There was something about this woman that troubled him.
Immediately, his guard went up. Here he thought Therin had been dangerous, but there was something about this woman that troubled him even more. At least with Therin, he had an understanding of the danger the other man posed, but with this woman, he wasn’t even sure if he would have noticed how threatening she appeared had she not smiled like that. It was predatory. Cold and calculating.
“You will tell me why you are here,” she said.
“I don’t have any reason for being here. I came for safety.”
“Safety. There is no safety within Lorach.”
With that, heat built from her and Jason tried to prepare himself, but it slammed through the bars of the cell, striking him in the chest, throwing him back. He tried to hold on to some sort of protection, using the energy of the ice and the iron dragons, but neither was able to absorb what she was doing. When her power slammed into him and exploded into his chest, he struck the back wall of the cell, nearly hitting his head on the wall.
He slumped to the ground.
She turned toward the bars, watching him. Heat built from her again, and Jason made no effort of trying to hide from her. He suspected doing so was a mistake. She was incredibly dangerous.
“I thought you might be better equipped than this,” she said.
“Equipped for what?”
She nodded to him. “I recognize the skin you wear.”
Jason hazarded a look down. He’d forgotten about the dragonskin. He’d been wearing it so long that it had become a part of him even though he really wasn’t a Dragon Soul—or an Auran. It was the dragonskin he’d taken off David. The other man had allowed him to claim it and hadn’t tried to take it back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Perhaps not. And yet, there you are, wearing the clothing of my brother.”
His heart hammered. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his entire body felt on edge. Energy worked through him, racing through his body as he tried to comprehend what she was telling him.
The clothing was David’s, but if it was also her brother’s…
They had the Lorach prince in their possession, and they had released him?
Something else was taking place within the city. It meant that it might be brother against sister, power against power. As he realized that, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps he might have been caught in the middle of something that he couldn’t fully comprehend.
“You know him.”
“I don’t know your brother.”
“And yet you wear his clothing.”
“I found it.”
“Found it. My brother would not be so casual with his clothing as that. It was gifted to him from our grandfather.”
“I found it,” he said again.
Once again, heat built from her, and when it slammed into him again, Jason braced for it, but the dragonskin seemed to absorb most of this attack. He took a deep breath, gathering himself, focusing on the woman in front of him, trying to figure out if there was anything he could do to protect himself, but he didn’t know if there was. She watched him, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“He won’t help you, you know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She smiled at him. “Perhaps not, but he won’t help you.”
Jason breathed out, looking around. With someone like this attacking him, he needed to find another way to get to safety, but how was he going to get out?
If David and his sister didn’t get along, there was the possibility he could get to David, but only if the man knew he was here.
Jessica built another burst of power, and when it struck him, Jason looked up, meeting her eyes. “You will stay here until you speak to me.”
“I don’t have anything I can tell you,” he said.
“Perhaps you think not, but I will ensure you share everything you know.”
With that, she turned and headed down the hall. With each step, there came a strange hissing sound, one he hadn’t noticed before. Now that he paid attention to it, he couldn’t hear anything else but that strange hissing. It was almost like steam, and it built from her, an unpleasant sound that radiated away from her.
Maybe it was nothing more than the way her cloak was swishing behind her, but Jason couldn’t help but think that it was tied to the power she used.
When he was certain she was gone, he got to his feet, looking around once more. He had to find some way out of here. If she and her brother were in some sort of disagreement, then he needed to figure out a way to freedom.
He didn’t think he could break through the bars, and he didn’t know if going from cell to cell would make a difference. What if William was here? The idea that his friend would be trapped here troubled him. If he was, Jason would have to find some way to get to him.
He focused on the stone nearest him, drawing on what he could of the iron and the ice dragons, mixing their power together, and when he did, he sent it out from him, exploding into the stone.
It didn’t do much.
When he had worked this way within Dragon Haven, he’d been able to break through the stone and get to freedom, but he couldn’t, not here.
Jason pulled on more power, focusing on what he could access of the ice and the iron dragons, letting their awareness flow through him. As it did, he sent another burst of power into the wall nearest him. There came a strange trickling sound. It was like water, and then it ended.
There was no change to the wall.
He could build as much power as he wanted, and he could continue to slam into the walls using the energy here, but each time that he did, he had to wonder if he was going to be strong enough to make any difference. He focused on pulling on that power, using as much as he could, and as he did, he didn’t find any way to break through the stone.
What about behind him?
He had no idea what was there, but it was one place that he hadn’t tried.
Jason focused his energy there, using it on the stone behind him, but there was no response. The entire cell seemed to have been built to prevent anyone with a connection to the dragons from escaping. Whatever they were using to do so was incredibly powerful, more than what he could overcome.
