*Rakota's POV*

I grappled with my unresponsive muscles, beyond frustrated at having to watch the battle take place in front of me and being unable to help. Once one mage fell, it didn't take Serepha long to overpower the second one. I still didn't know where the third had gotten to, but considering his plans and my inability to move, I was happier with him absent.

Red wings blocked my view of the smoke-filled sky as Serepha landed heavily beside me and nuzzled my head. All I could do was blink at her and release a slow breath as thanks.

"The mages are dead, unless one or two are still trapped in the rubble," she murmured as her eyes focused and unfocused with spells I couldn't sense. "Katerina looked fine. She's hiding with Randel over by Andar. The spell shield must still be keeping Victorya, Qwest, and Diondin out. Once you can move, I'll try figuring out which rune is powering it."

I tried flexing my claws and found I was able to do that now. It was a struggle to lift my head, but it was possible after Serepha had undone some of the immobilization spell's bindings. I breathed a sigh of relief now that I wasn't completely helpless.

"You have good timing." My words were a bit slurred, but I could at least speak.

She bared her teeth in pride, although her eyes remained unfocused as she kept casting.

"You should drain those runes before they use all the magic," I told her.

She hesitated, then nodded and began walking over to the various runes, most of which were still firing attacks into the billows of thick smoke. I frowned at the slabs of stone the three mages had dropped. Most were blank, having been used up against Serepha, but some were still charged. It was a pity my magic senses were shut down since I would have liked to examine them.

I spread my wings with difficulty, then folded them. Flying wasn't possible, especially without my magic, but the movement would help loosen the spell until Serepha returned.

I watched Serepha as she minced around the various glowing runes. One by one, they went dark as she siphoned the stored magic. The shield finally disappeared, and she gazed skyward until the silhouette of a dragon could be seen. Her jaws moved as she spoke with whoever it was.

Moments later, Victorya and Qwest cautiously drifted through the clearing smoke and began digging through the remains of the cave. Diondin landed near Andar, likely to help free the green dragon from the immobilization spell.

I tried standing, but my legs simply didn't have the strength. At least I could move my neck and head. I scanned the boulders to the side, finally spotting the third mage. I made a mental note to get someone to check him for more pre-charged runes and burn the body. Maybe even roll that boulder on top of him for good measure.

Flares of magic and color emerged from runes as the three dragons sifted through them, examined them, then drained them.

"What are your thoughts, Victorya?" I asked.

She glanced back at me. "They have eight different kinds of spells here, mostly the magic numbing ones and the immobilization spells. I don't recognize two, but if I had to guess, these spells hail back to the Mage Wars."

"Some of the magic in these is almost a century old," Qwest commented. "They've been gathering it for a long time."

"Are there more mages around?" I asked with a frown.

"Not likely," Victorya replied. "The magic added during the last few decades came from a dozen individuals, so I think we found them all. We just have to make sure we figure out where the spell book is. Oh, this is interesting."

"What?" I asked, curving my neck to the side to see past her.

"Look at these leather scrolls. There's a secondary spell on them that allows the mage to simply trace the rune and have the pre-charged rune transfer onto a stone for proper casting. There's no record of that trick in the library."

"Is that how they transported all of these?" Serepha asked. "I thought it was odd for humans to be able to move so many rocks."

"I've already copied the spell to share with the history keepers and spell specialists. Even though the originals are valuable, we should drain them and burn the leather."

I eyed up the piles of stones they were sifting through. "No self-destruct spells this time?"

"We drained those first," Qwest replied grimly. "One of the mages is still alive. But since he's unconscious, we figured we'd remove any runes within reach and deal with all this first. Just in case we missed one."

Victorya lifted her head and gazed at the tops of the cliffs. "The way they have these arranged makes me think they lured us into this valley on purpose. They knew if we swooped low enough our evasive skills would be limited."

"Let's drain these and remove that mage's magic seed before he wakes up," Qwest said.

Victorya and Serepha nodded and got back to work. While waiting, I kept moving my arms, wings, and tail, although it wasn't really helping. The movement was just as difficult now as it had been when Serepha left.

