Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 29

*Rakota's POV*

Victorya used a claw to trace a line in the sand. "–and the humans should be able to check all these villages by the end of tomorrow if we leave early in the morning."

"That's as good of a plan as any," Qwest said. "Have the mages tried another finding spell with that arrow yet?"

"No," I replied. "But I'm keeping my senses open in hopes."

We all glanced over to where Brandon and Katerina were scrubbing the pots with handfuls of sedges. They weren't moving very fast after all the bread they ate, and judging by how long it was taking them, the burnt bits stuck to the bottoms weren't cooperating.

The off-key singing in the other direction grew louder, which was another plausible reason for their delay. Most animals were quiet when they buried their droppings, but apparently Randel felt he had to entertain himself. It was an odd habit I hadn't seen another human display, and one I hoped to never encounter again.

I would have tossed Randel into the lake a dozen times by now, although neither Brandon nor Katerina had aggravated me in such a fashion. Brandon was far more courteous and easy-going than the other riders I'd encountered, and it was making me rethink my long-held assumption that all riders were annoying.

Was having a family worth being stuck with a rider?

Humans were a race I had barely tolerated all my years. Could I handle one being around on a daily basis? With the bond, neither dragon nor rider could remain apart for more than a few days without consequences, so it wasn't like I'd be able to just leave her somewhere for extended periods of time.

If her presence became irritating, it was only a temporary inconvenience since humans usually didn't live over a century. Most dragons didn't bother using spells to extend their rider's lifespan since it used a lot of magic and only gave them another century or so.

But a rider would allow me to have a family. I'd always loved Serepha's personality; we'd grown up in the same area and had gone on adventures with each other as fledglings. If I had been asked who I wanted to spend my years with, it would have been her.

She knew I'd started offering flights at the Dragon Landings to see if I could tolerate a rider. Many couldn't. Humans were very different from dragonkin, and the bonding spell couldn't simply be recast with a new individual if it didn't work out. Nor could a bond be undone.

Most dragonesses didn't want to deal with the headache of a rider bond on top of the usual motherhood stresses, so that duty was usually left to their partners. The more I considered it, the more I realized that Katerina hadn't really been a headache so far.

The differences were only made clearer by Randel's singing emanating from behind a clump of bushes. Still, this wasn't a decision to be made lightly, and it might be worthwhile having another chat with Qwest to ensure I was thinking things through sufficiently.

A deep rumble overhead made everyone glance at the dark clouds blocking out the remains of the sunset. A flash of lightning and a sharper crack of thunder announced the storm's arrival.

"You two better hurry up," Diondin called out. "The water isn't a safe place in a lightning storm."

Seconds later, the humans were walking away from the lake, proof that they had been purposely avoiding their companion's bathroom serenade. A few raindrops began falling, leaving tiny ripples on the lake's surface as a warning of the deluge to come.

"Is the shelter on fire?" Katerina asked, craning her neck as she started jogging. I turned my head toward their campsite. I'd seen Randel add a lot of wood before disappearing into the bushes and had assumed all the fire was from the campfire, but now I saw that the wooden shelter behind it was engulfed in flames.