Even if the lizard-people were lying, and they planned to kill the humans they’d captured, it didn’t seem like they were going to do it that day. Raff had debated opening one of the jars to find out what the lizards were so worried about, and see if he could use it to escape, but now that he knew help was near, he decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Yet.
So Raff continued carrying the heavy little jars, one after another, until the bell rang. Then he, along with all the other members of Squad A, trooped off to another cavern, where food was being served. To Raff’s surprise, not only were the reptilians working together with their captives to make and serve the food, the experience was familiar. Having eaten with kobold tribes more than once, Raff immediately recognized the way food was served, as well as the lack of tables, utensils, and proper chairs. He didn’t waste time looking around for the ‘missing’ items, as did some of the other new humans, but sat down on a rock and held the bowl to his mouth, allowing the stew-like contents to slide inside. It wasn’t bad at all.
Their captors sat down right along with them, eating the same food in the same way. The only difference was that humans sat with humans, while lizard-men sat with lizard-men. Raff didn’t want to stand out, so he remained where he was when some of the other captives sat next to him and began complaining about what had happened to them, but his eyes were on the other group.
The lizard-people talked among themselves, just like the humans did. They laughed a little more often, but not much, and they certainly didn’t seem arrogant or look down on the humans. If anything, there was a certain solicitousness in the way they made sure every man had as much as he wanted to eat, as if they understood that the situation was difficult, and wanted to make it as easy as possible.
The disparity between their actions and the simple and unavoidable fact that these people had abducted two dozen men, implanted a murder-device in their necks, and then set them to mind-numbing tasks that could have been handled by literally anyone…was bewildering. More, how and why had they managed to steal or block Raff’s mana? No one else had mentioned any such thing, so he didn’t want to attract attention by asking, but he’d spent every possible moment attempting to regain his mana, with a notable lack of success.
Before Li appeared, Raff had felt helpless in a way he hadn’t since he realized that he was well on his way to having his entire life controlled by his well-meaning parents. Being a mage was safe, a position of power and respect, and would allow him to take a beautiful, respectable wife. But as much as Raff tried to explain that that life was one he didn’t want - had never wanted - the more his father didn’t listen. His mother had some sympathy, having chosen exactly once to go against her family’s plans for her, but Da was the one who stayed with their children year-round, and so Da was the one with the final say in how to raise those children.
So Raff ran away, leaving a life of luxury and privilege for one where he killed monsters and cheated at Dragons and Dice in order to earn enough money to pay for his personal gear and a place to sleep when he wasn’t at the guildhouse. It wasn’t a bad life, though, and Raff sure as Pellis’ sinking ship didn’t want to lose it to a bunch of bipedal lizards.
So now Raff was going to take back control of his life, just as he had almost a decade and a half ago. These lizards thought they were in charge? Well, Raff had friends he could count on - and wasn’t that a peculiar feeling for someone who had spent years avoiding serious entanglements? - and he was going to use this opportunity to help them. His gut said whatever was happening down here was tied to the madness up above, and when his gut started growling, Raff listened.
Giving an occasional nod or smile of agreement to the men sitting nearby didn’t take up much of his attention. It was difficult to listen in on what the lizard-people were saying, since he didn’t have enough power to cast his hearing cantrip, but he focused, and soon enough he was able to pick out a few words.
It was a disjointed mess, but a few words were repeated often enough that he could be fairly certain they were important. Xiyi was one of them, and the other was ‘Jianying’. Both words rang bells in the back of Raff’s mind, and he was almost certain Lianhua and Blue had said both of them during three of the most boring days of his life. Why in Pellis’ name hadn’t he listened?
When the meal was over, the lizard-people quietly joined the humans in cleaning up. Squad B had cooked, so it was Squad C’s turn to wash dishes and put away the food. There were five squads, A through E, and they seemed to have been sorted by physical size and strength. The oldest and weakest of the prisoners were almost all in Squad E, with the largest and strongest, like Raff, in A. They would all rotate through shared chores, like cooking and cleaning, but during the day, each squad did the tasks to which they were best suited. It was really very practical, and by the time everyone headed for bed, there was already a sense of camaraderie growing among old and new humans alike.
They all slept together in a bunkhouse not unlike the tournament barracks, except that the beds were stacked on top of each other, using vertical space, as well as horizontal, like hammocks on a ship. Most of the beds were clearly taken, with blankets and pillows already laid out on them, and as everyone entered, Palcher once again began to speak.
“You’ve all noticed you don’t have your belongings,” he said, and something that was almost a laugh swept over the group. “And some of you have already asked about them. I’ll tell you all what I told them. When you’re returned home, you’ll get everything back, no matter what it was. Money, weapons, all of it.
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“If you’re asked to come back again, and decide to accept, you’ll be allowed to bring some luxuries, like extra clothes and a little money. You’ll see there are locked chests by some of the beds. They belong to those of us who’ve done this before, and theft will not be tolerated. You may think you can get away with it, but I guarantee you will not.”
