NOVEL NEXT Chapter Two hundred thirty-two
The next time Adara turned the handle of the door, she didn’t send any mana into it, and it opened onto the same small room containing a steep, narrow staircase that they had taken to reach the room below. As they passed through, Kaz wished he had time to experiment with the device.
He hadn’t felt the shift in his location until he stepped into the room where they’d left the humans and Kyla, but was the connecting room like the platforms in the mosui city, carrying its passengers to a new location, or was it the room beyond that moved? Or perhaps the doorway itself was the only thing that changed?
Li muttered.
Kaz had to agree. As fascinating as the various devices to move around were, he preferred to have more control over where he was at any given moment. That said, he did have some idea where the hidden room actually was, since he could feel the way his connection to the mountain changed. It wasn’t actually that far away, and in spite of Adara’s ominous statements, he thought he could find it if he had to. The biggest difficulty would lie in digging his way down to it. If humans liked burying things underground so much, why didn’t they just live in tunnels like reasonable folk?
Li sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Soon,” he told her, shifting her weight so he could stroke her long neck. She was large enough now that she could only fit on his shoulder if she balanced precariously on her back paws, and the sling they’d created out of his pack and a piece of fabric was now too small. The next time she grew, he would probably have to stop carrying her entirely, which was a thought that made him feel quite melancholic.
Adara glanced back at his single word, brows lifted, but they’d reached the top of the stairs, so she let it go when he just shrugged. They climbed a short ladder, emerging through a hatch in the floor of a small, dusty room. Boxes were piled around, and once they were through, Adara shifted one back into place, using a bundle of twigs to erase the lines left by the box and the marks of their feet. Once the dust settled back into place, there would be no sign that this was anything but a little-used storage room.
The door led to the room in which food was prepared. Several humans bustled around, some cutting fruits and vegetables, while two more chopped meat. Still another stood beside a metal rectangle that contained a fire, tending several pots and pans that sat on its hot surface. Rather than creating one large meal for everyone, they instead made many different ones, serving out portions as they were called for.
Once again, Kaz wished he could simply stay, observing the way these humans worked together. It was so different from what his people did, where each individual, each tribe, was essentially independent, completing their tasks without anyone watching over them, and only coming together for safety and occasional companionship.
“This way,” Adara said, leading them through still another door. This time Kaz recognized the room where they ended up. It was the space with the long, tall table and backless chairs. Many of those chairs were now filled, while other people filled in the previously empty space in front of a different human playing another musical instrument. That human howled in a high-pitched tone that sounded like a puppy’s plaintive call, while the people crowding the space nearby held each other and swayed in a way that made Kaz feel very uncomfortable.
“Let me introduce you!” Adara had to raise her voice to be heard, motioning toward one of the tables in the other half of the room. Three people sat there, and as they turned, rising to their feet, Kaz realized that he recognized two of them.
Genevieve, the tall female who had spoken to Yingtao earlier, stood and grinned as she saw Kaz and Raff. “Ha!” she said, “It is Blue! Ada was being awfully tight-lipped about who our new team-members were, but she let a few things slip, and I thought it might be you.” She laid a finger alongside her nose and closed one eye at Kaz meaningfully.
Beside Kaz, Raff stiffened. “His name is Kaz,” he said, voice rumbling with warning.
Genevieve shrugged, obviously unconcerned, even as she scanned Raff from head to toe. “Kaz, then.” She flicked her black curls away from her face. “I just like the hair.”
Turning to her companions, she pointed to the other one Kaz recognized. It was the person who had been playing music earlier, and now that Kaz had a chance to look more closely, he was even less certain of their gender. The hair was short, which in his admittedly limited experience meant male, but the shoulders were narrow and the body, other than the hands and arms, was soft. An equally soft ball of mana stirred in their chest.
“This is Harper,” she said. “Bit spot-on for me, but I guess that’s what happens when both your folks are bards. At least she doesn’t actually play the harp, eh?”
Harper sighed but gave a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, then sat down again without any further attempt at conversation.
The last person was short and wide, with light brown hair plaited into numerous braids. Each braid was tied to one or more of the others, so while the whole was loose in the middle, the bottom came together into a single thick mass that hung down their back. Their skin was pale, the broad face furless except for wispy lashes and eyebrows, and they looked generally unhappy to meet Raff and Kaz.
“I thought I said I’d only fight if I was in an all-female group,” she said, her words and higher voice settling Kaz’s uncertainty about her gender. It was very convenient that most female humans had noticeably different voices than males.
Another voice came from behind Kaz, making him step sharply to the side while Li raised her head and hissed. “Be polite, Bella,” the bald male who’d been cleaning glasses earlier said. He reached out and clamped a hand over the short female’s head, ruffling her braids affectionately.
Looking over at Raff, he said, “This’s my daughter. If you have any trouble with her, come talk to me.” His face settled into a flat look, brows drawn into a single thick line across his forehead. “If she has any trouble with you, I’ll come talk to you.”
