Mist Dragon, page 13
part #5 of Dragon Misfits Series
More than that, he started to wonder if that might be what Jessica had already begun doing. Jessica wanted to understand the dragons Therin had created as well. Having seen the power of the dragon misfits, he could easily imagine her trying to do everything in her power to re-create that. It would pose a danger to the dragons of Dragon Haven.
“What are you proposing?” Sarah asked.
“I think we need to keep hunting.” The dragons would approve. “Only, now we’re hunting for more than Lorach. We’re hunting for Lorren. And his dragons.”
She spun and looked at Jason. “We need to better understand all of this,” she said, “but I’m not convinced wasting our time on the dragon misfits and trying to better understand them is what’s going to help us stop Lorach. That’s what this is all about, after all.”
“I know that it is,” Jason said.
“Do you?” She leaned out, motioning toward the ravine below them. “Are you sure you know that, especially given what you’ve been detecting?”
“What I’ve detected are the dragons Lorren brought here,” he said.
“Exactly. The dragons Lorren brought here. That’s not the threat.”
“He is a threat,” Jason said softly. “Until we get him on our side.”
She shook her head. “He’s always fought Lorach, not work with them.”
“Even though he fights Lorach, he still opposes the dragons in a way,” Jason said. “He kills the Dragon Soul dragons. That’s his way of countering Lorach. And he wants to claim my—our —misfits. I would have thought you would understand.”
She sighed. “I do understand.” She looked across the distance—toward Lorach. “When I was captured, everything felt strange. I remember the way that Jessica held me, the fear I felt.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “They’ve wanted to capture my parents and me for years. That it would be my fault she finally succeeded made me angry.” She opened her eyes, looking over at Jason. “How would we even start tracking him?”
“Follow his misfits,” Jason said. “Track earth. Mist.” Maybe even smoke, but there had been no sign of that.
Sarah glanced over at William, who said nothing. He simply stared down into the valley toward the river rushing beneath them.
“I can feel something,” William whispered.
Jason stepped over to him and followed the direction of his gaze. “What can you feel?”
William didn’t have a connection to the dragons, and other than his training, Jason doubted William would be able to feel anything the way that he could. Probably not even the way Sarah could. William did claim to be lucky, though. Perhaps that was all this was. Luck.
“I don’t know. It’s just that I can feel something.”
Jason stared for a little bit longer, his thoughts pulled by the memory of the egg in the water, the misfit he hadn’t been able to find. That dragon was still out there. The river dragon. Somehow, he was going to have to find the dragon before Jessica and before Lorren, especially if Lorren intended to claim the dragons.
Finally he turned away. “Come on. It’s time for us to see if our dragons can find his. We’ve got to get this over with before Lorach decides to attack. Because that’s coming next.”
Prior to Lorren coming to Dragon Haven, Jason would have thought that the only thing he needed to do was to head to Lorach, rescue the dragons, and defeat Jessica. Now that he knew of Lorren and the role he had in training Therin, he no longer knew if that was enough. He no longer knew if anything was enough. All Jason understood was the answers he thought he had were far more complicated than he had ever known.
Why shouldn’t it be the case, though?
His own personal history was more complicated than he ever would have known. Because of his parents, he had ended up in the northern mountains, but because of their departure from Lorach, Jason had been the one to connect to the ice dragon and had managed to save him along with the iron dragon.
Were it not for him, who knows what would’ve happened to the misfits?
He turned to Sarah when a flash of an image came to him, drifting through his connection from the ice dragon. It was a familiar mountainside village, a place where Jason had visited before, but not a place that he had expected the ice dragon to show him.
When a strangely flowing mist drifted through it, he realized why.
“I know where Lorren has gone. I know where we need to go.”
“What if we can’t get there in time?” Sarah asked.
“That’s not an option.”
12
T he dragons guided them to the north. Jason looked over to the others with him. Sarah was well-equipped with her control over the dragon pearls and had enough magic access within those that she would be safe, but William might not be safe, especially if Lorren decided to use his power against them. He had no idea whether or not he would, only that Jason feared he might.
They landed above the city, and he looked down on the city itself. On their journey here, he hadn’t seen the mist, which suggested that Lorren had either hidden, or he had already accomplished what he had intended.
The city of Varmin stretched out along the mountainside. It was not a large city, though compared to the village where Jason had grown up, it was enormous. Wooden homes were spaced neatly along the street, almost orderly, as if someone had designed the city intentionally. Several buildings were more substantial, including an inn near the center of the city. An energy existed around the city itself, as if there was some residual power from long ago. It took Jason a moment to realize why he detected that.
“Why would Lorren be here?” Sarah asked.
Jason didn’t know. The ice dragon had detected something unusual, a swirl of mist, and had alerted him. Why Varmin, though?
“This is where I found the iron dragon.”
“Is he trying to recreate what Therin did with your dragons?” William asked.
“They’re not my dragons,” Jason said.
