Caleb slung the bound and gagged princess over his shoulder. Then he headed down the flight of stairs. Daffodil followed in their wake, her tail flicking anxiously as she did so.

Once he reached the keep’s gigantic front door, he set his burden aside just long enough to slide the lock bar aside. He threw the door open, allowing the harsh noontime sun to shine in. A strong downdraft of air announced Grimshaw’s arrival as the griffin came in for a landing.

“Thou hast returned unharmed!” Shaw exulted, as he furled his wings.

“I have indeed,” Caleb replied.

The griffin glanced at the unconscious princess and nodded approvingly.

“Thou hast triumphed in thy quest’s objective!”

“Yeah, I did that too.”

Finally, Shaw cocked his head as he spotted Daffodil. The griffin’s eyes lit up.

“And finally...thou hast brought...snacks!”

Daffodil let out an eeeeep! and ducked back behind Caleb.

“Shaw,” Caleb said firmly, “This is King Nevin’s dragon, Daffodil. We’re supposed to bring her back unharmed. That means she falls under the ‘no eating’ category. Plus, she’s intelligent and very sweet, which means she’s for talking to, not eating.”

“Fair enough, we shall talk,” Shaw agreed. His pink tongue flicked over the edge of his beak as he addressed her again. “Little dragon, how doth it feel to look so delicious?”

In response, she climbed up Caleb’s leg and back to look up over his shoulder. She let out a hiss that sounded more like the squeak of a creaky door and shook her wings.

“My name’s Daffodil, not ‘little dragon’,” she retorted. “And I’m doing great, because I don’t feel delicious, I feel poisonous.”

“Thou hast spoken fairly,” Shaw admitted. “I usually refrain from consuming companions, even if they look so tender and edible.”

“Where’s Tavia?” Caleb said, trying to change the subject.

“Yon mare approaches,” Shaw said, with a toss of his head. “She went back to bring up thy horse.”

Caleb looked around Shaw’s bulk and sure enough, Tavia came trotting down the hill towards them. She held the reins of the mount Nevin had lent Caleb in her teeth. The horse looked as if he didn’t exactly know what was going on, but he followed along obediently.

“Here you are,” Tavia said, after she dropped the leads in Caleb’s hands. “I’m very much relieved to see that you’re alive and unharmed, Captain.”

“Relatively,” Caleb admitted, holding up his blacked sleeve. “Singed all the hair off my arm. Might have you take a look at it when we get back on board the ship.”

“Of course. Likely it is superficial, like the burn to the tip of Shaw’s tail.” Tavia blinked as she caught sight of Daffodil’s head poking up over Caleb’s shoulder. “Who is your new friend?”

“I’m Daffodil,” the little dragon replied, as she remained in her half-perch on Caleb’s shoulder. She looked to him and brought her voice down to a whisper. “She’s not going to try and eat me too, is she?”

“Doubtful,” Caleb whispered back. “She’s mostly vegetarian.”

“Mostly?” Daffodil gave the unicorn a suspicious look.

“Depends on how much someone annoys her.” Caleb moved to introduce everyone. “This is Tavia Morningstar, she’s a mostly-plant-eating unicorn, and the First Mate aboard my ship, the Spitfire. You’ve already met Grimshaw, he’s a griffin and my Second Mate. Shaw, Tavia, this is Daffodil, the alloy dragon.”

“Alloy dragon? What’s that?” Tavia asked. “I’ve not encountered anything written about that variant in my books.”

Caleb looked to Daffodil, but she’d slid back down his back and remained hidden behind one of his legs.

“Neither have I,” he said, “and the information I can find about her costs a fair amount. Perhaps we can afford to learn about that once we return her and Lili here to King Nevin.”

With that said, Caleb managed to drape Liliana Nevin over his mount, fastening her behind the saddle like a bedroll. Luckily, she remained unconscious until they started along the path back to town. When she started to kick and murmur behind the gag, Tavia tried to calm her down.

“At ease, princess,” the mare said. “We are simply returning you to your father.”

Lili glared at Tavia and tried to talk even more intently through the mask.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Tavia added, “there isn’t any unicorn blessing for virgins, and I wasn’t going to report on you. Kirren doesn’t keep a little red book.”

In response, Liliana Nevin glared even more intently. Her face turned red from shouting into the gag. She twisted a bit against her bonds so that her hands faced the unicorn.

Daffodil, who’d been riding up by the horse’s saddle horn, made her sinuous way over to the rear of the saddle.

“Your Highness!” she squeaked. “Isn’t it unseemly for a princess to use that particular finger?”

Lili twisted even more in her bonds so that she could waggle that particular finger at the dragon too. Shaw simply looked on and made a disdainful snort. Daffodil stretched her long neck out to stage-whisper in the princess’ ear.

