They wouldn’t be noticeable to others as anything other than trees.
He pushed on the connection to the blue dragon.
Holding on to that connection, Jason guided him.
The dragon circled, the darkened shape coming closer and closer, before descending.
Borrowing from the ice dragon’s sight, Jason noted that David rode atop him. He was dressed in dragonskin, a heavy cloak fluttering behind him. When he landed, he looked around.
David was a little older than Jason, though not much. His face was distinguished, and his dark eyes surveyed everything around him with a quick glance, sweeping in the illusion, and his brow furrowed. It was almost as if David was aware that the illusion was there, though he wasn’t able to see through it.
Jason hesitated.
He waited a moment, looking beyond David, testing to see whether more of the Dragon Souls would arrive, but there were none.
He used the opportunity to relax.
As he released the illusion, it faded slowly. When it shimmered into nothingness, David watched him, and there was no real expression of surprise on his face.
“Did you know that I was here?”
“The dragon sensed you,” David said. “You understand that this is dangerous.”
“It is.”
“Not as dangerous as it once would have been. The Dragon Souls have withdrawn. Now that Therin has lost power, there isn’t the same pressure upon the Dragon Souls to continue advancing. That will change.”
“I wasn’t sure if there would be pressure to get revenge for his death.”
“There might be some who would advocate for it, but not many. Therin was powerful and he led the Dragon Souls, but he wasn’t beloved.”
David looked over at the iron dragon, and something in his expression softened.
“Thank you for coming,” Jason said.
“Why did you call me?”
“I needed to know if the Dragon Souls had found another of these misfits.”
“And if we did, do you think I would tell you?”
“Yes.”
David chuckled. “Perhaps I would. But, unfortunately, we have not seen any more of these dragons. Not for lack of trying. We are fully aware of what Therin attempted, and seeing as how some believe he was successful…”
“Only some believe?”
David smiled tightly. “Until I know more about the dragons, I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to report that Therin was successful.”
It was unexpected. “Thank you,” Jason said.
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s a matter of my curiosity. I would rather better understand the dragons and whether there’s anything more we should be doing to learn about these misfits. If I discover there’s anything that could endanger Lorach, I may not have much choice in my decision,” David said.
Jason glanced over at the iron dragon, and he shook his head. “The dragons don’t have any interest in harming Lorach.”
“So you say.”
“I say. The dragons agree.”
David watched him, saying nothing.
“The Dragon Souls haven’t found anything?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” he said.
What had killed the dragon, then?
Whatever it had been would have been powerful, and though he wasn’t entirely sure he could trust David, he did believe he wouldn’t lie about this. What point would there be in it?
“Where did you find a dragon?” David asked.
“It was south of here. East.”
“Can you show me?”
“Why?”
“It’s all part of my desire to understand.”
“What do you think your understanding will accomplish?”
“Perhaps nothing.” A look of affection passed from David to the deep blue dragon with him. “Perhaps something. I don’t really know. All I know is that Therin accomplished something no one else had. It was a risk and a danger, but no one else has ever managed to breed anything other than standard dragons.”
“And you want to know how.”
“Don’t you?” He turned to the iron dragon. “Don’t you think he wants to know how he came about?”
The dragon rumbled, and Jason shook his head. “I think the dragons suffered. Especially the iron dragon.”
“He suffered because the people of Varmin didn’t know what to do other than to hold him where he was.”
“They didn’t know how to hold him. It wasn’t the people of Varmin who did it. It was Dragon Souls.”
And they had been under Therin’s guidance the entire time.
Because of that, the people of the town had been in danger. None of them had even known about it. What would’ve happened had the dragon escaped? The Dragon Souls didn’t know enough about how to control him, if control were even possible and not simply an illusion.
“I would still like to better understand,” David said.
Jason glanced over at the iron dragon. “What do you think?”
“I will leave it to you,” the dragon rumbled.
By holding on to the connection between the ice dragon and himself, Jason sent the same question again. In doing so, he could feel the dragon’s energy, something surging between them, and there was a sense from the ice dragon of agreement.
He would permit it.
Jason turned to David. “If it will help, I will show you.”
3
Daylight was starting to fade, letting darkness settle into the jungle. The iron dragon glowed softly, casting a bit more light around the clearing. The smell remained potent, almost overpowering, but it was less now that the dragon had been cremated.
Jason looked around the inside of the clearing. There was nothing left of the dragon other than an indentation of the ground where it had been. The iron dragon curled up along the tree line, and the deep blue dragon David flew on settled nearby, though staying distant from the iron dragon. Was it fear that kept him separate? Perhaps only caution.
David’s dragon must have known what the dragons with Jason were able to do.
