come to understand as reflections of different levels of intensities of heat. That wasn’t altogether so different than what Jason’s dragon sight could do.
“None of that matters,” he said.
“I suppose not.”
“You could work with the dragons,” Jason said. He nodded to Kayla. “You could even work with her. She’s been looking for her place in Dragon Haven.” He left unsaid that Kayla had been looking for her place ever since their mother had recovered. He didn’t need to remind her, as he suspected his mother knew. And he wondered whether or not she even cared.
“I abandoned that connection long ago. There is no reason for it to return.”
“If you have a connection to the dragons, then you never really abandoned it.”
“I did.” She looked down. “Besides, Kayla has others who can teach her in ways I cannot. My way of reaching the dragons is not the way those in this place would appreciate.”
He snorted. “You could talk to Henry.”
“I suppose that I could.”
“He’s made the adjustment from Dragon Soul to a functional member of Dragon Haven.”
“I will see what I can do,” she said.
“Besides, when it comes to dealing with Lorach, we might need everyone capable of reaching for the dragon connection to work together.”
There was a moment of concern that flickered in her eyes, but she nodded. “Perhaps.”
“Or you can stay here. Others will protect you.”
She looked up then. “You will protect us. Your father would’ve been proud of you, Jason.”
It wasn’t the first time that she’d said that, and even hearing it now didn’t make it any better or easier for him. All it did was make him more irritated that he had never learned about his connection in time to learn from his father.
Having that connection would’ve made things easier for him when he was younger. He wouldn’t have had to struggle.
But then, would he have ever been able to form the connection he had?
Without feeling how he did, without suffering the way he had, Jason may not have come to know other dragons. He may never have wanted to work with the ice dragon, or come to understand what it would take for him to bond to the iron dragon, or…
He pushed those thoughts away.
“Have you ever seen Lorach using dragon bones for anything?”
His mother wrinkled her brow. “The bones? Other than as decoration, the bones don’t have much use. They can put off some warmth, that much is true, but they are difficult to carve. Only the most skilled artisans can use them, so perhaps it’s for artistic purposes.”
That didn’t strike him as likely. Not when it came to Lorach.
He’d seen dragon bone swords, knives, and other decorations, but that wouldn’t be reason enough for the Dragon Souls to have gone searching for bones.
“This is different,” he said. “I’m not entirely sure what Lorach was up to, but I suspect they were after something.”
“I have faith that you will figure out what is going on,” she said, waving her hand.
His mother wasn’t going to be helpful with that, either.
She turned her attention back to Kayla. “She does have a connection to them, doesn’t she?”
Jason followed the direction of her gaze, looking over to the dragon yard. Kayla had crouched in front of a small dragon, and she held her hand out. Even from here, Jason could feel how that connection had formed, the way that the dragon received her. There was enough of a bond between the two of them, enough of a connection that he could feel it, and he recognized just what it was that Kayla was doing. Even if she didn’t.
He smiled to himself.
“She does have a connection,” he said.
“Will you work with her?”
“When I have time,” Jason said.
“I suppose that will have to do.”
“It will have to do,” he said. “I have other things that I am responsible for.” And perhaps that was what he needed to get back to. It was long past time for him to return, to search for Sarah’s parents, and for him to figure out what it was that Lorach was up to.
Because he knew they were up to something. They were always up to something.
Then there was what the night dragon had said.
Time is running short.
Jason had no idea how much the night dragon actually knew, but there still was something unusual about what he experienced, something unusual about the energy within him, that left Jason thinking that perhaps he knew more than he should.
He looked over to his mother, but she had already moved