Chapter One hundred (Patreon)

Instantly, sound and clarity returned to their bond, and Kaz saw and heard exactly what Li did.

A slim, furless hand reached in between the rim and the lid of the gleaming red box, bizarrely huge and yet familiar. A similarly familiar sound and smell reached them as Lianhua cradled the little dragon against her, whispering, “Oh, thank the Enlightened Ones, you’re all right.”

A shuffling sound came from behind them, and the human female spun, the sudden movement making Li dizzy after her time in confinement, and when her vision stilled, Kaz and Li could see that Lianhua wasn’t alone. A mosui stood there, wrapped in so much fabric that only its nose and the tips of its claws poked out, and it looked as if it might collapse beneath the weight of the folds and folds of material.

Lianhua’s lips twitched, but Li could feel the human’s heart pounding in her chest, revealing that she was terrified of the round little being which stood less than half her height.

“Oh, great Yanshu,” Lianhua said, bowing deeply, though her fingers trembled on Li’s body. “I know you said I should wait a little longer, but I was worried-”

The tendrils surrounding the mosui’s nose twitched, and it raised one large, flat hand to touch the red crystal that hung around its neck. As it did, its sleeve fell back, revealing a short, round arm covered in a fine coat of fur as perfectly white as Lianhua’s hair. Lianhua flinched back, but the mosui’s hand fell away without using the crystal.

Yanshu, if that was a name, and not a title, instead gestured with one deadly-looking claw, and when it spoke, its voice was high-pitched even for a mosui, making both Li and Kaz wince at the sound.

“Understand,” it said. “Take care of pet. I take care you. You take care rodent. Return to box after.”

A single husede female stepped out of the nearby doorway, carrying a tray with two bowls resting on it. From the smell and appearance of it, it was the same stew the imprisoned kobolds had been given.  Was Lianhua also being forced to work in exchange for food? She certainly didn’t look like she’d been mining, so what did the mosui have her doing?

Kaz silently urged Li to look up, and when she did, Kaz could see that Lianhua, too, wore a collar. He could see designs or runes carved into its surface, but felt nothing similar on the ring around his own neck. They were different, then, but in what way, and why?

The husede stepped forward, head bowed as she offered Lianhua the bowls, and Lianhua accepted them, but didn’t begin eating or offer one to Li, though the dragon’s belly was churning at the smell of food.

Eventually, the mosui sighed in something Kaz would have called petulant resignation in a human or kobold, and waved to the husede again. The muscular, gray-skinned female bowed briefly to Lianhua, then more deeply to the mosui, backing away until she disappeared through a nearby door.  The mosui reluctantly followed, leaving the door open behind her, and Lianhua relaxed slightly, finally releasing her grip on Li enough that the dragon could turn her head and look around.

The room in which they stood was round and, unsurprisingly, red. Crystals coated every surface nearly as thoroughly as the inside of the box Li had been held in, but these crystals were arranged in beautiful designs, and cut into a hundred exquisite shapes. Two niu-fur bags lay on the floor, each one plump and soft-looking, making Kaz wonder if they were meant for sitting or sleeping, rather than holding things.

Lianhua turned her back on the empty doorway, allowing Li and Kaz to see the box in which Li had been held. The lid was now open, revealing the smooth interior, and both of them could tell that in spite of the dragon’s enthusiastic attempts at escape, not a single scratch marred the gleaming surface.

In contrast to the inside, the outside was covered in yet more designs, all picked out in different colors of crystals and gemstones. Li couldn’t see ki as well as Kaz could, but she could tell that only the red crystals contained ki, and the rest seemed to be perfectly normal gems; pretty, but otherwise useless.

The box sat on a low table, the top only reaching just above Lianhua’s knees. The table was clearly made of some gold-heavy alloy. At least, Kaz assumed it must be an alloy, because gold, while plentiful in some parts of the mountain, was both heavy and soft, making it impractical for furniture. Metal in general was too heavy or difficult to work with, which was why kobolds used leather and bone for almost everything.