Not that he could blame the creature for that caution. He would have felt the same sort of trepidation if he were a dragon.
“This was where you found the other dragon?” David asked, making a small circuit of the clearing.
“A jungle dragon,” Jason said.
“Is that what you call it?”
“I’m sure that’s what it was. The dragon was different than the others. Thinner. Something like vines rolling along his sides.”
“Are you sure the dragon was male?”
“The ice dragon and the iron dragon were certain of it.”
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
“Out of all of these… misfits… there has been but one female.”
“How many females do you hatch?”
“Not many. Females don’t grow as well in captivity, though they are more common in the wild.”
“In the wild?” Jason chuckled. “I’m not sure the people of Lorach would know anything about wild dragons.”
“It’s not a matter of knowing about them, it’s a matter of having studied them. There was a time when the dragons ran wild. It was a time of violence. The Dragon Souls gained power over the dragons so we could ensure our safety.”
“What about the safety of the dragons?”
David turned to him and frowned. “We’ve had this conversation before, Jason. Your experience with dragons has been limited. What you’ve seen has been dragons confined to Dragon Haven, not dragons that roamed free over wildly populated areas. The records we have within Lorach are quite detailed. There are countless stories of dragons harming others, destroying cities and the people within, and countless stories of the fear people experienced because of them. I want to offer the dragons as much of a chance as you do, but I also recognize the chance they have is dependent upon working with us.”
Jason looked over at the blue dragon. David had not
coerced him. He had been trained, and he had a bond with David, but there wasn’t anything similar to what the other Dragon Souls had done to the dragons. If nothing else, Jason thought David’s connection was more akin to what the people of Dragon Haven did.
“Why did the dragons destroy the remains?” David stood in the center of the clearing, where the main part of the dragon’s body had been, and he held out a dragon pearl, power flowing from it.
Jason was aware of that power, and he could feel it emanating through the dragon pearl from the other man, washing outward. By focusing on that energy, he felt the way that David called upon power.
“I think they were concerned about leaving the dragon behind.” He turned to the iron dragon, who breathed out. “And I think partly it was a celebration.”
“A celebration?” David frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“The dragons had some sort of mourning song.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure they were singing. It was painful, but also sad.”
Jason looked over at the iron dragon, and from above, he could feel the energy of the ice dragon. He was circling, flying high overhead, the sense of him powerful. He seemed to gain increased strength simply by being within the clouds.
Perhaps he should remain there.
“We’ve never known the dragons to mourn their dead before.”
“Even your records of free dragons?”
“The records of the free dragons are old. It makes it difficult for us to know anything about the behavior of dragons from that time.”
“And yet you still believe that those records are reliable when it comes to the way they would be willing to destroy cities.”
“Because we have seen it ourselves,” David said. He took a deep breath, and he turned to the blue dragon. “We have a connection. How can I not have one with him? I understand he is intelligent, and is something more than a pet, but at the same time, I also recognize the danger that the dragons pose. Can it not be both?”
“I suppose,” Jason said.
David nodded. “That is all I ask.” He pressed power out, and it washed away, sweeping in a small circle around him. The leaves began to spin in place and gradually, they took on the form of the dragon that had been there. David held on to that, creating a sense of the remains.
Surprisingly, it reminded Jason of an illusion.
David held on to it and walked in a circle. He started to shift the leaves, and when they flooded off to the side, a little shimmering energy remained, taking on the contour of the jungle dragon.
“What color was he?” David whispered.
“A deep green,” Jason said.
The energy shifted again, and he colored it in. The shape of the dragon formed, and Jason gasped.
He hadn’t seen anything quite like that before, and was amazed by the power that David was able to wield. He marveled at the control, and the way that he created the illusion of the dragon, almost as if David had seen the dragon himself.
“Remarkable,” David said.
“How are you doing this?”
“There is a residual heat here. I’m borrowing from that in order to create this.”
“There wasn’t any heat when I was here. The dragon had been long dead.”
“Though the dragon was dead, all dragons are born of heat.” He looked up, frowning. “Perhaps not all dragons. Almost all dragons are born of heat. In this land, as humid as it is, and with the heat that exists here, I suspected there would be enough residual heat that I could borrow from it. Unsurprisingly, I can.”
Then David lifted the dragon.
There was no other word for what happened. It was almost as if the dragon got up and turned, twisting in place so that the form of the jungle dragon could be visible.
As Jason looked at it, he realized he hadn’t been quite right.
He had thought that vines had worked along the sides of the dragon, but from the way the contour formed, it seemed almost as if the vines comprised the dragon, twisting around it, winding around the wings, the legs, and all the way down the tail. The shape of the jungle dragon was remarkable.
“Such a loss,” David whispered.
