Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 33

*Rakota's POV*

Diondin quickly caught up, being smaller and leaner than me. As he took the lead, the others were already angling their flight to the northeast to intercept us after my earlier call.

"Where are they?" Victorya asked, her communication spell touching each dragon so they could also hear her.

"Northeast," Diondin replied. "At least seven, but I'm hoping all of them are there. I need to get closer to tell, but I think they're in that large ravine ahead. How do we want to do this?"

"I'm positive they'll have a few immobilization spells waiting, so be ready to dodge those if you can," Victorya replied. "The smoke helped us see them last time. Who wants to cast that when we get in range?"

"I can," Serepha offered. "Oh, look at all those shielding spells. There's so many they're blocking my mage senses."

"Those shields weren't there earlier, so they must have just triggered them. It looks like they've been preparing for our arrival," Victorya said grimly.

"If it comes to the point where only one person is left standing, fly to the nearest outpost and use the communications crystals," Qwest murmured. "It shouldn't come to that, but the last three mages put up more of a fight than we expected."

"I'll glide in and land on that outcropping," Andar said sourly. "If I can't block an immobilization spell, I'll be out of their reach and still be able to see and cast."

I nodded absently, taking note of his plans, but primarily focused on my own strategy. It would depend on what they threw my way, but I had an entire arsenal of maneuvers, spells, and counter-spells at my disposal. I had more than enough magic to power them, and I certainly wasn't about to hold back, but I also wasn't about to waste it if I had to deal with naga in a few days.

"Yes, they're down there," Diondin said as he cautiously circled the large ravine. "There's at least one cave, possibly more."

"All seven?" Victorya asked.

"Yes, and I'm hoping the other two are also present so we don't have to keep searching for them."

"Who here is the best at containment shields?" she asked. "I don't want one or two sneaking away."

"If a lightning zapper will suffice, I'm decent at those," Grandel said.

"That'll work. If it knocks them out or kills them, great. If not, at least we'll notice them trying to slip away. Let us know when you have it set up."

My eyes scanned the shrubs and steep rocky outcroppings as I tried to spot the mages through their various shields.

"We're not going to be able to bypass those shields," I told Victorya. "We'll have to knock them down."

"I know, but their barrier also keeps them from sensing our spells. Wait until we're ready in case we have any lingering element of surprise."

While waiting for Grandel to finish casting, I checked the shields and located various weak points. They had put some effort into these, but they had missed a few spots that needed reinforcement. They clearly lacked the decades of practice I had in shredding through the naga's spells.

"It's in place," Grandel finally said.

"Are we ready?" Victorya asked. When we all nodded, she said, "Let's go!"

Andar drove straight for the shields as he attacked the weak spots I was also targeting. The shields fell in quick succession under our assault, dropping even before Andar reached the airspace they had covered.

Right as the last one shattered, four immobilization spells blasted out. At such close range, there wasn't enough time for Andar to cast a counter-spell before one struck him square in the chest. I rapidly cast spells to make him lighter and release his muscles so he could land instead of crashing.

None of the remaining spells were heading my way, but my companions scattered. Smoke began billowing out from under a rocky overhang as Serepha pinpointed their location. The faint shimmer of protective shields betrayed the mages' hiding spot.

I continued aiding Andar until he belly flopped onto the gravel near a shallow stream. It wasn't an ideal spot, but he hadn't been able to reach the ledge and he hadn't crashed into any large boulders. Randel was already sliding out of the saddle to take shelter behind the green dragon since he was a sitting duck if the mages sent any attacks his way.

Now that they were on the ground, I turned my attention to the mages, promptly doing a wingover to avoid another immobilization spell. As I straightened out, something struck my shields and brushed against a wingtip.

My wing rapidly became heavier and didn't respond as readily. I snarled at the mages' new tactic as I hastily began counter-casting to stop the spread of the second immobilization spell that had followed so closely behind the first it had been invisible to my mage senses.

Various fire and lightning spells kept striking the shields at the cave entrance. I narrowed my eyes as I examined it. Each attack shattered a shield, but an identical one was right behind it and promptly expanded to replace one before it. A self-generating layer shield.

There was no way to sense what was beyond it, so we were unable to attack the generating spell directly. It was a clever set up, and the shields were strong. The strongest I had ever seen a human mage cast.

Small orbs of blue crackling light erupted through the shield without harming it, forcing my companions to dodge the unusual attacks. The rapid-fire attack kept sending more in our direction. I sideslipped to avoid two headed my way. Andar raised his shields as six struck his defenses, then his shield faded as if trying to lure in more such attacks.

"Don't let those hit you or your shields!" Victorya shouted. "They'll numb your magic senses and make it harder to cast!"

My eyes widened as I realized that Andar hadn't intentionally lowered his shields. The attacks he'd been hit by were preventing him from casting. For the first time, I began to wonder if we'd be the clear winners. Normally, if Andar was stationary and able to concentrate, it was nearly impossible to block one of his attacks. If he was unable to cast, we were already down one fighter.

"Since when can humans cast spells like that?" Grandel demanded, his wings straining as he also avoided the numerous attacks that kept passing through the shields.

"They were last seen during the Shadow Mage Wars, so they must have found an old spell book," Victorya replied, also dodging them. She fired several small fireballs at the blue orbs whizzing her way, and they immediately detonated. "Aha! They're easy to counter with any small spell! Just make sure it's one you don't actively control when it hits."

I glanced skyward. "Grandel, if you can keep those things off me, I'll start molding the rock and expose the cave."

"Pull back so you aren't so close."

"It's some sort of sedimentary rock. I have to stay closer so I can sense more than one layer at a time."

He grumbled but tiny fireballs began flying past me to intercept the magic-numbing spells. As I started peeling back layers of rock above where I thought the cave was, Victorya, Qwest, and Serepha darted lower, trying to distract the mages so they wouldn't notice what I was doing.