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"Hey, Tikana--oops, your majesty." Tik Tik says, slumping back against the wall. "Shouldn't you be training?"

Tikana rolls her eyes and pops out of the hole, landing next to Tik Tik and shutting off her light. "I slipped out. Easy enough to do when you're the queen-to-be, and your teacher just sits around all day."

Tik Tik giggles, rubbing her eyes to remove the burning stains from the light. "Lucky. I got a grumpy old Master Tikit to be mean to me."

"Ah, don't you worry, Little One!" Tikana says, patting her on the head. "No matter how far back you are in the social ladder, you still hatched alongside me. That means whatever you do, I'll back you up! So, tell me, what did he yell at you for this time?"

Tik Tik shakes her head. "He won't care by next shroomglow. You won't care now. I just want kobolds to be more... different. Like you. Like me."

Tikana smiles at that, wrapping her arm around the smaller kobold. "Oh, you're not so different from other kobolds, Little One. Remember, I have the blood of dragons. You have a weak shell. Plenty of kobolds do."

She takes a breath, then stops in place, reaching back into her little pouch and producing a tiny chunk of rock. "Anyway, lookit. I found some shiny treasure. It doesn't shine now. There's no light, but its so beautiful. This is something that's really different. Everything is so dark and gloomy around here."

"H-hey, I like things that are pretty!" Tik Tik says. But, how different are you, really? Dragons love gold, but what about you? Do you love it, or does dragon in you love it?"

Tikana blinks and shrugs. "What are you talking about?"

Tik Tik rubs her head. "Tik Tik isn't sure. Around Tikana, Tik Tik think bigger things sometimes."

"Well, then it's a good thing the two of us are nestmates. Tell ya what. When I'm queen, you can be my grand adviser, and we can put our heads together all the time!"

Tik Tik smiles at that and wraps her arms around her nestmate. "That's nice... this seems like a good place to take a nice nestmate nap."

"Yeah," Tikana says, yawning and snuggling up to her. "We can worry about big plans tomorrow."

---

The trap door slams shut, blocking off the entirety of the chamber. Strong stone cuts off the path as metal bars reinforce it. Air hisses as the hydraulic system constantly fills and refills as the air pressure keeps the door closed.

On the other side, a team of kobolds push against the door, but their combined might cannot break through. They then seek any holes or cracks in the stone, but it had been washed completely smooth, the size cut perfectly to slide against the wall and seal it shut. Then, the leader of the party snaps their fingers and holds out a hand. One of their subordinates hands a flask of acid, and the leader drips some onto the stone. But the chemical used to treat it hisses with caustic smoke at the reaction.

They jump back and cover their mouths, trembling in fear of the sight, but the amount is so minuscule that the gas soon disappears entirely into the air of the cavern.

Tikit shakes his head as he approaches the group. "Well, well, well, the infamous Cavern Crackers cannot break through a simple door trap."

"We haven't tried breaking it apart yet!" One of them shouts.

"Go ahead," the master trap maker says. "After all, this is just the prototype. If you can break through it, then it wasn't good enough to begin with."

The Cavern Crackers all get into formation as one of their supporters passes by Tikit, carrying a large stone of their own, with the head reinforced with fine metalworking. They all grab onto the handles of their battering ram, their leader starting them off in their cracking song.

"Down and deep,

The dragons keep

Their treasures far away,

But kobolds must

Secure their trust

And keep 'siders away.

So, crack, crack more

The cavern door

To find if they will sway

So dragons say

You're A-Okay,

You've helped me out this day."

Each line of the poem accompanies the battering of the door, sending the vibrations shaking through the cavern, but with each strike, their attacks become weaker and weaker. Soon, kobolds drop to the ground, panting for air, exhausted beyond their exertion. "Wh... what is this...?" the Cracker leader says. "Sorcery.."

"No, no!" pipes up the voice of the pink-scaled assistant trapmaker. "Sleepy Spores, mixed in the rock!"

"How?"

"My student, little Tik Tik here, has developed quite the method of mixing stone into a new, smoother form, increasing its strength beyond anything even the dwarves could muster."

"It's Tik Tik's greatest invention yet. No one will get through the door until it opens on the other side!"

"My student," Tikit says, placing his hand upon her shoulder. "This has been quite the rite of passage for you. With this, we can officially call you a trapmaker and an adult. You've certainly outdone even some of my creations with this advancement. Dare I say that not even a sorcerer could devise such an insidious door trap. Let's celebrate your coming-of-age tonight, but for now, open this door, so we can make it to the coronation in time."

Tik Tik's smile disappears, and she bolts down the cavern, taking the long way past the impenetrable door and ignoring the pleas of the crackers and her master.

She zips past all the kobolds getting things ready for the coronation. For the moment that Tikana would officially become her queen, the dragon-blooded kobold would become something far greater than what Tik Tik is.

Already, the voice of the Grand Matron fills the chamber, pronouncing the passing of the crown, and, as Tik Tik staggers into the chamber, her eyes immediately go to her friend, who stands tall and proud, displaying all of her red-flecked pink scales in their draconic glory, her head held high, but her fists clenched. No one turns their head to look at the newcomer as the queen's new crown is placed upon her head. To display her authority, she roars with a powerful fury, spewing flames from her mouth.