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

“There are too many,” David said. “A dozen. Possibly more. It seems the dragons brought a regiment.”

  “How many is in a regiment?”

  “Two dozen.”

  “How many regiments are there?”

  “Many,” David said, staring into the distance. It might be Jason’s imagination, but it seemed almost as if David were disappointed by this turn of events.

  “They aren’t going to claim these dragons.”

  “There’s only so much that you can do against them,” David said. “I hadn’t expected them to bring such power out here.”

  “They would have if they knew there were other types of dragons.”

  “They didn’t know. There was a suspicion, but no one knew what might be out here. We came thinking that we might find something, not knowing we would.”

  Jason looked across, seeing the massive red dragon as it approached.

  A figure on the back caught his attention. There was something about it that was familiar.

  Therin.

  “Look,” he said, pointing.

  David leaned forward, and a strange sense radiated from him. “That is unfortunate. If Therin has decided to join this fight, there may be very little that you can do to prevent him from succeeding.” David looked at him. “Therin commands the largest regiment of Dragon Souls.”

  “How many are in his regiment?”

  “Many.”

  David leaned forward and closed his eyes. He began to mutter to himself, saying quiet words, but Jason couldn’t hear them. The wind whistling around them carried the words away, and yet, he had a sense of them.

  It was something of mourning.

  19

  Jason tapped David on the arm. “You need to come back around.”

  “I’m sorry, I really am. As much as I want to help, there isn’t anything that can be done.”

  Jason didn’t know whether David really wanted to help or not, but he did get the sense something bothered him.

  “You never really wanted to harm the dragons.”

  “I’ve never wanted to harm the dragons. I’ve wanted to understand them, to work with them, but they do need to be protected, much like we need to be protected.”

  The wind whistled around them, and it carried a strange scent on it. It was that of ash, but it was something else as well.

  Heat blasted them, one explosion after another, and with the way the iron dragon spun, they managed to avoid most of it, though Jason didn’t know if they were avoiding it or the iron dragon was absorbing it.

  The other two dragons that had joined them were twisting in the air, shooting flames from their mouths and roaring. The sound of it filled the air, that of explosions and dragon screams and thunder.

  All of it was a torrent of power, a torment of explosions. All of it was more than Jason could stomach.

  And all of it had come here because of him.

  He could have done nothing. He could have sat back, hiding on the mountain, staying with the ice dragon, and if he had, then Therin would never have known about any of the other dragons. He would’ve known about the ice dragon, but that was it. Jason could have brought the ice dragon to Dragon Haven, and… then what?

  The dragon wouldn’t have been happy in Dragon Haven. He might’ve been able to tolerate it, but it wasn’t his home.

  Much like anyplace else wasn’t home to the iron dragon. He deserved to go to Varmin, not anywhere else. And what about the forest dragon? What would happen to that one? He had no idea how many other misfit dragons there were, however many strange and powerful and wonderful dragons existed, but the ice dragon believed there were several more.

  What would take place if the Dragon Souls managed to acquire them?

  Jason knew what would happen. They would be controlled. They would be used.

  He focused on the dragon Therin rode. He called upon power, sending it through him, through the dragon. The ice dragon seemed to recognize what he was doing, and he added to it, sending strength flowing through Jason, and it spilled outward, exploding into the red dragon.

  It was getting closer. The twisting movements of the iron dragon were hard for Jason to follow, but it seemed almost as if the iron dragon recognized what he needed and understood where they needed to target. He focused on the red dragon, hurtling toward it. They were moving quickly, so quickly that Jason was struggling to track it all, and he focused power instead, letting it explode outward.

  The other dragon roared.

  Jason pushed with everything he could.

  There was a surge of power, and it came from high overhead. Like a blast of lightning, only this was ice, and it arced through the dragon pearl, through him, and directed out toward the red dragon.

  It slammed into the creature.

  There was a brief sense of resistance, but it faded quickly. It was almost as if any resistance left was blasted by the lightning. Or ice lightning, however the case may be.

  Jason sat for a moment, holding on to the iron dragon, feeling the intensity of the power the ice dragon had loaned him.

  The red dragon roared.

  Jason had done nothing.

  He had been trying to heal the dragon, but was there nothing to heal?

  “It didn’t work,” Jason said.

  The red dragon was coming closer, moving with incredible speed.

  “Let me help,” David said.

  “How can you help?”

  “I need dragon pearls.”

  Jason hesitated. He didn’t know if he could trust David, but David had been with him long enough that he had to trust him a little bit. If David betrayed him, what would it do other than lead to their failing that much sooner? With his help, there might be something that could be done, some way he could continue to overwhelm the dragons circling them, but…

  Jason reached into his pocket, pulling out the dragon pearls for the maroon and black dragons. He handed them over, and David stared at them for a moment before cupping them and holding his fists out. Somehow, David managed to stay seated atop the dragon as it spun.

  Power exploded from him.

