Kaz was gd to learn that while Raff was correct that the unlikable Prince Lucas was here, he’d already thoroughly offended all of the chiefs, and had been relegated to a tent in the middle of the human camp. That left Reina to speak for the group from Holiander, and she had immediately let everyone know that she’d like to deal with Ky in order to find out what kind of home they should build for the young kobold in Cliffcross. Ky was now working with someone they called an ‘architect’, and her position as the liaison to the humans was all but official.
The group chatted for a while before Kaz realized that a few of their members had disappeared at some point. Raff, Lianhua, Yingtao, Reina, and Jinn were all there, along with most of the chiefs, all of whom were watching them talk from a polite distance, though Kaz could see their ears twisting to catch every word. Elder Long and Baihe were absent, as was Li, which reminded Kaz that he had something very unpleasant to do today.
Kaz didn’t really want to talk to any of the people who were watching him so closely, so he did something he generally tried to avoid. When a lull in the conversation arrived, he gave everyone a brief farewell, then leaped away onto the top of a nearby pile of rubble that had probably once been the top of a building. From there he jumped to a building in the Magmabde section of the city, which was rapidly - though quietly - being taken over by his mother’s tribe once again. He followed the glittering bond leading to his dragon, though he already knew where he would find her.
After the Irondiggers destroyed Lianhua and Yingtao’s first hut - though it was possible Yingtao or Chi Yincang actually destroyed it? Ky’s howl was a bit unclear on this point - Ija suggested they use one of the abandoned buildings inside the Magmabde section of the city. This section suffered the least in the recent battle, since almost no one was there to fight, and while there were no huts specifically designed for humans, there were very old buildings that were much taller than kobolds preferred.
While Yingtao was somewhat dubious about this - possibly because these buildings had no beds, baths, or furniture - Lianhua leaped at the offer, and soon enough they were settled in, using bnkets and pillows from their storage pouches, which were arguably more comfortable than what kobolds had created after having ‘beds’ expined to them. Of course, the two females were rarely there, since Lianhua seemed determined to read all of Nucai’s books as soon as possible, but Mei and her babies were, which meant Ky spent as much time there as she could get away with.
Kaz and Li had been introduced to Mei’s offspring a few days after Nucai’s death, and to Kaz’s amusement, Li had fallen in love with the tiny creatures. Her favorite was the little bck one, which had a tiny Water core in his round belly, and she came to visit him, and the others, often.
When Kaz entered, he found that Mei had gone off somewhere, as she often did when Li came by. The fuergar knew Li would watch over the pups as if they were her own, and so she went to do whatever the Rat - or perhaps simply a mother - needed to do without her young. Li was about half size, with her long body wrapped around the squeaking, wiggling mass of pups. The dragon’s chin rested on her front paws, and her eyes darted from pup to pup, checking each of them for anything she might need to attend to. They were so round that sometimes they rolled over on their backs and couldn’t right themselves, and Li particurly enjoyed gently nudging them back over onto their paws.
Li said with some disapproval as Kaz entered.
Kaz crouched down, gently running a finger over the silky blue fuzz that covered the pup Ky had named Tou. The pup squeaked and turned toward his finger, seeking, and Kaz gave it a tiny bit of Wood ki, which matched the blue ki churning in its little core. He longed to use the pups as an excuse, ask Li if she didn’t want to stay just long enough to find out if her prediction was true, but once again he held it in, saying instead, “I think it will be Tou. See, his ears and tail are developing more quickly than the others.”
This wasn’t entirely true, since the red pup, Yan, was just as far ahead as Tou. The gold and white pups still looked almost like miniature mosui round-pups, with their nubs of ears and tails, though the gold one, Dihe, was actually the rgest by far.
Li gave Kaz a gnce, then leaned down to put her nose by Shu’s ear.
Kaz chuffed a ugh, but he knew why Li liked this pup the best. Besides the fact that Shu had Water ki, he was also the smallest of Mei’s pups, just like Li had been the smallest of her siblings. Not that there was much simirity between them beyond that, because Shu was as round and doted on as all the rest.
Reaching into his pouch, Kaz took out a piece of blue metal he’d found among the things Qiangde had stored away centuries ago. The pups were far too young for solid food, but he id it down near Li’s back paws, so Mei could eat it when she got back. Speaking of which…
Pulling his focus away from what y before him, Kaz ‘looked’ for Mei, using his new awareness of the rest of the Twelve. To his utter shock, he found her in the mid-levels, near the city, and briefly wondered how she had gotten there in the brief time since Li arrived. But Mei was the Rat, and as far as he could tell, a significant portion of her power y in making tunnels that allowed her to go almost anywhere at any time. Was there now a permanent, Mei-sized hole that led directly between the two cities, or had Mei done something rather less literal in order to get there? More importantly, how long would it take her to return?
