Idil had guards roaming the passageways, and this alone told Kaz she was ready for battle. Generally, warriors guarded the den, the chief, the gatherers, and the most direct passages to the center of a tribe’s territory. Only when they believed there was an imminent risk of attack would warriors be sent out to simply wander, looking for any sign of invaders.
Unfortunately, the humans made far more noise than the defenders, so it didn’t take long for them to walk directly into a group of six kobolds, who were already waiting, claws bared. The Ironclaw males fought using sharp metal sheaths on each finger. Shorter ones capped their toes, and these, combined with their sharp teeth, nearly guaranteed that anyone who got into a hand-to-hand fight with them would come out on the losing side.
The males had set an ambush just around a sharp corner, and Raff nearly tripped over one of them. The warrior immediately struck out, his claws screeching over the human’s heavy metal armor. Sparks flew, Raff’s fist shot out, and Kaz heard a crunch as the kobold’s head whipped around. His body fell to the floor, limp, and the other five males stepped back, expressions shocked.
They gathered themselves quickly, however, and one of them yipped sharply at another one standing in the rear. That one turned and tried to run, only for Chi Yincang to appear, driving a blade into his back. He yelped, then fell to join his companion in unconsciousness or death.
Everything happened in an instant. Raff’s fists shot out to grasp two more males and bash their heads together with a crack. One of Gaoda’s energy balls took a third kobold, and Lianhua nocked a blazing arrow, its tip nearly touching the nose of the last warrior, who promptly dropped to the ground, his toe-sheaths ringing against the stone as he crouched, hands over his head. Looking more closely, Kaz could tell that this one was barely older than himself, and this was probably his first battle with anything other than beasts.
The young male folded his hands over his head, whimpering, and Lianhua lowered her arrow slightly. As soon as he saw she was no longer ready to shoot, the male launched himself at her, claws outstretched, ready to slice her open. Raff was still distracted by his three victims, checking to be certain they were out of commission, while Gaoda produced a new orb to replace the spent one. Chi Yincang had disappeared again, leaving only Kaz close enough to defend the human female.
As usual, Kaz had crouched down during the battle, just trying to stay out of the way while the humans fought. This left him in much the same position as the Ironclaw male, and he threw himself at the other kobold with a snarl. Pushing a tiny bit of power into his arms and legs, he hit the male with the force of two kobolds. The male grunted explosively, but swung his claws at Kaz’s exposed side. Kaz clamped his arm down, catching the Ironclaw’s forearm and hand between his own empowered arm and his side.
The claws dug into his flesh painfully, but the male couldn’t slash him, which prevented the greatest part of the potential damage. Realizing this, the Ironclaw swung at Kaz’s other side. Kaz couldn’t dodge without releasing the first hand, so he used his greater reach to thrust a powerful blow against the male’s shoulder, meanwhile hooking his own paw around the other’s, pulling his leg out from under him. Off balance, the male went down, and Kaz shifted his grip, grasping the arm he held so he could flip the other’s body in mid-air, leaving the Ironclaw face-down on the ground with Kaz’s knee in his back.
The male struggled mightily, but he had no chance against Kaz’s power-strengthened muscles. Kaz himself was a little shocked, since he’d only been in one real battle before, when Oda had him pretend to be an adult warrior and participate in the luegat against the Longtooths. Then, Kaz had had a stone knife, which had shattered against the hard shield of one of the defenders, leaving him unable to do much except defend himself for the rest of the fight.
Unsure what to do now that he had subdued the male, Kaz looked up, only to find all three visible humans staring at him. Lianhua looked shocked but pleased, Raff had a broad grin on his face, and Gaoda’s eyes were narrow, his expression calculating.
Raff walked over and grasped the defeated warrior by the scruff of his neck, pulling him out from under Kaz’s knee and lifting him up to dangle in the air like a pup. The dazed male swung his claws at the human’s face, but his claws just slid off Raff’s armor, leaving no mark. Raff reached out and flicked the kobold in the center of his forehead. Hard. The male yelped again, and his body grew limp. Raff dropped him on the ground, looking unimpressed.
Gaoda stepped forward, his lip curled in distaste. “Do we need this? Or should we just kill it and continue on?”
Kaz stood shakily, pressing a hand to his wounded side, and said, “As a defeated warrior, you can kill him, take him, or return him. Since we haven’t declared vara on the Ironclaws, we should let him go, but these warriors shouldn’t have attacked us, either. We’re in their territory without permission, but they should have brought us to their chief, or another female, to decide what to do with us. Killing warriors without cause will only make Idil angry, though, and word will spread that we’re not to be trusted.”
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Gaoda hummed thoughtfully, nudging one of the fallen warriors with his foot. “I wouldn’t say it’s without cause, but I don’t care. You’re the only one this trash could even injure.”
Startled, Kaz looked over at Lianhua. He knew she wasn’t pushing power into her body like she had when they climbed down the chain, so he had assumed that she was as vulnerable as he was. But maybe that wasn’t true?
