The Broken Knife

The Longtooth tribe lived two levels deeper in the mountain than the Broken Knife tribe, and the Broken Knives lived what would have been five or six levels below the dragon’s den. Fortunately, at the very top of the mountain, only one or two of the weakest tribes remained, and they didn’t have enough members to guard the ways between levels.

Kaz and Katri were able to lead the group downwards both quickly and easily, and Kaz listened as Katri explained their tribe’s situation to the female cub, who was the only one of the humans who actually seemed to care why they were being asked to kill the chief of the Longtooths and her daughters.

Once they reached the level that lay between the Broken Knives and the Longtooths, Kaz and Katri carefully made their way through the furthest, darkest tunnels they could, remaining at the very edge of what was an unspoken no-man’s-land. Kaz briefly considered a more direct route that would take them through what was - for now - still territory regularly used by the gatherers of the Broken Knife tribe. Unfortunately, Rega would quickly hear of their passage, and Katri was adamant that their aunt couldn’t know about the humans.

The easiest and most convenient ways between levels were usually controlled by the most powerful tribes on those levels. Being able to go up and down to forage or invade was a great advantage, especially when you could retreat and block the entrance behind you after a battle went badly. Since Oda had believed all the upper tribes were trash, and treated them accordingly, none of them would be willing to let a Broken Knife enter their territory, much less use their precious entrances to the deeper levels.

Of course, at this height, there were always a few passages that were either so inconvenient or so difficult that no one bothered to guard them, and it was to one of these that Katri led the group. This path was one of the difficult ones, and it was considered so because it led directly into a nest of janjio. As they drew near, Kaz touched his sister’s arm and murmured, “Katri, are you-?”

She cut him off with a shake of her head, her eyes flicking to the orange-furred male, who had replaced his bulky armor and now strode beside them in the tunnel. The passage was crude, but it had been roughly cleared by some past tribe, though they had never completed the job, possibly because of the janjio.

Kaz’s hand touched the hilt of his knife, reassuring himself that it was there, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. Though the janjio mostly stayed on the same level as their nest, it wasn’t unheard of to find one in this area. It would be best to let the humans know the danger, so they could ready themselves. The two males were on guard, but the females continued talking, rarely even bothering to look around.

Katri was female, however, so Kaz settled back into line, though his hand remained on his weapon. He hoped that the two males, at least, would see his increased caution, and realize that there might be danger about, even though Katri didn’t want to tell them.

The first sign that one or more janjio were wandering these passages came in the form of distant screeching sounds. They weren’t the ones the janjio used to attack, but Kaz’s ears still folded back, and he whined softly. Again, Katri gave him a glance and a shake of her head, but none of the humans seemed to notice anything was wrong.

It took several more minutes, during which Kaz began to wonder if the humans were all but deaf, before any of them reacted. The orange male, Raff, was the first to stop and hold up his hand, though Kaz thought the black-furred one, Chi Yincang, was already aware that something was wrong. The two females, on the other hand, nearly ran into Raff’s back, and the pup even stumbled.

“There’s something ahead,” Raff said, softly. He tilted his head, and the strips of fur above his eyes lowered as he seemed to concentrate. “Screechers, maybe?”

The lead female huffed and said, “The bat-things you warned us about?”

He nodded. “They live in colonies, so while one isn’t much of a challenge, facing a hundred or more can be difficult.”

Raff looked toward Katri and Kaz. “Are there monsters ahead?”

Katri shrugged, eyes wide and innocent. “Perhaps so? Our people rarely come here. I was trying to take you around all the kobold tribes, so this is unexplored territory.”

Kaz blinked. There was no ‘unexplored territory’ here. Every bit of the occupied levels were known to the tribes who lived nearby, though there were certainly areas that were best avoided. Why was Katri not only leading them directly into danger, but refusing to warn them about it?

Something clicked, and Kaz’s chin dipped. Ah, she wants them to be killed, he realized. Humans wandering around so close to Broken Knife territory could be nothing but trouble, so Katri was taking them far away, before dropping them into a nest of some of the most dangerous monsters in the upper levels. That meant Kaz himself should be ready to take Katri and flee as soon as the humans came under attack.

Now that Kaz understood his sister’s plan, he felt more relaxed. He would keep his eyes open, but if they could run, rather than attempting to fight beside the humans, their odds were much better. His shoulders settled, and the straps of his pack tugged at his fur as it shifted. The weight of it reminded him of the egg and the strange, good-smelling thing he had stashed there, and his eyes fluttered as he mentally ‘felt’ for the thin link between himself and the egg.

Which was when the janjio attacked.

Loud, terrifying screeches echoed from in front and behind them, and Kaz’s ears flattened as he staggered. How had the things flanked them, and why were there enough of them on this level to surround them in the first place? One or two had been known to wander up here, but his sensitive ears were picking up the sounds of so many different creatures that he lost count.

