Jason followed Henry to the end of the hall, to the stairs, and back up to the main level. Once there, Henry guided them outside. Jason focused on his connection to the dragons, the power within him, and found no resistance to it.
There was more activity out here today than he remembered from the other time he had been here. He caught sight of movement along the street, and though it was distant, he could tell there were a dozen people marching. All of them were dressed in dragonskin, and all were heading toward the field where he had left the dragons.
Jason looked up at Henry. “What’s going on?”
“You are what’s going on,” Henry said.
“Me?”
Henry smiled. “When you brought the dragons here. By bringing something we’ve never seen before to Dragon Haven.”
They wound along the street, where more and more people were gathering. Jason counted dozens upon dozens of people, though not all of them headed in the same direction. He glanced over at Henry, watching to see what Henry might do or say, but he showed no reaction.
As they reached the edge of the city, Jason looked around, focusing on the energy coming from the dragons. He could practically feel that energy, and as he did, he looked for the ice dragon. Where was he?
There was no sign of the ice dragon. Had they done something to him?
The iron dragon was here. There was heat radiating from the center of the clearing, an incredible amount of heat. It wasn’t just the heat, but the way the iron dragon glowed, the metal pulsing along his sides, the undulating, molten nature of his scales.
“What did you do to the ice dragon?” Jason asked.
“When you didn’t return, he disappeared,” Henry said.
“Disappeared?”
Henry glanced toward the sky. “Disappeared. We haven’t been able to track him.”
“Is that unusual?”
“We are familiar with dragons, and we should be able to track all of them, and yet… he has evaded us.”
“You realize how you sound,” David said.
“How do we sound, Dragon’s Bane?”
David ignored the barb and looked toward the sky. “You blame the Dragon Souls for behavior you carry out. Do you really think you are so different?”
“I know we’re different,” Henry said.
He continued into the clearing, heat rising all around, and Jason approached the iron dragon. He realized that a circle of people surrounded the dragon, though none of them got too close.
Even David slowed as they neared, turning away.
Jason cautiously approached. He held his hand out, looking into the iron dragon’s orange eyes. “Did they hurt you?”
“Where were you?”
“They decided I was a danger.”
“You are no danger to the dragons,” the iron dragon said.
“I know that. I think you know that. But they…”
He looked behind him. The faces were watching him, but there was only one among them that he had any eyes for. Sarah stood among the circle of people, slightly forward, and she frowned as she watched Jason near the iron dragon.
“How come they aren’t able to approach you?”
“I choose not to let them,” the iron dragon said.
“And me?”
“I choose to let you.”
“Why?”
“You helped when you did not need to.”
“You needed my help,” Jason said. He looked behind him again. “Now it’s time for you to relax. I don’t know if they intend to do anything. I think they’re more curious about you than anything.”
“Why?”
“Because you aren’t anything like the other dragons.”
“That isn’t a reason for them to watch me,” the iron dragon said.
“Perhaps not.” Jason sighed. “We still need to go back and stop the Dragon Souls from reaching your hatch mates.”
“You came here for help.”
“I came for help, but I’m no longer certain there is anything here that will help us with what we need to do. At this point, I think we need to get back to the forest, to ensure the forest dragon isn’t harmed.”
“She is able to hide better than any others.”
“She?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No. She was amazing, but I’ve never seen anything like it before. I worry if the Dragon Souls reach her, they will be able to control her, the same way they attempted to control you.”
“They won’t be able to control me any longer,” the iron dragon said.
“Is it because of the ice dragon’s healing?”
“What you did has prevented them from reaching me.”
“Did they try?”
“They did, but there is no way for them to reach me. The other decided to test whether they could.”
“The other…” Jason glanced over at David. Had he wanted to test whether or not the healing was enough to protect the dragons?
It was almost too much to believe, and yet, there had been no evidence that the dragon had been harmed by going with David.
“He asked if we could test it,” the iron dragon said.
“And you went along with it?”
“I thought it was appropriate.”
Jason smiled to himself. “The forest dragon seems to have some natural resistance, though I don’t really understand how.”
“Did you free her as well?”
“I didn’t do anything with her. Any resistance she might have is within herself. I didn’t notice any influence on her at all.”
It wasn’t for a lack of testing. Jason had tried to determine if there was anything there, but when he had reached for her mind, he hadn’t come across anything. For now, she remained free, though he wondered how much longer that would be the case. It was possible that something would happen and she would end up captured, and given her ability to camouflage, it would be an even greater challenge if she were.
“Jason?”
He turned and saw Sarah approaching slowly. Her jaw was clenched and sweat shimmered on her brow.
“What?”
“How is it that you can approach the dragon?”
“What do you mean?”
“The rest of us can’t get any closer than this. And yet you’re standing right near him.”
“Because he allows me to.”
“He allows it?”
Jason nodded. “The dragon chooses who gets to approach.”
“That’s not how it works,” Sarah said.
“Maybe not with your dragons, but with him, it is.”
And with the ice dragon, there was a very different sort of protection. Considering the way the ice dragon could form ice spikes and shoot them, he had a different sort of defense mechanism. It didn’t take much for the dragons to use that power, to ensure their safety.
“I’m going to go and prevent the Dragon Souls from capturing the other misfits.”
Family first.
Did it mean he viewed the dragons as family?
They had changed him. Were still changing him. Perhaps they were family now, in a way.
“Misfits?”
Jason smiled at the iron dragon. “That’s what David called them. I think it fits. They are different. They are what they are.”
“You came here for a reason.”
“I thought I did, but it doesn’t seem as if anyone here wants to help. I’m not about to leave the dragons to their fate. I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do to ensure their safety. Whether or not anyone comes with me is a different matter.”
He reached for the iron dragon and climbed on his back. “Will you allow David to come with us?”
“He may come.”
Jason locked eyes with David and nodded.
David approached, making it through the heat to stand near Jason.