Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 21

*Rakota's POV*

Diondin landed first and released the shield spell, letting the protective light disappear. He lowered his head to make sure his rider was completely healed and otherwise unharmed. As he did so, Katerina stepped away uneasily.

I also landed, spreading my wings and drifting down since there wasn't enough room to backwing properly. Using my tail, I pushed the snapped-off trees farther back to give myself a bit more space.

I glared at the blackened patch of grass and the remains of the naga on it. A naga! Here! It shouldn't have been possible, and it made no sense for it to be in such a shallow, remote creek. Reaching out with my claws, I rolled it over for a better look.

The body was almost three times as long as a human and covered in tough, flexible scales. It would have been easy for one like this to wipe out a small village overnight. I raised my head and narrowed my eyes as I realized it would have swam past several villages to get here, and yet, there hadn't been a single report of anything unusual. We'd flown over several of those locations, so I knew they were intact and had humans in them.

A glint of silver reflected the sun, and I scraped the tip of a claw over the dirt to investigate. An amulet on a broken chain emerged from where the naga had been laying. Suspiciously, I probed it with my magic senses.

Naga magic had an almost resinous feeling to it, but my magic was similar enough to power the finding spell anchored within the amulet. Dozens of thin threads pointed in all directions, with a much larger one pointing at Brandon and a slightly thinner one pointing to the east.

A growl rumbled through my chest when I realized it pointed to dragon riders and showed how close they were. I wanted Victorya to take a look at this thing, but there wasn't room for her to land, and as small as it was, I'd likely lose it during our flight.

After carefully checking it for any harmful magics, I picked it up between two claws and held it out to Katerina. "Hold this for me until we get back to the campsite."

"Okay..." She gingerly took it and wrapped it in a spare shirt before tucking it into her backpack.

Diondin's harness shimmered into view, so I also used a fetching spell to bring my harness to me. Brandon easily climbed up, not needing to be told after seeing his saddle materialize. Katerina was more hesitant, but already drifting closer with frequent glances at the naga.

I crouched down to let her climb on. As she secured the straps, I lay down to let the slightly smaller dragon take off easier. With a nod of thanks, he jumped into the air and spread his wings, letting his magic take him skyward without hitting Katerina with the downdraft. Once he was clear, I picked up the trident and also took off.

"Victorya," I said, "would you mind coming back to the camp? The naga had a pendant you'll want to see."

"I can. Qwest? Would you mind checking the area to see if more naga are around?"

The purple dragon veered away to fly above the creek, already beginning the search. It only took a minute to return to the campsite.

I let Katerina off and told her, "You can put the pendant on the ground."

She pulled it out of her backpack and placed it beside the trident. She quickly left and headed to the campfire Randel was tending. Brandon also went over, letting Diondin tell Andar what had happened.

Victorya brought her head so close to the pendant her chin almost touched the ground. "This thing tracks dragon riders..."

"What?" Diondin demanded, his head whipping around. "How?"

She ignored his tone, knowing it was due to his rider's close call. "Give me a few minutes to dig through the spell layers. I've never seen anything like this before and naga magic isn't the easiest to figure out."

While our spell expert was focused on the amulet, I nudged the trident with a claw and added, "And there's disruption spells on this that would make it harder for our magic to spot the naga holding it."

She glanced at it briefly. "The spells on that are a bit different than the ones they usually use. I'll take a closer look at it in a while."

I nodded and turned my head to check on the humans, who had gathered around the fire that had mysteriously grown larger under Randel's care. Katerina and Brandon were sitting in front of the shelter, and despite Randel's efforts to get them to speak, they didn't seem as talkative as usual, likely still shaken from the attack.

"It's like a mage seed crystal," Victorya said, still examining the amulet. "Only instead of it generating magic, they used the crystal to point to similar magics."

"You mean they killed a rider to make that?" Diondin growled as he glared at the offending object.

"Not necessarily killed. Just like when creating mage seed crystals, the rider likely survived the spell, although I can't see the naga letting them live."

"How old is it?" I asked. "No riders or dragons have been reported missing lately."

"Five or six decades, I think. If I had to guess, this one came from that dragon who was hit by a ballista bolt over the ocean. The rider's body was never found."

"There's no way they can make more amulets like that, right?" I pressed. It wasn't possible with mage seed crystals, and I seriously hoped it wasn't possible with an amulet like this. The implications were chilling. If the naga could replicate it, there were possibly dozens of them currently searching for an unguarded rider. If their spell casters got close enough, they might even be able to launch a ranged attack on a rider via the finding spell.

A bonding spell could only be cast once; if something happened to a rider, there were no second chances. That was another reason why both dragons in a pair didn't take riders at the same time. Not only did it give them more years to have children, but if an unexpected disaster happened, like an earthquake collapsing a cave, the partner still had the option to bond.

Thankfully, Victorya shook her head. "No. Not unless they caught another rider."

"We should send warnings to anyone who has a rider just in case there are more out there," Diondin said.

"I can fly back to the outpost and use the communication crystals," she replied. "I know a number of people, but I'm not sure I know them all."

As the two began listing names and comparing acquaintances, my gaze strayed back to the humans. Katerina and Brandon were on their feet, and Katerina was putting on her backpack. As occupied as Diondin was, he likely wasn't keeping tabs on his rider in the safety of the campsite, trusting Brandon to call his name or use the bond to get his attention if it was needed.

When the two of them began walking toward the trees, I called out, "Where are you going?"

"I was going to set up some snares close by," Katerina said, ducking her head. "There isn't enough flour left to make bread for all of us. I wasn't going far."

"I was going with her in case we saw anything unusual," Brandon added.

Judging by Diondin's sudden frown, he hadn't been listening to anything his rider said previously. "Don't go more than a stone's throw from the clearing," he told them. "We'll bring you something in a while."

"I was about to go hunting," Serepha said, "so I can bring some meat back."

Without waiting for a reply, she took to the air. I watched her leave in bemusement. It was odd for her to have volunteered so quickly, but even as I thought about it, I knew the reason behind it.

It was a bit of a role reversal; she was trying to show her support by bringing food for a potential rider even as I would have brought food to her if she wanted to remain with a new hatchling.

It was a subtle way of saying she was willing to consider courtship if I was ready.