Kaz kept his eyes closed, as though he could stop time from passing if he didn’t open them to see the ki-lights and hear the sound of kobolds getting ready for the day. He wanted to ask if she had to go, beg her not to, but that wouldn’t be fair. Not to her, and not to him.
Finally, he sat up, forcing his ears to stay upright, rather than pressing ft against his head. He opened his eyes, letting in the dim light that seeped around the door of his hut. Li had decided to be small st night, and now she was just the right size to look into his eyes, so he stroked her neck, then scratched in that spot just inside the arch of her horns where she couldn’t quite reach.
“We should get going, then. Do you have your ring?”
Li stretched out her cws, showing off the slim golden ring around one toe. It was supposed to change size to suit the wearer, but it seemed there was a limit to those changes. So far she hadn’t reached its maximum size, since it was supposed to fit around human arms and legs as well as fingers. It did have a tendency to fall off when the dragon was at her smallest size, but Li said that was fine, because once she left the mountain, she wasn’t going to be small. Which meant today.
“I’m just gd Elder Long had an extra ring, and that he was willing to give it to you,” he said, climbing to his paws. “Ky had to trade for hers.” And that had been highly amusing. Once his cousin found out Li got a ring, she’d gone directly to Baihe to find out if there was another one. She’d tried to be subtle about it, but Lianhua’s grandmother was no fool, and she had quickly realized what Ky wanted. The young kobold had ended up trading a beaded niu-fur loincloth, samples of several different pnts, a cutting of yumi, and a knife made by Shom. This st had been particurly difficult, since by now all of the kobolds knew that the smith would be leaving the mountain, and few were willing to give up the weapons she had crafted.
His humor faded as he reached for the door, already knowing what he would find outside. Ratre didn’t have a core, so Kaz couldn’t see him, exactly, but he knew where all of his kobolds were. Besides, the loyal old male had been waiting outside of Kaz’s hut for the st three mornings, so it wouldn’t have been a great leap to assume he was there again today.
The Woodbde den was surprisingly active for such a tiny, mixed tribe. There were fewer than a hundred members of the tribe, which was barely enough to count as a tribe in the Deep. Even subsidiary tribes were rarely so small. Still, these were the only ones with enough Woodbde blood or Wood ki who were willing to leave their old tribes and their families behind. At that, several had originally been sent by their former chiefs after the Magmabdes gave so many. No one wanted the Magmabdes to have so much power in what was technically a great tribe, after all.
That had changed since Id betrayed them all to Nucai, however. She was the Magmabdes’ greatest critic, but now she’d fallen just as low, taking much of her tribe with her. A fair number of the Goldbdes, as well as members of their subsidiaries, had been rescued from Nucai, but no one knew which of them had gone along with Id willingly, and so they were all distrusted equally.
It would probably take months to see how the shift was going to affect the Deep and the mountain overall, but one thing was already clear: the Magmabdes were being given another chance. Avli and Ija were now openly friendly, Tisdi had been impressed by the Magmabdes’ willingness to help during the Irondigger attack, and nobody liked or trusted the Goldbdes, even though Id was no longer the leader. In fact, Kaz had heard that she spent her days in her hut, staring into space and barely responding to anyone except to eat.
Many believed that the Goldbdes should no longer be considered a great tribe, and quieter murmurs questioned whether great tribes were needed at all now that the portal no longer needed to be opened and closed. Kaz wasn’t sure about that, since it was obvious that someone needed to provide leadership, and it was only because of the five great tribes that the Deep was as safe and peaceful as it was.
Kaz refused to worry about all of that, however, and not only because Heishe had warned him against direct interference in the lives of those he was meant to protect. Apparently it was one thing to take a mate and raise a family, but the Twelve had to remain as impartial as possible, which was difficult to do when you selected leaders or led one group yourself. Kaz had no interest in taking a leadership role, though he also didn’t want to be alone. He simply had to trust his people to make the best decisions they could, and he would step in only if something threatened them as a whole.
None of which mattered to the kobold standing before him, clutching a new support carved from a yumi reed as he attempted to stand as straight as possible. Ratre still watched over Gram, teaching the pup the ways of their Woodbde ancestors, but when Gram went to Ija for lessons or Qhurg for training, Ratre somehow found his way to Kaz’s side.
Bowing deeply, Ratre said, “Good morning, Kaz. I’ll take you to breakfast.” That was it. No questions, because Ratre had learned that if he asked Kaz how he could help, Kaz always found something for him to do that involved being elsewhere. The old warrior’s blue eyes were uncomfortably heavy on Kaz’s back. It wasn’t that Kaz didn’t like the other male, just that he would never be able to fulfill the expectations in that gaze, and it was difficult to bear.