Lianhua set both bowls down on the table, then gently placed Li next to one of them. As soon as she was released, the dragon dove into the bowl, gulping thick broth and chunks of stew, chasing down each greasy lump of meat as it swirled away from her. Beside her, Lianhua knelt and picked up her own bowl, tilting it back until some of the contents slid into her mouth. It wasn’t nearly as graceful as her usual method, using the slim sticks she kept in her pouch, but when Kaz convinced Li to glance back toward the human female, he saw that the pouch no longer rested at Lianhua’s waist.

A few moments filled with the sounds of voracious eating followed, and then Lianhua began to speak. She didn’t even try to use one of her runes to cover her words, and Kaz wondered if she knew that the mosui had hearing even keener than a kobold, and if Yanshu was nearby, the creature could likely hear every word she said.

“I don’t know why no one has come yet,” Lianhua murmured, looking down at Li. “I’m assuming they can’t find me, but I’ve been watching you and Kaz, and I believe you can talk to each other, even at a distance. You were knocked out when you fell out of my shield and breathed some kind of powder, but I’ll tell you what I can, and then you just have to pass it on.”

She drew in a breath, then started. “After we fell into a pit, the mosui captured us, collared me and brought me to their city.” For a brief moment, her amethyst eyes brightened, seeming to meet Kaz’s gaze through Li’s eyes. “It’s marvelous! No one will believe how vast-”

She stopped, shaking her head as she took a moment to compose herself, then began again. “There are these teleportation pads in the center of the city. I’ve never seen anything like it. I think the mosui use ki to make them work, but I’m not sure how, so they may have to force one of the husede to help. Don’t even bother trying to talk to the mosui, they-”

She stopped, her eyes flickering back toward the door, and ate a bit more of her food. “I’m pretty sure I’m on the fifth level down. There are runes by the platforms, counting down. It’s an archaic form, predating even the Diushi, but-”

Once again, she stopped, frowned, and seemed to force herself to return to her story.

“They were going to take me somewhere else, I think, but Yanshu saw me, and liked my hair.” Releasing the bowl with one hand, she reached up and tugged on a strand of her pale hair.

“She asked for me, and they let her have me, just like that,” Lianhua went on, barely audible. “I don’t think I get to stay here, though, so I need help, and quickly. Li, please, tell them… Tell them it’s all right to let Grandfather know, if they must, but come.”

Hesitating, her fingers clenched on the nearly-empty bowl before she finished in a rush, “And Kaz, if you really can hear me, or if Li really can pass on this message, and I’m not just deluding myself, I’m so, so sorry. I truly meant to wait, but Li was nearly unconscious by the time we reached the map. I thought it would be all right if I went through and looked around at the top of the stairs until she recovered, but then I heard this whimpering sound, like a puppy, and I went to look, and-”

“Enough!” Yanshu’s squeaky voice was sharply unpleasant, and long claws hooked over Lianhua’s shoulder as the mosui squeaked, “No talk! Back in box.”

Lianhua’s hands darted out, scooping up Li, who barely managed to hiss past the fullness of her belly. She had eaten far too much, far too quickly, but she felt much better, other than the pressure in her gut.

“She hasn’t even gotten a drink yet,” Lianhua said, turning as she leaned away from the musui’s long claws and moist tentacles.

One of those claws pointed at Li’s mostly-empty bowl. “Ate!” the mosui insisted.

Lianhua shook her head. “I tried to tell you. We need water, too. There’s not enough moisture in the stew to-”

“Box!” Yanshu demanded again, and the husede reappeared in the doorway behind Lianhua, hidden from the human, but clearly visible to the little dragon in her arms.

