Everyone stared at Kaz, and he half-wished that he still felt comfortable just sneaking away when he was ready. He’d promised Lianhua, however, and it wasn’t like they wouldn’t understand soon enough.
“Li can tell where other dragons are, at least familiar ones,” he told them, “and she’s been sensing one since an hour or so ago. He’ll be able to take us to the cave.” Well, Li would probably insist on flying herself, even though she was still small enough to cling to Yanshi’s back. She was certain that was who waited for them, though she couldn’t speak to him from here.
“A dragon…is waiting for you,” Raff said, then rubbed his hand over his short fuzz of curls and muttered, “Well, of course it is. And why wouldn’t it be?”
Lianhua blinked, then said, “It’s one of the ones who went with Snen, then? Is Snen there as well? I have so many questions, and I didn’t even really get to talk to him before-”
Kaz shook his head. He’d lost some of his own certainty about where other kobolds were, and this close to the mountain all he could feel was ‘many’ and ‘near’. He thought he would know if Snen was with Yanshi, but Li was certain she would sense Intong, and Snen’s dragon-brother wasn’t here. Kaz was almost certain Snen wouldn’t leave Intong behind, or vice versa. “It’s just Yanshi. He should have some news about what’s happening with the xiyi, though.”
Baihe and Elder Long knew who Snen was, thanks to the story they’d just been told. Still, Baihe’s eyes were alight as she said, “Well, what are we waiting for? I want to meet a real dragon!” Her cheeks colored instantly, and she crossed her hands in front of her, bowing her head to Li. “Another dragon, of course.”
Kaz believed he knew what she meant. Li was beautiful, but compared to other dragons, she was still small. Not small enough that he wasn’t worried about what would happen when they needed to slip quietly through the narrow passages of the mountain, but also not one of the massive flying reptiles whose claws and teeth could be as long as a human’s forearm.
Li hissed softly, but seemed to understand. Still, when she began to beat her wings, lifting from the ground, the last sparks of the dying fire flew up, sparkling red motes surrounding her shining form. Only Kaz could see the wisps of red ki that gathered those sparks into the perfect shape, accenting the arch of her wings and the length of her neck and tail, and there was a round of soft gasps as his dragon circled slowly, allowing everyone to admire her before flying out into the open air.
Baihe chuckled softly as she grasped her mate’s arm. “She has a great deal of pride, doesn’t she? Well, that must be a draconic trait.” Her eyes sparkled in a way that made Kaz remember that she herself had more or less been a dragon, descended from other dragons. She probably had a great deal of experience in dealing with this particular quirk.
Kyla had only a few pouches she’d found somewhere and the remains of her burned, smelly pack, while Raff’s storage device was quite small, at least according to him. These two quickly gathered their things and went to ready the horses, which Raff had tied up outside where they could graze. This left everyone else to go around and use their large-capacity storage devices to once again pack away the remnants of their camp, while Kaz watched with barely suppressed impatience.
Honestly, Kaz had enough ki by now that he could have everyone else behind and simply run toward the glimmering chain that bound him to Li. He was no longer worried about meeting an enemy he couldn’t defeat, nor finding himself without enough power to reach his destination, and he was reluctant to leave Li alone with Yanshi. He knew that she needed the company of her own people, but it was so hard to watch it happen.
Still, he waited, and rode slowly with the others, following the wide path of mud left by last night’s rain. The horses walked along, their legs chilled and heavy, and Kaz surreptitiously sent each one a trickle of red ki, warming them and encouraging the muck to dry and flake away. Elder Long took his flying sword from his ring, and this time both he and Baihe rode it, their ki intertwined just as their arms were.
They heard the dragons first. A deep, rumbling roar was answered by a softer, lighter one, and Kaz could feel Li’s amusement through their bond. Then a flash of gold shone through the trees, followed by a green that blended in with the leaves, and Kaz saw them; the larger dragon was attempting to catch Li’s small, darting shape, which slid through gaps Yanshi had no chance of passing. His neck was almost as long as Li’s whole body, though, and when Li saw Kaz and suddenly changed course, heading straight for him, Yanshi snapped playfully, making it clear he could have caught her tail if he’d wanted to.
The great green dragon settled to the ground with a surprisingly gentle thump. That made sense, though. The xiyi wouldn’t want their mounts skidding and hopping to a halt the way Li still did when she wasn’t careful.
“Flight?” Lianhua asked. She and her grandmother were watching the green dragon with matching expressions of admiration and wonder.
“You were able to find Kus Ukark and the others, then?” Kaz asked. “How are Snen and Intong?”
Yanshi nodded solemnly.
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He snarled, baring many very sharp teeth.
As if sensing Kaz’s concern, Yanshi lowered his head to Kaz’s level, looking him in the eyes.
Kaz nodded understanding, then allowed his eyes to dip beneath the surface of Yanshi’s scales, examining the dragon’s upper dantian. To his relief, it was already slightly better than it was the last time he saw it. The holes had closed, though there were thickened areas where they’d been. He would have scars, and, unlike Baihe, there were no pills he could take to repair them.
