Smoke and Shadow: An Epic Fantasy Progression Series (The Dragon Thief Book 3)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “The dragon is weak, or I am?” Ty asked.

  Dorian frowned at him. He could see a bit through the shadows of his cloak, but not much. He had a sense of age and nothing more than that. The darkness that had surrounded them was gone, though not completely. He only caught snippets of the bright shining sky through a layer of shadow that hung over everything.

  “That remains to be seen,” Dorian said.

  “You will work with him while I’m gone?” Gayal asked.

  “Gone?” Ty asked, turning to her. “Where are you going?”

  She shook her head. “The king demands my service elsewhere.”

  That meant that she would be leaving.

  Thankfully, Bingham had shown up, but he still didn’t know anybody in the capital. He didn’t know anybody else in the world where he was working. All he knew was Gayal and what she had taught him about his connection to the dragon.

  Without her…

  Ty didn’t have any idea what would happen to him.

  “Not now. I will return, but unfortunately, it may be longer than the last time.” She turned her attention to Dorian. “Thank you for working with him.”

  As Gayal started to turn, Ty leaned close to her. He was careful not to get too close to her, careful about what he might say, and concerned about how it might appear as if he were acting too forward.

  “I am pursuing Roson James,” she said, glancing up at him. Her cloak fluttered slightly, as if in some unseen breeze. The dragon that formed the cloak was there, though Ty couldn’t tell anything from it.

  “I could go with you. I know Roson James. At least, I know him as well as anybody could. I could help.”

  “You aren’t ready. And the king needs this done now.”

  Did that mean that she had spoken to the king?

  That surprised him. Maybe it shouldn’t have.

  “What if he is no longer in the kingdom?”

  Ty didn’t think that was the case. Roson James hadn’t accomplished what he wanted. He wanted the dauvern. He wanted to control dragons. Now that he knew about the smoke dragon, it seemed to Ty that he would still come after him. Perhaps after the Tecal. Until he had control over his dragon, others were in danger. The dragon itself might be in danger.

  “Work with Dorian,” Gayal said. “When I return, perhaps you will have progressed enough that you can assist with this.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  Gayal shook her head. “You can still serve the king.”

  He waited for a moment before turning back to Dorian. Dorian watched him, and the darkness that he’d seen in him initially was still there, swirling around him, though at least now he thought he understood.

  “So you control a shadow dragon?” Ty asked.

  “Is that what you believe?” Dorian asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m still trying to learn as much as I can about these dragons and what they mean and everything that’s involved. I simply don’t know.”

  Dorian turned away, and the darkness trailed after him. “What has she told you?”

  “It’s not so much what she’s told me as what she’s shown me. She walked me through the Hatchery, and I saw the dragons there.”

  He knew the dragons from the Hatchery were different than the dragons that were connected to the Tecal. He suspected Dorian had his own dragon that he was connected to, which left Ty trying to understand why and what it meant.

  He turned back to him. “You asked about my dragons.”

  Ty blinked, realizing just what he was saying. “Dragons?”

  Dorian tipped his head in a nod.

  “How many dragons are we talking about?”

  “How many dragons do you detect?”

  Ty shook his head. “I don’t know. I…” He didn’t know anything about Tecal having more than one dragon. He thought that there was just one. One dragon per Tecal. Wasn’t that the case? If it wasn’t, then why wouldn’t Gayal have told him? Unless it was uncommon.

  “How many dragons is it?” Ty asked.

  “Look around and tell me how many you see.”

  Ty searched around him. All he saw was the darkness. He didn’t think there was anything more than just the one.

  “I don’t know. You have a shadow dragon.”

  He nodded. “Is that all?”

  Ty shrugged. “Well, Gayal has a shadow dragon.”

  “She does. A powerful one at that.”

  He hadn’t known that. The only thing he really knew about it was that it had its own ability to conceal itself around her, cloaking her, though he had seen how the shadow dragon had absorbed Roson’s attack, so he supposed that he knew that the dragon was powerful.

  “So you have at least one shadow dragon,” Ty said. He wasn’t ruling out the possibility that the Tecal had more than one, but if that were the case, then how was he supposed to separate out more than one of those dark dragons? It seemed impossible to even consider the possibility that there was more than one.

  “We can agree that there is but one shadow dragon,” Dorian said.

  “We can?”

  He chuckled. “If you have doubts, then perhaps the two of us can work with the dragon, but only after you prove yourself.”

  “Prove myself with what?”

  “Your observations.”

  It was a test, and he had no idea whether or not it mattered if he passed, other than the fact that he might need to have Dorian’s approval to continue progressing with his understanding of the dragons.

  At this point, with Gayal gone, Ty didn’t know if he wanted to continue with his studies, though maybe he did want to understand how to control his dragon and use that power. There was no doubt in his mind that his power could be useful to him, if only he could make that connection.

