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

by D. K. Holmberg

  And yet, he had not argued a bit.

  Jason sat up and shifted, moving along the dragon’s back, trying to position himself so that he could see better. He tried to ignore the nausea rolling through him, the strange sensation he had sitting on top of the dragon, the awkward way the wings fluttered, carrying them higher into the sky. He tried to ignore all that, and knew he failed. Despite that, he was determined to know where they were heading.

  They weaved between mountain peaks.

  He had never seen anything quite like it. He’d seen the mountain range stretching away from his home village, but this was different. Not all of the peaks had snow capping them. In sections, there were stretches that were darker, as if covered by trees. And yet his people struggled to have anything to burn.

  “It’s enormous,” he whispered.

  “The dragon or the world?” Henry asked.

  “Both,” he said.

  Henry chuckled. “Bigger than your mountain world, that’s for sure.”

  They continued to fly, and Jason lost track of how long they traveled. The only thing he could think of was that they had avoided the Dragon Souls, but for how long?

  “Were they chasing your dragon?”

  “No,” Henry said.

  “Then why were they there?”

  “Just wait,” Henry said.

  The dragon turned, and it seemed to Jason that they began to descend, dropping toward the ground. He was forced to squeeze onto the dragon, grabbing a set of enormous spikes raised out of the dragon’s back. They streaked toward the ground, heading faster and faster, wind whistling around them, and he mimicked Henry as he leaned close to the dragon’s back. Doing so shielded them from the wind somewhat, but it didn’t protect them altogether. The dragon’s wings were pulled into its body, and it shot like an arrow toward the ground.

  Not like an arrow. It was faster than any arrow, and more powerful. The cold wind began to whip around him. As the dragon plunged toward the earth, Jason worried the dragon intended to kill them.

  He kept his focus on Henry, who seemed not troubled at all by the way the dragon dropped to the ground, but then again, Henry was the one who had brought them to the dragon.

  Jason could only hold on, and feared releasing his grip, feared that he might end up falling from the back of the dragon.

  And then the dragon stretched out its wings. It caught the wind and they slowed almost immediately. Light stretched out in the mountain valley in front of them.

  Jason stared, trying to understand what he saw.

  A city.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “This is Dragon Haven.”

  “What is it?”

  “This is a city of dragons.”

  “What kind of city?”

  Henry sat up, looking back at him. “You’ll see.”

  The dragon quickly dropped, pulling its wings out on either side, and they settled down to the ground.

  When they did, Henry scrambled off but Jason hesitated before following. William looked around with a confused expression on his face before climbing down.

  When he was on the ground, he looked over at Jason. “We were on a dragon.”

  “I know.”

  “We flew on a dragon.” His spiked hair stood even taller after the wind had gusted through it.

  “I know.”

  Jason looked all around. The trees were different than they were even in William’s village. They had massive leaves, and the air hung with a different fragrance. Squirrels darted around within the trees, birds chirping as well, but more than anything, there was a complete absence of snow.

  He’d never been anywhere where there was no snow.

  The air was warm—hot, even.

  Within his furs, he found himself uncomfortable, and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he unbuttoned his jacket, pulling it open, and was tempted to take it off altogether.

  Henry motioned for them to follow, and Jason did, but as he went, he glanced back at the dragon. The dragon had already jumped, taking to the air again, and Jason didn’t know if there was any way to follow it.

  “Where now?” he asked.

  “Now we go and find out what to do with you,” Henry said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You have the attention of the Dragon Souls. We need to know what to do with you.”

  “You could have left me.”

  Henry stopped, turning toward him, crossing his arms over his chest. “I couldn’t have left you with the Dragon Souls. They would have used you.”

  Did he really want to be here, either?

  He swept his gaze around and saw the dragon in the sky, circling over the city.

  As he looked up, he realized it wasn’t the only dragon. There were others, and they all circled, looking like birds flying in the sky. They were enormous, and still terrifying.

  Henry shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “I don’t get what?”

  “You’re caught in the middle.”

  “In the middle?”

  “You’ll see, and unfortunately, there isn’t much for you to do but choose a side.”

  Henry turned and headed down a hard-packed road.

  William trailed after but glanced back at Jason, practically beseeching him to follow.

  Jason looked all around the city. It was larger than his village, and larger than what he could remember of William’s town. The buildings all blended into the forest, and were constructed differently than any from his village. Whereas in his village, most of the buildings were made of stone pulled from deep beneath the snow, sealed together with snow and ice, giving everything a cold feeling, the buildings here were constructed of wood, with roofs covered with branches and leaves. They were different even than the buildings he’d seen in William’s hometown. There the buildings had been made of wood, but the roofs were thatched or slate, and narrow streets were paved with cobbles. The streets here were narrower, and meandered.

  No snow clung to the rooftops. In a few of them, chimneys puffed out warm smoke, and Jason could imagine a pleasant fire in each of the hearths. Not dung, but wood. It gave off a soothing aroma.

