Night Dragon An Epic Fantasy Adventure - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,9
“I know.”
“What else do you want me to do?”
She took a deep breath, resting her hands on the table. “I don’t know. The last time the dragons of Lorach moved, we think it was because they uncovered the egg. Or they went to hatch an egg. Or… I don’t know.” She shook her head, staring at the page. “This time, I don’t really know why they continue to move. I don’t know what they intend to find.”
“Maybe they aren’t trying to find anything,” Jason suggested.
“They have to be after something,” Sarah said. “The way they’re moving suggests enough activity that they have uncovered something.” She pulled the page out and Jason stared at it, realizing that it looked something like a map. There were crosses and arrows and strange lines squiggling all over. Sarah pointed to one section. “Here’ the edge of the forest. It looks like they continue to sweep along the edge, heading back and forth, almost as if they’re searching for something.”
“For us,” Jason said.
“Maybe, but what if they’re looking for something else?”
“What else do you think they might be after? We’re hidden here,” he said.
“We are, but think about what Lorren was doing.” She tapped on the page. “This is where he’d been hiding.”
“Not so much hiding, as…” Jason realized what she was getting at.
Lorren had been in the same place not long before his death. He hadn’t been hiding. Lorren didn’t fear the Dragon Souls. He had been willing to take the fight to them, willing to attack. Then again, Lorren had been after both the egg and the misfits. Maybe not the night dragon—not at first—but when he’d learned of it, he had wanted it as well.
If the people of Lorach, the Dragon Souls, were out there now, had they uncovered something?
He studied the page but he wasn’t able to determine just what was written there. It was too strange, too difficult to make much out. “I can go and see what’s there.”
She held his gaze, not bothering to hide the hurt in her eyes. “You would do that, but you wouldn’t search for my parents?”
“I’m not sure being gone for long stretches of time searching for your parents is the safest thing, not with the—”
“The dragon. I know.”
“It’s not only him.” His protestation sounded weak, even to him. “And you understand just how unique this dragon is.”
“I understand how unique all of the dragons you have a connection to are. There isn’t anything you are willing to do to sacrifice them.”
“This isn’t about sacrificing them or not. This is about trying to ensure that the people of Lorach—and Jessica in particular—don’t gain the dragons to use. We can’t have them getting those dragons, using them against us, and finding a way to harm us.”
So far, they had only managed to influence the storm dragon, but even that had nearly been devastating. Therin had nearly killed the iron dragon, though had not corrupted him. Jason worried what would happen if they were to find a way to use their magic differently and harm his friends. He couldn’t imagine trying to battle dragons he now considered friends.
What would happen if he were to have to try to combat the ice or the iron or the forest dragon? He certainly wouldn’t take the tactic Lorren had taken. He had wanted to destroy the dragons rather than allow the Dragon Souls to gain access to them.
“I’m willing to do whatever you need me to do to see if there’s anything that we can uncover here,” Jason said, tracing his finger along the border. “I could do that and return the same day.” He looked up, meeting Sarah’s eyes. “Anything else, and I don’t know if I could return in the same day.”
“Why do you need to return each day?”
“Because the night dragon continues to push on the illusion I’ve formed. In time, I worry he’s going to be able to break free of it.”
“Aren’t you testing him to ensure he can’t?”
“I am testing him, but I still don’t know if there’s going to be a point in time when he’s going to be too strong for me to be able to do anything to keep him confined within the forest.”
Even in that, Jason didn’t like that he was confining the dragon, holding him in place. Eventually, he wanted the night dragon to be able to fly freely, the same way the other dragons did. Only, he had no idea what else would happen then with that dragon.