That wasn’t good.
Jason focused on his dragon pearl. It had worked inside the cave, and he had to wonder if he could do the same thing out here. If he could, maybe he and the dragon could work together.
As he began to focus on the cold, something changed.
The dragon began to retreat, the heat radiating from it shifting, the molten nature of his skin and scales beginning to lighten.
“You have to fight whatever it is,” Jason said.
He focused on the cold, the familiarity of it, the way it caressed him. He was able to draw upon the wind out here, thinking about how it gusted out of the northern mountain, and the snow and ice that came with it. He was filled with the power of it. He connected from that cold to the ice dragon, and pushed power out from the dragon pearl.
He let it explode from him.
It washed outward, a wave of it, and he looked at the iron dragon.
“You need to use your power now.”
The dragon seemed to ignore him.
“Now, or you’ll be captured again!”
That seemed to shake something within the dragon, and the heat built once more. It exploded outward. In doing so, it slammed into the others, and combined with the cold that Jason had been summoning, they were able to pull upon enough power to overwhelm the Dragon Souls.
They were thrown back.
Jason scrambled toward the dragon. When he reached it, he wondered if he would be able to withstand its heat.
“I’m going to need you to fly us out of here.”
“Fly?”
“You’re a dragon. You have wings. You need to fly.”
“I’ve not flown.”
Jason swore under his breath. How was he supposed to teach a dragon how to fly? That wasn’t supposed to be his responsibility, but if the dragon had been captured and trapped since he’d hatched, it was possible the dragon had no idea how to fly—or even whether he could do so.
The Dragon Souls were beginning to get up.
There wouldn’t be much time before they realized he was as much of a threat as the dragon, and if they realized he’d used ice, the cold from the ice dragon, then they would know that dragon existed.
He focused on the cold again, drawing it through him, and pushed outward.
The effect wasn’t nearly as strong as before. The dragon reacted, pushing outward, using his connection to the heat and flame, and as he did, the Dragon Souls were thrown backward once again.
The combination of ice and fire had been enough, but how much longer would it last before the Dragon Souls were able to figure out some way of withstanding even that? Jason had seen how Therin and the other Dragon Souls had navigated the northern cold, but suspected that it took some amount of time before they were able to do so.
He reached the dragon. He held his hand out, worried it would be too hot for him to withstand, and as he felt the heat radiating off the creature, he hesitated. Surprisingly, he was able to tolerate it, and he touched the dragon’s neck.
“Let me climb on,” he said.
The dragon swiveled his massive head toward him, his eyes glowing, and he regarded Jason for a long moment.
“I have no reason to hurt you. I want to help you. I want to make sure no one else can hurt you.”
The dragon lowered his head and Jason quickly climbed on.
Its body was hot, though not unbearably so. He worried what would happen if it became molten again, but for now, he was able to grab on, and he could withstand the strange heat, the metallic feel to the dragon, and he gripped the creature.
“We can go,” Jason said.
The dragon turned his head, looking at him, and as he did, the Dragon Souls began to move.
“Flap your wings,” he said.
The dragon stretched out his wings and tried to flap them, but nothing happened. And as an iron dragon, it was possible that he might not even be able to fly. Maybe this kind of dragon was incapable of that.
Jason frowned to himself.
“Run,” he said.
The dragon understood what that meant, and he took off, squeezing between the trees, and as he neared some of the Dragon Souls, his tail swung around and carved through two of the nearest ones.
They were split in half, and Jason turned away from the gore.
Not just an iron dragon, but one with a tail like a sword.
The dragon ran, the ground rumbling beneath his giant claws, and he continued to hurry, but Jason spun on his back, looking behind him. The Dragon Souls were chasing, and they were moving quickly.
Of course they would be. They understood the nature of their power, and they understood what it took to use their power, so it shouldn’t be surprising at all that they would be able to keep pace.
There had to be some way to keep ahead of them, but what was it?
Jason focused on the dragon pearl, clutching it tightly, and pulled upon cold.
Maybe the ice dragon would recognize his need, but if he did, then it was possible he would be summoned and then two dragons would be in danger.
It was best if only one dragon struggled.
Jason released his hold.
“Run down the slope,” he said.
All of this to find the dragon, and he still hadn’t the opportunity to ask anybody about dragons. Here he’d thought he might come here and find answers, and yet he’d had no idea that he would be rescuing a dragon like this.
They struck a tree. The dragon bounced off but Jason started to slide. He grabbed tightly, holding on to the dragon’s back, clinging to it. His fingers slipped between its scales, and he felt heat radiating from that spot, so he jerked his hands back, sliding along the dragon’s spine.
He scrambled forward.
That was a mistake. What he needed was some way of holding on to the dragon, but without burning himself.
It was possible the dragon couldn’t be held on to, not by him. Given how much heat radiated from the dragon, it might be more than he could withstand.
Jason hurried, scrambling up the neck of the dragon, and latched on once again. The heat radiating from the dragon was immense, but somehow didn’t burn him. The dragon bounced off another tree, and this time, his tail swung around, catching one of the tall pine trees. It spun all the way through, cleaving it as if it were a giant axe, and the tree began to fall, dropping behind them.
A barrier.
“Keep doing that,” he said.
The dragon growled and yet his tail flipped from side to side, and each time it struck a tree, it cleaved all the way through it.
Heat surged as it did, and Jason couldn’t help but feel as if the dragon understood exactly what he needed. The trees were knocked down as they went, leaving destruction, but better than that, blocking the Dragon Souls from easily reaching them.
They had to find some way to escape, some place to hide, and yet out here, Jason had no idea where the dragon could hide. He had no idea what he could do to help protect the dragon, if there was anything at all. It was possible there wouldn’t be any way to protect it.
He allowed the dragon to keep running, saying nothing, just clinging to its back.
The dragon raced forward, scrambling, and then it dropped to its belly and started slithering. It was the same way the dragon had moved through the tunnel, and surprisingly, it was able to move even faster. It was flowing along the ground.
It left a trail, and that trail would be easy to follow, but he suspected there would be a trail regardless. It wouldn’t matter whether the dragon was running or whether it was sliding. There would be a path behind him either way.
Jason could do nothing else but hang on.
As he did, he focused on the ice dragon. He thought about the power he needed, and he wondered if the ice dragon might have some way of helping him hide.