that power he could draw.
“I see something,” Janeya said.
Jason looked into the distance. He didn’t see anything, though he was certain there was power out there.
“I feel it, and I…” She shook her head. “I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. There is something to it that is out there, some connection to that power that feels as if I should be able to utilize it. There’s a connection within me.”
It was different for him, but at the same time, he recognized what she meant. Vaguely, he could feel pressure beginning to build. They still hadn’t reached the edge of the city of Lorach, though he could feel pressure or dragon energy that suggested that the people in power were nearby.
Where were the Dragon Souls?
The other dragons, freed and those from Dragon Haven, near him circled, flying high and powerfully, making their way through the sky. They were ready.
Jason could feel the tension within those dragons, their readiness, and was aware of what they were prepared to do. In addition, he recognized the power of the dragon females.
They called upon a different sort of energy that flowed within them, drifting to him, giving him a feeling of the power that existed within them.
Those dragons were trying to fuel him with power, as if they knew that he needed something more than just his connection to the dragons, though Jason wasn’t entirely sure what it was. Perhaps it was merely the power that came from the female dragons that he had helped in the boneyard. He held onto that power, trying to draw it through him, needing to access it.
The people of Lorach tried to exert their influence, trying to push upon him. Jason didn’t know if it came from the energy of the Dragon Souls or if it came from whatever Jessica attempted to do. Power continued to build around him.
He looked at Janeya.
Everything outside Lorach looked odd. There were dragons filling the pens, and there was pressure upon them, but the pressure was strange.
“Why aren’t the dragons going anywhere?” Janeya asked.
Jason shook his head. “I have no idea. I don’t know what she’s doing with them, only that I can feel something out there.”
“It is pulling on me,” she said.
It was the same power that he’d been feeling for quite some time, only he had no idea why he would still feel it, or why that power would draw on him, leaving him trembling. At first, he had believed that what he had felt came from the attempt to fill an egg, but now it was something different.
Now he was drawn toward Lorach, and he still felt as if he were pulled upon.
“She’s doing something to these dragons.” Not only his dragons. To her dragons.
And the Dragon Souls.
He looked down, saw the dragons, and recognized the power that was down there, a power that could not be altered. He had no idea what he could do about that. He had no idea if there was anything that could be done about it. The ice dragon swept over the penned dragons. There was no sign of the Dragon Souls.
“This is wrong,” he whispered.
“What is it?” Janeya frowned as she leaned over the side of the dragon. “I can feel this,” she said.
“I don’t know what it is, only that whatever we detect is calling all the dragons that don’t have a natural resistance.” Which meant it called all the dragons other than the misfit dragons.
With the pull, he realized something else.
There was a pull on him.
Which meant the misfits would feel it as well.
The ice dragon could feel the drawing. Through the connection they shared, Jason could feel that, much like he could feel it from the iron dragon. The misfits weren’t immune.
Even as he attempted to resist, he could still feel the energy coming off him, some power that drew upon him, as if it was attempting to drain him. That energy was more than he could withstand and he struggled against it, trying to fight off what was happening, but he knew he had to find the source of it.
He turned away.
“Is it just the dragons?” Janeya asked.
“I…”
It couldn’t be just the dragons, could it?
If it was just the dragons, he would’ve expected to have seen something else.
Jason circled, sweeping over the city, but with each pass, the ice dragon began to get weaker. He didn’t know how long the dragon would be able to withstand this.
For that matter, Jason didn’t know how long he would be able