Everyone on board the Spitfire was quiet, their attention rapt upon the fortress that lay across the water. Donal had laid in a course that kept the sloop at a distance. But it was an easy bet that the Myrkur had set the bombards up to easily cover the entire body of water.

Caleb leaned on the taffrail at the rear of the afterdeck and put his spyglass to his eye. After a moment, he made out the squat black mouths of the cannons. He watched for a flash, listened for the dull boom of any of the weapons going off.

He lowered the spyglass and looked to his Quest Window.

Adventurer's-Level Quest: Survive bombard attack. Quest difficulty shall be altered depending on outcome. STATUS: IN PROGRESS

Of course that’s the risk level for me, Caleb reminded himself. That doesn’t include the risk for Grimshaw. Then again, he’d probably just relish the extra danger.

The moments ticked by. No more than the span of a few heartbeats.

He watched as the golden blur of his friend Grimshaw as the griffin descended upon the area just to the rear of the guns. Despite himself, he tensed up again. He didn’t see a cloud of dust, or anything else that might hint at combat.

Finally, he made out a speck of white as Shaw poked his head up from behind the battlements. The griffin shook his head vigorously side-to-side: NO. Then he disappeared below again.

The Quest Window updated.

Adventurer's-Level Quest: Survive bombard attack. Quest difficulty reduced by 99% due to abandonment of fortress. STATUS: COMPLETE

“All clear,” he called out.

His crew promptly let out a collective breath in relief. Caleb lowered the spyglass and checked the wind once more. Then he took the stairs back down to the quarterdeck and stood by his helmsman. “Donal, let’s take advantage of the shift in the wind. Take us two points larboard. Get us clear of this sound as soon as you can.”

“Aye, Captain,” came the reply. “What course shall I take once we’re free and clear?”

He considered. In truth, he’d been so busy with the quest involving a singularly pyromaniac princess that he hadn’t thought much beyond it. Luckily, Sienna ascended the steps up from the main deck and joined them.

“Captain, I’ve got a suggestion for that.”

Caleb spread his hands. “I’m all ears, suggest away.”

“After you left with King Nevin, his guards returned to the castle. Afterwards, we were able to strike up conversations with the local dock workers. It wasn’t easy – Nevin’s got a pretty good grasp over the citizenry of that island – but Evie O’Breen told them she was ‘but a poor old woman’, and by Lir’s beard, she was tryin’ hard to feed us even as we were running short of rations.”

Caleb fought to keep a grin off his face.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, he thought, it’s hard to say ‘no’ to Evie demanding something. Playing the poor old lady card was a masterful bit as well.

“As a result, we picked up a couple cases’ worth of freshly skinned coneys, which we’re having in a stew tonight. So that solves the rations problem, at least for another day. And that’s not all. We found out that Gilarska’s got two main trade routes.”

“Sounds like some useful information,” Caleb remarked. “Especially for those who have a pirate’s crew and newly outfitted ship to hand.”

“Prayer’s up,” Sienna agreed. “The first one goes northeast, back the way we came.”

“Back towards Irongrasp and Deephold Port. Yeah, that’s a hard pass from me.”

“Aye, there’s no arguin’ with that. The other’s straight-on to the northwest. A half-day’s sail takes you into the Maulding Shoals.”

“That’s an evil enough name,” Donal remarked, from his position at the ship’s wheel. “Captain, among islanders, calling something maulding means it’s treacherous. Not to be trusted. Like that maulding King we just dealt with.”

“The shoals are an area of shallow seas, sandbars, and small islands,” Sienna explained. “So long as you stick to the blue-water channels, it’s safe enough. Otherwise...”

“You stop being a traveler and end up a long-term visitor,” Caleb said, getting it. He looked up into the purpling sky of evening. “Still...if it’s a half-day’s sail, we won’t reach it until tomorrow morning. I’d say that it’s worth the risk. Think the crew will be okay with plundering a Gilarskan ship as well as a Myrkur one?”

“Honestly, after being shortchanged by their ruler, they’d probably welcome it.”

