A Gift Fit for a Princess



Zel sighed. It was the birthday of Krayla, princess of Akebia, but he didn't know what to get her.
The fact that he was a weredragon didn't exactly help matters, since many humans refused to sell their wares to his kind..

"She's a princess," he said to himself, "so she's most likely used to gold and jewels." He sighed again. "Unfortunately, there's no way I'll be able to buy her anything like that."

As if Fate was on his side, he overheard two people talking.

"I heard that some rare flame roses are growing on the cliffs outside of town."

"Flame roses? I heard that those things are more valuable than diamonds."

"Aye. That's because they glow like fire, which is unusual for a plant. But there's nobody foolish enough to climb those cliffs. Nobody who's tried to climb those cliffs has lived to tell the tale."

Zel chuckled to himself. "There's a first time for everything."

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Zel looked up at the cliff, smiling. "This'll be a piece of cake. All I have to do is change into my dragon form, fly up there, and pluck a few of those flame roses."

When he tried to transform, however, he found that he was unable.

He frowned, perplexed. "Why can't I transform?" A closer look at the cliff made it perfectly clear.

The rocks contained trace amounts of dragonbane ore. While exposure to this amount, in such an unrefined form, was mostly harmless, it did interfere with his weredragon powers.

He sighed. "I guess this won't be so easy, after all."

Zel began to climb, wincing at the stinging sensation the dragonbane caused when he touched it. When he thought of Krayla, however, he forgot all about it.
All he could think of was getting those flame roses for her.

He grunted as he climbed. "I don't care what it takes. I'm going to get those roses for Lady Krayla, even if it kills me."

After an hour of climbing, Zel finally reached a small group of flame roses. He reached out and grabbed them, gently plucking them from the cliff.
Unfortunately, he lost his footing and fell.

"This is gonna hurt!"

He hit the ground with a loud thud. Thankfully, the flame roses were unharmed, and, being a weredragon, he survived the fall.
He was a bit sore, but he knew that making Krayla happy on her birthday was worth it.

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Krayla was sitting in her bedroom, when she heard a sound coming from the balcony. She went to investigate, and found Zel standing on the balcony, smiling, holding the flame roses.

Zel handed the flame roses to her. "Happy Birthday, Lady Krayla. May you have many, many more."

Krayla smiled. "Thank you, Zel. They're beautiful."

He kissed her hand softly. "Your smile is all the thanks I need."