“Because you didn’t get the chance to control him?”
“This is not about control. This is about understanding. A dragon like this… A loss. I suspect even Therin would have considered this a loss.”
“Therin was willing to destroy all of the dragons other than the forest dragon.”
Though, Jason wondered if even the forest dragon would have been destroyed had Therin had his way. He had no hesitation about harming the dragons, and he had a complete willingness to do whatever he thought would have been necessary in order to gain the control over the dragons that he had sought.
David breathed out, holding on to the shape, and he closed his eyes. Slowly, the image began to constrict, squeezing down smaller and smaller until little was left. He held it in his hand, cupping his palms around it, and then squeezed.
The image was gone.
“What did you do?”
“I maintained an image. By holding on to it, I should be able to recreate this jungle dragon later so I can study him.”
“I’m not sure that’s safe,” Jason said.
“I’m well aware of what you might think. Do you think the jungle dragon is the only time I’ve used this?” David held his hands out, and suddenly a duplicate copy of the iron dragon formed, down to the color and the molten flow of metal along his scaled body. It shimmered, and then the ice dragon appeared.
It was an illusion. It had to be. Only, he had never known David to be that skilled with illusion. This was something else. This was using the energy of a dragon pearl in order to create something else.
“I just want to understand,” David said. “I have never tried to harm them.”
“That’s not true.”
“When you first encountered me, I had gone to the iron mines in search of understanding, not in search of a way to harm that dragon. I recognized that Therin had done something. I wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. How could I believe something like that was even possible when no one had succeeded in it before?”
Jason shook his head. “Have you been able to find anything?”
“I don’t even know what technique he used to house the eggs. That’s the key. The eggs need to be placed in an environment, at least in order to take on the environment. That has long been theorized, but never proven.”
“Why are other dragons all the same?”
“Because they are hatched around other dragons. They take on the features of the dragons themselves. That is why our dragons within Lorach are so similar to one another. The dragons within Dragon Haven are similar because when they are hatched free, they take on some of the features of that freedom.”
“What else don’t you know about what happened with these dragons?”
“Well, something must have been done that eased them through the difficult transition period.”
“What difficult transition?”
“There is a time in the hatching where dragons have to be helped along.” He looked over at the iron dragon. “In his case, I suspect the heat and energy of the iron mine is what fed him in those early days. Perhaps the ice dragon sat upon the power of the storms in your northern mountains. The forest dragon was nourished by the life and power of the forest around her.” He spread his hands out, creating the image of the jungle dragon once again. When his hands snapped back together, the image faded. “In this place, perhaps it was the heat and humidity. Maybe that, or perhaps the dragon never had the opportunity to fully develop.”
“The dragon was killed. It wasn’t a matter of developing.”
“That is why you blame the Dragon Souls.”
“The belly was split,” Jason said.
David spread his hands again, creating the image once more. As he did, it took on shape, and the dragon rotated, suspended upside down.
&n
bsp; Within that suspended image, Jason could make out the split belly, though the coloration was wrong. David hadn’t filled in the intestines that had spilled out.
“Ah. I hadn’t seen this.”
“It’s horrible.”
“Dragon Souls wouldn’t have done this,” he said.
“What did?”
“I don’t know.” He released the image and looked around the forest. “Out here, in the jungle, there are likely to be other creatures. The people of Lorach haven’t spent much time trying to navigate through this jungle. It is dangerous, and it’s too thick for us to move through here. Besides, there are natives here who have attacked any time we get too close. The dragons don’t care for this and would rather burn it down.”
Jason looked over at the iron dragon. He hadn’t that sense from him.
“You think some other animal did this?”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps the natives did.”
“I don’t think so,” Jason said.
“You don’t think, but you don’t know. This kind of attack”—the image of the jungle dragon suddenly appeared again, the belly sprawled open, so that Jason could see the way that the dragon had been injured—“is not the kind of thing the Dragon Souls would have done. We would use the power of the dragon pearl. We wouldn’t have split open the dragon’s belly.”
Jason hadn’t considered that before, though he supposed that was true.
As the image of the jungle dragon faded again, he breathed out. “Can you teach me how to create that?”
David arched a brow at him. “Would I need to? With your control over illusion, it seems to me you wouldn’t even need me to show you how to hold on to something like this. Can you not simply create an illusion of this?”
“An illusion doesn’t have the same feeling of realness this did.”
“The illusions you create are quite real.”
“Not as real as I would like.”
“Perhaps you need to keep working with the forest dragon, then,” David said with a hint of a smile.
“I have been.”
“You should keep at it and see what else you might be able to learn from her. I imagine there are many things.”
“Perhaps,” Jason said.
“If you would be willing…”
Storm Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 4) Page 3