NOVEL NEXT Chapter Two hundred fifty-five
Everyone spread out, looking through the building, and while Kaz was glad for the help, in a way he also missed being alone with his cousin, Li, and Mei. Though he was beginning to suspect that the warning Kyla’s father had given her about eating cores should, perhaps, be expanded and offered to the two four-legged members of their group as well.
As he thought this, Li gave a little snort and bit him lightly on the ear. She was clinging to his back much as she had Kyla’s, though he was enough larger than Kyla that it was still difficult for her. She was becoming adept at using her tail to anchor herself, however, so he didn’t have to worry about her slipping off or digging in her claws if he had to run.
The dragon tilted her head up, looking toward the dragons circling the cavern. They were lost beyond sight, but Kaz knew she was thinking about them.
By now, Kaz had stopped opening boxes. He didn’t know what he was looking at anyway, and Li sounded so forlorn. Reaching up, he stroked her neck, just as he had done when she was much smaller.
Sighing, he admitted, “We’ve both made poor choices. And yes, those were often made without thinking. But we also made good ones. Ones that resulted in someone living who otherwise wouldn’t. And those were made just as impulsively.”
Gently, he scratched around her horns, which grew longer and more graceful every time she shed her skin, sweeping back away from her slender snout and large, expressive eyes. “Lianhua has made mistakes, too. Raff certainly has. I think that’s part of being alive. Maybe we just have to try and do better next time.”
An image appeared in his mind, of a little Li, chomping through bright red stones, one after another, growing larger every time.
“Absolutely. Somehow. But I don’t think that making bad decisions will lead to us being…like them.” They both looked up this time, and the muddled lights of the dragon’s cores were as clear as if there was no roof between them.
“Me, too,” Kaz told her. They were humans, not kobolds, and perhaps it was a little harder to care about them, at least when they weren’t standing in front of him, with faces and names, but he wished they had been able to release Fengji without hurting anyone.
Of course, that would have required knowing that it was Fengji down there, and not some horrible monster bent on cooking and eating them all. Truly, he wished that the Divine Beasts would explain more about what was going on, because he had a feeling Heishe, at least, knew more than she was saying.
“That’s it!” Lianhua called softly, and Kaz and Li looked in her direction. She had insisted on going through every single box of cores, while Adara, Reina, and Jinn checked the metals, and Kaz and Yingtao looked over the plants. Which left Chi Yincang to watch for enemies, and Kyla…. Where was Kyla?
Kaz’s heart clenched in his chest, and for a moment, he thought his cousin really had run off on her own again. It seemed he and Li weren’t the only ones reflecting on their choices, however, because soon enough he saw two familiar cores behind a box not far from Adara. Well, one familiar core, and one that was slightly different than it had been before. It seemed that Mei really did have four types of ki now, not just three, because the black swirling in her abdomen was faint but clear.
Kaz yipped softly, and heard an echo just before Kyla emerged into the light. She was carrying Mei, who was, in turn, holding a large lump of something. Several bites had already been taken from it, so whatever it was, it didn’t seem likely to hurt the fuergar.
“There’s nothing new here,” Yingtao said, walking toward them. Adara stepped in beside her as she passed, and if the golden-haired female’s pouch hung lower than it had when they started, no one commented on it.
“There are eight more buildings,” Lianhua said. “Do we check them all together, or split up?”
Kaz hadn’t really thought about it, but now that she said it, he realized that there were indeed nine buildings in this cavern. The one they stood in was easily two or three times as large as any of the other, so it seemed like more, but it was nine.
Nine, which was found everywhere in his mountain. Nine-inch stairs that were too tall for kobolds. Nine levels to the mosui city. According to the howl Kyla learned as a young puppy, nine was ‘forever’. Was this just a coincidence, or did the xiyi still use the number the same way the other kobolds did?
“Split up,” Kyla replied, even as Adara said, “Stay together.”
“It will be faster if we split up,” Kaz said. “There are nine of us if Mei stays with Kyla. I’m not sure we’d all fit in all of the buildings anyway.”
It made sense to him, but almost everyone else immediately shook their heads. “I’ll stay with Lianhua,” Yingtao said.
“I’m not leaving Reina.” That was Jinn.
“I’m not going alone,” Adara said, pointing at her injured arm as if that was an explanation.
Lianhua looked around, seeming bemused. “So we have four or five groups. Chi?”
Chi Yincang simply looked back at her, expressionless, and she shook her head. “Four, then. That’s easy enough. Each group will check two buildings. Adara, who will you go with?”
“I’ll stay with Yingtao,” the female said, lifting a brow. “Of course.”
This drew a chorus of sighs from almost everyone, which caused a wicked smile to cross Adara’s face. For the first time since she’d shown up with the other humans, the female actually seemed to relax, as though causing other people vexation was something she was comfortable with and even enjoyed.