  As he followed Henry, he noticed dragon sculptures situated along the street, almost as if they were observing the newcomers, deciding whether or not they were welcome here within Dragon Haven. All of the dragon sculptures were made of a dark stone, and Jason reached toward one of them, running his hand along the surface of it, finding it smooth—and surprisingly warm.

  Henry arched a brow at him, and Jason pulled his hand back.

  The streets were smooth stones, massive and made of the same dark stone as the sculptures. They seemed to radiate warmth as well, giving off a pleasant sensation, one that was matched by the heat of the sun overhead.

  Henry guided them to an enormous building near the center of the town. When they paused in front of it, Jason could only stare. Two enormous dragon sculptures sat on either side of the entrance. As he craned his neck, looking around, he discovered another dragon sculpture on the opposite end of the building. It was several stories high—easily the tallest building he’d ever seen.

  “You will wait here,” Henry said.

  “And then what?”

  “And then we will decide what to do with you,” he said.

  Jason could only shake his head. He didn’t want them to have to decide what to do with him, and he had no idea why they had brought him here, and worse, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to remain.

  And yet, he didn’t have a sense that he had much of a choice. If he wanted to get back home, there wasn’t going to be any way other than traveling by dragon. He didn’t even know how far they’d gone, though they had flown for quite a while. He could imagine it would take days—weeks—to return to his village by climbing the mountains.

  That was if he was even able to make the journey. He wasn’t sure he was equipped to do so, and he didn’t know whether there was anything dang
erous in the mountains that he would have to fear.

  “I still can’t believe Old Henry has a dragon,” William said.

  It wasn’t long before Henry returned, and this time, he wasn’t alone.

  A woman wearing a long, flowing black gown followed him. Her hair was twisted into an elegant spiral atop her head. It was almost as if she wore a crown in it. She had a leaf tucked behind one ear, and her eyes were a deep blue.

  “This is them?” she asked. Her voice was soft, almost musical, and when she neared, Jason had a strange sense of power from her.

  “This is them. I came across this one in the town. Dragon Souls were chasing him.”

  “And the other one?”

  “The other one tagged along.”

  “Interesting.” She turned her attention to Jason, standing in front of him with her hands clasped at her waist. She watched him, regarding him with a strange expression, sweeping her gaze over the entirety of his body. There was an intensity to her eyes, and there was something else about her, a power that seemed to radiate from her. He had felt it before, but that had been with the Dragon Souls.

  “Where is his home?” she asked, reaching out and touching his bearskin jacket.

  “He’s from a village atop the mountains.”

  “And the Dragon Souls came for him there?”

  “Not there, but somewhere along the mountainside.”

  “Therin was there?”

  “He was.”

  “That is troubling.”

  “Would either of you care to tell me what’s going on?”

  The woman studied him again, cocking her head to the side, and a hint of a smile curled her lips. “He has a bit of heat to him.”

  “He does. He can be a bit dense, but I think it’s because he hasn’t seen much.”

  “I’m standing right here,” Jason said.

  “Again, he can be a bit dense,” Henry said.

  Jason glared at the other man, but he ignored it.

  “Bring them inside,” the woman said.

  “Inside where?” he asked.

  Henry shot him a withering look.

  He ignored it. There was no point in paying any attention to it, not at this point.

  Henry followed the woman up the stairs between the dragon sculptures and into the building. William followed, and when he reached the door, he cast a glance back at Jason, almost as if trying to encourage him to follow.

  Jason hesitated, his gaze sweeping along the street. He still couldn’t believe the smooth stone he walked upon, the way that it radiated warmth. Despite the smoothness to the stones, they weren’t slick. His boots had a good grip to them, and he didn’t worry about falling, tripping over the stones.

  The city seemed larger than befit the number of people he had seen so far. It was a strange realization. In the brief time they had been here, Jason would’ve expected to have encountered more people than he had, but it seemed sparsely populated.

  The rebellion.

  Therin had mentioned the rebellion, and even when he had hidden his true motivation, he hadn’t concealed his feelings toward the rebellion.

  What sort of rebellion was this?

  Why were they here?

  The dragons, most likely.

  Was this where he wanted to be? Was this the kind of place he wanted to spend his time? All he wanted was to return to his village. To help his mother and sister, and from there…

  Could he even fall back into the life he’d been leading?

  Knowing what he now did, he wasn’t sure that he could. Every day had been spent searching for food, for survival, and in the brief time he’d been away from the village, he’d seen far more. It was enough to believe there was a different way to exist.

  But where?

  He could imagine bringing his mother and sister down to the town, and from there, they could find a place, perhaps have William help them, but that involved him returning. More than that, that involved him finding his way down to that town again. The trek down the mountainside would be difficult, and he wasn’t sure his mother would be in any shape for a journey like that.

  Taking a deep breath, Jason hurried up the steps and entered the building.

  The doors closed behind him, and he looked around.

  Flames were lit all around him, situated in points all around the inside of the building. It gave off an almost unpleasant heat, something he never would have imagined before.

