Chapter Two hundred twenty-one (Li) (Patreon)

There were too many turns, and too many smells, but eventually Li managed to lead the little group back the way she’d come. She’d caught the faintest whiff of kobold in the room with the great fire, and even though it wasn’t enough to identify Kyla specifically, how many kobolds could there be in the tunnels beneath the human city?

Getting through the inferno had been… painful. Not difficult, exactly, other than when she realized that the wall of fire was deeper than she’d realized, and she’d nearly given up and gone back. But the feeling of slowly cooking wasn’t one she would soon forget, and only made her even happier that using water ki was easier for her.

Li wished that Kyla knew how to heal, though, or at least that she, herself, had figured it out. She could push blue ki into her damaged flesh, but somehow that didn’t result in anything but a mild reduction in the pain. The blisters certainly weren’t actually better, and as soon as the wood ki returned to her cycle or joined the surrounding mana, the pain returned.

Now, she stared at the roaring torrent of flame at the end of the massive tunnel in which they stood. The tunnel was straight and wide, with dozens of smaller tubes opening onto it. Li had used every speck of red ki she possessed - which she reluctantly admitted wasn’t much yet - and there was simply no way she could make it back through on her own, especially with the damage to her wing.

Looking over at the fuergar on Kyla’s other shoulder, Li gave an apprehensive whistle. Mei’s core produced primarily white ki, but there were flashes and sparks of gold and red as well. Not enough red to make it through the fire, even if the fuergar knew how to use it.

The two humans were even worse off, filled as they were with mana, and no ki at all. Li could barely even see it in the healthy female, but the injured one had a dense cloud in her chest and belly. That mana was probably the only reason she wasn’t dead yet, because it was very clear that her wound was bad.

Kyla’s shoulder shifted, ribs rising and falling as she drew in a deep breath. She and the healthier of the two females were clinging to the curved sides of the tunnel, staying out of the hot water as much as possible. The damaged female clung to the healthy one in turn, but her lower legs were a deep shade of red.

“I’ll go,” Kyla said, and they all turned to look at her.

The healthy female immediately shook her head. “I’ll go. I’m fast, and my brother taught me some tricks to make myself harder to hurt.” Her brows drew down, and mana formed from the air around her, gathering around her skin. It only lasted for a moment, however, and then she gasped and it flew away again.

The other human opened her eyes, which were a shade of blue Li had never seen on a human before. They weren’t actually that much darker than Kaz’s, which sent a spike of yearning through her. She hadn’t been able to speak to her kobold in far too long.

It had seemed like such a good idea to go through the door made from metal bars, and then she found the fire, and just when she was going to head back, there was the smell of kobold, and… It was possible that she should forgive Lianhua for going down the stairs to the mosui level. Just possible.

Li wished with every fiber of her being that she was sitting on Kaz’s shoulder, and not that of his cousin. Who was talking again, her chest puffed with pride.

“-to fire,” Kyla said, and Li wondered what she’d missed. Honestly, she didn’t pay that much attention to anyone other than Kaz, but perhaps this once she should have made an exception.

“Immune?” The brown-furred female said dubiously. “How is that possible? I mean, look at you.” She gestured toward Kyla’s thoroughly drenched, filthy, disheveled appearance, then seemed to realize what she’d done and reddened, though she didn’t take back the words.

A low rumble rose from Kyla’s chest, and she flexed her claws. Her ears folded back, and one side of her lips peeled away from her teeth. “What. Does. The. Crystal. Look. Like?” she asked slowly.

Li blinked. What crystal? What had she missed? Maybe she really should put a little more effort into listening when other people spoke.

The pink-furred female’s voice rasped painfully as she said, “Red. Large. Just… pull.” Then her legs gave way, and the uninjured female barely managed to catch her before she slumped down into the gently steaming water.

Kyla nodded, then lifted her hands and pulled Mei away from her shoulder. The fuergar squeaked as she jumped to a loose brick that barely stuck out of the wall. Somehow, the rodent’s sharp little claws dug in, and she clung there, chittering unhappily at her kobold.

Meanwhile, the little pink kobold grabbed for Li. Li was ready, though. She lashed her tail around Kyla’s throat and dug in her claws. She was going back to Kaz, and Kaz was on the other side of the fire. No matter what Kyla did, Li was going, but it would be easier if she didn’t have to use her injured wing. She didn’t want to admit it, but just this once, two legs would probably be better than four. And if Kyla went down, Li would make it the rest of the way on her own. How hard could it be to find and pull out a red crystal?

