As he headed back into the main part of the town, he paused, looking all around him. Dragon Haven was unique, the structure of the buildings rising up from the forest. The homes were different than in other cities, all rounded and made of a gray stone, roofs covered with branches and leaves so they blended into the forest. It was part of the reason creating the illusion here was easier. Without that blending, he would’ve struggled to keep it all together in his mind, but because of that, he was more equipped to create that illusion.
Once inside the building that housed them, Sarah found Jason as he was striding along the hallway, and she paused, taking him by the arm. “You look exhausted,” she said.
“I feel exhausted,” he said.
“What happened?”
He had to tell Sarah what he’d done. She needed to know. “I made the mistake of heading toward Lorach. I should have waited for others.”
“What would you do that for?”
Jason told her about what he had uncovered in the jungle and his desire to see if he might be able to learn anything about a Dragon Soul attack on the jungle dragon. He told her about questioning David as well.
“Did you really think that David would be willing to share anything with you?”
Jason shrugged. “I didn’t know, which was why I had to go. I needed to see if he might.”
“Did he?”
“Not really,” Jason said.
“I doubted that he would,” she said.
“It is possible he might have shared something. He wants to help the dragons. More than anything else, I believe that about him.”
“He might want to, but he also serves Lorach, and he can’t do both. He’s going to have to decide between the two.”
“That’s what I don’t really understand. He could serve Lorach by helping the dragons.”
Sarah smiled at him. “You haven’t been a part of the rebellion for as long as the rest of us.”
“David made it clear that he served Lorach, and that doing so might involve ensuring the dragons were controlled. Still, even though he’s an Auran, I can’t help but feel as if there has to be some different way he can help us.”
“You believe in him more than we do.”
Jason sighed as they headed through the halls. “There’s something else, though.”
“I figured there was. You look as if you’ve been awake for days.”
“I freed a dozen dragons. With the ice dragon. We flew high over Lorach, and there were dozens of Dragon Souls out, and I used the opportunity to free as many dragons as I could.”
“Jason… You have to know just how dangerous that was.”
“I know,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “There was one—a massive black dragon—I wanted to save but I wasn’t able to. I tried…”
“That is incredibly dangerous. You should have someone else with you.” She reached out and touched his arm. “It’s not that I’m not supporting what you did. Far from it. Saving the dragons is incredibly beneficial, but we can’t stand to lose you.”
Jason chuckled. “I think you give me far too much credit.”
“And I think you don’t give yourself enough. Think about everything that we’ve gone through since you have arrived. We wouldn’t have survived half of it without you. All of the attacks are the reason the Dragon Guard have been withdrawn.”
“What are the Dragon Guard?” He should have heard about them before. Why had this been kept from him?
“The Dragon Guard is the rebellion. At least, the fighting arm of it. There are some of us here within Dragon Haven that are a part of it as well, but we try to avoid doing too much.”
“Henry?”
“Not Henry, not the way you would think. I think he would love to be a part of the Dragon Guard, but they aren’t sure whether or not they can trust him because he was a Dragon Soul.”
Even within Dragon Haven, those who were here remained distrustful. When he had brought David into Dragon Haven, they had immediately been suspicious of Jason, accusing him of betraying the community.
“Why has the Dragon Guard been recalled?”
“Because of you. With Therin coming here, attacking, the Dragon Guard returned in order to try to see what’s going on.”
“Let me guess, they have dragons?”
“Well, they are the Dragon Guard.”
“Then I think I’m a little familiar with them.”
She frowned at him.
“We can talk about it later. I need to visit my sister. I promised her I’d check in on her, and I’m sure she’s going to want to go and check on our mother.”
“Are you sure that now is the time? With everything we’re dealing with—”
“Even with everything that’s going on, I still need to check on our mother. I can’t get so caught up in this conflict that I don’t help her.”
“I can go with you.”
“That’s not necessary.”
Sarah looked somewhat hurt, but she forced a smile.
Jason wished that he had been smarter and not declined the offer quite so quickly, but it really would be better for him and his sister to be the only ones going.
“Can I find you later?”
“I think you need to. If you have started to rescue dragons from Lorach, then we’re going to need to keep moving. Now that you can do it from that high above, we might be able to free them without anyone being aware of it.”
“Maybe, but I think the Dragon Souls have a way of fighting back.”
“With the Dragon Guard involved, we might have a way of overpowering them. Especially with you.”
Jason wasn’t sure if he’d be able to repeat what he’d just done very often. The attack he’d used on those dragons had been incredibly difficult, and he didn’t know if he would be able to withstand more of that.
