“I have time.”
Jason looked around the inside of the room before getting to his feet. He needed to stretch his legs, but more than that, he wanted to get out of the room, to see more of Dragon Haven, and perhaps even show his sister a little bit of the city.
“Would you care to walk with me?”
“In the city?” She flicked her gaze toward the door nervously before turning her attention back to him.
Jason smiled at her, trying to be as reassuring as he could. “Out in the city. Out near the dragons.” If she was going to remain here, she was going to have to get used to the idea that there were dragons here. Most around the city were smaller, meaning she wouldn’t have to worry about them. The larger dragons patrolled outside the borders of the city itself, and he hadn’t seen them close to the city too often. Certainly not often enough that they would pose much of a danger.
“I suppose I could go with you,” she said.
“Good. I need to get out of here. I need to see if there is anything more that I can do.”
“What else do you need to do?”
“Mostly just get a feel for the people of the city.”
“Will that help you in any way?”
He shrugged. He didn’t really know if it would make a difference. Whatever he was doing was going to help the people of his village, not necessarily the people of Dragon Haven. That was going to be Sarah’s role, not his. He might do whatever it would take in order to save dragons, but he wasn’t going to necessarily aid her people.
Perhaps that was selfish of him. Perhaps that was a misuse of his power, but he needed to focus on the people he could help, and on those who could benefit from him.
He wasn’t convinced that he could make much of a difference for all of the people of this city.
“I don’t know if it’s going to help, or not, but I think I need to do it,” he said. They headed out of the building, and from there he moved slowly, looking along the streets. There was movement, certainly more so than when he had first come to Dragon Haven. Perhaps that was intentional. When he had first arrived, there was suspicion about him and his intentions. Now that he had been here a while, the people seemed to recognize that he wasn’t someone to fear. His dragons were, but that was a different matter. As far as he could tell, they still didn’t know what to make of the iron dragon, though truth be told, Jason didn’t really know what to make of the iron dragon.
They headed toward the grassy space just beyond the edge of the city, near the forest the dragons occupied. He paused at the edge of it, looking toward the center. There were three small dragons visible. They wrestled and played, no different than any young animal did, the only difference being the flames that burst from their nostrils every few moments.
“They almost look cute at that size,” Kayla said.
Jason found himself smiling. “They do, don’t they?”
“But then they get big. Deadly.”
“I don’t think the dragons want to do anything to harm you,” he said, looking over at her.
“You don’t know it, do you?”
“Not the dragons from Dragon Haven. They wouldn’t do anything to you. They have no interest in hurting people. On the contrary, they work with the people here.”
“It’s almost as if they worship them,” Kayla whispered.
Jason smiled softly. “I thought the same thing when I first came.”
“You did?”
He nodded. “When I first came here, I was running from one of the Dragon Souls. He was powerful and terrified me, but I also still was afraid of the dragons.”
“I can’t believe that you aren’t still afraid of them.”
“It’s not so much that I’m not afraid of them, it’s just…”
Jason tried to frame his feelings, though he wasn’t entirely sure how to do so. He was afraid of some of the dragons, especially those that were still under the control of the Dragon Souls. Those dragons needed his help, and he believed that he could do something to help them, if only he was given the opportunity. It would take a healing touch, drawing through the ice dragon…
His thoughts went to the ice dragon. In the time that he’d been in Dragon Haven, he hadn’t felt the ice dragon nearly the way that he was accustomed to. There was still a distant sense of him, though it was tamped down in the back of his mind, almost as if the ice dragon was trying to conceal his presence. That didn’t make any sense, though. Why would the ice dragon hide from him?
He was likely searching for other dragon misfits. Jason wanted to be a part of that, and until he rescued his villagers, he wasn’t going to be able to do so.
“I guess there’s a part of me that is still afraid of them,” he said.
“You are?”
Jason nodded. “I don’t know how I couldn’t be. I recognize how powerful they are. I wish the ones that have been captured and held and used by the Dragon Souls could be freed.”
“When they’re freed, then they become wild dragons. Isn’t that worse?”
“There was another who made that same claim,” he said.
“Who was that?”
“An Auran.” When his sister made a confused expression, he went on. “They’re different than the Dragon Souls. Perhaps they serve in the same way, but it’s my understanding that they’re somehow different. I’m not entirely sure just how that is, though. What I do know is that they recognized the dragons and they worked to try to train them.”
Thinking of David left him worried about whether the other man might betray their position to the other Dragon Souls. He had spoken the words of the flame, but Jason still didn’t entirely know what those words meant, or whether there was any way for him to get around the power that they bound him within.
He headed into the grassy section of the training ground. Kayla remained behind him, though she surprised him by heading out, following him. He hadn’t been sure whether or not she would be willing to do so, and her action suggested that she was far braver than he was giving her credit for.
Not that it should surprise him. His sister had proven herself over the years, and had showed her fortitude in the way that she had cared for their mother. Jason didn’t doubt that Kayla would be brave.
As he approached one of the younger dragons, he held out his hand. He didn’t fear the dragon biting him and tearing off his arm, though from the look his sister gave him, she did. He smiled at her, turning his attention toward the dragon.
“They are curious about us,” he said.
“You’d better be careful,” a voice said from behind him.
Jason turned to see William approaching. His hair was standing on end and he was wearing a collared shirt, open to his mid-chest, with a strange-looking medallion hanging there. He looked comfortable here, certainly much more comfortable than Jason felt.
William flashed a smile at Kayla and glanced at Jason.
“The little ones can be feisty,” he said.
“Don’t scare her,” he said.
“I’m not trying to scare her. I just want her to know that the little ones can be feisty.”
“How are they feisty?” Kayla asked.
“Well, the little red one here likes to nip at your fingers. I lost two last week.”
He held out his hand, his fourth and fifth fingers missing, or seemingly so.
Kayla glanced at his hand, grabbing it and prying his other fingers out.
“I didn’t say they didn’t return.”
Kayla laughed.
William flashed a smile at Jason. “I might not be able to work with the dragons the same way that some can, but I have learned a thing or two about them. You have to hold yourself out to them. They don’t mind if you’re a little bit scared. In fact, I think they like it when you are.”