stuck.

  It didn’t seem as if there was going to be any way for them to get out of there. Short of going through the buildings, Jason didn’t know how they could find a way free from the Dragon Souls.

  “You should go,” he said to William.

  “I’m not going without you.”

  Jason flicked his gaze from one end of the street to the other, and as he did, he couldn’t help but feel as if they were running out of time. The Dragon Souls were getting closer, marching forward, and heat was building from them. If nothing else, he didn’t want William to get pinched between the two of them.

  “Thanks for your help, but I don’t think you should stay here.”

  “Listen, I’m lucky. Maybe that will help us somehow.”

  Jason chuckled. “I don’t know that luck is any sort of power.”

  “You saw how it helped us while playing cards.”

  “I’m not sure that was helping us.”

  William grinned. “Yeah, that is kind of the curse of the gift. Every time it seems like it helps, something gets mixed in with it that isn’t quite as lucky.”

  “You could have warned me about that.”

  Jason glanced at either end of the street. There wasn’t a side street here, no place for them to go, and as he stood there, debating what they should do, heat began to build from either end of the street.

  Someone near Gary cried out. Jason jerked his head out of the way as heat exploded where he had just been. The Dragon Souls were nearing and would be upon them.

  “I think you can still get away. They’re only after me.”

  “I—”

  Something rumbled, and then a figure appeared on the street in front of them.

  Jason blinked. Henry.

  But how?

  “Come on,” Henry said.

  “Henry? How are you here?”

  “It doesn’t matter how I’m here. All that matters is that we need to—”

  Henry didn’t have a chance to finish. The Dragon Souls ran forward, heat building from them. Henry held his hands out, pressing away from him in either direction. Flames scorched away from him.

  “You shouldn’t have run,” Henry said.

  “I didn’t know if I could…” Jason didn’t know how to finish, either. He had run from Henry, the one person who had suggested he could help him, but then, Jason had thought Therin was going to help, too. Yet he had betrayed him. Abandoned him.

  One of the Dragon Souls neared.

  “Henry,” the Dragon Soul said, his voice rumbling. “We’ve been waiting for you to return.”

  17

  Jason stared at Henry, at the furs, the beard, the dark eyes, and the heat radiating off him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Henry was still a Dragon Soul.

  Maybe he was no different than Therin.

  What had Henry said? It was easier to lie when he sprinkled in some truth? This was the kind of thing that fit within that, and he could easily believe that though Henry was trying to make him believe he was trustworthy and Therin was not, the reverse was true.

  Henry glanced at Jason. “It’s time for us to go.”

  Jason stood frozen in place. He looked at the Dragon Souls, the two men approaching from either direction along the darkened street, nothing more than shadows streaming from the buildings mixing with the sense of heat coming off the men, and he didn’t know what to say.

  Suddenly, one of the Dragon Souls fell.

  Heat exploded, faster and with more violence than Jason was able to follow. He was only aware of it after the man had fallen.

  Another figure strode down the street, dark furs drawing Jason’s eyes, the thick beard calling his attention, and he swallowed.

  “Therin?”

  Therin flicked his gaze toward Jason. “You shouldn’t have left me,” the other man said.

  “I didn’t. You left me.”

  Henry remained standing in place, one hand pointed toward Therin, the other toward the other Dragon Soul behind him.

  “Come on,” Henry said.

  Jason didn’t know what to do, didn’t know whether he could move. Instead of following either of them, he stood back, watching.

  Henry flicked his gaze toward Therin before diverting his attention briefly to the Dragon Soul behind him. A blast of heat struck the earth and then bounced up, catching the Dragon Soul. The man went flying, his head hitting the ground before bouncing. He didn’t get up.

  Henry turned fully to Therin then. “It looks like you decided to dress like me.”

  “I was about to say the same thing.” Therin turned toward Jason. “You need to come with me. Quickly.”

  Henry stepped forward, blocking Jason from being able to go anywhere. “You’re not taking the boy.”

  “I’m the one who found him. Helped him.”

  “You intend to use him.”

  “Use him? Strong words from a man like yourself.”

  “Look at you. Look at what you’ve become. You model yourself after me. You think you can be like me. You’re nothing like me.”

  “I’m not a traitor,” Therin said. He turned his attention to Jason. “We need to go. I can hold him off, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do so.”

  “Open your coat,” Jason said.

  “What?”

  “Open your coat.”

  Therin glanced toward him. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “I need to know who I can trust.”

  Therin grunted. “Fine.”

  “You too,” he said to Henry.

  Henry turned his attention to Jason. “You’re not going to like what you see.”

  “Why? Are you intending to betray me?”

