Nearing the halfway point of our journey, both Ferrisdae and I were surprised by a knock on the carriage door. I had been going over the map of the Ice Cavern and she was buried in writing in her own untitled tome. We both looked up at the tapper.

It was a moose. I furrowed my brow, frowning, before noticing that there was a leg encased in snow-covered furs that tapped on our glass again. It blended in well against the animal’s brown hide. Ferrisdae and I looked at each other in confusion.

We belatedly noticed another carriage stopped in the road ahead of us. "Bandits?" Ferrisdae asked.

"If they are," I started. "Then they're doing a poor job of it." The foot tapped again, and a head came into view.

It was a young Human man. Tall, with pale skin and red stubble adorning his head. The furs he wore matched that of the moose he rode. "Would you mind if I came in?" the man yelled, voice deep and boisterous.

Ferrisdae and I shared one more glance before she reached over and opened the door. Cold air and snow blew in, quickly coating the floor. The man adeptly swung off of his moose, through the door, and into the seat next to me in one smooth motion.

He paused, shifting on the cushioned seat. "This is really nice," he said. "Heated, too. This is as nice as the princess' carriage."

"Who are you?" I asked, closing the door.

"Ah! My manners are missing," the man said, flashing a big grin. "I am Cojisto, the world's greatest adventurer!"

"You're Porolo Sitchken, Gnomish explorer of the unknown, and the most prodigious cartographer the world has seen in 300 years?" I asked without missing a beat. "You're much taller than I expected. And much younger."

Cojisto laughed. "Perhaps the world's greatest is still a way off, but it's good to have aspirations, no?" He didn't seem to take any offense to my words that I could tell. "I have just stopped to ask if you were going to the Ice Caverns of the White Wyrm?"

"Yes, that's where we're going," Ferrisdae confirmed. "I'm Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae and this is Dungeon Inspector Badger."

"Dungeon Inspectors!" Cojisto roared gleefully. I thought Ferrisdae's optimism was too much, but this guy was worse than that. "So you're already aware that it's closed. I apologize for taking up your time."

"Closed?" Ferrisdae and I asked at the same time.

Cojisto paused, looking at both of us. "You two are in sync, that's nice," he said.

"What do you mean closed?" I scoffed.

"I guess you aren't already aware," he said. "I unapologize for taking up your time. The dungeon is closed." We waited for him to elaborate further, but he didn't.

Instead, we were distracted by another carriage passing ours. I immediately noted its excellent craftsmanship. Inside was a white haired Elf woman, young by the looks of her, with an expensive looking gold tiara sitting on her head.

"Princess Koritha?" Ferrisdae asked. The princess was regarding our carriage with curiosity as we passed, and I saw a look of recognition flit across her face.

"Yes, my group and I were the ones who came to rescue her," Cojisto confirmed. "Well, they did, Moose and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and sort of crashed their contract."

"You named your moose, Moose?" Ferrisdae asked.

"More important than that, why is the dungeon closed?" I asked, scowling at Ferrisdae. It was not the time to be asking about an animal.

"No, Moose is always the most important topic of conversation," Cojisto said matter-of-factly to me before turning to Ferrisdae. "Moose is not my moose, we are friends. He's a magic moose."

"And the dungeon?" I asked loudly before Ferrisdae could ask about the magic moose.

"Right, yes. It was closed," Cojisto said. "But we aren't sure why. Our party got to the entrance, started casting magic to empower ourselves, when a big Kobold came out."

Cojisto put his arms out wide. "I mean big. As tall as the Junior Inspector and as thick as a horse. He came out with the princess and said that the dungeon was closed until further notice, thanked us for picking up the princess, handed us some magical crystals and politely asked us to leave. You don't just say no to someone giving you everything you came for."

"Did the princess have any idea why?" Ferrisdae asked.

"Some guy showed up, she said. Clad in purple and green and with a big hat and a weird wand in a sheath on his belt," Cojisto said. "She didn't hear their conversation, but the man left the White Wyrm some kind of glowing rectangle. After that, she was ignored."

"That doesn't make sense," I stated, frowning. "The records on Oristrella are old and thorough. She's never just… given up like that."

"That's what happened, though," Cojisto said with a shrug. "We can talk to the princess if you like."

