It took almost a week to make even a brief examination of the cores. After a day or so, each of the great chiefs sent down helpers, most of whom were males. When Rega taught the Broken Knives about cores, she emphasized that all of them should resist eating one if they found it, and either bring it back to the den, or tell an adult so they could gather it instead. Rega hadn’t differentiated between males and females in her teaching howls, so it was only now that Kaz discovered that many males barely felt the compulsion to eat cores, so they were the ones who were assigned to assist Kaz.

  Once they broke the cores out of their shells of wei, the males pced the cores in different parts of the cavern, based on their primary color. Kaz then quickly checked them over, trying to determine which tribe they might have belonged to, so that tribe could howl them to the ancestors. He quickly found most of them were too old and faded to interact with, for which he was reluctantly grateful. Almost all of these kobolds had died in fear and pain, and it was difficult to force himself to continue even when he felt only the faintest remnant of that.

   Li said, not for the first time. She was very frustrated by now, not only because she couldn’t get the cores to tell her anything, but also because her month was very nearly up. Yes, it was a deadline she’d chosen herself, but they both knew that if she didn’t honor it now, she would continue to find excuses why she shouldn’t, and her family couldn’t wait that long.

  Kaz shook his head, handing a red core to a waiting warrior. “Burned…talon? I think?”

  The warrior nodded, carrying the core away. This was a new tribe, and perhaps a forgotten one, so the core would be pced near those they knew came from Magmabdes. A few females who had eaten cores in the past had been assigned to write down the tribe names, and waited near the various stacks to do so. They were always paired with males, whose task was to watch the females as much as it was to make sure none of the piles accidentally merged together.

   Kaz said, resisting the urge to rub his eyes. He wasn’t physically tired - it seemed sleep was now optional for him - but his mind and heart were heavy beneath the burden of all the lives he’d touched.

  She did, and he suspected that was part of the reason she kept urging him to leave the task to someone else, who would use simple color to return the cores to the tribes. But not only hadn’t they found the missing Goat, Monkey, or Horse’s cores, but Kaz hadn’t found the specific ones he was looking for. If one or more Irondiggers had truly been the ‘core-hunter’ who stalked the Broken Knives, then Rega and Oda’s cores should be here somewhere.

  He picked up the next core, feeling the usual rush of horror, followed by the kobold’s final thoughts. I’m sorry, Raan, I couldn’t protect you. Kaz sighed. Some kobolds were angry, some confused, but most, like this one, were only sorry, thinking of some failure or regret in their st moments. Fortunately, those thoughts usually included something about their tribe, whether it was a name, an image of their totem, or thoughts of a lost ancestor they were about to join.

  Another male kobold waited to receive this core, and Kaz handed it to him. It was a particurly powerful Fire-based core, so Kaz said, “The name Raan, but no tribe. Possible Magmabde.” The male, a warrior whose neckce was still unbroken and new, bowed and took off through the shelves.

  As Kaz reached for the next core, a scattering tumble of debris announced Ky’s arrival through the hole Kaz had cut into the wall and Chi Yincang had widened. It had taken Lianhua less than a day to make her way through the room and into the space with the books, but Ky spent most of her time in what she called the ‘treasure room’.

  Kaz was a little worried about what she might find in there, but he’d gone through and used his improved ki-sight to locate both Vega’s core and Xundu’s egg so he could return them to his pouch. He hadn’t been able to find the scrolls he’d taken from Zhangwo’s den, or Ghazt’s firestriker, but they were there somewhere, and he wouldn’t give up until he found at least the firestriker. Not that he pnned to tell Lianhua he’d had the scrolls this whole time and hadn’t given them to her.

  “Kaz!” Ky yelped, jumping lightly to the ground and running over to him. “I found a bunch of Li’s ki-crystals and some really strange books. They’re all soggy, though, so I can’t read them. Why did you put so much dirty water in your pouch?”

  He resisted the urge to rub his muzzle. “It wasn’t dirty when I put it in there,” he told her. Again. “And I was trying to figure out how much the pouch could hold. It’s always wise to have extra drinking water.”

  “A whole ke of it?” she demanded.

  Kaz thought rather guiltily of the clear pool of water he’d emptied into the storage device. It really had been a little much, but even he was tired of picking up random objects, and thought that at least clean water would be useful. If nothing else, Lianhua was always compining she didn’t get enough baths.

  Holding out his hands, he changed the subject. “Do you have them with you?”

  Ky started to shake her head, then gnced away. “Well, I took a few of the crystals. I thought Mei and her puppies might like them. There was more mithril and adamantium in there, too, and Mei doesn’t like the unrefined ore. I mean, not that I tried to give her any.”

  Given that only Goldbdes could mine mithril and adamantium, and obtaining ore would mean Ky had raided the Goldbde den, he decided not to press his cousin further on the subject. Kaz made a determined effort to hold his ears still, and said, “It’s all right to give Mei some of the metal, but not all of it. It’s probably best if she doesn’t get too used to the ingots.”

  Li huffed a ugh.

  That was exactly what Kaz was afraid of. If Mei really decided that she wasn’t willing to eat raw ore anymore, no metal was safe. It would be like letting loose a pack of fuergar in a food storage cave the size of the entire world. Not that he actually thought one of the Twelve would do something like that, but it was probably best not to encourage her.

  Ky sniffed and clutched at the straps of her pack, which were straining beneath the weight of its contents. “Well, it’s time for me to go, anyway. Ija’s making me listen to all of the puppy howls again, since I obviously didn’t learn my lessons the first time I heard them. Sika took that to mean I’m her new helper, and I’m supposed to be there for dinner and bedtime.”