  “It’s not a matter of betrayal.”

  Jason glanced from Therin to Henry, keeping his gaze fixed on both men. He didn’t know who he could trust—if he could trust either of them.

  A figure down the end of the street caught his attention and he turned briefly toward it. Another Dragon Soul.

  He didn’t have much time. He was going to have to make a decision which way he would go, whom he would trust, and it had to be soon. If he didn’t, this other Dragon Soul was going to turn the tide.

  From what he could tell, Therin had taken out one of the Dragon Souls, but so had Henry.

  As he watched, Therin unbuttoned his coat, and something changed. Jason shifted, his dragon sight no longer working. Dragonskin.

  Jason held his breath, flicking his gaze toward Henry.

  The other man continued to unbutton, and what Jason saw made his breath catch, but for a complet
ely different reason.

  Underneath his coat, he was naked.

  His skin was raw, burned, and angry looking.

  Henry stared at Therin, not taking his gaze off the other man. “Are you satisfied?”

  “What happened?” Jason asked.

  “Did you get what you needed?”

  Jason nodded.

  “Come on,” Therin said. “I can protect you, but—”

  Jason took a step toward Henry, and William followed.

  “You’re wearing dragonskin,” Jason said.

  “I told you I was with the Dragon Souls. I’ve left.”

  “No. I don’t think you have.”

  Therin stood up, straightening his back, and something about his entire demeanor changed. “You’re making a mistake.”

  “Maybe,” Jason said.

  At the same time, he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do. He didn’t necessarily want to go with Henry, but he also didn’t want to go with Therin. He just wanted to be safe.

  Henry tossed something toward Therin.

  The sudden movement made the other man wince. Flames burst, an explosion shooting upward. Henry grabbed them and they went running.

  Jason was tired, winded, and his entire body ached, but fear made him stronger than he would’ve otherwise been. He continued to run, feeling William behind him, chasing him, and the two of them raced through the streets after Henry. They reached the edge of town but Henry didn’t slow, hurrying out beyond the edge of town, racing toward a cluster of trees.

  “Where are you taking us?”

  “To safety.”

  Behind him, the sense of heat and flame continued to build. Jason tried to ignore it, to focus on staying with Henry, but he risked looking behind him.

  What if he’d made a mistake?

  He still didn’t know if he should have trusted Therin. The other man had said he was once with the Dragon Souls, which meant he would likely have had the dragonskin, but there was something about him that made Jason hesitate. He was forced to trust Henry instead, even though he didn’t know if the other man was fully trustworthy.

  When they reached the edge of the trees, heat exploded behind them. Henry forced them behind the trunk of a tree and paused. He looked behind him and tossed something back toward the town. As before, it exploded, fire bursting into the night.

  “What are you throwing?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Are those dragon pearls?”

  Henry frowned, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t throw a dragon pearl. It’s a waste of power.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I call them dragon seeds. They’re little more than a fragment of bone. An explosive.”

  “Bone?” William asked, glancing from Henry to Jason. “What kind of bone?”

  “Dragon bone,” Henry said.

  He grabbed them, forcing them deeper into the forest.

  They ran through the forest, and it seemed as if Henry knew exactly where he was going. He guided them quickly, dragging them off, weaving through the trees. Every so often, Jason was aware of heat behind him, but he tried to ignore it. He recognized the way that Henry guided them, taking them not just away from the town, but heading toward the mountain slope.

  “We aren’t going to be able to lose them that way,” he said.

  “I don’t intend to lose him that way,” Henry said.

  “Then how?”

  “You’ll see,” he said.

  William was slowing, and Jason glanced over at him.

  “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep up.”

  “Then don’t. You could return to town.”

  “He stays with us,” Henry said.

  “He’s not part of this.”

  “He is now. They saw him with you. If he returns, the Dragon Souls will take him, torment him, and try to use him against you.”

  “Why am I suddenly so important?”

  “You shouldn’t be, but it seems as if you are.”

  Henry continued forward and Jason scrambled after him, trying to keep up. As he did, he stared at the other man’s back, looking for answers he knew he wouldn’t find.

  All he wanted to do was rest. That wasn’t quite true. He wanted to eat and then rest. Then he wanted to get back to his village, back atop the mountain, find a way to relax, and when he did, he would avoid coming back down the mountainside. He wouldn’t complain about his lot in life. He would continue to serve, maybe try to train with Mason, eventually learn to fire the cannon the same way the other man did. His father had trained him for that, hadn’t he?

  Jason breathed out, trying to catch his breath, and as he did, heat slammed into him.

  It was overwhelming, powerful, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was not moving quickly enough to stay ahead of the Dragon Souls.