Ferrisdae sucked in a breath. "She and I aren't on the best of terms right now…" I raised my eyebrow at her, and she shook her head. It was none of my business, anyway. "I'm sure Cojisto gave us all the pertinent information."

"I'm sure," I repeated, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. “We can trust this random stranger traveling the roads.

“Yes, I am not known to lie. Though I suppose to people who don’t know me, they could think that me saying I am not known to lie is a lie,” Cojisto said. He turned to Ferrisdae. "You know the princess?"

Ferrisdae fidgeted in place, clearly uncomfortable. "That's not something I want to get into right now," she said.

Cojisto hesitated, then nodded. "Alright. What are you two here for if not for this, then?" He asked.

"Department of Dungeons business," I said.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Raitheus Razorbeak's caravan has gone rogue and entered the Thousand Year Blizzard," Ferrisdae said. I shot her a disapproving look. "The mages from the Crystal Snows guild caught wind of an anomaly and went after it. We were sent to subjugate his dungeon."

"That's not the whole story," I chided.

Cojisto chose to fixate on the wrong part. "Razorbeak's caravan is getting subjugated?" He asked, suddenly excited. "I wish to help, I've always wanted to try my hand on taking down his dungeon."

I ran my hand down my face, then gave Ferrisdae a withering stare. "No," I started firmly.

"Why don't you meet us there?" Ferrisdae asked quickly.

My eyes shot open. “What are you doing?”

"We can all go together and save the day and the people who may or may not have gone into that particular dungeon," Ferrisdae continued, the words practically falling out of her mouth in her effort to get them out.

"Done!" Cojisto said loudly, standing and pumping a fist. "We'll escort the princess home and meet you there! This is going to be great!"

"Wait!" I yelled, but it went unheeded. In as smooth a move as his entry, Cojisto opened the door and mounted his moose, or… just Moose, and started galloping away. I glared angrily at the rookie. “Why did you do that, Ferrisdae?”

“Well, you know,” she said quietly. “He was kind of cute and I’m just a teenage girl. I couldn’t help myself, you know?”

I stared at Ferrisdae, who suddenly couldn't meet my eyes, and didn’t believe her for a second. "You're a bad liar, Ferrisdae," I told her. "You know this can only go poorly."

"Yeah, probably," she admitted sheepishly.

“Don’t you ever pull this kind of thing without giving it serious thought again,” I warned, pointing a finger at her. “There are proper channels to go through to request outside assistance for both your safety and theirs. Subjugation runs are especially dangerous. That’s one of the first things they teach you at the DoD, so I know that you know that.”

“Then it’s all the more reason to ask for-” Ferrisdae started, but I cut her off.

“Why are subjugation runs especially dangerous, Ferrisdae?”

She looked like she wasn’t going to answer me at first, but I remained silent and she broke first. “Dungeon owners who realize that their time with dungeon-granted immortality will soon be over don’t take kindly to having it ripped away suddenly,” Ferrisdae answered. “It makes them desperate and erratic, and desperate foes are more inclined to cause widespread damage.”

“That kind of desperation is powerful,” I continued. “Like a cornered animal, there’s no telling what they’ll pull off. It means the difference between a temporary death or a permanent one. Adventurers are not meant to see that side of dungeons, that’s something that we have to deal with as Dungeon Inspectors.”

“If it really is all that dangerous, then why didn’t we request backup in the first place?” Ferrisdae asked. “Isn’t Razorbeak supposed to be a big name in dungeon bosses? We’re not expecting him to go quietly after all he’s schemed already, right?”

“We wouldn’t need help, Ferrisdae,” I said. “They sent me. The job’s going to get done one way or another, just like always. And we could have done it without some fool adventurer and his damn moose.”

******

The ride became rough near the end as we had to climb down a steep, winding path. I was amazed at how versatile this Skymirror Carriage spell was, though I didn't voice it out loud. Ferrisdae didn't get praise for knowing such a high profile spell. Not after what she pulled, anyway.

The entrance to the Ice Caverns of the White Wyrm was a large opening at the bottom of a frozen ravine in the Ground. It was protected from the blowing snow by several walls of ice placed by Oristrella. Standing in front of it was intimidating. Just knowing that a dragon big enough to require an entrance six wagons wide was enough to scare off all but the most stalwart of adventurers.