“If you keep healing so well, I think we’ll be able to try removing the ‘ephemeral’ rune in a few weeks,” he told his large, scaly patient. “But I don’t think there’s anything we can do about ‘viscid’. I’m afraid we’ll just have to remove that one from any young you have when they’re hatched.”
Kaz shook his head. “They may be there, but I’d have to see an egg to be sure. If they are, touching a dragonling’s dantians before hatching is a risk I don’t really want to take. I think it’s best to wait. Removing the runes immediately after hatching should be safe and relatively simple. That’s what I did with Li, and I understand a great deal more now than I did then, so there should be no difficulty.”
Yanshi settled back on his haunches, sighing softly.
That was an excellent question, and one Kaz had no answer for. “We’ll just have to see. The runes may be weaker because of the unruned parent, or there may be no difference at all. I think as long as at least one mate still has ‘viscid’, there’s no avoiding at least some transfer.”
The green dragon’s toes curled, long claws digging into the wet soil. he said, then stood.
Kaz had expected to have at least until they arrived at the portal field, but he nodded and slid down from his horse, handing the reins to Raff. The beast seemed pleased to be further from the large predator, rolling its eyes at the dragon as it sidled away uneasily.
“I’m going, too!” Kyla immediately declared, swinging her leg over her own horse’s back. She was holding Mei, who seemed disinclined to run around today.
Kaz hurried over and laid a hand on his cousin’s leg, holding her in place. “You have to stay,” he told her. He met her eyes, hoping she could see his sincerity. “I would be lucky to have you at my side, but if anyone can figure out how to open the portal early, it will be you. Early or not, when the portal opens, you have to be there. Your family will be terribly worried, and if you truly want to be the liaison between kobolds and humans, you must be there when they meet.”
“Then you should stay, too,” she told him stubbornly, but he could see her indecision in the way her ears flattened and her tail drooped.
“If you wait for the normal cycle, then I have a week to get down through the mountain,” he reminded her. “You’ll arrive first, but it shouldn’t take me much longer to reach the Deep, not as I am now. Just,” he paused, then looked around at the entire group, “please don’t tell anyone I’m coming. I think it’s very important that my arrival is a surprise to everyone. Even Ija and the other chiefs mustn’t know.”
Kyla’s ears perked back up. “Why not? This should be the best spirit hunt howl ever, but if I can’t mention you, half of it will be missing!”
Kaz laughed. “You can tell them all of it after I return. Please, Kyla.” He gave her a warrior’s salute, and after a long hesitation, she returned it. Before he could turn away, however, she leaned toward him, holding out Mei, who looked back at him with bright eyes.
“I think there’s something wrong with Mei,” Kyla whispered. “I may have fed her too much.”
It was all Kaz could do to maintain his serious mien; ears up and tail still. Reaching out, he gently stroked Mei’s side, feeling the bulge of her belly as his ki-sight told him all was well inside. “Take good care of her, and she’ll be fine. I would stop giving her so much cheese and bread, and instead feed her metal and meat, though.”
Reminded, he reached into his pouch, taking out several bars of gold, as well as one of mithril. He had plans for the adamantium, but this was just extra, and he thought the fuergar would put it to better use than he could, anyway.
“Give her these,” he said, passing them to Kyla, who grunted beneath the weight of the gold. “Make sure she eats all of it over the next few days, and don’t worry about her. You might make her a little nest or something, though. Someplace warm, soft, and dark.”
By now, Lianhua, Baihe, and Yingtao were all looking at him with dawning understanding, though the males all seemed either uninterested or uncomprehending. Well, they would figure it out soon enough. The important thing was that his cousin looked less worried. He really did wish he could stay to see her reaction when Mei ‘recovered’, but he thought that was still up to a week away, and he simply couldn’t wait.
Kaz started to walk away, then paused and looked up at his cousin again. Her eyes were huge, and her ears flat, but she was holding herself stiffly, refusing to give in to her anxiety. Reaching out, he touched her hand. “I would be sad…if anything happened to you. Please be safe.” Kyla jerked, then nodded once, sharply, before giving the soft yip of acknowledgement usually used by puppies when their older family members gave them instructions.
Crossing to Yanshi, Kaz waited until the dragon lowered himself down and bent a leg for Kaz to use to climb up. This time, he pulled a thick cushion he’d acquired from Raff’s house out of his pouch, and laid it over the area of skin with missing scales. The flesh was no longer red and angry-looking, but he had no doubt it was still tender.
Climbing on the dragon’s back, Kaz took hold of two of the long spikes ahead of him. He wasn’t settled quite as firmly with the cushion beneath him, but he could hold the spikes as hard as he needed to, since they were like fur or claws, and wouldn’t hurt Yanshi unless they were plucked out, which he obviously wouldn’t do.
Finally, he looked down at his friends, seeing faces that had been not only strangers but utterly foreign to him only a few months before. Now, many of them were precious to him, and he hoped that they would all be safe while they were apart.
“Bright howls,” he told them all, and as Yanshi lifted from the ground, he heard their voices wishing him well.