Tricked Into Flight

Chapter 49

*Katerina's POV*

Hours passed as Rakota glided alongside the shoreline. His flight wasn't as smooth as usual, and his jaws were parted as he panted. Despite the growing strain, he remained focused on the cliff. It continued to rise into the air as we flew over it. Behind us, it remained as tall and wide as it had been when we started.

Almost fifty dragons flew around us, and I couldn't even begin to guess how many naga thronged in the sea as they continued to launch volleys of arrows and spells. Another bolt of lightning flashed out of the sky to strike the water, but like every other time, a green shimmer hazed across the surface, and none of the naga were harmed. Their spellcasters were forced to abandon their attack to block the strike, but that was about it.

The water in one spot bulged as another turtle broke through the surface, just as large as the last four turtles we'd seen. This one had some sort of catapult and a rock on its back instead of the ballista, and like the others, the projectile glowed with spells.

Several dragons immediately converged on the turtle. Fire flared in front of the turtle's face, and it ducked its head beneath the water, although it didn't dive like its previous friend had when faced with such a tactic.

Another dragon dove down and dropped several trees onto the weapon. As the naga fought to pull the interfering branches off, a second dragon swooped down and slashed at several naga as it darted past. Blood stained the water red as the other sea creatures disappeared beneath the waves to avoid their winged adversary. Two thrashed at the surface in death throes, slowly sinking.

Serepha glided closer. "Rakota, you need to take a break. Several of us have set up shields along the shore ahead to keep the naga from getting through. You can rest for a while."

He glanced at her, blinking as if waking from a dream. The ground ahead stopped moving as he shook his head and looked around. He tilted his wings and banked toward a large clearing. He stumbled a bit as he landed and sank to his stomach, still breathing hard. I frowned when he halfway folded his wings with a wince.

"Are you okay?" I asked, slowly undoing the harness straps.

"I've never shaped this much stone before," he replied ruefully. "It takes a lot of concentration, and the magic leaves a residual afterburn in my muscles."

A silver dragon landed nearby. "You're going to have to take more breaks or you'll burn out before you run out of magic. You've already protected an impressive stretch of the coastline."

"As much as I don't like admitting it, you're right," Rakota grumbled.

"It'll take you several days regardless of what you do," the other dragon pointed out, "so taking a short break every hour won't slow you down much, but it will let you get much farther. Your rider will probably appreciate the stops."

Rakota glanced back at me. "How are you holding up?"

I shrugged self-consciously. "Still here. But I need a trip behind the bushes. Is it safe?"

Considering how many naga I had seen in the ocean, I wasn't about to leave Rakota's back without some sort of reassurance.

His eyes unfocused for a second before he said, "Yes, but don't go far."

"I don't plan to," I replied as he shifted one wing back far enough for me to climb down from the saddle.

As I walked toward the trees, I stretched to loosen up my legs. With dozens of dragons circling overhead, the forest here was probably safe, but I only went far enough inside that those in the clearing couldn't see me. When I returned, the silver dragon was gone, and only Rakota and Serepha remained.

"How long is the coast?" I asked as I moved a loaf from my main backpack compartment to a side pocket to snack on later.

"It will take at least four days. One more day to the north, then it meets with the natural cliffs. We'll head back south to where we started, then continue until we're far into the desert, which will probably take two days if I don't run out of magic by then." Rakota lowered his head to look me in the eye; since he knew my secret, I didn't avert my gaze as he told me. It was so strange to finally be able to look people in the eye. "All the magic you saved up will be used to protect humans."

"Is there enough magic to do this?" I quietly asked.

"I'm not sure. If nothing else, there will be a lot less shoreline to protect, and we can always return to keep working on it."

"I'd like that. I don't want the naga to kill anyone else."

"Then we have something in common. I've already spent decades fighting the naga and making sure they didn't sneak inland. This cliff will make our job much easier."

"Can they dig under it? Some rivers go underground."

"It's bedrock as far down as I can sense, and I sealed a handful of tunnels. Several others are casting alarm spells on the wall in case they try chiseling through it or beneath it."

"I saw you block smaller streams and make the larger rivers wider and shallower. Is that so you can spot the naga more easily?"

"That's one reason, but it also makes it easier to fight them. Naga are quite vulnerable on land or in shallow water. Their magic doesn't work nearly as well, and one slash of our claws can kill several, which is handy if some warriors run low on magic. I made all the rivers along the coast shallow enough for them to land in the water to fight."

"That makes sense. It seems like there's never enough magic to go around."

"There isn't, and it isn't easy to get. Which is another reason why I wanted to build this wall before anyone asked me to share some."

It felt unfair that he hadn't asked me what I wanted to do with my magic, but even if he had asked, I would have requested something to protect humans from the naga, so he was already ahead of me. I was grateful for the effort he was putting in, and it wasn't like I could use my magic. I was a Wellspring. It simply wasn't possible for me to cast spells, and asking a mage for anything was like putting a target on my back.

Changing the topic, I held up my empty waterskin. "Is there any water nearby?"

"No, but there's a stream farther ahead. I could use a drink as well."

I climbed back into the saddle, and after a glance at Rakota, who was watching like always, I grinned mischievously and put the shoulder straps on top of the secondary ones. He gave me a long look, and when I didn't change the arrangement, he leapt straight into the sky without warning.

The straps pulled tight with the speed of our takeoff. But they held. Not a single stitch came undone. As I had suspected, the order didn't matter. He flipped upside down mid-flight, and I laughed aloud even though many others would have screamed. His eyes held amusement as he glanced back and settled into a proper glide.

The ground shifted once again, although slower, matching our pace as we approached a shallow creek. Like every other stream, the trees had been cleared back, likely to give the dragons more time to spot a naga if one tried to swim up it.

A shimmer of blue along the shore marked the shield that currently kept the naga on the other side. As Rakota landed – with far more grace this time – I sent an uneasy look at the creatures trying to break through the magical barrier. He must have noticed since he walked farther upstream before crouching down to let me off.