The Broken Knife

She gnawed at the stone, and it crumbled away beneath her teeth. It was so soft compared to what she was used to, and there were so many different things mixed into it. Some of it tasted quite good, but most of it was bland or even unpleasant. Still, she went on, because if there was one thing she’d learned, it was that a burrow with only one opening was actually a trap.

Voices raised again from behind her, and she turned, her long tail sweeping through the debris she’d left behind. Her whiskers quivered as she sniffed deeply, but so far as she could tell, there were no new smells in the cavern beyond. Still, it was time to check, so she picked up the circle of gold next to her and clamped it between her teeth, hurrying back.

The tunnel narrowed rapidly, ending at a hole barely large enough for her body. She peered through, blinking at the light, then squeezed into the space behind the one she’d once thought of as the Littlest Monster, but now knew was called Kyla.

Kyla gave a gratifying gasp of relief, gently stroking Mei’s fur. Mei dropped the gold into Kyla’s hand. She knew by now that the other female wouldn’t eat it - perhaps couldn’t? - but it still seemed right to share.

“Thank you,” Kyla whispered, leaning over so she could bury her muzzle in Mei’s fur. Mei appreciated that Kyla didn’t grab at her. She mostly trusted these Monsters by now, especially this one, but she still preferred not to be held. Climbing and perching on them whenever she wanted was, of course, an entirely different story.

Kyla had made a nest behind a large container that used to hold food and water. Since Mei’s Monster was very smart, she quickly realized that Mei was making a second exit for them, and used her nest materials to hide the opening. Mei wasn’t certain why she was hiding it, but assumed it had something to do with the New Monsters.

Jumping from Kyla’s shoulder to the top of the box, Mei looked around, sniffing. The Monster Who Left had brought more food and water to replace what had been eaten, and there was a particular substance the Monsters called cheese that Mei found almost as appetizing as gold. It even had a similar color, though its smell wasn’t nearly as sweet. Once again, the cheese was in the middle of the New Monsters’ nest. These Monsters seemed to like the cheese almost as much as Mei did, so if she wanted any, she needed to go and get it.

The cave was as still as ever, with the female Monsters mostly speaking to each other, and spending the rest of their time sleeping or eating. At least the Sick Monster, who was one of the new ones, seemed to be recovering.

Mei climbed down the far side of the container, her sharp claws digging easily into the soft surface, then scampered across to the females’ nest. She felt the eyes of the Silent Monster on her, but as usual, he did nothing, so she ignored him and continued on, clambering up into the large nest.

Halting next to the block of cheese, which was already a good bit smaller than the last time she’d seen it, Mei sat down, offering a polite squeak. She had learned by now that she didn’t have to steal food from these Monsters. They would feed her if she asked, and simply made soft sounds of appreciation as she held the food in her paws, eating daintily.

Sure enough, the Healthy New Monster tore off a chunk of cheese and passed it to Mei. It was smaller than she would have liked, but these Monsters had fought beside her and Kyla, so it was important to make sure they remained strong, so they could fight next time as well. Mei didn’t begrudge them food. She was only glad that none of the Monsters seemed to like metal as much as she did.

Mei began to nibble carefully at the lump of cheese, and the two New Monsters made squealing noises that were almost worthy of a fuergar. It sounded very odd coming from such large creatures, but Mei graciously ignored them.

“I can’t believe how cute she is,” Healthy Monster squeaked to Sick Monster. Sick Monster nodded in turn, eyes large.

“There are reports of hordes of Ironfang Rats ravaging fields and orchards every year,” Sick Monster said. “But no one ever mentioned the creatures we were setting bounties on were so adorable.”

Healthy Monster’s face moved in a way it usually didn’t. “Raff told me they can be pretty tough if you corner them. They run, but just come back again, so you have to find their nest, and there’s almost always a big one in there. Even veterans can get overconfident and die if there are enough of them.”

Seeing that Mei was out of cheese, Sick Monster passed her some more. “Wyverns are pests, too, but people have them as pets.”

Healthy Monster nodded. “True. And wyverns aren’t nearly as cute.”

The two looked at each other as if finding agreement on something, and their lips curved upward. Mei had realized this meant this particular kind of Monster was happy, in the same way that a wagging tail meant Kyla’s kind of Monster was. She didn’t know why they were happy, but they also had cheese, and cheese made her happy, so perhaps it did the same for them.

The three of them sat together, eating, until Healthy Monster burst out, “Rissa likes cheese, too. And cute animals.” Her face began to leak.

Sick Monster wrapped an arm around Healthy Monster’s shoulders, and Mei wondered if Healthy Monster was sick after all. “You’ll get back home,” Sick Monster murmured reassuringly. “They’re fine.”

Swiping at her cheeks, Healthy Monster said, “You don’t know that. No one has seen or spoken to them since all this happened. Dad, and Mom, and all the kids.”

Now Sick Monster started to leak, too. “I know. But at least we have help now.”

“Do we?” Healthy Monster asked, suddenly lowering her voice. “We haven’t seen Raff since yesterday. That woman comes in, asks Lianhua more questions, gives us food, and then leaves again. We have no idea what’s going on. What if Raff and his friend are already dead or missing, and this Adara doesn’t want to tell us? She may not even know.”

A flush almost as pink as her hair suffused Sick Monster’s face. “Kaz. Your brother’s friend’s name is Kaz. And I think they’re fine. Kaz is… is… he’s really strong, I think. They’ll figure this out.”

“Without us,” Healthy Monster said, eyes narrowing. “I want out of this place.”

Sick Monster’s fists balled in her nesting material. “I do, too. And I’m a princess of Holiander. Next time Adara comes back, I’ll just order her to let us out. Or at least tell us what’s happening.”

