Night Dragon An Epic Fantasy Adventure - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,21

and make sure the night dragon is safe?”

The iron dragon radiated a hint of heat, and he rumbled with energy. It was frustration. Jason thought he understood the iron dragon’s frustration. He wanted to be a part of what Jason did and wanted to be useful, but in this case, since he wanted to start by heading to the cold and northern mountains, he didn’t think that the iron dragon would be able to offer much assistance.

“It’s not that I don’t want you with me. It’s more about whether or not you’d be able to withstand the cold.”

The iron dragon rumbled again, his frustration evident.

Jason hadn’t spent any time looking in the north, searching for the key to what Lorren had done with his dragons. It was long past time that he make that attempt. As much as the iron dragon might be angry with him for wanting to head to the north without him, this was something Jason thought he needed to do.

He also thought the iron dragon might be able to offer a level of protection that the other dragons wouldn’t be able to do. The iron dragon could ensure that the night dragon remained safe and stable. That was part of what Jason needed.

He tried to convey all of that through the connection they shared, and he thought that he was effective in doing so, but he didn’t know for certain. As the iron dragon slithered off, heading through the trees before launching himself in the air, Jason wasn’t sure if he had conveyed what he wanted to the dragon. He couldn’t tell anything other than the dragon’s frustration.

Jason breathed out heavily and then turned, focusing on the ice dragon.

It wasn’t all that warm here, though it was warm enough that moisture glistened on the side of the ice dragon. He radiated energy, and within that energy came the power of the dragon, filling the clearing around him with a fog of moisture that drifted off his sides.

Jason climbed onto his back and the ice dragon shook for a moment, droplets of water freezing in the air, and then he launched into the sky.

“Where’s the storm dragon?”

“He comes when he is needed,” the ice dragon said.

“Are you able to reach him?”

“When he is needed,” the ice dragon said.

“How does he know when he is needed?”

“He comes.”

Jason started to laugh but he had the sense that the ice dragon didn’t share in his amusement. It was almost as if the ice dragon didn’t understand what Jason was getting at, nor did he understand why that would amuse him so much.

He motioned to the ice dragon to veer off, and as they flew, Jason could feel the energy of the ice dragon as they headed off to the north. There was a power to the dragon, a surge of energy, and it flowed out from him, cold radiating away from him in the same sort of fog that Jason had become accustomed to. Within that fog was the power of this dragon, and within the fog was the connection to the cold high overhead.

When Jason focused on that sense, he could feel a connection to the energy high overhead. That was new for him. When he had connected to the ice dragon before, he had felt as if he were connecting to his power, but this time, what he detected was something else, something different. It felt almost as if he were connecting not to the ice dragon so much as he was connecting to the source of his own power.

Jason thought about the way the cold radiated toward him, the energy within it, and he thought about whether there was something that he might be able to glean from it. If he could access that cold power, he might be able to draw upon it directly.

“Do you think that I would be able to access that?”

The ice dragon shook the ends of his wings. Icicles shook free from them, shooting off in either direction.

They parted a cloud and the ice dragon continued to fly faster and faster. He was an incredibly powerful and fast dragon, and the more that he raced forward, the easier it was for Jason to feel that energy within him.

“It’s possible that you would be able to,” the ice dragon said.

“Just possible?”

“You aren’t a dragon.”

Jason smiled. “No, but I do wonder if maybe I would be able to use some aspect of your power.”

“You use an aspect of my power when you connect through