Karn awoke with a start, she found herself in a sterile white room, a bushy bearded dwarven doctor's eyes widened when he noticed her awake “Well this is a surprise, didn’t think you’d wake up on the same day of the injury honestly.”

Karn groaned “My father certainly wasn’t exaggerating about the pain from obsidian. This is going to lead to some fun conversations.”

The doctor gave a small laugh “Speaking of, His Majesty is waiting outside, are you feeling up to a visitor?”

Karn nodded “Yeah, I should be fine.”

The King entered with a worried expression on his face “I came as soon as I heard, how are you feeling?”

Karn smiled “I’ve been better for sure but I am feeling surprisingly good considering the circumstances.”

The King laughed “Well that’s good” his face immediately sobered “I’m incredibly sorry this happened. From what’s been gathered Vindalf told the guards he was here to visit his sister, Captain Ragvir, and everyone knew him well so no one suspected him of something.”

Karn smiled at the downcast monarch “I understand your Majesty, you don’t need to worry, I hold no ill will towards you or your people. I will have to contact my father but I'm sure he will be understanding as well.”

The King shook his head “You’re a kind soul, Princess.”

Karn smiled, “I try.”

The King smiled “Well if you need anything let me know, and tell your father I said hello.”

“Thank you, your Majesty, I’ll be sure to tell him.”

After the King left Karn sat in silence for a moment, then shrugged before casting a spell to telepathically contact her father.

“Daughter, are you well?” Her father’s deep rumbling voice was a comfort Karn didn’t know she’d begun to miss

“Mostly father, there was something of an incident, I felt it best to tell you the details myself so you don’t find out from bizarre rumors.”

Karn proceeded to then tell her father about the attack at the training field.

“Hmmm” her father didn’t speak for a while “Well, King Beowulf is an honest man to a fault, so if he wanted you dead he’d be far more direct. We can chalk this all up to an isolated actor and content ourselves with diplomatic apologies and such.”

Before Karn could respond a knock came at the door

“I’m sorry father, someone is here, I think it may be the doctor.”

“I understand. Be safe, my child.” and with that final message the connection ended.

Karn took a deep breath then called for the person to enter, to her surprise Hyndla came through the door.

“Hello Princess, I came to see how you were doing.” Hyndla looked incredibly nervous as she entered and sat down on a chair next to the bed.

“I’ll be fine, these docs do good work that’s for sure.” Karn gave Hyndla a smile hoping to ease her anxiety.

Hyndla sat silently for a moment then let out a long sigh “I’m really sorry this happened, I should have been faster, I should have done something.”

Karn shook her head “You don’t need to apologize Hyndla, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know” Hyndla shifted awkwardly in her chair “But still, I feel terrible that you got hurt by my kin while I invited you here in friendship.”

Karn smiled “Well, if you want to make it up to me, how about once I get the all clear from the docs you take me into the tunnels to investigate this road block the King has been talking about?”

Hyndla sat thinking for a while then nodded “I think that sounds like a good idea, you have truly impressive magical ability and your physical capability isn’t half bad either.”

Karn laughed, “Such flattery. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

There was a long pause before Hyndla took a deep breath “There’s something I need to tell you, you’ve probably heard a lot of vague allusions to it but I'll just give it to you. My mother was murdered… by a dragon, right in front of me.”

Stolen story; please report.

Karn felt her stomach drop, “I’m so sorry Hyndla.”

“It’s ok, you didn’t do it after all. After it happened my brother and I fell deep into despair and grief. I turned to the Rangers to find an outlet for what I was going through. My brother never really found a way to cope and nothing my mother or I did or said ever seemed to help. I still can’t believe this even happened.”

Karn placed a hand on Hyndla’s shoulder and they stared into each other’s eyes for a moment until Karn finally spoke “It’s ok Hyndla, now go get some rest, we’ll both need to be at our best for investigating mysteries in the old tunnels tomorrow.”

Hyndla nodded “You’re right, I’ll see you when you’ve recovered, then we can go on an exciting adventure.”

The two shook hands and Hyndla left to return to her bunk and sleep.

Karn and Hyndla met up the next day and packed up potions, food, water, supplies for camping and tunnel exploration. Afterwards they set out together through the ever chaotic bustle of Valla.

As they walked Karn saw a young dwarf crossing the road as a guard held up a sign to warn traffic to stop, she looked behind her and saw a cart moving at high speed towards the intersection.

