Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 22

*Katerina's POV*

I sat back down, unsure of what to do now that the dragons were pretty much confining us to the clearing. Simply knowing I wasn't allowed to go far made me restless, which made no sense since this meadow was so large that seven dragons had plenty of room to spread out without coming near our corner.

Trying to distract myself, I asked Brandon, "Do they usually hunt for you?"

"Usually. I have a couple of snares in my belt pouch, but I rarely have to use them. They're good hunters and don't mind sharing part of a kill."

I shifted side to side restlessly. Whenever I was nervous, stressed, or my mind refused to settle, I needed something to keep my hands busy, and this was one of those times. I looked around, trying to find something constructive to do.

There was nothing more I could do to the shelter, and it was too early to start cooking bread. But my waterskin was almost empty.

I stood up. "I need to refill my water."

As I dug the two pots out of my backpack, Brandon checked his waterskin. "I'm just about out too." He also got to his feet.

Randel continued to stare at the flames as we left.

Brandon and I walked in companionable silence. As we got closer to the water, we both slowed down and exchanged a look.

"There's no naga in there, right?" I asked nervously. "I know I got water from here this morning, but after the earlier events..."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It makes you cautious."

"It's clear," a deep voice said from the side. "We checked it when we came back. There's no naga within a five-minute flight of here and Qwest is checking farther afield." The blue dragon had its head turned to watch us walk past.

"Uh, thank you," I said, not used to speaking with the other dragons and even more unsure of why we weren't allowed to wander if they'd checked the area.

"Thanks, Diondin," Brandon said, relaxing.

"That kind of looks like watercress from here," I said, pointing to a clump of greenery quarterway around the lake. "Feel like checking it out?"

"Sure. It's been a while since I had watercress."

My nerves were tightly strung and I flinched every time a fish or frog splashed in the water nearby, dimly calling to mind the days following my parents' deaths when I'd also been jittery and on edge. Dragonflies zipped around us like aerial jewels as we walked on the sandy shore.

"What are you thinking?" Brandon quietly asked, also glancing at the ripples where a fish had jumped.

"All sorts of things. Like how many more naga might be around and if I'll ever be able to approach water again without wondering if one is waiting to ambush me. I don't understand why they attack humans without any sort of provocation."

"Because killing all the humans is the easiest way for them to eventually wipe out the dragons," Brandon murmured.

"Huh?" I stared at him, unable to figure out what he meant.

He shrugged. "It's why the dragons spend so much effort and magic keeping the naga out of the lands held by humans. From what I've heard, a very long time ago, there was a great war when the naga managed to take over the land between the sea and the western mountains. The dragons protected the foothills and eventually forced them back into the ocean, but every human between those places was killed."

"But that's a huge area. It'd take me two months to walk that far."

"That's how few humans were left. Just look at how fast we build and multiply, and yet, the areas to the east are almost completely uninhabited."