Lianhua shook her head. “This building is against the wall. When we go out, Kaz and Li will take the two buildings farthest to the left. They’re closest to the tunnel the xiyi took the prisoners out through, but with Kaz’s nose and Li’s ability to hide, you should smell anyone coming in time to disappear. Kyla and Mei, next two, for the same reason. Yingtao and I will take the third set, along with Adara and Chi Yincang. Reina and Jinn, go right. That’ll put you next to the tunnel we came through, and as far away as possible from any guards who may come to check this area.”
That seemed reasonable enough to Kaz, so he followed along as ki-lights were put out and the door opened. Outside, the air was cool and still, barely lit by the faint glow of the few remaining lanterns, and they all separated. It was fortunate that all of them were good - or at least good enough - at sneaking. In fact, Adara nearly vanished into the shadows, disappearing almost as thoroughly as Chi Yincang.
Kyla’s concealment sprang up around her, and Kaz soon found himself left behind as his cousin opened the door to her first building. Kaz hesitated just long enough to make sure she hadn’t walked directly into a trap or an enemy, then went on.
The first building he and Li investigated held meat. It was one of the larger buildings, and it was packed full. Some of the meat was beginning to go bad, making him sneeze. A good portion of it was dried, however, and both Kaz and Li took the opportunity to eat. More ended up in Kaz’s pouch, and when he found several round wooden containers of water at the back, he was able to refill his water bladders as well.
The second building held a xiyi.
When Kaz opened the door, he found himself face to snout with the reptilian, whose jaw dropped, exposing rows of sharp, very dragon-like teeth. Before Kaz could even react, however, Li launched herself from his shoulder, clamping her jaws on the xiyi’s nose, right above the nostrils. The other stumbled back, arms flailing, and landed on its thick tail.
Dragon and xiyi were hissing furiously, but Kaz gave a single quiet bark before closing the door behind him and leaping into the fray. He hoped Kyla or Mei would hear and either come to investigate or gather the others, but right now, he needed to save his dragon.
Not that Li needed much saving. Several of the xiyi’s deep brown scales already lay on the ground, and blood streamed from long scratches across his torso and neck. But the xiyi’s claws were far longer than the dragon’s, as were his teeth, so Kaz wrapped his arm around the other’s throat, pulling the head back so the xiyi couldn’t bite.
The xiyi’s long neck was far more flexible than Kaz expected, however, and in an instant, sharp teeth were snapping so close to his muzzle that he felt the other’s breath on his nose. Instinctively, Kaz bit back, burying his own teeth in the xiyi’s neck and shaking hard.
The reptilian let out a strangled snarl, trying to reach back and claw Kaz off. Li bit down on one of the scaly wrists, however, and Kaz’s hands were now free, so he twisted the other arm behind the xiyi’s back. It turned out that the other’s shoulders weren’t as limber as its neck, and the joint popped loudly, making even Kaz wince at the sound. Whatever else this creature was, it was no monster, and he would prefer to speak to it, not kill or maim it.
“Surrender,” Kaz growled, but the xiyi growled back, snapping at Kaz’s nose again. Li bit down hard on the offending snout, tearing out another chunk of scales and causing blood to flow into the xiyi’s mouth, staining its teeth red.
“Surrender!” Kaz said again, and then the door burst open. Kyla ran in, already gathering power into a ki-bolt, with Chi Yincang right behind her. The building was small, and as the xiyi tried to escape its assailants, it crashed into one wall, and then another. Kyla’s first blast missed, but only barely, and Chi Yincang stood, not even bothering to help as he watched the battle.
With one good arm, Kaz’s teeth buried in its neck, Li dangling from its nose, and Kyla readying her second bolt, the xiyi realized it couldn’t win. Rather than attempting to attack again, it reached for something hanging around its neck. Kaz wasn’t sure what the thing was, but if the xiyi wanted it, then Kaz didn’t want him to have it, so he reached around and yanked the thing off, tossing it to Chi Yincang even as he gave his prisoner another shake, hot blood welling up into his mouth.
The xiyi went limp, its despairing eyes watching as Chi Yincang’s hand closed around the necklace. “I surrender,” it said, in a voice that was somewhere between a kobold’s growl and a dragon’s hiss. With a pained growl, it tilted back its head, revealing the thin scales on the underside of its throat.
Kyla’s bolt guttered out, ki dissipating into mana. She looked at Kaz, as did Li and Chi Yincang. Kaz hesitated, teeth still bound in flesh and twisted scales, then drew back. As he did, he felt something slide beneath the xiyi’s skin. It was hard and round, and Kaz instantly knew exactly what it was.
Sinking into his ki-sight showed him nothing. There was nothing beneath the skin, and yet his probing fingers found a small orb that slipped easily to the edge of one of the wounds.
The xiyi gave a sibilant whimper as it began to thrash again. “No, please. Better to rip out my throat than-”
Kaz surrounded the invisible sphere with ki and yanked it out.