Kaz sighed. “No breakfast today, Ratre. Li and I are going out of the mountain for a little while.”
Ratre’s ears started to ftten, but he caught himself and nodded. This wasn’t the first time Kaz had gone outside since he returned, but it made Ratre very nervous, because everyone knew males should never leave the mountain.
“A warrior brought a message to Gram this morning,” Ratre said. “More humans have arrived.”
Ratre’s ear twitched, making Kaz blink. Was the old warrior amused? Was it possible he was even teasing Li - or Kaz - by waiting and telling them this now? Surely not. Ratre was nothing if not serious to a fault. Wasn’t he?
“It was for the chief’s ears only,” Ratre said, and there it was again. There was definitely a twinkle in his eye, and it made Kaz’s heart lift to see it there. He had checked in on the males he’d brought from the mid-level city, and they were all struggling to return to normal life. Ratre was watching out for them, however, and if Ratre was feeling better, perhaps there was hope for the others as well.
Li gave a curious little whistle.
Kaz nodded. “Lianhua said it was about time for them to get here.” He turned to Ratre. “Can you let Gram know I’m going to go greet them, and then we have to leave for a while?”
“Of course,” Ratre replied, then began making his way toward the far end of the den. He was surprisingly fast on his stump, and the false paw Kaz had fixed for him seemed to be keeping him fairly comfortable. Kaz had refilled the blue ki-crystal he’d pced inside the bone support, but it hadn’t really needed it. There wasn’t a lot of blue ki in the mountain, but the Woodbde den was the best pce for it, so the crystal had barely drained at all.
Kaz and Li hurried after the gray-furred male, who was heading in exactly the opposite direction from the Woodbdes’ eating cave. They followed him through the passages that led out of Woodbde territory, past yumi reed caverns that rivalled the ones in what Kaz still struggled to think of as Bronze City, and toward the city in the Deep. Somehow, Ratre stayed ahead of them the entire time.
Finally, they came to the choaxue, the open area in the middle of the city, which was considered a sort of neutral area. Rather than the sad, shattered space they had become used to, however, it was filled with colorful tents, and human beings watched each other warily from what were obviously two different camps. There, Ratre finally stopped and pointed toward the open area between the two groups. Several kobolds stood there, along with many humans, all doing what could only loosely be described as eating together.
Li immediately rose into the air, flying up to perch on the roof of the Luzhijia, the building where the chiefs used to meet with Shom in her guise as the Voice. The dragon clearly had no intention of getting involved in whatever was happening, and Kaz sincerely wished he could do the same. No one had seen him yet, so perhaps he could sneak away? But then Ratre gave a yip, and all of the kobolds turned as one, which prompted the humans to do the same.
“Kaz!” Lianhua called, looking far too relieved for Kaz’s comfort. Reluctantly, he walked toward her, and she held a bowl out toward him. “I’m gd Ratre could convince you to come. I thought you might run when you heard everyone arrived at once.”
Kaz didn’t bare his teeth, but it was a struggle. He gnced behind him, only to find that Ratre had disappeared. That male had some expining to do the next time Kaz saw him.
“He didn’t tell me,” Kaz said. “What’s going on?”
Lianhua’s eyes widened. “Oh. Um. Yes, well…”
“Sounds like Prince Lucas invited himself along with the group from Cliffcross,” Raff said. The rge male popped a piece of what looked like dark brown bread into his mouth and chewed happily before continuing. “Reckon he didn’t want Reina gettin’ any more attention, and apparently something about seeing a flight of dragons leave the city and almost bein’ taken over by giant lizards made people start askin’ questions. Guess Reina’s name came up as the only royal who didn’t get caught, and she also helped free everybody else, so now there’s a bit of a movement to make her the heir. And here we are, with a coup royals making nuisances of themselves.”
“And, um, of course the Emperor can’t just leave for several months, but Grandfather may have mentioned that you could, ah, see ki, and might even be-” Lianhua stopped, gnced around, then cleared her throat. “He sent Zaiang Wufong to speak for him. Some, um, others came with him, too.”
“Is that him?” A strident voice rose above the subdued chatter , and everyone turned to see a tall, thin human with yellow and gray hair striding toward them. He wore a blue fuulong silk robe with gold and silver embroidery in a familiar design that made Kaz’s stomach sink.
“Is this the creature who betrayed my son?” the thin human demanded. Kaz stepped back as an equally thin finger jabbed out as if it would poke him in the chest, barely managing not to lift his lip and growl in response. Human actions didn’t always mean the same thing they would if kobolds did them, but Kaz was already inclined not to like this person.
