Caleb’s angry words hung in the air.

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

“Oh, you’ll be paid, all right,” Nevin said, as the same oily smile from before reappeared on his face. “I said that I would reward you with a thousand gold crowns, straight from my vault. But that’s all the gold I had in my vaults right now. Give it four or five months.”

“Thou art base, for a king,” Shaw growled. “We are not guests of thee, let alone welcome ones. Thy coin must be paid and thy word kept.”

Nevin shook a finger imperiously at the griffin. “I promised to pay your Captain in full. I never promised when I would do it. This rebellious daughter of mine disrupted several months’ worth of my income, and I have other creditors in line before you! Just come back in a few months and I’ll be good and ready to pay you.”

“Might we remind you that we seeking to get as far away from the Myrkur as possible?” Caleb said bitingly. “And that we are hunted by them?”

“I would also note that we’ve already wrecked one of their ships,” Tavia added, as she bobbed her horn in a way that suggested mayhem. “And drowned one of your dragons.”

The chest’s open lid fell shut with a thump. Yet King Nevin didn’t take his eyes off Caleb and his friends.

“Yes, and it was a most impressive feat,” Nevin said. He made an unconcerned shrug. “Yet things are the way they are, and I cannot change them.”

“Do you really think I’m going to risk my crew by re-entering Myrkur waters?” Caleb demanded. “Especially this close to Irongrasp?”

“I could care less what you can and cannot do!” the King roared back. “Knights! Attend to me and remove these pirates from my castle!”

Around them, the guardsmen at the edges of the courtyard drew their swords. Gasps came from the crowd at the sight of the blades. Pages and other non-combatants began scurrying to get out of the way.

Tavia’s horn came down and she pawed at the ground menacingly.

“Kirren take me,” she muttered, “I knew it would come to this.”

“‘Tis not an entirely unwelcome thing,” Shaw added, as he extended his claws. “Mine opinion is that there has not been enough combat on this adventure.”

The approaching knights advanced cautiously, their eyes riveted on the unicorn or griffin. Each wore chain mail and carried one of the Gilarskan short, kite-shaped shields. Two more moved up to flank their king.

Son of a... Caleb thought, as he caught sight of the guardsmen on the upper parapet moving their hands towards their crossbows, I should have seen this coming. I’ve lost my damn edge. And everything’s just gone too smooth up until now. Sort of, anyway.

As if to underline his thoughts, a new screen popped up in his Quest Window.

New Adventurer's-Level Quest:

Escape King Nevin’s island without dying. Quest difficulty increased 150% due to the Gilarskan ruler’s treachery.

STATUS: IN PROGRESS.

Caleb set his jaw. All right, if they’re going to play dirty, then so am I.

“No need to throw us out,” Caleb announced. “We’re leaving. And we certainly won’t be taking anything of yours along for the ride!”

He grabbed Liliana and pulled her down off his horse. She swayed on her feet as she stood on her own two feet for the first time in hours. Caleb pulled the dagger he’d gotten off of the princess and with one swift movement, he sliced through the rope binding her hands. Then he shoved her forward.

She stumbled the few steps forward into her father’s arms.

“You think you can run your father’s place better than he can?” Caleb called to her. “You’ll only get the chance if you take it. By force, if that’s all he can understand.”

King Nevin’s face went pale as his daughter’s freed hands came up.

“Lilli,” he gulped. “You know what I said about using your magic within the castle grounds!”

She pushed away from him, even as an evil laugh came from her lips. Her eyes lit up, brimming with magical energy. Then she stretched out her hands and sent a pair of fireballs sizzling into both of the castle’s guard towers with a terrific boom!

Nevin turned and fled, screaming. “Guards! To me! To me!”

Around them, anyone not wearing armor shrieked and ran for cover. Armed men poured from the hallways, swords and pikes in hand. Caleb dashed forward and grabbed the coin chest under one arm. He staggered under its surprisingly heavy weight.

Tavia used her horn to block a pair of swords as two knights swung at her. She shoved the men back, then swung her hindquarters to face them. The mare dipped her head and lashed out with her rear hooves, caving in their armored chests with a double clang.

Shaw bulled ahead with a lion’s roar. He plowed through an entire squad of knights on one side. With a pair of massive sweeps of his forepaws, he knocked them over like armored bowling pins.

A single knight managed to get in a blow. His sword bit through the heavy fur on the griffin’s flank, drawing blood. Shaw let out a squawk of pain, then turned and head-butted the man. His armored helm caved in with a crunch.

Blood dripped from the cut. But it was much less than Caleb would’ve expected from such a blow. He squinted, confirming that Tavia’s buff was still active.

Existing Buff / Debuffs:

Received Temporary Paladin-Specific Defensive Enhancement:

50% Resistance to wounds from all distance and bladed weapons.

Thank Lir and Danu for that extra protection.

On the castle’s upper landing, the guards had moved to put their crossbows or rifles to their shoulders. Caleb felt as well as heard a thock! as a crossbow bolt slammed into the side of the chest he carried. The blow almost knocked him down.

That could’ve been my flesh, instead of the wooden chest!

Caleb dropped his burden next to his skittish horse. He called up the spell he wanted in an instant.

Squall Burst

He unleashed the blast of wind on the guards on the landing to the left. A FWOOM! and the men staggered back a step. Bolts and bullets whistled overhead harmlessly.

Liliana pivoted to one side and threw a bolt of lightning against the right-hand landing. With a hair-raising crackle, it rippled along the row of men standing there. They convulsed and dropped where they stood.

That was followed by a crackoom as the bolt ripped through the roof, turning it to kindling. Said kindling then caught fire with a burst of red flame. Black smoke began to billow up even as splinters and ash rained down.

