NOVEL NEXT Chapter Two hundred twenty-eight (END Book Four)
This version of Heishe was no more than eighteen inches long, and her head was about the width of Kaz’s thumb. No hood flared behind her small skull, and when her tongue flickered out, Kaz could make out curved rows of smaller teeth, rather than the menacing fangs that were there before. If Kaz hadn’t been able to see the dense black ki packed into that small body, he would have said she was cute.
The little snake slithered across the ground toward them, leaving a damp trail in the grass. The humans drew back, and Lianhua’s face went white, causing Yingtao to give her a concerned look. Mei flattened her body in the grass, and Kyla’s flickering shield rose around her and the fuergar.
Raff had stood, and now his hand rested on the hilt of the sword Chi Yincang had returned to him. Anyone looking at him from the outside would have believed that he was vastly overreacting to the presence of such a small serpent, but for those in the group, the pressure of Heishe’s power was such that Kaz was impressed the large human was even able to offer an appearance of threat.
“I hate to say it,” Raff said, voice hoarse, “but that’s exactly what someone might say right before they tried to eat us.”
Heishe gave her hissing laugh.
Raff sat.
The snake moved without haste, gliding close enough that Kaz could have reached out and touched her before she coiled into a gleaming curve, head raised just enough to look at them all. Not a single one of them, human, kobold, or other, moved. Except Li.
The dragon opened her eyes, which were no longer covered by white caps. Kaz had been absently picking the loose skin from her body for a while now, and she was nearly back to her usual shining perfection. All sign of her injuries had vanished, and her newly revealed scales had added a subtle gradient of deep red around her front paws.
Fortunately, Heishe just laughed again, her tongue flicking out to taste the drifting cloud.
Kaz was still coming to terms with the idea that he was an adult, no matter what his chief might say, and he didn’t really appreciate being called a puppy again. Still, he had a feeling that everyone there, possibly everyone in the city, might well be pups to this being.
The snake’s head wove slowly back and forth, her dark eyes meeting each of theirs until she finally gave a small nod.
Raff jumped slightly as the voice entered his mind, then muttered something that might have been, “Of course it’s Pellis-cursed story time again,” but otherwise no one protested. Even Li settled back into Kaz’s lap, and he sensed something through their bond that might have been chagrin.
Lianhua let out a soft sigh, and her fingers twitched, but she didn’t take out one of her books.
She hesitated, as if reluctant to share the rest, but went on at last.
She released a hissing sigh, her chin coming to rest on the smooth black coils of her body.
a strident voice screeched. A bird came diving from above, seeming to appear out of the setting sun. It settled clumsily to the ground beside the snake, a few of its bedraggled feathers falling to rest on the grass. It was far from the majestic creature which had nearly destroyed the mage’s college, but Kaz had no doubt it was one and the same, since he could see the red ki that formed its body, feel it pushing against his core in a way that Heishe either couldn’t or chose not to. Probably the latter, from what little he knew of the serpent.
“A rooster?” Lianhua murmured, her voice full of wonder. When everyone turned to look at her, she flushed a deep red and shook her head, indicating that she was done speaking.
The rooster scratched at the dirt, pecking sharply at a blade of grass.
the rooster, Fengji, snapped.
Fengji let out an annoyed squawk.
Strutting forward, the bird’s ruffled neck feathers lifted, framing his head in bright oranges and reds. He stretched out both wings, tilting forward in a kind of bow. Toward Li.
he said.
Kaz assumed he was the only one who could sense the warm rush of embarrassed pleasure that ran through his dragon. There was no doubt her scales would have turned as pink as Kyla’s former fur if they could have. Rather than melting down into a pleased puddle of scales, however, she lifted her own head, arched her neck just so, and nodded magnanimously.
Kaz was certain that she had no more idea what she’d done to earn the bird’s thanks than he did, but he was usually the first to tell her what a good job she did anyway. This time, however, watching the way the Divine Beast - if that was what Heishe and Fengji were - was bowing before his dragon, Kaz felt a hint of some hot emotion light in his belly. Not in his core, but in some part of him that was more basic even than that.
The bird turned a wicked eye on Kaz and straightened from his obsequious bow.
Kaz blinked, the warmth in his gut dissipating into confusion. What had the bird just called him? Or Li, for that matter?
Fengji’s feathers puffed up, but he nodded and strutted back to the serpent’s side. Settling in place, he began to groom his feathers, which were more than a bit patchy and tattered.