“Please, your Highness, at least keep the noise down! The griffin’s already threatened to eat me. He might think you’re a better sized snack!”

At that, Liliana Nevin finally fell silent. She simply returned to sulkily glaring at anyone and everything. They rode on in blessed quiet.

A couple of hours later, they approached their end destination. The afternoon sun made the walls of Nevin’s castle cast golden beams of light into the air and across the town. Caleb’s group drew quite a bit of attention as their made their way through the town’s streets. Townspeople and soldiers gaped at the sight of their princess slung across a horse like a sack of grain.

Then they quickly turned their heads and went back to whatever they were doing.

Finally, Caleb rode through the castle gates, flanked by griffin and unicorn. Word must have gone ahead of them, as King Nevin waited for them in the middle of the castle’s wide, grassy courtyard. A group of pages clustered nearby on the green, waiting for orders.

Caleb craned his neck and looked around. He noticed both castle servants and guards lining the courtyard. The inside edge of upper walls between the turrets were similarly crowded.

That’s an awful lot of armed people surrounding us in here, Caleb thought. Then again, this isn’t something that happens every day.

“My good Captain Ledger!” Nevin announced, as the group came to a halt before him. “Obviously, your family line is one where true heroism has not been watered out. It is so good to see you return, victorious!”

“All in a day’s strife, Sire.” Caleb replied, in a wry tone.

Nevin’s expression shifted into sternness as Daffodil moved back to sit next to the saddle horn. He strode forward and jabbed a finger at her.

“You! Dragon! Come here, now!”

Daffodil’s soft red eyes went downcast as she climbed down off the horse and slunk to Nevin’s side. The king’s hand shot out and grasped Daffodil’s slender form. The King held the little dragon by the scruff of the neck and shook her roughly.

“And you, you mischievous fell beast!” he snarled. “You witless thing, could you not have found your way home, if you’re as tricksy as you think you are?”

“Sire, forgive me,” Daffodil said, groveling.

“Forgive you? I want you back to work! Now!” With that, the King shoved the little dragon into one of the page’s arms. “Take her away and bring the Corsair here his reward!”

The page bowed, then turned to carry his burden off down one of the castle’s corridors.

“Goodbye, Captain Ledger,” Daffodil said softly, waving one forepaw as she was carried off. “Thank you for rescuing me...”

To his surprise, Caleb found himself raising his hand in return. His gut turned uneasily, as if he’d downed a flagon of gone-off beer.

“Rescuing you?” he murmured, “I don’t think I did, Daffodil.”

“And you, what do you have to say for yourself?” Nevin sneered at Liliana. “Captain, let my daughter speak her piece. Inside these walls, she needs both mouth and hands free for her power to manifest.”

Wordlessly, Caleb dismounted the horse and undid Liliana’s gag. She wasted no time beyond a single gasp of air.

“What do I have to say? Only that you are a terrible father! If it hadn’t been for this treacherous knight you sent, I would have my own life!”

“To do what with? Sit in a rundown keep – my keep, mind you – and eat rats?”

“I’d have done better than that, father! I could run this whole place better than you!”

“Like you’d ever get the chance, you brat!”

Before Lili could come up with another comeback, Caleb quickly called up his Quest Window. He read the results there with relief.

Veteran Adventurer's-Level Quest: Return Princess Lilianna Nevin to her father, King Nevin. Quest difficulty increased 200% due to the following two constraints:

Condition One: Lilianna Nevin must be returned unharmed to the palace.

Condition Two: The King’s Dragon must be returned unharmed to the palace.

STATUS: COMPLETE.

Caleb cleared his throat loudly. “Much as I’m enjoying this charming family reunion, my friends and I need to be paid for our services.”

“Of course, of course,” King Nevin gestured towards two more of his pages, who pushed a wooden chest mounted on a set of wheels towards them. “Here you are.”

The pages withdrew after bringing the chest towards him. Caleb gave the object a sideways glance and opened it. A small heap of gold coins gleamed back at him from inside. Yet something struck him immediately.

That’s not 1000 coins. The pile’s nowhere big enough.

He then called up his list of currently active spells under the Craft with Iron field.

Craft with Iron Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Twelve:

Magnetize Needle Locate Metal Shard Hold Metal Shard Mend Forge Crack, Minor Extend Forge Crack, Minor Sense Metallic Weapon’s Qualities Sense Value of Coinage Change Metal Object’s Buoyancy Heat Dispersion

In a moment, Caleb spotted the spell he wanted and activated it.

Sense Value of Coinage

He squinted at the pile for a moment before a new screen appeared. In an instant, what he’d feared was confirmed by the spell.

Value of contents in chest: 150 standard gold crowns.

Caleb shoved the open chest away with his boot. His voice went flat.

“This isn’t what we agreed upon, King Nevin. Where’s the rest of our pay?”