Behind Kaz, the humans tensed, and Kaz saw the two kobolds in the back shift their arrows to point toward Raff. Quickly, Kaz held up a hand, hoping that would be enough to keep the humans from doing anything drastic, though he didn’t dare look around.
Lowering his chin, Kaz lowered his ears slightly and said, “I’m Kaz, of the… Longknife tribe. My chief instructed me to guide these humans to the Deep. We just need to get to the stairs.”
The lead Blackbow frowned, but his aim never wavered. “We control the stairs. Passage will be five days of food for each member of your party.” His gaze swept over the group, who clearly held no meat or other visible trade goods before returning to Kaz.
Kaz’s ears lowered further. “We can get it, or-”
“This is ridiculous! Just let us pass!” Gaoda’s sharp voice interrupted, and all three bows moved to point at the human as he moved forward to stand beside Kaz. With a flick of his wrist, which by now Kaz knew was entirely unnecessary, he split the ki ball hovering at his shoulder into four pieces, which began to spin slowly around his body.
“Gaoda,” Lianhua’s voice nearly hummed with frustration, “didn’t we just talk about this?”
Gaoda’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he nodded once, sharply. Glaring at the Blackbow males, he said, “Let us talk to your chief. We’ll give her something, and be on our way.”
The male kobolds had tensed at Gaoda’s approach, and one of the males in the back had half-raised his head, ready to howl a warning to the rest of the tribe. Now, they hesitated, their eyes flicking between Kaz, Gaoda, and the rest of the group.
Kaz spoke quickly, ears flat and tail down. “The humans don’t understand our ways. That’s why my chief sent me with them. We really just want to pass through, and we can pay.”
The lead male’s lip was drawn back, baring his teeth. “Vix,” he barked, and the smallest of the males whirled and darted off down the passage behind them. As soon as he was engulfed by shadow, he began to howl.
Glancing at Kaz, the male said, “Pup, tell your female she needs to go back. One of our females will come.”
Kaz nodded and turned to Gaoda. “He’s not supposed to speak to a female of another tribe without permission. I could have negotiated for you, but now you’ll have to wait until their female arrives.”
Gaoda looked puzzled and a little angry. “But I’m not-”
Raff clapped a hand on Gaoda’s shoulder, clearing his throat loudly. “Blue mentioned this to me before. I’ll, uh, explain in a bit.”
This only increased Gaoda’s displeasure, but between Raff and Lianhua, they were able to convince him to step back. Howls echoed in the distance for a minute, and then the adventurers and the kobolds waited in uneasy silence until a young female with dark gray fur and a flickering light clinging to her uplifted hand arrived with the male who had run off and two others. The new males were larger and more muscular than the first, and one of them hovered protectively over the female, his body half-blocking hers. The female cast a wary glance at the humans, and Kaz saw her chin hitch up as she drew in a breath.
“I am Vida. My mo- Chief Vilti sent me to speak with you.” She looked straight at Gaoda, ignoring everyone else.
Gaoda’s eyes narrowed, but he said, “We want to go down the stairs. Let us through and-”
Lianhua’s hand rested briefly on his arm. “Gaoda Xiang,” she said, simply, but the male sighed.
Reaching into the pouch at his waist, Gaoda pulled out a square of bright yellow cloth much like the one they had traded to Ogden for passage down the shaft in Graybelly territory. He waved it at Vida.
“We’ll give you this. Now, which way do we need to go?” Gaoda strode forward, holding it out, looking quite pleased with himself. Vida instantly stepped back as the largest male shifted so he stood between the human and the female kobold, lip lifting to bare his teeth.
Kaz slid between them, taking the cloth from Gaoda’s fingers. It glided against his skin like water as he knelt, lowering his head and lifting the cloth, placing himself in an entirely vulnerable position.
Again, silence fell, and then the smallest male, Vix, cautiously stepped forward and lifted the fabric from Kaz’s loose grasp. He could hear the delicate fibers catch against the rough calluses of his skin as it was removed, and then paws padded away from him, toward Vida.
“A… Acceptable,” the female stuttered, and Kaz dared to glance up at her. She was staring at the deep yellow cloth in fascination, letting it slide from one hand to the other. The gift was a magnificent one, and would probably be made into a loincloth worn by their chief for special occasions, or used to trade for something valuable that they wanted from another tribe.
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“Good then,” Gaoda huffed, and nudged Kaz with his foot. “Let’s go.”
Kaz remained where he was until Vida and the males shifted far enough away that his movement wouldn’t be seen as a threat. Only when he was convinced that they were no longer paying any attention to him did he climb to his feet and turn to the humans, who were watching him with confusion and some annoyance.
“These kobolds are strangers,” Kaz said, lowering his voice and stepping closer. “They don’t know my tribe, and I don’t know theirs. We’re not enemies, allies, or trade partners. My uncle isn’t mated to their future leader, and we haven’t done any favors for them. As a strange male in their territory, I can speak to their males, but once a female becomes involved, another female is required.”