  When it struck the red dragon, it seemed to slow it.

  “Work on it,” David urged.

  Jason focused his energy on the red dragon, holding on to the ice dragon pearl, sending power flowing through him and into it.

  He summoned power from the ice dragon overhead, knowing the ice dragon was there, knowing the dragon understood what he needed. The connection between them was strong. It had to be for the ice dragon to be able to help him in the way that it had.

  Once again, a bolt of ice lightning streaked toward him. It arced through the dragon pearl, flowing through it and then him, and slammed into the red dragon. This time, Jason paid attention to what was happening, and he tried to control the flow of the ice lightning, straining to guide the lightning. If he could manage to hold on to that control, he knew he could use it to help the dragon.

  That was what he wanted most of all. The dragon wasn’t his enemy. Therin was the problem, not the dragon. And in order to help, he was going to have to overwhelm the dragon. He was going to have to force the healing upon it. The dragon might not know it needed it, but it did. And Jason was determined to do everything in his power to help the dragon, to send what it needed, to find a way to heal it.

  The dragon roared. It was almost as if it understood.

  High overhead, there came a shriek.

  The ice dragon added his power.

  The flow of energy coming from overhead was enormous. When Jason had suggested the ice dragon go into the upper sky, he had known it was colder, but he hadn’t expected the ice dragon to be able to draw upon such power. He understood that being in the sky overhead would allow him to reach for energy he hadn’t been able to do otherwise. There was power. Now there was that which Jason couldn’t fully grasp.

  He unleashed it, letting it flow outward and into the red dragon.

  Next to him, David struggled. He held his hands out, but they
were trembling. Power flowed through him, though it was beginning to wane.

  Jason continued to push, sending more and more through the red dragon.

  The resistance was there, a barrier in the creature’s mind.

  As he recognized that, Jason understood what he needed to do.

  It wasn’t a matter of trying to heal, not quite the same way. What he needed to do was to separate that barrier.

  The iron dragon rolled, jerking slightly.

  Jason lost control. The ice lightning dissipated, streaking somewhere below him. Someone cried out, though it mingled with the other shrieks in the air.

  They rolled off to the side and David slumped forward.

  “He is too powerful,” David said.

  “I thought you were a powerful Auran.”

  “I have ability, but…” He shook his head, breathing heavily.

  They weren’t going to be able to keep fighting. The iron dragon rolled, and Jason tried to reorient himself, to position himself back on the dragon, but found it difficult. He was struggling with this, but then, the dragon was struggling as well. The longer they were here, the harder it was going to be for them to survive.

  Perhaps the better solution was to join the ice dragon, to run.

  Distantly, Jason was aware of the maroon and black dragon fighting alongside them. They had joined in the fray, and they were attacking the Dragon Souls, trying to tear them from the other dragons’ backs. It was a mixture of tails and fire and wings flapping. It was a violent dance in the sky.

  Jason hated it.

  Dragons shouldn’t be fighting other dragons.

  He breathed out.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, tapping the iron dragon on the side.

  “The fight is not over,” the iron dragon said.

  “We don’t have enough power.”

  “You have all that you need.”

  “I’ve been trying, but…”

  His attempt had not been enough. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t do what he needed in order to save the dragons. There was nothing he could do.

  Suddenly, another shriek split the sky. He looked over, dreading how many more dragons would come. David had warned him that Therin had many dragons at his disposal, that his regimen involved dozens of dragons, and they had only faced a small number so far.

  Even in that, they were surrounded. He worried about the ice dragon, wondering what was happening to him in the sky high overhead, but so far, the dragon remained aloft, as if untouched by what was coming.

  Would it stay that way? How much longer would they have before even the ice dragon failed?

  It was possible that from his position overhead, the ice dragon would be able to escape. He was able to fly higher—or so Jason thought—and hopefully could fly faster than the other dragons. If he were able to do that, then he should be able to get away.

  And perhaps that was what Jason should have asked of the dragon. He didn’t need the ice dragon to be caught up in this. He didn’t need the dragon to experience this torment. He needed the dragon to have safety.

  Another shriek came, and Jason looked around.

  A faint yellow shape was surging toward them. Near it was an orange shape. Green. Pale blue.

  The dragons from Dragon Haven.

  They still wouldn’t be enough.

  It was a mistake. He needed to call out, to warn Henry and Sarah and whoever else might be on those dragons, but how could he?

  He tried to turn the iron dragon, but he wasn’t able to. The iron dragon was rolling, the movement keeping him from harm, power surging through him. That movement allowed the iron dragon to somehow absorb each fiery blast that struck. Each one that hit the iron dragon was deflected, or absorbed, but it didn’t cause any pain or problems.

  Jason tried to call out, to alert the others, but his voice wouldn’t carry on the wind. He screamed out against it, but he couldn’t get his voice out there.

  He cried out again, shouting, but once more, his voice was lost.

  The only thing he could do was focus on Therin. Focus on his dragon. And if he could do so, then he might be able to find some way of slowing this.