  If Ty were ever to find his parents, and if he ever were to figure out what was going on with his brother, then he would need the dragon.

  It was more than that.

  It was about making sure he was safe. It was about making sure that he had a way of countering Roson James if he came back. Roson James knew about his smoke dragon. He knew about the Tecal and their dragons. And he knew about the dauvern. If he were to somehow steal it from Ty, or if he were to somehow learn how to make something similar, then the dragon that he had connected to, along with those of the Tecal, would no longer be safe.

  And that seemed to be the most significant thing of all.

  Ty looked at the ground, at the glowing circle around him.

  “You have some sort of light dragon, as well,” he said.

  Dorian nodded, and the light began to build, crawling around him, and for a moment it took on a vaguely dragon-like shape before it faded, disappearing underneath the cloak of shadows that he wore.

  “How did you connect to two dragons?”

  “Is it only two?”

  “You’ve only shown me two.”

  “Have I?”

  “You told me to assume there was only one shadow dragon, and if there was only one light dragon, how many other dragons do you have?”

  “What else have you felt in your time here?”

  Ty shook his head, looking around the inside of the clearing, and frowned. “I don’t know. I’m on a grassy plain, surrounded by rocks, and…”

  He looked at the rocks. In the time that he’d been here, he hadn’t paid as much attention to the rocks as perhaps he should have.

  He was a thief. He had thought himself a skilled one too. Part of that training had involved learning to observe, to be prepared, and to be ready for anything to change. And for whatever reason, he had simply not paid attention to everything the way that he should have when he had come here with Gayal.

  Now that he looked around, he started to wonder.

  Maybe the rocks shouldn’t be here.

  He headed over to one of them and ran his hand along the surface of it. It was warm—much warmer than any rock in the sun should be.

  He turned back to him. “Some sort of stone drag
on, as well.”

  Dorian nodded. “Very well. There is one more, but it’s doubtful you would discover it. There has only been one who has ever discovered that dragon.”

  Ty raised his hand. “If there’s one more, then give me a chance to find it.”

  He made a circle around Dorian. He studied him. The darkness swirled around him, that of the shadow dragon, and now that he knew that the light had been from another dragon, it gave him a different appreciation of everything around him. How much of this was truly influenced by some well-controlled dragons?

  He thought about what he’d seen with the smoke dragon and the way the smoke dragon had worked for him in the past. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite like that, though he had a feeling that Dorian had some control over his dragons that others would not.

  Ty turned slowly, regarding everything around him. If the rocks were some sort of stone dragon, what else might be dragon-like in here? He took a deep breath and realized something was missing.

  The smells of the plains.

  When he had first come out onto the plain with Gayal, there had been the scent of grass, the occasional meadow flower, and there had been the wet, damp scent of the stream that had run through.

  None of that was here.

  Maybe that was simply muted by the shadow dragon, but he didn’t think so. And if the stone dragon were there, he would’ve expected something from that, as well.

  Ty frowned at him. “You have to have some dragon that can mute the wind.”

  Dorian clasped his hands together in front of himself. “Interesting. What makes you think that?”

  Ty turned and waved all around him. “The air is still. There’s no smell upon it. There’s no sound other than the two of us.”

  “Very good.” With that, he spread his hands, and the darkness evaporated, the rocks disappeared, and the air suddenly carried with it a steady breeze that carried the smells of the grassy plain all around them.

  Ty blinked, too surprised to react another way. “All of that was dragon controlled?”

  “All of that was connected to the dragons,” he said. “Is that what you would like to learn?”

  He could vaguely feel the heat within him, though not enough to be able to do anything with it.

  “I don’t know if the dragon I’ve connected to would permit me to.”

  “You have only to ask.”

  “I doubt it’s only asking,” Ty said.

  “Because you have not tried.” Dorian started to circle around Ty. “You have connected to a dragon, which is rare enough. It means you have potential, but now it is upon you to find and understand that potential, and it is upon you to realize that in a way that is meaningful. Otherwise, you will find yourself hampered by your inability to reach for the connection to the dragon.”

  He wasn’t so sure about that, but he wasn’t about to argue with the Tecal. “You can teach me to connect to the dragon?”

  “I can.”

  Gayal’s comment about the stories of the dragon came back to him. If the smoke dragon were drifting free of him, perhaps even causing trouble without his connection, there was a real danger to others. Ty needed help.

  “You can teach me how to make sure it stays controlled?”

  Dorian nodded at him. “What has Gayal worked with you on?”

  “She’s been trying to help me force the heat within me. I’m not exactly sure how to force it. The only time that I felt that heat, it has come on its own. Beyond that, I can’t do anything with the dragon. The one time that it had shown itself was when we faced Roson James.”

  Why then but never again?

  There was a part of Ty that questioned whether the dragon had disappeared from him, but Gayal had made it clear that the smoke dragon was still there. He may not have felt it, and he may not have been in control of it, but this dragon was definitely there.

