Chapter One hundred nineteen (End Book Two, Stone and Bone) (Patreon)

Once Kaz, Lianhua, and Thabil convinced small groups of kobolds and husede to work together, they were able to quickly fan out through the city and then the lower levels, freeing everyone still wearing a collar. Kaz himself was needed to free the husede leaders, whose collars required all five types of ki to unlock. It was strange to find himself at the center of so many confused and astonished gazes, especially from those he would once have considered far more important and powerful than himself, but he was slowly becoming used to it.

When a group was sent down to the mines and the yumi pools, Kaz went with them. He found that the mines were actually the simpler of the two, because the husede with him simply freed everyone, and most of them instantly turned on Surta and his allies. Two who did not were Dett and Dax, and Dax stepped to the side, watching the ensuing carnage with grim satisfaction, while Dett approached Kaz.

Dett stared from Kaz’s blue fur to the husede arrayed behind him, and asked in the voice of a frightened puppy, “Did my mother send you after all?”

Kaz felt a deep pity sweep through him. He had dismissed this male as cowardly and delusional, but his actions and beliefs had kept him alive for years in a place where life was valued less than the crystals in the walls. How old had the male been when he was captured? Kaz’s age? Younger?

He shook his head. “No,” he said gently, “but I can take you home, if you want to go.”

Dett’s chin tucked before he managed to jerk it back up. His voice had returned to normal when he said, “Yes, of course. I’m sure you’ll be greatly rewarded for your aid in-”

Kaz shook his head. “I don’t want anything. I’m just glad you’re safe, and everyone is free to go home now.”

Now, Dett looked nervous, glancing back at the others. Kaz remembered that he wasn’t well-liked, and Dax had even suggested Dett might have killed other kobolds, or at least left them to die while he took their crystals.

Kaz tilted his head toward the husede and Civ, who was standing near them. He was watching Kaz and Dett, green gaze hard and serious. Hod, who was alive but too injured to come at Kaz’s first howl, hadn’t been pleased when Kaz refused to immediately obey Ehlan’s order to go back to their den. Fortunately, Lianhua and Thabil had made it very plain that they wouldn’t allow the senior warrior to attempt to force Kaz to go, so Kaz hadn’t had to defend himself from the very kobolds he had just saved. Hod had, however, insisted on sending a guard with Kaz everywhere he went, and assigned Civ to the task.

“You can come with us, if you prefer not to travel with the others,” Kaz offered again. “We’ll be going to the Deep when my friend is ready. I don’t know how long it will take, but I can guarantee you’ll be safe until then.”

Dett’s tail wagged slightly, and then he looked down at himself, one hand reaching up to finger the bare skin where his collar had rubbed off the fur. Most of the newly freed kobolds bore this distinctive mark, and Kaz wasn’t sure if the fur would grow back after being worn away for so long.

“I need a proper loincloth,” he said. “And food?” He was trying to be demanding, but the last word was spoken in an almost desperate querying tone.

Kaz nodded. “There’s plenty of cloth. Everyone can have new loincloths, belts, knives, whatever they need. Many of the husede are going to stay here, and they promised to help all the former prisoners. They’ll also be willing to trade, and allow kobolds to visit and live here, so I think in a few years, this will be a good place.”

“Can I stay, then?” a voice asked from behind him, and Kaz twitched as he turned to face Dax, who had come up behind him while he was focused on Dett.

“Stay?” Kaz asked, looking around at the bare, cold cavern.

The corner of Dax’s lips twitched, and for the first time, there was a spark of some emotion in his dull eyes. “Not here,” the other kobold said. “In the city. The Bronzearms are dead or captured. Our females were killed for their cores. I have no tribe, and no interest in joining another one. If the husede want to work with kobolds, they’ll need someone to help them understand us. If they plan to betray us,” his eyes went dark, “then someone needs to stop them.”

Kaz’s ears twitched. That…was a very interesting statement. Usually, kobold males were interested in their tribe, their mate, and their pups. He could already hear the others talking about returning to their tribes or joining new ones. Dax was thinking about the race of kobolds as a whole, and protecting them from a new threat like the mosui. Who had Dax been, before his tribe was taken?

Looking from Dett to Dax, Kaz nodded. “We’ll talk to my friend, Lianhua, and Thabil, one of the leaders of the husede, and see what will work the best for everyone.” The husede were forming something called a ‘council’, made up of several of their leaders. It was a strange concept to Kaz, who was used to a singular chief controlling everything in a tribe, but he liked the idea that no one person could destroy a tribe - or a city - through their poor choices.

Kaz hesitated, then looked at Dax and added, “I’d like you to come to the next level with me. I think there are some people there you should meet.”

Dax looked uncertain, but nodded, and soon the freed kobolds were led out of the echoing, empty cavern where they had lived for so long, leaving nothing behind but blood and stone.