Kyla was almost as smart as Kaz, and quickly recognized that she was no match for a dragon. Giving up on prying Li off, she gave a soft whine, and her core began to churn. She crouched, and it spun. She dug in her paws, and power streamed out of it. Her powerful legs propelled her forward, and a shield snapped up around her.

It was red, and it glowed with heat, entirely different from the ones Li had seen other female kobolds use. Those were more like Lianhua’s; pure power that formed a protective shell around the user. The larger they were, and the longer they lasted, the more power they required. This was pure red ki, fire given form, but somehow its ferocity rejected the heat that had surrounded them only a moment before, enclosing them in a thin layer of cooler air.

Cooler, but not cool. They plunged into the inferno, and heat sucked the air from her lungs. She couldn’t hear over the roar of the flames, but she was plastered against Kyla’s body, and she didn’t think the young kobold was breathing any more, either.

There was nothing but fire. No sight, no sound. If she opened her mouth, she might taste flames in the moment before her tongue crisped away. Last time, she had been alone, and her wings had only continued beating because they had to. She had promised Kaz. They would be together. If she died, how would she ever explain it to him?

Kyla staggered. Li thought they went sideways, and then their shield flickered as it touched something hard. Something that burned the small part of her tail that draped over Kyla’s arm. Li shrieked her pain, and she thought Kyla must have, too, but she couldn’t hear over the deafening tumult around them.

Li grabbed her own ki. Red, red ki. Something she’d only just gained, and didn’t know how to use. Except that she did, because she was a dragon, and dragons had fire. So why hadn’t she had fire? Was that why she almost hadn’t hatched? Had she needed Kaz’s fire?

Her mind threw thoughts and ideas at her. Anything to distract herself from the searing pain in her tail. Kyla was up again, but the shield was failing, and Li realized that she had to make a choice. Did she pull her red ki around herself and leave the puppy behind? Or did she use every hint, speck, drop of red ki to try to save them both, knowing that if she failed…

But she wouldn’t. She was dragon.

Li thrust her ki out, focusing on surrounding them with it, imagining a shield that she couldn’t see. Kyla’s shield fell. For a heartbeat, breathless and timeless, a thud in her chest without another to follow, they moved through the inferno.

And then they were out. The air was hot, but it didn’t burn. She hurt, but she wasn’t burning. Kyla was down, crawling away from the flames that leapt behind them, mesmerizing and deadly. Steam filled the air, and she could see nothing beyond the end of Kyla’s muzzle, but that muzzle was covered in blisters, the fur burned to stubble. She was still pink, but the distinctive tufts of her fur were gone, reduced to a bare fur. The edges of her ears were crisped and blackened, but the golden eyes were fierce.

They moved forward, and Li finally managed to unwrap her tail. She didn’t look at it. Look at what was left of it, but there had to be something, since it still held her in place. Lifting wings that shrieked at her, she tried to fly, but quickly found that she couldn’t. They were there, but they hurt so much that even she simply couldn’t bear to use them.

Kyla’s nose bumped into something. She whimpered, stopped, and they both looked up. A wall. The wall was oddly cool, and Kyla curled into it, whining low and deep in her throat as she pressed herself against it. Li did the same.

She remembered this. The passages outside were actually chilly, and when she very first entered the room with the fire, the heat had seemed almost pleasant. She wondered if being warm would ever feel good again.

Li got down. She was close to the ground now, and, like Kyla, she crawled. She was very glad she had four feet, not two like a wyvern. She wasn’t sure she could have done it, if she had to hold herself upright.

The wall extended away into the fog, and Li followed it. Eventually, there would be a gap. She had come through there, following the hovering cloud of mist that grew thicker where it spilled out of the opening and into the cold passage.

She should have waited for Kaz. She just wanted to help, but she should have waited. Better yet, she should have gone back.

The wall vanished. Li tumbled out into the wide, rectangular tunnel. It hurt, and yet it felt good, because she wasn’t hot. She whistled.

At first, she wasn’t sure Kyla was coming. But then the fog rippled, and the little kobold flopped out into the cold, heavy fog. She gasped, muzzle wide and tongue lolling, but not in the way kobolds did when they were amused. Her skin was angry and red beneath the remains of her fur.

