Ice Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 1) Read online

  10

  Jason sat up. Wind howled around him, tearing at his clothing. The fire was gone, and there was no sign of Therin.

  Had the other man left him?

  How had he managed to sleep for as long as he had? In a place like this, without any sign of warmth, he would have easily succumbed to the cold. The fire was the only reason he was able to survive, and if Therin had taken the dragon pearl and disappeared, Jason wasn’t sure he would be able to withstand the temperatures.

  He got to his feet. Everything about him was cold and stiff, and he stretched, trying to work the pain out of his joints, but it was difficult to do. He’d been motionless for so long. Daylight had long ago come, and though he couldn’t see the sun as it hid behind the clouds, he could feel the shifting temperature. The wind made it cold, but if it weren’t for the wind, it would be comfortable.

  He turned in place, looking all around. There was no sign of Therin. Looking for his footprints was an exercise in futility. The other man didn’t leave any marks. Even now, Jason was unable to identify any sign of the other man.

  He was alone.

  He glanced at the slope of the mountain. He wasn’t going to be able to make it back to the village on his own, and he couldn’t do so without the necessary supplies, and so Therin’s plan to continue working his way down the side of the mountain until he reached one of the smaller villages was the safest bet.

  Jason had never traveled that far. The farthest he’d gone was to some of the villages on the backside of the mountain, but never down to the base. It was too dangerous.

  He took a deep breath. He had no other choice.

  Jason started through the snow. At least he had his bow and arrows, and he had the dragon pearl, for all the good it would do him. He checked for what else he had, realizing the strange rock he’d found must have slipped out of his pocket while he’d slept.

  A rumbling sounded behind him and he glanced back up. He couldn’t shake the feeling the rumbling represented an avalanche, but the more he listened, the less it seemed that it was. If it was an avalanche, there should have been some sign of snow pressing down, and yet nothing about the upper slopes changed.

  That troubled him. Maybe it was nothing more than the beginning of an avalanche, or perhaps the snow shifting in a section of the mountain he wasn’t able to see, but he couldn’t help but feel as if there was something more to it. If somehow he was in danger, he didn’t want to get caught out here in the snow alone. There was nothing with which he could protect himself. He needed shelter of some sort.

  Worse, he couldn’t help but fear that Dragon Souls might be out here as well.

  If there were Dragon Souls, he needed to stay ahead of them.

  Jason picked up his pace, hurrying through the snow. Every so often, he would drop to his backside and try to slide, but the snow had shifted overnight, making it more difficult. He found he got caught on sharp edges, and it was painful. What he needed was to keep moving.

  He turned when he heard another rumbling.

  He stared, looking out at the blank expanse of white, watching as wisps of snow lifted off the surface of the mountain. Every so often, he thought he caught a glimmer of movement, but it turned out to be nothing more than the snow.

  As he started to turn away, something else caught his attention.

  A dark figure.

  At first, Jason thought it might be Therin, and he considered waving his hand, drawing attention to himself, but as he stared, he wasn’t sure if it was Therin.

  The man wouldn’t have been coming from that direction, would he?

  As he stared, he realized that it wasn’t just one figure. There were three.

  The Dragon Souls.

  Jason moved more quickly. He had to run, wanting to stay ahead of the Dragon Souls, wanting to do anything but get caught by them, and as he staggered through the snow, trying to take step after step, trying to keep ahead, he couldn’t help but feel as if they were catching him.

  He hazarded a glance behind him, but the wind was picking up fast and strong enough that he wasn’t able to see anything other than the gusting of snow as it lifted off the surface. It whipped around him, concealing everything in a white haze.

  At least he hoped that it would conceal him, too. With his bearskin clothing, he would blend into the blizzard, but for how long?

  He had no idea what the Dragon Souls might be able to find. It was possible they had an enhanced version of his eyesight, a way of seeing through the cold and seeing movement as heat signatures. If so, he wasn’t going to be hidden nearly as well as he hoped.

  Which meant that he had to move quickly. If he could get down to the village, he could blend in.

  He didn’t know anything or anyone in the village, and heading there without money meant he was going to go in depending on kindness. That wasn’t something he thought he should be risking.

  There was no other choice, though.

  Standing frozen for a moment, he got another glimpse of the figures. They were moving quickly—as easily as Therin had moved across the snow, gliding along the surface of it.

  Therin had been trying to help him understand, trying to show him he could use the dragon pearl and the power within it, but he hadn’t been able to connect to it.

  He reached into his pocket, squeezing the stone. It was warm, and with the cold being what it was, Jason was thankful for that, but he needed more than just warmth. He needed the power the stone promised, and he wasn’t even sure if there was a way for him to reach it.

  Connect to it. That was what Therin had said.

  He had no idea what it was going to take to connect to that power. Even if he could, he wasn’t sure that he would know what to do once he did.

  Maybe that was not necessary. Maybe he didn’t need to know how to use the connection, but only needed to hold on to that power, to draw it out of the pearl and through himself.