  Even if he did, what would happen next?

  With his massive size, Jason had to believe the red dragon would be able to help.

  He breathed in, focusing on the dragon pearl. What he needed was power from the ice dragon, and he needed to call it down from overhead and let it flow through him.

  Once again, ice lightning burst, streaking toward the ground, and it exploded through him, through the dragon pearl, and outward. He focused it on the red dragon, and this time, he shoved it beneath the influence he felt within the red dragon. That sense was deep within the red dragon’s mind, and Jason was able to slide underneath, to force his way through it, and tear through the injury to the dragon.

  He focused the lightning. And as he did, he could feel that influence shearing away.

  The dragon roared, and Jason worried for a moment he’d done something that harmed it, but he could feel the necessity of what he was doing. He could tell tearing this influence away was going to help the dragon.

  And then the dragon roared again.

  Jason shoved, pushing with everything he could, separating the strange sensation from the dragon.

  When it tore free, the dragon screamed.

  Jason released his hold. The red dragon plummeted.

  Therin remained on his back, and he watched as the other man dropped to the ground.

  He tore his attention away, focusing on the nearest dragons. There were three near them, and he pushed power, drawing it from the ice dragon through its pearl and into the nearest dragons, tearing away the influence forced upon them. Now that he understood what it was and how to remove it, it wasn’t so much a healing as it was a separation. He was able to rip through it. When he did so, he realized that it wasn’t even ripping. He was burning through it, using the cold in order to seal it off.

  The dragons fell, one by one, and he no longer worried they wouldn’t catch themselves. He no longer worried about the Dragon Souls tossed free. He sat upright, perched on top of the iron dragon’s back, using everything in his power in order to send the dragons scattering. He worked through them, tearing one injury after another away.

  After going through a dozen dragons, the attack began to abate. He was tired. He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to fight. The power he was drawing through the ice dragon was enormous. How would he be able to continue to fight when it came down to it?

  Something shook the iron dragon.

  Jason diverted his attention, looking over, and he felt for the dragon.

  “What happened?”

  “I am fine,” the dragon said.

  “But what happened?”

  He didn’t get a chance to answer.

  Something else struck, and David was tossed free.

  Jason’s breath caught.

  “Drop!” he shouted.

  They plummeted.

  They streaked toward the ground, moving with increasing speed, and he gripped the dragon with his legs, afraid of letting go, but at the same time, David was ahead of them. Somehow they had to get to him. David wasn’t coming around, lying motionless in the air.

  “We need to go faster,” Jason said.

  The iron dragon roared. Heat radiated from his back. It undulated, washing from his neck all the way down.

  “You can use everything,” he said.

  The dragon roared again.

  His head began to glow, and the heat rolled down his neck.

  Jason was afraid of getting burned, but he didn’t care. He was going to stay there, gripping the dragon’s back, holding on until they reached David. When they neared, he tried to grab him but couldn’t.

  The iron dragon roared again.

  With another surge, they shot past David. Jason twisted, grabbing David, and they jerked him back onto the dragon’s back.

  The ground loomed in front of t
hem.

  Jason cried out, but the iron dragon stretched his wings out, and they caught the air. He batted at it, but they weren’t going to be fast enough. The ground continued to approach, and he braced himself.

  The dragon slammed down.

  Jason was tossed free, tearing David with him.

  He rolled over, looking off to the side, and worried about where they were, what they might encounter, and yet he found he couldn’t get up.

  His leg was twisted.

  He crawled, trying to get to David, but David wasn’t moving.

  He rolled off to the side, looking at the iron dragon, but even the iron dragon wasn’t moving. He seemed to be breathing, but that was about it.

  After all of that, they would fail here?

  20

  The dragon was breathing, so Jason focused on David first. David was lying motionless, so he crawled over, ignoring the pain that screamed through his body with every movement. Everything he did cried out, rebelling against him, and yet he needed to reach David, to see if there was anything he could do for him.

  He got up to him and rolled him over. David’s eyes were glazed, but when he checked the artery in his neck, working the way his mother had taught him, he found his pulse still beating. It was weak, but present.

  Jason tried to call upon the power of the ice dragon, but didn’t know if there was enough strength left in the dragon for him to do so. And at this point, it might be a mistake to try to keep drawing upon that power.

  He needed to be careful, but he also owed it to David—and the iron dragon—to heal them. Healing would require him to do the actual work. He didn’t know enough about that control, and didn’t know if he would even have the necessary power to do what needed to be done, and yet, he was determined to try.

  He gripped the ice dragon pearl, holding it tightly, and set it on David’s chest. He pushed outward with power.

  A surge of cold washed out from Jason into David. It was weaker than what he remembered, and he didn’t know if that came from the distance between him and the ice dragon or if it was a matter of weakness for the ice dragon. Either way, Jason was concerned about trying to use too much more strength. At this point, it might be better to refrain.