“Thank you,” Kyla managed finally. Her head rolled to the side, and she looked at Li. Li nodded. Kyla wasn’t Kaz, but there was something between them, now. Dragons didn’t forget.

It took too long for them to recover. An eternity of soaking in the cold air and the chilly moisture that laid on them, skin and scales, like a balm. But they had to get up. Had to get the crystal.

Li hissed softly to herself. Kyla had to get the crystal. Li had to get to Kaz. And Kaz was coming. She could see the way the angle of the ki-bond had shifted. If he wasn’t in this strange, seemingly abandoned warren, then he was close. He would find the barred door, and if he couldn’t get it open, Li was certain that Chi Yincang could.

She blinked. In her excitement at finding Kyla’s scent, she had forgotten Lianhua. No, not forgotten. She had momentarily put thoughts of the other human aside while she searched for Kyla. Kaz was worried about Kyla. He believed that Lianhua could take care of herself. Li wasn’t quite as certain.

Li lifted her head and looked around, as if the female might simply appear out of the mist. Not surprisingly, she didn’t. No crystal, no Lianhua. But Li had saved Kyla. The puppy might, possibly, have also saved her, but in the end, Li never would have been in danger if Kyla had simply stayed with Kaz and Raff. Probably.

Kyla rolled over. She whimpered as she got her paws under her, splashing softly in the cool water that coated the floor. Reaching down, she lifted Li, though the heat of her flesh against the dragon’s scales made Li want to bite her.

“Which way?” Kyla murmured, and Li looked around. Behind them, fire. In front, mist and darkness. There was only one choice.

They walked. Kyla carefully avoided touching anything she didn’t have to. Li watched the ki-bond level out. Kaz was coming.

Kyla turned. The wrong way. Away from Kaz, and away from Li’s scent, lingering from when she had passed through here the first time. Li was tempted to bite the puppy’s ear, but it was already so damaged, and she saw…

She saw food. Ki blazed at her, a spark of brilliant red light. Kyla shuffled toward it, then turned again, and this time Li did bite her. Just a nip, on a bit of her ear close to her head, where it only looked a little tender. When Kyla yelped and turned to look at her, Li pointed.

“That way?” Kyla asked, and then she went. She didn’t ask how Li knew, didn’t try to argue that the other path seemed better, she simply obeyed. Li decided she might understand a bit of what Kaz saw in the pup after all.

The spark grew larger and brighter. They had to turn when the passage ended, then again in order to head towards it again, and each time Kyla simply looked to Li and went in the direction the dragon pointed. Li’s stomach growled, and Kyla’s did too.

“Reina didn’t say it was so far away,” Kyla whimpered softly, panting in pain after she caught one of her toes on a small ridge in the floor. The surface on which they walked was almost entirely smooth, but every now and then there were ridges that went all the way around the rectangle. These had no obvious purpose, but they were too deliberate to be an error.

Then the passage ended. Red ki filled Li’s vision, nearly drowning out the ribbon that connected her to Kaz. Somehow, that, too, lay directly in front of her. Was Kaz there? Was there only a wall between her, Kaz, and the delicious-looking ki?

Kyla turned, shoulders slumped in exhaustion and defeat. Before Li could hiss at her, tell her not to go back, because Kaz and food were right there, the kobold leaned back against the wall. Which opened, sending Kyla tumbling backwards. The kobold’s hands flailed, her paws twisted, and she ran into a human male who stood with a stick pointed at Kaz and Chi Yincang.

A dense wall of mana hung between them, but when the male staggered, shouting angrily, the wall wavered. Kaz lifted a hand and swiped at it. A gap appeared in the wall, and Chi Yincang ran for the strange male, while Kaz ran for Li and Kyla.

Blue ki flooded her body. It was the most glorious thing she’d ever felt. Li shuddered, pain falling away like she’d shed an itchy skin, and her eyes locked on the source of the red ki.

It was a crystal. The crystal? Li didn’t know, and she didn’t really care. She lifted wings that weren’t entirely healed, but were very nearly free of pain. She flew, claws clinging to the edge of the small pedestal where the crystal sat. It was big. She had no doubt Kaz would tell her it was too big. But Li didn’t care. She ate it.