I’d always been the kind of person who got so hyped up by my combination of social anxiety and people-pleasing instincts that not only did I say things like “you too!” when waiters told me to enjoy my meal, I’d do it all loud and unnaturally high-pitched and everything.

Turns out, dying and being reborn as a kobold hadn’t changed that—which is how I ended up making a deal I didn’t understand with a demonic-looking full-plate golden retriever and regretting it even as the words left my mouth.

I probably shouldn’t have asked any more questions at all, barring perhaps one, but my curiosity and impatience hadn’t gone away either. And though I knew what my next and perhaps only other question should be, I dreaded the answer so much that I put it off. I never did say I was the brightest opal in the bunch…though of course, this was more about cowardice than it was intelligence.

We began to walk again at a measured pace, passing flickering oil lanterns, and, at greater intervals—huge, gem-studded mosaics of magnificent winged, quadrupedal beasts, each one entirely different from the last, barring those two common traits. Dragons! Oh gods, please let there be real dragons in this world.

“Why does everyone despise me?” I asked, instead of just shutting up like I should have.

Thors looked uncomfortable.

“They say you delight in mischief, trickery, and subterfuge. Good Truthseers are rare in much of the world, including the lands of Ashri, I suppose. Not so, here.” Again, he took on that tone of pride, his scale-plates lifting somewhat, making him seem even bulkier.

“Oh.”

I breathed a shaky sigh of relief. That’s not good news, exactly, but here I was afraid I’d done something truly, unforgivably—

“And also you killed your sister.”

“What?”

I stopped short and Thors followed suit, turning to face me.

“Please elaborate on that—as part of answering that question in full, not as a new answer.”

Thors’ snout scrunched.

“Very well,” he relented after a moment. “I suppose we should have been more clear in the terms of our deal. You…you, er…”

My tail began to slap impatiently against the ground without my really meaning it to.

“I’m sorry,” said Thors. “It is an uncomfortable thing to discuss with a stranger, and to the same stranger it happened to.”

“Please. It’s ok.”

“You went into a Frenzy,” he said at last. I gave him a questioning look, and, reluctantly, he proceeded to explain further. “You became overwhelmed by the power of your emotions and instincts and lost control. You were both near a ledge. You claimed it was an accident. A Truthseer was brought in, one of ours, actually, and they confirmed it.”

I stared at him, realizing moments later my mouth was hanging open. I snapped it closed again, only to open it half a second later to ask my next sub-question.

“Oh, um. Alright then. I can…I can…” I trailed off. Took a long breath. Brushed my hands over what would normally have been my hair but was now smooth scales, the tiniest pair of little stub-horns ever, and a fluffy set of pointed ears. I took another deep breath, and then another, and tried again.

“Sooooo…why am I here and not, like, in kobold prison or something?”

“I take it you claim this as another part of the same answer?”

“Um…yes? Last one. I promise.”

He huffed a bit.

“Frenzies happen to the Gemless. They have no outlet for their power, yet. It is still a shameful thing. We are meant to spend that time cultivating control. You have been punished in many ways since then, but ultimately, you won admittance here nonetheless.”

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The way he said this hinted at all sorts of nefarious possibilities. But I refused to get drawn into an unplanned line of questioning.

Instead, I forced myself to face what I’d been avoiding.

“What is Favor, exactly?”

Again, Thors’ amber eyes went wide with shock. And then he was doubled over, barking with laughter that echoed loudly down the hall.

“You…you don’t know? And you promised it to me? And I thought you thought I was stupid!”

I crossed my arms over my chest, realized how defensive and pouty it must look, then dropped my hands down to rest on my hips instead. Not much better, but oh well.

“Listen. I’m working with nothing except a basic vocabulary here. I’ve already admitted that I have no idea what’s going on. But a deal is a deal. If you want my Favor, the least you can do is tell me what the hell it is without laughing your ass entirely off.”

The word “hell” translated as something else when I spoke it out loud, a word whose true meaning was more like “Deep Places.” The phrase came with a whole lot of convoluted and sacred connotations, but I would have to find a book of lore at some point to fully understand them.