If he knew more about his abilities, maybe he could figure out some way around it, but he was operating on his connection to the dragons alone, not with any real knowledge.
Jason stared at the ground. Would there be any way to use it there?
As he focused on it, he pulled upon power, letting it flow through him until it slammed into the ground. Nothing changed.
He tried again, calling upon the sense of the iron and the ice dragons, letting that sense him, and as he did, it burst from him, striking the stone.
Still nothing changed.
Jason took a seat and lay back, resting his head, his eyes closing. He focused on the sense of the dragons, using their connection to him, trying to find some way to better understand what he could do and whether there was any way to reach for that power. He could feel it flowing through him, but there didn’t seem to be any way to use it to free himself.
He held on to that power, letting it roll through him, using it to draw enormous strength. If nothing else, he should be able to find a way to blast himself to freedom.
Jason called upon that power, letting it fill him.
It was there, just at the edge of his mind. Whatever they’d done that had separated him, that had tried to pull him from the dragons, hadn’t done so completely. He had too much of a connection to the dragons for them to fully separate him. He had to have some way to reach for that power.
As before, that sense of power remained just at the edge of his reaching. As much as he tried to grasp for it, as much as he wanted to pull upon it, he couldn’t draw it to him.
Jason focused on his breathing, then on his connection to the dragons. That was the key here. Perhaps what he needed was to use
that connection in a greater way than he had before.
Jason let that sense of the dragons continue to flow through him.
He opened his eyes, looking ahead of him. The ceiling was the only place he hadn’t tried, and he borrowed from the power of the ice and the iron dragons and sent it blasting overhead. When it struck, there was no effect.
Then again, Jason really hadn’t expected anything to change. How could it, especially when he had not been able to draw upon more power?
He was going to have to find some place deep within him, some greater connection inside him, and if he couldn’t, then he was going to be trapped here until Jessica returned. The idea of what she might do to him left him trembling in fear. The idea of what might happen were the invisible dragon to reach Lorach left him even more afraid.
14
Jason lost track of time. It was hard to know how long he’d been here. The only thing he could think about was that the invisible dragon was getting closer the longer he was here. When it reached the city, the dragons would be in danger.
Perhaps he should have said something to Jessica, revealing his knowledge of the invisible dragon, but after seeing her and the calculatingly dangerous way she’d looked at him, he wasn’t sure he wanted to share anything with her. There was something terrifying about her.
Jason closed his eyes. He’d been drifting on and off, and there had come dreams of dragons. That wasn’t unusual for him these days. Most of the time when he slept, he dreamed of dragons. Many times, it was the ice dragon, though the iron dragon and sometimes the forest dragon came to him in dreams as well. This time had been different. This time, he had dreamed of the invisible dragon.
The energy of the invisible dragon had been enormous. If there was some way to reach for that dragon and understand the nature of its connection, he couldn’t help but think that the power of the invisible dragon would be useful, but the challenge was in reaching the dragon in the first place.
He was like the other misfits. That was the key. All Jason needed was to hold on to that understanding. When he did, he was sure he would be able to find some way to draw upon the same kind of power.
What if he could connect to the invisible dragon like he had to the others?
And it wasn’t just a connection. It was understanding and being able to share that understanding. The dragons needed that. It was the key, but the real challenge was not just understanding the dragon, but trying to help the creature find a sense of peace and to calm the anger that boiled within it.
It was like a tempest, the anger that welled up within it, the sense that was so similar to what he’d experienced with the iron dragon. Yet unlike the iron dragon’s, this anger was unrelenting.
There had to be something he could uncover about it that would help him, but he needed more time. In order to get that time, he needed to be away from the cell and find the dragon.
Jason breathed in and out, steadying himself, thinking about what he could of the other dragons. He had been focusing so much on the iron and the ice dragons, on his connection to both them, but hadn’t spent any real time thinking about the forest dragon. Whatever had been placed over the city had separated him from his ability to use illusions. But then, it wasn’t separating him from his ability to use illusions entirely. He had been able to do so on himself.
What if he focused on that?
Jason thought about the forest dragon. He thought about the way she had changed him. The memory of it came to him, filling him, her face flowing into his mind, the way she had allowed him to touch her velvety side, and then something within him had altered. The green had worked up his arms and flowed within him, tracing through his veins.
If that sense of the dragon was there, he would have to have some way to connect to her and access her power.
She was within him.
It wasn’t just the forest dragon who flowed within him. There was the iron dragon that covered his hand. The iron dragon had given him a resistance to the heat he created. Was there any way for Jason to draw upon that power, to understand more about the iron dragon, and to draw that energy through him?
And what of the ice dragon?