“No one betrayed Gaoda, Lord Xiang,” Lianhua said, stepping in between Kaz and the human. “In fact, it was Gaoda who-”
This time it was Baihe who moved between her granddaughter and the yellow-haired human. “We believe it would be best to withhold judgement until Zaiang Wufong can-”
“And who are you?” Lord Xiang asked, gring down his long, thin nose at Baihe.
“My wife,” a too-calm Elder Long said as he arrived, allowing just a hint of his ki to escape his body. Lord Xiang paled, but didn’t back down, which made Kaz feel a grudging hint of respect for him. He had ki, but not a lot, at least not compared to Lianhua and the others. Even Gaoda had had more, though Yingtao had less.
“Still, a mere wife, speaking to a lord of the-”
A little more of Elder Long’s ki escaped. “She is also a cultivator at mid-Core Formation, so you should mind your words, Ye Yun. I believe you stalled at te Foundation?”
Red rose in Lord Xiang’s pale cheeks, and he gnced around. “I have just purchased a high tier cultivation pill which is guaranteed to clear my dantians. I will certainly be able to enter Core Formation soon. Still,” the words sounded as if they hurt, “I give honor to my elder sister in cultivation.”
“As you should,” Elder Long said, pulling in his ki, which made everyone around him give simultaneous sighs of relief. “Now, what were you saying?”
Even though Lianhua’s grandfather was almost a foot shorter than Lord Xiang, it was very clear who held the power between them. Still, Lord Xiang drew himself up and said, “I have heard that this blue kobold is the reason my son was bound in a talisman. I demand that Gaoda be released, and this kobold punished for his actions.”
“And what actions are those?” Baihe said, stepping forward again as she id a gentle hand on Lianhua’s arm. Bright spots of red burned on the younger female’s cheekbones, and she was biting her lip so hard Kaz was surprised it hadn’t begun to bleed.
“He… I…” It was obvious that Lord Xiang didn’t actually know, so he said, “Release Gaoda, and he will tell us!”
Elder Long’s eyes flickered toward another human who had approached and was now standing in the shadows where Lord Xiang couldn’t see him. This human was probably almost as old as Elder Long himself, with dark gray hair bound up beneath a tall, rectangur hat. His robes were equally bck, but as he moved, light caught on the complex bck patterns sewn onto it, revealing that it was far more eborate than simple color would indicate. He nodded, and Elder Long lifted a hand.
Chi Yincang stepped out of Elder Long’s shadow, actually managing to startle Kaz for the first time since he’d become the Dog. It had become difficult for Kaz to tell when Chi Yincang was supposed to be hiding and when he wasn’t, which had led to Kaz ignoring the dark warrior most of the time out of sheer uncertainty. This was a new skill, however, and Kaz watched the twist of ki that released Chi Yincang and vanished back into Elder Long, fascinated.
Then Chi Yincang dropped a small, familiar statue into Elder Long’s hand, and Lianhua’s grandfather flicked his finger against the figure’s forehead, removing a speck of red. The red spot swelled into a talisman as the statue swelled into Gaoda. The young male’s nose was still dripping red from Lianhua’s long-age strike as he said, “I will remain in command until-”
He froze, staring into Elder Long’s impassive face, then turned his head to see everyone else gazing back at him with expressions ranging from pity to curiosity. At st, he nded on Lord Xiang’s purpling face, and bowed deeply. “Lord Father, I greet you! I’m not certain what has happened, but I am sure that-”
“What happened,” Lianhua said with frigid formality, “is that you abandoned me and the rest of our party in the middle of a battle against a more powerful foe. When we found you, you were sughtering those who should have been our allies, and, when questioned, you belittled me and refused to accept that you were in error.”
Eyes widened all around, though Raff just shrugged and nodded in agreement. Gaoda barely acknowledged his existence, however, instead turning an ingratiating smile on Lianhua. “Cousin, you must have misunderstood. Those dwarves were attacking me, and I only left in order to draw them away, so that they wouldn’t distract from the true battle. I pnned to return as soon as I finished putting them all down. But you were understandably upset, thanks to being captured, and,” he hesitated, “somehow…we ended up…here?”
Elder Long looked from Raff to Kaz. “I already have Chi Yincang’s report. What do you two say to this?”
Raff scratched his head. “I reckon Lianhua’s got it right, or at least Gaoda wasn’t there when he shoulda been. I suppose it’s possible the three of us together could have handled that Zhangwo character without you havin’ to step in, at least long enough for Blue to blow him up. Whether we could or not, though, it was a bit of a shock to have a third of our group just up and disappear.”