He nodded. “That settles it. Donal, set a course straight-on northwest as soon as we clear this channel.”

No sooner had the Yezzir come from Donal’s lips than a cry went up from Aiden and Ethan. The two young lads had remained aloft in the ship’s fighting top. Ethan cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted down to the quarterdeck.

“Captain! Shaw’s approaching us from the larboard side. He’s carryin’ something!”

Caleb turned and squinted into the distance. Sure enough, he made out the drake’s white-gold form approaching rapidly. Shaw dropped down, skimming over the water towards the sloop. He grasped something that glinted violet in his forepaws.

The Quest Window updated once more.

New Bonus Level Mini-Quest: Retrieve unknown magic item from Myrkur fortress. XP Bonus given to the next quest completed shall be increased by a set percentage once value or risk level of item is accurately determined. STATUS: IN PROGRESS

“Clear the deck!” Caleb called, and the crewmen below made way as the griffin came in for a landing. Shaw set the object he carried down and furled his wings as Caleb and Sienna joined him on the main deck. Tavia trotted over and looked askance at the object along with them.

“I hope this meets thy needs,” Shaw breathed heavily. “‘Twas not easy to retrieve intact.”

“No worries there,” Caleb replied, his voice low with awe. “This is definitely what I was looking for.”

Shaw had carried over a thick, rectangular wooden panel about a meter wide and two meters across. Several wide, flat crystals the size and shape of dinner platters had been inlaid into the panel, glimmering purple against the dark wood. Evil looking runes and the outlines of a hideous horned face grimaced back from the surface.

“Lir and Danu preserve us!” breathed an old woman’s voice. “That’s the face of Myr himself!”

Caleb and the others looked up to see Evie O’Breen’s fearful expression. The old woman grasped one hand in the other, obviously distressed. Sienna quickly put an arm around her and half-turned her away from the panel.

“It’s all right,” she assured the older woman. “Lir protects us, it’s why we’ve gotten this far. He and Danu sent Caleb and his friends.”

“Aye, that he does,” Evie breathed. She straightened herself up. “Captain, I just came over to tell you that the first batch of dinner’s up. Since you’re all working out on deck, shall I have the mess crew bring you a bowl of coney stew?”

Caleb’s stomach made a definite rumble, as it hadn’t been filled since early morning. On top of that, he’d been burning his calories rescuing an ungrateful princess. And completing a quest for even more ungrateful Gilarskan King.

“Oh, that’s definitely a ‘yes’ from me,” he replied eagerly.

“Light on the coney,” Tavia requested. “And extra vegetables.”

“I do not want a ‘bowl’,” Shaw put in. “If thou hast a cauldron, I shall bathe in thy stew.”

Evie called her assistants over. In no time, Caleb and the other crewmen on deck had a bowl of steaming-hot stew placed in their hands, along with a spoon and a quarter round of cracker-like bread. While Shaw didn’t get his bathtub-sized cauldron, he did receive a pot the size of his head to gobble from.

Swirls of mist curled up into the purpling sky by the time Caleb had finished his meal and washed it down with a wooden cup’s worth of grog. At first, he’d had to choke down the diluted rum-and-water mixture. But Evie O’Breen had sweetened the concoction with fruit juices, so that the overall taste was one of pineapple or lime.

His taste buds still said watered down resort drink. But a cup or two gave him a light buzz and kept scurvy at bay. So as far as he was concerned, it was drinkable and then some.

“So tell us, Captain,” Sienna urged, once the bowls and cups had been taken away by Evie’s kitchen helpers, “what exactly did you ask Shaw to bring back?”

“I’m also curious how you knew this object was there,” Tavia added. “These crystals shimmer with magical energies.”

“The answer to both is the same: Captain Campion,” Caleb said. “After we wrecked the Taipan, I got him to reveal a couple things to me. First, Lady Ravencrow had gotten word to Gilarska three days ahead of our arrival. Second, he said that the message came through something called the Crystals of Arima.”

“So that’s what this thing is,” Sienna breathed. “Some kind of messaging device.”

“Aye,” Shaw grumped. “And ‘tis one that can send words faster than even I could fly.”