That seemed to be just as consequential. Not only did he have a connection to the ice dragon, but there was an awareness that came with it. In using that awareness, Jason was able to better understand everything around him, to understand what the ice dragon was experiencing, and to share in that knowledge. That connection to the ice dragon had allowed him his bond to the other dragons.
It was that connection he had to call upon when he reached for the invisible dragon.
What did it mean to have the connection to the ice dragon? What did it mean to have a link to the iron dragon and the forest dragon? And what did it mean that he thought he could connect to the invisible dragon?
It was more than just his connection to the dragons. Energy filled him, and he let it roll through him. He started with the forest dragon, and as he did, he thought about the way the connection flowed within his veins, working its way through him, giving him the connection to her, the gift of her power and illusion. As he focused on it, he knew that power was within him. All he had to do was somehow reach for it.
He let the sense of her power wash through him. As it rolled through him, a sudden understanding came to him.
There had never been a separation. It had been an illusion, no different than anything else. He focused on it, letting that sense fill him, and it washed over him.
What about the iron dragon?
Jason called upon that sense, using the heat as it flowed through him and drawing upon the glove as the warmth rolled along his hand. The heat and power surged, working their way up his arm.
He could feel the warmth rolling through him. It seemed tied to the illusion, that of the forest dragon, and they worked together, drawing that strange glove up through him, the power of the iron dragon forced along his body.
That sense was almost too much, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
As he did, he tried to get control over the way the heat worked its way up his body, but it continued to flow over him, more than he could handle.
He tried to push back, forcing the iron dragon out of him, to keep the heat and the pain from flowing through him the way it was trying to do, but he couldn’t control it. It was building more and more, the intensity of it overwhelming. Jason cried out.
There was no response to his scream.
He cried out again, terrified of what was happening. All he could feel was the heat rolling through him. All he could feel was the pain of the iron dragon. It was almost as if there was something frenzied about it.
Did the iron dragon think he was somehow in danger?
If the iron dragon did, then he would have reacted. In doing so, he might have triggered something Jason didn’t have control over, and perhaps it was tied to holding on to this connection to the forest dragon.
He tried to tamp it down, but the sense of the iron dragon continued to build, rolling through him. It felt as if it were beating in time to his heart, pulsing. The pain pounded with more and more intensity.
Jason drew upon the ice dragon. It was the only thing he could think of. He strained for that connection, searching for a way to reach the ice dragon, searching for any way he might be able to save himself.
And that was what he needed. He needed to save himself, to find some way of ensuring his safety from whatever was happening to him, to heal himself from the power of the iron dragon. He didn’t know if there was anything more he was going to be able to do, and yet the sense of the ice dragon filled him.
It added to the heat. It added to the pain. It added to the overall intensity of everything that he was experiencing.
Jason cried out again.
He called to the iron dragon, wanting to push away that heat, wanting to tamp down the torment, but the sense of the iron dragon continued to flow through him, rolling with increasing intensity, and so too did that of the ice dr
agon.
The more that he felt it, the more certain he was it was tied to whatever the forest dragon was doing. It seemed as if she were trying to pull them together, twisting them. If that was linked to the forest dragon, then it was an illusion, like everything else she did.
Jason would have to find some way to fight it. If he could, then he could tamp it down. The sense of it was incredible, far more powerful than what he could withstand. He tried, but there was nothing he could do to make it stop.
He strained, struggling against what she was doing to him.
And then she overpowered him.
He trembled. His body shook.
The sense of the dragons washed through him, rolling over him, heat and ice and the strange sensation of the forest dragon all combining. Together, they were too much for him. Jason could do nothing more than just lie there and let that power overwhelm him. Despite everything he’d been through, this seemed to be the worst of it.
He whimpered. No longer was he able to cry out. No longer was he able to do anything other than feel that pain working through him, the way he suffered from the effect of the dragons. He had to find some way to stop what they were doing to him.
A thought came to him, piercing the pain, piercing the agony.
What if this wasn’t tied to the dragons at all? What if this was tied to something that Jessica was doing to him, some way that she had of tormenting him? She seemed like the kind to use her power over him to increase his agony, and since she had come to visit him that one time, she hadn’t returned.
He had the connection to the dragons. She couldn’t force that upon him. Whatever he was detecting, whatever sense he felt rolling through him, whatever the connection to the dragons causing that increase in torment, it was tied to him and not to her. He was determined to use his connection, to draw upon his power, and he knew he would be able to withstand what she was doing to him.
The challenge wasn’t avoiding that, but in understanding.
Whatever pain he experienced no longer throbbed with the same intensity as it had. Whatever they’d done to him was beginning to ease. Jason breathed out, letting that pain subside, no longer overwhelmed by the torment, and instead began to focus on everything else he experienced.
Storm Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 4) Page 17