Gaoda’s lip lifted as he listened, and he shrugged dismissively as Raff finished speaking. “As if the opinion of a common mercenary should-”
“Oh, Lord Grafton!” A sweet, cheerful voice broke in, and Reina joined them, with Jinn right behind her. Reina wore far more eborate clothing than Kaz had seen on her before, and a simple gold circlet sat on her brow. Jinn, on the other paw, wore clothing so much like the pants and shirt her brother preferred that at first Kaz thought she’d borrowed them from Raff, except that they fit her far too well.
Reina id a hand on Raff’s arm, smiling up at him. “I haven’t seen you since I stayed at your father’s house. How is Lord Hillcroft?” Then, as if noticing the other humans for the first time, she gasped and bent her legs so the broad swathes of fabric surrounding her belled out gracefully. “Oh, my. I was so excited to see my childhood friend, Lord Grafton Hillcroft, that I barely noticed you all there. I’m Princess Reina, daughter of King Maleim of Holiander.”
Everyone was introduced with varying degrees of awkwardness, including Kaz, who was greeted almost as enthusiastically as Raff, to excmations of, “my dear kobold friend, Kaz, hero of Holiander”. By the end of this, Lord Xiang was definitely gring at his son.
“Well then,” Elder Long said. His stiff expression had smoothed after Reina’s arrival, but he seemed determined to finish the conversation, though Kaz wished they could all just drop it. After all, did it really even matter now?
“Lord Grafton agrees with Lady Lianhua’s version of events. What say you, Kaz?” Lianhua’s grandfather said, bringing all eyes back to Kaz.
Kaz suppressed a sigh, and said, “I was with Lianhua while Gaoda, Raff, and Chi Yincang were fighting Zhangwo, so I don’t know exactly what happened. By the time I saw Gaoda again, he was killing husede, who were on our side.”
“And did he help Lord Grafton and Chi Yincang during the battle?” Elder Long pressed.
“Not…that I know of,” Kaz said, at which point something inside of Gaoda seemed to snap.
“I challenge you!” Gaoda said, pointing at Kaz. His ki-orbs were suddenly above his shoulders, spinning in pce as they gathered power. “I will prove my innocence upon your flesh, traitor! You were supposed to guarantee my success, not lie to my face!”
Among kobold warriors, challenges usually weren’t serious. They would fight to prove who was stronger, and thus better equipped to protect the chief or the den, but rarely was real anger involved. Sometimes two warriors simply couldn’t stand one another, but a good chief or head warrior would keep such males separate, so no major issues could develop.
Gaoda was clearly very serious, however, so Kaz looked to Lianhua for an expnation. She shook her head, then said, “Gaoda, you can’t challenge Kaz. He isn’t even a human. He doesn’t under-”
“That’s right!” Gaoda excimed, teeth suddenly bared. “He’s not, so I don’t need to waste my breath issuing a challenge. You traitorous dog, you should just die!” The ki-balls bsted toward Kaz, who instinctively raised a shield, only betedly realizing that such an attack couldn’t actually hurt him, since he could just absorb it. The ki spshed away, and Kaz raised his hands, hearing Li’s angry roar rise above all the other voices.
Raff lunged toward Gaoda, but while the yellow-haired male now seemed sadly weak, especially compared to how the other members of their group had grown, he was still more agile than the rger male, especially since Raff had been taken off guard. Gaoda flung three more ki-balls at Kaz in rapid succession, and this time Kaz let them hit him. Gaoda didn’t have control of them anymore, so Kaz simply opened his own ki and accepted the power before pushing it away again, allowing it to dissipate into the ambient mana.
Gaoda’s mouth opened and closed, and spittle flew as he said, “You…you cheat! How could you-?”
But Kaz was tired of it. This male insulted, disparaged, and patronized everyone he met. Worse, because of his ki, he was actually dangerous, and Kaz had no doubt that a number of kobolds and husede had died unnecessarily as a result of his presence. Heishe had told Kaz that he was only allowed to interfere with humans if he was defending himself, but Gaoda had definitely attacked him first, hadn’t he?
Remembering Lianhua’s short, sharp punch, Kaz copied it, hearing a satisfying crack as Gaoda’s already abused nose broke. Kaz took it a bit further, though, and flicked Gaoda sharply on the forehead, above and between his eyes. Gaoda cried out, doubling over to clutch his head, and Kaz took a step back with a satisfied nod.
Li had been diving toward them with cws outstretched, but now she veered off, not quite brushing the top of Lord Xiang’s head with her wing as she turned and nded next to Kaz. She was at her rgest size, which was small for a dragon, but still a dragon, and both Lord Xiang and Gaoda stumbled away from her.