Raff’s lips twitched in a way Kaz recognized, but somehow he managed to hold back his grin and nodded instead. “Understood, sir.”
Apparently that was enough, because the older male gave a toothy smile, turned, and walked away, returning once again to his place behind the long, tall table. He immediately began pouring liquids from various containers into cups, no longer paying any attention to their small group.
Adara sighed. “Henriette and Glass were injured in the incursion, and you know it, Bella. If you wanted to avoid this, you should have convinced them not to run off after salamanders.”
Bella scowled. “Glass said-”
Adara held up a hand, her eyes abruptly cold. “I don’t care what Glass said. They were your teammates. You should have kept them in or gone with them. Hopefully, you’ll do better with these two.”
Turning to Kaz and Raff, she said, “Genevieve is terrible at defense. Forgets what she’s doing as soon as she starts fighting. She’ll take out a full team on her own, though, so long as none of them gets in a serious blow. Harper is squishy as a slime, but she’s good at buffs and can do a little minor healing. Bella is a little slow, but nothing and no one will get through her, which makes her a good partner for Eve. Glass was their mage, and Henriette was good enough at both offense and defense, so she could fit in where needed. You two are going to fill those roles.”
Looking around at all of them, she went on, “Opening day has been moved to tomorrow morning. Every single one of you will be there, or I’ll track you down and rip a new hole in you.” Her eyes lingered on Bella as she spoke.
“Will we be able to update our papers then?” Raff asked.
Adara shook her head. “No need. I’ll send your new papers with Harper. All you have to do is show up and beat everything they throw at you.”
Now Raff did grin. “Sounds like a plan.”
Kaz was happy to hear this, too. He was tired of standing in lines in large crowds, waiting for someone to change a single rune on a single piece of paper, all so he could do something that they wanted him to do. Humans were really very strange.
Without another word, Adara turned and left, presumably to go back and speak with Lianhua and the others. Kaz hoped that she would be able to make some sense of everything that had been happening, so Raff’s sister and her friend could return home, and so could Kaz.
He stilled at that thought. Why had he even had it? He fully intended to travel with Lianhua to her country, help her grandmother if he could, and then go with Li to find her family. None of that involved him returning to the mountain, and honestly, he had no intention of going back there even after completing his other tasks. He simply wanted to explore the world, learning and being free. Didn’t he?
He looked around at the noisy, busy room, comparing it to a similar space in a kobold den. Voices there would be low, other than the yips and giggles of puppies. Everyone gave each other space, with even mates generally keeping at least a little distance between them. Most of all, it would be dark, with only a few flickering red ki-lights, not bright white lights that glared from small glass containers dangling from the ceiling. Everything here was always so much, and he doubted if he would ever get used to it, much less come to like it.
That would definitely be better. Kaz liked the trees and the soft, natural sounds of the wilderness. He still preferred to be in a small space when he slept, but the wide open sky was a truly beautiful thing, and one he would happily look at every day.
An image of himself, riding atop a great golden dragon, crept into his mind. Wind blew through his fur, and he could smell the sun-warmed air and the scent of dragon. His dragon. Yes, that would be a very good thing, and he would willingly have any number of uncomfortable experiences if they would allow him to achieve it.
Never, he thought, and turned his head so he could look into her worried eyes. Her glistening gaze searched his, and he put every ounce of love he felt for her into their connection. She was enough, and though he might once have dreamed of having pups with a mate of his choice, that had always been a distant hope at best. Li was here, in his heart and his mind, and he couldn’t imagine ever choosing to be without her.
“That all right with you, Bl- uh, Kaz?” Raff asked, looking a bit worried.
Kaz shook his head. He didn’t want to admit he’d been paying no attention to the humans at all, but he also didn’t want to agree to anything without knowing what it was.
To his surprise, Raff looked almost relieved. Turning back to the three females, he shrugged. “That’s how it is. Kaz isn’t much for large groups. Best we head back to the tournament barracks.”
Kaz’s stomach growled loudly, and Li’s echoed the sound. Somehow, Raff heard it over the crowd and laughed. “Make that food and then rest. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Genevieve looked distinctly disappointed as they walked away, while Bella looked equally triumphant. Harper, who was still sitting at the table while the others stood, didn’t even seem to notice when Raff led Kaz out into the cool evening air. Li immediately flapped her wings, launching herself from Kaz’s arms and up into the star-speckled sky. The moon was back. Just a sliver, but enough to gild the dragon’s scales as she spiraled upwards.
“Don’t go too far!” Raff called after her as people around them stopped and stared, mouths falling open.
Li replied in Kaz’s mind. She did, and Kaz watched the joyous, graceful curves of her flight as she stayed just ahead of Kaz. He was astonished by how much of the sky she covered with her wings fully extended, and he wondered if she would even fit inside the mountain if he ever decided to go back. Just for a visit, of course.