The two exchanged a look, but Mei was done with her cheese, so she turned and left them. The two big nests were close enough that she could easily jump to the other one, though first she glanced over to make sure Kyla was all right. The female was staring at something she held in her hand, so Mei went on, landing beside the Monster called Lianhua, who laid beside Tricky Monster.

The two of them spent almost all of their time together, sleeping or talking, though it was rare for even Mei to be able to hear their words. She had discovered that if Lianhua saw her, however, the Monster would almost always offer Mei some kind of food, so whenever she made a circuit of the cavern, Mei made a point of stopping by.

Sure enough, as soon as Lianhua noticed the fuergar sitting patiently beside her, the female’s fingers reached into the pouch at her waist, pulling out a white cube. Mei didn’t know what these white cubes were, but her instincts and a few cautious nibbles had told her they were safe, so by now she simply accepted them and began to eat. Sweetness burst over her tongue as the thing crumbled like sandstone, and Mei slowed down, savoring the treat.

Tricky Monster watched the exchange, then shook her head, though her lips curved up. “You’re going to spoil the creature,” she said.

Lianhua shrugged, laying her head on Tricky Monster’s shoulder. “I doubt she’ll ever have to live in the wild again. Plus, she has a core. I don’t think a few sugar cubes are going to cause her any significant damage.”

“True enough,” Tricky Monster said, reaching up to stroke Lianhua’s fur. “Xing-an, we need to leave soon.”

Lianhua tensed. “I know. I’m shocked Chi Yincang hasn’t cut his way out of here yet.”

“Mmm,” Tricky said, “Chi-ge won’t do anything Elder Long doesn’t tell him to do.”

“Which means Grandfather hasn’t told him to take us and run. Yet,” Lianhua said.

“But he will, or if he doesn’t, it may be another test. Will you choose your friends or yourself? I think Elder Long would rather if you were selfish.”

Lianhua drew in a long breath, turning her face into Tricky Monster’s chest. “I’ll go when I have to,” she said, muffled. “I won’t leave Kaz behind, though.”

Tricky bit her lip. “The things you’ve told me… They’re hard to believe. I wish I’d had a chance to speak to him properly.”

“So do I,” Lianhua said. “He’s astonishing, and I get the feeling we’re only seeing the edges of his potential. I truly believe-,” her voice cracked. “If anyone can help Grandmother, I think he can do it.”

Mei finished her cube, picking up a few fallen grains with her agile fingers. She waited to see if Lianhua would offer her a second, but when none was forthcoming, she continued on her rounds. Jumping to the floor, she crossed to the Silent Monster. Just as silently, she crept up on him, avoiding making a single scrape of claw over ground or brush of tail against the wall she clung to. When she reached him, she gently placed a single paw on his foot.

Dark eyes looked down at her. Unlike the others, his lips didn’t curve, up or down, but the fingers of the hand on his far side, out of sight of any of the other Monsters, slid into his pouch. When they emerged, they held a golden disc. Mei knew from experience that these discs held much more pure metal than the ones she found in the stinking tunnels. She also knew better than to try to reach up and take it.

Each time they played this game, the Silent Monster made her wait a little longer. Perhaps there would come a time when the reward wasn’t worth her patience, but this wasn’t that time. After twenty breaths, the disc slipped from between his fingers, and Mei caught it in her paws. She had to be careful. Once, she fumbled it, and before it even touched the ground, the Silent Monster snatched it back up, moving almost too fast to see. If she made a single sound, she would lose her prize.

Only after Mei returned to Kyla’s side did she dare to eat her golden tidbit. As she nibbled, Kyla stroked her fur, making the raspy sound that indicated amusement in her kind of Monster. Leaning down, the pink-furred female whispered, “I checked the hole. I think it’s almost big enough.”

Mei looked up at her, pushing the last bite of gold into her cheek, then glanced toward the dark gap that was barely visible at the edge of Kyla’s nest. She, too, thought the space beyond the hole was almost large enough for the other female. It was too bad that the Littlest Monster was still so much bigger than herself, but she would make it work.

With a soft squeak, Mei hurried back to the hole, ducking through, then turning so she could see Kyla’s worried golden eyes peering in after her. “Be careful,” the Monster said softly, and Mei’s whiskers twitched in acknowledgement. Fuergar weren’t brave, but that very fact was why they survived as long as they did.

She turned away, chomping at the wall as she moved. Fortunately, while metal and food gave her strength, stone simply passed through her system, parts of it burning away, while any ore was turned into fuel. Fuergar could eat stone almost indefinitely without becoming full. Which was good, because she had a tunnel to complete.

This place was almost like being home again, however, at least in that it was dark and mostly quiet, peaceful in a way the world outside the mountain mostly was not. She lost track of time as she bit and chewed, bit and chewed, avoiding the worst of the stinking material that fouled these tunnels.

Each time, she seemed to reach the larger open area more quickly. It was a cavern almost as large as the one where the Monsters waited, except that it had many exits, much to her satisfaction. One by one, she had been exploring these exits, finding that several were actually blocked off, having collapsed at some point in the past. She had considered chewing through to find out what lay beyond, but for now she waited, content to continue investigating the open ones.

Of the eight openings, Mei had discovered that three were blocked, and one was so unstable that her instincts told her not to even attempt it. Four others led to yet more branching tunnels, some larger, some too small even for Kyla. Now, Mei was ready to travel down the eighth.

Never once had she met another living thing here, at least not since the time she and Kyla fought beside the New Monsters to defeat the lizards. Now, though, she found that her nose began to twitch as she traveled further from the connecting cavern. She definitely smelled reptiles again, but there was something different about them. Different, but also familiar. They smelled like the flying lizard who rode on the First Monster’s shoulder.

Mei smelled dragons.