  The woman had taken a seat on a tall chair near one end of the room. Not just a chair—a throne.

  Henry stood in front of her, William a few paces behind him.

  There were others in the room, but Jason wasn’t able to see them very well.

  Were they wearing dragonskin? He cast his gaze around, looking through his dragon sight, trying to see if he could make out anything about the others in the room, but nothing came to him.

  If they were wearing dragonskin, that seemed surprising, given Henry’s view of it.

  Then again, if they had dragons, why wouldn’t they be able to use their skins? Not all creatures lived that long, and he had to believe even the dragons had an end to their life. When they were gone, their skin would be valuable.

  Jason approached carefully, slowly, and as he did, he glanced at Henry, but the other man ignored him. He took a place next to William.

  “Welcome to Dragon Haven,” the woman said. “You are granted our protection while you’re here, but know that we have little tolerance for violence toward the dragons.”

  “Where am I?”

  Henry shot him another look, and within it, Jason could practically hear the other man saying he was dense. And he felt it. He had no idea where he was or why he was here, nothing other than the fact he was in a place that revered the dragons.

  “You are with the resistance. You are with those who would see the Dragon Souls defeated. You are with those who serve the dragons.”

  “Serve the dragons?”

  The woman nodded and turned.

  As she did, a shape appeared out of the darkness.

  The heat within the room made much more sense, and Jason’s breath caught.

  There was a dragon in the room with them.

  19

  He and William sat in a small room off to the side of the main chamber. The dragon had curled up on the floor near the back of the room, a smaller creature than what he’d seen outside. Dark scales glowed softly, visible even from where he stood. Heat radiated in a way that made him realize he would never be cold in a place like Dragon Haven—not the way he had always been in the village.

  The room was warm, but everything in this place had been warm. He’d taken his jacket off, setting it to the side, leaving his gloves alongside it. It was unusual for him to do that. Even in his village, he didn’t often take his jacket and gloves off. The home he shared with his mother and sister wasn’t warm enough to remove them very often, and when he did, he often felt as if he were naked and placed in a sort of danger. Partly that came from the fact that the home was not all that well heated, and without his jacket and gloves, he could easily succumb to the elements. Part of that was simply a matter of familiarity.

  William had been silent ever since they came here and Jason glanced over at him, worried for him. It was more than just his silence. It was the apprehensive way he looked at everything, the discomfort he obviously had.

  “I’m sure they can get you back to your village,” Jason said.

  “I’m not sure I want to go back,” William answered. He turned to Jason and held his gaze. He ran his hands through his hair, making it stand even taller. “There’s nothing for me there. Not really. And besides, after everything I’ve seen, I don’t know how I could. I mean, dragons are real!”

  “I told you they were.”

  “You told me they were, and you told me there was power in dragons, but this… this is something else.”

  Jason could only nod. This was something else, and it was something worse, if he were to be honest wi
th himself. Here he was in a place that revered the dragons, that celebrated them, and seemed to serve them. And he had ridden on a dragon to get here.

  He kept thinking back to what he’d experienced, what he’d always believed, and the preparations his people had taken to protect from the dragons. They had been prepared to destroy them. He knew what had happened to his father. He knew what his people had gone through. There were people who had lived in the village long enough to remember the last attack. That couldn’t be wrong.

  The door opened and Henry and the woman came in. There were two others with her. One was a girl about his age. She had the same blue eyes, high cheekbones, and golden hair as the woman he’d met. Even the way her hair was twisted onto the top of her head was the same. Her daughter, most likely. An older man followed. He was of a similar age as Henry. His jaw was clean-shaven and he was muscular, large enough that he would’ve fit in within Jason’s village. William had gotten to his feet, but Jason remained sitting.

  “You may sit,” the woman said.

  William took a seat and Jason shifted. He didn’t know the right behavior. In a place like this, with his sort of ignorance, he worried that his lack of knowledge might be dangerous.

  The woman took a seat across from him. “I imagine you have questions.”

  The others took seats, with only Henry still standing. He paced behind the table and Jason watched him, looking for answers or guidance or something, but Henry didn’t pay any attention to him.

  “Henry tells us that you were pursued by Dragon Souls.”

  “That’s right,” Jason said.

  “And that Therin was among them.”

  He nodded again. “Therin told me that he was not one of the Dragon Souls any longer.”

  The woman smiled sadly. “Perhaps that is the case.”

  Jason shot Henry a look. “What?”

  There was a moment of silence, and the woman took a deep breath. “Introductions are in order, I believe. I am Cherise L’aral. This is my husband, Olar. And my daughter, Sarah.”

  “You’re the rulers here?”

  Cherise smiled, shaking her head. “We don’t have rulers the same way you would see them.” She glanced toward the dragon curled along the wall, and said it in such a matter-of-fact way that it took Jason off guard. “Dragons were never meant to be subjugated the way the Dragon Souls believe. We recognize that, and we listen to their guidance.”