Bonus Chapter! Truth and Reconciliation day! (Canada)

*Katerina's POV*

Rakota glided above the endless sand of the desert, just above the wall he continued building. I hadn't seen a tree or plant for almost an hour. I'd never seen a desert before, although I soon grew bored of staring at the odd wave-shaped sand dunes. Apart from the ocean, there was no hint of water to be seen.

Only about twenty dragons accompanied us at this point, but most of the naga had given up when we reached the desert. Serepha glided nearby, ever-present, just as she had been since Rakota started the wall four days ago.

I was just as concerned about Rakota as she was. Despite the circling dragons casting various spells to help keep him aloft, each wingbeat was strained, and I was halfway expecting him to fall to the sand below at any moment.

The stone wall continued to rise from beneath the sand, although much more slowly than yesterday. The spellcasting was taking a heavy toll on the determined dragon who had refused to rest for half a day.

My hands tightened on the saddle handle as Rakota began losing height. The wall had also stopped rising. The other dragons' spells kept him from truly falling, but I still braced myself. He hadn't managed a proper landing at our previous stop, and he was even more exhausted now. Serepha immediately circled around, as did most of the other dragons.

Rakota angled his wings back while arching his neck up and simply slid across the sand like a duck landing on a pond. Apart from the initial jolt of his chest hitting the sand, the landing had actually been fairly smooth.

His wings came down to rest on the sand, too tired to even try folding them up. Since inquiries about his well-being annoyed him, no one asked him if he was okay or how he was doing. I slowly unbuckled the harness straps, but he didn't seem to be in pain. Just exhausted.

Serepha landed beside him and nuzzled his shoulder as he panted.

"That's it," he gasped. "That's as far as I can go."

The elderly green dragon landed nearby. "Even if any of us had any magic left to spare, I would have advised you to recover for a week before trying to continue. But in case you haven't noticed, we are in the desert."

"Nope. Didn't notice," I murmured, which earned an exasperated snort from Rakota and a toothy grin from the elder who had camped with us the last three nights.

"I'm glad we got this far," Serepha said. "I can't imagine the naga getting past the Sea Guard at this point."

"I can come back later when I store up more magic," Rakota said, his chest still heaving for breath. "I want to extend this part of the wall and improve a few other spots."

"Which ones?" the elder asked.

I slid to the ground as the two dragons talked about locations and sketched diagrams in the sand. Despite the stretch breaks every couple of hours, my muscles protested the long days of almost non-stop flying.

I winced as I lifted my foot behind me and pulled it higher with my hand, stretching the muscles above my knees. Rakota paused his discussion as he glanced at me, the bond possibly mistaking the sore muscles as an actual injury, and a faint green glow shimmered above my clothing for a few seconds. All the stiffness and strain disappeared.

"Thanks," I murmured as he turned back to his previous discussion.

Even though he was so low on magic that he had been borrowing it from others to finish the wall, he'd spared enough to heal a mild discomfort. My magic still flowed into the bond in a gentle trickle as my body created it.

Ironically, over the last few days, I was irritated that I wasn't able to create more magic or generate it faster. But the wall was mostly completed. It stretched from the northern cliffs all the way to the desert we were currently in.

Now that we had stopped moving, the heat was almost intolerable. With nothing but sand around us, the only shade was cast by dragons. I eyed up Rakota's still-outstretched wings; due to how high up his back was, there was just enough room for me to stand underneath.

Heat shimmered across the sand, and despite being by the ocean, there wasn't much of a breeze. Clothing that helped keep me warm in the windy sky wasn't well suited to this climate. Wiping the beading sweat off my forehead, I walked over to Rakota's side and stood in the gap beneath his wing.

As I leaned against his scales, I felt a subtle shift in the bond as Rakota checked the link between us. If I hadn't been used to keeping tabs on my magic, I wouldn't have noticed the faint presence. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, likely him making sure I wasn't overheating.

I continued stretching while listening to the dragons talk about various ways to make it harder for the naga to get inland. Rakota might be down to the dredges of his magic, but he clearly planned to return in the near future. I...was actually glad he'd been able to use my magic to protect people.

The last four days had given me time to think things through. While Rakota slept, I'd even mustered up enough courage to talk with the elderly green dragon, who'd been quite patient with all my questions.

The idea of being a rider didn't seem so bad anymore, especially since I could help stop the naga and offer my relatives and other Wellsprings a safe place to live. It wasn't like I had been doing anything important before, and Rakota already said he'd put heavy shields around my magic if I wanted to visit a marketplace without people knowing I was a rider. I could help people and still have some semblance of freedom.

I could make a difference.

I might even be able to have a life without fear.

It was such a strange feeling. Most people might never realize the naga still existed, but I knew they were in the sea. And my magic was being used to keep them there. My family may have been killed by the naga, but I could prevent them from taking any other lives, and even offer Wellsprings a place of refuge. It was something I was ready to fight for. It gave me a purpose, and that shifted my entire outlook on life.

"Well, that explains it," a vaguely familiar voice said.

I came out from under Rakota's wing to see an orange dragon landing to the side. A purple one also drifted out of the sky.

"About time you showed up, Victorya," Rakota said idly, no longer breathing hard. "You missed out on all the fun."

"So I see. We got delayed when we went to locate those hidden mage stones along the roads and couldn't find a single one. We were worried we had missed some mages and checked the area again, but after seeing you two, I can relax knowing they didn't exist in the first place."

Rakota focused more intently on her. "What do you mean they didn't exist? We all sensed them."

"We sensed a shielded magic source and assumed it was a mage stone. We were also casting our spells directly downward while she was on your back, although we probably would have felt the same thing even if she had been on the ground. That hum was actually interference caused by how much magic she had stored."

Even as my worry spiked, Rakota said, "I somehow doubt there's a way to tell a shielded Wellspring apart from a shielded mage stone."

"No, I flew over a city on the way here and felt similar hums from over fifty stones made by mages. For all I know, one might even have been a Wellspring, but there's just no way to tell when their shields are up. I still can't figure out how I didn't notice her ability earlier."

"Why are you surprised that Wellsprings have become better at hiding their power?" the green dragon asked them. "Look at how quickly magic shifted and created rules among the dragonkin when the naga and shadow mages found vulnerabilities. It took mere generations for the magic to change enough to protect us from their spells."

"I guess that makes sense," Victorya said, "although I still plan to see if I can spot a Wellspring now that we know they're out there."

"I assume you heard about the new rules?" Rakota asked.

"Yes, I think almost everyone has. They have been using the communication crystals the last two days to make sure dragonkin knew they couldn't take a Wellspring's magic without permission or cast the rider spell without it being their idea. You already know I have no interest in a rider. I'm just curious if any spells will detect them or their magic."

"That should keep you busy for a few years," Rakota said with a grin.

She snorted faintly. "Probably longer. None of my spells easily detected your rider a few minutes ago, even though her shields are currently down, but her magic is going directly into the bond and isn't accumulating, so I can't even examine the interference hum."

I sighed in relief and ducked back under Rakota's wing to hide from the sun and the overly inquisitive dragon. But her words had confirmed the elders' words were true. My relatives were safer now than they had been before, even if they didn't realize it yet.

I wondered if Rakota would let me visit a city in the next few days and send off several letters. I had to rewrite them first, and the communication crystals the dragons used also gave me an idea. I'd have to ask Rakota later tonight if my idea was possible. If it were, I wouldn't have to worry about where my relatives could send letters back to.

Leaning against his side once more, I contemplated my future, which was very different from the bleak one I'd been facing two weeks ago. I was actually looking forward to it.