“Campion said that not all of the message got through,” Caleb said. “It had to do with the moons not being in alignment.”

Tavia let out an equine snort. “With three moons to take into account, this device has to be more than a bit temperamental.”

“I knew it had to be in a special room,” Caleb continued, “because Campion said that he wasn’t in the ‘crystal chamber’ to hear the message directly. And since Ozul took all the Myrkur’s personnel on the mission to destroy us, I figured that it had to be still sitting, unattended, inside that fortress.”

“Thy guesses were correct,” Shaw said. “These crystals were set into a wall panel in an inner room. And, alas, the fortification was unattended, so I was unable to contest their possession.”

“I’m sure we’ll get into more fights, and soon,” Caleb assured him, before looking over to Tavia. “As for the crystals...I was hoping that you could study them, see what you can learn. If we could tap into these, perhaps we can eavesdrop on whatever the Myrkur are planning.”

“I’ll certainly try,” Tavia said, with a nod. “But these are not made of light magic. They’re of some other kind. We must be careful with them.”

“Are they dangerous?” Sienna asked. “Could they harm us?”

The unicorn shook her head. “Not directly, no. But something that could signal outwards could also serve to tell others where we are.”

Caleb nodded. “It’s a risk. But remember, the followers of Myr don’t know we have this yet. Until they do, I think you can work with it safely.”

A whistle came from aloft. Caleb looked up as Ethan called down to the deck from the fighting top.

“We’ve got fog ahead, Captain,” the young man called. “It’s all across the northern horizon. There’s no sailing around it.”

Sure enough, he already felt the change in the air. The coolness of the evening hard already turned clammy against his skin as the first tendrils of mist swirled about the bow. He considered, then called back up.

“Stay aloft and keep a lookout as best you can.” Caleb lowered his voice and spoke to Sienna. “We’re not due to reach hazardous waters until dawn. But have lanterns hung at bow and stern. Even if the Myrkur are out there, they won’t open fire until they can identify us. Should give us time to douse the lights and slip away.”

“I’ll go take care of the lighting, Captain,” she replied, before heading off.

“I’d like to bring the crystal panel up to the great cabin, Caleb,” Tavia said quietly, once she was alone with him and Shaw. “I can study it better inside, out of this fog.”

Caleb turned to Shaw next. “Tavia’s idea is a good one. Would you bring the panel up to the cabin?”

“As thou wishes,” the griffin said. “Afterwards, my stomach doth wish for some shuteye in order to digest thy cook’s coney stew.”

“Then stay in the great cabin with us. I’d prefer that you stay out of the wet, in any case.”

With that settled, the three retired to the cabin as the last light vanished from the sky. The moons rose, casting a milky light. But their faces were quickly shaded over by the all-encompassing fog.

Shaw set the crystal panel up in what had become the unicorn’s corner. Then he curled up as if he were giant housecat opposite her, hiding his beak and eyes with his leonine forepaws. In less than four breaths, the drake had already fallen asleep. For now, his snores were quiet for a griffin, only sounding like a distant freight train.

Leaving Tavia to her studies, Caleb took off his jacket and studied the blackened left arm. From wrist to elbow, the heat from one of Lili’s fireballs had ruined the fabric. He sighed irritably, threw it over the nearby desk and went to lie on the bed.

He didn’t see Breena anywhere, but she seemed to come and go as she pleased in any case. So he lay back and felt the heavy tug of his fatigued eyelids start to close.

A flicker of movement at the edge of his vision made him raise his head.

Caleb peered as best he could up at the rafters that made up both the cabin’s roof and the floor of the afterdeck. He looked over to his friends, but Shaw remained asleep, and Tavia hadn’t looked up from her work.

It was probably Breena, he concluded. Somehow, the splashcat seemed to be able to enter the great cabin at will. He lay his head back on the bed’s pillow and closed his eyes.

I hope Tavia can figure out some way to use those crystals. We need something to swing things in our favor. I’ve gotten soft. I need something to get my damn edge back.

That final thought followed him into slumber.