  As he hurried along the snow, he tried to think about what he wanted from it. He tried to think about how that stone would feel, the warmth that it had, and tried to draw it through him.

  Nothing happened.

  Of course nothing would happen, as Jason didn’t have any of that magic within him. He wasn’t a sorcerer, and he certainly didn’t have the necessary power to control a dragon pearl the same way these others did. All he could do was try to keep moving, to stay ahead of them, and live.

  That was it, wasn’t it? They already thought him a slave. That was what Therin had said. What would happen if he were captured?

  He had to push those thoughts out of his head.

  He needed to survive. His sister and mother needed him to survive and return to the village.

  Dropping to his bottom, he tried to slide along the surface of the snow. If he couldn’t walk above it the same way as a Dragon Soul, maybe he could slide in a way they couldn’t.

  Come on, dragon pearl.

  The stupid thing didn’t work for him, and it was foolish to even think that it might. He thought about throwing it, but he enjoyed the warmth. He enjoyed the way it seeped into his glove, working along his arm, up into his chest, rolling down through his belly and into his legs. That warmth flowed into him.

  It felt almost like he were sitting in front of the fire.

  He continued to pull on that power, letting it flow, and realized he was sliding down the mountainside much faster than he had been able to do before.

  Two kinds of magic…

  It didn’t matter. Not if it worked.

  Jason was thankful he managed to hit a section of the mountain that no longer provided resistance. He ignored the snow working up his coat, getting onto his back, freezing him, and he ignored the way it occasionally crawled down his boots, seeping into his stockings and his feet. He ignored the way it sprayed up along his face. All of that was painful, unpleasant, and he tried not to think of it.

  The longer he slid, the faster he went. He was tempted to dig in his heels and slow himself the way he’d done whe
n he’d been traveling with Therin, but if he were to do that, he ran the risk of the Dragon Souls catching him. At least this way, he had to think he was staying ahead of them. He was moving quickly, and much more rapidly than he was able to do when walking.

  Suddenly, he hit a lump in the snow and went flying.

  When he landed, his bow next to him, his breath was knocked free of him and he bit back a cry. Jason hurriedly grabbed his bow as the wind whistled around him, spinning him… and he went headfirst down the mountainside.

  Jason tried to grab for the snow, to spin himself around, but he had no control. Now he was facing the wrong direction, and he did drag his heels, trying to grip the snow, but as his boot started to come free, he resisted the urge to even do that. He didn’t want to lose one of his boots. Men had lost feet because they had lost their boots, and Jason was not about to freeze his foot off because of this slide.

  How had he ended up like this?

  He tried to spin around while he was sliding, and he managed to get up, with the wind whistling around him. An occasional tree cropped up, and it was the first time that he’d even seen a tree growing like this. It had long needles, and as he passed beneath one, it whipped his face, poking at his cheeks, and he jerked his head back. He almost slammed into the snow but managed to lift his head at the last minute.

  He got back up and kicked his legs around.

  He was still sliding, moving quickly, with no control over it. It was almost as if the snow had caught him in an avalanche, dragging him with it. As he looked around, he realized that was exactly what had happened. He was tumbling down, pushed down by the snow behind him, forced with increasing speed. If he were to stop, he would run the risk of getting caught in the avalanche, covered by it, and would have to find some way of digging his way out. He had heard of people caught in avalanches who had not survived. It was better to let it carry him down as far as it would and stay ahead of it.

  More trees began to crop up and Jason had to kick himself off to the side, trying to steer himself. It was increasingly difficult to avoid striking them, and yet, he didn’t dare try to slow himself. He was sliding with increasing speed, the avalanche pushing him down. He found it strangely exhilarating.

  Were it not for the terror rolling through him at the idea of one of the Dragon Souls catching him, he might be excited by the ride. As it was, he was afraid he would not be able to stay ahead of the Dragon Souls and survive the avalanche.

  Snow continued to push him, faster and faster as it went, and Jason looked around for some way to slow himself if it were necessary.

  Maybe he could grab one of the branches and pull himself up.

  Doing so would be painful. It would jerk on his arms, and it might be too much to withstand. He would have to slow himself first. Yet slowing himself ran the risk of the avalanche consuming him.

  What he needed to find was a particularly tall tree he could climb—and do so quickly. He had considerable experience climbing mountains and working his way up icy slopes, but none climbing a tree.

  As he surveyed the nearby trees, the choice was made for him.

  His arms caught a low-hanging branch.

  Jason dug his heels, trying to slow himself, and wrapped around the branch. Snow pushed on his back, its weight heavy against his coat, and he pulled, trying to climb, working his way up the side of the tree. Finally, he made it onto the branch.

  The snow continued to push down on him, and he scrambled up the tree, squeezing through branches, avoiding the needles as they tore at him.

  The snow pushed on him and he slammed into the trunk.

  At least he had something that he could hold on to.

  The snow piled up against him, heavy and forceful. It was painful, but it no longer forced him down the slope. Now he was pinned against the trunk, trapped in place.

  All he could do was wait.