William chuckled. “They’re something. Do you see any of his misfits?”
“Not misfits,” Jason started. There was an energy here that felt familiar, but the question remained: Why Varmin? “I think there’s a Dragon Soul here,” he whispered to Sarah as they walked toward the city.
He was dressed in his dragonskin, though he had removed the marking for an Auran now that he understood what it meant. Somebody who understood the cut and style might know it didn’t belong to him, and might even know who it originally belonged to. It was the reason he had a cloak that covered his shoulders: to conceal the dragonskin. Outside of Varmin, a cloak like that wouldn’t have been very comfortable. In Dragon Haven, the cloak was almost too warm.
Sarah wore a similar cloak, though hers had a pale white fur running around the hood. Her dragonskin was a different style, cut as if to fit her exactly, molding to her body. He had to avert his gaze when he found himself watching too long.
William was dressed more simply. He had taken a dragonskin—there were plenty of dragonskins in Dragon Haven, all of it stolen from Dragon Souls defeated over the years and stored to keep others from using it. The dragons didn’t seem to mind when they used it. Jason found that interesting, as though the dragons were less concerned about someone taking their skin than they were about someone who didn’t deserve power taking it.
“I feel the energy of a dragon pearl here,” he said. “But no mist dragon.” Whatever the ice dragon had seen was gone.
Sarah looked over at him. “You can feel a dragon pearl?”
Jason nodded. “It’s somewhere down there,” he said, focusing on Varmin. They had approached from the north, landing the dragons and leaving them situated on the mountainside above the city. At least there, they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone stumbling upon them. There weren’t many people who traveled up the mountain, and those who did would see nothing, thanks to the illusion Jason had placed around the dragons. Only massive trees.
“I don’t feel it,” she said. She clutched one of her dragon pearls, squeezing it as she stared into the distance. “Are you sure about it?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m not really sure about anything.” He wouldn’t have expected a Dragon Soul to have been within Varmin. They were too far from Lorach, too isolated for the people of Lorach to spend any time here. “Maybe there is nothing more than a pearl here.”
“Unless they sent somebody here to investigate the iron dragon,” William said. “She will know that he came from here.”
He thought he was right. Jessica likely would have known. Not only had Therin known about the iron dragon, but David had come through here, heading back to Lorach, and it was entirely possible that he would have reported to his family. If only he’d had an opportunity to work more with David and understand what he might have done or said, but unfortunately, he’d been lost before Jason had that chance.
“That might be why Lorren came,” Sarah said softly.
Jason looked over to her and thought he understood.
It meant dragons were in danger. Not his—not yet—but Dragon Soul dragons.
If Lorren intended to attack…
William was otherwise quiet, staring down into the city. “This place reminds me of home,” he whispered. He looked over at Jason. “It’s strange. Ever since leaving my home, I haven’t been anywhere but Dragon Haven.”
“You could return,” Jason said.
William shook his head. “I don’t really want to. I lost my parents when I was fourteen. Have been on my own since then. When you came across me, I guess… I guess I got lucky.” He chuckled. “Didn’t I tell you that I was always lucky?”
“I’m not so sure it was luck.”
“It was better that I come with you than stay behind and face the same suffering.”
“How did you lose your parents?” Sarah asked.
Jason hadn’t given much thought to the reason William had been living alone, but he should have. He had been so caught up in himself, in what happened with his sister and his mother, along with what happened to his village, that he hadn’t paid any attention to his friend. He had been selfish.
“They were killed in a fire. Much of the village burned, at least along the outer edge of the village, where our home was located. There was a drought that year,” he explained, his voice dropping off, “and everything was brittle. Dry. It didn’t take long before the fire spread to the forest.”
Jason thought about what he remembered about William’s village. Not much. At the time, he’d been so focused on trying to survive—and returned to his own village—that he hadn’t given it much thought. He could have returned. With his connection to the dragons, it wouldn’t be that difficult to do so. It was a place he had considered bringing his sister and mother, though ultimately had not. They were safer in Dragon Haven. At least, they had been. Now that Lorren was proving he had an interest in Dragon Haven, Jason didn’t know if that safety would persist.
“I’m sorry,” Jason said.
William glanced at him. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask about them before.”
William watched him for a moment before nodding slowly.
Jason turned his focus back to Varmin. He couldn’t shake the feeling of pressure, that of an energy that came from down in the town. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was right, and he detected a Dragon Soul. If that were the case, then there should be an awareness of a dragon, though he didn’t feel that.
Sarah took his hand, and he glanced over at her.
Jason guided them into Varmin. He held onto his connection to the iron dragon, though he could feel the ice dragon circling overhead. As they had traveled to Varmin, the ice dragon had guided them toward the mist, but that image had faded the closer they got to Varmin. Having the ice dragon with them in this land was an advantage. Having his connection to the cold, to his home, was a benefit.
