Li didn’t like the Plan. She understood it, understood that her kobold needed to do it this way, but she Did Not Like It. Things that she didn’t like made Li itch, and the spot between her shoulder blades that she could never quite reach was practically burning with the need to find something that could scratch it.
But it wasn’t time. She needed to stay still and silent until Kaz gave the word, or something else happened that would set the next step in motion. It was hard to ignore the itching, but she would.
Her claws twitched on the bag that hung from a strip of leather around her neck, fighting the urge to turn and wriggle against the bit of stone that had been pressing into her shoulder for the last half hour. She wouldn’t, though. She was a dragon, and dragons were strong. Even against itches as powerful as this one.
Not long after the Magmablades took Kaz away, Li had started moving. She made her way back toward the cavern filled with delicious smells, passing the spot where the stinking female kobold had spoken to Kaz. It had been hard not to bite that female, so Li had settled for biting Kaz instead, and that had been almost as satisfying.
Kaz stopped smelling like food when Li started eating the ki crystals, and his blood was no longer the only source of ingestible ki she could find. She was glad for that, since the temptation to bite him had almost been overwhelming at times, especially when her belly was so empty. But he was her kobold, and so she only nipped. Nipped, and ate a little of the blood that he seemed determined to spread though the entire mountain. It had kept her alive, along with the ki that flowed through their linked cycles, but she was very glad to have an alternate food source now.
Her belly growled, and her claws tightened on the pouch again. She wanted one of the crystals inside - they were hers, after all - but they needed to last until they left the mountain or found another source of ki. The only thing she missed about the mosui city was the ability to eat as many red crystals as she wanted, especially since she could feel something shifting in her core. Red was the only color of ki she couldn’t yet produce, but she had a feeling that if she only had a little more time and a lot more crystals, she could have unlocked the ability to use it, much as she had blue ki.
A flurry of motion drew her attention back to the cavern she was perched just inside of, and she saw that a mass of yellow-furred kobolds had approached the female who was their leader. That one had recently traded Lianhua some weapons for cloth, and while Li thought it was a poor trade, even though the metal of the weapons was pleasantly shiny, Lianhua seemed happy enough. At least she had once her wandering eyes caught a glimpse of Li, who dropped the illusion that protected her just long enough for the human female to register her presence. Kaz had been Very Clear that Lianhua needed to know that he was all right, and if she saw Li, she would figure that out. Li wasn’t quite so convinced of the human’s intelligence, but it was part of the Plan, so she did it.
Now, Li focused on Lianhua and the kobolds around her, seeing when Lianhua’s gaze flicked back to the spot where Li was waiting. Again, Li dropped her concealment, though restoring it was a bit more difficult to do each time. She was stronger than she had been before they entered the city, but she was also larger, and it was ever harder to hide herself from so many eyes and noses. Fortunately, it looked like she wouldn’t have to do so for much longer. No, there would be no more hiding for Li.
The yellow kobold leader howled something, and when Li conveyed it to Kaz, he absently told her it was a call for her tribe to gather. He was listening to something the red female he thought of as his cousin was saying, and he seemed in no danger, so Li let her link to him drop to the back of her mind while she watched the activity below.
To her amusement, many of the kobolds were scattering. At first, she thought the movement was driven by panic, but then she realized that they were gathering in groups that headed out of the cavern with clear purpose in their movements. That wasn’t nearly as fun, but when the group of yellow kobolds gathered around their leader and angry shouts began to arise, Li readied herself. It was almost time for her to move. For the only part of the Plan she did like.
“Vega! You did this!” the yellow chief barked, pointing at the red chief. A shield shimmered around her, as well as several other females, clearer and brighter than any Li had seen before, even through Kaz’s eyes. Their males were spread out in front of them, hands on their weapons, though no one had drawn a blade yet.
The red chief looked almost comically shocked, her eyes growing large, and her empty hands rising. Li could see her own shield form around her, though, so she wasn’t nearly as caught off guard as she pretended. Beside her, the little female named Kyla tried to form a shield as well, though hers was faint and flickered in a way that was uncomfortable to look at.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Idla,” the red chief said, reaching out to gather the young female to her side. Their shields interacted for an instant, before Kyla’s was snuffed out, leaving her right half exposed. “I came to retrieve my pup, and you invited me to stay, no doubt so I could witness your triumph.” Vega’s lip lifted, but there was vindictive glee in her eyes, not anger.
“The Woodblade puppy is missing,” Idla growled. “And we all know you’ve been trying to gather every kobold with a drop of Woodblade blood in them for yourself.”
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“Just as you, Tisdi, and Avli have been doing,” Vega replied calmly. “That doesn’t mean I stole this pup.”
“The Magmablades are no longer a Great Tribe, Vega!” Idla nearly howled. “Even if you produce a Woodblade, you won’t keep them for long. Stop this idiocy and give him back!”
Vega opened her mouth to reply, but Li decided it was time for her to intervene. It was fun watching the kobolds argue, but Kaz didn’t want them to actually fight, and Li supposed that was reasonable. After all, they were supposed to ‘save’ him, and they couldn’t do that if they were bleeding on the ground.