The question was answered when the fuergar seemed to sense his attention on her. For an instant, he felt her looking back at him, and then she popped out of a small hole in the wall that was mostly hidden by Li’s body. Mei gave an imperious squeak, and Li huffed, but moved out of the way so the rodent could lie down beside her pups. The five bottomless stomachs pretending to be adorable fuergar pups immediately moved toward her, each one tching on and beginning to feed, though for some reason Yan felt the need to kick Jiu in the head as she did so.
Kaz and Li looked at each other as the small space grew much more quiet. The pups were always making some kind of noise, stopping only to eat and sleep. Mei stretched out on the pile of fur and cloth that she’d made into a nest, and gave Li a nod before closing her eyes and falling into a doze. This was her best chance to sleep as well, since none of the increasingly mobile pups would choose to crawl away rather than eat.
“Is there anywhere else you need to go, or anyone you need to see before-?” Before you leave, hung between them, but Kaz couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Li shook her head.
That was true, and it was the same reason Kaz hadn’t mentioned her imminent departure to anyone else. Besides the fact that it should be up to Li who she told, he also didn’t want anyone else there. He had things to say that would be far less awkward if they were alone, even if they used their inner voices so no one else could actually hear them.
Li shook out her wings, then turned and walked to the open window. Mei’s nest was on what Lianhua and Yingtao called the ‘second floor’ of their building, which made it all the odder that the fuergar had entered through a hole that should open onto an eight-foot drop. It was particurly convenient for Li, however, since the dragon could fly directly in and out of the single window.
With a leap, Li was out and away, flying in a circle around the building. By the time she rounded the corner again, she was at full size, and Kaz simply stepped out of the window and dropped only her back. They had practiced this many times, and though the first few were very awkward, by now Li barely even wobbled as Kaz’s weight nded on her. Power shimmered around them, and they vanished from the sight of any observers, heading for the portal.
That portal was still a mystery to almost everyone, and Kaz himself still didn’t know how Mei had made it, only that she had. What he could tell, however, was that the world didn’t mind having it there, perhaps as a result of the hundreds or thousands of times it had been opened before it was made permanent. It seemed like that part of, well, everything had become stretched out and thin, but Mei had patched it back together, just in a different way than it had been originally. The world didn’t mind change, it just wanted that change to make sense.
Kaz and Li slipped through the portal without telling the guards standing there that they were leaving. No doubt this would confuse them when Kaz returned alone, since he couldn’t hide himself, but he didn’t really care. What he did care about was the sprawl of human tents that had taken over the lovely field outside the exit portal. He wondered if the chiefs knew about this, and if so, if they cared that trees were being cut down, water fouled, and waste crevices dug just outside the mountain.
With a sigh, Kaz leaned forward, holding onto Li’s neck. Unlike inside the mountain, out here there was wind, and he’d nearly been knocked off more than once because he hadn’t expected it.
Li flew up, leaving the camp behind them, and Kaz closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cool damp air and the sunlight on his fur. Li flew for quite a while, and finally Kaz thought he knew where they were going.
Li ughed.
And he would end up near the magma forge, where Shom had returned to work. He needed to talk to her, but had been putting it off, which was something Li knew. Kaz sighed, but nodded, and soon, they circled down so Li could glide into the concealing overhang, causing the seemingly perpetual snow to swirl up around them.
They stood there for a little while, both ignoring the cold air and the touch of the frozen snow, until Kaz slid down from Li’s back. Still, he didn’t speak until the dragon butted her head into his chest, making it clear that she expected him to start.
“I didn’t realize you knew,” he burst out at st, not looking at her. “Until you told Rega you would be my mate when you grew up. I thought you didn’t-” His ears grew hot in spite of the bitterly cold air.
Li id her head on his shoulder. she said.
“But-” Kaz cmped his mouth shut. But she was a dragon and he was a kobold. But she’d never even had an opportunity to spend time with other dragons. Once she had, she might not want to return to him. But he was the Dog, and while he was able to remain here for now, eventually he would be called away, and he didn’t know how or when that might happen.
He stepped away, then leaned in again and touched his nose to hers. “It’s all right to change your mind,” he told her. “It’s all right to grow up and find out you need someone else. I’ll be happy as long as you’re happy.” Not quite as true as he’d like it to be, but he would have a very long time to make it be true, and as long as she remained his friend, he thought that eventually he really would be fine.
Kaz pulled back, chuffing a ugh. “I don’t think I could pick anyone else,” he admitted. “It’s you or no one.”
“I know,” he said, closing his eyes. “I’ll miss you.”
He looked at her, seeing the way her golden scales glistened in the light that filtered through stones, and how her bright eyes shone with intelligence and humor. “How did you get to be so wise?”
Li snorted, then turned, flicking her tail as she ran toward the sunlight.