  Henry glanced back, seemingly unfazed by all of this. He was moving quickly, and it reminded Jason of how Therin had managed to walk above the surface of the snow. It was almost as if Henry glided through the forest.

  “What happened to you? You were a Dragon Soul. You had to be.”

  “I left.”

  “Like Therin claimed?”

  “Therin never left.”

  “I suppose he’d say the same thing about you.”

  Henry grunted and ducked behind a tree trunk, pausing for a moment to look back at the forest. He pulled a flask from his pocket, tipping it back, drinking, and handed it over to Jason. Jason took a sip, enjoying the water, though it was warm and tasted too heavily of copper and minerals. He passed it over to William, who wrinkled his nose as he took a sip.

  “Therin is using me to try to convince others of his change of heart.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He’s doing it because he thinks it will give him access he wouldn’t be able to have otherwise.”

  “What kind of access is there that he can’t get otherwise?”

  Henry didn’t answer, turning away and continuing deeper into the forest.

  Jason and William shared a look, and the other man shook his head, shrugging. “I don’t know. He’s been around here for a long time, so I think you made the right choice, but… I don’t know.”

  Jason swallowed. His throat burned from the effort of hurrying through here, and he felt as if he weren’t sure whether or not he had made a mistake, but he couldn’t help but think that this was the right thing.

  What was Henry doing with them? What did he intend?

  Every so often, a sense of heat built. At first, Jason thought it came from the Dragon Souls chasing them, but the more he focused on it, the more certain he was that it came from Henry.

  “That’s you, isn’t it?”

  “Those are my dragon seeds.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to delay anyone who might be following us.”

  “And you’re dropping the dragon seeds behind us?”

  “Dropping them, throwing them, trying to keep them from catching us. If they don’t know where I’m attacking in the dark, they have to be careful.”

  “Or you’re creating a trail for them to follow.”

  Henry glanced over his shoulder. “What makes you think I don’t have some way of tossing them so they can’t find them?”

  Jason focused on the explosions, and realized they came from all over behind him. It wasn’t just one spot, and it seemed as if they did create a pattern arranged outward.

  Perhaps Henry was right.

  They weaved through the forest, no longer going at such a breakneck pace, and he was optimistic that they would be able to get ahead of the Dragon Souls.

  He didn’t know what Therin was after, other than that the man believed Jason must have some way of finding a dragon. Why, though? Nothing about Jason would suggest he would know where to find a dragon, or even how.

  He said nothing, and the longer they went, even William remained silent, trailing along with him, walking as quick
ly as he could.

  “How much longer do we have to go?” Jason asked Henry.

  “Do you want them to catch you?”

  “No, but we’re getting tired.”

  “Tired is better than dead.”

  “If he wants me for something, then he wouldn’t kill me.”

  Henry glared at him. “There are some fates that are worse than death.”

  It reminded him of something his father had said once.

  Jason followed Henry.

  William grabbed his arm, turning toward him. “I don’t know too many fates worse than death.”

  Henry paused and pulled open his jacket, revealing the burns again. “I can assure you there are many worse things to experience than dying.”

  “You’re still alive.”

  “Now I am.”

  The other man spun, jogging onward, into a forest that continued to get thicker, the darkness deeper. Jason was thankful for his dragon sight as he wound between the trees, darting from one place to another as he followed Henry. Without his dragon sight, he would probably lose sight of the man quickly. He made a point of checking on William, ensuring the other man was with him and didn’t get lost.

  It seemed as if they walked for hours before Henry paused again. When he did, he pulled out his flask, taking a sip before handing it to the others. This time, Jason noticed it had a strange metallic taste to it. There was something familiar about it.

  “I know this stream,” he whispered.

  “What’s that?” William asked.

  “The stream he got the water from. I know it.”

  “How do you know a stream?”

  “In the mountains, there aren’t too many places where water flows freely. When it does, it usually has something within it that keeps it from freezing. Whatever that something is gives it a specific taste.”

  It was the stream from the cave near the village. Where he’d almost gotten to safety.

  Jason looked at Henry, meeting the other man’s eyes. “You’ve been to our village.”

  “I haven’t been to your village, but I have been to some of the northern villages. Do you think that stream only flows through your lands? No. It flows down the mountainside, and I gather the water there.”

  It was a strange thing to even remember that stream. It was one his father had liked to go to, telling him there was something about the stream itself that was special. Thinking of his father like that made him smile to himself, however sadly. Over the last year, he hadn’t had all that many happy memories of his father. He’d been so focused on what he’d lost, and had neglected the things his father had given him over that time. Perhaps that had been a mistake.