The other dragon was masterful in his movements, as if he could anticipate what they were doing.
“Does he know what you’re thinking?” Jason asked the iron dragon.
“How would the other know what I’m thinking?”
“I don’t know, but it seems almost as if he’s predicting what you’re doing.”
It seemed strange to even suggest, but as he watched, he couldn’t help but think that was what was happening. He couldn’t help but believe there had to be some way for the other dragon to know what they were doing, and yet, how would that be possible?
He held on tightly, squeezing the dragon, focusing as they did, and then the blue dragon began to slow. At first, Jason was unable to tell why the blue dragon would slow and change course.
And then he could feel it.
There was another dragon. The ice dragon.
Jason let out a cry of excitement.
He came streaking down from the upper portion of the sky, ice shooting from him, snow swirling around him, and he brought the wind with him. Power exploded from the ice dragon, and he flew alongside the iron dragon, both of them flying with power and speed, chasing after the blue dragon.
Not just chasing, but there was an excitement between the two dragons, both of them thrilled to be working together, flying side by side, planning for whatever was going to come.
Jason looked over, unable to take his eyes off the ice dragon. Sharp icicles protruded all along his spine, and Jason smiled. He hadn’t seen the ice dragon in some time, other than within his mind. And yet, he was larger than the last time Jason had seen him. That much had not been imagined.
He couldn’t help but marvel at the size of the dragon, the scope of his power, and the renewed speed with which he was able to fly. It was more than he had produced before.
The two dragons roared, continuing to chase the blue dragon, and together, they moved apart, taking up different positions, forcing him down.
The ice dragon shot icicles from his spine, using that to corral the other dragon, and with an enormous roar, the blue dragon tried to turn, to fight, but the other two were too powerful.
They forced the blue dragon to the ground.
The ice dragon stayed overhead, wind whipping around him, icicles raining down, snow steaming as it shot toward the other dragon.
The iron dragon came to rest across from the blue dragon.
“You lost,” he said, shouting at the other.
The blue dragon lowered his head.
When he did, Jason stared, curious how many Dragon Souls there would be. He worried about who they might be facing, whether this might represent someone like Therin. If it was Therin, then it meant he’d somehow found a way of controlling the dragons without using anything Jason could overcome, but he didn’t think that was Therin’s style. More than that, he believed Therin wouldn’t have uncovered something so quickly.
A dark-cloaked figure sat on top of the other dragon, and Jason watched as they dismounted. A hood covered their face and Jason stared, waiting for them to move it back, waiting to see who this was, who they might have been facing.
When they did, his breath caught.
“David,” he whispered.
Sarah gasped.
“How is it him?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Not only David, but the dragon had not been forced.
Could he have been right about David?
He’d wanted to trust the other man, and with as much as David had helped him, he couldn’t help but think maybe they had to find some way to trust him, but he didn’t know if it such a thing were possible.
“Your dragon is impressive,” David said.
“How?”
“How what?”
“How are you here?”
“I told you I was returning,” David said.
Jason turned his attention to the blue dragon, watching him. The creature was impressive, and as he called on power from the ice dragon, as he let it wash through him, he still didn’t feel any sense of resistance, nothing that suggested that the dragon was under any sort of control.
And if that were the case, then perhaps the blue dragon wasn’t forced. Which meant David had a dragon working with him voluntarily.
“You haven’t trained this dragon the same way as the others.”
“I have not,” he said.
David turned to the dragon. There was a look of almost affection between them. Jason thought he understood. David cared about the dragon.
It was strange, but he still didn’t understand.
“You aren’t doing the same thing that those from Lorach would to the dragons?”
“I do what needs to be done. I offer whatever help I can, but there is only so much I can do. I work the way I can,” David said. He looked at the iron dragon. “Which was why I tried to help you as much as I could.”
The iron dragon rumbled, power radiating from him.
“How did you help him?”
“They were trying to hold on to him, and I thought I could give him enough time to escape. I didn’t expect you to be able to reach us, so I thought perhaps if I bought him some time…”
“How did you know I wouldn’t be able to escape?”
“Therin made it clear that he had some way of trapping you. When Therin gets like that, there’s no other way around it. He must’ve had something.”
Jason nodded. “The forest dragon. How did he know about her?”
A brief look of anger crossed David’s eyes. “He should not have.”
“And yet he did,” he said. He frowned, watching David. “Are you responsible for that?”
“When have you known me to want to harm the dragons?”
“You’re an Auran,” Sarah said.
“I might be an Auran, but that doesn’t mean I want to harm the dragons. In fact, if you would have taken a moment to better understand me, you would know I want nothing more than to try to help the dragons. I have done that my entire career.”
He glared at her, and as he did, a surge of power radiated from him. Jason smiled to himself. This was the kind of person they needed. If they could have David help them, then maybe they could undo what he’d done.
“The forest dragon has power over illusion,” Jason said.
“That’s not surprising. I saw the way she was able to camouflage herself. I wondered if perhaps she might have something like that.”
“And they used it against us.”
“How?”
“Therin made it look as if my village was destroyed,” he said.
“Why would he… Oh. He drew you away. You went to Dragon Haven, I assume?” David glanced at Sarah before turning his attention back to Jason. “Which means that Therin now knows where Dragon Haven can be found.”
“Or you told him how to find Dragon Haven,” Sarah said.
David took a step toward them, unmindful of the fact that they still sat atop the iron dragon. “I spoke the words of the flame. I would not violate them. I believe I proved myself to you.”
“I don’t know if you did or not,” Sarah said. “I wasn’t there for most of it.”
“Then you can ask Jason. I did everything in my power to help, and unfortunately, I had to return.”
“So that you could find out whether you could use the same power on the slaves,” Sarah said.
“I wanted to know if any of the other slaves had the same potential as Jason. You would be pleased to know I discovered they could.”
“How are you using them now?” Sarah asked.
“I’m not using them at all. I’m giving them an opportunity to connect to the dragons. They’re being brought around eggs, and whoever is there when the egg hatches gets the opportunity to bond to the dragon.”