Instead of forty angry yellow-furred kobolds, Kaz saw four, one of whom had fur as red as Vega’s. Ija looked fearful but determined as she jogged between two huts, trailed by a very unhappy-looking Qhurg. Qhurg’s hackles were raised, but his weapon was in its sheath at his belt, and he held three very old, tattered-looking books.

Behind Qhurg was Rudu, Vega’s mate, and Kyla. Rudu’s ears were down, but his tail was up, the very picture of conflicted emotions. Kyla, on the other hand, looked miserable. Everything about her, from her wild pink fur to her usually bright eyes, was subdued and drooping.

As soon as Ija entered the open area by the book hut, she halted, staring around at the kobolds arrayed before her. They stared back for a long moment before they tumbled forward, excited as puppies, calling her name and demanding to know why she’d returned. The erstwhile ‘Magmablades’ with the bluest fur were the loudest, even the males asking if what Acha and Sika told them was true.

Ija raised her hands, looking from where the Goldblade chief and her guards lay collapsed on the ground, then toward Lianhua and the other humans. “What happened here?” she asked, sounding utterly baffled.

Lianhua shook her head. “We’re not sure either. Kaz?”

At the sound of his name, all eyes turned to Kaz. He folded his ears down, very uncomfortable with the attention, and held up the necklace. “This was linked to Idla’s organs. When she tried to answer a question, it hurt her, so I took it off.”

Ija stared at the dangling chain. “That’s a great chief’s necklace,” she said, wonderingly. “Those can only be removed when the chief dies.” Her gaze shifted to Idla, who was still and silent, and her voice lowered to a whisper when she asked, “Is she dead?”

Kaz glanced at the chief, whose damaged core was still doing its best to replace the ki he’d inadvertently drained from her. “No,” he said. “I think she’ll recover, given time. She just needs to rest.” Not entirely true, since he was almost certain that even time wouldn’t heal a damaged core, but she would at least wake up, and probably soon. He thought she was only unconscious because of shock, not because there was anything physically wrong with her.

Now Ija looked around, one hand reaching back to brush against Qhurg’s side, as if to reassure herself that he was still there. “And Vega?”

Lianhua bit her lip. “I’m sorry. She’s gone.”

Ija stared at the human female. “Gone? Dead? Where is her body?” Her tone was urgent, but her eyes were growing brighter, almost hopeful, even as her ears and tail flattened.

Kaz exchanged a glance with Lianhua, and said, “She’s near the stairs. What’s left of her, anyway.”

The Magmablade turned as if to go in that direction, but Raff stepped in her way. “Now, I’m not sure what’s goin’ on,” he said, pleasantly enough, “but I am pretty sure that those Goldblades aren’t gonna be real happy when they find their boss laid out like a fish on a hot dock. I also know they don’t like you folks much, an’ if we let you go, that’ll tick ‘em off even more. Plus,” he turned to look at Qhurg, towering over the young warrior, “Lianhua likes old books, and I see you’ve got three of ‘em right there.”

Qhurg’s grip on the books tightened, and a few flakes of dried leather crumbled to the ground, making Lianhua wince. She held out her hands in a placating gesture. “I would very much like to read those,” she admitted, unable to tear her eyes from the tomes in question, “but I understand this may not be the best moment. Nonetheless, Raff is right. We really can’t let you go. We’re already on shaky ground with the Goldblades-”

Raff snorted, and Lianhua shot him a scathing glance, then cleared her throat and continued. “And while I don’t want to interfere in local politics-” Another snort. “I really can’t let anyone leave until we figure out how to, um, convince everyone of our neutral stance in this conflict. Now that you’re here, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to stay.”

Kaz shifted over next to Lianhua, and murmured, “This is Ija, Vega’s daughter.”

Lianhua’s eyes grew wide. “Oh! Oh, of course you are.” Her brows drew down. “But why are you back here? Didn’t you run away?”

Ija’s lip lifted. “I didn’t run,” she snapped, “I obeyed orders. If the den was ever discovered, my duty was to take Tegra’s books and return to our main den, while whoever was left burned the rest. We were supposed to deny having anything to do with this place, but I suppose it’s too late for that, now.”

Rudu stepped forward, laying a broad hand on his daughter’s shoulder, and some of her anger faded. The male stepped forward, his yellow eyes calmer than they had any right to be, given that he’d just learned that his mate was dead. For that matter, he should have been with Vega, even if no one else was. What had he been doing while Vega attacked them?

“Ija obeyed her mother’s final order,” he said, “and now she is chief.” His voice held only certainty, and everyone turned to look at him, drawn in by the serene tone of his deep voice. “She is here to plead for our tribe, and the lives of our people. Even before we knew Vega had gone to join the ancestors, she intended to tell Idla the truth. I hope my cousin will be able to see our sincerity, and allow at least some of the Magmablades to remain here in the Deep.”

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“Cousin,” a weak but derisive voice came from behind them, and everyone turned, staring at Idla, who was struggling to sit up. “You ceased to be my cousin the moment that female became your mate.”