  It seemed that the snow continued to push for a long time. He lost track of how long he was there, clinging to the trunk, his arms wrapped around it, ignoring the pain as it slammed into him over and over again. The weight was enormous, far more than he’d ever experienced before.

  And then the rumbling ceased.

  Jason moved an arm.

  He freed some of the snow, holding his breath. He freed more and started to climb, digging his way upward. As he went, slowly climbing, he finally found a space near the top of the tree.

  How much snow had collapsed?

  It was a wonder the tree hadn’t fallen over under the weight of it.

  Getting his hand free, he looked up, and sucked in a breath of air. He checked his bow, thankful it was still with him—and somehow undamaged.

  Strangely, from atop the tree, the sky seemed blue. Clouds rolled in the sky and the sun shone. It had been days since he had seen the sun. Most of the time at the top of the mountain, the sky was a hazy, cloudy mess. There was always the threat of snow, always the threat of another storm, and yet, that haziness protected them.

  Jason didn’t know the last time he’d seen a blue sky like this. It certainly had not been for quite a while.

  He took a deep breath of the crisp air and shifted up the trunk of the tree a little bit higher, trying to get a better vantage. When he did, he turned his attention up the slope, worried he might find movement, anything that might signify the Dragon Souls were there, but there was nothing.

  Letting out a relieved sigh, he started to turn, looking down the slope. There were other trees, and it was strange to see a forest of trees all around him. He’d never experienced anything like that. Finding branches was rare enough, and they were prized. It was part of the reason he valued his bow and arrows as much as he did. If he were to lose even one of the arrows, replacing it would be difficult. It had taken considerable effort on his father’s part in order to have the equipment he needed. Few in the village ever burned wood, preferring dung. The only time wood was burned was during the festival, a way of taunting the dragonriders. Or those who had too much money, those who ran the mines and were willing to pay.

  Jason breathed in and turned his attention downslope.

  As he did, his breath caught.

  There was a town.

  11

  Therin had mentioned a village at the base of the mountain, but this wasn’t a village at all. This was an actual town, and it sprawled outward, filling the entirety of the base. Jason had no idea how long it would take to climb back up the side of the mountain, but it certainly was going to take long enough that it wouldn’t be easy. Without any money, he had no way to secure the necessary supplies. Therin was supposed to have helped him, and without him, how was Jason going to gather what he needed?

  Perhaps he could barter with some of the people in the village.

  Then again, what did he have to barter with?

  The answer was in his hand. He still gripped the dragon pearl, and had managed to hang on to it during the descent. Even better, he held on to it while the snow was crashing into him. Maybe it had kept him warm during the fall. It had to have some value. Especially if it was valuable to the Dragon Souls.

  He didn’t have any idea who he could go to for trade with the pearl, but he would have to find somebody. That was going to be his first order of business, and from there, he could look for other supplies. He might need additional clothing, and he certainly would need something to light a fire along the slope. Perhaps some food, though he might be able to hunt on his way up. Given that he was so far down the side of the mountain, it was more likely he would encounter other creatures. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have to worry about meat quite as much.

  The first thing to do was to get down there and find out what he could about the village, and whether there was anyone there who might be able to help him.

  Jason continued his descent and dropped down to his bottom, sliding once again. He didn’t move at nearly the same speed as he had before, but once he was free of this tree, he managed to steer away from the other trees, and then into an open
ing.

  The snow was harder packed here, easier to navigate. He got to his feet, shaking some of the snow out of his coat, taking off his gloves and dumping them out, and looked around.

  There was evidence of movement past here. Footsteps—dozens of them—indicated others had traveled in this direction. Could it be that they didn’t have nearly as much snowfall as they did up the side of the mountain?

  The wind wasn’t quite as bad, either. No longer did it howl as it had, almost as if they were in a protected section.

  He made his way toward the town. Jason paused every so often, looking for any sign of movement, searching to see whether there was anyone else around him. The Dragon Souls weren’t here, but that didn’t mean anyone else might not be. It was possible others were here, and if they were, he wanted to be careful about approaching them. He was certain he would be dressed differently—possibly even strangely, compared to them.

  When he reached the outer edge of the village, he paused. The homes were small, cozy, and not snow-covered the same way his village was. The snow was hard packed around the town and, in some sections, even cleared completely, revealing dirt.

  Jason stared at that, shocked by it.

  They didn’t dare have the earth exposed in the village. If it were, it would be easier for the dragons to see them. The whole point of having the snowpack was to conceal them from the dragons, to avoid another attack. In this part of the mountain, dragon attacks must not have been nearly as frequent.

  Unless they didn’t fear dragons at all.

  What if these people were servants of the Dragon Souls and of the king Therin had mentioned?

  They were still quite a ways from Lorach, far enough away that Jason had to think it would be unusual to encounter anyone from that kingdom.

  As he looked around, he realized they were in a small valley, and the valley itself might protect them from the dragons. They would have more notice of their coming. Maybe they had weapons set up the same way his village did, anchored around the entirety of the village, the same as his people did.