While there had been little doubt that the Broken Knives’ den would still be where he’d left it, essentially untouched, Kaz wasn’t as certain about the Longtooths - or rather, the Longknife tribe, now that the two were combined. It was possible that Katri would have had them move, if only to start fresh together.

But when Kaz arrived at the outskirts of the former Longtooth territory, he found that it was still clearly marked. The totems had changed slightly, with the long teeth of the skulls now painted gray on the bottom and brown on the top. He supposed if you looked at it correctly, it might seem like knives were protruding from the jaws, but if Katri had allowed him to stay, he would have done a much better job.

And what would his life have looked like? He would have spent two months as a Longknife, unless Katri decided to get rid of him another way, perhaps by trading him to a tribe on a lower level. If she allowed him to stay, would she have sent him on his spirit hunt? Would she have officially chosen his mate? He’d already had Li by the time he left, but would he have been able to keep her hidden, or would he have taken her up to the dragon cave and set her free?

Li told him fiercely, butting her head against his knee. In the short time she’d spent being too large to be carried, she’d grown used to the independence, and now often preferred to walk on her own. Rather than being able to snuggle against Kaz, she’d begun leaning into his leg, and he was glad his body cultivation had come so far, because even at her current size, her head was hard, and her horns were pointy.

he told her, laying a hand on her head. They weren’t trying to be quiet, but Kaz also didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation, and kobolds had excellent hearing. They were well within Longknife territory, and though they didn’t have patrols - which was a good sign that Katri hadn’t immediately gotten them into vara - he could run into hunters or gatherers at any time.

It took several more minutes to pick up the familiar sounds of many paws on stone and the soft murmur of voices talking about what kinds of plants they’d found. They had found a gathering group, then, which was almost worse than meeting hunters. Gatherer guards were jumpy, since they were protecting puppies, while hunters were confident in their ability to take care of themselves, and should be willing to stop and talk.

Li asked as Kaz paused, uncertain what to do. Then a puppy yelped softly, and another one gave a soft mock growl, and Kaz nodded. He’d like to see these pups, see if they looked happy and healthy, but he didn’t want to frighten them.

Leaning down, he picked Li up, and she surrounded them with her own form of camouflage. She hadn’t used the one she learned from Kyla since it failed her at the stadium, and seemed to be somewhat leery of fire in general. She had even stopped practicing her fire breath, and was focusing again on water and vapor.

As they drew closer to the den, they heard more and more of the sounds that made him remember so many years of gathering with the other pups of his tribe. There was a constant low murmur of yips and short howls, as well as the movement of bodies through the narrow tunnels. He even caught sight of what he thought might be cores, faint smudges through the walls. Was one of them Katri’s? When he’d lived with the Broken Knives, he’d tried so hard to keep his power from filling him to the point where he could see, and when he’d failed at that, he’d avoided any of the females for fear that they would be able to see his power in return. If only he’d known then that that sight was his alone, what could he have learned from Katri, Oda, and Rega’s cores?

He and Li avoided another group of gatherers and a pair of guards. The hunters were probably further out, near the edges of the territory, where there were still creatures unwary enough to remain near a kobold den. Kaz knew he should have Li drop their concealment, but something in him wanted to see his sister for a few unguarded moments, if he could manage it.

It seemed that fate was on his side, because as he approached the main entrance to the den, he could smell the spicy scent of jiao and fuergar, along with the richer aroma of toufa. It was almost time for a meal, and judging by the way the guards kept glancing back into the den, it was probably dinner. Once their replacements had eaten, they would come and take their place, allowing these two to get food. It wasn’t good for the tribe that the guards were so distracted, but it worked well for Kaz and Li, who slipped in while both males were staring longingly toward the corner of the cavern where the delicious smells originated.

Li had dropped their camouflage whenever no one was nearby, but she’d been holding it for almost five minutes this time. It wasn’t so much that she was running out of ki, but the level of concentration it took to continually ‘convince new mana that they were part of it’ was mentally exhausting. Sensing that she was reaching her limit, Kaz slid along the wall until he reached a hut with no ki inside, and entered.

Thankfully, the interior was dim and quiet, allowing Kaz to set Li down on the small furs sewn together to make a covering for the floor. That was already more than Kaz had had for most of his life, since the furs from his kills were usually needed to make loincloths and repair hut walls. He wondered if this hut belonged to a male or female, and a quick sniff told him two kobolds slept here; a mated pair, then.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A bell rang out, the pleasant chime telling all the kobolds the food was ready. The guards at the entrance gave the low ‘come home’ howl, letting the gatherers and hunters know as well. Anyone who heard the howl would repeat it, even out to the edge of the tribe’s territory, until everyone was back.