Go, Kaz urged the dragon, and Li wriggled until Lianhua released her, dropping back to the table. As much as she and Kaz hated the idea, the safest place for her seemed to be inside the box, at least as long as Lianhua was on the outside, making sure the dragon was fed. Li longed for the drink Lianhua had asked for, but the moisture in the stew was enough for now, as it had been for Kaz.

Reaching out, Yanshu snapped the box closed, and the connection between kobold and dragon grew immediately weaker. Scent and sound vanished again, and even the red of the box’s interior dulled in comparison to the vivid colors of the room beyond.

Li yawned, finally both warm and full. Her general situation hadn’t improved, but at least she wasn’t starving anymore.

Kaz smiled, wishing he could stroke her scales as she sank into sleep, and he resumed his climb. He couldn’t do as Lianhua hoped, and tell the human males where they were, but he was here, and he was on the way.

Seventy-nine steps later, the stairs ended in a flat, featureless wall. Kaz stood, staring at it, feeling helpless fury threaten to overwhelm him. Was he angry at the stairs, for leading nowhere? At himself, for risking everything on this? At the hoyi for existing, and blocking his way back? Not that he wanted to go back, but what else could he do?

Walking up the last few steps, Kaz found that the last one was a short landing, like a few of the longer staircases had, allowing climbers to take a break or even sleep for a little while before continuing on their journey. This had been helpful more than once during the Broken Knives’ ascent, especially when some of their elderly members had still been alive and the pups were young.

Had this staircase once been even longer? Was this a resting place that someone had blocked off at some point? If so, did that mean there were more stairs just on the other side of the wall?

Kaz lifted his hand and pounded on the wall, caught between fading anger and a rising feeling of despair. Lianhua had said she didn’t think she’d remain where she was for long. That, combined with the dark words of the husede who had assigned Kaz to the mine, made him believe that Lianhua might only be alive now because this Yanshu had taken a liking to her. And what would happen to Li when Lianhua died or was taken away?

No, there had to be a way through. While blocking stairs was an unusual but valid method of attack in the heights, it was usually done with a rockslide, and never with any intention of permanency. As soon as whatever vara inspired the assault was over, whoever won removed the rocks and cleared the stairs again.

This wasn’t a rockslide, however, and while the mosui had their crystal platforms to carry them between levels, as well as legs so short that even climbing the stairs would be next to impossible, only a fool would throw away a perfectly good emergency escape route.

Buoyed by this thought, Kaz began to feel around on the wall. Contrary to his first impression, it wasn’t perfectly smooth after all, and there were nine holes in a row about three feet from the ground. That placed the holes at a comfortable level for a mosui, but Kaz had to lean down to examine them.

No light came from the holes, so they weren’t intended to allow anyone to look through them, even if the mosui’s eyesight was good enough for that. When Kaz carefully stuck his finger in one, he found that it was far deeper than he would have expected; too long, in fact, for him to touch the bottom, and just wide enough that he could wiggle his finger a bit.

All of the holes were identical, so far as Kaz could tell, except that when he poked his finger into the eighth - with far less caution, since nothing had happened the first seven times - he flinched as a minute spark of ki jumped to his finger from inside the hole. With a soft yip, he yanked his finger back, shaking it.

In spite of the shock, which was more surprising than painful, his finger was fine, so Kaz knelt down, examining this hole more carefully. By pushing a bit more ki into his eyes, he saw that there was a tiny glimmer of ki lurking deep in the wall at the end of this hole, while the other eight holes were dark and empty.

Surprisingly, the ki wasn’t red, but rather blue, which so far as Kaz could tell was by far the rarest of the colors. It had no cycle, so he thought it wasn’t alive, but it did look and feel like the ki inside the red crystals, so perhaps it was a tiny chip of blue? If so, would it enhance blue ki like the red crystals enhanced red ki?

That seemed logical, so Kaz poked his finger in again, and sent a tiny trickle of pure blue ki into the little glimmer that lurked there. There was a click, and the wall swung open.