“Family?”
Jason took a seat in front of the dragon, meeting his eyes. “Family. I have a mother and had a father. They had me. My sister. Eventually I will find a wife and we will have children.” Tessa would once have been an option for him, though he wondered if she could be now.
Family, then village. Care for family first, but don’t neglect your duty to your people.
“I don’t know who bore my egg. I don’t know anything other than the fact that there are dragons I share a connection with. Hatch mates.”
Maybe they were the same as siblings. And if they were, shouldn’t the dragon want to help them the same way that Jason would want to help his sister?
Family, then village.
Would the dragon be part of his village?
“I can help you look for them.”
“Why would you do this thing?”
“Because you need my help. I understand these lands, and more than that, if the hatch mates have ended up somewhere only a human could reach, you will need me.”
The dragon let out a low rumble, and Jason wasn’t sure if he’d angered the creature or not, but then the dragon sat up and started toward the entrance to the cave. “We will go.”
Jason shook his head. “I can’t go just yet.”
“I thought you said you would do this.”
“I will, but first I need to bring some food to my family.”
The dragon crawled toward the stream, dropping into it, saying nothing else.
Jason had a sense that the creature was annoyed, perhaps disappointed. Why would that be? He had offered to help, so there should be no reason for the dragon to be upset with him.
But then, he was leaving.
He looked at the deer, studying it for a moment. If he brought an entire deer back home, there was a danger that someone would steal from them again.
If he was going to go away for a little while, he didn’t want to risk that.
Which meant he couldn’t bring the deer.
After cutting off a large section of meat, he wrapped it in its hide, deciding to leave the rest here.
Jason glanced down at his frozen bow, hefting it and discovering that it was restored. He wiped the surface and restrung it, finding that it flexed just as it had before. It was strange that the ice would hold, that it wouldn’t break as the bow was drawn, and yet it seemed to still function.
At least he wouldn’t be unarmed.
He made his way out of the cave.
The day had grown long, the wind and snow had begun, and it would be a long walk back to the village. He glanced back toward the cave mouth, wishing the dragon could bring him back home, but if he did, he would draw attention, and the people in the village might think to attack. It would be better if Jason went alone, even though he would rather have the dragon with him.
He trudged up the slope, and in doing so, he focused on the dragon pearl, the power within it, wishing he had some way to move more quickly. After a while, he found he was gliding along the surface of the snow faster than he had before, and by the time he neared the village, he was barely making any footprints.
It was similar to how Therin and Henry had walked, and yet they had far more control over their connection to the dragon pearls than Jason did. In time, and if he had an opportunity to continue to work with the dragon pearl, he hoped he would understand the nature of the power he could draw through it, but for now, all he had was the ability to generate some magic.
He reached the outskirts of the village. In the distance, he thought he caught sight of Reltash and the others, but he ignored them, turning toward his home.
Once inside, he closed the door tightly and glanced toward the hearth glowing with heat.
“Kayla? Mother?”
Kayla appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were drawn and the shadows seemed to cling to her, darkening everything around her. “I heard what happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“I stepped out. I heard you fought with Reltash. Your bow broke.”
Jason clenched his jaw. Were they starting rumors about him already?
He pulled the bow off his shoulder, holding it up. “You mean this bow?”
Kayla’s eyes darted to the bow and she fixed it with a long stare. “It didn’t break?”
Jason debated what to say. If he told her that it had and that the dragon had restored it, then it was possible she wouldn’t even believe him, and yet, he could see the hope fading from her with each passing moment.
“It didn’t break. And I found something.”
“Rabbit?”
He shook his head.
She lowered hers.
“A deer.”
Kayla jerked up, looking at him. “You found another?”
“I did.”
“But you know what’s happened—”
Jason shook his head. “I didn’t bring the whole thing back. I don’t want to risk anyone stealing from us again.” He pulled the wrapped steak from his pocket and handed it over. It was large enough for several days’ worth of food, and she eyed it hungrily. “I made sure you had enough for a few days.”
“Just me?”
“You and Mother.”
“What about you?”
“I need to keep hunting,” he said. He motioned for her to join him at the table, pulling the chair out and taking a seat. He still hadn’t taken his coat off, and he found that he was holding on to his bow, gripping it tightly. The irritation that had bubbled up within him at learning how the others had shared the story of his bow remained. It was bad enough that Kayla had to deal with everything she did, but to worry about him, to worry that he might have lost his bow, and to worry that he might not have any way to hunt for their family, wasn’t fair to her. “I found a herd. I can gather more. It’s not far from here, but it will require that I’m gone for a few days.”
“A few days?” Kayla lifted her gaze from the steak to meet his eyes. “You can’t survive that long away from the village.”
“I’ve done it before.”
“But you got lucky. What happens if one of the storms moves in, enough snowfall strikes, and you get buried by it?”
“I won’t get buried by it,” he said.
“What happens if there’s an avalanche, and it carries you down the mountain?”
He hadn’t told her that he’d already survived one avalanche. She wouldn’t understand, and she wouldn’t even believe that he had managed to return. No one had gone all the way to the base of the mountain and come back. The distance was too far, the climb too treacherous, and had he not had Henry with the dragon, he would likely have had to try to wind around to the back face of the mountain to return, a journey that would’ve taken weeks, possibly longer—if he managed to survive it.
“I’ll be careful.”
“If you don’t return, how will we eat?”
That was perhaps the most important question she asked, and Jason sighed. “If for some reason I don’t come back, you need to find the cave near the stream. Make your way inside. Move carefully, stay close to the wall, and once inside, you will find the rest of the deer.”
“You left it there?”
“It’s safest. No one’s going to go in there.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know it’s difficult to get in there. You have to press yourself against the wall of the cave, and if you don’t, you run the real risk of falling into the stream. I’ve seen it happen.”
She looked up at him. “I thought you found Angus downstream.”
“What?”
“I heard what happened. The stories are that you found him downstream.”
“I was in the cave when it happened,” Jason admitted.
“Why were you there? I thought you were out hunting?”