The snake glanced at Kaz as Lianhua almost vibrated with excitement beside him. The human female was barely managing to restrain herself, especially after this tacit acknowledgement that Heishe and Fengji were indeed two of the ancient creatures chosen to protect their world.
the serpent went on.
The rooster bobbed his head in agreement.
Kaz frowned a bit, wondering what that meant, and Heishe explained, though he had a feeling she was choosing her words carefully.
Kaz felt a chill run down his spine as the snake’s eyes came to rest on him. If he still had fur, it would be standing straight up. “Are there…any creatures not created by this Elder?” he asked.
If reptilian lips could smile, he thought Heishe might have done so.
“You think kobolds are responsible for-” Kaz choked, looking around to see that everyone was watching him now, though the newer members of the group looked very confused. “Everything?”
The serpent’s tongue flickered thoughtfully.
“We’re not strong enough to do this,” Kaz interpreted, and actually felt relieved at the thought. She was right. Compared to the enormous depth of power in the snake and rooster, even he was little more than a clump of moss, clinging to a cavern wall, hoping not to be eaten.
Jinn frowned. “Um, I’m really sorry, Lady Snake, but that’s not right. No one has disappeared except for us.”
Heishe turned her amusement on the human female.
The rooster bobbed his head again.
It was Reina’s turn to pale. “Father?” she whispered.
The snake gave the rooster a quelling glare, then said, she slithered forward until her flickering tongue brushed against the pouch at Chi Yincang’s waist. A spark of black and white ki - the first indication Kaz had had that the serpent had any color of ki other than black - jumped between her nose and the pouch, which opened slightly, allowing a little round ball to pop out. This dropped to the ground beside Chi Yincang, who stared at it with blatant astonishment that was almost funny to see on his usually inscrutable face.
Hissing in satisfaction, Heishe flicked the orb with the very tip of her tail. It flew through the air, vanishing over the side of the cliff, down into the depths. To Kaz’s surprise, he heard a soft ‘plunk’ sound as it disappeared over the edge.
Without hesitation, Kyla leaped to her paws, crossing to the deadly chasm in an instant. Looking down, she let out a yip of surprise, then turned and stared back at the calm little snake. Her golden eyes were wide with astonishment. “It’s full of water!” she said.
The snake turned to eye her companion with an air of superiority.
The whole group turned to look out at the protruding piece of land, which now looked like it was floating in the center of a vast lake so deep that no bottom could be seen through the crystal-clear water. The people still on it, seeing that it was no longer an impassable pit, were beginning to find ways to cross. A few were already swimming, while others were cutting apart trees and attempting to lash them together to make some sort of vessel.
“Yep, time to get movin’,” Raff said, coming up to stare out over the water. “Somebody’s gonna end up comin’ ashore here, and we don’t want to have to explain who we are and what we’re doing.”
“We still don’t know where to go, though,” Jinn said, voice sharp. Then she sighed and went on more gently, “We can’t just head for the palace. Even if none of the assassins showed up, if Lady Snake is correct, they’re after Reina so they can do…whatever it is that little ball was meant to do.”
Raff scratched his head. “Can’t send you home, either,” he said. “I’m pretty sure Timon was himself when we met in Wheldrake, but there’s no guarantee that’s true of everyone else. Even if it is, we’d probably just endanger the rest of the family, especially if the king really has been replaced.”
Reina nodded. “That’s exactly what we’ve been concerned about over the last few weeks. Even if we could ask for help, we’d only be risking their lives as well, and I won’t do that.” Her pointed little jaw set firmly.
Kaz frowned, and so did others around him. Had they had a real plan? One that hadn’t been completely demolished by the events of the last several hours?
Raff’s jaw dropped, and he waved at the destroyed mage college. “There’s no way they’re havin’ it after all this. Who knows how many people have died, between the incursion last night and, uh,” he glanced at Fengji, “what happened today.”
Silently, everyone turned to look at the disheveled rooster, who was still busy straightening his feathers with his sharp beak. After a moment, Fengji gave a disgruntled little sniff and muttered,
Then he stood, shook out his feathers, which sent several more flying loose to land on the ground nearby, and flapped his wings. After a few awkward steps, he rose into the air, quickly disappearing into the sun once again. Without exchanging a single word, each person present bent to pick up the feathers, finding that there was exactly one for each of them.