It might take more than he had within him.
“Find me later?” Sarah asked, taking and squeezing his hand briefly.
Jason smiled, veering off and heading toward his sister’s room.
She wasn’t there. He wandered through the building looking for her, and it wasn’t until he was back outside that he came across her.
Rather, she came across him.
“Jason?”
He turned around and found Kayla hurrying up toward him. She had taken to Dragon Haven far more rapidly than he had ever expected she would. She was dressed in the green wool of this place, and it suited her. Her hair was a little shorter, and her skin far more tan than it had been. There was an energy about her that he had never seen before, and there was something else, something that he appreciated being able to see within his sister. Hope.
For as long as he had known Kayla, there had always been that edge to her. It was part of living in the mountains, the hardship they encountered on a regular basis. Ever since coming to Dragon Haven, there was something else. It was almost as if she felt a sense of usefulness, and that was something Jason understood.
“You came back so quickly,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning on being gone for very long,” he said.
“I thought you were studying.”
He forced a smile. “I’ve been working with the forest dragon.” Better to admit that to her than the others. She didn’t need to know about the dead jungle dragon or his attack on Lorach.
She looked up at the sky. Most people in Dragon Haven were aware of the fact that Jason was the one who now held the illusion around the city. They knew they were protected from any possible attack, and yet there was a limit to how well protected they could be. Even though Jason maintained the illusion, there was a possibility something might happen and they might lose it. He used every bit of knowledge he had to hold on to the illusion, and thought he could continue to do so, but there was a part of him that worried Therin might have given explicit instructions about how to find Dragon Haven. If that were the case, anyone might be able to find them. The city would be attacked. Dragons would be under threat. And there would be a limit
to how safe he could keep this place.
“Did you learn something more?”
“I learned the forest dragon is far more capable than me.”
Kayla turned her attention to him, frowning. She bit her lip as she did, and a dimple formed on one cheek. “I thought you knew she was more capable than you.”
“She is.”
“And I thought you were trying to learn from her.”
“I am.”
“Then why does it matter?”
He smiled at the practicality Kayla displayed. She was just like him, and with her experience within the village, she would have to be practical. It was the same way most people from his village were. They understood some things just happened to be the way they were, and there wasn’t anything that could be done differently about it.
“Why did you return so soon? I think most people were expecting you to be gone longer.”
Jason looked around. “What do you mean most people?”
“Well, the town is fully aware of how you’ve been going off and working with the dragons. I think most people hope it will allow you to return better equipped to protect them.”
Jason looked back toward the clearing. William was there, as were the three dragons. “I don’t need to protect them. They just need to make sure that the dragons are safe from any possible attack.”
“And they need you for that,” she said.
Was that where they had gotten to? Had it come to the point where he was now responsible for ensuring the safety of the Dragon Haven? He offered his protection, and he was offering the illusion, but he hadn’t expected to become the one responsible for the safety of everyone in the city.
Perhaps he had to be. After everything else, it was possible his connection to the dragons was such that he was the one who was most capable of guaranteeing the safety of everyone here. Most people here needed that security. They needed to know they were protected, and because of that, because of who he was and what he could do, that might be up to him. It shouldn’t befall him, but with his connection to the misfits, it seemed that it did. His father had taught him about responsibility—and this was now his.
“I think it’s time to get Mother,” he said.
“I know we need to, it’s just…”
“You’re the one telling me that we need to bring her here. With her staying in the village, especially as we aren’t there to check on her…”
“You’ve been visiting regularly.”
“I have.” How could he tell Kayla that what he experienced today made him question whether he would always be around? His sister could reach the village—there were other dragons who could get her there—but not as often, or as easily, as Jason did.
“I don’t know how she would tolerate it if she came around.”
“She has to be given the opportunity. If she stays there, something might happen to her.”
“What happens if she comes around and panics?”
“We have to keep it from her,” Jason said.
“How do you intend to do that?”
He sighed. There was a possibility he didn’t want to consider, but he thought it might be necessary. “I can place an illusion. I don’t know that it would be much different than what I’ve done around the city here.”
“It would be quite different. This isn’t just protecting Dragon Haven. This is an illusion to keep Mother from knowing where she is.” Kayla looked up at him, a deep frown on her face. “Is that what you want to do?”
“I don’t know that we have much of a choice.”
“And you came back for me because you think I’m needed.”
“You’ll have to help with this,” he said.
“How?”
“You know her best. I might have known her longer, but over the last year, you’ve been there with her while I have been off hunting.”
“You want me to continue to take care of her.”