Varmin was a trading city. It was situated at the upper edges of what most considered habitable lands. Jason’s village was one of the few that existed above Varmin, though there were small clusters of homes along the mountainside, mostly those who had lived there for generations. Within the city, dozens of different merchants catered to traders. Some for furs, some tanners, some blacksmiths, all of them active with their business.
Jason pulled his cloak tight around him, looking everywhere as he headed deeper into the city. He strained toward what he could detect of the Dragon Soul, trying to follow the energy. He needed to find it, counter it, and be prepared for the possibility that they would be attacked. He could feel it calling to him.
“It’s so quiet,” William said.
“It’s late enough that there won’t be too many people out,” Jason said, looking around. The streets were empty, which was not uncommon in the evenings.
“In my home, there are more people out at night. They like to hit the taverns, and dance and drink and—”
“Gamble?” Jason asked, smiling.
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
“Only when you lose,” Jason said.
Sarah shot them both a dark look. “Can we focus? I don’t like this.”
“There’s a Dragon Soul somewhere,” Jason said. “We should find them before Lorren.” He could free the dragon, and then they could try to reason with him.
“Which is why I don’t like it. You have already said you feel a Dragon Soul, which makes me concerned about why you feel that and what it might mean. You spent time here before. Where do you think they might be hiding?”
“I haven’t been to Varmin that often. When my father was still alive, we came here a few times, though not so often for me to know the city. Others within my village spent much more time here.” Jason looked around. He paused at one of the street corners, smelling a bakery nearby. He was well fed within Dragon Haven, though there was still something to be said about the food from his home. It was familiar. Nearby was a butcher, and the aroma of smoked meats permeated the air, mixing with that of the bakery, a distinctly pleasing combination. “I don’t know where they would be. As far as I know, no one in Varmin has a connection to Lorach.”
“It wouldn’t take much,” William said. When Jason looked over at him, William shrugged. “If this place is anything like my home, all it takes is a little bit of coin. That’s not so common that anyone could turn it down.”
Jason thought he was right. He turned in place, sweeping his gaze around him. The city had a certain normalcy to it, even though there wasn’t anyone out in the evening. It made him feel as if he had missed out on what William had experienced his entire life.
Sarah had not had it, either. Her childhood had been as strange as his. In that regard, maybe she was as much of a misfit as he was.
Not that Sarah would view herself in such a way. She saw herself as strong and powerful—which she was. Still, she had gone through something entirely different than most to stay safe, along with keeping the dragons safe.
While trying to feel for the energy of the Dragon Soul, he glanced over at her. There might be a dragon here, as well. He closed his eyes a moment, trying to focus on that power and noticed a distant awareness of it out there. “Did you ever wish for something different?”
William watched them, frowning.
“What different would I have hoped for?” Sarah asked him.
“I don’t know. Something different. Not Dragon Haven.”
Sarah glanced toward the sky, and then looked off into the distance. “There was a time when I wanted to go to Lorach.”
William’s eyes widened slightly. “You did?”
She nodded slowly, staring off in the distance. “When I was younger. I wanted to better understand the power I possess. I thought I could learn it better within Lorach. My parents told stories of the Dragon Souls and the way they controlled their power, which left me thinking that perhaps I needed to do the same.”
“I didn’t know that,” Jason said.
“It wasn’t until Henry came and started to work with me that I began to accept I wasn’t going to. By then, I had started to bond with some of the other dragons and recognize that perhaps it was best that I didn’t.”
“Would you really have gone to Lorach?” William asked.
Sarah didn’t say anything for a moment before finally shaking her head. “I tried once,” she said softly. “My parents called for the Dragon Guard, and they came after me.”
“Why would you have done that?” William asked.
She looked over at him. “You can’t understand what it was like. We were a part of the rebellion my entire life. That’s all I ever knew. There was a time when I wanted something more.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head softly. “I couldn’t help it. I wanted normalcy.”
Jason took her hand. “I understand.”
She opened her eyes and looked over at him. “I know that you do. That’s why it was so frustrating to me when you refused to help us initially. I wanted you to recognize that you weren’t the only one who had gone through such strangeness.”
“I was concerned about my family,” he said.
She squeezed his hand. “That’s the only reason I forgave you.”
“Even though you didn’t get to go to Lorach when you were younger, you did as you got older,” Jason said, smiling.
She laughed softly. “Perhaps not quite the way that I intended.”
“If you would have gone then, you might have ended up as a Dragon Soul,” William said.
Sarah nodded. “It’s possible. I like to think that I had known enough about Dragon Haven that I wouldn’t have, but…” She offered a sad smile. “We should keep moving.”
They continued into the city, and Jason focused on the energy of the dragon pearl to guide him. By following that, he hoped he could get closer and perhaps find the Dragon Soul. They wound through the city, but even as they went, the strange energy didn’t change at all. After a while, he paused, looking back up the mountainside, and he probed the city using his connection to the dragons.
“I don’t feel anything else,” he said.
“What do you think you should feel?”