We stepped out into the cold. It was a jarring contrast from the cozy carriage, and I watched as Ferrisdae started to turn red, shivering as the cold affected her. She retrieved and put on a slender blue ring, and her face slowly started turning back to its normal color.

I hadn’t been bothered by it as she had. One of the enchantments my jacket had, aside from the Dimensional Pocket stitched to the inside, regulated my temperature. As long as the weather wasn’t outrageously hot or cold, I would be comfortable.

We strode towards the entrance. Protocol dictated that we had to try the Dungeon Doorknocker before entering even if we were sure that the dungeon's owner wouldn't heed its call. There was no need this time; a tall, wide Kobold came to greet us.

Cojisto hadn’t been kidding. I had met many Kobolds before and they were usually around my height. This one had to have something else in its ancestry. Based on its white scales with an almost imperceptible blue tinge and its breath not showing in the cold like ours were, I guessed it was a Half-Dragon.

"It is odd to have two adventuring parties in one day," the Kobold rumbled. "But I'm sorry to say that we are closed for the foreseeable future. We also gave the Elf princess to the last group with the spoils they would have gained going through the dungeon. We have nothing for you here."

"Hello," Ferrisdae said with a smile, taking a few steps forward. "I'm Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae and this is Dungeon Inspector Badger. We came for unrelated reasons, but we met with a member of that group and they mentioned you were closed."

The Kobold's beady eyes narrowed. I saw his body language shift to something more defensive. The atmosphere changed, suddenly becoming just a little colder. I couldn't tell if it was the weather or the mood.

"We initially came to the Ice Caverns to ask Oristrella for a boon," I said, moving so that I was standing slightly in front of Ferrisdae. "There's something in the Thousand Year Blizzard that we need to get to. We brought books to bargain with, including a manuscript I know she'll love."

The Kobold let us speak, and a silence followed. We waited patiently. It took a minute, but he spoke again. "You were not meant to show up this quickly," he said. "We were supposed to have more time. That was what he told us."

"More time for what?" I asked. "Who said that?"

"The conversion," the Kobold answered. "Our queen has partnered with a strange Human who had brought an appropriate tribute."

“Conversion?” I frowned. “That wasn’t communicated to the DoD.”

Conversion was the term for transferring a dungeon from one owner to another. It was a monumental undertaking that required a lot of resources and oversight from the Department of Dungeons. It wasn’t something that could simply be done with something as simple as a spell, especially not with a naturally formed dungeon like this one. The Ice Caverns sprang up around Oristrella specifically.

“I am aware of your methods, inspector. It’s being done through different, less intensive means,” the Kobold explained. “Oristrella is still going to be the boss of the dungeon, as she rightfully deserves, but it will be under the direction of this strange Human, which is shameful.”

"Who is it?" Ferrisdae asked.

"I do not know his name," he claimed. "But I do not think he is what's best for our clan."

"What's your name? The name of your clan?" Ferrisdae moved forward so that she was beside me again. I saw her glancing at me every so often, but I tried to ignore her. I didn't have any answers for her this time.

"I am Corez, proud Warchief of the Coldspring Clan," he said.

"Warchief Corez," Ferrisdae said. "What do you know about this man?"

"He speaks strangely, and has an aura of power about him," Corez answered. "He wears strange clothes, and comes bearing the greatest tribute our queen has ever received."

I thought back to what Cojisto said the princess told him. "Purple and green with a big hat?" I asked.

Corez's tail raised and slammed down, splintering the ice underneath him. Anger filled his eyes. "Yes. He came to court our queen," he spat. "The soft fleshed male is undeserving."

"If you feel that strongly about it, then let us pass so that we can speak to your liege," Ferrisdae reasoned. "Let us find out who this strange man is and do something about it."

"Things may be changing," Corez growled. "But we are still a proud dungeon. If you see it through to the end, you may speak to our queen yourself. Then you can gain all the answers your paltry tribute will earn you."

"Is there no way to do this without bloodshed?" Ferrisdae asked.

Corez rumbled again in laughter. He looked at me. "You should educate her about dragons before you enter. If she has to ask, she is not ready."

Ferrisdae and I watched as Corez walked back into the dungeon, disappearing into the darkness.

"That's rude," Ferrisdae said with a frown. "I know about dragons."