He locked eyes with Gaoda and tilted his head toward the human’s ki orb. “Only females can use ki, or mana. If you have power, you must be female.”
That was all he felt comfortable saying while the Blackbows could hear him, and he hoped Gaoda would understand. It was probably something he should have discussed with the male before this, but he honestly hadn’t known how. Raff knew, but Kaz suspected the human didn’t understand just how important this distinction was.
Gaoda still looked unhappy, but when Lianhua touched his arm briefly, his shoulders relaxed a little. “Fine. Explain later.”
Kaz nodded, and turned back as the original three males separated from the group of kobolds and walked back toward them. The leader of the trio nodded to Kaz, not even glancing at Gaoda. “We’ll take you to the stairs, but you will need to negotiate separately with the Stoneborn, who control the territory below. They recently rose from the mid-levels, and they are aggressive.”
Kaz felt his shoulders tense. While he didn’t recognize the tribe name, he did know the type. Tribes of the upper levels knew that resources were scarce, and sometimes they had to work together to kill a powerful monster or get enough food for their members when their territory was picked clean. If they gained a reputation for being difficult, soon no one would trade with them or let them settle nearby. That was exactly what had happened to Oda and the Broken Knives, and it was a bleak place to be.
On the other hand, no tribe lasted long in the mid-levels without being militant and territorial. Their territories were usually small, and monsters still encroached on them almost daily. Since most beasts could be eaten, this made food fairly plentiful, and water was far more common as well. The tribes that stayed, rather than just passing through, usually had artifacts from the Deep, and their members, males and females alike, were hardened and experienced in battle.
“I see,” he said, sighing. “I don’t know another way down from this level. Do you?”
The male shook his head. “I’ve heard of two other staircases, but they’re both broken. There was a tunnel, but it collapsed during my father’s time. This is the only passage left, and the Stoneborn are refusing to let anyone by unless we yield the territory around the stairs to them, or accept a luegat.”
Kaz’s eyes narrowed as he fully understood the situation. Controlling the passages between levels was equally lucrative and dangerous. A tribe could make a great number of advantageous trades, yes, but other tribes coveted the territory greatly, which often made the situation precarious at best.
This explained why the Blackbows had patrols walking the edge of their territory. They were concerned that the Stoneborn would find or create a passage between the levels, which would allow them to sneak up and attack without warning. It was unlikely, but certainly not unheard of.
Which put the humans in a difficult position; one which would require a different approach from the conciliatory stance Kaz had been using up to now.
Kaz nodded. “We’re ready.”
The Blackbow gave him a brief tilt of the chin, then turned away. His subordinates stepped to the side, only falling in after Kaz and the humans passed. With Raff close behind the lead kobold, Kaz dropped back to walk beside Lianhua and Gaoda.
“We’ll need to show our strength,” Kaz said conversationally. It was best that the Blackbow males know what they were about to do, so they didn’t react badly. “The tribe on the next level won’t be like the ones we’ve met before. In general, females of tribes in the upper levels are of similar power, and there’s a good bit of unclaimed territory, so battles between tribes are actually fairly rare.”
In spite of what my personal experience would lead someone to believe, he thought wryly, before continuing. “Those tribes assumed that we would be willing to trade or retreat, and even vaguely threatening behavior was taken… badly. If these Stoneborn are from the mid-levels, that means they were forced out, either by beasts or another tribe. They’ll be wounded and defensive. While they may not have many members, those members are likely to be quite strong. And, if they’re truly determined not to allow passage in order to force the Blackbows to fight or flee, they won’t be willing to trade.”
Lianhua frowned. “What do we do, then?”
Gaoda snorted. “Wipe them out, obviously. If there aren’t many, it’ll be a simple matter.”
Kaz’s lip wanted to curl back, but he forced himself to speak calmly. “If you convince them you can slaughter them like whimpering fuergar, they may be willing to step aside, and they can do so without forfeiting their honor because you aren’t kobolds. Their prohibition doesn’t technically apply to you.”
“What about you?” Lianhua asked.
He shrugged, though he couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m just a male pup. I’m barely worth noticing.”
Gaoda snorted. “So, we should show we can kill them all, but not actually do it?”
“Is it worth your while to fight them?” Kaz asked, bluntly. “There’s no guarantee none of them will manage to hit you, and it’s still in our best interest not to go around killing whole tribes. If you get a reputation for going on murderous rampages, we may be attacked as soon as we come close. Some tribes may even begin setting traps for us.”
He could tell that Gaoda wanted to dismiss these concerns, but Lianhua nodded. “Then we’ll have to do our best to be just frightening enough.”
Raff turned his head as he walked into an open cavern ahead of them. “Glad you all got that worked out, because it looks like it’s showtime.”