"I hope you're okay," Katerina said.

I glanced down at the human who had walked over without me realizing it. "No serious damage. The spells will fade within a day."

She looked relieved and turned her head to watch the other dragons. I couldn't sense the magedebt, but after how she had once again risked her life to stop three shadow mages armed with powerful spells, I didn't want to know how much it had increased.

"Thanks for distracting the mage." The words were hard to say, being an admission of weakness to a human.

She shrugged as if uncertain how to properly reply. "You're welcome."

If she wasn't about to continue talking about that topic, neither was I. Even if she had wanted to, it wasn't something I felt like discussing.

"Is Randel unharmed?" I asked, glancing at the human standing by Andar.

"He's fine. He knocked out one of the mages."

I glanced back down at her. "I forgot to ask if you were unharmed."

"I think so. The mage cast some sort of spell on me, but I don't think it did anything. He thought I was a rider and was going to use the bond to get inside a dragon's head."

"Green and blue light?"

"Yeah."

I snorted. "That spell is so old it no longer works."

Dragons could only bond to one human rider nowadays. Generations ago, a dragon was able to have more than one rider, but that ability slowly disappeared, partially due to such mind-control spells. This group must have found a very old spell book if they thought it would still work.

Serepha came over now that most of the runes were dark. "Is your magic completely cut off?"

"I can't even sense it," I grumbled.

"Qwest is going to help Andar. Once you can fly, we'll find somewhere close by to camp for the night."

"That will work. It'll be easier to sleep off these spells than to waste a lot of magic undoing the bindings," I said grudgingly.

I did not want to wait that long, but it was the only logical choice after using so much magic fighting the mages, especially with a possible war against the naga brewing. Katerina shifted her weight as she scuffed a shoe against the gravel, almost looking like she wanted to say something, but she kept silent.

"I found the spell book!" Victorya called out. "This thing is old. Oh...look at this..."

"What is it?" I asked, peering at the tiny object she had dug out of the rubble.

"Waterproofing spells, but this isn't a human spell."

"Is that naga magic?" Serepha asked. "It kind of feels like it."

"It is," she confirmed, frowning at the book. "The most recent spell isn't even half a century old, and it looks like it has been recast many times before that."

"If the naga had it, how did the mages get it?" I asked. "We're a long way from the ocean and naga don't let humans escape unscathed if they can help it."

"The timing is too coincidental," Victorya said. "When these mages made their move, the naga just happened to appear by the coast? I bet the naga purposefully left the book where it could be found and had a special sensing spell to detect when these sorts of spells were cast."

"I didn't think naga were clever enough for something like that," I said. "Or would tolerate letting a human escape."

"They're capable of casting spells, so I'm not surprised they were smart enough to leave an item where humans could find it. But I can't figure out how they knew what it was and that it could create problems for the dragonkin."

"Could that rider they caught all those years ago have been able to read it?" I asked. "That tracing stone the naga was carrying would have been created right about the time the shadow mages first got the book and started storing up power."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yesss... The times line up. If they had enough restraint to not kill him immediately, they could have forced him to tell them about things they've collected over the centuries. Most riders are nobles, so they can read. I'll have to look into it, but that'll have to wait until later. Can one of the humans carry it for the time being? I've already checked it for protective spells."

"I can," Brandon offered, already walking over.

"Thanks. I'll take it back when we get to a better location."

I stretched my wings, which moved much more easily now. When I stood up, my legs were shaky, but held me.

"Thank you for blocking that fireball," Katerina told Serepha.

"You were trying to protect him, so it was only fair," she replied with a shrug. "Besides, you're the only human he has never hated."

I sent her a wry glance, unsure if she was trying to make Katerina feel special or give me another nudge. There hadn't been time to tell her yet, but after seeing Kat risk her life to keep the mage at bay, I'd made my decision.

There was no point in delaying it until things settled down. Katerina was the first human I hadn't wanted to shred, and if the naga were sneaking inland, I didn't want to leave her unprotected. But I needed my magic working before I could attempt the spell.