Dett decided not to stay on the city level with the rest of the kobolds, so he, Kaz, Dax, and Civ soon found themselves on the level filled with yumi fields, surrounded by still more collared kobolds. Kaz howled in the gatherers, and once again explained that the mosui had been overthrown, and the kobolds and husede were now free. Many of the kobolds here were puppies, and thanks to Eld, their lives hadn’t been nearly as harsh as those on the mining level. They were very happy to be free, but also worried about where they would go, and what would happen to them now. This was where Kaz turned to Dax.

The male was staring around, and his eyes were lingering on the pups, especially a group who were huddled together near the back. They didn’t have the Redmane dye, if Redmane puppies even dyed their fur, and Kaz suspected that they were members of the Bronzearms, like Dax.

Sure enough, once Kaz was finished speaking, Dax approached this group. He was still filthy, ragged, and thin, so it took them a while to recognize him, even by scent, but eventually the pup’s tails began to wag. One after another, small kobolds reached out, clinging to Dax’s hands and fur as they began to whimper in excitement. He was an adult of their tribe, and probably a high-ranking one, someone who represented safety and familiarity to a group of pups who had been isolated and protected only by Eld’s refusal to allow anyone to torment them because of their tribe.

As Kaz watched this, Eld and Nogz finally appeared. Kaz had begun to wonder if they had managed to break through the wall far more quickly than he’d expected, but to his relief they were still here. He had dreaded the idea of tracking them down to the hoyi nest, only to discover that they had died there.

The brothers must have been working on the wall, because their fur was soaked in sweat. They also wore woven bands of yumi around their necks that they had somehow managed to color gray. They didn’t look like collars to anyone paying attention, but from a distance, if a husede glanced at them, it was probably good enough.

The two young kobolds stopped in the entrance to the niu cavern, where Kaz and the others had appeared on one of the large platforms. They stared from Kaz to the husede, who were already nearly done removing all the collars, and their muzzles gaped. Kaz was about to make his way over to explain to them when they saw Dax and froze.

Kaz could tell that they, unlike the others, recognized the older kobold instantly. Their ears went up, their eyes went wide, and both tails began to wag so violently that Kaz was amazed their paws stayed on the floor. A moment later, they were racing across the cavern, and Nogz even forgot himself so far that he allowed himself to run four-legged rather than upright.

Dax had his back to the two, and he spun into a defensive crouch when Nogz threw his arms around the warrior’s waist, burying his muzzle in the dirty, matted fur. Dax’s hands, which had been raised to defend himself from an attack, froze, then hung in the air as he stared at the two younger males. At last, one hand lowered to rest between Nogz’ ears, and his knees gave out. Falling to the ground, he gathered the pup and the young warrior into his arms as he lifted his voice in a howl of terrible sorrow and relief. All around him, other voices joined in, mourning and rejoicing all at once.

Kaz felt his chest clench at the sound, and his throat grew tight, instinctively wanting to join in. This wasn’t his tribe, however, and never would be, so he held himself back, instead gently caressing Li’s head. The dragon had finally finished shedding, and her scales were softer and more supple than ever, gleaming with subtle gradations of color, rather than a single smooth golden shade. She was, however, exhausted by her ordeal and the effort of growing, and spent most of her time sleeping with her tail wrapped tightly around his neck. She was now large and strong enough that the grip might have cut off his breath if his own recent experiences hadn’t carried him much further along his journey to tempering his body.

Now, she woke, and whistled questioningly. He let his tongue loll in amusement, amazed that all the howling hadn’t woken her, but a simple touch had. She huffed at him, wings lifting to batter at his ear so he leaned away.

He showed her his memory of the reunion, and for a moment, he felt her longing for something similar. She wanted to find her family, and he felt a deep pang of guilt at the knowledge that they were still as far from finding them as ever.

As soon as he had this thought, however, he felt her teeth on his ear. She didn’t bite hard, just nipped, and he smiled. It was a nostalgic feeling, reminding him of the way Rega would nip him or the other pups when they started wandering off. Of course, Rega usually followed it up with a quick lick, and Li was too-

He felt a tiny tug at the fur by his ear, and rolled his eyes to peer up at the dragon. She was still perched on his shoulder, though she took up a bit more space than she used to, and it was more difficult for her to avoid his gaze. Her forked tongue was just retreating back into her mouth, and she looked distinctly embarrassed to be caught doing anything so affectionate. Still, she sent him an image of a small blue kobold, astride an enormous golden dragon, flying away together into the broad blue sky, along with a deep sense of satisfaction.

Kaz couldn’t lick her back. For one thing, parts of her were quite a bit spikier than any kobold, but he also thought she wouldn’t actually appreciate such a gesture. When her siblings hatched, the parent dragon hadn’t tended to them at all, other than to feed them. It hadn’t licked or cleaned any of the dragonlings, and Kaz didn’t know if that was because of the situation and its wounds, or if dragons simply didn’t show their fondness in the same way as kobolds.

Li bumped her head against his jaw, her new little horns scraping against his skin. <Together,> she thought, and Kaz thought her voice was a little more mature than it had been last time she spoke.

“Together,” he agreed softly, turning away from the sight of Dax, now gathering up all the orphaned pups, not just the Bronzearms. They would be fine, and so would he.