By the time the bucket brigade actually got going, the Inn was gone, as was the attached stables. Their main task was simply to keep the fire from spreading and they accomplished that task so the blaze was confined to just those two businesses.

It was mid-afternoon when a group of neighbors spoke with Kallid and offered a place for him and the children to stay. In a daze, he accepted and they all walked slowly away from the smouldering pile that had been their home. When he awoke, he didn’t even remember where he was. It didn’t feel real, though the smell of smoke was still heavy in the entire neighborhood.

But the children were safe. He heard Night and Kalindra in the next room playing with the human children. Grace was watching him from the bed.

“Where’s mom?” she asked when she saw he’d awoken.

The light outside was either fading or morning was coming. He wasn’t sure which.

“She’s gone away, Grace. Far away I think,”

“The other kids say she’s dead,” Grace said, looking away.

For a brief moment, Kallid thought they might have found her body. If they had, he would accept it. But if not, he would believe in the Resurrection Stone she’d told him about. He had to.

Kallid got up and stretched, then walked out to thank his hosts. He knew them well, but though he was indebted to their hospitality, he had only one thought. Fortunately they offered to babysit the kids, knowing he would have to be heading back to the Inn.

Grace didn’t want to let him go, but he asked her to watch over Night and Kalindra. When phrased as a request to help him out, she agreed eagerly and he left to go back.

There were people picking through the ruins already. The bucket brigade had doused the last of the hot spots and now nothing was left but ashy mud, half-burnt timbers and sections of stone that had been largely unburnt. The larger pieces of rubble had already been moved out to a pile in the courtyard.

As he walked towards the people who were working on the ruin, he saw a man who noticed him and spoke to a figure beside him. Marge turned around and walked towards Kallid.

“We’ve found nothing, Kallid. We’re just getting down to the tavern though.”

He nodded. “I don’t think you’ll find her, Marge.”

“Kallid, you saw her go in.”

“I know. It’s hard to explain. But I don’t think she’s there. She had something. The Bishop called it a resurrection stone. I think it would have taken her away.”

“Kallid…” Marge began, but he stopped her sympathy.

“No, it’s okay Marge. I know you don’t believe me and you think I’m dreaming. But I’m not. You could ask the Bishop. But we still have to look anyway. If I’m wrong, I’m not going to deny it. Yes, I obviously hope you won’t find her body. But I don’t think you will either. Have you got to the stairs yet? She would have been around there I think.”

“It’s hard to tell, Kallid.” she said as they continued towards the ruin. “It’s mostly just a bunch of burnt wood. It all looks the same but for stone and metal.”

Kallid climbed over some rubble and into the space that once had been the tavern. He looked around to get his bearings and headed over to where he thought the stairs would have been.

“Kallid,” Marge said behind him. “I’m going to my mother’s house with my sister tomorrow.”

He turned around and nodded.

She knelt down and he accepted her hug.

“I’m sorry it turned out this way, Marge. We only meant to help,” Kallid began, but choked on his words. “We didn’t mean for all this to happen!”

“Oh Kallid, now you’re just talking nonsense. I know that. Everybody knows that. There’s talk that the King has already decreed he will rebuild it. But… I can’t. I’m getting too old to run a place anyway. It’s time for me to move on with my life.”

Kallid smiled. “Thanks Marge. For everything you’ve done for us. Maybe we’ll come visit you someday.”

“I’d like that. I really would. Just… Let me know in advance. My mother’s not going to be used to kobolds.”

Kallid chuckled. “I will. You’ve got a place to stay?”

“Oh yes. It’s funny. I’m staying with June of all people! I would not have expected that day to ever come when you and Kreet came into the place!”

“Well, it’s getting dark. I’m going to keep looking, but you’d better head back.”

Kallid watched her climb gingerly over the rubble and back to the street, then he turned back to the area he’d identified as somewhere near where the stairs must have stood. There must have been a lot of rubble here, but it was almost down to Kallid-sized by now, and most was muddy ash. He picked up a shovel nearby, left by some earlier workers obviously. It was awkward to use, but he managed and began shovelling mud from one side and tossing it nearly out to the courtyard - being careful to sift through each shovel full before tossing it.

An hour later it had become pitch dark. There was no moon out, and the stars were obscured by clouds threatening rain. But still he dug, occasionally wrangling some larger bit of debris out of the mud.

He really didn’t expect to find anything - but he knew less than Kreet had about the Resurrection Stone, and she hadn’t known much. But he had to know too, and he didn’t want someone to come to him later to let him know they’d found her. If anyone was going to find her, it had to be him - and he was the only person would could see in the darkness.

People walked by on the road as the night wore on, sometimes looking at him when they heard his shovelling or grunts of strain moving some big object - and as often as not shaking their heads and speaking in hushed tones.

But still he worked on. He stopped seeing people walk by as the night deepened. The city watch strolled by and he presented himself so they knew what he was up to, but they knew him by then and let him continue without hassle.

Then finally, he saw it. He pulled it from out of the muck and cleaned it off with spit and his shirt. He was already a mess. But he held it up to his eyes and smiled. He went back to where he’d found it, but no - there was nothing there but the pendant she’d worn around her neck. He’d seen it when she’d last ran back into the Inn. Any clothes she’d worn would just be ash most likely, but if she were still there it would have encircled her bones. But there were no bones. She was not there.

He put the pendant round his neck, not caring if someone objected to him wearing a Cleric of Pelor’s symbol. As he climbed out of the ruins, he began to smile. As he walked back to where his children were, the smile expanded and tears began to run down his sooty face. He didn’t know where she was. Who knows how long it might take to find her - if ever he could. But wherever she was, she lived. And he knew without a doubt that she would do everything in her power to come back to him - as he would for her.

They brought him a bucket and a towel to rinse off in the street before he entered. He was almost laughing, remembering a day when he’d washed off with Kreet not so far away, though at this hour of the night, he wasn’t worried about anyone seeing a naked kobold in the street. He dried off and wrapped the towel around himself.

Well, maybe not quite naked, he laughed. He had her pendant, after all.

His bleary-eyed hosts might have wondered why he was so upbeat on his return, but he could have kissed them. He found Night, Kalindra and Grace sleeping on the bed. Normally they would probably still be up at this hour, but it looked like playing with the human children had warn them out.

He kissed Night, then Kalindra - that human gesture that kobold’s normally didn’t engage in but that he and Kreet had come to love. He leaned over to kiss Grace but her eyes were open, looking at him.

He smiled at her. “Hi Grace.”

“You’re happy?”

“Yes Grace. I’m happy.”

“Did you find Mom?”

“No. But she’s not dead Grace. Your mother is not dead. No matter what anyone tells you, I’m telling you right now, she’s not.”

Grace smiled. “Good. I miss her.”

“Me too, Grace. Now you go to sleep. Maybe you can dream about her.”

“Goodnight Da.”

Kallid kissed her and returned to his blankets on the floor. He stayed awake till almost dawn, but then he slept deeply and with a light heart.

She was alive.