Six warriors waited at the bottom of the stairs, gold-bladed knives and teeth bared as they glared up at the descending group. They made no move to attack until Raff, who moved into the lead as soon as he saw them, went to set foot on the tunnel floor.
The largest warrior, a black-furred male with eyes almost as dark as Chi Yincang’s, growled fiercely, stepping into Raff’s path. “Go back up, intruders,” he said. “Our chief wants no fulan, and no refugees.”
Lianhua laid her hand on Raff’s shoulder, looked straight at the kobold, and firmly said, “We’re going to the Deep. We don’t want to fight, but we won’t let you stop us.” She gestured at the group, and though the remaining males were less than imposing, it was still clear that the warriors were outnumbered, even without considering Kaz and the humans.
The black-furred warrior’s gaze flickered to the ball of light hanging over Lianhua’s shoulder. It was larger than Gaoda’s, though she had finally managed to control the amount of ki she put into it so it didn’t blind everyone nearby. It marked her as a female, which meant someone more important needed to deal with her.
Without looking around, he yipped at the warriors behind him, and one of them stepped back, lifting his muzzle. A long, ululating howl rang out, and was repeated a moment later. Two more echoes reached Kaz’s ears, and then a reply came after a short delay. This, too, was taken up, and the ears of all six warriors twitched when the repeated response grew close enough that they could hear it as well.
“Wait,” the leader growled, and they all did so.
A minute passed, then two, and then Ratre sat down with a deep sigh. He didn’t pull off the carved bone strapped to his leg, as he had done a few times before, but he did rub the stump with fingers that shook slightly. Another male sat down beside him, this one missing his left arm up to the elbow, and rubbed his muzzle wearily with his remaining hand. They knew they were safe on the stairs, and this was their best chance to rest, whether they had to go back up, or were allowed to continue on.
Dett, who had stayed small and quiet, lingering in the center of the group the entire journey downward, now slipped down to stand beside Kaz. He glanced at the warriors, then the totems standing on each side of the bottom step. These were made of leather, draped over a kobold skull and painted a deep yellow. From the smell of it, a good bit of sulfur had gone into the paint or dye they had used.
Kaz glanced back at the little male, taking in the uncharacteristic uncertainty on Dett’s face, and his fingers twitched in the small motions needed to draw the sound obscuration rune he’d learned from Lianhua. It wouldn’t keep the strange kobolds from hearing, but it would make it difficult for them to understand what was said.
“What is it?” Kaz murmured, and Lianhua cast him a frown. They had decided that it would be best if any new kobolds they met weren’t shown Kaz’s abilities, but Kaz was well aware that they would dismiss anything strange that happened as Lianhua’s doing. Unless Kaz did something they absolutely couldn’t convince themselves hadn’t happened, he should be safe from suspicion. And, really, it no longer mattered if they knew, it was just easier if they didn’t.
Dett looked nervously at the waiting warriors, then whispered, “I think I know this tribe. My tribe, the Goldblades, had several subsidiary tribes, and this was one of them. They’re the Goldcoat tribe, or they were. I don’t know why they’d be here, though. The Goldblades take care of their lessers. They wouldn’t allow them to be exiled from the Deep without a fight, unless they were no longer allies.”
Kaz tilted his head. “Would they recognize you? Or if something happened between your tribe and theirs, would it be a problem if they found out who you are?”
Dett looked down at his ragged fur, one hand reaching up to touch the bare ring of skin around his throat. “I don’t want them to know who I am,” he said finally. “Not without knowing what happened. But if they have the same chief, she’s very proud, but knows her place. If your female can prove that she’s stronger, Tezne will try to find a way to prevent conflict. She won’t start a fight she can’t win.”
Kaz nodded, and Dett slunk back up a few steps, settling in so he was partially hidden behind Chi Yincang. Since Gaoda had been transformed into a statue and tucked away, Chi Yincang had spent a great deal more time visible and with the party, and Kaz suspected he had disliked the gold-furred male far more than he had let on. Though perhaps he simply wanted to be there in case Lianhua needed him. Honestly, it was hard to tell.
Sidling over to Lianhua, Kaz relayed the information Dett had given him, and he could almost see the calculations going on behind her eyes. They had used intimidation to get past other tribes before, and though Lianhua was more inclined toward diplomacy, she could easily overpower any female kobold Kaz knew of.
Silently, Kaz swiped his hand against his loincloth, wiping away the rune that had been invisible to anyone but him. Meanwhile, four more light orbs rose from Lianhua’s shoulders and began circling her head lazily. Their light was reflected in the eyes of the six warriors, and one of them took a half-step back before returning to his position.
The click of claws on stone warned of the approach of several more kobolds, though they stopped just out of sight. A short yip came from the hallways behind the warriors, and with a glance at Lianhua, the leader of the six barked a response.
Eight more males edged their way out of the shadows, weapons ready. In their center stood a single female, not much taller than Dett, with gleaming golden fur and yellow eyes. Her core was one of the strongest Kaz had seen, and spun with gold and white ki.
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She looked from Lianhua to the hovering orbs, eyes wide, but still managed to snarl as she approached. The group stopped out of reach of hand-held weapons, though well within ki-bolt range, and the six warriors who had been stationed by the stairs fell back, adding another layer of protection for the female.