Jason frowned, and he realized there was something that he had overlooked. Kayla had enjoyed the time away from their mother. She’d needed it. She’d been working with their mother for so long, and had been the one responsible for ensuring her safety, that not having that responsibility had helped her. Now Jason had come, and he was telling her she needed to be involved again.
“There are others here who can help. This doesn’t have to fall on your shoulders alone any longer.”
“She’s our mother,” Kayla said. Already the light in her eyes was starting to fade, and a certain resignation fell over her.
“I know that she’s our mother, and I’m saying we can find a way to offer her what she needs, but it doesn’t have to fall only on you.”
She looked over, watching him.
“But I would like you to come with me.”
“Back to the village?”
He nodded.
“I…”
Kayla had avoided it so far. It was part of the reason that Jason had only stopped and visited, making sure that their mother was fed, and then departed again. He’d gone in during the night, taking only a few moments to make it look like there were others still at home with her, and then ensured she had enough food. With access to what he had in Dragon Haven, she was eating far better than she ever had before.
She still hadn’t recovered much. Jason struggled with that. Before they’d left, before he’d experienced anything, he’d hoped she might begin to come around, and that somehow the healing of the ice dragon would make a difference for her, but she had not changed.
What if he would be able to heal her?
He certainly had attempted to do so. The ice dragon gave him healing power, but even as he’d tried, nothing had worked. The injury wasn’t physical, as far as he could tell. It was within her mind. Her soul. Losing her husband had been too much for her.
“I know you don’t want to visit,” he finally said, “but I also know we need to. And it might be the last time you go there.”
“I don’t know,” Kayla said.
“Do you intend to remain here?”
“You know I do,” she said softly, then let out a slow sigh. “I don’t want to go back, but sometimes I wonder if I won’t be able to stay here. I know you brought me here, and I know you want to offer me everything that you can, but I’m not like these people. I’m different.”
“Just like I’m different in the village.” Smaller than most. And now with a connection to the dragons, he had more that was unique about him.
“That’s not how I meant it.”
“You don’t have to feel bad. I understood how I was, and understood that I was different than everyone else. I never really minded.”
That wasn’t entirely true. There were times when he did mind, but there was nothing he could change about it. He was who he was, and in his time since leaving the village, he had come to embrace those differences. It was the same way the dragons had come to embrace their differences.
The more he understood that, the easier it was to understand what was going to be required of him, and to find some way of using that difference. It was that difference that had made him stronger.
“Dragon Haven isn’t meant to exclude,” he said.
“You don’t even know that. You haven’t spent much time here.”
“I haven’t, but I don’t need to spend much time here to know that.”
He had spent quite a bit of time around Sarah and Henry. Henry had been a Dragon Soul and the people of Dragon Haven still had welcomed him.
“Have you talked to William?”
“He’s always so busy with the dragons.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case.”
“How can you be sure?” She turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest, biting her lip. “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but how can you be sure about anything? You haven’t been here. You don’t know these people, not the way you think you do. And I know you might want to control everything, but I don’t know that you can.”
“It’s not that
I want to control everything,” he said.
He didn’t even know if he could. She was right about that, and as much as he understood what he was doing, what role he had, he knew there would have to be something more for him.
“Let me know if you are ready to go.”
“If you’re not giving me much choice, then how can I not be ready?”
“You don’t want to go even to visit?”
“I don’t know that I can see that place again. After what happened, seeing the way it was destroyed, I was already starting to move on.” She looked down at the ground, her fingers twisted in the fabric of her jacket. “It’s sort of like with Father. When he died, I moved on. We have to, you know. Otherwise, all we do is dwell in the past. Father wouldn’t have wanted us to do that. He wanted us to always look forward, never behind.”
Jason grunted. He remembered those lessons all too well. Their father had been pragmatic, much like most of the people within the village. It was what made him so successful. He understood that their life was hard, but it was their life. And he never would have wanted them to mourn him too long. He never would’ve wanted them to focus on his death, not the way that they had. He never would have wanted them to suffer.
Staying in the village was suffering. That wasn’t something their father would’ve wanted for them. Jason knew that they had to do something else.
“Whenever you’re ready, we can go.”
“I suppose. Are we going to take the iron dragon?”
“I think it would be best if we take the ice dragon.”
She nodded.
They headed away from the main part of town. “Don’t you want to let Sarah know you’re here?”
“She knows I’m here, but even if she didn’t, we aren’t going to be gone all that long.”
“What happens if we encounter an attack?”
“We won’t,” he said.
“What happens if we do?”
“Then I’ll deflect it.”
Storm Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 4) Page 7