“They won’t be able to stop in time, I'll be right back.” Karns wings sprouted and she flew off before Hyndla could even process what she said, she grabbed the two dwarves mere seconds before the moles and the cart they carried rumbled past.

She placed them safely on the side of the street. “Are you both ok?” she said, looking between the young girl and the guard.

The guard nodded “I am thanks to you, miss. The rest of the lads were way off about you. I'd say you’re good people.” Karn smiled and looked at the young girl, her eyes were sparkling like stars in the sky “Wow!” the girl said “You’re awesome! I’m going to tell all my friends!”

Karn laughed, “Well thank you young lady.” The guard looked down the street with a scowl “I’m going after that fool, figure out what he was thinking, if anything.”

The guard said a last farewell and jogged off, as he did a dwarf woman bearing a resemblance to the young girl pushed her way to the front “Finally! Bunch of no good onlookers” the woman grumbled, then her face softened as she ran up and knelt down to embrace her daughter.

“Frigg! Are you alright!?” The woman hadn’t seemed to notice Karn’s presence at all, Hyndla came up beside Karn after finally breaking through the crowd herself, just before they could extract themselves from the crowd, the young girl pointed their way and said “I’m ok mom, thanks to the big dragon lady.” Hearing her daughter’s words the woman turned in surprise and gazed at Karn, they stood staring for a moment before the mother embraced her finally breaking the silence “Thank you for saving my little girl, you’ll always be a friend of the Gerfin family from this day on. Thank you Princess of Dragons.”

Karn blushed and smiled “Of course, I like to do what I can. Stay safe you two.” After some last farewells Hyndla and Karn continued moving towards the entrance of the tunnels to begin their expedition.

The tunnels behind Valla were a mix of drained mines, natural caverns, and dug tunnels with no known origin; the tunnel Hyndla took Karn into was one such mystery tunnel dug into the cave.

Karn stopped Hyndla for a moment while they traversed the tunnels “There’s something I need to give you.”

Hyndla looked at her both surprised and confused, Karn took out a small brown box and handed it to the dwarf. Hyndla opened it and gasped in shock “Karn, are these what I think they are?” She held up a black ball in between two fingers Karn nodded with a small smile, “Obsidian bullets yes.”

Hyndla continued to stare “But why?”

Karn’s smile grew “it’s a symbol of my trust in you. You have been a good friend to me, I enjoy spending time with you, so I feel you deserve to know that I trust you with something so important and dangerous.”

Hyndla continued to stare for a moment as what looked like a blush began to appear on her cheeks but she shook her head and smiled “Thank you Karn, I care about and trust you too, unfortunately I don’t have any gift for you.”

Karn waved her off “It’s fine, you can get me something later.” she said with a wink.

Hyndla laughed and playfully punched Karn’s arm, then her face became serious “Can you keep a secret?”

Karn quickly nodded and said she could, Hyndla thought silently for a moment then sighed.

“Very few non-dwarfs know this but runes aren’t just our alphabet, when carved into things and imbued with mana they bestow power onto the object. Take my guns for example.” As she spoke she pulled out one of her pistols and on the bottom of the frame was a set of runes that began to glow faintly at Hyndla’s touch “You probably guessed this but I’ll say just in case, these runes mean ‘Fly True’ they help with ensuring I hit what I’m aiming at.”

Karn nodded with a smile “Sounds helpful.” Hyndla grunted in agreement and signaled for them to keep walking.

The trip was uneventful at first until they reached a giant open cave lit by huge glowing mushrooms, when they were halfway through the room Karn stopped “Something’s here.” Hyndla frowned looking around until her eyes settled on a small pool of water that had begun to ripple.

A group of sharklike people climbed out of the pool, their eyes glassy, their movements jerky and uncoordinated.

“Zombies, well that’s simple enough to deal with.” Karn said as she pulled a spell from her book and blasts of lightning shot forward from her outstretched hand dropping most of the group. The crack of pistol shots echoed through the cave “Can’t let you have all the fun, can I?” Hyndla called with a laugh.

They made short work of the shark zombies, and made sure to bury them afterwards.

“Somehow I have a feeling the necromancer who raised these is going to be a problem,” Karn said, frowning.

Hyndla sighed “Probably, though now I’m wondering how long the creep has been here. Well let’s keep moving, maybe we’ll find our new friend along the way.”

They continued on their way leaving the cavern behind.