He looked around, cold eyes sweeping over everyone. A few men shifted in place, while others simply smiled blandly. Those were the ones Raff would worry about, if this was his problem. Apparently Palcher knew it, too, because he locked onto one of the smilers.
“There’s exactly one punishment here,” he said, tapping the back of his neck meaningfully. “Anyone care to guess what it is?”
Now everyone looked uncomfortable, and Palcher nodded. “Yeah. It’s exactly what you think it is. So don’t mess up. That goes for the old hands, too. Every one of us has one of these devices in us. It’s deactivated when we go home, and reactivated when we return. We all know that’s part of the deal, but you’re just figuring it out. Eventually, someone will break the rules, and everyone who survives will learn their lesson. It only takes once.”
He shuddered before continuing. “Now, go to bed. There’s no sun down here, but the xiyi will turn the lanterns down for eight hours. When the bell rings, you get up. No sleeping in. No arguing. Squad C makes breakfast, and D will clean up. Then E makes lunch, and A cleans up after that. You get the idea.”
Xiyi. There was that word again. Yeah, that was what Blue said the rebel kobolds called themselves, wasn’t it? The ones who worked together with the emperor’s brother, killed the emperor, then were forced out of the mountain when the big bad dragon cast his last spell?
Raff dug through vague memories of a long three days of Lianhua nattering on about Diushi-this and some-famous-guy-that. His clearest memory was of his own astonishment that Blue didn’t go stark raving mad after being asked the same question for the twentieth time, even if it was in a slightly different way.
But there it was. Jianying. That was the name of the Emperor-dragon’s brother, wasn’t it? Yeah, he was sure it was, because Lianhua spent a solid two hours muttering to herself about what runes might be used to write the name. At least, it seemed like two hours, and that was what mattered.
But that Jianying lived almost a millenia ago, right? In Raff’s experience, history was history, and if it didn’t make you money or feed you, only people like Lianhua cared about it. So why were these lizard-people - xiyi? - still talking about him?
Dragons lived a long time, Raff knew that, but surely not eight or nine hundred years. Even the greatest human mages and cultivators lived only three centuries or so. But in theory, the dragon Emperor was born before the Diushi Empire was founded, and survived its fall, which would make him more than a thousand years old when he died. Was it so difficult to believe that his brother had achieved the same?
The lights dimmed, and Raff looked around, realizing that almost everyone was in bed. Someone had passed out simple blankets and surprisingly plush pillows, and though more than one man lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, no one spoke.
“Not many beds left,” someone said softly, and Raff turned to look at Palcher. The middle-aged man wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look upset either.
“I’m not much of one for bunk beds,” Raff said, offering him a grin. “Too much of me hangs off the end.”
The other man smiled back, but his eyes were still thoughtful. “Fair enough. Tell you what. You can sleep on the floor by the door, or you can take your chances with a top bunk, at least until you can convince someone on the bottom to trade with you. One way or the other, though, I need you to go to bed.” His voice held a warning that Raff didn’t think was a bluff.
With another grin, Raff flicked the man a salute. “Fair enough. Don’t want the lizards to kill me because I didn’t get enough beauty sleep, eh? I’ll take the floor. Pellis knows I’ve slept in worse places.”
Palcher held out a blanket and pillow Raff hadn’t even realized he was holding. “Fair enough. And call ‘em xiyi. They don’t much like other people giving them names. Pretty easy-going folks, for the most part, but they don’t like anybody looking down on them. Can’t say I blame them for that.”
Raff lowered his voice. “But you can blame them for kidnapping you and taking away a month of your life, even if you decided to come back for more, eh?”
The other man’s eyes were cold. “However it started, the money I’ve earned let me give my family a good home, and allowed me to pay a proper healer when my daughter got sick last winter. This may not be what you planned to spend the next few weeks doing, but if you or anyone else threatens to ruin this for me, I’ll feed them to the dragons myself.”
And that was the first time anyone had spoken the word out loud. A few of his fellow prisoners had asked about the beasts, only to be ignored or even told to shut up. This was always accompanied by a glance at the xiyi, so Raff guessed it was a rule - spoken or simply understood - put in place by the reptilians. Nobody talked about the Pellis-cursed death-lizards peacefully sleeping in their roosts around the top of the cavern.
“Is that what happens?” Raff asked, still conversational, as if his life hadn’t just been threatened. “They don’t stab us or blow our heads off with these ‘devices’,” he winced at the vivid memory of exactly that happening to a kobold back in Scarabus. “They feed us to their cousins instead?”
There was suddenly a hand across his mouth, and Palcher was looking around the dark room. It was the first time there were no xiyi around, but Palcher didn’t look like he believed they could speak privately.
“Never mention the dragons,” the older man said. “I don’t care if one flies around and craps on your head like a gods-forsaken giant pigeon. This is your one and only warning.” He stared straight into Raff’s eyes, then slowly removed his hand, turned, and walked away.
Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?