  Kaz and Li watched her climb into the hole that was still the fastest way between this cavern and the one above. It had been widened out a fair bit, but her pack scraped the sides as she started to ascend, making Li give a hissing ugh. Worryingly, the pack was dripping a bit, indicating that something wet was inside, but Kaz decided he really didn’t want to know and reached for another core, only to jerk his hand back as it seemed to burn him.

  Pain. Fury. She couldn’t die this way. After everything she’d been through. Everything she’d done-

   Li demanded, leaning forward as she heard his small whimper.

  “Oda,” Kaz said, though his tongue felt numb. His hand stretched out again, but he didn’t quite touch the core that now y on the floor, rocking gently in pce.

   Li told him fiercely, reaching out to grasp his wrist in her paw.

  Kaz’s blood pounded in his ears as he stared into the golden eyes of his dragon. They didn’t swirl, not anymore. Not since she shifted her bance toward Earth while helping Kaz save the mountain. Maybe someday they would again, but right now they were a constant reminder of what she’d given up. For him.

  Slowly, he nodded, withdrawing his hand. Still, he turned his ki-sight onto the core, looking for… Yes, there it was. It was faint, the demarcation blurred by time, but when he focused, he could clearly see two different colors of red in it. One was a deep, fme red, but the other was dark crimson, like old blood that had gathered in a deep pool. There was more of the fme, but the crimson was everywhere, tainting the brighter color with darkness.

  Closing his eyes, Kaz sat back, lifting his muzzle as if he would howl, though he kept his mouth closed. He had already howled Oda to the ancestors, and Li was right. She might have been family, but she was Ija and Ky’s family, too, and their aunt, Sika, might be the only person left alive who would actually mourn her passing. He should send this core with the others.

  Pointing to it, Kaz said, “Magmabde.” The young warrior gave him a curious gnce but picked up the core so Kaz didn’t have to. The male ran off again while Kaz turned to the few remaining red cores. Surely he would know which one was-

  “Rega,” he breathed, gently moving a faded red orb off of another core that was an unusual shade of pink, along with a streak of pure, bright yellow, and a small swirl of pale blue. He got nothing from the older core, and handed it absently to a waiting male.

   Li said, staring at the pink core.

  Kaz nodded, his finger hovering over the narrow split in the surface of the sphere. The crack was shallow but long, and there were smaller cracks leading away from it. Some of these almost looked like scars, stretched and dimpled, but others were definitely fresh, and he wondered how much pain she’d been in as she used this core to conceal even the few remaining Broken Knives long enough to flee the den. How had she been able to use her ki at all?

   Li said again, but this time it was a plea, not a demand, and Kaz sent remorse and determination through their bond. He had a feeling she knew what he had to do, just as she’d had to ask him not to. Lowering his hand, he caressed the sphere with a gentle finger.

  Sadness. Overwhelming fear. Sorry. So sorry. Kaz. Katri. Failure. Loss. It was a cycle of pain that ran through his mind over and over, without pause. A low whine escaped Kaz, but he didn’t pull back. Instead, he reached out with his own ki, brushing that within the broken core, and was carried away.

  Run, Kaz. Run from this pce. Take the book and the knife and find Katri. Leave me. I’m worthless, anyway. Worthless as a mother, as a healer, as a leader, as a mate. Never should have left, never could have stayed, too frightened to make a choice. Too frightened to stand up and howl. Too frightened to be-

  Warmth enveloped Kaz as he nearly drowned in his mother’s feelings of self-loathing. Li’s presence bolstered him, and he felt his self separate from Rega’s, but still he didn’t release the orb. He had a feeling that the core wouldn’t be able to handle a second attempt, and he owed it to Rega to make sure her core was returned to the tribe she’d died to protect.

  Still, Kaz couldn’t bear to feel his mother’s pain, so just as Li held him in her mental embrace, he wrapped Rega’s lost and tortured presence in his. It was all right. He was all right, and so was Katri. Soon, Katri would even be able to return to the Deep, rejoin their family, which was itself slowly healing after having been cleansed of poison. It’s okay now, he told his mother. It’s all right to rest now.

  And the core responded. Slowly, the churning, scattered feelings of sorrow and inner turmoil smoothed into something more akin to the gentle warmth Kaz remembered from the rare times Rega allowed herself to touch him. Kaz?

  Shock. Was it possible to speak to her? She’d died so recently, and in spite of the crack, she was strong, and most importantly, she was his.

  Joy, pure and brilliant.

  No. No, she shouldn’t think about that. She would slip away from him again if she returned to that dark pce of fear and pain. So much. More than he had time or words for. What was most important? He tugged Li forward, letting her ki touch the remnant that lingered in Rega’s core.

He broke off again. How could he expin who and what Li was?

   Li said confidently.

  Confusion, then amusement, then relief, all while Kaz was still battling with some emotion that had his ears feeling as hot as the magma forge. Rega said. He could feel her drifting away, and then she said,

   It still felt strange, that word. Mother was someone who hated him, not this kind, tender being.

  She spoke, but he could only understand the st word. Still, he knew what she meant.

   he told her softly.

  There were no words left in this drained and fractured core, but the turbulence that had filled it was gone. Now, there was a sense of calm acceptance, and Kaz held it to his chest as he lifted his muzzle and howled. This time, however, he didn’t howl for the ancestors. This time, he howled for himself, and Li howled with him once again.