Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 50

*Katerina's POV*

As my feet touched the ground, a distant roar had me looking over my shoulder as a huge snake-like creature reared out of the water. Its head was eerily dragon-like, but it had no arms or legs.

"Sea serpent," Rakota muttered. "Where are the bindings... Ah, there."

The serpent immediately began attacking the naga around it.

"You should save your magic," a strange female voice said. "You might be able to manipulate rock fairly easily, but many can't."

I turned around as half a dozen dragons landed behind us in a semi-circle. To my surprise, Rakota didn't grumble or attempt to defend his actions, he merely bowed his head.

"I see you finally picked a rider," the same voice said, which I could now identify as belonging to the light green dragon whose scales had streaks of gray around the edges, giving her an interesting dappled effect. "I wasn't aware Wellsprings still existed. Her magic glows brightly."

"She isn't shielding currently," Rakota said. "Andar, Serepha, and Diondin can all confirm how well her magic was hidden."

"I know. I was helping farther down the coast when she lowered her shields, although I sensed her power through your spells when I arrived earlier."

Rakota glanced down at me. "Kat, these are some of the dragonkin elders."

"Er, it's nice to meet you," I said, bowing my head and hoping they didn't realize my words were a complete lie. So much for keeping my abilities a secret.

"I was hoping you would show up," Rakota told them. "As you can see, Kat is a Wellspring, and both of us have some concerns. Are you able to spare a few minutes?"

The green dragon's gaze went to the rock wall, to me, then rested on Rakota. "Considering you two are single-handedly turning the tide of the looming war, I can spare as many minutes as you require."

He inclined his head in thanks. "Kat is likely not the only Wellspring in existence, and she is understandably concerned about her relatives and any others who might have the ability. If you are willing to hear me out, I would like to put forth a proposal to protect the Wellsprings and any in their bloodline."

"We're listening," she replied, as she and the other elderly dragons watched us with intent patience.

"The biggest challenge the Wellsprings face is the lack of safety. They constantly avoid mages for fear of detection, and if the mages ever discover them, they have no protection against the power-hungry ones."

"If they avoided mages, they likely didn't approach healers either," she mused. "Some might have died from illnesses or injuries that could have been easily healed."

Rakota nodded. "Since dragonkin already know of their ability, they have no reason to avoid us, assuming certain protections are put in place to create trust. We have previously never allowed humans to enter the dragonlands, but I can't see anyone objecting to letting Wellsprings and their families build villages in certain areas."

"It would be easy to protect such areas from invaders or shadow mages," she agreed. "And there would be other advantages. I see no issue in allowing this."

Rakota took a deep breath. "They must be able to trust us to not trick them into becoming a rider. There would have to be rules about them bringing up that topic and clearly wanting that honor."

The green dragon gave him a long look. "I think this is something the elders have to discuss. Rest here for a few minutes longer."

The group of dragons walked farther into the meadow. I remained by Rakota's front leg, watching them uneasily.