“You were told to go back,” the gold-furred female barked. “No one is allowed through until the fulan is gone. The Deep is closed.”
Lianhua’s orbs sparked, and Raff’s long sword slid from its sheath with a slow, menacing scrape. Chi Yincang’s weapon appeared from nothing, the butt of it striking the stair with a sharp crack.
“We’re going to the Deep,” Lianhua said, raising a hand that suddenly glowed with deep yellow flames. “We’ve traveled down from the heights, through the mid-levels, and destroyed an entire civilization on the way.”
A bit of an exaggeration, since the husede and kobolds were the ones who destroyed the mosui. In fact, Lianhua was the only reason even a single one of the mole-people was still alive.
The female kobold didn’t seem impressed, however. She glared, a low growl rumbling from her chest. “I don’t care if you single-handedly wiped out the mosui. The Deep is closed, and so is this level.”
Lianhua let out a bark of sharp, surprised laughter. “We did,” she agreed. “Though not single-handedly. And I’m getting damned tired of every damn person in this damned mountain thinking that they can stop me!”
With that, she raised her hand, and let a flurry of ki-bolts fly. Kaz could see that though they glowed brightly, there wasn’t really much ki in each one, but the other kobolds didn’t know that. To them, it would look like they were being assaulted by a single person who was somehow able to summon as many bolts as a whole tribe’s worth of females.
Yipping loudly, all the males leaped in front of the female, even as a shield snapped into place around her, a glittering dome to Kaz’s vision. Lianhua wasn’t done yet, though, and her bolts curved, rather than continuing on their original trajectories. Several struck the males who surrounded the gold-furred female, but more hit her shield, causing a sudden dimming of the light in her core as she pulled on it to keep the shield intact. The scent of burned fur rose, and the males who had been hit had snarls of pain on their muzzles, but none of them were down, and there were obviously no serious injuries.
Unfortunately, Lianhua’s assault broke the rule of neutrality for the stairs, which meant the defending kobolds now had every right to retaliate. Ratre and the other males who had chosen to sit while they were in what they perceived as safety now scrambled to their feet, but Ratre’s false paw had come loose while he was rubbing the stump, and he tumbled forward, yelping loudly.
Moving faster than any normal kobold could, Kaz grabbed the toppling male, lifting his not-insubstantial weight with ease. Without thinking, he sent a trickle of blue and black ki down to soothe the damaged male’s obvious pain, and Ratre stilled in his arms, staring at him in astonishment.
Li clicked in exasperation as every kobold there stopped to stare at Kaz, a puppy holding an adult male almost as large as he was himself, while standing on only one paw, the other one out behind him for balance. Kaz felt his ears warm beneath the scrutiny, and he gently set Ratre back on the step beside him, though he continued supporting the one-pawed kobold.
Six more globes of light formed above Lianhua’s shoulders, and she set her hands on her hips dramatically. Kaz might have imagined the sudden glee on her face, but he didn’t think so.
“Let us through,” she said pompously, and Kaz definitely wasn’t imagining a shadow of Gaoda’s voice behind her words. “Or face the consequences!”
As one, all of the kobold’s eyes turned to the female, whose shield faltered and then fell. She sighed. “All right,” she said, “you can go ahead. But you still can’t reach the Deep.”
Lianhua glared haughtily and opened her mouth to argue. Then she stopped, her eyes narrowed, and she just asked, “Why not?”
The other female waved irritably to her guards, and they parted reluctantly. All except one, a particularly well-muscled male with fur the same color as the female’s, who had arrived with her. He was probably related to her, since they didn’t have matching mate charms on their necklaces.
“They collapsed the stairs,” she said. “A few days ago, one of the monsters tore through my warriors and managed to get down to the Deep. The next day, we had a cave-in. The stairs are well and truly blocked, so no one will be getting by until they’re cleared.”
Lianhua stared at her. “They just trapped you up here with the fulan-spawn? Don’t they know you could easily become infected, too?”
Looking bitter, the female snapped, “Of course they know. That’s why they sent me instead of my sister. I’m disposable.” Her teeth clicked together as she realized what she’d said, and all of the warriors surrounding her carefully avoided eye contact.
Stepping down from the stairs, Lianhua held her hand out, then realized what she was doing and instead tilted her head slightly, one female acknowledging another, just as Kaz had taught her. He almost nodded in approval.
“I’m Lianhua,” Lianhua said. “My party had to come all the way down through the mountain because the entrance to the Deep was closed. On the way, we ran into the mosui, and, well, their city isn’t any more. Theirs, I mean. The husede and kobolds who live there now have been clearing out the fulan, which is why it’s been getting better. I really need to reach the Deep, and I and my people can do a lot to help clear some rocks.”
The other female blinked, then yipped a short laugh. She tipped her head, exactly matching the courtesy Lianhua had offered. “I’m Senge, of the Goldcoat tribe. I was sent here to guard the entrance to the Deep after a few of the abominations found their way down to us. I failed, and being abandoned here,” she waved around at the rocky walls, “is my punishment.”
A slow, sly grin split Senge’s muzzle, and she said, “I would very much welcome an opportunity to return to the Deep. Especially if I can get there before my sister and my mother expect me, if they expect me at all.”