Chapter Two hundred seventeen (Patreon)

As the hisses and shrieks of dying lizards dwindled away, the rain swelled, wiping away ash and blood. Kaz and Raff slept in their beds, surrounded by other warriors, and though their sleep was light, it was restful. It was almost like being in a den full of other kobolds, secure in the knowledge that you would have someone to battle beside you should the worst happen. Death would not take them unawares.

Li was busy. Images flickered through their bond, focusing primarily on the wyvern vanishing into the dark sky, but with flashes of salamanders and mana lizards as well. Each time Kaz rose to the surface of sleep, he found the dragon awake beside him, underneath their shared blanket, her mind working furiously, though she only hissed absently at him when his sleepy curiosity reached her.

In the morning, it became clear that some number of the people who had claimed beds had failed to return. Perhaps one in ten or twelve beds was empty, tags dangling unattended in the weak light. The male who watched the door came through and grimly gathered them, taking away any abandoned possessions as well.

To Kaz’s surprise, no one showed any particular remorse at this evidence that people had died or at least been too badly injured to return. Perhaps it was because they were strangers, not only among themselves, but also to the city, but no one even offered to howl them to the ancestors. It seemed they were to be forgotten, other than some excited murmurs from those entered who remained. Apparently, fewer participants meant fewer battles, and a better chance of winning.

Once the sun was well above the horizon, everyone began to gather their things in a kind of unspoken accord. Those who didn’t have storage items left their bulkier items neatly piled on their beds, while those who did left no sign that they had ever entered the large hut.

When Raff and Kaz were ready, Kaz reached down, pretending to straighten his blankets like the other males had. As he did, his cloak fell over the bed, and he urged Li to come out so he could slip her into her makeshift perch. She emerged, but as she did, he felt a draw on his ki, and instead of climbing back into her hiding place, she ducked beneath the heavy fabric and out into the open.

Raff saw her immediately, his jaw dropping and his eyes growing wide. “Pellis’ triple knickers, Blue, did you steal that wyvern from the market last night? I thought it flew away!”

Kaz blinked, frowning down at the dragon. It took him far too long to realize that the ki she was pulling from him was wrapped around her front legs, concealing only them from everyone else’s eyes. The draw was small, barely even noticeable, but when she moved, stretching her wings wide for the first time in hours, it ticked up noticeably.

“That’s Li,” he told Raff, not sure whether to be amused, proud, or upset that Li hadn’t told him what she was doing. Perhaps he could have helped her figure it out, so it wouldn’t have taken all night.

Li hissed out a small cloud, heavy in the humid air, and said, <I did it! I didn’t need any help.> Quietly, however, she murmured, <And if I couldn’t, I didn’t want you to know.> That last probably wasn’t meant for him to hear, though, so he just turned to Raff.

“She’s covering just her legs with ki,” he explained quietly, and as he did, pride overtook amusement and pique, causing him to stand up straighter and puff out his chest.

A chest which rapidly deflated when a voice barked, “No pets!” from behind him. Kaz spun to see the male who had given them their bed tags pointing to a piece of paper on the wall. It had several lines of runes on it, and next to them were simple images. One thick finger was pointing at a picture of a creature that looked like a wolf. It had a red line drawn through it.

Raff turned, too, quickly scanning the page. Kaz hadn’t even realized that Raff could read, but he quickly pointed out that small, trained animals who would be fighting alongside their owners were allowed.

The guard snorted. “I didn’t see nothin’ on your papers about a wyvern.”

Raff smacked his forehead. “Curse me,” he said, “I musta forgotten to tell ‘em. I’ll go do it now.”

The other male’s lips pinched, and his pointing finger shifted to the door. “Changes and additions can be made until th’ opening ceremony this afternoon. Get that beast added to your papers, or pay the fee for it to sleep in the stables tonight. Participants only.”

Kaz quickly scooped up the dragon, settling her onto his shoulder so the draped cloth of his hood covered her front limbs. She dropped her grip on the ki with a small sigh of relief that Kaz had a feeling he also wasn’t supposed to hear, so he pretended not to as he turned to Raff.

“I’ll pay for her,” he said quickly, and Raff tilted an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, you will,” Raff said, but there was no rancor in his voice. “That’s a neat trick, though, drag- Uh, Li. Wish I’d known you could do that.”

Kaz shook his head, feeling the way the long fur on top of his head brushed against his small ears. It was still a bizarre feeling, and he didn’t think he’d ever get used to it. “She just figured it out last night.”

“Huh,” the other male said, and there was something calculating in his eyes as he looked at the little dragon. “Can she hide her wings, instead? Without ‘em, she’d look a bit like a basilisk.”

<Of course I can!> Li responded instantly.

“She says yes,” Kaz said, “but her wings are much larger. It’d take a lot more ki to hide them. Plus, she wouldn’t be able to fly. Why?”

Huffing a sigh, Raff said, “Wyverns are expensive to license. They get too big, and if they go wild, they can cause real problems. Usually, only nobles and rich merchants have ‘em, and they’re used to guard their treasure. She’s already pretty big for a basilisk, though, and they’re th’ laziest lizards ever. Used for pest control, mostly, since they can stun small rodents an’ suchlike, then eat ‘em whenever they bother gettin’ up and wanderin’ over.”

