With Humey out and off to his own job, it was time for me to get into the groove of fixing all of these gadgets and gizmos. Dobu seemed to have his hands full juggling the repair work and the childcaring, so it was all on me to figure out the function and damage each machine had. I love puzzles.

My first patient was a large rectangular shell filled with tubes and enchanted rings. After some poking, prodding, and confused banging, Dobo asked for Hitkova, who had just stumbled into the workshop with a drumstick in her mouth, to help me understand what the enchanted rings did.

“Greet, Kayrux. I can help understand these runes. Look, see this ring? It pulls wind through, go from red side to blue side, push through tube. Tube made of more rings make cold wind. Uses mana, not good design. Means somebody need hold it make work. Touch gold piece make run, see if work.”

I was never tasked with working on HVAC system before, but this sounded a lot like an air conditioner. Unfortunately, my knowledge was on physical machines, and not magical rings. Well, when in Rome, do as the kobolds do. Placing my hand over the golden plate, I felt a small tug at my magic a moment before the machine lit up to spew chunks of ice onto the floor.

“Yikes! Not good, limit rune all worn down. Too much magic in cold runes. Look, see this piece? Use rune tool, carve new one like that. Same shape, should work. Rune pieces on shelf there.”

Oh, so I just need to carve up a new circuit? That sounded much too easy to be magic. I would question the legitimacy of this claim, but I was certain that none of the crew were literate, and I could just confirm for myself. On the parts shelf was a stack of silver plates, perhaps a centimeter thick, and a box of tools adjacent to them. Using the eroded circuit as a template, I was able to create a replacement piece with deep channels and fit it in the place where the old one had been. I tried the machine once more, and was pleased to feel a delightfully cool breeze pushing its way out of the duct.

Hitkova grinned at my success and gave me a congratulatory pat on the back.

“Nice work new kid! Dobo right, you very clever. Not get too good at runes, I might need fix your invention someday. Many runes make fixing hard. This way, bring wind cooler, we put on fix rack.”

I can’t promise that I won’t make something utterly absurd, but at the moment I only know how to make a cheap cooling fan, so you can count yourself lucky Hitkova. After showing me where we were supposed to deposit our completed work she led me to a shelf filled with more broken machines. My eyes kept wandering higher and higher until I was looking at the catwalks above. She pointed to a small cart of priority items, suggesting that I try my hand at those. I thanked her with a bow before nabbing my next project.

This machine was much more my style. The handheld size, the steam inlet, the enormous spring on what looked like a piston: this was a pneumatic rivet gun, or I suppose I should say a steam rivet gun. This thing was big enough that it would need to be used with two hands, and had the signs of heavy use. Just holding this thing was so nostalgic.

As it turned out, the kobolds had developed a way of making steam hoses, though they were pricey and were only used by a few machines. As luck would have it, the rebuild crew had one that was exclusively for our use. After a few minutes of burning myself, fitting the steam hose to where it connected on the boiler side, then wrestling the other onto the tool, I could finally test the rivet gun. The escaping steam from the end of the gun told me exactly where I needed to look, and in short order I had identified the cracked component and found the replacement part on our shelf. I tested the device against a few practice rivets, and was amazed at just how much kick this thing had. I loved it when things went right.

…

I lost count of how many repairs I had done. By my best guess, I had gone through maybe a dozen. I was happily dissecting a ramshackle steam powered saw table when I felt a small tug on my slate. Looking down, I was elated to see Vimna was the culprit, and her attempt at removing it from me was all in curiosity.

“Kayroo, was this? Was it do?”

I glanced to Dobo, who simply smiled and nodded at my pleading stare. How best to teach an illiterate child what writing was? If all kobold children were as smart as my brothers, then perhaps I could start by using familiar things. I drew a picture on the slate and turned it towards the little girl.

“Thas egg.”

Next, I’ll write the word “egg”, and hope she can make the connection. I turned the slate towards her and pointed to the word, then drug my claw over to the picture.

“Yep, thas egg.”

Now, if I erase the picture…

“Thas…egg?”

Yes! Oh, why didn’t I think of this sooner? I could teach some basic words to other kobolds as well. I had to go about it as if they all had the same brilliance as little Vimna here.

Now, let’s see how fast she can really learn.

…

The end of today’s shift had finally rolled around, and I had opted to teach the ever curious child as many words as I could make a picture for. Right now she was using the chalk and slate to write words of her own, and was even drawing some pictures as well. Sure, there were a few things she was unfamiliar with, such as birds or clouds, but she knew all of her shapes and had grasped numbers quite well. She also knew a few animals I had guessed had counterparts in this world, such as pigs and snakes. She was stumped when I drew anything that wouldn't survive in the desert. I believe it is safe to assume that there will be no bears hiding in the tunnels or in the dunes.

