Night Dragon An Epic Fantasy Adventure - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,78

Jessica. She was holding onto enough power that she was able to draw upon the energy of the dragons, and he had to fight off what she was doing.

He used all of the power of the other dragons, letting it join together. In doing so, Jason could feel something else within it.

Janeya ran alongside him. She held onto her connection to the dragons as she ran. By default, she reached for the energy of the dragons she had bonded to, much like he reached for the dragon energy he was most bonded to. Each of them had a different connection, one that was stronger than he expected.

Jason continued to use that of his familiar misfits, not borrowing from the energy otherwise.

“She’s out there,” he said. “Jessica. She has power. It’s different than the kind of power that most Dragon Souls have. Hers gives her the ability to override what I have done.”

Janeya motioned for him to slow. When he did, she turned to him. “There are some who have this ability that you described.”

“Not all of the Dragon Souls have the same power.”

“No. The power these Dragon Souls possess is different. At least from what Lorren always told me. He warned me there was a kind of power out there, some different magic that existed, where the people who had the ability to connect to the dragons could do so more directly than others. I was one of them, but so was he.”

Jason nodded. “It’s the same thing I possess. I can connect to the dragon the way that others cannot.”

“But it’s something more than that,” she said, looking over at him. “Lorren never had the opportunity to tell me. He warned me that when I found out, it would change everything that I knew.” She shrugged. “Lorren had a way of talking like that. He liked to make everything seem as if it were grander.”

“Did he say anything about the rulers of Lorach?”

“Only that I needed to avoid them,” she said. “He feared them. He feared the control they had over the dragons. Which is why I think he used his influence on the dragons the way he did.”

“There has to be something more to it,” he said.

“I don’t know what else might be. All I know is that he—”

Janeya didn’t have the opportunity to finish. A burst of power built around them.

Jason looked around, but he didn’t see anything. It troubled him that there was still nothing other than that sense of illusion. He pushed out again, drawing upon his own power. When he did, he felt the crashing of the illusion.

It faded, flickering. When it did, he realized something.

They weren’t alone.

He looked over at Janeya. “Did you see that?” She nodded slowly. “I think it’s Dragon Souls,” he said.

He had seen the Dragon Souls multiple times recently; they had been going after bones each time. How many Dragon Souls were there going to be now?

The last time he had encountered them, there had been multiple Dragon Souls per dragon. If they had the same again, would they be strong enough to withstand an attack?

Jason pulled upon the power within him, focusing on it, letting energy build within him. When it did, he turned and looked around. He squeezed, surging power away. Once again, there came a shimmering, a flickering as the illusion started to fade.

Jason added his own connection, his touch to the illusion, and he changed reality.

Janeya added to it.

He recognized the way she augmented him, the assistance she gave him.

Jason pulled upon that power, using it to help. As he did, he pushed again.

Suddenly, the shimmering around him solidified. Jason could make out people around him, a dozen Dragon Souls. They were dressed in dragonskin, and each of them had a glowing object clutched in hand. Dragon pearls. Power emanated from them, and he feared that the moment they were able to see him, they would target him, attacking him in unison. A dozen Dragon Souls should not be more than he could withstand, but it was not only him he feared for. It was the others with him and his concern to keep those dragons safe.

Distantly, he felt something more.

The north wind. The cold from high overhead. The energy of the ice dragon—only not necessarily from the ice dragon. He used that.

Flinging his arms out to either side, ice shot from him, streaking toward the Dragon Souls. He twisted, feeling the resistance around him starting to fade, shifting a little bit. Jason continued to