“If someone doesn’t feed her, she’s not going to make it very long,” Kayla said.
“Which is even more reason for me to move quickly.” But then, he didn’t know if the plan would work that way. Even if he moved quickly, and if he got everything organized, it was possible he still wouldn’t be able to get to his mother. What he was talking about was more an infiltration, and it required he take time in order to do so. He wouldn’t be able to get to anyone that way. He needed to find where the villagers were trapped and then figure out how to get to them.
Maybe his thoughts about trying to help his mother were misguided. As painful as that was to consider, it was possible he wouldn’t be able to do anything. It was possible he’d already lost her.
And if that were the case, then perhaps he shouldn’t do anything. He could go with Sarah, and they could try to rescue dragons, and from there… Then they could find something else.
He got to his feet. “I need to start practicing.”
“What do you need to practice?”
“My powers.”
He had reached the door when Kayla grabbed his arm. She pulled him toward herself and wrapped him in a hug. He hugged her back, squeezing tightly, and when he released her, she turned, wiping a tear away.
Out in the hall, he looked to see if there was anything there, but there was no movement. He headed back to the room where he and Sarah had been the night before, expecting to find her or Henry or someone else, and yet, none of them were there. Instead, he came across an older man. He was thin, frail, and a cane rested next to him.
When Jason stepped into the room, he looked up, pressing spectacles up his nose, watching Jason for a moment. “Are you him?”
“Am I who?” Jason asked.
The old man’s eyes darted to Jason’s hand. His lips pursed into a deep frown. “Interesting.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Thomas Jacobs. I will be your instructor.”
“My instructor?”
Thomas looked up, locking eyes with Jason. He stared at him for a long moment, and he smiled. When he did, something changed about him and his appearance shifted, becoming that of a much younger man. The spectacles disappeared. The gray in his hair changed to all dark. And the green that shone in his eyes flashed over to brown.
It lingered for a moment, long enough for Jason to take in the illusion, but then it faded.
“You are to learn the art of illusion,” Thomas said.
“You’re to teach me that?”
“Well, I must say that I am something of an expert, but from what I understand, you need to hold the illusion much longer than most. I’m not sure I will be able to do quite what they hope, but I will see what I can teach you.”
Thomas smiled, and Jason felt somewhat disarmed. Thomas left him unsettled, and it had something to do with his power, but also something to do with the fact that he didn’t really know which was the illusion. Was it the older man, including the cane and everything else about him, or was it the younger version?
And if it was the younger version, then why would he hold the illusion?
“What do you think you can teach me?”
“Well, if your goal is to create illusions, then I can teach that. It is something of a specialty of mine.” Thomas smiled. “Do you have your own pearls?”
Jason shook his head. “I won’t be able to carry dragon pearls with me.”
“If you won’t be able to carry dragon pearls, then how is it that you intend to prove your power when you present yourself to the Dragon Souls?”
That was something Jason hadn’t given all that much thought to. And if he didn’t have dragon pearls, how was he going to hold on to an illusion? If the illusion required the energy of the dragon pearls, and if Jason couldn’t bring the pearls with him, then it might not be possible for him to do this.
“I don’t need the dragon pearls for everything,” he said.
“Truly? You have natural talent?”
“I don’t know about that, but I can do things without the pearls.”
“Interesting. And what about your hand?” Thomas grabbed for Jason’s hand, holding it up to the light and examining it.
“That’s the remnants of a dragon pearl,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a dragon pearl like that,” he said.
“And I doubt you’ll see another like it.” He wasn’t sure how much he could trust this man. He didn’t know anything about him, and yet, if Henry had brought him here in order to work with him, to try to teach Jason how to create an illusion, then he would have to trust him. “The dragon pearl was from the iron dragon.”
Thomas tipped his head to the side and began to study Jason’s hand with renewed interest. “The iron dragon. I have heard of this, but had not expected to see it myself. It must be here then.”
“The dragon is here.” He could feel the dragon, the connection between them, the heat in his hand, and yet, he didn’t know what the dragon was doing. He was tempted to see if there was any way to use their connection and know more about what the iron dragon was experiencing, but he wasn’t sure if it would make a difference. He needed time to explore that bond between them.
“I heard this dragon is unique. I’ve also heard that’s not the only unique dragon you’re familiar with.”
“That would be true.” There was no point in denying it. And there probably were enough stories about him throughout Dragon Haven that others would know not just about him, but about the dragons that he had brought here.
“What of this dragon of ice?”
“What about it?”
“Is it really of ice?”
“It is.”
“Fascinating.” Thomas leaned back, and he pinched his lower lip. “Many have speculated over the years that where the egg gestates is the type of power that will form, and yet none have ever proven it with any certainty. And here you are, telling me this very thing is true.”
“I don’t know if that’s why or not.”
“But you think it is.”
Jason shrugged. He only went by what he’d been told when it came to the dragon eggs and how they took on the characteristics of their environment. It fit with his experience. The ice dragon had taken on the characteristics of his homeland. The iron dragon had taken on characteristics of the iron mines of Varmin. And then there was the forest dragon.
He still hadn’t explored where the other hatch mates had gone, or anything about them, and yet he needed to in order to better understand what they might be able to do.
And he was certain that there would be something different about them. They were the misfits, dragons unlike any others. They were different than the dragons of Lorach. They were different even than the dragons of Dragon Haven. It was fascinating, but it was also terrifying. It terrified him that he would be the one responsible for trying to help the dragons in whatever way he could. It was terrifying that if Lorach managed to gain control over those dragons, they would suffer some horrible fate. And it was terrifying that he no longer knew what happened to the ice dragon.
“All of this is dependent upon having access to an egg. Here in Dragon Haven, unfortunately, we don’t have very many eggs. Too few females, as you know.”
Jason just nodded. He hadn’t known that.
“Those in Lorach have hoarded the females. Any female they discover of ours out beyond the borders of Dragon Haven, they trap and carry her away. They care little about the males. They have plenty of males.”
“What do they to the males?”
“Do? Why, they destroy them.”