Soon enough Dobo had finished cleaning a copious supply of grease off of his scales and had come looking for his daughter. She practically threw herself at him to show off her work.

"Da! Lookit, Kayroo show me words! This is bug! Da, I wanna bug! Please?"

The surprise that he expressed was almost as startling as the look of exhaustion that came from the mention of bugs.

"Tomorrow, sweetest, Dobo promise. Kayrux, you teaching her words? Are you certain? Only kobolds with money learn to read, and I can't afford-"

No sir, I will not tolerate that classism bull shit today, not at all. I silenced him by giving him a thumb down and a shake of my head. I gently took my slate back from the girl and drew a big "X" over a few circle coins. Dobo seemed to understand that well enough.

"You…don't want money? Maybe Dobo too optimist, but you teach my Vimna for free?"

Well, I wouldn't say it was free. The sheer joy I got from seeing those emerald eyes light up in wonder was my payment. Not to mention the fact that I was playing with her rather than fixing broken machines. Because I could morally balance that out, I wasn't lying when I gave him an affirmative thumbs up.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Dobo…not wanting greedy, can teach her next week?"

I could only shake my head. I have to be a scribe next week. Wait, does that mean that Dobo is a full time repairman? I cocked my head questioningly, which somehow conveyed my thoughts to him.

"Oh, forgot other jobs thing. Dobo request only work here until Vimna first moon-rise. Mate Khalkli needed leave with trade people, only Dobo could stay for our late hatcher Vimna. Den close, good for spawn remain close feeding place. Heh, Vimna big eater, need return for eating many times."

The young girl had buried her face into my leg as she tried to hide her shame. Don't feel too bad, kid. I know exactly how hungry you must be, and trust me, it's only gonna get worse when you start shedding. The memory sent a shudder down my spine.

Still, it was nice to know more about special exceptions and more about my new student's family situation. I had worried that she was the only child of a single dad, but it sounded as though her mother was a caravaneer who decided to take the kids along for the ride. Maybe it was because my family was far from average in many ways, but their situation sounded completely foreign to me. Still, they had their own way of doing things, and I could only show them the respect they deserved.

"Alright precious, time for home. Say-"

"Bah Kayroo!"

Adorable! I wish she could stay small and cute for a little while longer. Curse these kobold genetics and their absurd growth rate.

I trailed behind them as they made their way out the door, though I remained to wait for my brothers. I had myself seated on my tail like mom usually did, and was attempting to coax my non-functioning voice to hum a tune when that sensation from before happened. Just as when I reached out to comfort Raevu, the feeling that some kind of lock or barricade had been undone. I looked around in bewilderment, wondering what I had done to trigger the sensation. Vimna? Dobo? Maybe even Hitkova? Somebody had been unchained from something, but I didn't know whom or what had been changed. The only thing I knew was that this movement of unseen forces was good, it was purposefully beneficial for both parties. How did I know that?

A gut feeling told me that following that line of pondering would lead to disaster, so it was best to let it lie for now. I had other things I could think about, such as who I hear coming close to the workshop doors. The deep bass of Humey's laugh, a snicker of a high pitched falsetto performed by Tokols, and the flat baritone commentary of Mibata. I opened the door to greet them, and the four of us went home.

…

Today was worse for them, yet their spirits were high all the same.

Tok was drilled on desert camouflage, and was tasked with hiding from a senior scout as best as he could. He had gone six hours avoiding detection until a mage used tracking magic to find him. They made him run a lap around the mountain as punishment, but they also rewarded him with a nice lunch for being the best hider they'd ever seen. Or, not seen, I suppose.

Mibata had to learn inter-floor traversal without the use of stairs or lifts. Put simply, he had to climb over the rails and ledges of one floor and drop down to the next. The mental image of Mibata plummeting down the mile high city almost sent me into a panic attack, and the same must have happened for mom since she almost strangled him for his recklessness. You crazy kid, what kind of job did you sign up for?

Humey’s day was surprisingly the most chaotic. They made him do the threat test again, but this time if he missed a question they shot thunder magic at him. At first he could just tough it out, but as they went on it became actual lightning bolts he was dodging. Seriously, what psycho is running these drills?

Today was feeling like a porkchop and greens kind of day, so Humey and I made just that. I kept a wary eye on my other brothers as we cooked, attempting to gauge how they were acting towards one another. Hu's intuition was spot on, as both brothers were having a calm and level discussion about their earlier swordsmanship. Pride welled in my chest as they laughed over their mistakes.