Tavia felled one more knight with a blow of her horn.

“Despite the fun Shaw is having,” Tavia said quickly to Caleb, “This should be our cue to make a strategic withdrawal.”

“Agreed!” Caleb called over to the griffin, even as he finished disarming and stomping the last opponent before him. “Shaw, can you get this chest out of here? We’ll meet you back at the ship.”

“Thy wish is my command,” Shaw replied. “I have finished my contest here.”

The drake loped over and grabbed one of the container’s handles in his beak. He unfurled his wings and took off with a trio of massive downbeats. Through the swirls of ever-darkening smoke, Caleb spotted yet more armored men approaching.

“Time to go!” he said to Tavia, as he swung up in the horse’s saddle.

He tugged his mount’s reins and gave a jab with his heels. The horse needed no further urging to gallop back out the front gate. Caleb risked a last look back. Lili continued to laugh as yet more booms and crackles came from inside the castle.

“I’m not much for family reunions,” he remarked, as he slowed the horse to a trot. Tavia kept pace with him as they made their way down the streets towards the port. “But I’ll admit, this one was worth seeing.”

Tavia let out a snort and shook her head.

“I have had problems with my own sire as I grew from filly to mare,” she said. “Yet I never would have thought of burning down my own home in retaliation! Would you?”

“At the time? I suppose if I had access to a can of gasoline or turpentine...”

“Caleb, I’m not joking!”

He made sure he had her eye before replying. “Neither was I.”

She shook her head once more. “I suppose human children must be more difficult to care for than my kind. A great deal more.”

“I have a feeling that she’ll be ordering things built anew. In her own way.”

They reached the waterfront, where the crew let out a cheer. Caleb dismounted, left his horse at the edge of the dock, and made his way up the gangplank with Tavia. Sienna ran up and wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank Lir and Danu!” she breathed, as she held him close. “I was so worried...”

“I’m fine,” Caleb assured her.

“We saw the plume of smoke rising from the castle and feared the worst!”

Tavia let out another snort. “I’m fine too, in case you were worried, ship’s quartermaster.”

Sienna let Caleb go. Her face turned bright red.

“Of...of course! I’m glad you’re all right, Miss Morningstar. I was just more concerned about...the Captain. For reasons of command, you understand.”

The mare gave her a wry look. “Of course.”

Shaw came in and landed amidships. He set the chest down and furled his wings. He tossed his head in the direction of the castle.

“Thou shouldst cast off quickly,” he reported. “Though the scene at the castle is one of chaos, the soldiers of Gilarska are coming to their ruler’s aid. I espied another group of knights heading towards the docks.”

“I was afraid of that,” Caleb sighed. “And we’re not exactly welcome here any longer.”

“We’re ready to cast off,” Sienna said. “Just give us the word. Now that we have our gold, we’re ready for anything!”

The assembled crew let out a hearty hurrah! at that.

Caleb grimaced. Oh, boy. What I’m going to say next is going to go over like a lead balloon.

“We don’t have the gold,” he announced. “Not all of it, anyway. We were double-crossed by King Nevin.”

The chest tipped over with a crash. The lid hung askew, and the small pile of coins spilled out. Caleb blinked. Shaw must’ve set it down at an odd angle.

Donal bent to look at the coins. “Myr’s breath, there’s a lot less than a thousand in coin. That rat bastard of a king!”

“Yes, he double-crossed us,” Caleb admitted, as an angry murmur ran among the crew. “That’s on me, mostly. We got too greedy and didn’t stop to look at all the angles. But that’s got to be put behind us now. Cast us off, and let’s leave this blasted island!”

The grumbles didn’t all go away, but he still got a chorus of Yezzirs as the crew got to work.

The Spitfire’s new sail made a healthy crack as the breeze filled it. The sloop had pulled out beyond the range of rifle or crossbow by the time a group of Gilarskan knights, their armor glittering in the setting sun, rode up to the edge of the dock. One shook his fist at them, while several of his crew shot a finger back.

A new screen popped up in his Quest Window.

New Adventurer's-Level Quest:

Escape King Nevin’s island without dying. Quest difficulty increased 150% due to the Gilarskan ruler’s treachery.

STATUS: COMPLETE

A familiar jolting lightshow combined with the strong scent of exotic woods and hot spice flooded his nose. Caleb quickly called up his mental image of the big red radio knob with the white label.

LEVEL UP EUPHORIA

He reached out with his mind and spun the knob to decrease the intensity. He looked around and watched as Sienna gathered up the coins spilled from the chest. Tavia was attending to Shaw’s minor wound. He turned to see his helmsman back at his usual position, then went up to the quarterdeck to join him.

“Take us out of Gilarska’s harbor,” he ordered. “Best speed possible. Keep us as far as you can from the bombards we passed earlier. Just in case Nevin’s left us another nasty surprise.”

Donal nodded. “Aye, it’ll be no problem, Captain. Especially with that new sail of ours. The Spitfire’s already responding more sharply because of it.”

“Good. If anyone asks, I’m indisposed for the next few minutes.”

Before Donal could inquire why, Caleb strode over to the door to his great cabin and went inside. He went and sat on his bed as the scents and visions bouncing about in his head continued to rise and fall like ocean waves on a stormy sea. Finally, he paid attention to the swirl of numbers that flashed by like the spinning reels on a slot machine.

Once again, one line came into sharp focus.

Congratulations, Soul Traveler. You have reached Level Thirteen!

Well, he thought to himself, at least one good thing came out of our expedition to Gilarska. Fingers crossed that I get a spell I can use right away. And hopefully, I can even afford to activate it.