Night Dragon An Epic Fantasy Adventure - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,56

enough strength.

He pushed outward again.

The dragon roared.

Pressure built from inside the dragon, coming from the Dragon Soul, pressing toward Jason, and the dragon started to shake, the power trembling within the creature, threatening to toss Jason.

“Just release the bone,” Jason whispered.

He had no idea if the dragon would even listen, and no idea whether the dragon could listen, only that he believed that the dragon needed to listen.

“I can help you,” he said.

He hoped that he could, but he didn’t know if such a thing would even be possible. He hoped that the dragon could accept his help, but as he struggled, straining, Jason could feel the pressure building against him, pressure that came from some external source, someplace that he couldn’t quite fathom. Not the Dragon Soul, but somebody who was far more powerful than Jason would’ve expected.

He had to get onto the dragon’s back.

“Tip to the side,” Jason said, sending the message with another wave of ice and iron power, pushing it through the dragon in a healing connection.

The trembling washed over the dragon and suddenly, the dragon tilted.

It was the break Jason needed.

He jumped at the same time as the dragon tilted, and he came to land on the dragon’s back, near his tail.

The dragon thrashed and the Dragon Soul turned to him.

He had something in hand. It was oblong in shape.

Power emanated from inside it.

Dragon pearls.

The Dragon Soul used dragon pearls to command the dragon.

Anger surged inside Jason. They would use dragons against dragons?

Of course they would.

It was even more reason to overthrow Jessica. How could he not? How could he feel as if he could do anything other than overthrow her, especially given everything that she had done and all that she was willing to do?

He glared at the Dragon Soul, holding onto the dragon tightly, but as the creature continued to thrash, he almost wasn’t going to be able to hold on.

The Dragon Soul crawled toward him.

Summoning the power of the fist full of dragon pearls, Jason wasn’t sure if he would have enough energy.

He needed to use each of his dragon connections.

The dragon thrashed again.

And then a burst of power streaked down.

The Dragon Soul looked up, but almost too late.

Ice lightning shot toward him, but he raised his hands.

The lightning began to part around him, but more and more power poured out, and it pressed through him.

Jason scrambled forward and he grabbed the Dragon Soul’s hand, prying free the dragon pearls. He jerked them away from the Dragon Soul, tossing them over the side of the dragon, where they scattered on the ground far below.

And then another burst of ice lightning struck, knocking the Dragon Soul off. He screamed while he fell.

Jason pushed a healing wave through the dragon, fixing the connection that the Dragon Soul had attempted, and he leaned forward.

“No time to rest,” the ice dragon said to him.

“Why?”

“He needs you.”

An image flashed in Jason’s mind, and he knew exactly who needed him.

The blue dragon.

13

Jason clutched the black dragon, holding onto him tightly, and they circled back around. The landscape below them was undulating grassland, a flowing hillside that would have been lovely under other circumstances. Not under the current one, though. He saw small copses of trees, clusters of flowers, and grasses that looked to be as tall as he was. The air carried with it the fragrance of the flowers, the warmth of the sun, and just a hint of humidity.

He turned his attention back to the dragon. He could see through the ice dragon’s eyes that the blue dragon needed him.

“Why do you have the bone?” Jason asked the black dragon.

“They did not say,” the dragon said.

It was part of some plan Lorach had, but Jason didn’t know what it was, and he didn’t know what it would take to overthrow what Jessica intended. All he knew was that they had some plan.

He let out a frustrated sigh.

He came to land next to the blue dragon, and he looked down. The blue dragon rested on a mountainside, trees rising up near him and heat radiating off him.

His belly bled.

“You can go,” Jason said, looking over at the black dragon. “There are other free dragons. Find them. Stay away from Lorach.”

“I can help,” the dragon said.

“You have helped.”

He hurried over to the blue dragon, resting his hands on the dragon’s side, immediately calling upon ice and iron, trying to pour the two of them together, wanting to find some way to connect to the dragon in order to heal