  Maybe what he needed was to find some way to tap into that energy, to grasp that power, and to pull it out of him. As he looked over at Dorian, he watched him, hands still clasped together in front of him.

  There was something strange about him, though.

  The cloak he wore was different than the one Gayal wore.

  Gayal’s cloak was always so still and motionless, whereas Dorian’s cloak looked to be quivering with energy, fluttering with a vibrancy. Where at first Ty had believed that it was completely made of darkness and shadows, as he looked at now, he saw something more within it. There was more than just shadows. There was a hint of color to it, almost as if it shimmered within the light.

  That had to be the light dragon that he had seen. The movement might be the wind. What effect was there with the stone dragon?

  “I can see you trying to contemplate the nature of the dragons,” Dorian said.

  “I’m trying to understand them.”

  “There is no easy understanding of these dragons. They are unique. I won’t be able to explain them to you any better than that,” Dorian said. “The dragons, as you have seen, are different. Perhaps it’s only in this kingdom, though perhaps it is elsewhere as well. We have not been able to determine the key, only that we search for answers, and we search for dragons.”

  “I didn’t realize that there were dragons like this. Even those within the Hatchery aren’t…” Ty cut himself off, realizing that he needed to be careful with Dorian. He didn’t want to insult him. “I just didn’t know there were dragons like this.”

  Dorian nodded. “There are others. We have found some, and others are like your smoke dragon, connecting to someone unexpected. The king pursues other dragons, knowing that they are key to his power, but we look for something else.” He turned back to him and released his hands, standing with them down by his sides. “It is time to work.”

  “I told you. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do anything with the dragon. I’m happy to try. I’ve been trying to tap into that connection, but each time that I try I can’t feel anything more than—”

  “I was not talking to you,” he said.

  Ty frowned. He looked down. There was no sign of the smoke dragon, though he had to believe that it was there and that there was some connection to it, if only he could call to it.

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “I want you to focus on what you feel.”

  “I’ve tried focusing on what I feel.”

  “Try harder. At this point, what we will do is continue to work on the energy within you and the way you connect to the dragon. The more you do this, the easier it’ll become for you to find that connection as it stretches between you.”

  “If I can’t?”

  “Then perhaps the dragon will need to be separated from you.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  Dorian frowned. “I can’t?” He stretched his hand out and flicked his finger.

  For a moment, Ty felt nothing, but then he began to notice a stirring. It started slowly, building, and as it did he realized what was happening. Somehow, he was beckoning the dragon away from him, summoning the dragon away. The longer he worked at it, the more that he could feel the smoke dragon starting to peel away.

  “Stop,” he said.

  “I thought you said I couldn’t do anything.”

  “Stop,” Ty said again.

  “As you will see, I can very much call the dragon away.”

  With a sudden understanding, Ty looked over at him. “That’s why you have your dragons.”

  “That is,” he said.

  “Why have you taken them from other Tecal?”

  “You think all are prepared for the power of the dragon?”

  “I doubt many people have given much thought to the power of the dragons. How many people really ever have that opportunity to connect to them?” Ty asked.

  “Not all are equipped to handle that kind of power. Some must accept that they are incapable of forming a connection.”

  “So you strip the dragon from them.”

  “We merely move it.”

>   “What happens to them?”

  “That is not of your concern.”

  “What happens to the dragon?”

  “Others like myself can harness their energy,” Dorian said.

  Ty watched the energy as it swirled away from him, wanting to keep him from pulling it from him, but not sure if he could. “How many are there like you?”

  “There are several,” he said.

  “Because you have the ability to control more than one dragon?”

  “Because we understand the dragons. You came to us late. I don’t have much faith in the likelihood of your success, but we will see.”

  “I can learn,” Ty said.

  “Perhaps you can, but that is not the primary concern I have.”

  “What is the primary concern?”

  “Whether you can teach.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. And that is the issue.”

  Ty began to see what his concern was. It wasn’t so much that he could work with the dragon, but he had to be able to teach the dragon what he needed in order for them to share that connection and control. If he couldn’t, then he would fail.

  He would lose the dragon.

  The Tecal would strip the dragon from him and…

  Ty didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t necessarily know what to make of the smoke dragon, and he certainly didn’t know what to make of the power and connection he shared with it, but at the same time, he didn’t want to lose it. There was something to having that connection that he wanted, something that left him filled with a desire to know the dragon, to know that power, and to know that he could use it. Without that, he would be at the mercy of Roson James if he ever attacked again. He might have his dragon-bone dagger, and now he might have the crossbow along with the dragon-bone crossbow bolts, but that wouldn’t be enough. Not nearly enough.

  “What do I need to do to learn?”

  “You need to understand yourself. You need to understand the dragon. And if you cannot, then you will not be of service to the king.”

  Ty frowned. It was something similar to what Gayal had told him when he had first learned of the smoke dragon, and when she had first offered to help him learn about it.