Iron Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  On a whim, Jason reached for the ice dragon pearl. He pulled on power through it, and he sent it surging out from him, toward the dragons, sweeping into the nearest of them. There was no resistance.

  He worked his way over the dragons, one by one, and he found no resistance as he had with the other dragons, telling him that they were all untouched. None of them had been tormented, tainted the same way that the Dragon Soul dragons had been.

  As the dragons approached, Jason sat upright. He stared, worrying about what they might uncover.

  He needn’t.

  Sarah rode the lead dragon.

  She looked as he remembered. She had bright blue eyes, high cheekbones, and golden hair that hung down her shoulders, fluttering in the breeze. She was beautiful. A band of silver ringed her head, catching the sunlight. He smiled at her, but she seemed not to notice.

  “Jason?” she breathed out as they approached. Her gaze swept over the dragons, lingering on David, before looking back at him.

  “Hey there,” he said.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I found a pair of dragons.”

  She stared at the ice dragon. “I thought you said you didn’t find a dragon.”

  He said nothing. She whistled and the dragons turned, banking, heading toward the ground. The ice dragon and the iron dragon followed, and he had a sense that even if he were to want to, he wouldn’t be able to guide them any other way. They would have to follow the course of the other dragons, and if they didn’t, he worried they would be attacked. He stayed with them, landing alongside the others.

  When he was down, he slid down the ice dragon’s side. “You need to take to the air.”

  “This place does not cause any discomfort,” the ice dragon said.

  “It doesn’t?”

  “I feel pressure, but I am free to draw upon the cold.”

  “If you need to fly higher in the sky, go ahead. I can summon you if I need you.”

  The dragon rumbled and Jason turned toward Sarah. She was dressed in a deep green cloak, and her hair hung in a braid. She was lovely, as lovely as she had been when he’d seen her before.

  “What happened?” she snapped, watching him before taking in the dragonskin clothing for the first time. “A Dragon Soul? You’re dressed like a Dragon Soul. And not just a Dragon Soul, but one of their Aurans?”

  Jason frowned at that and shook his head. “I don’t know what that is.”

  She reached forward, grabbing his cloak, and twisted the pin on it. “This. It marks one of the Aurans…” She paused, studying David. She grabbed for the bearskin, touching it a moment before shaking her head. “I see. You brought one to us.”

  “He has information we could use,” Jason said.

  “I’m sure he does, but do you know what he might do to us when he gets the chance?”

  “I have spoken the words of the flame,” David said.

  Jason shook his head, turning toward him. “Would you stop saying that? That doesn’t mean anything to them any more than it does to me.” He glanced over at Sarah, but her face had gone pale. “What is it?”

  “The words of the flame. It’s a vow. What exactly did he say?”

  “Something about not hurting me. Not hurting the dragons. Not betraying me. I don’t really remember. It was in the middle of me threatening to kill him.”

  That wasn’t entirely what he’d done, though it was near enough. He wasn’t really going to kill David, though he would have left him behind with a broken leg. He had no interest in harming the Dragon Souls, but he did want to ensure that the Dragon Souls didn’t harm the dragons. If it came down to either him or the Souls, then he was more than willing to do what was needed.

  “You managed to get an Auran to speak the words of the flame?”

  “He wanted to study the dragons,” Jason said.

  She frowned again. “About that. What kind of dragons are these?”

  Jason turned to the ice dragon, patting his side. “This is the ice dragon. I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful with you when we were back in the mountains, but I had the sense from him that he didn’t want to be discovered. And he saved me, so I kind of owed him.”

  “You hid a dragon from us. Do you know what might’ve happened?”

  “What might’ve happened?”

  “She fears that the Dragon Souls would have found him and claimed him,” David said.

  Jason shot him a hard look. “You’re not helping your situation.”

  “I am speaking the truth. How is that not helping?”

  “Your truth is going to end up getting them angry with you.”

  “Be that as it may, that is what she feared.”

  “I was there, and I was watching for any signs of the Dragon Souls,” he said. “Therin didn’t return.”

  “Just because he didn’t return didn’t mean he wasn’t going to send people to search for that dragon. As far as you know, this Auran was sent to investigate.”

  Jason turned to David. “Is that what it was? Were you sent to investigate?”

  “I was sent for a different purpose.”

  “And what purpose was that?”

  “To find the missing eggs.”

  “What about the missing eggs?”

  “Therin has been hiding from the Dragon Souls. He took them from us, and he has been using them for his own plans. I don’t think any of us would’ve expected anything like this, and yet, with Therin involved, it’s not altogether surprising.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I imagine Therin had you believe he was acting under our orders.”

  Jason shrugged. “He told me that he was working on behalf of Lorach. Isn’t that the same?”

  “Perhaps to him. And perhaps he was. Therin did sit above even the Aurans, given a place of authority beyond what most have. Because of that, he had less accountability than he should have had. Therin abused his place and tainted the work we do.”