Li asked. Her head drooped a little, but her eyes were bright as she looked around. She created a small ki-light, brightening the interior of the hut, and they were able to see a few items neatly piled near the back. There was a warrior’s pack, small and light, but with a long tear down one side. Next to it sat a folded loincloth, with brightly-dyed leather and beads made of polished gems and bones, indicating it probably belonged to a female.

Kaz said, crouching to look at the pack. The damage looked rough, the edges ragged, so either an accident or a beast attack, not the clean slice of an edged weapon. That was another good sign, as was the rising sound of soft chatter outside. These kobolds didn’t sound angry or unhappy. Kaz doubted they’d simply forgotten their former chief and her family, but he hoped the cheerful yips meant no rebellion was simmering beneath the surface.

Li asked, lying down on her belly so she could peer beneath the bone and leather door. Shadows cast by hurrying paws passed by, but no one stopped or even slowed. Li was very good at covering their scent, so Kaz wasn’t worried someone would sniff them out, but there was always the possibility that one of the owners of the hut would decide to enter. They needed to make a plan and move.

He tilted his head, ears twitching thoughtfully.

Li turned to look at him, and he could feel her trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say.

Instantly, Kaz shook his head.

This time he hesitated for a bare moment, but his head shake was as firm as before.

Li huffed a little sigh and sat back up. The number of paws going by outside had slowed already. This wasn’t a huge tribe, though it was much larger than the Broken Knives. The majority of the members should be close by, and most kobolds had an excellent sense of time, allowing them to start heading for the den a little while before they needed to be there. That meant almost everyone except the guards should be eating by now.

she asked bluntly, apparently having decided that the right words were honest ones.

Kaz froze, staring at her, but she was correct. He had become so used to being treated as a person in his own right that he’d forgotten about the way Katri had always expected him to instantly do as she said. He was her brother, but until she took a mate, he was also the male who was supposed to protect and obey her. When they were alone, she sometimes softened that with a distant sort of affection, but when anyone else was around, her ability to control him was a reflection of her own strength, and Katri was never willing to appear weak.

Kaz tried, but he knew Li might be right. When they were young, Katri had cared about him, he was sure, but the older they got, the more she seemed to view him as an extension of her, just a thing without its own needs.

If his sister had eaten Oda’s core, she might be even worse now. He hadn’t seen it when it was all he knew, but Katri had been manipulating him for years, giving him just enough attention so he willingly came to her, even when he was unhappy. When those dregs of affection were all he got, other than what Rega dared to offer, it seemed like so much more than it was.

Bowing to his dragon’s greater wisdom - and when had that happened? - Kaz waited until no more kobolds passed by their hiding place. Li hid them again, and then they went hunting. Kaz’s eye quickly picked out the largest hut, and they checked it first, but to Kaz’s surprise it seemed to be a communal hut, holding supplies such as zhiwu web and neatly labeled medicines, as well as a few furs, weapons, some filled water bladders, and a several packs of dried meat, ready to be carried away in case of an emergency.

Next to this one were two huts of almost the same size, and the first one they checked smelled strongly of Katri. Her scent had changed slightly, but there was no mistaking it, so Kaz and Li slipped inside and settled down to wait. The one thing Kaz had been worried about was that Katri might have taken a mate already, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Others had been in and near this hut, but the pile of soft furs smelled of Katri alone.

Time passed, paws once again scratching their way toward their own places, and Kaz began to wonder if this was the mid-day meal after all. Hunters usually ate part of their catch or dried meat for that meal, though, and the howl to come back had definitely been for everyone. There was no way it was breakfast, not with gatherers out already, so Katri was simply taking her time going home after she ate.

Li grew bored, and began pacing around the edge of the hut. She walked across Katri’s bed, ignoring the fact that she was getting her scent all over it, as well as messing up the neat pile, but stopped close to the bottom. Using a claw to delicately hook one of the furs, she lifted it, revealing…a book. Oda’s book.

Somehow, Kaz hadn’t even thought to look for this. It wasn’t as though he’d forgotten it existed, because he most definitely hadn’t. Perhaps it was that he was afraid of what he might read within those pages, if he could read it at all, and so he’d pushed all thought of it away. But here it was, and there was no one here to tell him he wasn’t allowed to look at it.

Without a word, Li pushed the book toward him, and Kaz opened the fragile cover.