Deep Places, I’ll just find a whole-ass library and camp out there for a week.

Wait…what if they don’t have books?

“Right.” Thors cleared his throat, obviously trying to suppress another snort of laughter. “Yes. Of course. Favor is the byproduct created as you channel power through your Gem. It is useless to you, the one who generates it, but can give a power to others they cannot create themselves. Through Favor, we absorb our Gems over time, make their Vital Source a part of us. Only then may we take on another, enhance our Abilities, and work toward gaining new ones.”

My ears twitched.

“So, I passively generate Favor through using my powers, and I can give it to others to help them level up? And all kobolds can do this for each other?”

Thors looked pleased.

“Yes,” he said. “All except the young and the Gemless.”

I ground my teeth. Don’t. Make. Soap Opera. Reference.

“Could you elaborate on that?” I managed. “It’s just, it sounds really easy, but it can’t be, right? How long does it take to generate…what did you call it? One glow of favor?”

“It is all dependent on how many Gems you have and how often you channel your power. For a new student like you…probably about a week?”

Channel my power? What is my power, anyway? I resisted the urge to ask. That would definitely count as a separate query.

“And you’re willing to wait that long between, er, Favor-givings?”

“Of course,” he said. “It is to be expected. And I think that is all I will allow as part of this question.”

I just knew there had to be a catch, and beside that, I had about a hundred other questions pertaining to how exactly Favor worked and why. But instead of allowing my curiosity to lead me into further debt, I decided to cut it off there.

“Do you have any more questions?” Thors prodded hopefully as we began to near the familiar territory of the ritual space.

“No more, thank you. That’s what, three glow of Favor I owe you, then?”

“That is correct,” replied the kobold, tail wagging again. “But only because I am generous and allowed you to ask many questions in one.”

A climactic clashing of drums issued from up ahead and a thousand or so voices rose up, roaring and howling in unison.

“Oh, it’s over already,” said Thors, ears drooping a bit.

Gesturing with his spear, he guided me into position beside him with our backs against the wall. A half a second later a rumbling began, and a tide of kobolds poured from the ritual hall and into the corridor. I scanned the crowd while it thundered past us to find more than a few slit-pupiled eyes staring back at me, but no sign of my disapproving father. As I suspected, he must have left immediately after the Gem-giving part of the ceremony.

Good. That was one less thing to worry about, allowing me to worry even harder about whatever was going to happen with this so-called Truthseer.

On the one hand, they could probably at least confirm for everyone that I hadn’t been trying to steal anything and that I was being honest about having no memories from this life before today. But on the other…what if they saw too much truth? What would they think, if they knew I’d come from another species, another world entirely? That I had usurped the body of the person they knew?

Then again, everyone hates her guts. So maybe they’ll just be relieved.

While I fought to suppress a sudden burst of panic, Thors reached out to tap the arm of a passing elder. He didn’t look particularly wizened, but I seemed to be able to distinguish age groups by smell—though not in the gross way one might assume. Scent was a language in and of itself, and I had only just become fluent.

“What is it?” demanded the wingless kobold, lurching to a stop and turning to face us. His scales were a slate blue, his fur a much lighter, icier hue and braided in places with gemstone beads. His pushed-back goggles flashed in the lantern light as he looked from one to the other of us.

Focusing on his face, I summoned up the glyphs again.

15Gem Sapphire

Enhance Wisdom

Crystallize Knowledge

Discernment of Truth

Eye of the Gestalt

Plane of Calculation

“Forgive me, Erres-anz,” said Thors in a rush. “I discovered this initiate attempting to gain entry to…” he hesitated, his gaze flashing sideways at me. “Er, places forbidden to her. She claimed she was looking for a greenroom, and that she’s lost her memory. Could you—“

The elder groaned, waving a scaly hand.

“Fine, fine. Let’s get this over and done with. I hate being late to feasts. All the good stuff gets taken.”