Kaz said, watching as Gaoda dropped to sit on the ground, moaning.
Li eyed Gaoda thoughtfully.
Kaz patted her neck.
She hissed, but didn’t try to go after Gaoda or Lord Xiang. It took a few minutes for them to get Gaoda to his feet, and his eyes looked wild as he waved his hands, ki sparking up and then swirling away into chaos as it entered the broken dantian. It had to be terribly painful, but Gaoda seemed more concerned by his sudden inability to attack Kaz than anything else.
Once again, Elder Long looked toward the other aged male who had been watching from the shadows, and that male finally stepped forward. He only managed to take a few steps before Lord Xiang caught sight of him and bowed so low that the top of his head almost reached his knees. Seeing this, Gaoda attempted to bow as well, only to clutch at his head and groan again.
“Zaiang Wufong, did you see?” Lord Xiang asked as he straightened. “This kobold attacked my son, and no one did anything to defend him!”
Zaiang Wufong tilted his head to one side, his dark, narrow eyes assessing. “I believe Lord Grafton did attempt to protect the kobold.”
Lord Xiang spluttered. “I mean no one tried to defend Gaoda!”
“But Gaoda Xiang challenged the kobold, did he not?” Zaiang Wufong asked, as if only mildly curious. “Once a challenge is issued, the battle is between the two combatants. Your son simply lost.”
“That… That’s not the point! This is all an attempt by Lord Long to deny the betrothal between his granddaughter and my family. She was promised to us if she failed to return before six months time, and that time is up!”
Lianhua turned accusing eyes on Elder Long, who winced. Beside him, Baihe’s eyes narrowed, and Kaz had no doubt Lianhua’s grandfather would soon be regretting his machinations, if he didn’t already. Elder Long wasn’t quite ready to accept his punishment, however.
“But she would have returned well before time if Gaoda Xiang had not intentionally sabotaged her efforts,” he said, holding out a hand toward Chi Yincang. The warrior id a stack of papers in Elder Long’s hand, and the old male passed them to Zaiang Wufong.
“These are records of every dey and unnecessary outy of funds by Gaoda Xiang. He deliberately had them stay at the most expensive establishments, stop traveling whenever there was the slightest inclement weather, go out of their way to visit pces that had nothing to do with their search, and ignored requests to stop doing all of these things at least one hundred and seventeen times. But the worst instance of deliberate sabotage was when he poisoned my granddaughter’s servant.” Turning to Yingtao, Elder Long motioned for her to speak, and so she did, though to Kaz’s eye she looked distinctly embarrassed.
“When we passed through the Guanko Mountains, I discovered some Gaizhu’s hemlock by a mountain pond. I have studied poisons since I was young, in order to better protect my dy. This one was both extraordinarily potent and I had never had the opportunity to p- ah, work with it before, so I gathered some. I intended to make a gu poison with it, and fed it to some centipedes I happened to have with me.
“Between one day and the next, I noticed that one of the centipedes was missing, but I thought it had simply been devoured by its companions. The day after that, however, I became violently sick. I was able to fend off the effects of the poison with various medicines, but my illness deyed us in Cliffcross for quite some time. Finally, my dy was forced to leave me behind, but by then she had very little time or money left to find that which she sought.”
Lord Xiang had stiffened, and now took one step away from his son. “And you believe Gaoda had something to do with that? It makes more sense to me that you were attempting to do something far beyond your capability, and managed to poison yourself.”
Chi Yincang bowed deeply. “Elder Long assigned me to watch over Lianhua, but not to interfere unless her life was in danger. I saw Gaoda take the centipede, but, to my shame, I simply believed he was attempting to sabotage Yingtao’s poison, since he disliked her, and it was obvious that she was excited about the results of her work. As this was outside the scope of my task, I…allowed it.”
Lord Xiang looked around at the circle of accusing eyes, and stammered, “Well, it must have been an accident then. A Xiang would never-”
Zaiang Wufong lifted his hand. “The Emperor speaks,” he said, and everyone else stilled so thoroughly that Kaz couldn’t even hear them breathe. “The engagement between the Xiang cn and the Long cn is nullified. The Emperor finds that all have suffered enough, and this matter will be forgotten. Lord Xiang, you should take your son home. Now.”
Lord Xiang and Elder Long both bowed deeply, though it was obvious that Elder Long was very pleased, while Lord Xiang looked furious. Stepping back, he nearly ran over his son, then bowed once more and turned on his heel. Gaoda gnced from Kaz to Lianhua and then to his father’s retreating back before hurrying away, still clutching his head.