Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 39

*Rakota's POV*

I watched Victorya land while Qwest kept gliding past, opting to enjoy the open air as opposed to cramming himself into the clearing. There was room for him, especially with Andar once again curled into a ball of green scales, but it would have been crowded.

"Brandon still has the spellbook," Diondin told her. "I assume all the runes are taken care of?"

"Yes," she replied, turning our way. "We made sure every scrap of leather was burned and every carving and painting was destroyed beyond recovery. All that's left is the spell book."

Brandon came over and held out the tiny wad of yellowing paper. Pinching it between the sides of her claws, Victorya transferred it to her hand and peered at it.

"I have no idea how humans can read anything that small," she muttered, shaking her head. "I have an anchor rune in the library, so I'll send it there for them to analyze. I assume you'll stay here the night?"

"We'll make better time in the morning," I said with a shrug. "Grandel wasn't hit by the magic numbing spells, and he plans to leave later this afternoon. Diondin and Serepha already said they'd spend the night here."

She nodded. "In that case, I'll see you along the coast in three days after you detour to that city." She glanced toward the humans sitting around a fire. "Or possibly two, if my intuition is correct."

I bared my teeth in a grin. "Perhaps."

Serepha's head perked up at that, excitement shining in her eyes as she looked at me for confirmation. When I nodded, she shifted closer, curling up against my side. I draped my wing over her back, enjoying the closeness and the feelings it created.

Victorya chuckled. "Well, I'm going to send this book off and catch up to Qwest."

She balanced the book in her hand as she hobbled to the lakeshore to cast the sending spell.

Diondin smiled as he got to his feet. "I think I'll go hunting." In a quieter voice, he added, "I think you chose well." With that, he jumped into the air and soared away, giving us some privacy.

"I'd been hoping," Serepha murmured as she cuddled against me.

"It's why I started frequenting the Dragon Landings and offering rides," I replied quietly. "I love being around you, and I've been wanting a family more with every passing year."

"Me too. I kept waiting for you." She nuzzled her head against mine, then glanced at Katerina. "I don't even mind this human. I think Diondin is right. She's a good choice. Does she know?"

"No, I've tried to bring it up, but the magic prevents it. Even Brandon couldn't tell her. As much as I don't want to, I'll probably have to trick her into agreeing. It could take a bit of time for her to adapt, but I don't think it will be as hard for her as it was for many with noble blood."

"She already seems to fit in with the other riders," Serepha commented. "Most riders are tricked into accepting. It might take her a bit to get over the shock, but they all do after a while. The younger ones are more adaptable, and she doesn't look that old. Victorya said they aren't that different from nestlings."

"We'll find out. I just need my magic to work properly and get the wording right to trigger the spell."

She rubbed her head against mine without replying. My gaze moved back to the human who was the key to our future family. Unaware of my decision, Katerina continued cooking bread over a small fire while chatting with Brandon and Randel.

The pile of shredded branches behind them was more than sufficient. Kat would have been able to gather enough deadfall since she didn't need the fire all night, but Serepha made sure the potential rider had the basic necessities while the lingering traces of the immobilization spell hindered me.

I checked my magic, but it was still out of my reach. The heaviness of magedebt was starting to come through, so the spells were already beginning to wear off. I would be back to normal by morning.

I curled my tail around Serepha as I daydreamed of nestlings running around an aerie. Our aerie. The words seemed so right, like it was meant to be. Perhaps having a human around wouldn't be as bad as I had feared.

~

       The faint rustle of cloth being rolled up informed me that Katerina had woken. I would have preferred to cuddle with Serepha overnight, but there would be time for that once we built an aerie and Kat had her own cave to keep her warm and dry. Humans were a lot like nestlings whose scales hadn't hardened, and I had seen a few get wet during long flights and quickly sicken.

I waited a bit longer, then raised my wing to see her sitting beside me. "Good morning, Kat."

She blinked, still not quite sure how to react to the nickname. "Good morning, Rakota."

"We have a long flight ahead of us, so you'll want to make enough bread to last until this evening."

"Thank you for the warning." She picked up her backpack, and with a covered yawn, walked toward the firepit.

It took a mere flick of magic to set the few remaining pieces of wood on fire before she crossed the short distance. Thankfully, the magic numbing spell had completely worn off. After nodding at Kat's thank-you, I stood up and stretched, digging my claws deep into the dirt and spreading my wings as wide as they'd go.

The lingering traces of stiffness were normal after not moving all night and would disappear shortly. Nothing hampered my magic, but the amount of magedebt underneath was staggering.

I'd never seen magedebt build so quickly, although I knew it would be high after how she had tried to protect me against shadow mages when she had no magic to defend herself. There was too much for even a two-day flight to negate. It was a good thing a rider bond would cancel it and prevent any future debt.

I folded my wings and regarded the human who was busily adding more wood to the fire. Since the other two riders were still sleeping, I sat down and leaned my head closer to the flames, which earned me a somewhat confused look from Kat.

"It'll be a two-day flight to Emerson city, even on dragonwing. Are you going into the city itself or a place nearby?"

"Anywhere will work, although I'd prefer landing somewhere without people so they don't think I'm a rich noble. I don't mind walking, so it doesn't have to be close."

"That didn't really answer my question," I replied dryly. "But I was also going to ask if you minded taking a detour and helping me. I need a human's assistance with something."

Her eyebrows furrowed, and instead of blindly agreeing like quite a few riders did, she said, "Surely there are lots of people willing to help dragons or who could be hired? Some might even do it for bragging rights."

"You shot arrows at three shadow mages," I said, putting some amusement into my voice despite how focused I was on this conversation, "surely you're brave enough to work with a dragon, right?"

"We can detour if you want, but I'd rather not encounter any more shadow mages," she said. "I think I've had enough close calls for one lifetime."

The spell shimmering in my mind went dark without the proper trigger. Blast it. Not only had she completely skirted around the rider topic and my hopes of bringing up such a discussion, but she had also avoided any mention of working with me or being willing to help me that would have let me cast the rider bonding spell, which had been my backup plan. 

Yet her words were too ironic for me to get irritated. A close call indeed, even if she hadn't been aware of the powerful spell I'd been forming while she spoke.

To the side, Diondin lifted his wing as Brandon woke up. There would be time to try again later, and my last attempts hadn't worked, so I needed to come up with some better plans.

"I'm going hunting. I'll be back soon," I told her as I took off, making sure the downwash from my wings was angled away from the fire.