Lianhua nodded, looking awkward. “I’m only at initial Tin rank in body cultivation, but that’s enough that small blades like these wouldn’t do much. A scratch or two maybe, if they got a good strike in on my bare skin, but my fuulong silk would prevent even that.”
Kaz realized he had risked himself for nothing, and dropped his chin, gritting his teeth in shame. A slender hand holding a square of deep amethyst fabric extended itself into his lowered vision, and Lianhua said gently, “Thank you, Kaz. Will you let me treat your wound?”
“Cousin!” Gaoda said, shocked.
Kaz looked up to see Lianhua, hand still extended, glaring at the gold-furred male.
“He was injured protecting me,” she said. “Just because it was unnecessary, that doesn’t make it any less brave. And he’s shown his loyalty, so you should stop treating him like a cheap bauble you picked up in a market.”
Gaoda’s lips thinned, but he looked away, shrugging. Lianhua gently pressed the material against Kaz’s side, and splotches of red quickly spread over the purple. Kaz flinched, seeing yet another priceless piece of cloth ruined.
Lianhua pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry! Did it hurt? This handkerchief is silk, and it will help prevent infection and scarring.”
Kaz shook his head. “It’s a waste. You shouldn’t-”
She clicked her tongue. “I have a dozen just like it, and more at home. Would you rather leave it to bleed?”
He whined slightly as she pressed harder on the small wound. “We pack injuries with moss and zhiwu webs, when we have them.”
Lianhua looked intrigued. “Do you have any? One of my interests is in the study of indigenous medical practices, especially those of people who have not been influenced by-”
“Cousin.” Gaoda’s tone was long-suffering this time, and pink flooded Lianhua’s cheeks. She pulled her hand back, watching for fresh blood, and nodded when there was none.
“That’s better, I think,” she said. “Though you probably shouldn’t do any more fighting today.”
He nodded, but as she turned away, he said, “I’ll find some for you.”
She turned back, looking startled. “What?”
“The moss. We’ve walked past a lot of things I would normally have gathered, but you humans are always in such a hurry, so I didn’t try to get any. I can, if you want, though the webs are much harder to come by.”
Lianhua smiled. “Maybe at our next lesson, you can teach me something as well.”
He nodded, tail wagging, and they both jumped as Gaoda cleared his throat loudly. “Come on. Do you know where the stairs are or not?”
Kaz turned in the direction their attackers had come from. “That way. We’re close. But if Kellin is right, and Idil is intentionally preventing them from reaching the lower levels, she’ll probably have even more guards stationed there. There may even be females.”
Gaoda waved this concern away. “Just get on with it. If each level of this mountain takes a full day to traverse, we’ll never reach the bottom.”
“No,” Kaz said, “The heights will take the longest. Up here, ways through are rare and often poorly maintained. When we get to the mid-levels, there’s one main route everyone takes, so they can pass as quickly as possible. There are multiple sets of stairs on each level once we reach the Deep, so it will go quickly so long as we can convince the tribes that control them to let us pass.”
“Good,” the human muttered, “then let’s be on our way. I’m tired of trying to avoid angering a bunch of furry savages.”
Kaz looked down at the bodies on the ground. “I doubt if that’s an option any more,” he admitted, reluctantly. “As soon as someone finds these warriors, every adult member of the Ironclaw tribe will be looking for us.”
A little smile twisted Gaoda’s mouth, and he glanced sidelong at Lianhua. “So, we can just kill them all, and it’ll make no difference?”
“Gaoda!” Lianhua said. “You promised you wouldn’t-”
“Kill anyone we didn’t need to,” he said, waving away her words. “But you heard your pet kobold. They’ll be trying to kill us, and I didn’t hear you objecting when we defended ourselves from this lot. We’d just be defending ourselves first.”
Lianhua turned to look at Kaz, but he shook his head. “Idil won’t let the deaths of five warriors pass without retaliation. If she is really trying to take on the Graybellys, she can’t afford to show any weakness. The females of her own tribe will turn on her if they’re not convinced she can win.”
Gaoda’s eyes glittered. “Let them come. Blue, take us to the stairs.”
So, Kaz did.
They met four more groups of guards. Twenty warriors fell, much as the first ones had, without even a howl to mark their passing. Gaoda, Chi Yincang, and Raff didn’t even give them enough time to swing their silvery claws before they cut them down. By the time they reached the stairs, Kaz wondered how many more warriors could possibly remain.
Until he saw them arrayed at the top of the stairs, red light gleaming from hundreds of argent talons. They stood in groups of twenty or twenty-five, each led by a female. Kaz quickly counted ten groups, then lost track as the kobolds shifted, tension rising from them in an almost visible cloud.
At the very front stood an aged female, gray fur and maroon mingling equally. She held a tall staff made of some dully gleaming metal, and as he watched she raised it and her muzzle high, howling wildly. With a roar, the kobolds flowed down the stairs.