“How will we find you?” Jason whispered.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I find you.”
“What happens if we have to leave?”
“If you have to leave, then leave. What I would ask you do is leave a marking. That way, there is some way for me to know you left.”
“What kind of marking?”
“Where we landed. Leave a marking on the trees.”
Jason locked eyes with Sarah. Even though they might get separated, he had to believe that they might be able to communicate. If it came down to leaving, he wanted to make sure that he didn’t leave her behind.
“I would suggest you play it off as siblings. Do you think you can do that?”
Sarah released his hand, and she nodded. “I think so.”
“Be cautious. There will be eyes on you, and I don’t know who is the head Auran these days, but…”
“I’ll be cautious,” Sarah said.
A thought occurred to Jason. “David would recognize her,” he said, glancing over at her.
“He might, but the odds of you being exposed to an Auran are slight. I’m more concerned about encountering Therin, and more concerned about you losing control over your eyes. Focus on that. Focus on your hand. And find what you need.”
They reached the gate, and Henry nodded. “Here is where I need to leave you.”
“You have to leave us here?” Sarah looked from Henry to the people in front of them, before frowning. “Why here?”
“We can’t be seen together.”
He squeezed ahead, leaving them.
“How do you want to go about this?” Jason asked.
“I think we need to do it as he suggested. We make it sound like we were discovered by a fallen Dragon Soul, and that he was lost.”
Jason sighed. All of this was becoming too much for him. Now that he was close, he was growing uncomfortable, but this was what he had wanted. He wanted the opportunity to come for his people. His mother. And he understood Sarah wanted the opportunity to come for the dragons, but coming to the city, to Lorach, terrified him.
They reached the gate, and the soldier standing there took one look at them and waved them through.
Once through the gate, Jason and Sarah shared a look.
“I thought it would be harder than that,” she whispered.
“I thought it would be, too.”
“Do you think it’s because we’re wearing dragonskin?” she asked.
He shrugged. He turned his attention to the inside of the gate. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve expected, but what he saw left him almost staring with mouth agape.
The city was enormous. It spread out, stretching in front of them. A massive road led through it, with shops lining either side. Each had brightly painted signs hanging outside their doors, marking the type of store they represented. There were hundreds of people in the streets. At the end of the street, he caught a glimpse of movement, dancers and acrobats. Musicians marched by, holding out bags, begging for coin.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sarah said.
Jason shook his head. How could he do anything else? The idea that he would be here, that he would see this, left him marveling. There was beauty. There was chaos. There was life.
After having spent all of his time up in the village on the top of the mountain, coming to a place like this, where there was this much energy and vibrancy, surprised him. Even more surprising was the fact that it came from a place where the Dragon Souls were found, and yet, he knew it had to be an illusion. It had to be nothing different than the type of illusion Thomas had taught him. He understood what the Dragon Souls were capable of doing. He understood the kind of actions Therin would take. And because of that, he understood just how dangerous Lorach could be. He might not have to see it firsthand. But he understood.
“Where do you think we should go?” Sarah asked.
Jason pointed in the distance. There was an enormous building far ahead. Towers on each end of it rose higher in the sky than anything else around them, and a central tower stretched above it. A flag rose from each of the towers, fluttering in the breeze.
“I don’t think we should go to the castle,” she said.
“Then where would you suggest we go?” he asked.
“I don’t know. There has to be someplace where we can find the Dragon Souls training.”
It was possible that they could ask, but if they were to do so, that would raise attention to their presence in the city. It would bring notice to them, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do that yet. It might be easier to wander.
“Why don’t we see what we can find in the city.”
“I wish Henry would’ve shared more,” she said.
“I get the feeling Henry is still uncomfortable about his role as a Dragon Soul,” Jason said.
“He’s been with us for so long, I sometimes forget he was a Dragon Soul. It’s easy to forget. He has taught us so much, and yet, I think he was hurt.”
“I saw his burns when we first met. What happened to him?”
“You might know better than I do. I never traveled with him the same way you did.”
“Henry didn’t really share when I traveled with him.”
“He doesn’t really share in Dragon Haven, either. He keeps it inside.”
It was a story that Jason imagined would be interesting to learn. Whatever had happened to burn Henry must have been significant. That had been part of what had torn him away from serving as a Dragon Soul, from working with the dragons. He must have been tormented by it.
If it was not about the training—and having heard Henry talking about the training, he wasn’t sure if that was it—he wondered what it might’ve been. There was some disagreement between Henry and Therin. That much he knew, but beyond that, Jason didn’t really know what had happened.
As they were heading along the street, passing a dressmaker, a dark figure appeared in the sky. Jason stopped, staring at the dragon in the distance.
Instinctively, he began to draw upon power from the ice dragon, letting that power flow through him, and he started to push it toward the dragon.
Sarah grabbed his arm, squeezing.
“What are you doing?”
“What? I’m trying to—”
“Stop it!”
Jason released his connection to the ice dragon, letting it out slowly. She was right. What was he doing? If he revealed their presence, the Dragon Souls would know they were here already. They needed to hide that for as long as possible. He couldn’t make that mistake, and he knew better, so what was he doing?
He was being a fool, that was what he was doing.
Jason let out a shaky breath. “I’ll be more careful.”
“You had better be more careful. We can’t have them find us yet.”
He nodded. He released his hold on the dragon and maintained his connection to the ice dragon, wanting to ensure he was able to hold on to the illusion. He needed to have that, mostly to ensure he could mask his eyes.
He kept his hand in his pocket, but eventually, he was going to have to focus on that as well. It might be easier. With the connection to the iron dragon, Jason thought he could use that to hide his hand, but he would have to hold that connection for as long as he was around somebody else.
“Maybe we can see if we can find where they might be keeping my villagers,” he said, looking around.
“I don’t know that we would be able to reach it,” she said.
“Why not?”
“If they turned them into slaves, they wouldn’t allow anyone else there.”