Kaz braced his paws, desperately trying to control the urge to simply run away from the horrible sound. He couldn’t try to escape until he was certain that Katri was with him! He looked around, seeing that the human pup was kneeling on the ground, her hands over her ears. The lead female stood beside her, three glowing balls of energy circling in the air. Raff had his weapon out again, and Chi Yincang had produced a long stick with what looked like a knife blade tied to the end of it. Wood was rare in the mountain, and knives in such perfect condition were unusual outside the deep levels, so Kaz once again nudged his mental estimation of just how wealthy this group had to be up a few notches.

These mental calculations were enough to jog Kaz out of his first moment of panic, and he looked around again, searching for Katri. Where was she? Surely she hadn’t run away? After all, while she wasn’t particularly strong, she had access to the energy of females, which should allow her to resist the initial mental attack of the janjio. Frankly, he was amazed that none of the humans had run, especially the males, but they must have stronger wills than he would have given them credit for.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing… Something shifted in the shadows at the edge of the light, not far from where he had last seen Katri, and he realized what she must have done. It was called a shadow shield, and Kaz hadn’t realized that Katri was strong enough to do it. Oda could, but Rega couldn’t, and Kaz had never seen Katri do it before, so he had assumed that she, like their aunt, was too weak.

Good! She’s safe as long as she keeps that up, he thought. The shadow shield would block much of the disorienting power of the janjio’s screams. The things had no eyes and relied on their auditory attack to stun or terrify their victims into fleeing directly into their waiting maws, so he didn’t have to worry about Katri for now.

Unfortunately, he also couldn’t sneak away. Katri would be locked to that spot until her shield failed or the monsters went away so she could drop it. So long as she was here, Kaz, too, would have to remain. He would just have to hope that when the humans died, they didn’t take him with them. Perhaps Katri would let him have one of their blades.

The human female was giving orders now, and Chi Yincang fell back behind them while Raff moved ahead. They stayed within the circle of light cast by the female’s energy orbs, but unlike many of the weaker creatures, janjio weren’t bothered by light.

Even as he thought this, the first of the janjio flew toward them, heading straight for the female human. Janjio were attracted to those with power, so that made sense, and Kaz ducked as one of the circling balls impacted the monster with a harsh CRACK. A hole appeared in the depths of its wide-open maw, and Kaz realized that several of its vicious fangs had been sheared flat as the orb passed through. The energy emerged on the other side of the janjio, as pure and white as ever, while the flying monster collapsed, black blood gouting from its back.

After that came slaughter. Janjio flew in from everywhere, but usually one of the males sliced it in half with contemptuous ease. If a monster managed to slip by while the males were occupied, it died a moment later as the female sent one of her orbs through it. Kaz, on the other hand, simply stood there with his knife bared, jaw open in astonishment.

It was over in minutes. As the last of the janjio threw itself against this impenetrable defense, it fell apart, divided neatly into two pieces that fell to the floor with a terrible squishing sound. Everyone held their places for a moment, waiting to see if any more monsters would appear, and when they didn’t, Raff shook his weapon with a sigh, and the gore flew off, leaving the long knife-like blade as perfectly sharp and clean as when the battle began.

Chi Yincang stepped back from his ready stance into a loose standing position, At some point during the motion, his stick-knife vanished completely, though Kaz was nearly certain he saw the ring on the male’s right middle finger flash with power as it did.

The golden-furred female helped the pup to her feet, saying, “Cousin Lianhua, may I help you clean yourself?” Her hands hovered just above the pup’s skin as she spoke, and her blue eyes held an expression that was similar to the one they held when she looked at the dragon nest.

The pup’s cheeks flushed, and she bowed slightly, using the motion to edge away. “No, thank you, Gaoda Xiang. I am well, and my fuulong silks remain undamaged.” She looked around at the piles of janjio corpses surrounding them and frowned. “I’m surprised there are so many, and yet I don’t sense a core in a single one of them.”

For an instant, her gaze touched Kaz, but she just smiled. “Are you well, kobold? This must have been frightening for you.”

The gold female frowned, but allowed herself to be distracted. “And where is the pink one? Did it run?”

Kaz’s other sight caught the flicker as the shadow shield dropped, but it was deep in darkness now that the leader’s energy ball had returned to its single form, so he doubted any of the humans noticed. An instant later, Katri stepped into the light, her ears and tail drooping, the very picture of regret.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “my fear overcame me, and I fled. As soon as I came to my senses, I returned, but I was too late to help.”

The leader looked angry, and opened her mouth, no doubt ready to chastise Katri, but the pup stepped in, holding out her hands. For the first time, Kaz noticed a stain of red in the fur of Katri’s arm, and he started towards her. The pup took a strip of cloth from the pouch at her waist, however, and wrapped it around the small wound as Katri stared in astonishment. Fabric was rare and precious in the mountain, and this puppy had just wasted a piece by putting it on a scratch!

The pup patted Katri’s shoulder and turned back to the rest of the humans. “Is everyone else well?” They all nodded, and she smiled in satisfaction, looking back at the female she had called Gaoda Xiang.

“Then shall we go?” She turned to Katri again.

Katri looked as puzzled as Kaz felt, but nodded. “Of course. The way down is just ahead.”

Lianhua smiled without showing teeth, and Katri led the way deeper into the mountain.