Spreading her wings, Li dropped her concealment for the last time and launched herself from the ledge above the tunnel entrance through which Kaz had left over an hour earlier. It had been a long wait, and she enjoyed the feeling of her muscles flexing as she climbed up sharply, then swooped down to land on Lianhua’s shoulder.
The human had gone still the moment she caught sight of Li, no doubt shocked by the dragon’s glory and her own good fortune. This was one of the parts of the Plan that Li didn’t like, since she had decided not to grace the human female with her presence after the mosui debacle, but again, Kaz had insisted, and Li had to admit that it was for the best.
Once Li was in place, head raised and neck regally arched, wings half-lifted to showcase their delicate beauty, she leaned back on her haunches and took the ring off her foreleg for the first time in weeks. She could tell the moment everyone actually realized what she was because jaws dropped in unison so perfect that it looked practiced. A few of the kobolds yelped or staggered back, but the red human, Raff, just let out a startled guffaw of laughter that broke the pall of shocked and admiring silence.
When Li looked around, she realized that surprise had turned to confusion on the faces of many of the kobolds, and only the dark human male didn’t have the grace to seem startled at least. To her disappointment, only Lianhua and the little pink kobold, Kyla, had the proper expressions of admiration and reverence on their faces, which made Li like them both a tiny bit more.
Lianhua’s voice shook as she asked, “Do you know where Kaz is, Li?”
The obvious answer was ‘yes’, especially given that Lianhua knew Kaz and Li could communicate through their ki-bond, but Li supposed the question was for the sake of their audience. At least she hoped so, because otherwise it proved that Kaz was wrong, and Li was right. Of course, Li preferred being right whenever possible, but it would be better for the Plan if Lianhua wasn’t actually an idiot.
Li nodded her head with calm grace, feeling that it was more important to reinforce her own gravitas than hasten things along, especially since Kaz was still talking to his cousin, who had no idea that things were about to go awry.
A short, growling bark was the only warning anyone got before Vega threw a bolt of ki toward Li. “Kill the abomination!” shouted the female, pointing toward Li as her tribe members fell into attack stances around her. “It’s one of the fulan monsters!”
Now this was not exactly part of the Plan, but the possibility of a reaction like this was the reason Li had actually landed on Lianhua, rather than circling or landing on something nearby. The ki bolt burst uselessly against the flat blade of the dark human’s weapon, which seemed to drink in the power. Chi Yincang stepped between Lianhua and the kobolds, his weapon spinning so quickly that it was nothing more than a blur. Vega’s next attack vanished into its dark spin, even as Lianhua’s shield snapped up around herself and Li.
Grudgingly, Li had to admit that this shield was the one thing that made perching on Lianhua worthwhile. It had saved Li from being trapped inside the dark bag while they traveled through the fulan, and in the privacy of her own mind, Li was also willing to admit that if she had remained inside the clear space when they fell into the mosui’s trap, thus avoiding the sleep dust, Lianhua would have been free to use her power to prevent them from being captured in the first place.
Now, Li hunkered down, allowing the humans to perform violence as needed, until Chi Yincang finally stepped aside, revealing Vega on the floor, her muzzle bloody and Raff’s knee in the small of her back.
The puppy, Kyla, and her father were among the other Magmablades who had been similarly suppressed, though the two yellow kobold males holding them in place looked very uncomfortable. Vega’s mate was balanced on one paw as he held the other one off the ground. Blood streamed from a long cut that was mostly hidden by fur and gore, and the pink puppy was whimpering as she tried to get to him.
“Are you going to listen to a beast and three strange humans before a member of your own kind?” Vega growled, thrashing ineffectually against Raff’s hold. Ki surged through her body wildly, but she didn’t try to attack while she was so tightly restrained, probably aware that any damage she might do would only be returned to her.
Whatever had happened while Li’s vision was blocked must have been as brutal as it was hurried, because several of the yellow-furs were injured as well, and one of them was unconscious or dead. Another red female and four more males lay beside that one, and none of them moved either.
Idla swiped her arm across her nose, wiping away a streak of blood as she glared down at Vega. “I’d trust a janjio before you, Magmablade. We should have sent you all from the Deep, not just Oda and her allies. The only reason we didn’t is because the voice commanded there be five tribes in the Deep, and you seemed too cowardly to continue your sister’s work. But instead, it turns out that you’re simply more devious.”
Taking a deep breath, she turned her back on the humiliated female, though Li noticed that she didn’t let her shield fall. Gesturing to the other members of her tribe, Idla spoke to Lianhua, carefully avoiding looking directly at Li. “If you know where the puppy is, please take us there.”
Lianhua nodded, shoulders stiff beneath the heavy fabric that draped them. “Of course,” she said, then glanced at Raff. “But someone else needs to take care of Vega. My… I won’t leave Raff here.”
Idla barked a laugh, gesturing to another yellow-furred female, who was standing nearby, gingerly rubbing a burned-looking patch of fur on her shoulder as she glowered at one of the fallen kobolds. “Bring her, Berin. I have a feeling that when we find the puppy, she’ll have a great number of questions to answer. She might as well be there to answer them.”