After a cheerful dinner I was more than ready for some sleep. I gave each of my brothers a hug before we all went to our own beds. I wondered if Bata was up for a quick chat, so I passed my slate around the wall.

"How're you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore. Bruised. Happy. Tokols is a great fighter, and an even better brother."

"No hard feeling about the face?"

"Accidents happen. No teeth lost. Only a little scar. Nothing serious."

"As long as you are fine, I am content."

"I had no intention of making you worry."

"I wasn't the one worried. You should apologize to mom. She’s being hard on herself because she thinks she's failing us."

From the other side of the wall I could hear a heavy sigh.

"You are right. I will speak with her tomorrow morning. Thank you."

I knocked on the wall, and was elated to hear three responses. Good night everyone.

…

I was on my way out the door shortly after a bite and a drink. Mibata and Juaki stayed behind so they could talk, and Humey had gone off ahead to check with the smiths for their order. It was Tokols, Bahruk, and myself leaving for the lifts together. I remained out of their conversation regarding expenditures in arms procurement, until dad asked me a question directly.

"So, what kind of weapon do you prefer Kayrux?"

I didn't really have an answer to that. Being a female kobold meant that I was a bit huskier than a lot of the males, which meant that the shortsword on my hip was feeling shorter and less like a sword than it should. I had sparred with mom using a wide variety of weapons, but none of the practice bouts had ever led to more than me lying on my back with another bruise. I chalked down a reply.

"I don't know. Preferably something with range, accuracy, and armor penetration. If that's not viable, a heavy blunt object would work."

Tokols didn't miss a beat.

"You mean you want a gun? Sister, you're a ways off from ocean warfare down here, and I don't think you've got it in you to be a pirate. You should probably stick to a mace."

Bahruk chuckled at the notion of pirate Kayrux.

"Well, you're only half right in your assessment my boy. Uncle Yabtin has a pistol, and he seldom visits the coast."

Hold on one kobold flipping minute, did you just say Yab is armed? My response was swift.

"Are you serious?"

A face of genuine surprise and concern was on my old man.

"Yes. I asked him to specifically keep it away from you all for your own safety. There is no conversation he could have managed where I would allow him to bring it into my home. You will have to ask him yourself once he returns."

There was nothing left for me to add to this conversation, so I walked in silence a few steps ahead of them. Yabtin having a firearm meant that he had some means of procuring ammunition, and if he can get me a supply of ammo, then all I need is a gun. I'll hold off on making any concrete plans until he's back, but in the meantime I want a hammer.

The rest of the walk to the workshop was uneventful, and at the big doors I waved goodbye to my father and brother. The usual sounds of riveting and hissing greeted me as I made my way to the repair area. The crew was all there, tinkering away at their tables. Vimna was here, and to my surprise was drawing and writing on the top of an empty table. Her artistic flow wouldn't stop, even for me, and I could respect that.

I looked to the unfinished work shelf and felt a twang of guilt. I probably left so much more work for the others by goofing off. Alright then, I'll just have to make up for lost time. If I had sleeves I would be rolling them up, because I was about to get serious.

…

It was at our midday break that Dobo approached me with a look of deep concern.

"Kayrux, how many things did you fix?"

I counted out on my fingers in front of him, and the total counted up to five hands. Five hands, each having four fingers, totaled to twenty completed projects. The color drained from his face as he realized the number.

"Two tens? You did two tens in half day? Are you trying to steal rebuild area for self?"

Oh, I suppose I hadn't noticed how the others were faring. Dobo had been working exclusively on thunder makers, so I had assumed that he was just sailing through them at a ridiculous speed. Only now do I realize that he had worked on five in the past day and a half. The others were going at a similar pace of four or five machines each. I shook my head and tried to hide my flustered face.

"You need slow down. Only fix ten tomorrow, okay? You scare Dobo, not want see good girl hurt self."

I can do that, at the very least, to put his worries at ease. I wasn't really pushing myself, I just happened to fall into a groove, and one thing led to another as I just tore my way through the unrepaired devices with glee. I nodded my affirmation to Dobo before taking a seat in the back of the area. He huffed as he turned back to his own project, leaving me and Vimna sitting on the floor together. She was thrilled that I was at eye level, despite the fact that I was pouting.

Fine, you want to scold me and make me look like a workaholic in front of the crew? I'll get you back by making your daughter the smartest kid around. Don't blame me if she's more intelligent than you by the end of the week.