*Rakota's POV*

I took a drink from the lake and lifted my head as Victorya came over.

She stretched her wings, then folded them up. "The stiffness is fading, but slowly. That spell packed a serious punch. I'll know not to rely on my amulet so much next time."

"It should wear off by morning," I replied, glancing at Andar, who was still curled into a ball of green scales and pointedly ignoring the world as he had been since we landed.

I made a mental note to check for mage sight wards next time and remove those so the mages couldn't easily target him. His inability to cast while doing evasive maneuvers would always make him an easy target in a fight. He wasn't the only dragon around with that issue, but it was never a fun position to be in. There was no point in trying to cheer him up by reminding him that such single-minded focus also meant his spells hit hard and weren't as easy to block.

Past him, the humans were keeping themselves entertained in their camp. Randel seemed mesmerized by the sparks he kept creating, although no fire appeared, so I wasn't sure if he was just bored or actually trying to accomplish something.

Brandon wasn't a rider I had met before, and from what I had seen so far, he seemed more easy-going than most. If nothing else, he was getting along with Katerina as they worked on her new shelter.

It was interesting to watch. Not just the construction, but how they interacted. Randel and most riders wouldn't have done any more work than absolutely necessary, but Brandon seemed to be enjoying it. He helped collect branches and sometimes held them in place while Katerina secured them, but she was the one who was actually constructing it. He was just offering a helping hand.

This shelter was turning into another half-dome type, but it was longer with more room underneath. Katerina was also weaving more live branches into the frame to lock everything together. There was a decent chance it would hold its shape even if I rolled it upside down again.

Randel suddenly threw the rod and flint onto the ground with a frustrated huff. The tools bounced off the stones surrounding the pit and rolled a short distance away. Katerina and Brandon frowned at his abuse of the borrowed items. They weren't the only ones to take notice; Andar lifted his head and bestowed an unhappy glare upon his rider.

I felt the flicker of magic just before the wood burst into flames. The rider tossed a branch into the firepit, his tantrum forgotten now that the cause had been fixed. I frowned when I noticed that he hadn't even bothered thanking Andar for starting the fire. With an unimpressed snort, the green dragon curled back up, apparently going back to sleep.

Randel got up and grabbed as much wood as he could from the woodpile and dumped it in the firepit. He made a second trip while Katerina picked up her fire-starting tools.

When he went for even more wood, Katerina said, "Uh, Randel, we don't need that much wood on the fire."

"Why not? Bonfires are great."

"It's warm out, and we might need that wood later tonight when it gets colder."

"Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms as he watched the flames spread through the waist-high pile he'd already put in the firepit.

When the fire-obsessed rider didn't argue, the other two continued working on the shelter. Serepha stretched as she got up, having been woken from her nap. I was about to ask her if she wanted to go hunting with me when magic brushed against my senses, accompanied by faint chiming similar to a crystal being struck.

"I've got a long-distance communication," I told the others as I linked my magic to the spell to open the connection. They would have sensed it, but it was considered polite in case they had magical shields in place for some reason. I wandered away so they wouldn't have to listen to a one-sided conversation.

"Rakota," a familiar voice greeted me, "how are you doing?"

"Well enough. I presume you're keeping out of trouble?"

"Too busy to get into trouble. I don't suppose you happen to be near the coast, by chance?"

"No, but I'll be going that direction in a couple of days. Why?"

"We're starting to see a lot of naga activity where the central river meets the sea. We could use a hand. I'm making more calls, but if you find anyone else who is bored and has some magic to spare, please ask them to come along."

"How many people are you looking for?" I asked. There were normally half a dozen dragons near that place in case the naga tried to sneak up the river in several groups. I had helped the Sea Guard patrol the rivers and coastline for decades and had only seen about fifty naga during that time.

"As many as you can find. I've never seen this many naga before, and there's been glimpses of armored turtles and other creatures they control."

"Those turtles have only been seen once or twice since the last war. How many naga are there?"

"We aren't sure," he replied, his voice laced with frustration. "They keep retreating into the deeps, and they've got a handful of magic workers blocking any long-distance scrying spells."

"They could be amassing an entire battalion down there, and we wouldn't realize it until they breached the surface," I muttered. "Are we possibly looking at another war?"

"It's possible. They're up to something. We just don't know what. As things currently stand, we know there's more down there than what we can stop, so I want more people here before all hell breaks loose."

"I have six currently helping me hunt down shadow mages with a daydream of being mage riders, but once we take care of that, we can come help. It'll leave one outpost empty and several others with just one guard, but from what you're saying, I think we're needed more down there."

"A couple of naga sneaking along the river bottoms are the least of my worries when thousands are swarming off the coast."

"As soon as we finish with the mages, we'll come," I promised.

"Thanks. Safe travels."

With another faint crystalline chime, the connection faded. Shaking my head at the unwelcome news, I walked back to the others.

Serepha tilted her head. "The naga are rising again?"

"So it seems," I said. "As soon as the mages are taken care of, we're wanted by the coast. Lots of naga are swarming and even some turtles have been spotted."

"That's a lot of coastline to protect," Victorya commented. "Even if we guarded every river where it meets the ocean, they can sneak across the open beach and get inland. There simply aren't enough dragons to stop that sort of invasion."

"From what I was told, there are so many naga near the central river that they'd be able to get into the main tributary even if the regular guards saw them coming."

"I don't like the sound of that," she replied as her wings folded a bit tighter. "That river branches into a lot of others. The last time a couple dozen got past the guards, it took days to find them all, and even then, we missed one that destroyed several villages before we tracked it down."

"Exactly. We need to find those mages as soon as possible, then get our tails down there."

"I hope we don't waste too much magic fighting these mages," Victorya murmured. "We'll have to see if we can drain some of those pre-charged runes before they destroy them. They had a lot of magic stored inside."

"Or go back along the road and track down those hidden magic stones," I said.

"Don't touch them until we find the other mages," Victorya warned me. "They'll probably know if someone moves them or drains them."

"That's the only reason I didn't spend the afternoon looking for them," I retorted idly. "But I do need to go hunting. Can someone keep an eye on the human while I'm gone?"

"Sure," Serepha offered.

"Thanks," I said, a bit disappointed that she'd volunteered so quickly since I'd been hoping to ask if she wanted to come with me.

We both looked at the humans. Katerina and Brandon were still attaching branches to the half-built shelter, so they'd be entertained for a while. Randel kept sneaking pieces of wood into the fire whenever the other two weren't watching, but he was Andar's responsibility.

Stepping to the side, I jumped and spread my wings to glide over the lake. A few wingbeats took me skyward as I scanned the ground for anything appetizing.