“What’s the key?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you how to use it. I don’t want you to torment another dragon.”
“Have I tormented the ice dragon?”
“No.”
“Your friend doesn’t trust the Aurans.”
“I see that. What are the Aurans?”
“We’re Dragon Souls, but we search for knowledge and understanding. Aurans have a unique role within Lachen. We sit outside of the Dragon Souls. We study, seeking to understand the history of the dragons and their relationship with our people.”
“With the people of Lachen?”
David regarded him for a moment. “With the people of Lachen. With others. There are other lands that have known the dragons over the years, and the Aurans search for understanding. Knowledge.”
“So that you can better control the dragons.”
“Not control. Train.”
Jason thought that he had a better understanding as to the role of the Aurans. He also thought he better understood why Sarah had been offended that he had dared bring one to Dragon Haven. They were the scholars, but they were the ones responsible for instructing the Dragon Souls on how better to control the dragons.
“If you really search for knowledge and understanding, then you would understand the dragons aren’t what you believe them to be.”
“It is precisely for that reason the Aurans exist. We understand exactly what dragons are, we understand the power they possess, and we understand the dragons’ lack of control. Because of Dragon Souls, because of the Aurans and the way we’ve trained the dragons, we’ve kept that power in check. We have prevented others from being harmed by significant power.”
“You’ve been around the ice dragon. Have you seen significant harm?”
“You have only minimal experience with the ice dragon. What do you think would happen if that dragon were free in a city?”
“You mean a city like this?”
“A city where other dragons exist? A city where they train dragons, regardless of what they claim? No. I’m talking about what would happen if they were to escape in your village. How do you think the dragon would be received?”
“I know how the dragons would be received,” Jason said.
“They’re feared, are they not?”
“Because people don’t understand.”
“And you think you could help them understand the dragons are peaceful creatures? Do you think you can help your people believe the dragons want nothing more than to live peacefully among you? Do you think you can convince your people the dragons are safe?”
Jason took a deep breath. He knew better. He’d lived his entire life believing the dragons were dangerous and deadly. He knew the way his people would react if they encountered a dragon. Even though the ballistae hadn’t been fired in years, the people of the village would try.
“You believe training the dragons gives people less reason to fear?”
“I believe giving people the perception of training allows them to not fear the dragons.”
“How is that different?”
“When you have trained dragons, and the people believe the dragon is trained, do you think they fear the dragon or the handler?”
“Probably both,” he said.
“Perhaps, and yet, my experience in Lorach is such that they fear the handler. They recognize the power of the Dragon Souls, and they would do nothing to attack us.”
“You want your people to fear you?”
“I want our people to know the dragons are trained. I want our people to know the dragons will be fighting on our side. I want our people to know the Dragon Souls provide defense of the kingdom.”
“And what do you know about the dragons?” Jason asked.
“I know what the Aurans have known for centuries,” he said.
“And what is that?”
“Where you see intelligence, I see a need for training. They long for that, and though you might disagree, I have seen it in every dragon I have encountered. All of them need the training.”
“That wasn’t my sense from the two dragons I freed.”
“And what do you think those dragons will do?”
“I don’t know what dragons will do, and I don’t even know where the dragons will go. They’re free, so they get to choose.”
David stared at him, and a hint of a smile began to spread on his face. “Have you ever seen a dragon hunt?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Have you seen it?”
“I’ve been with the ice dragon when he’s hunted. Why?”
“What do you think would happen to people in your village if the dragon decided to hunt there?”
“I don’t think dragons hunt people,” Jason said.
“You don’t think. I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed the violence of dragons, and I know the way they would torment others.”
“You aren’t going to convince me the dragons need to be trained.”
“I don’t care to convince you of anything. I’m telling you what I know.” David stepped closer to the opening. “There is one thing. You have convinced me that I was wrong.” Jason arched a brow, and David stepped closer to the opening. “About your kind. Seeing the power you wield has opened my eyes. When I return to Lorach, I intend to test your kind to see what more they might be able to do.”
Jason leaned back, unable to know what to do. Here he had thought he might be able to get through to David, that he might convince him to do something else, but it seemed as if he were determined to return, to continue his attacks on people like him.
What did that mean? What was he going to do?
At this point, probably nothing. Jason had wanted to try to help, to offer anything he could, and yet, it didn’t seem as if there would be any way to influence someone like David.
He stared at David, looking through the opening, and wondered if perhaps he should leave him behind. Maybe it was best that he was trapped here. But Jason was determined to escape. It was going to be difficult, and he didn’t know how much it would take to fight his way to freedom, but he would try.
Jason pointed the dragon pearls at the opening again. As he did, David backed up, looking away.
“You won’t be able to do anything,” David said.
“I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to reach the ice dragon and the iron dragon and I’m going to do anything I can to help them.”
He let the energy that he was pulling explode out from him. As it did, it hit the wall between the two cells again, cracking it as before. The opening became wider, and David backed up. Jason attempted to pull on power again, letting it flow through him, and as before, he poured it out into the wall.
Each time he did so, he let that energy explode from him.
David merely watched.
Jason had the sense that David would be able to help if he wanted to, and yet David stood back, letting Jason expend himself. Was he going to try to take the dragon pearls from him when he entered the cell? David had proven he had some connection to the ice dragon, and it wouldn’t surprise Jason to learn he had some way of using the heat from the maroon dragon, but he wasn’t about to abandon what he was doing. He needed to continue his assault and find some way to break through the walls.
And once he was in the same cell as David, he was going to keep going. Eventually he would have to find some way out. Then he could escape. The power flowed from him, slamming into the wall, again and again.
“Are you going to stand there and watch?” Jason asked.
“Do you think I should do something else? You’re the one who’s using this power. Do you even understand what you’re doing?”
“I’m drawing from the dragons.”