He used the power of the ice dragon. He let it flow through him, and having gone through the motions several times, he understood the way the ice dragon magic could be used to heal. It flowed out from him, washing into Henry. This time, there was no guidance, no sense of the ice dragon helping him, and yet Jason thought he understood how to use it. He used the energy while searching for injury. When he encountered it, he continued to push, letting that power overwhelm Henry.
With a gasp, Henry opened his eyes.
He rolled over, and power began to build from him.
Jason backed up, gripping a pair of dragon pearls, ready to protect himself, though he wasn’t sure how.
“What was that?” Henry asked.
“That was my fault.”
“You?” He flicked his gaze into the room before looking back at Jason. “You’ve grown since the time I saw you last.”
“What do you mean?”
“In skill.” Henry sat up, flicked his gaze once more into the room, and frowned. “Stay in your cell.”
Jason turned to see David trying to crawl through again. When Henry said it, David crawled back, muttering something.
“If you knew I was here, why would you let them keep me trapped?”
“I only learned you were here now. Sarah did what she thought was necessary.”
“By trapping me here?”
Henry nodded to the back of the cell. “You brought an Auran.”
“I brought him here because I needed answers. There are other dragons out there we need to help.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here.”
“You know?”
“I don’t believe I would’ve known otherwise, but your dragons made it clear.”
“What do you mean by my dragons?”
“The dragons you brought with you.”
“You were talking with them?”
“No one has been talking with them. Once you were brought away, they became unsettled. They are quite powerful.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“No you’re not. And you shouldn’t be. You didn’t control the dragons. You connected to them. That’s the ideal of the Dragon Haven. And yet, we need to do something so they don’t harm anyone else.”
“How many people have they harmed?”
“Come with me, and I will show you.”
“No.” Jason went back to David. “I’m not sure who I should go with. I’m not even sure who I can trust anymore.”
“It’s about time,” Henry said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean you should have been questioning all along. Dragon Haven is safe for the dragons. I’ve shown you that, but you need to come to your own understanding. I thought you had when you decided to remain in your village.”
Jason turned away. “I remained because I didn’t know what to do with the dragon. And I needed to help my family.”
Henry studied him. “That’s the only reason you remained?”
“Mostly. I did what I needed to in order to protect those I care for.”
“Interesting. What brought you out of your village in pursuit of the other dragons?”
Family first…
“The ice dragon.” Jason looked up, meeting Henry’s eyes. He had two deep silver eyes, unlike Jason, who had only one. There was a sense that radiated from Henry, the same sort of power he’d picked up on when he first met the man. “He recognized his hatch mates were in need of help. We went looking, and…”
“You found the iron dragon.”
“I did.”
“Where?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I’ve been searching for evidence of other dragons. Ever since we left you, I have been hunting for that information, knowing Therin wouldn’t have left only one egg. There would’ve been more, and if he was successful anywhere, I thought I would hear.”
“Varmin.”
Henry scratched his chin. “Interesting. That would make sense with it being an iron dragon, but I didn’t hear anything in Varmin about the presence of a dragon.”
“They had it held captive in one of the iron mines.”
“How were you able to find it?”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t really know. I followed the sense of rumbling, almost as if I were hearing the dragon, but honestly, I think it was chance more than anything else.”
“It is unlikely that it was chance.”
“Why would you say that?”
Henry flicked his gaze past Jason and held David’s eyes for a long moment. “You have an Auran with you. And not just any Auran, but one who sits high within Lorach. He serves at the right hand of the throne. Unfortunately, I suspect he hasn’t been completely truthful with you.”
“I don’t know. I think David has been the only one who has been truthful with me.”
“David? Is that what he’s calling himself?”
“It is my name,” David said.
“Is it? When I was in Lorach, you went by another moniker. Do you want me to share that with Jason, or would you care to do so?”
David turned away. He retreated from the opening in the cell, leaving Jason watching that emptiness.
“What was he called?”
“He was known as Dragon’s Bane. A powerful Auran, perhaps one of the strongest. And he has a very particular understanding of the nature of the dragons and views his role with them in a very specific way.”
Why would David have lied to him?
Then again, why wouldn’t he have lied to him? He was an Auran, he was a Dragon Soul, and he’d been hunting the dragons. He wanted to learn everything Jason might know about finding the other dragons, and it wouldn’t surprise Jason that he would be willing to lie in order to uncover anything he could.
“What now?”
“Now you need to come with me, no differently than I said before.”
“What about him?”
“He will remain here.”
“In this cell?”
“Do you think there should be another place?”
“Are you sure the cell can hold him?”
Henry studied the inside of the cell. “I would have said yes, but then again, I’ve never seen anyone able to blast a hole between cells. We’ve held other Dragon Souls here over the years, and none have managed to do anything like that. This place is meant to protect from it. The power of it is too overwhelming, and yet…” He leveled his gaze on Jason, a hint of a smile curling his lips. “You managed to do so.”
“I didn’t do it alone. I had help.”
“I imagine you did. And considering the type of dragons you’ve been working with, I suspect that help has been considerable.”
Henry held out a dragon pearl, and he pushed power into it. It flowed into the room, something Jason could almost see, and it washed along the walls. When it was done, whatever Henry was doing retreated, but the power remained. He frowned for a moment before nodding. Closing the door, he locked it again and motioned for Jason to follow him.
“What are the words of the flame?”
Henry froze. “What did he say?” Jason told him, and Henry looked toward the cells. “The words of the flame are dangerous. It is where you make a promise to the fire within yourself, and use that energy. If you betray the vow, that energy will burn off you.”
“What does that mean? You won’t be able to use your magic?”
“I’m afraid it’s a bit more than that. I’ve only seen the words of the flame spoken a few times, and I’ve only seen them violated once. It is a brutal thing. When someone speaks the words and then they violate that vow, the words and the vow tear through them, as if fire is burning from the inside out.” Henry’s voice trailed off toward the end and became much softer. “You claim he spoke the words of the flame?”