  “I’m not so sure you should be proud of the work you do.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “You keep telling me that, but I think I understand more than you believe, and I understand the nature of what you’ve done, the difference in the way you and I believe the dragons deserve to be treated. I understand far more than you do.” He looked around. “How can you be in a place like this and not comprehend that?”

  “Dragon Haven,” David said, disdain dripping from his words. “A place where the dragons have been stolen, preventing us from training them. A place of the rebels and the rebellion.”

  “You’re going to have to be careful. You’re in a place where they don’t view the dragons the same way as you.”

  “The rebels have never viewed the dragon the same. They have thought they could overcome us for ages, and where has that gotten them?” David looked around, his brow narrowing. “It has gotten them to Dragon Haven. Isolated. Separated from the rest of the world. Cut off from power.”

  “It has given the dragons the chance for freedom,” Sarah said. She glared at David for a long moment before looking at the iron dragon. “I understand what happened with the ice dragon, and I can even understand your reasoning, but what about that one? I don’t even know that I recognize what kind of dragon that is.”

  “I call him an iron dragon. The ice dragon said he detected his hatch mate, and he wanted me to help find them. We went looking, and we came across him.”

  “How?”

  “He was held captive, and I think he has an affinity for iron. You should see the way his scales change when he’s using fire. It’s almost as if he becomes molten metal.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened briefly. “You said hatch mates?”

  Jason glanced over at David. “According to the dragon, there will be others.”

  She breathed out heavily. “We need to discuss this.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t bring it to you sooner. I was trying to help the dragon, and…”

  “Why did you come now?�
�

  “Because the Dragon Souls know.”

  “What do they know?”

  “That there’s another dragon.” He glanced over at David. He hadn’t shared much with him, either, and he didn’t necessarily want to share, but he thought that Sarah of all people needed to know, to understand what he was concerned about and why he wanted to offer protection. There had to be some way to do so, and if it came down to it, he was willing to return. He would do it with or without the people of Dragon Haven, even though he understood that it involved danger.

  “Let me guess, a water dragon?”

  “No, though it wouldn’t be surprising if we found one. This one was in the trees. He—or she; I didn’t really know—had deep green eyes and wings that looked like the canopy of the trees. I could barely see her even when I was up close to her.”

  “You do realize what you’re saying,” Sarah said.

  “I understand and I know how it might sound, but I’m telling the truth.”

  She frowned at him. “Considering how you appear to have a very different view of the truth, I’m not sure how much we can believe you. But I suppose that as you did bring the ice dragon and the iron dragon with you, we need to put some stock in what you’re saying.”

  Jason sighed. He looked around the clearing. There were three smaller dragons off to the side, and they sat rigid, watching the ice and iron dragons, but the two misfit dragons were completely ignoring them. They were focused on the other dragons, the five that had arrived to greet them.

  “What now?” he asked.

  “Now we need to go to the others. If this is as critical as you say, we don’t have much time.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t tell me that you’re sorry. Tell the dragon if we don’t manage to get to it.”

  Sarah motioned to David, and he was forced in front of her. She glanced at Jason before following along the path that wound beside the forest, and every so often, she would look over, irritation glimmering in her eyes. He had worried about telling Henry what he’d done, but he hadn’t given much thought to telling Sarah. And yet, perhaps he should have. Sarah had been there, fighting alongside him, helping him, and now that he was here, now that he realized what he had done, he thought that he had betrayed her.

  Perhaps by hiding the ice dragon, he’d betrayed all of them.

  “What has William been doing since he’s been here?”

  “He’s worked on training dragons.”

  At the mention of training, David’s head perked up.

  Sarah pushed him. “Nothing like how you would train them. We train them differently. We train them on patterns, coordination, and we work with them to better understand how we use their power. It’s almost as much training ourselves as we are the dragons.”

  “I didn’t realize that William had any ability to reach the dragons,” he said.

  “He doesn’t. At least, so far he hasn’t shown that he does, but he wants to work, and in Dragon Haven, we don’t exclude anyone who shows an interest in working.”

  David laughed softly. “It’s a waste of time. If someone doesn’t demonstrate a talent with the dragons, then they will not develop one. You waste not only your time, but the dragons’.”

  “We don’t decide for the dragons,” Sarah said.

  She shoved David forward again.

  As she did, she shot Jason a look. It was filled with annoyance, and he worried that he’d made a mistake by bringing David here. Perhaps he would have been better served by leaving him behind with the other Dragon Souls. At least then, he would not have to worry about what Sarah might do or how she might react; and yet, there were things David knew, information he thought he could glean from the man.