She held out her hand imperiously, and after a moment, Raff went over and helped her up. He was a little more enthusiastic about it than strictly necessary, and Idla staggered as she took her full weight back on her own paws.

“Your mother was my father’s sister,” Rudu said, voice unyielding. “If they weren’t Magmablades, my pups would have played together with yours when they were young.”

Raff let out a low whistle. “These kobolds’re worse than royalty with all the intermarryin’,” he muttered. “How do they keep track of everybody?”

Rudu’s ear twitched, and Kaz was certain he’d heard Raff’s not very subtle comment, but he was focused on Idla. “Dissolve the Magmablades,” he said bluntly, not looking around as the gathered kobolds gasped. “You may not yet understand, but there are Woodblades here, pure blood Woodblades, including females, and if you-”

“Oh, I know that,” Idla snapped. “They told me all about it as soon as they heard Vega was dead. We need Woodblades, it’s true, but this pup-” She turned to look at Kaz, though much of her confidence faded when she met his eyes.

“This pup nothing,” Kaz said, feeling his hackles rise. “When Lianhua and the others leave, so will I. I want nothing to do with whatever is going on here. My life, and the lives of my parents, have been manipulated and warped since before I was born, all because of what?”

He was shocked at the bitterness in his own voice, but he couldn’t stop the words now that they’d begun. “Because people born hundreds of years ago clung to their own misery until the day they died? Because they passed on generation after generation of irrational hatred, which was reinforced as they were allowed to live, over and over, stealing the lives of their own descendants? Maybe if you could all find it in yourselves to forgive, to move on, maybe this mountain wouldn’t be such a terrible place to live!”

He thought back to the tribes he’d come into contact with since leaving the Broken Knives. Some were bad, others were better, but none were truly good. The leaders mattered more than he thought they should, since it seemed like everyone else was powerless to change anything, but it all came back to this tradition. This feeling that some of them were better than others, not because of who they were, but because of how much power they held.

“I don’t want to stay,” he went on, “and I don’t have to. If I can, I’ll help while I’m here, but that’s all I’ll do, and none of you, none of the kobolds, none of the leaders, none of the people who stood by while I and my family suffered, none of you will make me change my mind.”

By the time he finished, he was breathing hard, and Li had lifted herself up, paws clutching the fur near his ears, her wings spread wide behind his head. She hissed ferociously, and more steam cascaded from her mouth, creating a rising cloud that encircled both of them.

Idla stared at him, and he could see that she wanted to argue, but didn’t quite dare. After all, hadn’t he already proven that he could defeat her? She didn’t need to know that he’d only managed it out of sheer desperation, and doubted it would work against anyone who didn’t use primarily earth ki.

Ija, however, had no idea he’d killed Vega, and very nearly killed the Goldblade chief as well. She stared at him. “But what about the Tree?” she demanded. “You’re a Woodblade. It’s your duty to-”

“I am a Broken Knife,” he told her, rather enjoying the way her jaw dropped before he went on, “Or perhaps I’m just Kaz. Kaz, Li’s friend, and nothing more.”

At this declaration, Li let out a loud whistle of agreement, ending in a blurp of steam. She lowered her head, burrowing it into the longer fur between his ears, and Kaz allowed himself a small grin before he pulled the pouch free of his belt, feeding it a little power before he opened it.

Walking over to Lianhua, he felt all eyes on him as he dipped his fingers inside, and for once he didn’t mind. Unfortunately, the moment he tried to retrieve the contents of the bag, his mind went blank. What had he been trying to do? Mentally, he cataloged the contents.

Mithril, adamantium, ki-crystals of all colors, yes. A single scroll, a metal container he hadn’t yet figured out how to open, his old loincloth, which was soiled and foul, but he held onto it because Rega made it for him. One of Zhangwo’s rings, three unlocked slave collars, and…

He took out his father’s firestriker, staring down at it as it dropped into his hand, the round stone resting perfectly in his palm so the metal strip curled up and along the natural curve of his fingers. He clicked it together, and a spark jumped.

Was this really what he’d been trying to find? He was talking about his parents, so perhaps, but it didn’t feel quite right-

With a worried click, Li twined her way down his body, her claws pulling at his fur almost painfully. When she reached his waist, he felt her take hold of their combined cycle, feeding a bit of his ki into the pouch before plunging her own paw inside. Something thrust its way back out, almost dislodging the dragon from her precarious perch, half clinging to Kaz’s belt, and half holding onto his upraised arm.

With a clatter, the hilt of the Broken Knife fell to the ground, spinning until it came to rest against Kaz’s paw. The dragon wasn’t done yet, however, and she reached into the pouch again just as a spike of pain tore through Kaz’s head. Li whistled and pulled back, but it was too late, and with its usual forceful expulsion, the pouch disgorged the Woodblade, the carved blue stone tip gleaming as it tumbled through the air.

The light of someone’s ki-orb reflected from the blade, then refracted, orange light shifting to white, which split into the five colors of ki. All around Kaz, the ki flowing through a dozen females seemed to swell, surrounding him, and then swallowing him up. He went from being able to see too much, to seeing nothing, and when the Woodblade struck the ground, so did Kaz.