He found the iron dragon still slithering through the trees, winding from place to place as he went, and Jason approached slowly, carefully, and stayed away from the heat radiating from the dragon’s back.
“It’s time for us to go,” he said.
The dragon halted, turning his enormous head toward him. One wing struck one of the trees, and it rang like a bell. “What is it?”
“It’s time for us to go. There’s something coming.”
The dragon rumbled. It was a different sound than the ice dragon had made, though similar enough. “I will destroy them,” he said, looking past Jason and at David.
Jason shook his head. “I’m sure you would, but I don’t think we should remain. If we do, it’s possible they will come with greater numbers. We need to get moving.” He took a step toward the iron dragon. “I found the dragon of this place. I spoke with him. Or her. It wasn’t willing to come with us.”
That troubled him, but even more troubling was the possibility that the others might gain control over that dragon. If they did, then he would need to do whatever he could to fight them off, but perhaps they wouldn’t know of its presence.
And yet, if they did discover that there was a dragon of the forest, then it would be his fault. Which meant it was his responsibility to draw the Dragon Souls away.
How was he going to do that?
It would involve fighting. He wasn’t interested in fighting the Dragon Souls, but he also wasn’t willing to allow them to gain power over another dragon like this.
The iron dragon swiveled his head toward him, and a flash of orange burned through his eyes. “Then we go.”
Jason crawled forward, waiting for David, and the two of them climbed on the iron dragon’s back.
They hadn’t tested whether the dragon would be able to take flight from here, and there was a part of Jason that worried whether the dragon would have the necessary skill to do so. What would happen if he couldn’t?
They would be stuck. They could run through the forest the same way they had run before, and given the way the iron dragon moved, he thought they could outpace the Dragon Souls for a while.
Thankfully, the dragon managed to launch himself into the air, and as he did, he quickly took to the sky, using that strange way of his, his undulating form, the heat radiating from his back.
Jason had to grip tightly, and he was forced to ignore the heat from the dragon.
Next to him, David held on easily. It was almost as if he didn’t mind the heat and the nature of the dragon, or perhaps it was more that he was impressed by some aspect of the dragon. Either way, David sat upright, holding on with one hand, gripping the dragon as if it were nothing.
Jason looked behind him as they pierced the canopy of the trees. He searched for any sign of the tree dragon, but there was nothing. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to make anything out from here, anyway.
“We have to draw their attention,” he said.
“You want to do what?”
“We need to draw their attention. If the Dragon Souls come after the dragon here, then…” Jason wasn’t entirely sure what would happen if they pursued the dragon here, but he did know that it seemed as if the tree dragon had no interest in fighting. It would be easier for him and the iron dragon to do what was necessary.
“If you draw their attention, they will chase us. And if they come prepared with dragons—which I’m sure they will—we will not be able to overwhelm them.”
Jason leaned forward. “How fast do you think you can fly?”
“I am still learning.”
“Do you think you can outfly the ice dragon?” At least with the ice dragon, Jason had a sense of how fast that one was compared to the others.
When it came to flying with the iron dragon, he didn’t know. He’d never seen the iron dragon challenged, and it was possible he wouldn’t be able to outpace the other dragon.
“I might be able to,” the dragon said.
“You’re going to need to fly with as much speed as you can summon.” He reached into his pocket, grabbing one of the dragon pearls. He pulled out the one he had used before, the one with blue and black striations through it, and he gripped it tightly. Power began to surge in him, and he let it flow, exploding into the pearl.
It was the heat that burned within him, but it was also the heat that he borrowed from the iron dragon, and the longer he held on to it, the easier it was to issue the summons.
An explosion thundered near them. An enormous bellow cried out and he lowered his head. There was at least one other dragon.
It was coming toward them, and gauging the speed of it, it was coming quickly.
“Time for you to fly as quickly as you can,” he said to the iron dragon. The heat began to radiate from the dragon, and it rolled along his side, flowing along him. As it did, Jason clung to him, holding on with as much strength as he could bear, and yet, he wasn’t entirely sure he could maintain that grip without releasing the dragon pearl and putting it back into his pocket.
He looked behind him. In the distance, it appeared as if a small bird was approaching.
Not just approaching, but overtaking them.
It wasn’t a small bird at all. It was a dragon, and it was moving with incredible speed.
He released his connection to the dragon pearl, putting it back into his pocket, and leaned on the dragon’s back.
Had this been a mistake?
He was relying upon the iron dragon being able to outrun another dragon, one that understood its abilities. The iron dragon didn’t know what it was able to do quite yet. In time, the iron dragon might be formidable, and it was possible he would grow to become powerful enough to overcome any of these other dragons, but for now, the iron dragon was still learning. He was so young, the same way the ice dragon was still young. The ice dragon believed he would’ve been able to tolerate staying in the forest, but Jason had seen otherwise.
Why hadn’t he considered the possibility that the iron dragon would also view his abilities in a way that wasn’t realistic?
They weren’t going to be able to outrun the oncoming dragon.
Another roar exploded.
It was different than the first, and as he listened, he was aware that it came from something else.
A different dragon.
How many would there be?
The Dragon Soul sat stiffly on top of the dragon, and he stared straight ahead.
What must he be thinking?
He probably didn’t care. If the dragons were captured, then he would have every opportunity to study them the way that he wanted, so if it were up to David, then none of this would matter.
They should’ve left him behind.
Then again, had he left him behind, Jason would never have seen the forest dragon. Even though they hadn’t been able to bring the dragon with them, he knew the creature existed, and knowing that was enough. If they could learn where any of the other hatch mates could be found, then it was another thing he needed to do.
The only problem was that Jason didn’t know how many more they were looking for. How many more of the dragon eggs had the Dragon Souls set out throughout the world to take on features of their environment?
And why would they suddenly be effective? That was the part of all of this that Jason didn’t fully understand, and perhaps it was the reason he needed to go to Henry and the others in Dragon Haven to get a better sense of why all of this was taking place.
Another rumble. This one was close. Jason looked over his shoulder; the dragon was speeding toward them. The creature was enormous. Deep red scales caught the light, seeming to glow, but not with the same intensity as the iron dragon. They needed to find some way to outrun the dragon.