They walked a bit further, then Kaz asked, “Would one of those bars of gold be enough?”

Raff stopped, staring at Kaz. His eyes narrowed. “How many of those’ve you got, Blue?”

Kaz decided the full truth was unnecessary at this point, so he said, “I have five.” Which he did.

A broad grin spread across Raff’s face, and he laid his arm over Kaz’s shoulders, only to yank it back again immediately when Li’s teeth clamped down on his wrist. She didn’t break the skin, but there was a crescent-shaped row of indentations in Raff’s flesh when he shook his arm. His grin never wavered, however.

“Well then,” Raff said, “Let’s get the lizard registered, an’ go shoppin’. We should get some-”

Kaz froze, lifting his nose, and gave a great, deep sniff. He inhaled again, filling his chest with the scent of wet ash and freshly-cleansed city. Without a word, he crouched, pressing his face into the heavy mist that hung over the sun-warmed stones.

Raff started to reach down to pull Kaz up, then stopped when Li hissed at him. This time the dragon was serious about it, lifting her wings to cover Kaz’s shoulders and upper back. Instead, the big male crouched down, eyeing the street dubiously. The funk of humanity that had hung over it was almost gone, but ash dyed the cracks black, staining Kaz’s hands as he moved his nose along the ground.

“What is it?” Raff asked quietly, shifting to conceal Kaz’s odd behavior as a group of humans walked by.

Kaz looked up. “Mei,” he said. “At least I think so. Are there other fuergar in the city?”

Raff shook his head, waving cheerfully as another pair of males stared. “They prefer the mountains and the foothills. Every now and then we’ll get a few, but they eat metal, so there’s a standing bounty on ‘em. If the rat’s runnin’ around without Kyla, she’s gonna make somebody a few silvers pretty soon.”

Kaz used his pathetically thin claw to scratch at the ash, then moved closer to a nearby wall. There was a rectangular hole in the ground there, with three long bars blocking it so nothing person-sized could fit through. As he watched, a lazy swirl of water and ash streamed into it, vanishing in a silent fall of sludge.

Ignoring the mess soaking into his clothes, Kaz moved closer to the opening, pushing ki into his nose until he could feel the pressure building to a painful level. Ash, smoke, water, spoiling meat, and… fuergar! Better yet, the faint scent of a particular young female kobold.

Kaz stabbed his finger into the hole. “Where does this go? Can we go down there?”

Raff grimaced. “That’s the sewer and the storm drains, Blue. They’re too small for anyone to climb around in, or there’d be kids and vagabonds down there. Trust me, there’s nothin’ down there but nastiness. Though after a storm like the one last night, it’s probably about as clean as it ever gets.” He ran his hand over his short curls. “I’m sorry, Blue, but if Kyla or Mei were down there, they’re dead. Even if they didn’t drown, the water’ll have pushed ‘em all the way to the incinerators.”

Seeing Kaz’s confusion, Raff quickly explained what the ‘incinerators’ were. Kaz’s heart sank. On his shoulder, Li whistled softly.

<I can go look,> she said, sending him an image of a brave dragon, small for once, investigating tunnels much like the ones they’d left behind in the mountain.

Kaz shook his head. “We go together or not at all,” he told her. Nothing had felt right since the group split up. Kaz wished he could talk to Lianhua, discuss options and find out if she had any other ideas. It seemed like she always had more information than anyone could possibly need, but in this case, he needed to know-

“Where are these incinerators?” Kaz asked, reluctantly rising to his feet.

Raff frowned at him. “It’s too late, Blue,” he said. “I’m tellin’ you, those things burn like a thousand suns. I saw ‘em once, when I was… younger. When they’re fully charged, they can melt metal.”

“What metal?” Kaz said. “Kyla is a Magmablade. She’ll have been trained to heat the forges, and, more importantly, how not to get burned. Ija said their forges can melt adamantium. Do you really think some ‘incinerator’ would be enough to kill her?”

“She’s just a puppy,” Raff said, his voice as gentle as Kaz had ever heard it. “Kids can’t do everything grown-ups can.”

“Where are the incinerators?” Kaz asked again, lowering his voice until it finally sounded right in his ears.

Raff opened his mouth, but Kaz cut him off. Gripping one of the bars, he growled, “Tell me how to get there, or I’ll pull out these bars and go looking myself.” Together, Kaz and Li glared defiantly at the larger male.

Heaving a sigh, Raff said, “All right, but they won’t let a couple of random people here to fight in the tournament onto the grounds of the mage college. I tell you what, though. Let’s go sign up your lizard so she’s all legal, and then I’ll get you as close as I can. Deal?”

Kaz looked down into the damp darkness beyond the bars. The scent was so faint, but he was almost certain that it must have been laid either sometime during the rain or shortly after. If it was after, then Mei, at least, was still alive. If he could find the fuergar, maybe she could lead him to Kyla. If his little cousin really was dead, he’d deal with that then, but he didn’t think so. She was alive, and he was going to find her.