  They reached the building Jason remembered from before. It was all strange curves, made of stone, and blended in with the forest. The air here hung with the fragrance of flowers, mixing with that of the forest, and having been to various towns recently, he no longer found the smells to be quite as strange as he had before. In his village, there were no scents like that. The smells that he was familiar with were those of the burning of dung, the coppery scent of blood from a kill, the crisp cleanness of snow, and the smoky sweetness of tellum. That was it.

  Sarah paused at the door and went over to David. She studied him for a long moment before shaking her head. “I can’t believe we’re going to do this,” she muttered.

  “You can’t believe that we’re going to do what?”

  “Allowing an Auran in here. We’ve been safe for all these years, Jason. And now you bring somebody like this here, and yet, as strange as it is, I can’t help but feel as if we need to do this,” he said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “You don’t have to apologize to me. You have to apologize to the dragons if something happens to them.”

  Jason glanced toward the field in the back, and even though he couldn’t see the dragons, he could practically feel them. With his connection to the ice dragon—and even to the iron dragon—he thought he could draw upon that power, and if he could, he thought he could summon them if he needed to. He didn’t feel like he was going into any danger here, but at the same time, he didn’t necessarily know for certain.

  They stepped into the building and dim light greeted him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. Even with the dragon sight, it was a jarring change. As his eyes began to gradually adjust, he was able to make out shapes in the distance. Sarah reached a wide stairway.

  When she motioned for David to start down it, Jason hesitated. “This isn’t where we went the last time,” he said.

  “It isn’t. We went a different way.”

  “Why this way?”

  “Because of what we need to do.”

  “What do we need to do?”

  Sarah shook her head. “Just get moving.”

  “Sarah?”

  “Jason, don’t challenge this.”

  They headed down the stairs. Lanterns glowed softly, illuminating the stairs. The deeper they went, the more the air began to change, taking on a faintly moldy scent. There was moisture somewhere nearby and the air was cool, though not unpleasantly so. Then again, he doubted he would find a place where the temperature was unpleasant to him.

  They reached a lower level. The stairs didn’t continue, but there was another door there. Sarah motioned for David to approach. Something about his bearing seemed to change; it was almost as if he stiffened. Sarah pulled keys from her pocket, unlocking the door, and when she pushed it open, it occurred to Jason just were they were.

  “What is this?”

  “You brought an Auran here,” she said.

  “You’re going to put him into a cell?”

  “You don’t understand what an Auran is, Jason, but trust me when I tell you that I do. We have enough experience with them and the things they’ve done to know he will use any opportunity to harm us.”

  “Even though he said he spoke the words of the flame?”

  “Seeing as how I wasn’t there when he spoke them, there’s no way for us to know what words they were and what they meant to him. And an Auran would likely have some way of maneuvering out of his oath.”

  Jason glanced over at David. All of this had been to try to find help, but he hadn’t wanted to end up with David in jail. David had facilitated their discovery of the forest dragon, and now this would be his reward? It felt wrong, but more than that, he couldn’t help but think that Sarah was acting without thinking.

  They made their way along a narrow hallway lined by doors. Each of them had metal locks, and each was made of iron or steel. When she reached one, she unlocked it, and she motioned for David to step inside.

  He looked over at Jason for a long moment before turning and heading into the cell.

  “I spoke the words. What words will you speak?” he asked.

  “I speak the words that protect the dragons.”

  “You don’t have any idea—”

  David didn’t
get the opportunity to say anything more. Sarah pulled the door closed, silencing him. On the other side, Jason could feel the energy, almost as if David were calling upon power, unless that wasn’t what it was. It was possible the power he detected came from this cell.

  Sarah started back toward the main door and paused at another cell, opening the door. She stood there for a moment, looking inside, staring, and then she shook her head. “Go,” she said.

  “Go where?” Jason asked, looking toward the stairs.

  Sarah inhaled deeply. “Go into the cell, Jason.”

  “What?”

  “You brought an Auran here,” she said.

  “I brought two dragons here as well.”

  “And one of them was one you tried to hide from us. Please. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

  “Or what?”

  “We don’t need to go into that.”

  “You don’t need to do this,” he said. “I am working on behalf of the dragons. I’ve been helping the ice dragon find the other hatch mates. I’m—”

  Something grabbed him. He was too startled to process what was, but a band of power wrapped around him, thrusting him into the cell. He staggered forward and spun around, but not before the door closed on him. As it sealed shut, there came a sense of pressure all around him.

  Jason didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. The only thing he could think of was that he had been betrayed. The worst part was that he didn’t know whether he had been betrayed, or whether he was the one who had done the betraying.

  He had kept information about the ice dragon from them, and because of that, the ice dragon had very nearly been captured. It was more than that, though. There was the danger of what he had done, the way he had almost betrayed the iron dragon. How much of this would’ve been better had he just brought news of the dragons to them here?

  Jason stared at the door. He couldn’t help but think that Sarah would open it, would release him, and that he would be free again, and yet now that he was here, he didn’t know if that were the case or not.