Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 4

*Rakota's POV*

I glared at the mages as they gathered around the cooking fire and finished setting up their tents. My muscles strained against the magicked restraints as if I was trying to lift a mountain as opposed to just tossing off a handful of ropes. They must have spent years creating the spells on this net.

I reached for my magic and bared my teeth in a silent snarl as the herbs still prevented me from using it. Magebane ferns were so rare I'd only ever seen five plants, so I wasn't sure how they had managed to find enough of it to drug the entire lake. As soon as I was free, I was going to check the area for more of the infernal plants and destroy them – after I took care of these impetuous whelps.

My claws dug into the soil as if it was the mages' bodies instead. How I wished the dragonkin could just kill all the humans and not have to put up with their foolishness ever again! The fire spell formed in my mind, but with my magic incapacitated by the blasted fern, nothing happened.

With a growl, I strained against the ropes again, fantasizing about tracking down every last human and wiping them off the face of the planet. These mages would be first and after that... My thoughts trailed off, knowing the other dragons would only allow me to destroy several cities before stopping me.

If all the humans died out, so would the dragons.

But nothing said we had to let them all live, and none of the magic rules prevented us from killing fools like these. They may have found a record of the three-day binding spell – one of the strongest the humans had ever created – but their scrolls apparently failed to mention the other spells needed to contain me during that time.

The fern's effects would wear off by morning and then they would learn the true power of dragons. I'd bring their plans crashing down around their ears and savor the fear in their-

Clink. An arrow skittered across the ground and stopped by my hand, interrupting my thoughts. I tried to turn my head, but the netting held me bound. I waited impatiently since something unexpected was happening.

Clink. Another arrow hit a stone. My hearing was keen and let me track the various arrows. As best I could tell, the shooter was aiming for the ropes and not at me. Not that I'd be able to feel an arrow if it hit me.

With each arrow, a tiny bit of magedebt built, so faint I could barely detect it. My lip curled up in disdain; even with my magic unusable, the magic rules still demanded that a favor be returned. I could easily ignore something like this without repercussions, especially since the person didn't show themselves. The magic would assume they chose to remain anonymous.

I impatiently waited as arrow after arrow whizzed through the air without any of the ropes loosening.

Then silence.

If this was one of the mages taunting me, I was going to-

The rapid patter of leather shoes interrupted my thoughts, and the magedebt suddenly skyrocketed. The twang of a rope being cut was like music to my ears. The magics pinning me down became weakened and were no longer balanced.

As much as I wanted to shred through the remaining anchor ropes and netting, I waited. Another twang rewarded my waning patience. Then another, and another. Each one further disrupted the spells trapping me.

I shifted the slightest amount, wondering if my stillness would trick the human into cutting more ropes. My escape wasn't in question now, but if a few more were cut, I could do so with style. The footsteps hesitated, then resumed their hasty pace.

The netting became loose enough that the rope no longer made any sound when cut. The human finally came within my sight; a young female whose fear soured the air. Her eyes never left the campfires as she swung her knife at another anchor rope.